Spain—Day 5

Today is exciting. I start one week’s worth of intensive language classes in Valencia. So, first things first, I had to wake up and navigate my way over to the school. Before they put you in class they give you a placement exam that tells them what your level of español is. Well, I could have told them that my level was zero, nothing, or whatever the system is.

Spain—Day 4

Day 4 was mostly spent on a bus from Madrid to Valencia, so I’ll keep this one short.

Let me just say that I’ll never be entirely sure how I managed to negotiate my way onto a bus with a driver that spoke no english and a ticket that was only on my phone. It was a tad miraculous, I think. The bus was nicer than my apartment, though, including my seatmate who didn’t let anyone steal my camera even when I was dumb enough to leave it sitting right out in the open while I went to the restroom. Soy estupido.

Spain—Day 3

One thing I´m noticing is that a lot of Spanish doors have the doorknobs located in the middle of the door, and not as far out from the hinge as is practical.

I can only conclude that the Spanish, while lovely people, don´t know shit about physics. Bear with me; I´ll be brief.

Spain—Day 2

The computer access continues, so so do the blogs! It´s 1pm on Friday in Madrid, so that´s about 5am pacific/7am central (also Friday). Basically, everyone I know is asleep right now.

Today I moved hostels, which involved a 2km walk and a pretty liberal application of the phrase, “Donde esta el Calle del Carmen?”

Spain—Day 1

The hostel I’m staying at in Madrid has computers for guests’ use in the basement (right next to the bar, oh yes), so I thought I’d check in with early impressions.

We flew all night, from 6pm East Coast time to 8am Madrid time. I read the whole time; no sleep for this one. The plane, a giant Airbus 340, had a camera mounted on the tail and aimed forward, the view of which they showed during takeoff and landing. It was pretty cool to see what the landing looked like from that perspective.

Traveling Man

Attention, everyone: I am leaving the country for a month, starting tomorrow. I will have limited internet access, and no cellphone. So, if there’s anything you need from me, now is your window to text, message, or email me.

Out of necessity, there may be some triage involved—I only have so much time before I leave and there’s much to do. But I am endeavoring to not have anything fall through the cracks.



Yours,
JT

Two songs featured on The Real World: New Orleans!

Aight, so sorry the update took so long to hit the website. Tour will do that to you, you know (speaking of which, I have an almost complete tour blog that’s been sitting in a text file for over a month, too). Anywho, something happened to me last month that was pretty awesome. Two of my songs were featured on episodes of The Real World: New Orleans in back to back weeks.


JT Joins Blue Microphone Family

So, one of my goals for 2010 has been to secure an endorsement, which, for those who don’t know, is basically an agreement between artist and company that the artist will use the company’s products/services in exchange for promoting them to their fanbase. Anyway, I got an opportunity to partner up with Blue Microphones, and I’m happy to say I jumped on it.

JT on flying with a guitar

Last week I flew out to the East Coast to do a few shows in NYC and CT. On the return flight, I got into a long talk with another passenger about the logistics of flying with a guitar. Whether or not it could be carried on, how I get it past the gate agents, etc. So after giving him all my tips and tricks, I thought they might be of general interest. The quick overview is this: play dumb, ask nicely, and beg. All of the specific tips come from those three principles.

Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

So, happy Valentine’s Day, from me to you! I recorded a down and dirty version of one of my favorite Sam Cooke tunes, called Nothing Will Ever Change This Love I Have For You. It’s a capella, and recorded on one take in a bathroom on an iphone.



But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!



Nothing Can Change.mp3