Part Two - An Interview with John Bruce Shoemaker, Prague 2005

This is the raw tape of an interview I did with John Bruce Shoemaker back in the summer of 2005. I was making a documentary short on the history of the expatriate scene in Prague, which I later uploaded to the current.tv website.

I originally met JB back in the summer of 1994. My cousin, Tony Peneff had been living in Prague for more than a year. I had just finished a BA at UBC in Vancouver and was kind of directionless. So, I picked up and headed over to Prague to see what all the fuss was about. Tony was working at the Derby then in Prague 7, and it was through him that I met JB and a lot of the Prague freaks. I crashed at Tony's place -- Paul Lonheis, and Eric Stunzi also briefly crashed there. I later moved in with American Paul up in Prague 6 after his girlfriend split to head back to The States.

I later took up residence with my buddy Murray Law's band at one of JB's pubs, U Hynku. We would play one night a week, doing rockabilly covers, and some 60's stuff, too.

Many stories and adventures later, here I am. Like so many who entered JB's world of freaks and circuses, my life was touched as a result. His appreciation for the absurd and his willingness to try just about anything was admirable.

Anyway -- I hope you enjoy this glimpse in the world of JB. The tape and interview end abruptly, but the interview was basically ending -- somewhere I have a second tape with some B-Roll of him I shot the night of the interview, at Marquis de Sade. I remember the night well, John showed up late with a bottle of hooch that had come with a sea horse in it. If there are any documentarians or historians who might have use for any of this footage, drop me a line.

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0HxS1FSOU

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Travel & Events

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• JB2

[nmadden]

This really takes me back. I lived in Prague from '92 to '97, and am proud to say JB was a good friend. And those early days in Prague did sometimes suck a lot, he's right about that....but it was also a lot of fun, largely because of the bars and clubs he founded. RIP JB.

[Satyagrahaha]

JB: "The second mouse gets the cheese. We were the first mice. We were the ones who got caught in the trap - and we got hurt. Now it's changed. Now is a safe time to come to Prague. People who come to Prague five years from now [in 2010] will have no idea what I'm talking about. I wouldn't recommend going through what the pioneers did. It sucked. It really sucked."

[scstraus]

Thank you JB. We miss you man.