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Intro

Hello. My name is Isaac Shabtay, 32 years old from Ontario, Canada. I have set this blog up to document my journey following Mark Knopfler’s “Get Lucky” tour during the spring‐summer of 2010. This is in much the same way I did for Knopfler’s 2008 “Kill to Get Crimson” tour (see the “Links” section), except that this time, I will be following the entire tour—starting April 8 in Seattle, Washington, and ending July 31 in Gredos, Spain. Similarly to before, though, you are more than welcome to sit back, relax, read and comment. All comments, positive and negative, are welcome. You can also subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed (see links at the right‐hand side of the screen), so new posts become available through your favorite RSS reader. Have fun, Isaac

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Updates

I don’t know how many of you are reading this now, as the tour is already over and whoever used to check the website for updates would probably never get this.

Well, as I said… RSS… email subscription… Technology can help. And it’s free.

Anyway.

Sitting at the lobby of my hotel in Barcelona (a hotel that promised free Wi‐Fi in the rooms and failed to deliver; which is one of the reasons I started this), I’m going through the comments on my conclusion post and I’m humbled by it all. I remember waking up yesterday (Monday) morning, looking at my BlackBerry and seeing 12 comments over the course of just a few hours, plus a few private emails; comments and emails kept coming throughout the day, as well as today—and, as I said, all comments are welcome.

Thank you all for your support, I really appreciate it.

Following some of the comments, as well as a few private emails I received ever since that conclusion post came out, I decided to post another entry with a few, well, updates. Sort of updates. I don’t know how to call it; stuff that was left out.

The first thing I’d like to say something about is my impression of a few certain countries I have been to over the last few months. This entire journey has been one hell of an experience, with one of the biggest challenges being having to quickly adjust to new societies, new norms, new habits, new food, new people. I thought it goes without saying, but apparently it doesn’t—so I would like to make it clear: all of my impressions should be taken in perspective, considering the fact that I didn’t have that much time to adjust.

Having got used to the convenience and simplicity of living in Canada, obviously some European countries were easier to get adjusted to than others. The difference between Canada and, say, Norway is much easier to “bridge” over than the difference between Canada and Spain, or Hungary. Or Poland. Remember: of all of the European countries I had been to during this trip, only four of them I have already been to before—and even that was for short periods.

Every first contact with new culture bears the seeds of some sort of a culture shock, and when you fly through multiple such places over the course of a week, it’s natural to get a bit, well, overwhelmed. My frustration, then, has to be put in context, as it resulted from difficulties of me getting adjusted to the culture. Contrary to what a few people attempted to imply, no, I absolutely don’t dislike Spanish people, or Polish people. I don’t dislike Spain, Poland or any other country. I just described what goes through the head of someone, coming from a totally different background, trying to adjust quickly. That’s all.

Fact is, I am right now in Spain, spending a few days here before returning home this coming Friday. Just had the opportunity to explore a bit of Barcelona over the last two days and I tell you this is one hell of a beautiful city—when you know where to go. Hell, I even had a good breakfast here yesterday, and a good lunch today!

So… No hard feelings, alright? Proportions, please.

Next, about the book. I received quite a few emails from people interested in hearing more details—that’s great news. I’m going to dive head‐first into this as soon as I’m back home, talk to publishers and maybe even try lulu.com (thanks Arthur!). Details will be sent by email, as well as posted in this blog.

Next: A song. Someone mentioned that I should write a song about it all, myself being a guitar player and all. Well, not many of you may know this but I did get my hands on some recording equipment very shortly before going on the tour. There will be something composed—maybe not a song, maybe an instrumental, we’ll see. I have a few ideas already and will make the time to realize them. Warning: you may dislike it immensely.

And now, to address a few comments from that last post as well as comments from the Kill to Get Crimson tour’s last post. The fact that the tour is over is by no means a reason for me to shut up. At the moment, I actually have three blogs: the Kill to Get Crimson blog (inactive, but still online); the Get Lucky blog (from now on, will only contain posts related to the book I’m going to publish); and my all‐purpose blog. That last one is called “The Way I See It” and it can be found here:

http://blog.isaac.shabtay.com

It will go through some redesign over the next few days. I usually write there only when I travel, but I have recently decided to write a bit more. What about? I don’t know. You may find lots of things there. I’ll write about whatever I feel like, and it’s not always going to be smart. Or interesting. It may even contain some technology and programming stuff—who knows. I will use tags in order to categorize posts. So, you’re welcome to subscribe to the RSS feeds:

http://blog.isaac.shabtay.com/feeds/posts/default (for posts)

http://blog.isaac.shabtay.com/feeds/comments/default (for all comments)

(Both links are also available as buttons in the blog’s page itself, see the right‐hand sidebar)

And, as always, comments are welcome.

Thanks again for your support,
Isaac

11 comments:

  1. People can be so hurtful, I hope you wont stop blogging due to others ignorance.

    I dont care that you are homosexual, it doesnt impact the quality of your writing, does it?

    May you and Jereon live in peace and I hope you both enjoy a well desereved break.

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  2. People can be so IGNORANT...LOL
    All in all I prefer K9s..
    Is the comment above mine sincere or what?

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  3. Feed subscribed. Your writing is refreshing.

    A thought: Why the hell should anyone care about anyone's sexual orientation unless they're interested in sleeping with that person?

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  4. Well said Goretti. It annoys me that some people are paranoid over gays. Its only a harmless blog after all !

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  5. Oh my God: there's still a lot to laugh in this blog, isn't there Isaac? :-)))))

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  6. Isaac homosexual?

    Best joke of the day - and Laughing Out LOUD!

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  7. Isaac...I am an old man and I gave up trying to work out people about 10 years ago. So I was about 46 when I finally realised I was on another frequency...hope you get there sooner than me, cause when you realise this.. life becomes a hell of a lot easier..that much I can tell you. Urban N America is a good place for people like you and me..mixed cultures living with mixed cultures...good essays by the way..enjoyable and educational.

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  8. I've been meaning to mention this for awhile- and it's not a big deal, but I wonder if you could fix the link to Richard's "Notes from the Road" in your sidebar. It should go to either http://richard-bennett.com/notes-from-the-road or just http://richard-bennett.com/

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  9. DERG - I know, I know. I call this the "Choose Your Battles" principle. I'm getting better and better at this. Thanks for the kind words.

    Rich - thanks for the shout, fixed.

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  10. Nah Isaac don't thank me at all...I am glad to have you as an internet pal. I always thought it was me who was different. Maybe there is a business equiping these hotels with effective Wi Fi?..just athought.

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  11. Hi Isaac

    Thahks for this great bolg.
    Just amazing.
    I could feel the touring issues, cause myself also, i toured europe the last 5 months alot (work) , but regard the shows, .... perfect.

    keep doing, also for the next tour :)


    Avinoam
    Israel

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