November 15, 2009

Gettin' Jiggy with a Tuba

Winter is setting in and I am attempting to get in touch with my internal snow beast. Unfortunately, after a lifetime of globetrotting, including to colder destinations like Portland and Moscow, I have finally admitted to myself that I belong somewhere without winter.
Nonetheless, although German weather is completely stupid six months of the year, I love how the Germans get down to tuba music. Remember date night when we rocked out to La Brass Banda? That was total Tubapoluza.
Last night a friend of our celebrated his 40th birthday party with a popular local live band Die Drei von der Tankstelle. They're a 3 man band that plays 50s music and last night they also featured a tuba player, which is always a crowd pleaser.
They were pretty awesome and I was so pleased with my vodka inspired insights about Germans and tuba music that I shared them with several people, including the guy next to me, a tall chiseled blond who looked like he just graduated from Master Race school. He listened politely as I burbled all this lame stuff about tubas and Germans and then gravely corrected me:
'It's actually a sousaphone.'
So there you have it. The real title of this post is Gettin' Jiggy with a Sousaphone but I was afraid no one outside of Germany would know what the heck a sousaphone is.
Anyway, after the band finished their show we switched to DJ music and dancing until 4 in the morning. I myself performed an inspired air guitar routine to 'Are You Gonna Go My Way?' It was so unexpectedly hot that I got cheered and you have to remember that Germans only cheer when, like, Germany wins the World Cup or something.
So, never.
Unfortunately, I lost my hard-earned street cred moments later when our friend Oller attempted to dance with me. Now, I can shake my funky stuff reasonably well. I just don't play well with others on the dance floor. When someone attempts to lead me in any actual dance steps it's like that scene from Fantasia. You know the one:
Still, I was flying high from my air guitar triumph and gamely attempted to follow Oller's skilled lead. He did better than most because he actually can dance and for a few minutes what I lacked in skill was made up for by enthusiasm.
At least, until a surprise twirl made my glasses fly across the room.
Fortunately, by this time we were down to a hard-core group of old friends, none of whom were remotely surprised to see my glasses go flying off.
And this is why I never made it as a sex kitten. I can occassionally fool people for a few minutes but in the end I'm too prone to the rediculous.
The night ended perfectly with Doenners, which are lovely fatty meat sandwiches of Turkish origin.
And now for a few nice pictures I found when I Googled 'Die Drei von der Tankstelle':



12 comments:

  1. Believe it or not, my father plays the tuba. And, while in college, played the sousaphone. The difference is actually quite simple - the sousaphone is the one you see people marching with as it would pretty much be impossible to march while holding a tuba.

    As for the pics? Oh my.

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  2. Or, perhaps more accurately... is that a sousaphone in your skirt or are you just happy to see me?

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  3. I take it the dudes in the skirts and panties weren't the same guys in 50s tuba band?

    How do you know the party lasted until 4 a.m.??? Were you still there??? If so, that's impressive. Have haven't done something like that in about 25 years.

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  4. Love that last pic - I think all men should dress like that! And I do know what a sousaphone is - thought it was American for tuba...

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  5. You are a wild girl! How are you feeling today? Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  6. This definitely seems like a German thing to do. Was David Haselhoff there?

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  7. I was with you until you INCLUDED Portland in cities that had winters next to Moscow! WHAT?!? The Pacific Northwest coast hardly ever gets snow and almost never gets below 40F!

    I guess it is all relative though. I grew up in the Midwest and escaped to the PNW for less winter... :)

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  8. Too funny!
    And now you can turn around and correct that German dude about the finer points of tubas vs. sousaphones -- don't you just love it how Germans always feel like they're the experts & have to correct you....?

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  9. You must mean Portland, ME, right?

    Anyway, DANG! Those pictures are making it hard for me to type since I'm salivating all over the keyboard.

    Sounds like a great time. Next time, I will dance with you and we can both look silly.

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  10. Hmmm. They look kinda like- Power Rangers meet Jonas Brothers. Glad you showed everyone a good time, HPH!

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  11. Your glasses went flying off? You were getting seriously jiggy!

    I don't know how to take those boys and their brightly colored displays so early in the morning. That was better than a jolt of caffeine.

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  12. The pics alone on this post were awesome. The story was icing on the cake.

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