In memory of Luciano Pavarotti

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Bono's Memorial Speech:


06.09.2007
Luciano Pavarotti 1935 - 2007
“Some can sing opera, Luciano Pavarotti was an opera.

No one could inhabit those acrobatic melodies and words like him. He lived the songs, his opera was a great mash of joy and sadness; surreal and earthy at the same time; a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity, a great and generous friend.

Great, great fun, The Pavlova we used to call him. An emotional arm twister if he wanted you to do something for him he was impossible to turn down. A great flatterer.

When he wanted U2 to write him a song he rang our housekeeper, Theresa, continually so we talked about little else in our house.

When he wanted U2 to play his festival in Modena, he turned up in Dublin unannounced with a film crew, and door-stopped the band. His life and talent was large but his sense of service to the weak and vulnerable was larger.

We wrote Miss Sarajevo for him. He had worked on the humanitarian crisis that was the war in Bosnia. We travelled together on a UN air force flight to Mostar... all of us earnest in hard hats, just about strapped into this industrial aircraft with the big man handing out parmigiano from Reggio Emilia, “the best cheese in the world" he kept saying… deadpan… to make us laugh.

In Pesaro, in his summer house, he lived an almost bohemian life with a recording studio set up in an out house - but did all his vocals in his bedroom... there was a hammock hung between two marine pines for a siesta. He liked to eat, sleep and then warm up his vocals though I remember more eating than warming up. When we first recorded with him I left a stone heavier than I arrived.

Intellectually curious, couldn’t stick to his own generation - loved new ideas, new people, new song forms.

A sexy man whose life lit up again when he fell in love with Nicoletta and as he watched Alice play in the yard. He loved all his daughters so much.
The sadness of losing his only boy his only silence.

I spoke to him last week... the voice that was louder than any rock band was a whisper. Still he communicated his love. Full of love.

That's what people don't understand about Luciano Pavarotti. Even when the voice was dimmed in power, his interpretive skills left him a giant among a few tall men.”

Bono

Those that have ears to hear...

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... the truth is out there for those who can hear it.




Hear this, the tennis part of the Journey America Tour is coming to an end. I am two weeks from traveling back east in my van for one grand fanale of a journey home... and boy do I miss my home. I miss my Mom, I miss my family, I miss those who miss me. I have made my mistakes on this journey... I have had my ups and downs, but most of all, I was able to make a difference in this free land we call the United States of America. It was a reason to live another day...

So now I am here in southern California still. I am skipping the Irvine tournament to make sure I am ready for one final go-round in Laguna Niguel next weekend. From there it is:

Prescott, Arizona to visit my oldest brother Luke and his family
Joplin, Missouri to stay the night at the bed & breakfast I stayed in in July
St. Louis, Missouri to see my tour buddy Lance
Columbus, Ohio to see my Dad
Groveport, Ohio to see my Mom
Charlotte, North Carolina - my final destination (estimated arrival: October 7th)

Journey America 2007 has been a shoestring survived Journey with many stories. It has shown me what the bare necessities in life really are. It has shown me what is meaningful and what is not. It has broadened my horizons. It has given me a way to meet and keep in touch with so many people. It has helped me to see what I've been put here to accomplish... and what I have not been put here to accomplish. It has given me a way to lift the spirits of those who may read my blog and to give them a deeper understanding as to who I really am.
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I have been unable to make a connection here with the girl I so much wanted to see in San Diego. I won't give her name or the reason why, but I will say it broke my heart... still not giving up on that... it wouldn't be the first time my heart has been broken. One day, yes one day, I will be a jolly man married to that woman of my dreams, but not yet, not yet... hopefully sooner rather than later...
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Let me tell you all a little bit about what my dream is, God willing...

My dream is to someday own a good bit of land on a beautiful countryside (or maybe mountainside) somewhere on God's green earth wherever He takes me. On this land I will have a beautiful wife, at least three children, and someday grandchildren. I will probably build a tennis court there and teach my kids to play (if they want to.) I will have many cows, roosters, sheep, dogs, cats, and hummingbirds. All will roam freely throughout the land. I will look forward to rising early every morning to feed the sheep and milk the cows. In this time I will be able to see the sunrise and feel the presence of the Lord and what he has given all around me... it will take over me... I will then take out my bagpipes and play a morning tune to wake up the family and animals, and will help my wife to make the morning breakfast for the family. I hope my wife is willing to host many parties, so that people can come from all around to eat, drink, and have a great time together.

This is my dream. Journey America was a part of it...

I love you all so much.

"I believe in Kingdom come, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for." U2

Goodnight,

~ Nathan

P.S. The Journey America 2008 plan is in the works...

The shape of a W

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The week started very much on the up and up, thus the beginning of the W. As the week went on and I had to travel down from my very comfortable location in Pomona, where I had met many friends, the first drop in the 'W' occurred. For one I knew nobody - again - and for two I was busted by the cops - again - for parking my van in a public space. (The law in Costa Mesa as well as Claremont is 'no parking over night in a public space if you have sleeping quarters in your vehicle.') Things got up and going again as I found some fellow friends from the tour that I was able to meet and hit with, thus the next upward point in the 'W'. Then the second big drop occurred - I lost horribly in one of the worst matches I've ever played... I'm still getting over it. I was totally sore and just... sluggish... that I don't even no what to say, other than my body just didn't recover well at all from the early week's workouts. Moving on to the last part of the 'W' - the best part. I had an incredible weekend of bagpiping and meeting friends. It all started yesterday with holding up signs and giving out free hugs with my newest Couchsurfing friends who put me up in Pomona. We did this at a street festival going on here where I am now in Huntington Beach (remember where Rob and I crashed the 4th of July block party?... same place.) While doing it I noticed a fellow talking with various street musicians and assumed it was the coordinator... it was, and yes, he let me play my pipes there at the festival. It went over pretty well, but he immediately invited me back to play again today from 12-2. Next was the gig at a church an Italian friend I met in Claremont a week ago asked me to play for. It was a church cookout and it went over phenomenally well, thank God. Next it was back to Huntington Beach where I was to meet a new Couchsurfing friend at the German 'Old World' Oktoberfest. We had a great time and I ended up playing my bagpipes with the German band... that was interesting... the crowd seemed to really like it though. After that I headed back home and I was on a total high as I was blaring my 'Sing Along Songs Disc 2' that I made a few years ago and singing loudly right along. I pulled in to a spot on 8th street in Huntington Beach (a block from where I played my pipes in early July) only to be greeted by a funny fellow who heard me pull in with my Johnny Nash blaring and so he offered me a drink. I couldn't turn it down, so I met these two roommates who are only a couple years older than me - Chris and Jeff. Jeff, the one who offered me a drink, had just arrived earlier yesterday from China, so he was a bit out of it... but in a funny way. We all had a good time hanging out, but then I remembered that I had told my new Couchsurfing friend Sarah that I would go running 9 miles with her in the morning... so it was time to get to bed. So today I woke up, went running instead of finding a church to go to, which I rarely skip, and then hung out with Chris and Jeff again before going to the festival to play from 12-2. After the festival I hung out with Chris and Jeff again before going to a cookout I was invited to by some of the friends I met at the party crashing back in early July.

And that is what I just got back from. Oh what a week of ups (^\) and downs and ups (/) and downs (\) and a grand finale of ups (////) all in all to make one beautiful W.

Signing off...

~ Nathan

Coffee talk

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CLICK TO DO GOOD - Buy my friend David Johnson's book, Voices of Sudan. All profits go to building wells in Sudan. Besides this, it's an awesome book.

Read about the book here.

No pics... the camera has broken down.



Alright I've been in Southern California for going on 4 days now. I'm currently in Claremont and I lost in a three-setter yesterday. I lost the first set easy, then broke once to win the second. In the third I was up a break 2-1 and he broke right back... I wasn't happy with that at all. This is my first ITF tournament appearance since Joplin, Missouri and I am still sanding the rust off this machine.

Of course since I lost I went into town and found a streetcorner gig at the music & gallery hop that just happened to be going on then. I spoke with a few of the artists and they hooked me up with the man in charge of the event, who gave me a great place where I could play my pipes. I went to the van, geared up in my full Irish kilt and regalia and did the gig... made pretty good money and then headed to the local Wal-Mart where I parked my van and went to sleep.

The view of the mountains here in Claremont is spectacular. I'm planning on hiking to the top of one tomorrow.
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Thoughts:

Back in the van life again.
Camping is good for the soul.
I'm alone but not lonely.
Everybody is a loser until they win.
Why do people choose to worship the God they have created instead of the God who created them? Does this not make them worshipers of themselves???
Where did all the good people go?
Today is a beautiful day and I am quite thankful to be alive.
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Hoping that Luke, Tim & Rob can take a trip out here to experience the van life for a few days...!

Signing off...

~ Nate