Back in NYC. Shit got crazy quick. Finally got around to posting these. (Amsterdam to follow, eventually. And then I'll let the rest of the team post again.)
[Shot by AWKWORD with Canon EOS Digital Rebel / Telephoto lens]
The homie Whatzisface, emcee and chef, was supposed to touch down back in the US after commanding kitchens for a few months at the Chinese Games in Asia. Not sure if he made it through the storm (fingers crossed), but the plan, I believe, was to link with the rest a the goons, like GuessWho?, DJ Buffalo and ATG, in the city of FALLEN angels, Las Vegas. I would have joined them but wifey planned a crazy trip to Prague and Amsterdam for Christmas and New Year's. And aint nobody sayin no to that...
In Prague, drugs are everywhere. Not free, but unabashedly accessible. And absinth(e), with a huge beetle in it, lit on fire, is the WEAKEST thing one might try if one were so inclined.
Also in Prague, EVERYONE smokes. So, if you're 'kayaking' now, plan to pack gear you can wash when you get back home. And, like New York City or... anywhere... Prague has characters who have back-stories that are simply itching to be told.
First there was the 20-something from Sierra Leone who married a Czech woman and moved to Prague, only to be dropped by the philanderer for the former couple's hired home outdoor window washer. And then there was the OVERLY friendly beatnik-era vagabond who varies in age up and down his 30s, depending on who he's talking to, and how drunk he's managed to get off of 'borrowed' beer. As his story goes, six(?) years ago, he went to the Czech Republic on vacation to visit his grandfather, a dying epileptic, and never returned home. He is now homeless in Prague, begging for money daily on the trams that criss-cross the 'old' and 'new' 'cities'. He uses that money for beer, which fuels his sexual advances toward female tourists and locals alike. (No pictures will be posted out of respect for these troubled travelers.)
Throughout our too-short time here, we've been getting from one section of the city to the next via AAA (pronounced 'ah-ah-ah') taxis. On the radio (my favorite topic), we've heard a French remix of a KiD CuDi song; pre-Pope photo-tearing Sinead O'Connor; Czech punk-rock Christmas anthems; and a healthy share of pop history highlights that I remember hating the first time they were cool. But that aint the point: I did see a few Pete Rock & CL Smooth show posters (sorry, no pic yet); the cabbies are mainly peace; and we've gotten where we've needed to go, quickly, skating across narrow icy cobblestone alleys...
