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Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands)
May 7, 2001
Scoreboard: 8680 miles; 3 Countries, 20 states

We Cross the Atlantic, Appear in a Talent Show and Listen to Jumpin' Jack Flash

Claytononboard
2005-11-18 12:48:08

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we weren't selected as participants. Sad, we've been practicing for years.

And still aren't very good.

So we caught "The Beat Goes On." It was a nicely done, if somewhat sappy, presentation of popular music of the past 50 years. Dancers danced about, and a singer would sing along with a hidden soundtrack blaring through great speakers. To the side a large video screen would be filled with pictures of Donald Duck, or Eisenhower, Thunderbirds, beach parties, etc.

When they did the Rolling Stones' Jumping Jack Flash, and this was the only time they did this, the video accompaniment was of 1969 tour footage (from the film Gimme Shelter). I guess you have to have seen it to fully comprehend the situation, but how would you like to be some generic wanna-be Broadway dancer in a top hat and cape trying to be Mick Jagger, who is ten feet away from you on a screen, and way, way bigger?

It's not an assignment where you're likely to gain widespread acclaim. I also had to wonder what Mick would have thought if you'd told him, those 32 years ago, that some day a middle-aged audience would be watching his Altamont performance on a cruise ship.

He might have been excused for thinking that things would turn out differently. Oh well.

The Mick Jagger impersonator likely felt somewhat like I did playing ping-pong. After going undefeated across the campgrounds of America an elderly Dutch guy kicked my ass 21-2. My great saving grace was that I could keep score in German. Damn these idle rich!

I caught a sunrise over the Atlantic on my brother's, and Kierkegaard's, birthday, May 5. It was very nice, and would have been even better if the sun hadn't risen directly into a cloud bank, and remained invisible for another 10 minutes or so. No matter, even during the interim it gave the curtainous clouds some spectacular brilliant linings.

Then I went to sleep. Our hours are all messed up, from the "jetlag" of going forward an hour a day, and also because the state rooms have a cave-like quality. The lighting is the same at noon and midnight. The kids have been going to sleep around 1 a.m. (their usual is 8 p.m.) at which point Theresa and I step out to the casino to see how long we can make $5 last, or pour a few Dragon Stout's (I grabbed a case of the glorious stuff in St. Thomas) and head for a hot tub, or the elegant strolling deck on level 6.

Alexandra wrote a poem that I think catches the spirit of the moment:

Spring

blossoms grow

and snow melts into

green, green grass

big snow boots are

tucked away and

sandaled-feet are

out to play.

Tune in next week, when our sandaled-feet arrive in Europe, grab a VW van, and set off to seek our fortune.