first LHF Meeting Germany 2007

[saeman]

The interesting thing for me about this party was the volume of the music related to the time of day. I would guess that it never dropped below 100 db and at sometimes approached 130. If I'm strectching a bit it's not by much. I'm no newbie to cranking the hell out of a big pair of speakers but we did on occasion reach a painful level on the volume knob.

The most interesting thing about the volume was that we absolutely had to be keeping HP's neighbors rocking in their beds. I walked outside at about 2 am to see if there was a drop due to the walls of the garage - NOTHING, NADA. I asked HP and his reply was simply "NO PROBLEM, they're used to it and we only do this once in a while. Not much more than 100 feet away (right across the street) there was a beautiful old church and I know the priest was trying to sleep so that he was prepared for the first service of Sunday, which was only 4-5 hours away.

HP no doubt has a special place in his community.

The last pic is of an interesting sign that was on the wall over the toilet in HP's Blues Garage. It had to be placed there by someone other than HP - someone who was in no way interested in cleaning the toilet after a bunch of partying guys finished for the evening.

HP - we did say that we had to tell the whole story - remember!!

[saeman]

Besides the 7 Forum members in attendance there was HP's better half, Angelica. You might think that being the only woman there might make her feel like an outsider - just the opposite. She was right in the middle of the event and had as much fun as the guys did. Like HP, she's a true music lover and was standing there having fun until the very end - which by the way finally came at somewhere around 4:30 am.

A couple of the attendees escaped at around 2am but we had strong attendance til the end. I remember Guido saying that he was done for the night and was in the process of making an exit. A slight amount of pressure was applied and he agreed to stay for another beer if HP played some Pink Floyd - no problem and he was handed another beer.

[saeman]

As I said before, we finally wound down the event at about 4:30 am. Since I had no access to my room, HP and Angelica fixed me a bed on the couch. I crashed with no problem and slept for 4 hours or so.

Our host and hostess insisted on ending our event with breakfast for all in their home. At 9:30 we were sitting again at the table with hot coffee, eggs, rolls, juice and conversation about the great evening in HP's Blues Garage. How Angelica and HP managed to get this breakfast prepared is beyond me. I was sitting over a cup of coffee with my eyes propped open with tooth picks, trying to get my act together.

After some good-byes in the driveway, Claus, Nathan, Florian and I departed for the airport in Frankfurt. As I understand, HP and Angelica spent the remainder of the day in a slight state of coma. I slept 6 out of 9 hours on the flight home, spent 4 hours with family and went back to bed for 7 more hours before work.

We could try to have another JBL Party like this, and we definately should try, but I have no doubt that this party will be very hard to top. Everything was perfect - food, drink, music, friendship and atmosphere. Everyone asked if I was having a good time, wanting to make sure that I returned home with great memories. This get together was outstanding and I'll never forget the event.

We traveled near 3100 km from Metzingen, to Switzerland, to Berlin and back to Frankfurt. I had originally hoped to get to Hamburg to meet Peter Hoerninger but I can see now that it would have been near impossible to add that distance to our travels. I hope to come back to Germany this coming summer with my wife. We will then visit Hamburg and other northern areas and we will also pass thru Bad Homburg for another visit to HP's Blues Garage - a must see if you're ever in the area.

Thanks Hanspeter, Angelica, Juergen, Guido, Florian, Eckhard and especially my good friend Claus, for a wonderful time.

[Hofmannhp]

thanks for your kind words and your great pics Rick,

and guys, not participating.......each word was all real

HP

[paragon]

Nochmals Dank an HP und Angelika und Claus,

Die dies alles ermöglicht haben, ein unvergesslicher Abend und Morgen für uns alle.
Angelika, allein für den Käsekuchen und das Omlett würde ich wieder zu euch kommen.
Auch noch vergessen, die toleranten Nachbarn und Mieter, die diese "Spinner" geduldet haben.

Eckhard

[Hoerninger]

Rick, thank you very much for sharing the pictures and your impressions. I'm happy that you initiated the first German LHF meeting and that it had such a joyful success. (I should change some serious words with my employer .)

An die deutschen Teilnehmer: Jetzt weiß ich endlich wie Ihr alle ausseht!

Gruß Peter

[saeman]

Hello Peter: I'm glad you got to see the pics. Since you were the first one that I talked to about our trip to Germany, I felt bad that I was unable to make it to Hamburg and that you were unable to make it to HP's event. Hamburg will be on my agenda next time over. Maybe you and I can have dinner and call it the second LHS Meeting in Germany.

You're right - it is nice to finally attach a face to the names that we have all been chatting on-line with. I have now met more of the members in Germany than I have in the U.S. Guess I need to get busy here at home.

My best to you - Rick

[saeman]

Guys - there were quite a few cameras at the gathering besides mine. Everyone with some pics should add them to the thread. This isn't my thread and I'm sure some of you got pics that I didn't. Some of mine leave a bit to be desired but it was a challenge to get 7 drinkers to sit still long enough for a 6 second time exposure.

Rick

[rs237]

Auch ich möchte mich für den schönen Abend bei Angelika und HP bedanken. Ich kann nur schreiben jeder der nicht da war hat was versäumt. Leider bin ich nicht in der Lage in englisch zu schreiben , ich hoffe auf Verständniss. Ein sehr tolles Forum mit sehr tollen Mitgliedern hier.

best regards
juergen

[Fangio]

Rick - would say your pics cover the event pretty well, particularly the night. Here are some more places/moments that I'll keep in good memory.

- the living room system
- another 'garage-system' (scoops)
- shop
- and jbl talking shop

[nrwjbl]

Looks like a very nice meeting - I missed ! Much regret there was no chance for me sharing time with the "gang" at HP's place.
So it's mostly welcome receiving pictures and personal reports, thank you Rick for that and hope you liked it over here. Can imagine from own experience how you felt jumping on a flight after a breezy party with only few hours sleep and "alternative accomodation".
Seems I missed nice people's company, would appreciate joining next time either in Germany or elsewhere.
Hope someone adds some more pics.

peter

[paragon]

Try it, ähh sorry,

[paragon]

pics,

[paragon]

Rick, think the first pic is the best i get. And i was full of "Bitburger" at this moment.

Regards, Eckhard

[paragon]

ist eigentlich, auf der Autobahn (Highway), das Navi kurz vorm Ausgang(Navy), und alle anderen full of alcohol, will sagen alle sind voll bis zum abwinken.

Eckhard

Und Ihr könnt alle zu mir kommen und seit genauso voll !!