who the hell is that dude who keeps giving everyone flowers?
is he like comfort counselor mitch?


that is all folks. if youre just reading this now, and you dont care about SYTYCD...you can probably just erase all my other posts from the past few hours.

"where is sabra?"

good question, mom?
what is she up to these days that is so important she wasnt available for this reunion.

i wish they would retelevise some routines from season 1/2 so we could see how sucky the people were by comparison.

on another note - has there ever been a tapper in the top 20? anyone know?

this has got to be a joke

funny. you would think the person who made every single performance someone's favorite would be the winner of the show. call me old-fashioned.
i'm not bitter though. not bitter at all.

i'm suprised she doesn't just break away and do her own solo in the middle of the dance. she already lost, what's the difference?


also - kherrington (that is not a name) is definitely courtney/rachel bilson plus. need i repeat, america is idiots.

hmmm...

well golly. look who's back for a brilliant dance. funny, I believe she's danced the most so far. seems she's everyone's favorite. imagine that.
AMERICA IS IDIOTS!

also - what do we think of this song? it played EVERYWHERE on tour. it's really catchy. but i kind of cant stand Duffy's voice. if someone begged me for mercy with that voice, she wouldnt get very far.


oh...the Jonas Brothers...
what is it about them?
they have terrible voices.
and individually they arent even that attractive.
but together they are this perfectly packaged gem of preteen magic. can you believe they are all (yes all 3) younger than us?

speaking of which, Vanessa from GG is from right outside Milwaukee. what now? what?

debbie allen dance aca

they're really good. hopefully not JAMNASTICS good b/c those kids are like slaves.
also - nigel just kicked mary's ass. for sidlious.

...did debbie just say the choreographer's name was "Heathen" ?



also - wtf does the spider on the shoulder mean!?!?!? i never figured it out.

if you dont believe me

hometown glory (mia michaels)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5jG2Ybf0ws

pas de deux (apparently acclaimed choreographers. i plead ignorance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot8jXHqNFEc

crazy girlfriend one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yObGXQfDP-E

her final solo. which the judges did not nearly praise enough:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7GDwExh8bI


awwwww yay she got money though. that's so nice.
can she do a OFA learning from performers next year????????

i'm done with this fucking finale

bullshit.
total bullshit.


AMERICA HATES ASIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 guys named...

"we're not as good as Will". seriously. sad he didnt have enough personality to get the votes.
also - i swear some of those moves were stolen from the Citystep teacher piece.



the chris angel routine was sick. in the words of my mom: "it's like CATS...for rabbits".
it's now second on my list of shows to see when i go to vegas in the near future
1. bette middler
2. dancing rabbits

i'll bet my dad can't wait.

don't want to give anything away...

but Rachel Bilson did a really admirable job on this show. I am sad to see her go.

keeping score: Katee - 2

this pas de deux (sp?) was ridic. so far katee has done 2. beacuse she is the best. ever.

editor's note: adam, i like your jacket. now shut up. please.

get back in your chair

Mary Murphy danced for the first time. Yeeesh...it was scary. Though her legs look pretty damn good. At one point someting flew from her spin and i was worried it was a denture. but my mom informed me it was an earing. anyone else notice how creepily she wears her lipstick? it leaks out of the corners of her mouth. unpleasant.

also both Adam and Little-C or whoever that hiphop choreog/judge is have spoken for extended periods of time and i have had no idea what they're talkign about. WORST JUDGES EVER!!!

yaaay

so i'm doing it on TIVO so my times are off.

BLEEDING LOVE is genius. could have used a rehearsal or two more, but such a great routine. also, in HD you can see that Mark has horribly deformed pinkys. maybe that's how he gets the power to manipulate her chest.

WHY DID CHELSEA GET KICKED OFF!!!!?!?!?!

also - mia michaels looks real hot.

Liveblogging the SYTYCD finale

it's happening.

last stop

hi peeps from st. john, US Virgin islands. it's so beautiful here (even though it rained today, didnt matter...still beautiful) but it is really odd being at a resort like this without my family. i never trust our restaurant choices without our resident expert vacation-restaurant-finder, and there isnt even a TV to gorge on trashy movies.

I finished SIX FEET UNDER yesterday, such an amazing series. you all must watch it. i also took my last red-eye of tour...hopefully last one in a long time.

i will be home in 3 days and 5 hours. yay.
not that anyone's counting...

i´m alive i swear

leaving buenos aires. it was nice. im surprised how much spanish i remembered and its been fun practicing. off to santiago.
ready to come home.

saw anna ho! so fun. she is craycray and i love her,

and so I return to the Western Hemisphere

Just finishing our stay in Sayn, chillin with Princess Alexander, Princess Gabriella, and family. It's been a pretty eye-opening experience living with them and hearing all the history that surrounds their family. I won't go into too much detail as I have to eat before our plane leaves, but they own this entire museum (former palace) dedicated to preserving their family's memory, in addition to a castle/tower/restaurant, and abbey etc. And despite being from a completely different walk of life as me, they are all incredibly down to earth and nice people. They really LOVE the Kroks. like...they all know the choreo and do it with us. and give us performance critiques after each show. can't say i understand it but it is nice to have. it's great to feel a part of a family for a few days when we're away from our own for so long.

a note on Princess Sophia. she looks like nicole kidman. i explained "exquisitie" and told her that since NKids hasnt been looking so stellar lately i would expand the term to include her as well. she laughed and continued to puff on her cigarette and be fabulous.

now we're off to buenos aires, 2 iberia flights away. pray for me?
so ready to go home.

also, i think i have the black lung. i've been coughing up a storm for the past few weeks. I thought it might just be due to the constant climate change but it's pretty relentless. ah well...can't have everything. i'll have 2 weeks to get healthy before school starts.

~Barry

my life happens (part 2)

so our train leaves in 5 hours (it's 2am now. do the math). but i know i wont have wifi where we're going so i feel compelled to blog now. in the words of one of our former krokhosts "oh yes i forgot. you kroks are obsessed with the internet"

so it was actually worth going to italy, even for only 20 hours. we had lunch at Alexandra and Stefano's house. Alexandra is one of the many Sayn-Wittgenstein children...ie a princess of Germany. Now I've never seen "Under the Tuscan Sun" but I would imagine that's excatly what this villa looked like. Seriously, like something out of the movie set, it was hard to believe it was real. Then everyone went to the beach, and I stayed home to plan the dinner. It was kind of a martyr thing to do b/c I could have gone to the beach for a little bit, but I ended up spending the full 2.5 hours doing one friggin thing so i guess it was good that i didnt go. and have fun instead. of sitting alone on my computer and ordering things. then we sang at this dinner and went to our nighttime accomodations: a castle. like an actual castle. the family has this castle atop a mountain that seriously noone lives in all year. it's just an empty castle. so the kroks stayed there. crazy. i would go into more detail about what it looks like...but just imagine a castle. that's what it was.

then off to munich, which required a plane a train and an automobile. I got really excited when we stopped at the "Firenze" trainstop. Because I am one huge dork. And if you know why you are a bigger dork. I cannot really attest whether florence was in fact "made of statues and stories," from my vantage point it seemed more like it was made of "airports and cleavage." we also passed through LIVORNO...which show has a song about livorno!?!? i cannot for the life of me figure it out. and it's probably NINE, which is gonna make me feel real dumb. speaking of which, it was exciting hearing people briefly speak the language of NINE. so excited!

then we arrived in Munich, where we are staying with the US consul general. lemme tell you, the consul general here is a whole lot more fabulous than judith fergin of sydney. rather than portraits of bush and chainey, his house is filled with INCREDIBLE works of art. apparently his partner is an art dealer, the personal dealer for David LaChappelle (who is pretty well-established contemporary artist). they also have a frank stella and a koonz in their living room. their collection of books ABOUT art is way better than any collection of actual art i could ever hope to own. sadly it rained a lot so our brief expedition into the city was not too exciting. but munich seems really beautiful. i highly recommend anyone looking for a vacation consider a german tour. so much history! you've got all the classy oldness of munich, and the unbeatable culture of berlin, and many other beautiful small towns to check out. DO IT!

not too much else to report. tomorrow we're off to Sayn, a tiny town in northern germany where we stay with the royal family. they have a castle. and a palace. and a mansion. which i'm told are all separate buildings. and a "SMEDELINGE HAUS" (sp? butterfly house). theyve been hosting kroks for over 2 decades. again...we have crazy contacts. and then back overseas to BUENOS AIRES (back in our hemisphere! so close to home!). it's an iberia flight...so wish us luck oy.

how are you?
~Barry

what a week. (pt 1)

So much has happened. This is gonna be a long post, so I will form it in bulletts so that you can pick the parts that most interest you to read. It will be like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, except I had to do all the things before you picked and chose.

1. SAFARI: So we went on this 2 hour drive into South Africa which had some amazing vistas of snowcapped mountains and genuine African terrain. I think one of my favorite parts of tour is the constantly changing landscapes. Earth is pretty sweet (as if we didn't already realize that from BBC's PLANET EARTH! Or being from Milwaukee...most impressive landscape of ALL). We approached our destination via a 30-min ride on a dirt road literally in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, if "The Middle of Nowhere" were to be an actual place, it would be that road we drove down. I contemplated stuffing my valuables in my socks in case it was really a tourist trap and we were being left in the desert to starve. But it turns out that the Safari/Resort place we wound up was surprisingly nice! We each shared little cabins and got meals and then went out in a truck that evening and the following morning to gaze at the aminals. Here are some reactions:
- Contrary to popular belief, Africa is really cold. I don't know why those Sally Strothers commercials always show the children half-naked, because in actuality African nights are comparable to Wisconsin winters. Well, nothing is comparable to WI winters. Anywho...it was freezing and we all looked like marshmallows layering all our sweatshirts on top of each other.
- While exploring our resort, we came upon a fenced in area...where 2 cheetahs were just chillin. Apparently they had been fully domesticated and were kept like cats. Giant, fangy cats. Pretty sweet!
- On safari we saw: Springbuck, Wildabeast (you killed Mufassa!), Water Buffalo (glad my 4th grade campaign to save the endangered water buffalo was such a success!), lions, cheetahs, rhinos, zebras, many other deer-like things, giraffes. It turns out it wasn't a safari but was a "game park" meaning the animals were actually contained in enormous fences which did take out the excitement and surprise of safari. But it was cool to see the animals and now I have an excuse to go back to Africa and go on a real safari.

2. THE FLIGHT FROM HELL.
We've all had bad travel experiences. But I think I win. Learn from our mistake, if you ever want to fly to Spain, DO NOT TAKE IBERIA. Take British Airways. Or drive. I know there is an ocean in the way but TRUST ME, figuring out how to cross that is a modest feat compared to figuring out how to make sense of Iberia employees. So after a 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Jo'berg, our flight was supposed to take off at 9:30 for Madrid (yay red-eye. on a flight with no entertainment or legroom. off to a good start, Iberia). We sit on the plane until about midnight getting various updates from the pilot, at which point we are informed that the engine is damaged without repair and we all have to deplane b/c the flight is cancelled. Oy. So all 400-ish of us rush back through customs (i may be one of the only people to be stamped out of a country and back in in the same day) and get our bags. Which take almost an hour to appear. Iberia claims they will put us up in a hotel, but navigating that is (again) more complicated than driving across the Atlantic. Steve was the FIRST person at the counter and it still took them well over an hour to get us a single voucher for all twelve of us.
ANYWHO...all 80ish of us out-of-towners arrive at our hotel finally around 3am. Luckily they do pay for meals and the room is fine, but in the process our group lost 2 bags (how do you lose a bag when you havent even flown anywhere!?), a connecting flight to Italy, and a good deal of sanity.
Sorry, there is still more. The next day a bus leaves the hotel at 4pm for the airport. The plan is that we are supposed to all get onto the NEXT day's Iberia flight to Madrid, but obviously when we get there they realize that they don't have space for 2 flights on 1 plane. I can't even go into the details of Iberia's repeated stupidity, but the moral is that we waited in line for over 4 hours to get checked in, realizing that no one at Iberia had even been alerted that we would be coming. Our flight wizard (I wrote "travel agent" first but remembered that she hates being called that) back in the states says that our flight was coded as having taken off successfully, so it's a disaster trying to accommodate everyone. PLUS trying to make our connection to Pisa work takes Dan almost the entire afternoon. Because even though we now were only going to be in Italy for a single night (less than 24 hours) and all of us wanted to just fly to Munich and spent an extra day there, our hosts in Italy DEMAND that we instead find a way to make it there. People love the Kroks so much it is maddening and confusing!
It was fun, though, while we were in line this little boy started talking to me in Spanish and I was really excited how well I could keep up with him. I havent really spoken since freshman fall (and that was Spanish 30, where you really do nothing) but it felt so good to be semi-fluent in a language. I'm so jealous of Linds and co. and how good their spanish must be now. Sad that I was useful for only a few hours before we wound up in Pisa and then Munich...where I offer no skills. Also, when I finally get to the check-in desk, all these spanish families decide that they are done waiting and just step to the counter and hand them their passports, rightfully angering the other spanish families. I literally wind up in the middle of this brawl where 4 different men are screaming at each other ("QUE COJONES!" is a key catchphrase). Spanish men get quite heated. It's a frightening sight for my polite, midwestern self.

i still havent brought my faithful readers up to present time but i need to do something else for a bit. sorry for the lag in posting, we've been without internet for awhile. also, the kroks "discovered" my blog and have continually mentioned it awkwardly, making me consider discontinuing it. apparently conveying my feelings and experiences to my friends and family back home is not an acceptable activity. but then again, i don't really care. so i blog on. i shouldnt have to police myself and my thoughts, especially for my 11 best friends. the whole reason i wrote this in blog form as opposed to email is that i didn't want to have to chose who were they people i was staying in touch with this summer, so i will continue. i guess if my thoughts on tour are so interesting that people who are already on it want to read about it too, they can be my guest.

coming home in 2 weeks and 3 days!
visiting NYC in 4 weeks and 6 days (it's official, i got my ticket yesterday. and for $105, mind you).
~Barry

surprise trip

we're going on safari!!!!
so no posts for the next few days, unless they have wireless in the wilderness (here's hoping).

talk to you in italy!

also - go see WALL-E!!!! so good.

~Barry

a day

today was a good day. a gold star day, some might say.

wally and i got up and had our breakfast room service which we had ordered the night before waiting for us. then we all got into this van and began our journey towards the southern tip of the continent. on the way we saw gazelles, ostriches, mountain zebras, whales, and lots of baboons. the Cape Point park, where you can walk to the southernmost point for amazing views of the atlantic and indian oceans meeting, is also a Baboon reserve...so they just run free around the parking lot. in fact, they are viscious animals so one essentially chased us into the van, at which point our guide/driver Nathan screamed "shut the door, shut the door!" which we did. hilarious and terrifying. photos pending. we also went to this penguin park. and penguins are really cute. now i understand why they have like 19 animated movies about them.

THEN we went to the nearby mall to get some food. walter and i brought our pizza to a bench outside and notices how aggressive the birds were, landing right on our table. and then one flew down and ate walter's pizza...out of his mouth! he literally flew down and bit the end of the pizza sticking out of walter's eating hole. crazy. i immediately ran away screaming...much to the delight of the local girls who were laughing hysterically at the stupid americans. well excuse me for not having the sense to protect myself from predatory animals. walter equated it with a really terrifying version of the lady and the tramp.

as if that werent enough, as we were walking home we saw this ENORMOUS rainbow. now i know we all see rainbows so all you jaded assholes are thinking "meh"...but just believe me...it was HUGE. like really big and bright. and as we got closer it got brighter adn soon you could see the ENTIRE arc! and a secondary rainbow! it was unbelievable. wikipedia tells us what we saw was a supernumerary rainbow with a secondary arc. it looked like this:

jealous? yeah i thought so. pictures of me with the rainbow also pending.

off to watch some 6 FEET UNDER and then after our hour set we are all going to see WALL-E!!!!!!!!!!!!! so excited, we were all pissed it wasnt out in australia and i am really happy to see it.

~ Barry

ps - i still dont want to plan final dinner

pps - hi Mrs. Kehler!

capetown

we travled for 28 hours. that's more than a day.
we took a 6:30am flight from melbourne back to sydney (2 hours). then an hour and a half layover (and customs, which we all love).
then a 14 hour flight to johannesberg. which was delayed 2 hours. so we missed our connection.
once we got there we had to pick up our luggage and recheck it, which was complicated b/c of our delay and rebooking and no one knew who could validate this change. so we ran between 2 different terminals twice so as to not miss the last flight out to cape town (2 more hours of flying).
though i shouldnt complain b/c on the flight to cape town i was next to this woman with 2 kids under 4 who had flown from orlando for almost 18 and the airline had forgotten their kosher meal. so they ate fruit for 18 hours. yeesh.

from now on i will only travel by private jet of flew powder.

but it's the morning and i am recovered, slightly. great breakfast, amazing hotel. when you ask for a wakeup call, you get a simultaneous phonecall and knock at your door, where there is a man waiting with coffee and tea. wally and i wondered what the "snooze" equivalent for that is, so we figured we'd just punch the guy.

i'm currently in the business center hogging a computer. wireless is 15 dollars a day, so i will likely not be able to skype any of you for the next few days. but know that i am alive! i'm also here doing my job as krokslave. many of you know this, but i was unvoluntarily selected to be the person who plans evening of our final night of tour. meaning that while everyone else is cavorting around on the beaches of St. John, i'll likely be in the hotel lobby arguing with the catering guy. it's just annoying b/c i feel it's going to end tour on a terrible, bitter note. part of me is inclined to do it by invitation only and make it a small affair for the people i like and don't mind planning dinner for. so if anyone has any ideas for sentimental things to do or other ways to help plan a final evening or gifts to give out...let me know. or just be on gmail while i'm here working.

:)

longest day of tour

So as a Krok, I have important duties besides singing. Primarly: Shmoozing. Shmoozing is of utmost important to the Kroks; shmoozing with fans, shmoozing with hosts, shmoozing with potential hosts, shmoozing with assorted other wealthy people. And during my 4-week tenure on tour, I must say my shmoozing skills have greatly improved. I can shmooze with the young and the old, the rich and the only mildly less rich, those who speak no english and the australians (though that barely counts as english. seriously, what are these people talking about here?). Unfortunately, shmoozing really sucks. After a long day, the last things you want to do is put on a tux and a smile and shmooze. The worst is when they divide us amongst tables so we have to shmooze all with people we don't know and get no backup.

At least I thought that was the worst. But tonight I discovered something worse than having to talk to all the strangers at your table: having the strangers at your table display no interest in talking to you. It was the craziest thing! Maybe I'm just spoiled b/c usually people are coming to see us and thus are very excited to talk to us, but today I joined this table and they were just like "what brings you here tonight"
oh i'm one of the kroks.
"oh is your group involved in the children's hospital too?'
...no. we're the entertainment. you know how the poster says "a night with the krokodiloes to benefit the children's hospital? yeah. we represent the 'krokodiloes' part"
and then they went back to their dinner

needless to say, it was a long meal. finally i started chatting with the woman next to me with the most ridiculous hairstyle known to man (it was as if she just pushed her hair ontop of her head and then clipped it exactly where it bunched, allowing some clumps to strategically fall out of place and into her face and NEVER MOVING THEM OUT OF THE WAY. what is that!!?!?!). she was a "very important doctor" of psychology (so our host, also named Barry, told us). But when I asked what she focused on she went off on this whole thinga bout "ancestor psychology" which is apparently this phenomenon where if your granpa died on a certain day you are more likely to die on that day too. oy. and she works with dysfunctional children! red flag, your voodoo psychobabble isnt likely to stop their parents from abusing them. it all sounded very lamarkian to me (score 1: snobby psych concentrator comment of the evening. see mom and dad, i did learn something at harvard!)

anyway, it was an especially long day b/c we got up at 8am to go on a winery tour. it was really beautiful to see tha Yara countryside, and we drove through a temperate rainforest. and got lots of free booze in small portions. but we were all so tired it was hard to enjoy it (and by all i mean the 6 that were brave enough to get out of bed at 8am. or maybe just the 6 who couldnt say no to free things). Can't say I know any more about wine, but after the second winery everything starts to taste a whole lot better.

a note on our host: Barry Novie is just the nicest man who ever lived. Unlike our other hosts who are all crazy and clearly love the kroks, but in a wierd fanatical way that makes you wonder why, Barry is just geniunely touched by our music (god knows why) and loves bringing us here to sing for his friends and entertain his charity events. the man made a ton of money in real estate and is now a professional philanthropist. he really took to me b/c i am his namesake and we are both jewish, so we spent a lot of time talking about what being jewish in australia is like. he also gave me the history of its progressive elections, putting jews into important gov. positions for centuries. woot woot. anyway, it's great to know him.

and thus we left the eastern half of the globe. tonight was our final for-pay show and from here out we mostly sing at hotels and for our host families in their palaces (sounds like a joke. only half a joke). it's now 1am, and we leave the Australian Club in 3 hours to get a plane to South Africa, which will take 16 hours. SIXTEEN HOURS!!!! so this combined with the fact that i slept very little last night means that you should all expect a pretty incoherent blog post in 30 hours when i finally arrive. i've uploaded the rest of SIX FEET UNDER season 3 and WEEDS onto my ipod so that should keep me busy at least for a tidbit. oy, wish me luck.

keep the comments and emails coming!!! i miss you all!!! and i'm probably going to NYC on august 21 so if you live there get excited (note to self - buy tickets to NYC).

mwah
~Barry

melbourne in the usa

this next song goes out to my friend, alison rich.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=22690404
i'm sad the sand had to go but glad she integrated the snapping.


and this one's for my mom. i think we've all seen it but i've gotta have something for the parentals in this post as well: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrma76T5Wa4

australiya i'm still here

Hi people. Long time no discuss. Hello from melbourne. Just finished our stay in sydney, which was fun (no wireless, so no blog or skype). christian and i totally won homsestays. his name was ted and not only was his granpa a big famous general (see previous blog), he also started his own consulting firm and was president of the America Club, a counselor for the Harvard club, and a generally awesome guy. The first night he asked us to pick out music for dinner ("wow so much musical theater! and jack johnson and coldplay, this guy is really hip! and cher. wait...is this the BEACHES soundtrack? ok that answers that question"). But he knew a TON about theater and sydney theater, which I know nothing about and apparently is a pretty vibrant scene (did u know Cate Blanchett and her husband are the artistic directors of Sydney Rep? She's the best) so we had a great night drinking and chattin. We found out today that his brother is the manager and producer for none other than Kylie Minogue (the 2nd top-selling female artist in the world next to madonna) so he knows her pretty well. crazy! glad that i know him.

sadly, we did embarassingly little in sydney. it's just hard b/c you want to sleep late and you have to go back and change for shows in the early evening so there isn't a ton of time. but i did manage totake a ferry to Manly Beach (it was called soemthing else originally, but they changed the name after I visited...badumcha!) and watch some of the guys take surfing lessons...only to be mobbed by a swarm of dolphins! i was sad i got there too late to take a lesson but it was really cool to see. i also wandered around downtown a bunch and saw the opera house and went to the museum of contemporary art (yeesh...not sydney's finest site). this was the highlight of the museum:

most of our shows were for private clubs, so not wildly exciting. we did sing for the US Consul General, Judith Fergin, at her amazing home. She was wierd and seemed to have trouble emoting using the muscles in her face.

now in melbourne, which (form what i hear) is a low point of tour. there is not a ton to do, so we just had a mcdonalds picnic and watched Edward Scissorhands (people...someone needs to make this a musical. i'm serious it would make major bank and be awesome. if you are interested of have a few million to underwrite this project, lemme know). I have another embarrasing confession: this is the 3rd day in a row i've had mcdonalds. We eat it an embarassing amount. It's just really comforting to know that no matter where you are there is something that you can rely on! that is also cheap, as am i. the only difference is the katsup, which is sweeter in this side of the world. Australia also has this great "tastes of the world" menu in honor of the olympics where you can get different burgers representative of each country. the "McAmerica" has eggs, bacon, ham, and cheese...essentially a heart-attack on a plate which I think is fairly appropriate. There's also the "McAfrica" featuring 2 patties and "African sauce." If you have any idea what that means, let me know.

anyway glad to have wireless now, so hopefully we can skype soon.

let me knwo what is new with you!
~Barry

australialotta good times

just arrived in sydney. it's winter here (ie 50s) but the cool air is nice post humid asia. good times there, but happy to be off that continent. the birds here sound crazy. there is one that is like a baby getting strangled (aka that sound effect in Aaliyah's "More than a woman") and others that sound like monkey's fighting (aka the dins.)

that is all. off to make dinner with ted, our homestay.
apparently he is the grandson of this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Blamey
interesting.

also, dins joke = tacky. i'm above aca-battles.

i smell. and they're cleaning my room now.

also, i should mention: shanghai is a really great city. the architecture is pretty ridiculous. here's the view of our hotel:
Our hotel is actually the small one to the left of the gold building. i dont even think this picture is accurate anymore, buildings are going up so fast!

i think i'm going to wander around "People's" (aka RED) Square today. After brunch, of course. If only Scanlan were here to regail me with stories of his many near-death experiences. though i dont think he would appreciate the mayonnaise at the buffet.

anywho...hope you are well.
in other news, if i never hear LOVE POTION #9 for the rest of my life, it will be too soon. oy veh.

~Barry

also - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATIANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hope you are partying it up with the lions and antelope! i miss you but cant wait to hear all about yoru adventures.

Shanghai mom and dad!

I survived the typhoon and arrived successfully in Shanghai. Great hotel, amazing buffet, and the like. Shanghai has been extra great so far, tho, b/c we've had our days free to chill out or go about and the like. Yesterday we went to this immense 8-story mall that our hotel connects to. I found a Dairy Queen and emitted an audible gasp of glee (i get really excited when i get ice cream on tour).

Today we ventured to this giant market where all the "designer" goods are. it was unbelievable how much stuff they had. just shop after shop after shop...all essentially the same things but stretching on forever. at first i really wanted this belt, and decided i would not pay over $8 for it. but the guy kept giving me his sob story and he seemed so sad so i settled for $10 (all of this in RNB, the local currency, mind you so it was much more confusing). I told myself that i am just too nice of a person and that haggling for goods is not a skill i possess. cut to 10 minutes later when i'm shouting at this guy that his prices are ridiculous and storming out only to have him run after me. "you got jaded really quick" wally tells me.
but it was worth it b/c my prize purchase was: the ENTIRE series of six feet under for $28. that's less than a dollar a disk (31 disks). i was pleased AND they work on my computer (get ready for 6FEETUNDER parties in Quincy 615. Alison will be thrilled, I know.)

as if that wasnt enough, we're all on a post-spending high from the chris's tailor. this lady came to our hotel room 2 nights ago and takes our measurements and lets us describe what we want and 2 days later VOILA! custom-tailored suits. being a slim person, it is so hard to find clothes that fits so the idea that they made them for my body is amazing. in all, i got 2 suits, a new jacket, and 7 dress shirts, made FOR ME for under $360! so exciting. i'm just going to wear my suits every day next year for no other reason than i can.

tomorrow we have another free day (i think i'm going bak to haggle for more goods. anyone want anything? cheap watch? tie? purse? wallet? chinese good? sunglasses? def email me and let me know what you want and i can get it supacheap!) and then chris's mom got us tickets to the SHANGHAI CIRCUS!!! apparently like cirque d'soleil (sp) but better. so i'm excited. and then off to australia. where they speak my language, amen.

i feel this was a really dull post. but it was about me getting new things, so i'm really excited about them. and you all will be next fall when you see how good i look.

speaking of which, traveling with the same 11 guys for 3 weeks, most of whom are younger (in more ways than one) is starting to wear on me. so in an effort to preserve my sanity i have resumed my running routine from last summer. dont be surprised if i'm wildly attractive the next time you see me. i just want to prepare you.

going to watch SIX FEET UNDER!!!!

keep me updated with what you're doing!

it's windy.

"- Typhoon Fengshen, which has devastated the Philippines, is expected to enter Hong Kong's warning radar this morning to become the first typhoon to pose a threat to the city this year."


eeesh...i just stepped outside and almost blew away. we definitely don't have weather like this in wisconsin. who's excited to get into a flying pill-shaped box today???
me...?


now i'm in the airport. it's just like disneyland. we had to wait in a really long, twisty line in order to get onto a terrifying ride. hopefully it be a death-defying ride, as opposed to just a death ride.

the REAL Kong

hi team. finished in japan, i will be brief in writing about it because i'm really excited to tell you about the dinner i just had (anyone who has seen sabrina and my eating journal from our european snugglefest should realize that meals ALWAYS come first).

even though i was in japan for 9 days (so much!! i completely forgot that i even went to taiwan), i really didnt feel i got a sense of it. our time is so packed we only had one morning to just travel around, during which kevin and christian and i braved Harajuku. famed for harajuku girls and other people dressed like this, completely unironically (the newest trend is this "babydoll" thing. so creepy!)


ANYway - other things about japan. the subways are much more advanced. you pay based on how far you go, meaning it's a lot more expensive. and complicated. the map looks like this. yeah, you try and get around. we sang a lot of shows...and you soon learn that after coming to japan for 21 years we have amassed some "superfans." these people don't seem to realize that not only does an entire world of a capella exist outside of the kroks, and that a capella in general is supa lame. i will highlight our one superfan MAYUMI. she came to EVERY show in tokyo...and knew us all by name. last night was our last show, and afterwards she started to cry. this dialogue happened:
Mayumi: [weeping] i ahm so stooopid
Christian: but you're our number one fan!
Mayumi: numba wan stooopid fan.

can't argue with her there. don't know what she expected to happen, but it is pretty amazing that these people come back to see us year after year. to the point where they know every song and sing along. we're lucky to be so well supported in asia.

we also went out to dinner with our japanese sponsor, madame matsuda. for SOME reason, she has hosted and paid for the kroks for the past few decades. lady was loaded. and crazy. she had the biggest diamond on her finger i have ever seen in my life. i actually used it to cut my meat instead of a knife. that is not true, but i very well could have. i wish i could describe to you how crazy she is, but i will have to save it for in person. hilarious.

ANYWAY. now i'm in hong kong, staying at the Hotel Shangrila. and it is paradise. we sang a set in the lobby and then went up to the buffet. and what a buffet it was. i hadnt eaten since the flight and was starving but there was more food than i could have imagined. literally, i cannot describe. salad bar, oyster bar, sushi bar, pasta bar, meat meat meat, indian, japanese, chinese...EVERYTHING. and then dessert. there were 19 different desserts/tarts/cakes/puddings out to sample. PLUS ice cream. AND crepes. AND A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

AND THEN WHEN I WENT TO GET ICE CREAM I REALIZED THE MIXED THE TOPPINGS IN ON A LARGE SLAB...IE - A COLD STONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i almost wept for joy.

sorry to waste your time with my foods, but it was a highlight of my day. and we're going from this shangrila to another one in shanghai tomorrow. sadly this leaves little time to see the city, but we still manage to enjoy ourselves.

hope you're well. keep the updates coming!!!

~Barry

back in tokyo

back at my first homestay in tokyo, having returned from Minimoto prefecture. my family there was really nice and we had fun trying to play charades and understand each other.

while there we went to a museum about minimoto disease, sang at a hostpiatl for minimoto patients, went to a glass recycling factory (yeah. you're jealous. deal). but it was definitely a great chance to sample a TOTALLY different style of life on the other side of the planet. driving to my homestay, i found it incredible to believe that something so undeniably foreign and completely opposite to any conception i have of "home" could be home to these people.

tomorrow we leave for the HOTEL SEIYO GINZA, which i've been told is one of the nicest hotels in tokyo (judge for yourself: http://www.seiyo-ginza.com/gallery.cfm). we're all very ready to get out of homes and chill in a hotel, as nice as my families have been.

that's all i've got for now. here are nikhil's photos if you care to look: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nbalaraman/Tour2008


here are some of the songs that are getting me through the trip, in case you're looking:

- ADELE (anything really, but here are clips of 2 songs i love). she's a new singer from england and if you dont know her you really should because she is so sick.
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=77X6xa453gM
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpzBEiARaE

- AMOS LEE - Sweet Pea
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=50Qo62s8QNg

- What Made Milwaukee Famous: Hellodrama (how can i not love any band named after my hometown?)
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=ugXY2_OZO4M

- JASON MRAZ: If it Kills Me, Beautiful Mess


also, in case you didnt know - a great site for downloading new music is www.skreemr.com. it compiles all music blogs and lets you search them for songs to steal for free and virus-free.

hope your summers are snazzy!

You know how in england they always say to “mind the gap?” and you think to yourself “mind WHAT gap? What kind of idiot would actually fall into that!” well the same idiot who would later blog about it to his loved ones. Oy I totally ate it today in the subway and stepped right into the hole next to the train. Luckily I only hurt my leg (and dignity), but nothing serious. Just a funny way to start my day.

A note on Japanese people. Not only are they incredibly well dressed, they are soooooooooo polite. It’s obscene. Everyone is incredibly nice. Today we left for Minimoto “prefecture” (which just means a different state in Japan), and sang for the governor, at a middle school, and an orphanage. The kids at the middle school are unbelievably well-behaved. They knelt silently for our entire 30 minute set and they have these weird commands they shout when they rise or sit in unison. They’re also just so quiet. We’re always the loudest (ie – only ones making noise) ones on the subway. I think Alison would have to wear a muzzle if she visited. ALSO (sorry I’m ranting about their culture, but hopefully you are learning things)…there is no litter. There are also NO trashcans. You do the math, I really cant figure it out. All I know is I had a pocketful of hi-chew wrappers all day b/c I could not find a SINGLE trash can. Do these people not create waste!?!?

Singing for the governor was especially hilarious. We want into this room with a huge circular table and cushy chairs (“buy! Buy! Sell!” I told the other Kroks), and suddenly like 5 news crews, a handful of photographers, and the governor and his posse enter. It was like being ambushed by a press conference. And everyone else in the room was so clearly nervous it made us suddenly nervous, especially when he demanded that we ask him questions (I wanted to offer “boxers or briefs?” but figured it was the wrong time).

We also later found out that we were featured on the local news (and in at least 2 newspapers)! i find a link i will post it.

We were all excited to learn from our guide/planner/crazy lady Lina that the prefecture we are staying at is famous for the radioactive waste found there and the decades of deformed babies that resulted from it….hooray? Turns out it was actually due to mercury poisoning, and is clean now (the province today is one of the most environmentally friendly in all Japan), but it’s like a real life Erin Brockovich story that is still in court today. (Cue the digital filming of ERIN KROKOVICH, in which Christian Denman tries to save the people of Minimoto from the dangers of ethyl mercury). A note on our guide – she is crazy. She’s been doing this for a decade (why!?!? I’ve only been with them for a year and I’m ready to get out!) and is literally out of her mind. When we first got into Tokyo we went to this really nice hotel where she was supposed to meet us, and she was nowhere to be found for 40 minutes. Chris kept calling, until finally she calls him and is like “where are you!? Oh you’re already there! Well I’m at a department store nearby so I’ll be there in ten.” She also likes to get really violent massages b/c they “move all her fat to different places.” Her tagline is “cahn you be-lieeeeeeeeeve it?” Her mom is our real host ($$$) Madame Matsuda. The lady has had so much plastic surgery the entire space around her eyes is stretched taut in every direction, making her look a lot like an owl.

finally: keep tabs on the kroks here http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinHChow
its kchow's personal photos. he is very asian and thus takes many photos. this is like 1/4 of the total he has, and that is after deleting the bad ones.

tokyo mama

finished our stay in taichung, taiwan with a show at our hotel. followed by a firework display in our honor (i cannot make this stuff up). which would have been a lot more exciting had the fireworks not been set literally directly above us. Regardless, it was very thoughtful and terror-inducing of them.

spent all day getting to tokyo (even though it was only a 3 hr plane ride). i was really nervous b/c i'd heard some horror stories about tokyo homestays (no english, no food, no shower, oh my!) but i am with the SWEETEST family ever and they all speak english and there is a bathroom. and free wireless. interesting note about japan, the toilets look like this:

when you walk into the stall, they automatically open, giving you the false impression that they are arming for some anti-human battle (scary, because in a war against humans and talking toilets, i think we all know that humans wouldn't stand a chance). then they shout at you in japanese. they also have all kinds of nifty features, such as seat heating, biday (sp?), air bursts, and false flushing noises for our bashful poopers.
i was intrigued by the biday, and decided to give it a try. however, while the "on" button had a universally recognizeable symbol, the "off" seemed to be disguised by japanese nonsense. so my bum got VERY clean while I frantically tried to figure out how to turn it off (i know what you're thinking. it's not motion-sensitive. removing your body turns the toilet into a fountain, and your stall into a slip-and-slide.) but i eventually got it, no worries.

so i should be off to bed soon. we have a show tomorrow early afternoon and then all evening to explore tokyo so hopefully we'll get to go OUT, which we were always too tired for in taiwan. note - as if i we couldn't all already tell from sachi, people in this city are really pretty, and very well dressed. and the dental hygiene is quite a step up from taiwan. thank you, parents, for putting me through those torturous years of braces.

in honor of the tony's, which i will be missing for the first time in recent memory, i want to share this video: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=jMRjcdIVFYk.

and more importantly in honor of father's day, which i will also be missing (Slash am missing right now in my time. isnt the world a funny place) i would like to share THIS video: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=BHkK4K13FxM
HAPPY DAY DAY! I miss you and love you and can't wait to see you in August.

taiwan 2.0

interesting taiwan fact of the day:
in chinese, "nigga" means "this" or "that".
so they are constantly asking us to sing at "nigga school" or use "nigga chopsticks." hilarity ensues.

so remember yesterday when i had bubble tea twice? well today was way better.

we
went
to


>>>drumroll<<<


COLDSTONE CREAMERY!!!!!!!!!!!!

it was just as good as i remembered it. except the employees are much more enthusiastic when they sing in china (Thought that could have been b/c we were there with the owner of the mall). before coldstone, we watched the new NARNIA movie in the private theater on the 7th floor of the mall. there were only 30 seats (=recliners) and they brought us churros and drinks. and popcorn, of course.

you think i'm making this stuff up, but i really couldnt. we have an hour break now before our gig tonight at the hotel and then tomorrow it's off to TOKYO. we start in homestays which i've heard can be a bit dicey so wish me luck.

TAIWAN!!!

Hello world. Welcome to Barry’s first foire into blogging. Also, to referring to myself in the third person. Anyway, I am halfway through my stay in Taiwan and it has been really incredible…and overwhelming. We were off to a rocky start, missing our first flight to LA but once we got to our amazing hotel (we each shared a honeymoon suite, huge bed and a window into the bathroom. Kroks know romance). A quick gig for the Bilsky’s and Krok alums (quite a mixed crowd) and then off to Taipei. It was certainly the longest flight I have ever been on but it really didn’t feel it. Cathay is amazingly comfortable and Dan arranged it so I could have a window and a seat empty next to mine. Each seat had like 40 movies and 50 TV shows, a ton of CDs (Sweeney Todd and Adele! So good) I tried to do the in-flight trivia and break Rachel’s self-proclaimed record of having won her flight and succeeded! (though I should mention I was the only playing one on my flight. Also – I’m really smart). We had a layover in Hong Kong, where Dan snuck me into the first class lounge, where they had tons of free food, booze, and a shower.

Anywho we made it to Taipei, Taiwan where we stayed at the dorms of the catholic high school (cue chorus of spoiled bitching Kroks). Highlights include: “toilet” = porcelain hole in the ground. Squatting while pooing = not fun. Best breakfast moment = eating “Unbelievable! This Is Not Butter!”.

We each got paired with 2 guides from the high school who took us around the town and porcelain museum…which is pretty much what it sounds like. Iris and Michael were incredibly sweet and their English was unbelievable (only been studying for 3 years! I started spanish in kindergarden and my skills are pretty minimal. Moral: Asian schools are crazy). Later we sang for all 1500 studetns in the school, which was also crazy. After the show we were literally mobbed as if we were the Beatles. Girls asked me to sign their shirts…as in, not the Krok shirt they just purchased but the one they came to school in. I told them I would only do it if they promised that their mother wouldn’t be mad. It was great practice for when I exit the stage door of all the Broadway shows I star in.

Afterwards we went to a dinner hosted by a Harvard grad, featuring what we realized was really the elite class of Taipei. Amazing to go from performing for hundreds of schoolchildren to a small audience of wealthy businesspeople, each equally excited to spend time with us. Most had studied in the states (one woman went to Wharton, but then got bored with business and opened a cupcake shop, the only in Taiwan!). When we went back to the dorms, the kids were still up and some insanity ensued. They literally just walked into our rooms, regardless of our state of dress or undress, and demanded photos. “so, you’ll be in the photo too, right..? No? Just of me? Ok…can you hold my toothbrush?”

Then we were off to Xinsu (sp?) to sing at Chris Lo’s high school. Afterwards we got divided into homestays. Where do I start on my homestay? Such a crazy and humbling experience. 5 of us went to dinner with these 5 girls who had graduated the day before and came back to school just to host us. And they were so excited just to be with us. They pre-planned a huge dinner at a restaurant, where they just kept bringing out food (a later quote: “we didn’t know how much to get! You are all boys and from America so we figure you eat a lot.”). They wanted us to go into town, but we explained that all we wanted was to sleep so their families came to pick us up and take us away (being separated = very scary). But then I realized how nervous my host, Candy, was. She and her sister and I were staying with her aunt because she said her house was too small to fit me, she told me. And she was terrified because her sister and aunt had never met anyone from Harvard before and Harvard is “the best school in the world.” The whole family was unbelievably nice and so accommodating. They literally had thought of everything they could possibly do to make me comfortable in advance (a full set of toiletries, tons of snacks, an English newspaper). I really just wanted to sleep but also felt responsible to entertain them because they clearly had been looking forward to my arrival so much. So we played their Wii and ate fresh lychee! (crazy looking fruit. I’d never had it not in a can or bubble tea). Then for breakfast they got every type of pastry known to man and her aunt’s friend came over to meet me as well. When I woke up they were all watching the DVD of our spring concert that she had purchased at the show the day before.

Truly, the entire experience was overwhelming. That they felt so much respect for me simply because of the school I went to is amazing. They constantly asked questions about how much work I do and how I have time to sing and what students at Harvard do for fun and what we care about and if we even know where Taiwan is (I explained that I’m from the Midwest so geography is important to me…unlike you jaded coastal bastards). They just kept buying me things and taking pictures of me doing EVERYTHING (ok, so that asian stereotype really is true). In all, I got 3 meals, a cup with my name on it in english and Chinese, a nice pen, and a set of brushes and ink for doing calligraphy, and a book of stamps featuring the new president (a Harvard grad). I felt nervous because they were all so anxious to please me and make sure I was happy. But it was really amazing meeting them and hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s daunting feeling like you are representing something that is so much outside of yourself. Really, the whole experience just reinforced that Harvard is much bigger than I, or any of the Kroks. It’s been amazing being so supported and well-received and I look forward to our future stops.

For tonight, we’re off to Taicho to stay at the Fresh Springs Hotel Stay tuned for future updates and PLEASE email if you get a chance!!!

Sorry this was so long. It’s been a crazy few days.

~Barry

bshafrin@fas.harvard.edu

NEXT:

So I’m writing from our hotel in Taicho. S-i-c-k. It’s a hot springs hotel. And there is a bathtub with a hot springs in it. In dan and my room on the 9^th floor with beautiful views. We just had dinner and asti to celebrate chris being done with his MCATS (yay) and now I’m pirating the FREE WIRELESS (such a luxury!!!!).

also - i have bubble tea twice today. it was a good day. they call it "pearl milk tea" here.