Puh, that new security rules are really boring. I mean, come on - 1h you are not allowed to read a book, a magazine or a news paper. Hey Mr., put away the evil "financial times", stop reading this dangerous "rolling stone" magazine. You are not allowed to have your pillow on your lap or listen to your iPod. For what reason? I don't get it but what I know for sure is that you don't argue with US flight attendance or sky marshalls or police officers or customs agents under any circumstances - you get the point ;) after landing it took almost 2h to get off the plane, get queued at immigration, get the bags, go through customs, re-check in the bags, go through security check for departure, go to the gate, board.
This is the second time this month (besides getting my Joy Box set out of customs in Berlin) where I get the feeling that one need to be a very big fan to do this.

Next off to Miami from Charlotte. Phish, we are coming... ;)

Landed in Frankfurt, stucked in Frankfurt.

Getting from Terminal 1A to 1C by airport train was easy but don't you hate it if they take you throught passport, boarding card and security checks over and over again? Our LH boarding pass wasn't sufficient to get on board so we had to exchange it. As a result we ended up in a huge waiting line. Only American travellers seemed to have the right boarding pass in hand. Coincidence?

The airline crew did not only double-check passports but also took us through an intense security questionaire. Felt like an interview with the homeland security department. Now we are sitting in the plane on the ground for over an hour because they need to clean up a "substance" which was found in the cargo of the plane. There are also brand new security rules on the plane due to the incident on the Delta flight. Passangers have to stay in their seats for the last hour of the flight. Hand lagguage and all personal belongings need to be stored, nothing may be placed on the lap during the last hour of the flight.

What else? I am expecting more surprises.

End of day 1, part 2 as I am going back to flight mode for the next 10h.

Well, today's the day I have been waiting for since months (besides marry my girl after 10 years of course which already makes me the happiest man on the planet). We got up early in the morning after just returning from christmas with the parents last night.

Packing for Miami was easy: Lots of Phish t-shirts (12 to be exactely so 2 per day). I've been a little nervous about the flight schedule during the last week as there was heavy snow and ice on most German and European airports which led to the close down of Berlin and Frankfurt 2 days before christmas for example. Temperatures are up again and everything seems to be back to normal. Taxi came quick and the streets in Berlin were almost empty as all shops and offices are closed. Check-in at the airport was also quick and we got some decent seats for the long distance flight. Its my first time with US Airways. Hopefully the Americans don't freak out completely because there was a (thank god failed) terrorist attack on a Delta plane to day where some Nigerian tried to set some explosives on fire but was tackled by crew members and passangers.

Ok, end of Day 1, Part 1 as I need to switch to flight mode.

I just found this post with cute videos of babies liking Phish.
I hope I'll post videos of my little Eden soon :)

http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/the-b-list-10-best-kiddie-phish-videos/

I discovered Phish live with the bonus tracks from Junta. They where cool and funny (Icculus !!) or barly listenable (Union Federal). Anyway, when I found A Live One in the music store of the Pont de la Machine in Geneva (unfortunatly closed now), I made my parents buy it to me for Christmas without a question !

Of course, it was a life-changing experience.

I got Slip Stitch and Pass and Hampton Comes Alive from the same store in a span of maybe 2 years.

I remember listening to A Live One in front of my computer with my brother playing Final Fantasy VII by my side. Taken by the music, I used to "play the keyboard" and getting my brother upset.
I first listened to Slip Stitch and Pass in the train from Geneva to Valence, right after buying it with my birthday money. It stayed in my player for several month.
Hampton Comes Alive was also a really great experience. I listened to it a lot while playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on my computer.

I bought the other boxset several years later, when they have been respectively released. Each time I could, I pre-ordered the release to grab the bonus CD that came with it. The Left Nuts CD was given with the Walnut Creek DVD.

As a side note, I must admit that I had some let down with some of the releases. While the packaging used to bee very cool (Hampton Comes Alive especially), the recent ones are very cheap-looking (Vegas 96 or At the Roxy). But more important, the sound quality is really bad in At the Roxy. The voices have a reverb effect that too annoying and just ruins the vibe ! Too bad as I was really waiting for this multi-show release.

Nevertheless, I have found memories of listening to it while making levels in Little Big Planet on my PS3. By the way, I have a project for several month to do some Phish-related levels. I could even mix that with a contest to make you win some rare Phish-related CDs, who knows...

Eden, my 2 months old son, loves Phish.