Episode 7: Thriller

Darkness falls across the land

The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'all's neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell

— Rod Temperton, 1982

Well, anyone who knows me well, would know that Halloween is my all time favorite holiday. Yeah, I said holiday. But unfortunately, the folks in Europe don’t really celebrated this candy gobbling masked affair like they do in the USA. So this year I really wasn’t looking forward to it until Sarah and her friends Joe and Kami came up with the brilliant idea of throwing a Halloween party right here in Sophia and inviting all of our friends! Awesome, right? But after the excitement died down a bit, Sarah and I realized that because Halloween is not very popular here, it just might be a tough time trying to find a costume to wear. It was. So to make matters a little easier on myself I figured I’d just grab one of my many fedoras, a sparkle jacket, one glove, some high watered pants, add some goo for my hair and just go as my late hero, the King Of Pop during his classic 1984 look when he made other entertainers think twice before they’d release a weak album or video. But that all changed when Sarah and I came across a little Halloween stand in Sophia Mall. She found this little sexy Sherlock Holmes costume, and I found a prison outfit to go with it. Prisoner Number 6 to be precise. I’m sure my man Steven “The Hawk” Davolt will get this reference. Ain't that right, Hawk?

Surprisingly, the party was a huge success! Lots of folks came out and most dressed up in costumes. They ranged from The Big Lebowski to an Incredible Hulk deep sea-diver! ha! There was even a troop of female zombies who did a stellar live performance of my Halloween anthem and favorite music video of all time, MJ’s Thriller. Word must have gotten around about my King Of Pop karaoke impersonation I told you about in Week 3, because the zombie girls insisted I join in. I figured tonight I’d take a back seat and let the girls have there moment. It’s a good thing, too, because besides knowing just how ridiculous I’d look doing MJ’s Thriller in a damn prison outfit, these girls would have wiped the floor with me. They really had that Thriller video dance routine down pat!

Speaking of the King Of Pop, Sarah and I attended the Sophia opening of This Is It, the documentary on the making of MJ’s London shows that sadly never happened. Surprisingly it wasn't as much of a sob affair as I thought it would be. I think I might have lost it once towards the middle of the flick when he dedicated I'll be There, ironically, to his brothers and mom and dad. Nevertheless, the documentary served as a bit of a closure for me. I would not recommend it to non-fans, because Jackson did not do his best performance. It was just interesting to see how he does his work behind the scenes. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, then check it out. Sarah and I were discussing afterwards that if he were still alive he would have never allowed it to be seen by the public, because throughout the documentary, he kept saying, "I really should not be singing, I need to save my voice for the actual concerts."

We also attended another legendary concert during the month of October, but this one wasn’t on the silver screen, it was a live concert performance of ZZ Top! It was also, sadly, the last of my birthday gifts from Sarah this year, the first being Madonna, the second Macy Gray. Well this third and final gift was truly the best of the best because ZZ kicked some Sophia ass that night! I mean these old dudes were off the meat racks! The whole time Sarah kept saying to me, “wow, he can really play that guitar, O!” I had to kindly remind my misinformed companion that what she is witnessing tonight is a true expert at work. The great Billy Gibbons witnessed and studied the great masters like Chuck Berry, Les Paul, B.B. King, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. Not like one of these young amateurs of today who has just picked up the guitar after hearing the latest song by John Mayer or Dave Mathews Band. He he. These dude have been around the block a couple times.

Speaking of Hendrix, during the half mark of the concert, the ZZ boys displayed a huge image of Jimi on the back drop of the stage and did a stunning remake of Fire in tribute to their late hero. Now that’s what I’m talking about, paying homage to the folks that influenced you. The real good ones will show that kind of respect. It was an emotional moment for me seeing the ZZ boys display that kind of gratitude.

Anyway, sorry to bore you with my music talk. Let's move on to our trip to Vidin where Sarah spoke at a Human Rights conference. She needed an interpreter so she asked her good friend Galia who brought along her husband Ivo and their 5 year son Rossen. They also were very awesome to drive us there and back. I was a bit hesitant to go, because her husband speaks little English and I...well, you know, I only know about 6 words of Bulgarian, but I tagged along anyway, to get the opportunity to see another part of Bulgaria that, literally, borders Romania. It turned out that me and Ivo got along just great. It’s pretty amazing how two people who don’t speak the same language can still mange to communicate and enjoy some time together.

After me and Ivo’s love connection, I was feeling a bit cocky so I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’ when Sarah asked if I would like to hang out with her non-English speaking friend Christo while she was in the conference. Christo knew even less English than Ivo, but we still had an awesome time! He took me on a tour of Vidin and we saw a cool castle...uh, yes, I did say castle. Baba Vida! Sarah and I came up the theory that the castle’s close proximity to Romania might have keep the Turkish from destroying it during the war. After the castle we met back up with Sarah and went to dinner where we met up with our friend Julia who, like Sarah, is also in the Fulbright Program.

Although we never got to cross the border to Romania and ran out of time to go on our long awaited journey to Belogradchik, which is also near Vidin, the trip was awesome and I am happy I decided to tag along. Oh yeah, and the hotel we stayed in was off the ping pong table that I did my happy dance every time I entered.

Okay, I will try and keep this week's Blog-O-Daria short to make up for that huge Week 6 post. But before I wrap, I want to share with you a couple of my Bulgarian firsts. The first was a visit to a Bulgarian bank, and the second, was earning my first Bulgarian badge of honor for disturbing the peace in Sophia.

First the bank. I recently had to go to exchange some Bulgarian lev for Euro. Basically, It was pretty much the same deal you'd get at a typical US bank, only a bit amplified. They both share the same long, slow line. But in the States you could be waiting for about a half hour at the most and the place will typically have about 5 or 6 slow tellers. In Sophia, typically they'll have only one really slow teller making your morning trip to the bank about a good hour or two. Whoa. But on a more positive and interesting note, non of the employees, with the exception of the archetypical Barney Fife security guard, stared or gawked at me when I walked in. I couldn't believe it! My celebrity status was null and void inside of the bank. And to be perfectly honest, it kind of freaked me out a bit. I mean, I was even tempted to do my little happy dance while standing in line to see if they would stare at me. It was so nice to just be normal for a minute. I mean the employees were so professional, it was truly refreshing. When the line check lady came to me to see what I needed, she just smiled and went on about her business. Oh, and the teller was so sweet and nice. She just exchanged my money, no questions asked. I truly loved it! Now I know where to go if I want to get away from my celebrity status for a minute or two. I'll just go hang out at the bank all day. Ha!

Now to my first badge of honor for disturbing the peace in Sophia. Yep, the neighbors have complained about my music. At first I was a bit annoyed at the complaint because lately the only thing that has been constant on my playlist is The Clientele, a new English sunshine pop band, likened to The Association with some edge. In other words, very chill sounding, so to get a complaint was a bit unusual, that is until I searched my memory banks and remembered that one faithful day when Sarah was at work and I rocked out to that first classic Boston album from 1978, you know the one with More Than A Feeling. That album kicks so much rear end that I guess the complaint was valid. Sarah thinks that it could be xenophobia. I just think that they didn't like my Boston.

Okay, gotta run now, but I'll be closing this time with a special gift of song to a friend. A good friend that I am truly sorry to have missed her wedding today. So my dear Sarah Beam, if you are reading this, and have not yet written your wedding vowels to Joe, here's one for you:

At last, my love has come along

My lonely days are...

(sound of needle scratching record)

Until the end of time
I'll be there 4 U
U own my heart and mind
I truly adore U
If God one day struck me blind
Your Beauty I'll still see
Love is 2 weak 2 define
Just what U mean 2 me

—Prince, 1987

Congratulations, Sarah and Joe. May your life together be filled with lots of joy and happiness.

Be seeing you.

O