German TV

hoboy

A few months ago I was in Europe – I did a performance of the Kurt Weill (!!) concerto in Parma, Italy!

Then I took some time to visit friends, do a few podcasts, and talk about Dear Lara.

The ARD in Germany got wind of my film and its contents, so a screener was sent to the presenter Claudia Kaffanke. She was doing a program on German survivors, schools, and predators, so she asked if I would do an interview.

Of course, I said sure, and they came to Brussels to meet me – she and a cameraman.

We set up in my friend’s apartment (with a grand piano as background), and I talked about my film. The usual. I had just come back from a sort of little circle of Paris, St Germain-en-Laye and Amsterdam, and for some godforsaken reason, the top (!?!) of my foot had somehow become swollen and weird, like I had dropped a huge weight on it. Yes, I do like a glass of wine, but never enough of it to forget a giant thing falling onto my right foot.

The day before this interview, I went to a Belgian podiatrist. He told me that nothing was fractured, it was just tendons, gave me a few foot exercises and he basically made my sneaker twice as big, by putting in some cushions and opening the laces. (This visit, on a Sunday, cost 53 euros, by the way) (That’s like, $61 USD.)

However, at least, in the USA, you can do this thing called Converse By You, where you can design your own shoe! It’s fun, and I’ve done it for myself, a niece and a cousin, and a few others. An unusual pair arrived a while ago ago featuring bright orange on one side and dinosaurs on the other. I thought they were great, if a bit wacky – and they fit! But who sent them?

It turned out I was the sender. After a big party. So I call them my tipsy shoes. Those were the ones I had taken on this European trip.

In Belgium, the temperature had dropped quite a bit, so I found myself wearing not just my leather longcoat, but also a somewhat puffy vest from the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Suddenly the German folks asked if we could get some B-roll. Doing what? I asked, and they said, well, just walking around. Oh, and could you carry your violin case?

I explained that I had a special thing that I use – the Trinity – where the handle of my rollaboard suitcase actually IS the bow case – isn’t that cool? But they asked, can you just carry the violin case?

The violin case which comes with the Trinity is literally the size of the violin. It’s the tiniest case in existence. Many folks are not familiar with this case and ask me if I have taken up the ukelele.

Anyway, I said sure, and I went outside and walked around Saint-Gilles. With a giant right foot in orange Converse All-Stars featuring dinosaurs, a leather great-coat with a puffy vest below, and a minuscule violin case

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I am going to look nearly Brobdingnagian. Huge foot, huge coat, teensy violin case. I’m also not small – at 6’ (1.82m.) If people think it’s a normal violin case (and why would they not?), they’re going to be very confused by this giant woman-thing wandering around Brussels with her mini-fiddle.

Also, they wanted me to do some “things,” so we went to the seasonal market from France, and I talked to some folks there (I grew up speaking French.) I tasted a nice bit of sausage from a guy, pointed at another, tasted that, and asked to buy some. He said he only sold it by the kilo, so I said, fine (I was on camera still), and for some reason the sausage was square-ish and cost like, 48 euros per kilo. I found the money (I didn’t want to seem cheap on German TV!) and said thank you very much

Oddly shaped sausage featuring Calvados.

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So then I was in possession of a kilo of weirdly expensive square sausage, still carrying a weeny violin case, and it started to rain.

And enfin, at last, we were done!

I’m sure that footage won’t be on the show. I hope not. Such an odd day.

If you’re in Germany, or a German speaking country, please let me know about the show!!

Thanks! Lara