Some had to spend a lot of time up in the skies. Ian came from Hongkong where he had been invited for a seven day crash course in „Electronic Gardening“. Jan had come from Pittsburgh, but long before he landed in Hamburg, his Chevy from 1955 had been transported over the Atlantic Ocean and waited for him in „Oldtimer’s Parking Lot“ (OPL) in Fuhlsbüttel, along with John Carpenter’s „Christine“. Ian waited for Jan in the „Senator Lounge“ finishing the last pages of David Mitchell’s „The Bone Clocks“. Is it that good?! A hot contender for the third „parallel reading adventure“? A happy chorus descending from the loudspeakers, with a bossa nova-vibe: „Cars and candy and corn flakes / Life is what it takes …“. Uwe slowly started his private road movie with five novels of Heinrich Steinfest in his rucksack (among them „Der Allesforscher“), and a borrowed „Tempo“ transporting Gregs‘ famous jukebox on the island. The list of old 45’s included Wolfram’s favourite Paolo Conte song (with drums crashing in an empty elevator space), „Yesterdays‘ Man“ and „Autumn Almanac“ („‚Autumn Almanac'“ is mysterious anti-matter“, Andy Partridge had once told Michael in an English garden in Swindon while BBC 2 broadcasted „The Disappointed“, funny coincidence). Henning came with a helicopter from Amsterdam. The first „drone“-free „giant insect“ of its kind. So while the pilot was looking for blue holes in the sky, Henning could listen (deeply) to the „Köln Concert“, and new piano music from „Down Under“, a forthcoming record mixing the hypnotic side of the Necks with some Martini Rosso-vertigo from 1950’s exotica „Martin Denny“-style. Versatile as he is, part of Henning is materializing himself in Greenland, too. Jochen had been on the road for days (and nights), on his purely acoustic bicycle. Sometimes he was whistling a Steely Dan-tune – the only dude on earth I ever witnessed whistling „Haitian Divorce“. He could be seen in secret alleys, „Feldwegen“, and dark woods that separated never-ending highways from the hinterland. So, these were the first five (of all ten) Manafonistas who finally arrived on Sylt. The „Borgward Leichttriebwagen“ had been restored and repaired for this once-in-a-lifetime-event (waiting at Niebüll for Lajla and Martina), but gave up its spirit in the middle of nowhere, near Morchsum, the last wilderness of Sylt. There were phone calls, there were tea stores, there were steel drums. And, for everybody, shortbread cakes from Edinburgh! No albatros could be seen at the most desolated cliff of the island. It was raining cats and dogs. But who said life would be a merry-go-round full of „wunder & plunder“?! Full of mini-sartoris and maxi-singles?! „Life is a bench at the end of a path / Pain, pancakes and green grass“. Ya remember? Don’t tell me you’ve never ever heared this song!
