Tour Diary 11/14/05

do you remember popples? they were these stuffed animals that were seperated from your average stuffed animals by virtue of being able to fold them into themselves, making a sort of ball that inevitably got peanut butter stains on it. maybe it’s the new fully-loaded ipod, maybe it’s the 9 days in new york, maybe it’s the fact that i’ve been sick, but some combination of factors has caued me to fold inward and spend an unusual amount of time wandering around by myself, combing over street vendors wares that i will never buy and sipping cup after cup of coffee. whatever the hell that means, i’m not quite sure where i’m going with this. moving along, then…

we are in the twilight of the tour, and the potion of emotion that this reality is mixing up is bittersweet. Going out with a bang still entails going out, and the men of the llc are hard at work trying to come to terms with this. the best way invlolves belle and sebastian, smooshing cock-a-roaches, watching rome, talking to lisa, and digesting berber-style chicken in alphabet city. in all seriousness, it is very surreal being at this stage, sort of like being on the cusp between scorpio and sagittarius, i would imagine. i feel very much like i’m graduating high school again and getting ready to go to college and i feel sort of weird about that. the fact that i have been sick for the last three days and am currently pretty doped up on sudafed pm is clearly affecting my ability to post anything of any real merit, and bearing that in mind, i would ask you all to forgive me for serving up such a tedious journal entry. i promise to return when this whole mess has bled out of me and i am once again back to my normal witty and concise self. i hope you all sleep well.

Tour Diary 11/13/05

Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable days of the tour.

It started around noon (as most days have these last few months.. I contend that I have faithfully stayed on West Coast time this entire tour) with an enjoyable brunch across the table from the Nectar God himself, Jack Mahaffy. We went to a small bagel shop near the corner of 3rd and Ave A in the East Village. In a departure from the norm (wakey wakey eggs and bakey = two eggs over medium, bacon, home fries, dry wheat toast), I ordered a glorified bowl of oatmeal, which I enjoyed, like pancakes, for the first few bites (I’ve never quite understood oatmeal in bowl-sized quantities.. it gets so boring.. I imagine that people who are good at repetitive tasks like oatmeal).

We all met at the van around 2pm for the drive up to Hartford, where we were going to see what is undisputedly Speechwriters LLC’s favorite band, the We Are Scientists (Nitzan might dispute this, but SWLLC is a mass democracy with no protection for the minority). Along the way, we stopped in New Haven to pick up my best friend from college, the 6’8″ mustachioed Big Ty, which means that I had to squeeze between the captain seats and ride on a pile of sleeping bags and pillows (very unsafe.. sorry mom).

When we got to the venue (the Webster Theatre), WAS was no where to be found. After a journey to a local supermarket to buy plaintain chips and 8oz budweisers (the best type of beers to sneak into a venue illegally), we found the renegade Scientists and got to catching up.

Dave and I have had man-crushes on these guys for the last four years. In addition to being subversively humorous (see: wearescientists.com), they are also impeccably styled (see: wearescientists.com), casually articulate (see: wearescientists.com), and *real good* at music (see: wearescientists.com).

The Scientists opened for the Hot Hot Heat with another band in between them, but, like a good sandwich, it was all about the bread. For their part, the Hot Hot Heat definitely pleased their fanbase, but I would say (subjectively perhaps, but all the same) that WAS stole the show.

The night involved many shennanigans, including shooting BB guns, drawing dirty pictures on the dressing room walls, drinking a few too many 8oz beers, and converting more indiehipster musicians into Nickelback fans.

Ah, I’ll miss the road.

Tour Diary 11/12/05

We’ve been in New York City for almost a week now and although I’m ready for our last week of shows this has been the best NYC experience I’ve had thus far. Last time I was here I got my jacket stolen which had my cell phone it and that really chapped my ass. I mean who steals a jacket? It wasn’t that nice and it probably wouldn’t fit them due to my huge frame. But it was losing my cell phone that broke this drummer’s back. I’ve already lost a hoodie and very expensive face wash. I think I would rather lose my passport, shoes, and diamond incrusted IPOD than my cell phone. But it happened and I got a new phone and I’m back in the city that stole my old one. If theres a lesson to be learned from all this its that Nitzan Lumer losses a lot of things, but I’m not a loser. I’m the Larry David of this band and have bad luck but this is just one of the many important things I’ve learned about myself and my comrades during this tour. Dave is Harry Potter, Jack is the Nectar God, Misha is a cross between Ari Hest (he’s got a beard now) and Dalsim from Street Fighter 2 and I’m a cross between Guile from Street Fighter 2 and Don Henley and a little Larry David. How about it?