What do Paul Butterfield, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Neil Diamond, Bobby Charles, The Staple Singers, and Eric Clapton have in common? – They all played during The Last Waltz at the Winterland Ballrooms in 1978 in San Francisco, the farewell concert of The Band. The documentary filmed by Martin Scorsese about this concert must be one of the best concert movies ever made. I went to see it on my own when it came out (couldn’t find anyone to join me:), and I remember that having watched the movie, it almost felt like a religious experience.
I Shall be Released was one of the songs I’ll never forget: “They say everything can be 
replaced. They say every distance is not near. So I remember every face of every man who put me here.” And then a few songs from the soundtrack of one of my favourite movies, Easy Rider (I have been trying for months to persuade my family to watch the movie with me without success): The Weight could almost be a modern Christmas song – “I was feelin’ about half past dead; I just need some place where I can lay my head. “Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?” He just grinned and shook my hand, and “No!”, was all he said.” And watch the Easy Rider Intro at 1:35 when Henry Fonda gets rid of his watch, and drives on his beautiful bike into the sun across the Colorado River together with his friend Henry Fonda.
In Road movies the heroes always go from one place to another place. I have the feeling we are suspended in time, not coming from anywhere and not going to anywhere. The days are like the Irish weather: impossible to predict, and always mixed. A bit of this (hope) and a bit of that (drama and despair). Overall, they are so similar that they are difficult to tell apart. Which day is it again today? I am trying to mark them, to make them different.
So, today was the day that Pádraig’s favourite nurse was back. Remember her from the first week? She is still the most caring and nicest and concerned person around. But this was only the second most important thing to happen. The most important thing was that Frau Oberärztin had a chat with us to explain that they will not operate. Instead, they will try a ‘new’ trick to help Pádraig with his left lung, and to avoid an operation, or pleurodesis: They will take him off the ventilator (2 hours on, 2 off) and they have reduced the pressure of the air being pumped into his lungs in the hope that this will allow his ruptured lung to heal ‘by itself’.
Today, his two friends left and aother very good friend arrived. With a bit of gossip, and a hardcover. It’s great to be here and still communicate, with 4
Today’s German Music Tip
Hannes Waden und Konstantin Wecker, Schon so lang (1982). – One of those German songs expressing exhaustion, emptiness, and the hope that once you get to the Mediterranean sun, all will be ok – “Bin müde und leer, will nach Süden ans Meer – schon so lang…”
What’s hot
Easy Rider
What’s cold
Driving the same road again and again and again…
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Bin auf meinem Web, schon so lang. (Hannes Waden)
Hospi-Tales 
Hello, Reinhard,
it is indeed a long and very hard road, with progress hard to discern from day to day. I know there must be times when even the support of all your friends and Pádraig’s seems very inadequate to meet the needs of this most stressful of situations.
To paraphrase (not for the first time, and surely not for the last) that well-known and rather controversial figure – we’re not going away, you know. I know I speak for lots of people (most of them unknown to me personally) when I say that we are with you in our thoughts all the time and will remain so, during the hardest times and, also, in better times in the future.
Good to hear they are going to go an alternative route to operating on Pádraig. And that the nicest nurse is back … I do indeed remember her from the first week, and it’s great that she’s back on duty and ready to use all her professional and personal skills to help Pádraig.
All the very best,
Louise
Hello Louise, I would not have been able to continue over the past months without the support, prayers, good wishes, visits, and good vibes from Pádraig’s and our friends. I have experienced goodness that I never knew existed. For me, it very often came like out of nowhere. The one thing about time is that it passes, you can’t stop it. I know there will be good times, and we’ll share them between us!
When I had to spent a long time in hospital with my brother in law i liked to do some cross stiching or knitting because we where supposed to talk to the patient constantly to make him comeback to conscience but.. what you can tell someone who is in the same room as you during days? So we decided to put on the news and comment on them. He might not have been much interested in it but it gave us something to say. And it also helped us also to be in the “world”. At least a Little bit.
I am so glad that the nice nurse is back. It makes such a difference to have in these cases someone nice around.
Muchos besos y ánimos,
from all of us
That’s exactly what we are trying to do, Ana. We’ll have to work a bit on the technology but will be playing the Irish news to him every day to keep him in touch with what is going on in Ireland. – Thanks for the tip!