— LA DOLCE VITA, 16 July 2006 —
We are in Rimini in northern Italy. We have a day off tomorrow due to too few Slovenians being interested enough to pay a week’s salary to see me perform for seventy-five minutes. My feelings aren’t hurt.
Personally, I’m unaffected by this Balkan dis. But, I must admit that I am embarrassed for my country. When I played Slovenia last time we stopped to look at the site of an old concentration camp near the Austrian border. I let it go. But this pisses me off. We (I use the plural not in the Imperial sense but to include Cathy who is an important part of the Newman team – without her the whole delicate mechanism we work so hard to perfect would collapse, and be as “dust in the wind”) are playing Verucchio on Monday. The people of the region are reacting to the news of my show in much the same way that the Slovenes did, but I’m going to Verucchio and I’ll play whether they like it or not. I have feelings too.
We played Montreux on the night of the World Cup Final. I don’t know how many people were out there but they seemed to like the show. I saw the end of the match. When Italy won everyone in the town went crazy until four in the morning. There was just a big fireworks display out of the window of the hotel. The weirder the road gets the better it is at this point in my life.
I played at a castle in Udine. Udine is northeast of Trieste. And is still in Italy. Trieste has been in so many different countries it reminds me of Herbie Hancock with whom I shared the stage at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam. I saw Susan, Suzanne and Jeroen backstage after the show. I love seeing them. The show was sold out I think and went very well. I always try my hardest in Holland. Rotterdam sure has a big port. It ought to be a hotel in Las Vegas.
I was just in Las Vegas for the first time in many years (NbC – apparently he doesn’t count that show at the House of Blues) there was a charity auction up at Pixar for a showing of “Cars” and I bid for, and won, a trip to Las Vegas and tickets to see O and Ka, Cirque du Soleil shows. My brother is retiring from Medicine. I thought this would be a nice gift for his wife and him. I mention all this because I very badly want to say something about O and Ka. I said many of the things I want to say under my breath and finally quite loudly at the shows themselves. But I find that I am not yet ready to put my thoughts into writing. I will say this: I can play several pieces from the show using only my nose and my buttocks. Sometimes I put on tights, put out some dry ice and just run around as if I were mad! My brother is the best Newman we’ve had so far. It was great to see him and as you may have noticed, I’m a better person because of it.
A word about the title of this entry, there are a lot of things in this town named after Fellini. I think he was born here maybe. Anyone who knows, send your answer to the Newman Foundation in Tulsa, OK along with five Euros.
Grazie.
Randy and Cathy
16 July 2006