Tour Update... This is a long one.

(That's not what she said)

The above photo is a sampling of the photo shoot we had last night, and gives you a pretty good idea of what this tour is like.  The following is a more complete photoblog than I've been able, or willing, to post lately.  We are in El Paso right now and finally have some free time to catch up.

It's been pretty crazy, but nothing too extreme.  Austin was great despite only seeing a little more than the two bands I'm on the road with.  Did catch a part of the Andrew WK show. Aside from that only made it to one other show.  It was in a co-op and was pretty much a madhouse.  Luckily, we had a great crew of people going in and muscled through to catch the band Maps and Atlases, who were really good.

This is the full tour crew just before parting ways in Austin.  Alina and Benny will be missed.  We did pick up Myrria, though.

This is my niece.  Got to be there for her 1st birthday in Austin which was a great bonus to a wonderful visit with my brother and his wife.  Letting most of us crash at his place for three nights while planning the weekend celebration was very generous of them.  Enzo and Jen are two of the best people I know.

This is the Percolator Cafe in El Paso where we are now.  The owner and his son are nice and are giving us a discount on goods that we are all appreciative of.  Nothing better after a long drive than great coffee for very little money.  Mighty Tiger goes on in a couple hours and it should be a good show.  After that we head to Tucson.  Shouldn't be too hard of a drive considering it's only about 5 hours away.  Plus, we'll have the coffee.

Tour: Nothing But The Road

Today was a driving day.  I did a bit, which I enjoyed.  If I don't I am usually out about half an hour into the drive.

This tour has so far proven to be quite unique.  The dynamics of a rock (yes, rock) band are very different from any other group that I've had the privilege of touring with.  The conversations have been great and the laughs plentiful.  Five days in and no seriuos disagreements.  Ten days left.  I imagine the few breaks we get from each other will become more and more welcome as time goes on, though.

Very excited to hit SXSW tomorrow night and see some good bands.  I plan on hitting mostly smaller shows.  The bands aren't as big, but can occasionally be better than the shows where people emulate sardines.  Mighty Tiger's not a huge band but I know I would definitely enjoy their set had I never heard them before.  That's the experience I'm looking for here.  Good bands and intimate venues.

The Mighty Tiger show at SXSW is going to be great I'm sure.  Taking photos is looking like more and more of a challenge.  Very excited to test my skills, I'm sure it won't be anything unmanageable.  Very excited in general.

Very.

Tour: One More Day

At a hotel just outside Denver.  Late night digi transfers.  Building momentum to SXSW.  Each show is getting bigger.  The place we were at tonight was pretty cool.  My favorite part was the green room.  I would show you a photo of it but no. It's too cool.  Here is a photo of the water/sewage pipe running through it.  The pipe seems cool, doesn't it? Just image what the rest of the room must look like.

When I get back, all the good photos will be available.

Thought From The Road

Road trips, for any reason, are inherently fun. Traveling with friends always sounds like a good idea. But like any group, it's the parts that make the whole, and figuring out a good combination of road buddies is not an easy task. It's more or less finding people who share the same sense of when to speak and when not to. Good conversation is always a bonus, but as long as your speaking/non-speaking times align there probably won't be any troubles.
The more you take road trips the more you recognize the people, and personalities, of the true travel mate.

Tour: The First Couple Days

I've left Seattle for a break.  And tour.  I've jumped into the van of Mighty Tiger who are generous enough to have me along.  Started in Portland, second show Boise, and today SLC.  It's been good so far and I expect nothing but good things while traveling with these guys to SXSW and back.  WiFi access has been pretty limited.  This is the first chance I've had to get online since we left.  Fairly late and I'm the only one up.

This is Ed's Place.  An abandoned restaraunt marking the entrance to the venue in Salt Lake City.  As you pull through the alley in search of the spot you're brought to a stop by a cul de sac of row houses.  I would include pictures of those equally interesting, yet deceptively occupied, houses but I don't want to ruin the surprise, should you go.  It gave me a twin peaks boner.  You'll get one too.

The Phoenix Area Sucks It! but especially Prescott.

For some reason there are still people out there who want to deny the fact that people come in different shades and speak more than one language.  Say, people on the city council in Prescott, AZ.  It's a view that saddens me, angers me, and occasionally makes me laugh at it's ridiculous justifications.

The city of Prescott hung two banners on one of it's main streets to promote the census.  One in english and one in spanish.  After four days, over four dozen complaints and the objection by two city council members only one of the two was still there.  Guess which one:

"If you're here in the U.S. and can't speak English, you need to go home," [City Council member John] Hanna said, especially people who are here illegally. "If you're counting them ... you're saying you'll do whatever you can to cater to their needs."

"I went to city hall and I came unraveled today, asking the question, 'Who authorized that, why did we authorize that and what reasons do we have to advertise in Spanish when we have visitors coming into this community and the first thing they see is the Census 2010 sign directed totally at the Spanish community,'" [Council member Steve] Blair said on his show.

When The Daily Courier asked about why he was concerned about visitors seeing a sign in Spanish, Blair explained, "It would seem like we're a Spanish community rather than an English community," and most visitors are not Hispanic.

I always love this defense. Some of my best friends use it:

Blair said he helped census efforts in the Dexter neighborhood in 2000, and noted that many of his wife's family members are Hispanic.

At least they came up with a solution:

"I think we replaced it with a much-improved system," [City Manager Steve] Norwood said.

The city now plans to take advantage of an offer from the U.S. Census, which offered to provide T-shirts, hats and flyers to give away door-to-door in a central section of the city that has a high Latino population. Volunteers from AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) will conduct the campaign.

And as if all that wasn't bad enough:

Blair also commented on his radio show March 3 about the effort to count homeless people.

"Communities have to do strange stuff like counting every single crevice that may have a homeless person living underneath a tent," he said.

I'm assuming that only applies to the english speaking homeless people.

Barbies!

I once bought a Ken doll.  There, I said it.  I only bought it so I could play with my cousins who were obsessed with Barbies at the time and after a half hour's attempt at playing Barbie wars I ended up just leaving it behind when I left their house, but that's no excuse.  It happened and I'm dealing with it.

On a side note, Mattel has just announced the release of the Mad Men collection of dolls to be released in July 2010.  They all come with accessories that fit the characters.  I know it's weird to post something about Barbie and the link won't help my street cred, but I like toys and I like Mad Men, so this is a pretty good mix of the two.  What could be more appropriate for that show?

For more info on these figures click here. Do it.

The Bus Is Always Fun!

So today seemed like an average day on the bus, as in that something weird happened.  I was hurrying to catch my bus home and moved quickly around an elderly man who was taking a very long time to move.  I made my maneuver between escalators.  Just as I stepped off the lower escalator I heard screaming.  I turned around to see said man face up on the steps moving towards me.  He reached the bottom and I ran over to help him.  I quickly dragged him off the still moving steps and called for an ambulance.  Waiting there listening to him scream and waiting for the emergency crew it dawned on me that this guy was more or less taunting the vengeful escalator gods.  He was overweight, sluggish, had just come out of the hospital for leg injuries, walking with a 15 year old walking stick (literally a stick), wearing loose clothing and crocs.  In essence the perfect storm.  By the time the ambulance showed up he had calmed down and even tried to get up on his own.  The old tortoise couldn't.  He was wheeled away and will probably go back to the hospital with minor issues.  Please note that I helped him before I took any photos.  Once he was okay I snapped away.  First on the scene and first off.

His cane got caught in the teeth of the steps and then snapped in half.  That's how it happened.

Tim Burton Hates ME

Every once in a while my paranoia and self importance get the better of me.  Maybe it's just part of getting older or growing more cynical but it seems like there are people out there who are trying to ruin everything I loved as a child.  The most recent of which is the unholy train wreck that is Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. It wasn't enough they took Transformers, Spider-man, and GI Joe apparently.  And Mr.Burton should know better.  He's already ruined Willy Wonka for an entire generation of children.  The reason those previous things were so well loved and treasured was because they were already perfect.  Of course they had mistakes, and of course they weren't ever going to be that great when we got older but as long as they didn't change it gave us hope for ourselves, that in some way we would never change.  And that can probably be said for anyone who occasionally catches themselves singing the Toy 'R' Us theme song. You know who you are, my brothers and sisters.

 

I'm gonna start hating Johnny Depp if he keeps this up.  Which is a shame because he and Davy Jones were my idols. That's two now Johnny.

Bus Ridin'

Thanks to Mitch for coming along on another bus ride adventure.  Asked a guy for a photo and after telling us his entire life story (or at least the highlights) he refused.  If you're going to inconvenience/bore me at least make it worth my while.  I'm too selfish to be bothered otherwise.

Sorry For The Delay...

Just got my wisdom teeth out so I've been a little too preoccupied with pain and pain killers.  Below is the evidence.  Now I'm gonna be back on track and posting more regularly.  Thanks.