Skip to content

Day 200 - Dec 9- Copenhagen Show

Posted by Dave Rat on

Day 200 - Dec 9 - Copenhagen Show

Home of the amazing and magical Christiania a magical paradise being consumed by the greedy and afraid.

**** Super Ponder 2000 ****

When I was young my mom told me that if I ever did drugs I would immediately go crazy and die. I was deathly afraid of drugs. So afraid that when my best friend and I discovered his older sisters smoking pot, I headed up a mission to rescue them from insane deaths by finding their stash and flushing it down the toilet. I discovered that this was not the best plan as I had no idea that they were so skilled at torturing young boys. I also discovered that though they were adept at our misery, they also seemed far from crazy and rather than dying they seemed to be getting attractively healthier than ever. I was faced with a quandary. My mom who loves me and cares about me had adamantly provided information that seemed to be clearly amiss. This was not the first time as I distinctly remember being nine years old at sleep-away camp and when the subject of sex came up, I naively defended, much to everyone's amusement, that my parents did not have sex and some babies just "come," as my mom had precisely explained to me. The unanimous mockery indicated that perhaps some more investigation was needed to gain facts to prove their wrongness. Depressingly though, the more information I gathered, the more I began to realize that it was highly improbable that I was correct and I had been supplied inaccurate information. I clearly realized beyond a doubt that my mom had supplied me false information and I was resentful she had put me in a position of ridicule. This whole smoking pot and instant death thing seemed to fall in the small category.

So when that same best friend handed me some pot to smoke that he had taken from his sisters stash and the quandary rolled through my mind, the doubt created by dishonesty was strong enough for me to discard my mon's credibility. I did not die and though I am a bit crazy I am convinced it was inherited rather than induced. I am neither pro nor anti drugs. I personally have chosen not partake in consuming mind altering substances other than alcohol on occasion and coffee whenever possible. I avoid even aspirin. Had I been informed that drugs, like many things in life, have pit falls and ramifications mixed in with whatever pleasure may be derived, I would have had better set of tools to navigate my choices. Like a skier's knees or a sound engineer's ears, a smoker's lungs, a drinker's liver or sky diver's landing, each life choice has potential ramifications with varying degrees of certainty attached. There were now holes in the fabric layer of the things I had believed to be real and that was the catalyst that started my mission to unravel my mind. I used drugs to try understand the world around me and the most important thing I learned was that I never needed drugs to understand. While I have no regrets and savor my memories and the perspectives realized, I had chosen a precarious path, one of many, but only one I saw at the time. Like reformatting a computer hard-drive, though they did not exist back then, I wanted and start fresh and to be free from the tainted viral concepts that others had injected into my understanding. I eventually adopted the mind strategy that "for any concept to be a component into the structure that forms my beliefs, it must be completely harmonious with the world around me as I personally see and experience, everything else will be relegated to the various levels of doubts and likelihoods that sit off to the side."

**** End Super Ponder 2000 ****

And this morning I share my first smile of the day

Wandering about this beautiful city and who would have guessed I would find a California Highway patrol car

Today was the smallest non promo gig of the tour and here is a good shot of the FOH pirate ship in the open venue sea

It was refreshing to have a small power filled room full of amazing fans and happiness abounds and here is a picture with Chad, Truck driver roadie Neil and I

Tomorrow I have a special adventure planned!

The forever pondering

Dave Rat

Trackbacks

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as Linear | Threaded

Kristian Buchardt on :

Thanks for an amazing show. The sound was sooo good, and the bass came through very clear, both the lows and his (I play the bass)... It's often impossible to distinct anything in the lows at concerts, but this one was just amazing. Thanks!

Jay Rigby on :

Dave, What you are saying very much follows the thoughts of Decartes, the great philosopher. He sat down one day and decided to disprove everything he believed up to that point and start from scratch. He believed he was for the better after doing this. Anyways, keep up the awesome writing and be safe on the road.

Monique on :

I just want to take this moment to say congrats to you and all the roadies on reaching Day 200!

Ludvig from Stockholm on :

I just found out that you have to be a gold or silver member on the official RHCP site to post comments on your blog. I'm not a member, since my parents won't let me use their credit cards to pay. And that's the only way to pay, so I can't be a member. I'm just a non paying "guest". I'm glad you can post comments here without paying. ^_^ It was nice meeting you after the show in Stockholm 12/12. I don't know if you remember me. I told you that the vasa ship wasn't a viking ship. Do you remember? :) You are a really nice guy! I hope you'll write about the shows in sweden soon. And thanks for the setlist, I use it as a wall decoration along with the setlist from the 11/12 show. :) The two shows in Stockholm were my first shows with the Chili Peppers, but I sure hope that they were not my last. It was amazing. The best two night of my life, thank you! I love your blog, keep up the good work! // Ludvig from Stockholm

Jen on :

As a teen blog-reader, I have to say that your ponder about drugs made me think more about the big picture than any of the pests who come to talk to us at school. Congrats on Day 200! Still loving the blog. Keep it up!

kerstin on :

christiania is probably one of the coolest places ever. i went there this summer and it was like home. did you have a chance to really walk around? behind all the houses and stuff? we walked some narrow trails and down by the lake, wildflowers everywhere, those crazyass houses built like dreams. this tiny beach were all the young people hung out on. best vibes ever but then kind of a creepy turn because i was thinking about how there is such high drug use at such an earlier age and how that kind of gets some people stuck and fucked up and plus when you're reaised in such an enclosed kind of community, once you're a teenager and you're venturing outside of it it's like culture shock and just imagine how weird that must be. i think christiania is best for middle aged and on and for kids it's the best place to grow up ever haha it's like a massive limitless playground. for lunch i went to this place and made my own lunch of these sweet potatoes and sour cream and vegetables and rice, with fruits as desert. i sat at a table with three unmatched chairs and watched a neighbor water his garden across the fence. it was so beautiful and perfect. the part of your entry about adamently claiming that sometimes babies just "come" is amazing. i really appreciate your very perspectively responsible and intelligent thoughts about drugs. it sounds like you had a similar experience as i did. where we know we never need them in the first place. i also love your mind strategy but i get a little confused at the last part "...everything else will be relegated to the various levels of doubts and likelihoods that sit off to the side." i don't know if you want to get into a discussion about that but if you don't mind, what would an example of that be? anyway i appreciate the introspectiveness of this blog in particular. (inner) peace

HowdThatTaste on :

so wait, that looks like ice or a hockey arena. did the fans slide around all over during the show? i'd be cool if you guys had a plank. either that or a crows nest. keep on bloggin' !!

Dave Rat on :

And thank you Christian for the positive comments and joining me on the adventure. Jay, interesting. Hmmm, disproving. Or at least smash some conficting thoughts against and see which ones prevail. Hello Monique, Thank You! I thought about having a day 200 celebration but to many adventures got in the way. Maybe day 223 and a 1/2 or something like that will be good. Hello Kirsten, I agree, Christiania, like all societies and communities has it's down side. It seems that so do all creatures depending on the angle I choose to illuminate them from. Even soft fuzzy rabbits breed to the point of total obliteration of the vegitation on which they survive without a predator to keep them in check. Balance seems to be the key. I just wonder if Christiania is dealing with a rebalance or being consumed by an off balance mentality. Doubts and liklihoods to me are the concepts and theories that for some reason do not hold enough muster to be incorporated into my belief structure yet are possible enough not to be discarded to the scrap heap of flawed perspectives. As far as an example, words are to cumbersome to sketch the ones in my mind in anything more than an abstract. Faith is just a doubt in a pretty wrapper. Howd - That is a hockey arena and that is the ice floor sans ice! We do need a plank but shhhh, the inside word is that pirate days are over and we will be seeking a new theme for January.

Mads Boye on :

Hey Dave, Thanks for keeping us posted about the progress of the tour, I consider myself a regular follower of your blog and it was great to finally have the peppers in my city. It was good to finally hear/sea the band after reading about your experiences on the road during the last 200 days. This was my 3 peppers show and by the far the 'best' sofar, whatever that means. Keep on truckin' - we are all looking forward to the next 200 days. Enjoy your well deserved break. PS: 'The Forum' is actually not a hockey arena and it is not possible cover the floor with ice. It was originally made for indoor cycling but the track (like a mini NAS-Car track) was removed some years back.

The author does not allow comments to this entry

Add Comment


To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

Form options