I saw this today and I feel the need to add my $.02: Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man brought to trial in the US for the 9/11 hijackings, was sentenced to life in prison today. He will be spending the rest of his life, with no possiblity of parole, in the Adminstrative Maximum (ADMAX or Supermax) part of the US Prisons Complex in Florence, Colorado. Now, I know many people out there are angry that Moussaoui isn't getting the death sentence; that the American taxpayer will be supporting him the rest of his life; that the punishment should fit the crime. What I say to them is: we took away from him the most important thing in his life. Not only will he be in a cell 23 hours a day for the rest of his life, but he will never, NEVER get to martyr himself for his "cause." His "glorious" fiery death that would have killed hundreds or thousands of Americans will never happen; he will rot on a concrete slab for the rest of his days and die as nothing more than a footnote to the turning point of the early 21st century. This, combined with the fact that Americans have shown that we're not out for blood but for justice, will serve as proof that we can take the moral high ground if we choose to. We can do the right thing when we need to. I only hope the future sees more of this kind of thing.

Myrtle Beach, SC - So on vaca with the girlfriend and fam... having a good time. MB is much more fun when you're old enough to drink. Last time I was here, it was on a band trip in '97... what a horrible trip. Alligator Adventure, which is as underwhlmingly exciting as it sounds, was one of our first stops then. This time: avoided it completely. We did, however, go back to the Myrtle Beach Grand Prix. Amanda and I got there right at opening time and had the place to ourselves... it was cool. I set the fastest time for the Grand Prix... I know, it's hard not to be impressed, but please do your best. Tonight we're going to Dixie Stampede for dinner. Apparently, it's like Medieval Times, except rodeo themed. I can't wait. Yeah, having a good time tho...

John, Amanda's nephew, is having fun. Today, we walked up to the beach and he got very excited when he saw the ocean... he shouted "There it is!" like he expected it to be gone or something... it was cute. I've got some good photos, but I can't seem to get them off the camera right now, and I have to go to dinner... I'll post them later.

"Vacation used to be a luxury, however, in today's world, it has become a necessity."

Anonymous

Real quick one for all you meat eaters out there: still don't believe me about mad cow disease?
Well, kids, it's coming... Also, hope you all had a good weekend, I know I did. Two days and no work!?! Woohoo!

And remember: all the leftover Easter candy goes on sale today! Go go go!

What a shitty week. Car show at the Javits center, OMFG. Around 4 AM today, when the Teamsters told me I couldn't load my truck until 8 AM, the blog entry I was writing in my head went something like this: Fuck the Javits. Fuck the Teamsters. Fuck New York City. I hate it all.

Now, if you know me, you know I'm a strong supporter of Unions. I feel that collective bargaining is a right, that sometimes the only way for the working man to be able to defend himself and not be taken advantage of by those who employ him is to get together in a group and force a change. It's the American way, despite what some people would have you think (Declaration of Independence, anyone?) But this week was a shining example of what happens when that right is taken advantage of and abused. I'm not going to get too deep into details, but let's just say that some people are too comfortable in their jobs and need to be reminded that their purpose is not to screw their employer at every chance, but to help the customer. Because if people stopped doing shows at the Javits center, they wouldn't have a job. And if there was an alternative, people wouldn't do shows at the Javits.

On to complaint #2: driving. Rush hour. Suck my testes, world. I hate everyone. Why is it that people need to stop when they come over a hill and suddenly the sun is shining in their face? You're traveling east, jerk, put the sun visor down. Go to CVS and spend the $5 on a pair of sunglasses instead of that pint of Haagen Daaz that your fat ass doesn't need anyway. AND STOP READING THE GODDAM PAPER IN TRAFFIC AND DRIVE!!!! The next broad I see putting on makeup on Route 3 is going to get beaten. Then shot, then beaten some more, and finally dumped in the swamp. Oh, and if there's an accident, or if someone gets pulled over for speeding, DON'T STOP TO LOOK!!! I can't emphasize this one enough: keep fucking driving. Especially if the police and fire and ambulance is ALREADY THERE. There's nothing more you can do, and if it's your grandma that plowed across 3 lanes of traffic and ran that soccer mom off the road, then you'll find out about it soon enough. There's nothing you can do here, so move the fuck on. And I'm not even going to get started on the cell phones, because that ground is so worn down you can see the lava flowing.

Well, I guess I should start on my taxes. I'm sure that will precipitate another wonderful rant, one that might even get the attention of the US Government, that group of assholes. Dan Savage, who writes the online sex column that gave us the wonderful term santorum, has started a movement called ITMFA. ITMFA is an acronym for Impeach The Mother Fucker Already. Now, while I can certainly agree with the sentiment, and would not mind seeing Emperor Shrub brought up on cahrges, I have one little, tiny, eensey problem with all that: President Cheney. That's right, if W. gets impeached, DICK CHENEY becomes PRESIDENT. Not that it really would make a difference, because he pretty much does the job now as it is, but there's still something so very very wrong about it. I don't know, kind of like I expect the seas to run red and the sky to become as dark as sack cloth and other biblical book of Revelations kind of shit to happen. I must be the only person to feel this way, because the site has gotten a pretty big response and Congress is actually looking into impeachment proceedings (for the second straight administration!). I don't know.

So here I will leave you with some pictures and a quote:

Safe hazards, on the other hand, you can keep to yourself.

This is Jack Johnson. No, really. He said he's been drinking Ovaltine.

This week's sign of the Apocalypse: appparently, some of you still haven't gotten the memo that Mrs. Federline is, in fact, certified 100% white trash. Please make a note of this, and get this crap off the news. Thank you.

And now, a quote:

Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first call promising.
Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974), Enemies of Promise (1938)

And this one needed to be included too:

Intimacy is what makes a marriage, not a ceremony, not a piece of paper from the state.
Kathleen Norris

Sorry there haven't been any new posts: I'm home now and pretty busy. Seattle was the end of the tour, and Mr. Murphy proved his law again. Why it's Murphy's law and not O'Donnell's law or Finnegan's law, I'm not sure, but that link should have the answer. Anyway, it's off to the Javits center for the New York Auto Show... we're gonna make Big Lites fly! Woo hoo!

The Great San Fran Suck. What a crappy day. We loaded in to this convention center today and it SUCKED! The roof couldn't hold more than about 1,000 lbs, so the truss had to be ground supporded, and of course that means reinventing the wheel. It's not that bad, I guess, it just meant that we really had to work today, instead of the nice easy days we've been having in theatres with fly systems...

Of course, no sooner do we get the downstage truss built than the Hum heads (sound guys) decide that the truss tower is in the way of their speaker stack, so we have to move it. Since there's really nowhere to move it TO, we wind up deciding to hang it from the ceiling. Of course, this is 3 hours after we've told the truck driver "No, we won't need that rigging, so go ahead and put it on the truck and drive far, far away!" Fortunately, the house had enough rigging on hand to handle the job. But what a ball of suck!

Ah well... travel day tomorrow, then it's Portland, OR. Gonna have a few drinks tonite, that's fer sure...




Looks pretty. Looks can be decieving.


The band soundchecks. Lighting by Mother Nature. With a little help from Lucas.

ALL BLOG ENTRIES FOR THE WEEKEND WILL BE SUSPENDED DUE TO GIRLFRIEND'S VISIT. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER IN THE WEEK. WE KNOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE IN BLOGS, AND WE THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING BACKWARDS K.

Well, here we are in LA, 3 days and 1370mi. later... All that time on the bus was getting silly. We had a Chevy Chase film marathon from El Paso to LA. At least, we TRIED to have a marathon: it wound up being Spies Like Us, Fletch Lives, and Funny Farm. Then we all fell asleep. Ah well, it's not like we missed out on much.

Dallas to Austin was fun, because we didn't unload any lighting in Austin, so Tyler and I had the day off. Everything was going well, until the right passenger side tire decided to blow up. I've never seen one of those blow before... it was crazy. But Frank (the driver) was right on it and we were back on the road in no time. Go Frank.


Austin was kind of boring, especially since we didn't have anything to do, and I wasn't feeling well. I wandered around on 6th St for a while, had breakfast, then went back to sleep. I was hoping to hang out at more of the bars down there, but I just wasn't up to it. Tyler and I wandered down to another bar down the street, and were just settling in to our first drinks when my phone rang: apparently Lucas was ill and couldn't do the show, so Tyler and I wound up running the consoles for The New Pornographers and Belles. Since we were part of the South x Southwest festival, and were playing with 3 other bands, we didnt' bring in our lighting rig or console. The house was set up with two consoles (I'm not sure why), so Tyler ran the movers and I ran the conventionals and it all went pretty well. I just wish I had a few pictures. Oh well. And so much for a day off.

Here's a handbill that was across the street from the venue. I found it interesting that the Spanish handbill got the name right, but the marquee at Stubbs' BarBQ didn't...

I didn't know that Mary Kay was making cars now... scary.


Dave, the merch guy, always on the lookout for the next t-shirt sale...


Yeah, so, last night in El Paso was boring... we went to a mall that was close by, and I still wasn't feeling well, so I slept on the bus, mostly. I'm feeling a bit better today, so hopefully I'll get a few St. Paddy's Day Guinesses (Guinnessi? Guinni?) in me. And that's all there is... exept for the quote...


"It is nobler to declare oneself wrong than to insist on being right - especially when one is right."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Some pics I wanted to post the other day, but the connection was too slow...


Tyler blows. And Lucas loves it.

The marquee at the Riviera, Chicago
The Swiss Miss' cousin from Chicago. Hi angle from Chicago... The marquee from Dallas.

The stage in Dallas. I can't believe we fit both bands.

Lucas' bunk. 'Nuff said.

Almost forgot: that little prank with Lucas' bunk... he got me back allright. Meet my new girlfriend:


Well, she was in my bunk, at least... funny thing tho... I haven't seen her since Dallas. Don't know where she went...

Dallas TX. I have returned to the scariest place on Earth. Or at least North America. Last night, I played it smart and didn't leave the hotel. Today has been ok. Except for loading into the smallest club in the US (ok, not really, but the stage is REALLY small.) The only good part about this place being so small is that we brought in almost no gear, which means quick load in and quick load out. Unfortuneately, it also means that we use the house gear, which is low grade at best. Ah well... as long as it works, right?

I overheard one of the locals make a comment today which gives me hope. He said that Bill Parcells coaching the Cowboys makes about as much sense as George Bush running this country. I almost thought I was hearing things; I mean, I thougt Texas was Bush country through and through. I guess it just goes to show that not all stereotypes are true...

Let's see, what else? Chicago was weird... very interesting space, again small and really old. The band was joined on stage by the Swiss Miss' rather large cousin... she did pretty well, too.

Milwaukee was not as cold as I expected, tho the crew was... well, they were a Steely Dan crew. Swiss Miss' cousin followed us there, too. It was kinda scary. Tyler and I wandered around this mall that was around the corner from the venue and bought some crap. There was a Sam Goody going out of business, so we (I) bought some old posters of bands like TLC and Enrique Iglasias. We (I) gaff taped them to Lucas' bunk, after adding a few autographs and other fun notes... it was kinda funny, if I do say so myself. The only thing is, I don't know what Lucas is going to do to me (us) in return, but I know it will only escalate an already tense situation in the middle bus.

Milwaukee was also Tyler's birthday... all he did was complain about how old he is, yet he's the youngest person on the tour. Bitch. So we were eating dinner, the only two people in catering except for the three women running the place, when one of the women says something about having to put the name on the cake and what was it again? Seeing as that gave away the surprise, we had to wait around until everyone else finished with sound check and came up before singing happy birthday.

On to Minneapolis, where I'm convinced there are no pretty people. Every one was just busted up lookin'. Tyler and I wandered over to Target, looking for some much needed supplies (deodorant) and on a mission from Iain, the tour manager: we were to find a blow up lawn ornament for the stage. Since it was the biggest stage we have seen on this tour (and probably will see), we wanted something like an inflatable lawn santa or snowman, or preferably leprechaun, to put on the stage and operate from the console. It would have been spectacular, except that Target sucks and didn't have anything. Ah well, it'll just have to wait for the next tour. Big props to the Minneapolis crew, who kicked butt in every way... real smooth load in and out, and we almost missed the 10" of snow that fell there yesterday. But we drove through the snow, and past the tornadoes in Kansas, finally arriving in Dallas about 6 pm local time last night.

Nashville - very cool town. Even for the south, pretty cool. Lots of music and history and music history... and junk. We're at the Ryman Auditorium, which is the former home of the "Grand ol' Opry".

Had a day off yesterday, so we wandered down Broadway. Lots of BBQ restaurants and bars with country music playing. Stopped at Gruhn Guitars, which is supposed to be one of the best guitar shops in the country, but was not very impressed. I mean, for the rep they have, there should have been alot more vintage and high end guitars, but it just didn't seem that way. Ah well. So after that it was nap time, and then I went for sushi with Tyler, Iain (the tour manager), Lucas (the LD) and some of the band. It was an interesting place, to be sure, and I'm still not sure if I'm comfortable eating sushi in a landlocked state, but so far so good...

Today has gone pretty smooth, actually got to eat lunch at lunch time and not just wolf something down at 3pm. So now here I am hanging out during sound check and typing away. Tonight we start a string of 5 days of one off's - loadin, show, pack it up and on to the next one... oh boy! I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to Texas - we get a day off in Austin, and I'm thinking I might do some Stevie Ray Vaughan touristy stuff... that could be cool...

Ok, so I was wandering around taking pictures before when I come around the corner and lo and behold, what do I see...



That's right, the Weinermobile, parked right in front of the Grand ol' Opry! I was so excited, like a little kid... I just had to get a picture...

Check out that licence plate!!! Awesome.

The poster...

Some pics from Montreal...

Washington DC sucks. Well, that's not entirely true. The crew at the 9:30 club is pretty cool, and they busted their butts yesterday, so I gotta give them credit for that. But the Washington Plaza hotel has to be the CRAPPIEST hotel ever. The front desk service was terrible, the room was creepy, the TV didn't work, 1/2 the lights in the room worked, the hot water barely came on... it just sucked. Then, to top it off, I went to find breakfast this morning. First I checked room service: $10 for eggs and toast, plus 10% sales tax plus 18% "service fee" plus $1.50 "delivery fee"... so now the $10 eggs are now $15. Fuck that.

SO I wandered over to K street... found two deli's on the corner and wandered in. I REALLY wanted an egg and cheese sandwich, and was delighted to see that the first deli offered "bagel omelets", which was close enough at that point. So when I ordered, the man behind the counter told me that they were no longer serving breakfast. I checked my watch and saw that it was 11:15 am. I asked "When do you stop serving breakfast?" and he replied "11 am." At which point I left.

I walked across the street and found a buffet type place, which had a deli type area in the back. When the woman working the skillet finally looked up and asked me what I wanted, I told her. And she said "We only serve breakfast until 11." At which point I left.

So my question is: when did the customer stop being right? How hard would it have been to throw two eggs on the grill and make me a sandwich? It's not like there was a large number of people in either place, and what did it get the establishment in the end to not make me breakfast? They didn't get my money, that's what.

My next stop was the hotel, which I had to check out of. So I got my bags and entered the elevator. On the way down I met up with Tyler, who I'm touring with, and we proceeded to the front desk. There, the woman behind the desk told Tyler that because he had no incidentals, he didn't need to check out. When he asked for a reciept anyway, she told him that the touring company was paying for the room. Tyler then explained to the woman that he wanted a piece of paper showing that the hotel was charging him $0 for incidentals that night, so that if there was a problem later on, he would have a paper trail. The woman then told him that the hotel "didn't do that." After hearing that, I didn't even bother to check out, because it would have ended in a shouting match.

Well, I think that's enought ranting for today. I can't wait to get to Nashville, where we have a day off. Iain said something about wandering around the many guitar stores down there, which sounds like a good time to me. I'll have to try not to spend any money...

So, here I am, backstage at the Nokia Theatre on 47th and Broadway in New York City, waiting for The New Pornographers to go onstage. I really don't know, exactly, why I have this sudden urge to start a weblog, but I figure it's a good way to keep in touch and to put my thoughts down once in a while; even though I know I'll probably update this for a few weeks and then forget all about it. Ah well. SO, here I am, waiting. I've been on tour with Belle and Sebastian for about a week now, and I'm enjoying it.
Blondie (Heart of Glass) is on the PA right now, and I just focused in on the bass line: solid. Man, I am bored. So, two nights here, and then it's on to Philly, PA. Can't wait. Ok, well, maybe I can. I mean, living on a bus with 11 other guys is kind of an adventure and all, and it's almost like being back in college again, with all the drinking and BSing going on, but it still doesn't compare to sleeping in my own bed with my girlfriend, knamean?
Hm, so, now that I've bored you with this little tidbit of my life, I'm going to go do something more interesting with mine. Maybe next post will have a pic or something from the show or bus or something... I dunno. I feel I should leave off with some kind of quote or inspirational bit or something, but I'm not sure what to use...

Well, my computer just took a big fat dump and won’t let me post at this time, so I’m finishing this thing up in Word, hoping that I can post it later. Anyways, here’s my quote, a little something from one of the strangest and most talented men to ever work in the entertainment industry…

If there hadn't been women we'd still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends.
Orson Welles

Everybody denies I am a genius - but nobody ever called me one!
Orson Welles

{Editors note: this post was originally typed at 8PM on March 2, 2006. It should have posted then. However, the wireless decided to take the night off, and didn't tell anyone, so it had to wait until now. Bastards.}