Monday, November 13, 2017

New Collaborations...

Last spring, Haley played a couple "pick up" gigs with two different groups of musicians. Both were kind of unplanned and just worked out the way they did based on proximity and necessity but the two groups kinda worked and this fall Haley had a chance to get together with each again for gigs.

Mothers' Pride first performed together last St. Patrick's Day at a lovely, well-attended gig at the Philadelphia Art Museum. They received two standing ovations and decided they might like to play together again. The group consists of Gabriel Donahue, who plays about every instrument known to man and does it well...he even uses loop pedals and puts on his own rather impressive one-man show. Gabriel's wife, Marian Makins, is the voice of the group and also adds some bodhran percussion. Jonathan Srour is a fabulous flute player and an even better dancer. His time is a bit limited as he is currently doing his medical residency. There is a lot of talent in the group and they work well together with very little rehearsal...which is always a plus when time is limited. They have performed a couple festivals in unlikely sounding places...The Seagirt Festival where they performed in a shooting range and the Maryland Irish Festival where they were in the Birthing Center of the Cow Palace.
Oh, the stories Haley will have to tell.



Shared Madness is Haley's other new collaboration and they came together last April at the Ormond Beach Festival. Haley was invited to perform and knew Don Penzien would be there with Megan Irby as their band Beirt le Chéile so she asked him to back her on guitar. Don and Megan then invited Haley to do their sets with them and Shared Madness was born. (The name came about because of a man in a very large, ornate chicken suit at the festival.) Don is a very talented guitarist and Megan has the voice of an angel. When Haley's cousin Thomas scheduled his wedding in October, we asked Don and Megan, who live in North Carolina, if they would like to do a few gigs with Haley on our way. They rehearsed for an afternoon to put together their program then did a few gigs together. They have a lot of fun together!!

They are scheduled for a number of festivals and other filler gigs through this coming spring throughout the southeastern United States. If you live in the south, they may soon be performing somewhere near you! Check them out at sharedmadnessmusic.com.


September 2017

My baby is growing up.

She's an incredible young lady and she amazes me everyday with her intelligence, determination, perseverance, hard work, and strong sense of who she is.  Haley started school a couple weeks ago. This year she is taking two classes online through the community college as a dual enrolled student. Online courses because we have some travel planned and cannot guarantee she would be able to attend classes in person at the college.

Haley decided she'd like to try some different courses this year and see if anything appeals to her (as much as music). This semester she chose Psychology and Art Appreciation and is enjoying both, though they are a lot of work. The first week was on the light side then, she received lists of work for week two. Like any perfectionist (ask me how I know), she felt like she needed to get everything done on Monday and was a bit overwhelmed. I sat with her and showed her how to go through the list and parse out the work in her planner so she was doing a bit every day, keeping track of deadlines, and not being overwhelmed every Monday when the lists arrive.

She's a quick learner and the next week set up her schedule on her own. She quickly got into a routine.

I am so proud of this girl. She is handling her college classes plus her regular schoolwork, practicing violin and fiddle, continuing to work on her novel, and doing most of the meal preparation in the home. Haley decided a couple months ago to try out the vegan lifestyle and is very dedicated to making it work plus loves to try new recipes so we are eating very well.

Here's a little video of her this summer strutting her stuff on stage this past July in the Studio2Stage production That's Dancing 2017...


Monday, September 18, 2017

The End of Summer

Our summer ended with two weeks in Ireland.

We spent time in Donegal with our friends Mairead and Nia...lots of music, a couple concerts to see, some horseback riding with views of Mt. Errigal, and a ferry ride to Gola (Gabhla) Island complete with a walk around the island and a tea break.

Haley and Mia on Gola Island.
From Donegal we drove to Galway for a session with Haley's friend, Michael, who she met at the Folk Alliance Convention last year. Michael plays in a fun band called Baila An Salsa. In Ennis, we stayed with a lovely father and daughter outside of town. The Fleadh Cheoil in Ennis was very busy and the streets were crowded from the time we arrived on Wednesday until after we left on Sunday.

Haley with our hosts pup who was initially very afraid of us but as you can see  got over it.
Haley hosted two release events in Ennis for her Music for Mercy charity CD and many of the young musicians who donated tracks to the CD were able to be present as well as many wonderful musician friends who came out to support their efforts. (Haley's charity compilation CD can be purchased from her website www.haleyrichardsonmusic.com on the contact page.)

Photo by Bob Singer
Music for Mercy CD release event. Photo courtesy of Bob Singer.
Haley enjoyed a number of excellent sessions in Ennis. She spent an afternoon playing tunes with the wonderful musicians from Socks in the Frying Pan, late night hours in a crowded pub with musician friends from NY and Ireland, and another afternoon with Colman and Damien Connolly and fiddler, Senan Moran.



Haley also competed and won another championship in the Under 15 Fiddle Slow Airs category.

Photo taken by Martin Connolly.
We left Ennis on Sunday morning and drove to Malahide to visit the family of Haley's Studio2Stage partner in crime, Shauna. We had a fabulous couple days being shown the sites around Malahide, going on a viking tour, attending private concerts (by Picture This and The Script), and eating some delicious food. Funny how you can meet some people and feel like you've known them your entire life. 

Haley and I flew home from Ireland on a Wednesday. I worked Thursday and then we drove to Allentown to spend the weekend doing gigs with Dylan and Corey. A show at the Cooperage in Honesdale, PA where Haley learned to make "Jesus" toast afterward with our hosts for the night.





Then a private performance at a wedding anniversary for Haley's friend, Johan De Meij and his wife Dian. Finishing off the weekend with Dylan and Corey's regular Sunday morning gig in Bethlehem, PA.


The end of summer and the beginning of another year of school for Haley. 

10th grade is going to be a busy one. Haley is taking two dual enrollment courses through the community college this semester (Psychology and Art Appreciation- a visit to the National Gallery in London awoke an interest in art for Haley), continuing to learn Irish and French, and working with Miss Kathy on language arts. That takes us through December.

Monday, August 07, 2017

Studio2Stage 2017

From Swannanoa Gathering, we drove home, did a load of laundry, slept for the night, then got up early to head to Kean University for Studio2Stage. Studio2Stage is an Irish dance camp where they bring non-professional World Champion level dancers from around the world along with a few musicians and put together a full scale Irish dance show in nine days with all live music.

This was Haley's 4th year playing fiddle for this camp/show and  my first year as an official production assistant so I was able to watch from Day 1 until the final show on Day 9 and even though I saw it all unfold, I was still blown away by the final performance and how everyone came together to do their best to put on a fabulous show. The staff from the production staff to the choreographers to the music directors do a wonderful job creating a positive, encouraging atmosphere while demanding each person's best effort.

Haley had a wonderful time. She made fast friends with the show's singer/ukulele player from Dublin, Shauna. They were inseparable from the first moment they met.

Haley and Shauna sharing a joke prior to the performance

Haley and Shauna dressed for S2S Oscar's Night.

All the music magic happened here...kinda funny they were put in the Human Performance Lab...



The music directors, Anton and Sully, are a lot of fun and do a great job putting the musical part of the performance together in a fun way. They send most of the music ahead of time so they can spend their time at camp arranging and working out harmonies. Anton and Sully also put up with the girls' ideas for band movie and snack nights, band facial night (see photo below) and band meals...usually Indian food.



On Friday, the entire camp takes a train into Manhattan to do a dance flashmob in Times Square. 



Shauna, Sully, and Haley in Times Square NYC!!


After all the hours of rehearsal and the fun, there were two shows on Sunday, a matinee and a final performance. The week went by way too quickly!!





Haley even did her part to encourage the next generation of Irish fiddle lover...



Another week gone too quickly...we had one week at home and in a couple days are flying off to Ireland.

Hanging out with her "tribe."

For the past nine years, Haley's favorite week of the year has been her week every July at Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week. When she was little, she took a full load of classes during the day and player tunes in sessions all night. For the past few years, she has helped out by playing tunes for the beginner's accompaniment class and taken classes to fill up her schedule...and played tunes all night.

This year Haley decided to help out for Beginner Guitar Accompaniment plus Accompanying Tunes on the Fly and she also helped out at a few different instructors' potluck sessions. She spent her free times practicing her classical and fiddle music and working on a few projects from home. She hung out with the musicians during concerts and every night played tunes in amazing sessions until the wee hours. I don't think she went to bed before 3:30am the entire week of camp. According to Haley, "the musical magic happens after midnight." The sessions this year were legendary and she got up on her own without complaint every day for the next morning's classes.

As a mother, it was heartwarming to watch her in action with a group of people who love, know, and are passionate about the music she is passionate about...her "tribe." Even though most are more than twice her age, they "get" her on another level that even I am not on and I love them all for it and for encouraging her.  Haley had a gig with John Whelan and her brother, Dylan, the day before camp so John (and our friend, Kira) rode with us to North Carolina. Haley and John did live Facebook feeds in the car on the way there and with a few other musicians while at camp.

The thing I love the most about the musicians who teach at Swannanoa is the fun they have together. Here are a few videos demonstrating that fun...







Here are a just a few pics....

Haley with her "guitar master" Alan Murray.

John Whelan, Haley, and Kevin Crawford

Haley with her one of her favorite fiddlers to jam with, Colin Farrell.

Haley was also very lucky this week to get a chance to meet and spend hours talking to Janis Ian about her experiences as a talented, young musician, as an author, and about college options as Janis has been a guest lecturer at a number of schools Haley is considering.

Haley with Janis Ian.

We are always sad when the week is over and Haley has to wait another year to have this large a group of colleagues to make music with at one time.

Friday, July 07, 2017

Travel to Thailand...(Part 2)

I have been meaning to get to the rest of our trip to Bangkok but have been so busy since we arrived home that it's been hard to find more than a few minutes at a time between other things to think through everything and get it all down. I have been typing a bit at a time and here it is....

Monday morning after breakfast, Father Joe took us on a tour of the Mercy Centre and told us all the wonderful things they are doing to help where they can in all aspects of life for their neighbors. Everything from providing work to disabled neighbors, meals to families with no money for food, law services, a woman's group with a thrift store, kindergartens for slums throughout Bangkok, etc... We peeked into classrooms where children were busy. Some children worked on donated computers playing English learning games, little ones played with toys, and others sat in a circle around their teacher learning. Many of them peeked at us, waving and smiling. 


I was impressed with their attention to their teachers and their focus to task from the youngest (2.5 year olds) to the oldest (6 year olds). We were taken across the street to the Janusz Korczak School where children who have recently arrived in Thailand with their parents from other countries or spent too much time on the streets so were not quite ready to go to the public or international schools were taught to read and write Thai and English. 

That afternoon, we took a walk with Ploy and Manow (beautiful young women who were often our guides in the city). They practiced their English with us and told us stories of everyday life in Bangkok. They walked us to a 7-11 so I could get a SIM card for my phone. Later, we were driven into the city to meet with Mick and his friend, Roy, also a new visitor to Thailand. 

The drive was an experience. The streets in the slum are very narrow, hardly wider than a driveway but with cars and motorcycles (lots of motorcycles) moving in both directions between people and dogs. Street vendors lined both sides of these "streets" with each located outside its owner's makeshift "house," usually 2 or 3, rarely 4 walls of found materials with a corrugated metal roof but almost always with a small beautifully decorated "temple" for their ancestors outside. 

Motorcycles are very popular in Bangkok. They get through traffic easily by zipping between cars until they are in front of the cars at a light. Many of the motorcycles are taxis themselves and sometimes an entire family will be on one with someone driving, a child in front, and someone (or two) else behind… often no helmets. 

Mick walked us to a delicious Thai restaurant where we tried numerous delicacies I hope to get to eat again someday. Often in Bangkok, Haley and I felt like we were on one of those reality TV shows where someone, in our case usually Mick or Ratana, gives you little bits of information but you don't know which will be helpful to make it to the next level. During dinner, Mick gave Haley and I the Thai phrases for "turn right, turn left, and go straight. Haley typed the phrases into her phone in case we needed them later.

After dinner, we walked around the streets of Bangkok with educational commentary by Mick. We stopped for awhile in an Australian bar where we listened to a Filipino cover band...Bangkok is an experience unlike anything we've ever experienced. Walking back to the main road to hail a cab, Mick bought us some fruit called durian saying we had to try it. We stuck it in the refrigerator planning to eat it at breakfast the next morning.

The first couple nights, Mick hailed the cab for us and talked with the driver to tell him where to take us Usually he told us to get in the back of the cab prior to telling the driver where to take us because taxi drivers in most parts of the city try to avoid driving in the Klong Toey slums...the streets are narrow, they think it is unsafe, and it's a little bit out of the way where they generally aren't going to get a fare out. Almost every night it took us 2-3 cabs before one agreed to take us. A taxi ride cost us, at most, 150 baht (which is about $5...very inexpensive) and usually 45-100 baht which was like nothing so I tipped the taxi drivers well who agreed to drive us. Once in a cab, I would bring up the Mercy Centre on GoogleMaps so I could make sure we were going the right way and that night, wouldn't you know, the taxi driver went right past the small street into the Klong Toey slums. He knew no English and was unable to read my Google map, so Haley and I used out recently gained knowledge of Thai directional phrases to get him back to where we needed to be then through the slum to the Mercy Centre. (Thanks to Mick, we made it!)

Tuesday morning after breakfast Father Joe walked with us to the kindergarten and into a large room. Children filed in and quietly sat on the floor. Father Joe introduced Haley and had them repeat her name then Haley played them some Irish music, sang simple songs, and taught them a song. They were eager to learn and enthusiastic. After the "lesson" they gathered around Haley trying to touch her hair, get a high five or fist bump, or give her a smile.


Later, we met Mick and Roy to go to Mick's friend, May's graduation from college which involved another crazy drive through Bangkok in a taxi. Roy pointed out the telephone/electric lines where  We met with her and her family for lunch in the college cafeteria (our colleges and universities should take some lessons from them on how to feed people…the food was delicious and inexpensive) then Roy took photos of the graduate with her family and friends. After the graduation, we went back to Mick’s apartment so he and Haley could rehearse for the next night’s gig at the Irish Ambassador’s residence.
Dinner that evening was at Dosa King, our new favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant. Oh goodness, Haley would crave food from Dosa King for the rest of the trip. 

Walking through the streets of Bangkok, every once in awhile, I would catch a whiff of a horrid nauseating smell that I attributed to sewer or something else really gross. When we got back to our hotel late at night, one of us opened our refrigerator to grab a bottle of water and that same smell hit us both immediately...the durian!! We had forgotten to take it to breakfast. Ugh!!! I packaged it up, wrapping it tightly into 2 plastic bags and we disposed of it but the smell lingered in the apartment and especially in the refrigerator.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning after breakfast, Father Joe sent us to the Janusz Korczak School to teach. Haley played them some tunes. She gave them each a friendship bracelet we had made prior to the trip then she and I each took a table, handed out the materials, and taught the kids how to make friendship bracelets for themselves. They were fast learners! It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed their newly made bracelets. Two boys at my table finished their bracelets quickly so together worked on the demo one I had started then gave it to me. 




For lunch, Ploy and Manow took us into the city in a taxi to a huge mall so we could experience shopping and eating lunch in a Thai food court. Haley and I had our first dish of mango and sticky rice...and it was all downhill from there because we then purchased the delicious dish for dessert whenever we could find it. We had fun window shopping with the girls and learning about Thai life and culture from them. We ate dinner with Father Joe and Ratana that evening and went to bed early.

Thursday morning we accompanied Father Joe to the Slaughterhouse slum area which made the Klong Toey slum seem "nice." The "streets" here were more like paths and still there were motorcycles (though no cars could fit), people, dogs, game cocks with chicks, and vendors selling food and wares. People smiled, bowed, and spoke to Father Joe and us as we made our way to the kindergarten. The homes were up on posts and the canal brought plastic trash up underneath but the people kept their homes as clean as they could. 

We heard singing as we neared the school. Children stood in a circle around teachers singing a song in English about greeting and telling someone your name. Smaller children sat on the floor in a sectioned off area coloring on paper and another group wrote letters while standing at long tables. 


After the school, Father Joe continued our tour of the area with a walk along the canal, which was probably some of the dirtiest water I have ever seen with so much plastic garbage, where he showed us a recently built cement barrier between the homes, a very narrow path, and the canal. He said children had fallen into the canal so the cement wall was built by the government. He showed us the old slaughterhouse that had been closed to make room for a semi truck parking area. The smell of slaughtered animals still hung in the air and rotted out homes that once housed the Christian immigrants who once worked slaughtering animals each night lined the walkways.

We then drove to a small temple. The beauty of the temples is astounding. Brilliant colors, design, and detail on every building. Father Joe took us to the river where we fed the fish. I have never seen so many fish in one spot at one time. They swam over each other in a huge swarm trying to get the pieces of bread Haley dropped into the water.


We drove back to the Centre where Ploy and Manow walked us to a local street vendor who had a small outdoor restaurant set up behind the Mercy Centre. We ate some delicious vegetarian fried rice...two plates full for the equivalent of less than $1. Then we walked to the main street to hail a cab for the short ride to another shopping area...sort of like our Walmart. We picked up a few things to help get rid of the lingering durian smell (baking soda for the refrigerator and air freshener for the room), shopped around, then stopped in a Starbucks and treated the girls to frappuccinos.


In the evening, a Mercy Centre van took us, Father Joe, and Ratana to pick up Mick and Roy. The traffic was horrible (motorcycles were driving up on the sidewalk to get through but in the van we were stuck)! It took us an extra two hours to get there then a bit longer to the Irish Ambassador’s residence in the penthouse of a large apartment building. The view of the city was incredible! Mick and Haley played some music for the intimate gathering of people there to celebrate a woman who had started an Irish woman’s group but was transferring away from Thailand.

Haley and Mick playing some tunes...

Mick was determined that we have a tour of some important tourist spots in Bangkok so he sent us with Roy on a tour on Friday. We had to get up very early in the morning to get into the city. We woke Mick and he took us to breakfast then put us all in a van for our tour. They drove us around the city, pointing out important sites and giving us historical background. We ended up at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Palace. 

All I can say is "Wow!" 



I have never seen such intricately designed buildings in so many different styles (Thai, Cambodian, etc...). Building after building filled the grounds, each more beautiful than the next. The guide told us which king had each built and pointed out interesting details. We were allowed into the building housing the Emerald Buddha (after removing our shoes...oh, the piles of shoes!) but only Thai residents were allowed close to him. Outside that building, Thai residents dressed in black lined up under a covered passage of another building and were led through gates to walk across the palace grounds to pay their respects to their beloved King who passed away last October. 

For the end of the tour, we were taken by van through the city and dropped off for a "free drink" at a jewelry factory...our drink meant we had to sit through a silly short movie about the wonders of gems in Thailand and jewelry making. The movie emptied out into a room filled with jewelers plying their craft then from there into a gigantic showroom of very, um, fancy jewelry. Our "family" (Haley, Roy, and I) were given our own "personal assistant" to aid our shopping. She was very nice until we told her we'd like to leave without purchasing anything. Back through the streets to Mick's apartment building then we took a tuk tuk ride to get dinner. If you have never been on a tuk tuk, it's an experience...a motorcycle built for five! Well, probably not five but we stuffed the four of us in. Mick knew to settle on an amount to pay prior to getting in and the driver, just as I read online he'd do, suggested taking us somewhere other than where we wanted to do.


We rode the tuk tuk to the above ground train and took it to the fancy mall for dinner at the food court. (Yes, Haley and I had more mango and sticky rice, of course.) Mick provided our next bit of important information by showing us how to use the train just in case we needed to know. He also got a kick out of our durian story...he might still be laughing about that.

Saturday morning started with Mass. The majority of the children at the Mercy Centre are Buddhist and are allowed to practice the religion of their parents but they are taught to respect all religions and about Jesus so they attend Mass on Saturday mornings. I was struck by the beauty of their voices singing Christian songs during the service. 


After church Haley and I walked over to Father Joe's where Ratana had our daily breakfast of massive amounts of various types of fruit waiting. She then told us the children would like to invite us to see their soccer game so we walked over to the concrete soccer field (think indoor soccer without the soft surface). Some children were playing soccer. Others, some big and some tiny, playing basketball. Some watched the soccer game and others rode bikes or jumped rope, climbed playground equipment, or played in small groups. Haley and I watched a bit then walked back through the buildings to a room where a group of children (some very young) were learning about HIV...how to prevent transmission. They were playing games to aid the learning. It was a shocking dose of their reality. It seems so safe within the walls of the Mercy Centre but just outside the gates are the slums with the horrors of drug abuse, child abuse, child trafficking, etc... Some of the children have family outside and once they are teens it is even harder to keep them safe. 

Haley was quite taken by this little guy, Tax.


After class, a group of girls invited us to have lunch with them. They led us up to a covered, open area on the second floor where small charcoal cookers were set up. Groups of children sat around each cooker, sometimes with an adult and sometimes with a teen taking charge of the cooking. Broth was heated in a reservoir around the base of the circular cooker then noodles cooked in the broth. Vegetables and meats were spread on top of the raised middle to "grill" and each child used wooden sticks to pick up and turn the cooking foods. After the meal, they had ice-cream. 


We gave out friendship bracelets to the children while they cooked their meals and had a wonderful time talking with them. A group of older boy added their names to Haley's Facebook (easier than trying to type in their language) so they could remain "friends."


After lunch, we traveled by van then via overhead train with Ratana and Father Joe to the Rhythms of the Earth World Music Festival where the best of the orphanages' dancers and musicians performed their traditional Thai music and dance on stage. Their costumes were fabulous and their program was wonderful done. 




Haley was invited to play a tune at one point then she did some improvisation with Thai musicians she met a couple minutes prior to stepping on stage playing instruments she'd never seen before. We had mango and sticky rice for supper...an admission of guilt, maybe. 


Sunday morning, we got up really early, ate breakfast where Ratana gave us our important bit of information for the day (how to say where we needed to be to take the train) then walked out to the main street, hailed a cab completely on our own, navigated the overhead train system (BTS) and made our way to the Chatuchak Market on the complete other side of the city. We walked around the market purchasing souvenirs for family and friends. There is everything and anything you could imagine and even some things you could not possibly imagine at this market!



Roy called about an hour later and I was even able to tell him how to navigate the BTS and get to the market. I also gave him a place to meet us (not an easy feat as I was not exactly sure where we were in the huge market of over 15,000 vendors) but I used my instincts and he did eventually make it to us. We ate Thai food for lunch with him and during lunch showed him our purchases. He liked the wall hangings I had picked out so we decided to try to find that vendor again. Haley and I had been just wandering through the market when we came upon the wall hanging vendor...you'd have to know this market to understand just how impossible a task this seemed but we managed to do it with a little luck and Haley's wonderful photographic memory.

The three of us then made our way back to the BTS and met Mick near the river to take a boat across to the Oriental Hotel, an absolutely amazingly fancy old hotel! We had a delicious dinner with...yes, the best mango and sticky rice yet for dessert!



On the way back, Mick and Roy needed to get off the BTS at an earlier stop than us, leaving Haley and I to get off the BTS, hail our own cab, and tell the driver where we needed to go. Father Joe had given us our most important bit of information our very first morning at breakfast...a business card with the Mercy Centre name and address in Thai on it. The first cab driver we flagged claimed he could not read the card or speak English. The second could read the card, didn't speak English, and didn't know where to go. I showed him GoogleMaps on my phone and gestured that we could get him there which we then proceeded to do with our Thai phrases.

We learned quite a few important Thai phrases during our trip such as those for hello, thank you, no, yes, a few food items, and our taxi directions. We also learned how to barter at the market.

Monday morning Father Joe had a very nice woman take us via taxi (at first she suggested going by motorcycle but I could not stomach the idea of Haley on one motorcycle and me on another driving through those streets like they do) to another Mercy kindergarten in a slum over near the river and the first temple we had visited to feed the fish. Haley had a lot of fun playing music games, singing songs, and fiddling for the beautiful, enthusiastic kids.




When we got back to the Mercy Centre, Ratana took us on our first songtaew ride...a very small pickup truck with a metal cover and bench seats built in the truck bed. Kind of like this amazing one Father Joe showed us only the one we rode in did not have the lights, sound system, or great colors. It was plain. We took the songtaew to the shopping center for a Japanese food lunch with Ratana.


That afternoon Haley and I made our way via taxi then BTS back to Dosa King, our favorite restaurant in Thailand. Haley had been craving the food since we ate there before. We then made our way back by BTS then taxi. It is so liberating to be able to get around by yourself in a strange city where most people do not speak your language!!

Our final day in Thailand, we ate breakfast with Ratana and Father Joe then met with Roy and Mick at Mick's apartment. Roy is actually makes documentaries and the entire trip he took photos and video of mostly Mick and Haley (but also snuck a little of me when I wasn't looking/dodging him). He was interviewing Mick when we arrived at the apartment then did an interview with Haley. I have no idea his plans for all the footage he shot and the interviews so we will have to wait and see.

We all went back to Dosa King for lunch. The flowers from our mango lassis made lovely earrings for Haley...


That evening we all (Father Joe, Ratana, Mick, Roy, and us, of course) went to an American restaurant where Mick had gotten a few ex-pats together for a small Irish session. The tunes were great fun and it was a fitting end to our adventures in Bangkok!

Haley and Mick enjoying some tunes together. 
Roy shooting more footage at the session.