Ciao Bella!

For a couple moments over the past 10 days I was sad that I was not in Austin enjoying the sweet sounds of this year's South by Southwest. And then I remembered that I was walking down the streets of Florence, Italy and I was okay. Really.

I had a fabulous time, thank you for asking. It was the most necessary vacation I have taken thus far, and I had a ball. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any local shows. The only posters I saw on the street that I could understand was a Beatles cover band playing next week. I would have gone. I did observe and question what music is "popular" on the other side of the Atlantic. Not surprisingly I heard a lot of Green Day, Gwen Stefani, Britney, and Maroon 5 everywhere I went. But it was nice to see The Killers find their way into some clubs, as well as the new Moby album which I am digging, and some Depeche Mode.

In between the wine, pasta, and yummy gelato, I found one guy on the street who played a mean guitar every day. I went to introduce myself and started asking him some questions, but he just smiled. He didn't speak any English. Damn.

Musician on the street:



View at the top of the Duomo, that surprisingly has more steps than my apartment. Who knew?



My favorite bartender, Sergio



and finally, my favorite person in the world who I miss dearly.




Speaking of Europe, I found out the day before I left that I was accepted for the journalism study abroad in London for six weeks this summer. Look for a british edition of Underrated as issue seven in August. Should be fun. Oh yeah, also saw an Olsen that same day, who by the way is so small it's not even human. All in all a crazy day to leave.

So today I returned to some new CDs that I will get to listen to this week as well as the proof of the first professionally printed copy of issue five. I screamed, everything looks perfect and I couldn't be more thrilled. (Okay I found one typo. Forgive me.) Give it 10 business days and Underrated will swarm the city.

I tried to stay away from a a computer during my vacation but those damn internet cafes pop up everywhere. I was sad to see that my regular respondents of each issue haven't said anything yet. What's up guys? I can take the criticism! Come on, my own sister hasn't even read it yet. Maybe they're all excited for the hard copies. You know I am.

I have the week off from work, so I'm gonna be doing some cleaning, catching up, and listening to a bunch of new tunes. I'll give you the heads-up with what's good.

Also, I did a big update on the website today, complete with a bunch of great concerts that I don't have the money or ID to go to in the next couple months. I'll find a way. April is jam-packed with The Shins (!!!!!!!!) and Mando Diao. May's got Ben Folds, Kings of Leon, and Snow Patrol. And Jack Johnson in September. Shit man. I can't wait.

Ciao for now.