island memories

Hello hello! It's a gray day here in Holland, lots of wind and drizzle..makes it easy to stay inside though..very unlike it feels on those beautiful spots in the Caribbean we just visited. Before I go on though, I'd like to apologize for keeping you waiting this long to read a new OG blog. Maybe you weren't really waiting, but just in case, if you were.. We were just really having so much fun on the islands that yeah..well sometimes you just don't feel like stopping to write about it. I even have a hard time taking pictures when I am just taking it all in.. ..but I am glad to have others in the group who were so keen on documenting it all in picture and video. It's actually fitting maybe that the last blog was about Bruce's accident on Statia. However I will let Bruce write about all that, as I am sure he has a lot he would like to say to you all. I am happy to tell you though that although a little blip in the speed of his recovery process occurred..his legs are going to be fine ..with a little more rest his wounds will soon heal..and they are already healing. It was an emotional trip bro! We love you like brothers.

I have not gotten my hands on most of the material (especially video) as yet but soon we will be adding more of that to the blog and our sites. For me, it was the funnest and most emotional tour to date. The shows were excellent and the weather was too! The audiences..the people we met..all those who helped..the times we had..the memories they made...being with my family again..being back home again..seeing some good friends again...and taking it all in for what it's worth! I really enjoyed it, to say the least! A very warm thank you goes out from all of us to all who helped out and played a part in making it what it was.

We look forward to doing it again soon in 2010 and then even sweeter.

this is the whole group minus Jazzy on Statia as we were waiting at the tiny airport for our flight back to SXM


Thank you to all of you who know who you are on SXM, Aruba and Statia..you treated us well and we are very grateful.

Now on to the next chapter in Holland. We will also soon be focusing some attention
on the U.K. as well as other countries while trying to play as much as possible in memorable fashion. See you at a show soon! One love, Mike

Now THAT'S a crowd! ..maybe our best crowd yet. maybe our best show yet? This was the crowd at the Sunset on our last show of the trip on 15/11/09.

Disaster strikes OG on Statia...

Geez..accidents on OG tours..it is almost a regular part of our trips it seems! Maybe we are a bit too daring. I don't know..today's was just "one wrong step" ..that could have ended up being much much worse.

Before Bruce's accident the hike on the trail up the Quill and down the crater was great! It was not easy and the sun was blazing and the sweat pouring..but we had enough water and we are all healthy enough for this kind of thing. The group consisted of six of us: Danny, Bruce, Greg, Hans, Oscar and myself. After about an hour of hiking we had finally reached the top. Bruce took some beautiful pictures.



Right now he is still in the hospital. He is ok though! No worries. He will be just fine and might only have to lay in his bed for a few days and keep his leg up. I will get to what happened don't worry.

After enjoying the view from the top Greg lead us down the trail towards the bottom of the crater. It was cool to see how the plant-life changed suddenly..becoming more of a tropical rain-forest. We even passed a long black snake of which I do not know the name of right now. Actually..this is where it all went wrong. We were almost at the bottom when we stopped to take pictures of this snake. We continued on and Bruce was at the back of the group. The trail was very challenging. Big rocks and boulders, many of them quite loose, steep as well. We then heard Bruce scream and the sound of a rolling boulder. We turned around and what we saw next made us run as quickly as we could to him. He was laying underneath a HUGE boulder. He was screaming in fright. It was right on top both his legs. We all tried moving it. He was screaming in pain and fright. It would not move! All of us went for it and managed to get it off of him. I cannot say how heavy it was but 5 reasonably strong guys had a tough time getting it off him. Like I said, it was huge!

Hans quickly wrapped a towel tightly around his leg. The wound was big and deep. The blood was pouring out of it. It was not enough. Greg ripped the other towel into thinner pieces and Hans made it work. The bleeding stopped. Hans was covered in blood as were the rest of us...though not as much as Hans. Hans, you stepped up to the plate bro! Greg, you are also the man. They were both very quick with getting his leg tightly wrapped to stop the bleeding.

Bruce was in shock. We calmed him down. We found out he could move his legs. He did not think they were broken, but he did feel very weak as he had lost a good bit of blood. Hans and Greg ran ahead to call for help as there was no reception where we were almost at the bottom of the crater. Oscar, Danny and myself stayed behind with Bruce. He could walk on it , ever so gently. It was a tough climb back up the crater even without your legs working for you. Many loose rocks. It was probably the most physical challenge of Bruce's life. We finally got to the top and started our way down as we decided the more distance we could cover the better as the bleeding had stopped and there was no telling how long it might be before help would get there. We also had no phone so there was just no telling what was up at the bottom of the Quill. So we trekked on. With a big branch for support Bruce made his way down the hill at a snail's pace it seemed. It was hard to tell how long this would take. We just kept going. We had enough water for Bruce and he really needed it.

About 2 hours into the walk, we finally saw the first three guys show up to help. Mega D and his friend plus a guy who takes care of the trails who brought lots of water. They told us that help was on its way and that the rest of the walk would actually take us a few hours still at this pace. Oscar and I then thought that maybe we should have built a stretcher from branches and vines like Bear Gryllis would have on Man vs Wild. We just thought we were a lot closer and Bruce thought he could make it. So then the fire department and police showed up with a stretcher and about 7 men. They cut down a straight branch and braced his leg with it and put him into the stretcher. Now it was a matter of hurrying down the trail carrying Bruce. Everybody took turns as it was quite exhausting..we had enough man power to keep switching. It was a strong team effort. A good 15 minutes of this and then we came to the part where the police had made it up the trail with a 4WD jeep. They managed somehow to get it turned around..then we put Bruce in. I got in the back with him. We all knew he would be ok but he had to get his leg dealt with as fast as possible. We got to the bottom of the trail, pulled him out of the jeep and into the ambulance.

bruce in the hospital

At the hospital they stitched him up. He had more than one wound but one of them was quite big and deep right behind his left knee. The nurse told him the last serious accident on the Quill happened over ten years ago. They gave him some strong pain-killers and a pair of crutches. Then he met us back at the hotel where we had to leave right away to catch our Winair flight back to SXM.

Now it is the next day. Bruce is happy to be back at the L'Esplanade. Besides that incident, Statia was wonderful. Even for Bruce who says he is definitely going to be returning maybe on his honeymoon. He is now at the doctor's office who is changing his bandages and checking his wounds. He woke up in quite some pain today, throbbing pain. This is just his body trying to heal itself though.

Bruce, we love you. You said thanks a million times already and you even mentioned how you felt the word had no meaning in this situation..well we just did what any friends would have bro. We hope you recover quickly. You definitely had an angel by your side. We all know it could have been much much worse. The moments between hearing that boulder come down and us reaching you and seeing you underneath it...I think for most of us that was the scariest situation we have ever had to deal with. At least for myself it was. And for you..having your life flash in front of your eyes like that..we know how intense it was and is for you bro.

Life is precious, live it right!

Michael Maidwell


this was the boulder..while i was trying to push it down the mountain as it was still loose where it lay..it took a lot of rocking back and forth but i finally managed to push it down.

Aruba was awesome!!

ARUBA WAS DUSHI YIU!!!!!!!!!!!

The show was intense! BIG stage..BIG sound..NUFFA energy!!

We had great fun on the island too..going out on the catamaran "Pelican Too" for example on a snorkeling trip on which I bumped my head against a shipwreck when trying to dive into it and through the other side..misjudged it and hit pretty hard against the wreck (the Antilla) and well..I have the scars to prove it! haha..hopefully i will be able to upload some pictures of that soon too.

Thank you Brian. Masha danki Aruba. Our first show there was wicked and we can't wait to come back. Good vibrations, Michael

Statia Very Nice.

Well, it's no secret to the rest of the band that I'm not a big fan of flying, but I must say, the Winair pilots who flew us today to Statia did a banging job (with the help of mother nature also of course). One of the best small plane flights I've had. On approaching Statia, the first thing you notice is how green it is, and before you know it, you've landed. Once we arrived in Statia, almost immediately the questions start coming about "You born in St. Maarten?", "Who is your family?" and of course somebody knows somebody who knows somebody else who knows your family. Small island life; it's the same on all of them isn't it?

After a quick photo by the Statia Herald, we load up the bus and head to the hotel. Right away you realize Statia is a special place; very quaint and charming. A few bendy, hilly roads and we arrive at Golden Era Hotel, where we will stay until tomorrow when we head back to St. Maarten and get ready for our last show of this trip and 2nd show at Sunset Beach.

Right now, I'm going to relax a little bit more on my lounging chair right in front of the sea, listen to the waves, until we have to go and soundcheck for tonight's show, which I'm looking forward to...

Goin to Statia

Sunset!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SXM!!!!

Wow....last night was special. I know this much..it was our most explosive show on Sint Maarten ever! And that should say a lot because last March we had a very good one on Kim Sha Beach for the 2009 Heineken Regatta. I wonder what people who saw us at Kim Sha and also last night..I wonder what they thought...I believe they all felt the same as I...this was our best. You know what..I'll go further even...it was the best OG show ever. ..although 'best' is always quite relative right..

Right now we are in the Curacao Hato airport waiting for our flight to Aruba. Sitting at the sports bar drinking some Amstel Brights and using the wifi. Oh yeah..the DAE flight was quite cool. I had never flown on DAE before. There was even a raffle during the flight where 5 people won free return trips from SXM to CUR valid for the next 6 months. And guess what..TWO OG members won!! Kadjatou and myself!

Ok we have to board now. Can't wait for tonight on Aruba!! We've been looking forward to this one a lot!!

Oh..and just in..we will be playing on Statia (St Eustatius) on the 11th! We have never played there either. I have never even been to the island. It is a very smal and very special island full of history..and believe it or not..a population of about 3000 only. So ..will they ALL be at our show maybe??

This trip is turning out to be even sweeter than we were hoping for.

We love it! It's nice being in OG..

Michael

picture in The Daily Herald

Just a quick upload of the picture that was in the local Sint Marten newspaper (The Daily Herald) yesterday along with a great article on OG and Mischu Laikah. The picture was taken at the L'Esplanade hotel where we are staying in Grande Case.

On our way now over to the Sunset for a soundcheck and setting up etc etc...

Everybody woke up feeling very strong and ready for tonight. Most of us had fish for breakfast! Thanks Deon for the Mahi Mahi!! So you know we started the day right and this is gonna be the most explosive OG show ever..

Can't wait!

Michael M

What a life!!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if we have previous blog entries with the exact same subject name...

It i such a different life down here on the islands. Whenever we get down we feel it right away too. And with each passing day, it becomes more and more obvious..the island life is the life for me!

Let's take yesterday for example. We meet up with 'Shabba man' at around noon at his band's practice room in St. Peters. He is the friendliest guy you could know! We talk for a while in the dirt lot where the practice room is. Chickens and dogs running around. The high schools and primary schools in the area are all finishing around this time and the uniformed children are starting to fill up the street nearby. Shabba tells me stories of how fertile some of the hills on SXM really are and about the rasta community and all the vegetables, fruit and natural herbs they are growing on the island. He also tells me of his passion for helping the youth of the island with music and he shows me some pictures of a recent event he organised. After some good conversation with the percussionst/taxi driver/farmer/teacher, Oscar has finished setting up the sound in the room and we can begin. Shabba leaves us the key and shows me where to leave it for him later. The chickens get fed by their owner and the cocks get greedy and try to chase away the other chickens and have all the corn to themselves. However, there is enough to share and the chickens outnumber the cocks...

Ater a couple songs all the guys in the band are forced to take off our shirts. It is very warm and when OG practices it always gets much warmer very quickly! This must have been our hottest practice session ever actually..

Ok..unfortunately I do not have the pictures at hand right now and I know these pictures will say much more than words. Bruce got a little unlucky you see, his bag is still lost, the KLM messed up on that one and his camera cable was in the bag so we cannot upload the pics we took. I will try and get it done today thogh..so I will add the pictures in the next post..

After the practice we went for a grande dinner at Pineapple Pete's. It was also Hans' birthday so we sang for him with the waiters and Pierre (the owner).

SXM is lovely! We'd love to live and work from here. Maybe someday soon...

Til the next!

p.s. Thank you Shabba, Youmay, Nacio and the One White Chick band for lending us their room for the day!
p.p.s. Thank you Pierre for an excellent dinner at the Pineapple Pete's last night! The food there is truly delicious!!!!

On our way to SXM

Me an Mischu with the rest of the OG. Crew on our way to our home island. Yeeeeessssaaaaaaaiiiiii





-- Posted from my iPhone