Once before the band had tried to play Dottie's,but there was an all powerful force that had another agenda,our alternator.The behemoth of a ship we Stuntipirates sailed ,sunk somewhere in the south seas of Georgia. Upon finally arriving at the venue that had eluded us just two years before, we needed to celebrate with drink.

I'm sure most of you know there are only two drinks, beer and Jack Daniels. We made friends quickly.

Piano man Scott HAll had some rather straight laced kin in the area. They arrived early,about three hours early,and caught ole Scotty sound asleep in his truck. After hello's and look's of confusion from some of the women folk, the HAll clan took seats and watched the first band. The first band ended and the Hall clan left.Scott's cousin had bailed us out of a sticky situation a few years earlier,so we are in his debt,but let me tell you the women folk in the clan were scared

and could not wait to get the hell out of Dotties.

The straight lacers leaving was for the best,their

best.The mayhem that ensued I could never in a million years paint the perfect picture to describe. If you were there you know it was somewhere between wrestling match,rock concert ,and gun fight. The bullet holes in the ceiling will long be a testament to time we had.

Our new friends were smashing bottle after bottle on the bar room floor in appreciation. At two thirty A.M. I proclaimed in a loud drunken screech,"you'd better lock the fucking doors cuz we ain't going nowhere". The owner of the bar screeched right back,"I already Deed". On we played until we all fell down for good. It's the first time in a long while that we played until we ran out of songs.

We had some friends following us at that point,Dotties did them in and they had to limp home for repairs. We went on to New Orleans for more whiskey.

Thanks to Rick Dang and Larry for making Dotties a reality. The place closed down the day after we played it. I hear it's now reopened as a place called Lenny's........We'll see about Lenny's.

beer and titties. Cheap beer is easy. Every 20 feet or so there's little beer stands

with draught for $1.50 a pint. Every block has a strip bar. There's no cover at

some of them but you end up paying $4.00 for 12 oz. of Bud. It's nice to put

New Orleans at the beginning of the trip 'cause we all got cash. Not for long.

The first strip bar is kind of lame so we hit The Bourbon Burlesque.

The tall black man in bright green satin pajamas working the entrance is handing

out cards which entitle each customer a free shot of hot sex. Now schnapps is

not my thing but hey, it's free. So we enter.

First girl up is real cute. Long black hair, glasses, some nice ink, and

full pouty lips. After her set, she comes over to us and asks if she can hang out

with us. Her name is Suzy. Seems Suzy lived in Northampton a few years back

and, get this, she worked at Pop's Liquors. Whaddayaknow. Small world.

Suzy says she'll make the show at El Matador and maybe get some of her

co-workers to come too. Our work here is done so we leave, after, and only after

Bow's extended dollar bill is snapped up by the extra large pierced breasts of a

husky black mamma working the stage. I gotsta get me a camera.

Caught 3 for 1 happy hour at the "cats meow" karaoke bar. I will and have

made it a point to stop in here every time we're in the Big Easy. Very cool.

Back at El Matador we decide to hit the circle bar again looking for Brian. Brian is a super individual. Steve met him on one of the infamous Unband tours. He was the tour manager for one of the best live rock and or roll bands in the country Supergroup. Their first meeting was in L.A and the story went something like some movie star's house a friend was house sitting ,hot tubs and cocaine served by strippers in the hot tub, so anyway now they are best friends.We never go to New Orleans without a visit to Brian. We went through the whole Andre Williams CD searching for a song we heard once before called "pass the biscuits".No luck. If anyone out there knows of this song, please let us know where to find it.

Midnight: not as sober as before but ready to rock. A flamenco group is

performing and they're pretty damn good. Drinks are free which, in most cases,

would be a good thing. I opt for the water. Great, great, water. 12:45 we hit the

stage to a nice size crowd. Once again, the cape dealy works fabulously. We play our hour set we had planned on but there's no way in hell that's gonna satisfy this crowd. On we go with more songs and believe me we are starting to hear the whiskey in the music. After an hour and a half forget about it we are a sloppy, loud ,yelling rock monster that only wants boobies and whiskey (I think of him fondly as Jackson Tittie)! One of a bunch of people who showed up after enjoying us last time is standing in front of Steve and pulls an unopened half pint of Jim Beam thinking it's gonna buy him a whiskey river, fat chance Steve just shakes his head without missing a beat so the noble fan who's only crime was trying to save himself a dollar approaches me with the half pint . I shake my head and inform the gent that it's Jack Daniel's and only Jack Daniel's that will get him what he wants. Ten minutes later he returns with the goods. HO My. O.K.That notwithstanding (and I believe that's the first time I've ever used the word notwithstanding), the set is good, we make some new fans, sell a

bunch of merch, and meet some pretty girls. Right after the set there was a short photo opp. with some boobs.It was all in all a good effort. At 3:00 a.m. Outside packing up and here comes Suzy. She was held up with business and missed the show. Too bad, but we picked ourselves up a new member of our "hangover anticipators" club. Back to the circle bar for some drinks.

Crashed at Brian's place and slept till the early afternoon. 9/23 Headed to Margaret's place (Brian's girl) to crash some more. Margaret's cute kid Grace (about 8) Drew a picture of us flag and all. A new addition to the trailer door which has become the wall of fame. Beers, butts, and grilled sausages (courtesy of chef Bow) set the mood for the day. It's our first day off and a much needed one. "There was a small explosion" -Dave Durst re: a loud pop and flash of light that killed the only lamp on in the room. None of us move as the warming glowing warming glow emanating from the t.v. lets us know it's ok. Monday night football, Jackie Chan, and white trash Velveeta dip close out our night. Nice, eh? 5:00 am 9/24. We head out on the first really long stretch of the tour dropping off our new friend Suzy at her pad. . San AntonioTexas, here we come. 11 hours later we arrive.

Charleston rules! Great bar called Cumberland's. After haggling with

the middle eastern bartender about half priced food (which was supposed to only

apply to dinner), he tells us to come back after the rush but not before a little

zing to Zippy. Upon learning Z was from Texas he exclaims,"if Texans were meant

to ski,...God would have made bullshit white". We're gonna have fun here. Steve spies the Pabst on tap and starts screaming at the Iraqi bartender for a bigger glass to which he replies in broken english,”are you sir a redneck?”to which Steve replies ,”Duh! Look at me of course I’m a redneck”. Steve not only gets a bigger glass but the bartender changes the keg so he can have fresh beer, a new friendship begins.

So we all split up to plug the gig in town. Steve and Bow storm the local radio station and get to play some tunes from the e.p. and talk the talk with a young lady who was waiting for a christian guest to be interviewed on the christian radio show they were holding hostage.

Zippy and myself head downtown. This will come up from time to time so

I'll just start here. Southern girls rule. They're all hot. Wicked hot. Ok, so

anyway we do pretty well.4:00 p.m. Back at the club the Citadel drinking crew has

arrived and happy hour is underway. Souncheck is in progress at this time

and we do our two half songs, Panic, and 2nd gear. Much applause from

the cadets. Them boys don't drive cars as well as they do tanks and "Sully"

gets ousted from his car by a buddy cause he can't get it around the stunt-van-

trailer combo. Seems he's a little too drunk at 5 in the afternoon. I can relate.

9:00 pm ShowTime. "Little Pieces" opens. Three-piece with a cute chick

singer. Pretty bad band. Not bad musicians or players but their material is awful.

Good first show. Very rocking. Steve unveils his Stars and Stripes cape for the

first time since the pvfbbq. "Iron hip" starts with Bow on stage alone. We follow

one by one. Myself, then Scott, Terry, and Dave. As the song builds, Steve enters

from the other side of the room in full cape regalia, unfurling it with his back to the

crowd. Big applause. Nice showmanship if I don't say so myself. And I do.

This routine will continue in almost every show on the tour. Straight into "Panic"

then "2nd Gear" and on.

2:00am. Days Inn welcomes us. Showers are nice.

9/20 Savannah, GA. This is one of the most beautiful towns I've ever been to.

Spanish moss covers most everything. It kind of resembles New Orleans without

all the tourist shit. Once again, hot broads everywhere.

Hey now, do you see what I see. People walking around with beer in plastic

cups. I told you it was like N'awlans. Well, when in Rome. I think we confused the

gift shop owner by cleaning them out of "caution-stunt driver" bumperstickers.

4:00'ish. We stop in at what from the outside appears to be a dive bar.

Well well well if those aren't flashing lights outlining the mirrored runway with the

obligatory gold metal pole in the middle of the stage. Dave pretty much cold-cocks

an unsuspecting Steve (who is entering) with the door as Dave abruptly decides

to leave. Maybe he went to get some singles. Ho my, you know what I said about

all Southern chicks being hot. Well It didn't apply at this gentlemen's club. Ho my,

they's uuuugly. This was the first time I was glad they couldn't take it all off.

Speaking of taking off, which's just what we did.

The Velvet Elvis. This bar is way cool. Gravy, are the local heavy's who play fucked up Zappa-esque tunes in costumes. Lots of fun. Drank a little too much before the set but it was a mere 2 Red Bulls later I was back on track.Great Set. Great press (nice 2 page article/interview w/picture). Sold a bunch

of merch and the mailing list is shaping up. Things are good. Free drinks are good too. Tammy is one cool ass bartender and someone we are hoping to see again soon. Camped out for the first time. Up till 6am, out by 1pm. Look out Jacksonville,

here we come.

9/21 Jacksonville, FL. Hung out in the parking lot across from the club for

a while drinking the Pabst's that Tammy the bartender from the Velvet Elvis sold

us after the show. Jack Rabbits is a cool joint with free beer, nice sound and

a very nondescript entrance. Got to hear Bruce sing his "rise up" song on the

t.v. at the benefit for the victims of the WTC debacle. Very moving. Cut off

Paul Simon doing "Bridge over troubled water" with the "Iron Hip" intro. Oh

well, we gotta play sometime. Another good set with a nice warm response from

the crowd. The cape routine is a sure bet. Tornado Bait is a shit-kickin band

from the area and we exchange info. I'm just glad I'm not sitting at home watching

the news.

2:00am. Leave FL and drive all night (not myself mind you, I don't drive so well). As Terry once said,"The point of having someone else drive, Al, is so I (we) can relax and get some rest." Nuff said.

11:00am. We're almost in New Orleans and I'm finally caught up.

For now anyway.

Prelude:

9/11

Afghanistan terrorists attack WTC, The Pentagon, and an unknown target.

The nation and the world is devastated. Hundreds confirmed dead, thousands still missing. At the time, the supposed work of Osama Bin Ladin. The U.S. vows retribution. Stars and stripes are everywhere as people all over the Country are showing support and unity in this time of national disaster. Not exactly the best of circumstances to start our month-long tour of

the Southeast.

The 9/17 NYC show is presumed to be canceled though there's really no way

to contact the club as Manhattan, and for that matter, all of NYC's communication

is at a standstill.

Surprise! The gig is still on but we're a bit too busy with 49 Market St.'s

impending demise. (r.i.p.)It is the end of an era to say the least.

1’ST gig canceled so we shoot for a midnight departure on 9/18.

2:00 a.m. van, trailer, six Stuntmen, and one Texan (Steve Elolf, who will from

here on be referred to as Zippy), depart for Chapel Hill, N.C. Bye Bye.

9/18 2:30 a.m. Pretty smooth ride. Enough room for all to recline and/or

lay down. T.V., CB, personal reading lamps, a kickin stereo, and ashtrays

everywhere.

I'm actually getting a little sleep.

5:45 a.m. (Zippy's first shift, five minutes in): awoken by the rumble strip and

the deceleration as we pull to the side of the road. Flat tire? Nope.

Worse. Much worse. Possibly a thrown piston rod. Well looks like my AAA

(not AA) card is gonna see some early activation.

Scott Hall's new cell phone is for some reason not working. (I told you those

phones were the devil's work).

6:30 a.m. Myself and Terry take a stroll down the embankment and parouse

the area. No luck.

7:15 a.m. Steve and myself take a longer stroll down the side of an overpass

and come apon a business that appears to be open.

In the first of a string of incidents that have reaffirmed my faith in the spirit

of America, the guy in the store not only offers these two suspicious looking

misfits the phone to use, but suggests a great mechanic who's shop is half a

mile away. Of course he doesn't let us walk....he drives us there. It really felt

nice to be in a moving vehicle.

Well we're stuck in Moscow...Pennsylvania, that is.

Tryrart's Quick Lube (we don't lube ya and leave you) sign above the garage.

Enter Steve and Freedom waiting for the boss. Earl.

"what seems to be the trouble?" Earl

"When you're stuck in the middle of a sunrise, your brain throws a rod while

in rewind." Fed Ex

Earl is a very friendly late 40's preacher/mechanic/scoutleader who offers

me the phone to call AAA. My first roadside assistance call in at least 12 years.

Funny thing though, they give you a 10 day waiting period for the AAA plus

to kick in. Mine wasn't due till Friday of that week. But hey, we can make it four

days without a disaster right?

9/18 8:30 a.m. Earl drives me and Steve to the van cutting across the highway

divider in his Mercury K. AAA is already there. Apparently the cops had shown

up and offered assistance, troubleshooting, a call to AAA and no questions. Wow!

Enter Art. Art is a late 60's sweet old man with his own towing service which

he is happy to tell us about. The oldest in Moscow (pronounced mosco), and the

20'th oldest in the country. Art is very cool.

Earl drives Zippy and three stuntmen. Art drives two stuntmen in the truck

and one T Flood stowaway in the van all back to Earl's garage. We can leave the

trailer full of gear at Earl's place while we figure out what to do. We decide to

tow the van to S+L mechanics in Scranton, PA. They are supposedly the

best in town and so we go.

$ 2,400. That's the figure they gave us for the "problem" we encountered.

An untimely return to 'hamp seems eminent, or is it imminent, either way,

all I can picture is hiding at home with a handle of whiskey and my tail firmly

stuck between my legs.

So,at Steve's recommendation, we split up on different missions. T and Dave went to see about renting a van. Zippy and Bow go looking for a gig in Scranton to play tonight. Myself and Scott go looking for a cool bar we can all hang out at. Steve, after taking the first harrowing driving shift, naps in the van.

What Scott and I found was one of the only bars open at 3 in the afternoon.

Seemed cool enough. Upon further inspection, homo-erotic paintings on the

walls and a trophy presented to the Shilouhette bar for excellence of service

from the "leathermen society of Scranton", and several posters for safe sex

presentations (consisting of six guys it thongs holding condoms) we decide

this bar is not exactly for us and so we decide to exit.

3:30 p.m. back at the garage, napping and occasionally getting honked

at by the passersby's as we're sleeping outside on the grass next to the van

Here's where it gets good.

4:00 pm.

Options: rent a van and bring the trailer back home.

Sell the van and buy a new one.

Pool our money and rent a van to start the tour leaving the old one in Scranton ready to be worked on by the boys at the shop.

Hmmmm......

T Flood, the eternal voice of reason, questions our bubbling leans towards forging

ahead with the economic repercussions. If we sell the van for half of what it's worth, (if we even could), and get a rental, then upon our return we still wouldn't have a van, and we'd still have to pay for this one. Makes sense, but we'd sure have a lot of explaining to do.

Steve asks me for my itinerary to get the # for Local 506 in Chapel Hill

to cancel, at the very least the first show of the tour.

Upon seeing the book I've kept up to date with all the press contacts

as well as the gig list, Steve makes the call to cancel the first gig. "There's no way we can go home now." is Steve's sentiments. We would basically have to wait a year to rebook 20 some shows, and most of these rooms are the top

pick in their town.

The decision, hey everybody, grab your money and head up that hill, we're going to Texas. Oh Yeah!

The rental guy is from Needham and likes T from the start. Due in

prt to the Sox hat he is wearing. We haggle and haggle until finally he brings

out an autographed Pedro jersey and we all swoon. $1362.50, no credit card

4,200 free miles and 10 American flags later, we leave with a pristine 2000

van.

"Screw them cocksuckers, you know what to do with these." re: the flags.

With the Stars and Stripes flowing proudly from the antenna, we return to

S+L mechanics.

Enter J.R.

Earlier in the day this stocky 5'9 burly, greasy, S+L mechanic offered us

the idea of playing that night at Doc's Hard Rock Cafe where he sometimes

roadies for a band called the Crawdaddies. They play Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet,

and more.

We didn't exactly take him up on the offer but we did get to know him

a bit better.

We pull into S+L motors with our new van ready to stuff the backseat

full of gear and camping shit. J.R. spies the potential trailer hitch and tells us

he's got one we can have for free. As we wait at Trygart's, where we went to get

said trailer, we're not only looking better but this might turn into a comfy trip.

J.R. returns with a trailer hitch and ball. It's not long enough. No problem.

J.R.'s gonna drill a 3/4 inch hole in it so it fits.

Lights work, hitch works, van is new and very clean. But not for long.

Next stop; Doc's Hard Rock Cafe for some celebratory cocktails.

This appears to be J.R.'s home base and regular hangout. T points

out to J.R. that the chalkboard has something he should see.

"J.R. is gay"

To which the bartender exclaims, "that's been up for 3 days."

J.R. takes up the chalk and writes..."Knoblowski likes little black boys"

Well, we'll never know if this is true or not, but I do know that J.R. just

won with a crushing blow in the war of the chalkboard dis.

9/18 8:00 p.m. We finish our drinks with the lovely Tasia, a busty beautiful

young blonde bartender wearing a very sexy playboy T-shirt, and depart from

Moscow, PA after a long, long, day. Drinks in our belly and our van in the

capable hands of J.R., we head towards Charleston, South Carolina.

And

It was a cold, dark night…last day of February, first day of Tour…we’ve got a brand new van…we’re off and running…we make it to the first show in New Haven—Rudy’s…and we proceed to rock the fuckin’ house and kick some ass…we had a blast, like we usually do at Rudy’s…they serve these things…they call ‘em “Belgian Frites”…mmm…delicious…I call ‘em Frenched Fries…anyway, the show goes great, and I guess it’s about time to wrap it up…it seems early, but the cops are already kicking people out while we’re finishing up…cops everywhere…like the um…Blues Brothers! yeah….I’m like, we’re just trying to have a good time, man…can’t the band just play one more?!…THAT’s what’s going on in my head (I had a few in me)…so I grab the mic (I get a little worked up sometimes)…and I yell “CAN’T THE BAND JUST PLAY ONE MORE?! PIG!!!…and the band dives back on stage and screams into “We’re Not Gonna Take It” …it was awesome…but, the pi , I mean, cops don’t like it one bit …so, when the song ends and the mayhem ensues, I chuck my guitar to Steve and I shoot off the giant stage…running on top of people…actually stepping on the flat hats of the cops as I head for the door…as I’m blasting out the door—headed for the van—I glance back to see the whole band fighting off assailants in uniform AND packing up equipment simultaneously!…I love those guys…so, I get to the van, fire it up, and hit the gas…but, when I swing it around to the front of Rudy’s, there is only one small parking space…and it happens to be right in front of a cop car…AND there is someone seated in said cop car…well, I figure, we’re in it THIS deep…so I gun it—preparing to make that little parking space a BIG parking space…and BOOM!…I SLAM INTO THE FRONT OF THAT COP CAR!!…Now! I leap from the van—expecting to have to take care of that cop that was seated in the cruiser…and take care of HER, I did!…seems Johnny Law was actually JANEY Law…AND, it seems there was something in the way our eyes met…we moved cautiously toward one another…both knowing something that we didn’t know…we touched…the rest of the band exploded out of Rudy’s with the entire New Haven police force in hot pursuit…however, they were all stopped—arrested, if you will—by the sight of Janey and I finishing our passionate embrace…I looked at her…..with my… eyes…and my eyes said something…something her eyes weren’t able to hear…so. I said it with my mouth…”Janey, I’m a loner…a rebel…” she stopped me…her strong, yet elegant index finger pressed to her tight, cop lips…then she pointed that finger forcefully at the highway that lay before us…”Go.” She ordered. And we complied.

When the van was loaded and we were about to pull away, towards Somethington, U.S.A., Officer Janey Law—I never caught her real name-- came to my window and whispered, “When you come back here next year, I wanna see you again.”

That’s what I remember…you don’t forget a thing like that.

T

another installment for the road tales is here. we left off leaving winter haven, fla. heading to the velvet elvis in savanah,ga. another great monday night show with enthusiastic cd and t-shirt buyers. thanks to tony the doorman for putting us, (and our new train-hopping friend, carissa from minneapolis) up at his flophouse. the rest of the night is blurry. there was a gun involved, i think.

headed to tallahassee next to play at the beta bar(formerly the cow haus). nice big room, booming system; pleasing folks is what we do in those situations. that was 2 weeks ago and again, details are sketchy. was great to see an old friend steph prince(fsu student),younger sister of my teammate,housmate and classmate at usm, bob prince.

we drove through the night to new smyrna fla, to scott hall's cousin rick's house(home of the "hall's angels")for a 6 night stay. we had an "audition" at the famous cabbage patch to show 'em we belong there for bike week in march. played a free set for the masses preparing for the weekend's festivities(biketoberfest)and then were paid($$ and beer) to play 2 more sets. needless to say we got the gig. this place has 20 to 30 thousand bikers descending on it in march and we're looking forward to rocking each and every one of them during bike week. we pretty much stayed there all night. ran into big phil(a mainah!!) who puts together the behind the barn party in saco,me each year and he left us with a lovely green gift. special thanks to denny from xtreem teez for the "roll a fatty" t-shirts!

on to the highlander in s. daytona. with the hall's angels in full force as well as one of our favorite bartenders from harry's in noho, noreen, in attendance, we really could do no wrong. this is another venue where we will be holding court 3 or 4 nights during bike week this march. 3 blistering sets, and a few boobs later, we stumbled and weaved back to the rick hall compound. great show. too much fun.

next was the borderline in tampa. we had to pass on the coleslaw wrestling at the cabbage patch, but it turned to be an interesting night nevertheless. we had full run of the place. a liitle bit of charlie the manager's homemade punch(grain alcohol!?!) and we were breaking glasses behind the bar, steve was singing songs and tending bar!!, terry passed out on cedar mulch, oh what a night. steve was offering a great deal on hat-stomping as there were many uptight folks there with cowboy hats that looked like they were stored in sanitized protective cases when not worn. "go have sex on yer hat!" was our battle cry. thank god for a soft hotel bed that night.

with the next day we went to scott's aunt jane's house for the best in southern hospitality and bbq. after stuffing ourselves into a food coma, we were treated to a daredevil display by c.j. hall as he jumped prone stuntmen and other willing participants on his bmx bike. we got up to 4 people jumped and called it a night. rick hall even took his ninja over the jump, but no one would lie down in front of him. we're not stupid.

the next day we headed to jacksonville to play jackrabbit's. i finally got to see our close friend rob french play in his band tornado bait and they were kick ass! a blast from northampton past, mal thursday, made an appearance and gave us a gift of salt n vinegar pork rinds(which will be one of the tour's memorabilia we'll be giving away at our cd release/homecoming party at harry's in northampton 11/16/02)as well as some new music for the road. went to an after hours bar with rob and after a few whiskeys he finally reclaimed the crown in our ongoing north vs. south pool tourney(north has been quite dominant in past meetings) i didn't have the heart to tell him that the only time i play pool is when i see him. (rob owns a sports bar we play, box seats in jacksonville, and shoots stick regularly.) i'll get the crown back in march rob!

next day was a day off and we finally got our white asses in the sun and ocean at daytona beach. went to the famous boot hill saloon afterwards for a beer and met an intersting character, frog(named for his frog-like hands).

frog took us to the side courtyard for a session and invited us back to his place. we were all for it until his swastika/ss tattoo was brought to my attention by bow bow. we left post-haste.

on to the side bar in gainesville, fla. home of the u. of florida gators. party school so i'm told. NOT! we played to the bartender, doorman and soundguy and 2 guys who wandered in. left for southern fla. immediately.

to oakland park fla. outside of ft. lauderdale. stayed most of the day at la cele motel, run by some very nice new englanders. the beach was 100 yards away and it was 90 degrees out so can guess what we did before showtime. went to the venue, alligator alley, run by the nicest guy in rock, kilmo. had some of the best gumbo we've ever had, prepared by award winning iggy the cook. and linda the bartender made sure we were never thirsty. this is a great bar-go there! it was our last night in florida for awhile.

a 12 hour drive later and we were in selma,al. for a private party/bbq with our favorite band, the wayne mills band. these guys are a carbon copy of the stuntmen. hell, will, their drummer is my lost twin brother. it was great night with more of that southern hospitality("eat,stuntmen,eat"). the night blurs from there and fortunately woke up in a hotel room, with wayne mills snoring loudly(not so fortunately).

this brings us to our last gig before this entry of road notes, sammy t's in huntsville al. this town is home to u.s. army missile command and a nasa space camp. we didn't go to either of these, but the town seems quite affluent and quaint. we couldn't start our set until we watched alabama beat tennessee in football(roll,tide,roll!). with the room filled with victory, we delivered the goods. wayne had us up during his ripping set to play a few covers, and a good time was had by all. thanks to jen bell for the accomodations and dog time with lilly.

which finally brings us up to date. we're outside of nashville,tn at the wayne and carol mills compound. we're camping by a pond filled with catfish doing their best not to get caught, despite a concerted stuntmen effort. a few relaxing days before playing halloween and the next night at the flora-bama lounge in pensacola, then new orleans at el matador with supagroup on the 2nd and back up here to chill before playing the sutler in nashville with wayne mills band. we hear there will be some label people there so if y'all know anyone in the nashville area, get 'em out to the show(wed. 11/6).

whew! i can't believe you've made it to the end of this novel! thanks. i hope you all are well and thanks for your emails! it's always good to hear from friends on the road. next road notes will be when we get home(11/7).

until then, be well.

best,

j.j.

we last checked in on the tour(the 99 cent value tour?), at the wayne mills compound outside of nashville. spent a couple nights at SIR rehearsal studio in music city and worked out 5 brand new songs for the people. you will like.

got up extra early on our day of departure for the flora-bama in pensacola, fla. to fix a 3 week old blown radiator hose. but our duct-tape ridden hose wasn't coming out without a fight. 3 hrs.(normally a 1/2 hr. job) and several bleeding hand wounds later, the hose came off(more tour memorabilia), the new one was on-no leaks-and we were on our way south. but ol' sherman wasn't through with us yet. a couple hrs. into alabama the right rear tire disintegrated from under us and scotty valiantly pulled us over. we slapped on our trusty spare and made way for the next exit to get some air in it. well, said trusty spare immediately blew the valve stem off of itself(thanks sherman), and once again the van was on a rim. luckily, the truck stop we were at specialized in tires. after discussion with the mechanic with a nearly unintelligible drawl, trusty spare was fixed and we got ourselves a new, old trusty spare tire. on the road south again. (our only mechanical mishap of the tour).

8 hrs. later we reached the redneck riviera and the famous flora-bama lounge and package store. oh, by the way, it's frickin' HALLOWEEN!! loaded in the gear, ran across the street to the posh beach house("the hacienda" as it's called by the locals) we were staying at, changed into 6 matching red union suits (supplied by mom johnson) and 6 pairs of red satin devil horns, and strolled back across the street to the club like we wore this shit everyday! hilarious! there are pictures! as you can imagine, with a 100 or so people in costumes ranging from smurphette to a couple dressed in full FBI swat team gear, mayhem ensued. i think we even played "Louie, Louie" for a toga-clad bunch of yahoos. i recall saying something like "anyone in a red union suit and NOT drunk is an idiot!". woke up at the hacienda to a glorious sunny morning with dolphins swimming off the dock and steve talking on the cell phone still in his red union suit. bow bow made monte cristo sandwiches!

since we were playing at the flora-bama again that night, we did plenty of lounging around in our lovely accommodations, hitting the beach for a nap as well. with the night before's debauchery still evident, we took the stage for the 1st of 4 sets. it was going a little slow until we pulled out the trump card. the song by the georgia satellites about some "change in my pocket goin' jing a ling a ling" and so on is what i'm talking about folks. when that one starts up, a standoffish(or not) crowd will rise and head to the dance floor pavlovian-style. we refer to this song as the "money shot". hell, i don't even know the real title of the song! i think we played "wild thing" too, but actually that could have been the night before. it was the marine corps. birthday and a strong military presence (in ball gowns and full dress uniforms) was in the room. the 4 sets wrung out of us, we retired to the beach house with most of the flora-bama staff and some of our new friends, rock and tom from the dixie flyers, as well as our old friend gov, whom we met when we were in town in march. gtrs. were a-pickin' until dawn as the songwriters threw down. great way to end the night.

we stayed at the incredible beach house for as long as possible the next day. it was very hard to leave, but not too hard, as we were on to new orleans!! unfortunately, supagroup fell through so we decided to make it a free show in the quarter at el matador. an enthusiastic crowd was on hand to witness the rock, as well as rio, the owner(thanks for the whiskeys!). and as we had known going into new orleans, it truly was an all night affair. the best part of the night was seeing our close friends jody and kate, who had driven in all the way from san antonio, tx. just to see our sorry asses. don't forget you promised me my own cowboy hat, jody. we drank, we laughed, maybe somebody puked, but we certainly did our damage. i broke off from the crew around 5am or so and walked back to the hotel.

got up around 9am with my dad's voice in my head-"get me coffee from cafe du monde". we had the whole day off, so time to take advantage. got the coffee and beignets(french donuts with powdered sugar-yummy). the coffee's got chicory in it, dad's mad for the stuff. with those duties taken care of, the rest of my day was spent with a bloody mary in one hand, and a fat stogie in the other, interrupted by my cell phone as i left gloating messages for friends that got more incoherent as the day wore on. sorry if i filled up anyone's machine. ran into bow and freddy around 4pm and traded stories of their night and our day. decided to stumble back to the hotel but stopped off for 1 more bloody(the spiciest of the day). it became apparent that i really didn't need this bloody(it was #8 on the day) and i gave it to a homeless guy who said he REALLY needed it. eventually rounded up the troops, and after a final meal in the french quarter with jody and kate, we parted the big easy for nashville. sorry to see it go, but a day off in n.o. can kill a man.

the last few days of tour was basically spent in a hotel room, while steve hit music row to press the flesh with publishing companies, management companies and record labels. gots to give him credit for his work as some industry fat cats did come out to see us play. more on that later. walked around downtown nashville awhile on the day of our show. checked out the "sweet adelines" convention at the civic center. for those of you who don't know, the sweet adelines are an international group of female barber-shop quartet singers. it was pretty harmonious. pun intented. we headed to the sutler and prepared ourselves for the last show of the tour. what made it even better was that we were sharing the stage(and gear) with our favorite band, the wayne mills band(waynemillsband.com-check it out.). they put on a great one as usual, and it passed on to our set. love and sadness filled the room as we got to play for such good friends but were sad in knowing that we won't see them for awhile. however, aforementioned fat cats were in attendance despite it being the night of the CMA awards, and were impressed and positive about future relationships and asking many questions. we'll see where that takes us.

after a long goodbye, we settled in for the 17 HOUR drive home. it was fairly uneventful, one false alarm when we thought we were getting pulled over in pa., and we witnessed a crazy hit-and-run accident outside of hartford, but we made it.

played a sort-of-homecoming at the mole's eye in brattleboro, vt. the next night and then played a set at the john and christine frietas wedding reception(congratulations!!) the night after that. today is sun. and it's stay in your p.j.'s all day, day. and i'm here typing away, i must be nuts. go away!

thanks for for all the emails. hope to talk to y'all soon.

til next time,

j.j.

your old pal j.j. here enjoying a noisy thunderstorm in hot n humid kissimmee,fl. at t flood's mother's house. thanks for the accommodations, Judy. fall 2002 drunk stuntmen tour kicked off oct. 1st with a drive to charlotte,nc and the famous Double Door. home of the nicest soundman on earth, Les Moore. thanks for the moongels, Les. played a few sets for the folks, including our friends Kyra and Heather, and hit the floor at kyra's with relish(and breakfast).

went to wilmington, nc and stumbled onto the set of dawson's creek. the episode was taking place in boston, which would explain the globe and phoenix newspaper boxes and north end style streetlights they were wheeling around. saw no stars, but got our picture taken in front of a mock "Beacon News" newsstand by a crewmember. played at Bessie's, (once co-owned by the siver screen's Tom Beringer). much Civil War history here as the club was once the Longstreet Pub of Gen. Longstreet fame. (Beringer played Longstreet in the movie, said terry.) did our best to rock the soundman, Ronny, table 11 and the bartender, and then retired to ronny's place for another late night. toured the studio he runs with his son called audio genesis. 1st rate place with a big main room and lots of nice gear. we'll see ronny again, i'm sure.

on to raleigh,nc our home away from home, to play the Brewery. this place is home to another phenomenal soundman and good all around dude in Jack Cain. we have always sounded great there and oops, we did it again. thanks to our good friend Lutie for putting us up. (or putting up with us).

the next day we went west to winston-salem,nc and the Garage. good folks here and we love to play to good folks. sold some stuff and went back to lutie's to prepare for:

Sadlack's! could be our favorite place to place to play. you wanna talk good folks? this place has got the best. great sandwich, cold beer, we win! we were indeed a handful as we made our way to Jen's for a short night's sleep. thank god we had the next day off.

fate would have it that on our day off in raleigh, none other than Angry Johnny and the Killbillies were playing at(where else), Sadlack's. took in their sets and, thanks to a generous bar patron, the stuntmen drink for free tonight! angry and the boys headed off to their next gig and the night ended with a several rounds of rock and roll bingo with the infamous Mr. Cain calling the numbers. "forty five, forty five". hilarious! i happened to notice several people in the bar with SLX softball jerseys and knowing the awesome athletic talent the stuntmen posses(our gloves travel with us), i declared that we could give them a game. a field was reserved in minutes and it was on, as they say.

we secretly prayed for rain as we all got the flu- "a flu too many"- the night before. no such luck. we met the bad guys at the field and got a few players to round out our squad. Sadlack's, fresh from a big win the night before, jumped to an early lead. but t flood opened it wide open with a monstrous double to tie it in the last inning. yours truly followed with a double to bring him in and eventually scored as the hapless drunk stuntmen triumphed 7-5. post game beers back at sadlack's and the losing team, stinging from the loss and looking to save face, said "oh yeah? we'll kick your ass in bowling!" a convoy ensued the few blocks to the local alley(where the bartender slides your can of beer the length of the bar to you. you miss it, you're done.) to make a long story short, they smoked us. by 175 pins to be exact. bowling is a wussy sport, anyway. ha!

stopped in charleston,sc to play at Cumberland's. cool place. played with a band whose name was nearly unpronounceable but the sound was oh so familiar. headed to georgia with the quickness.

arrived at our friend Suzie the librarian's in the a.m. and spent the day rollicking with her 4 dogs. those of you with dogs can understand how big this is for the 3 of us with dogs at home. Suzie's pretty damn cool, too. but we don't have your green bowl! covered in dog saliva and hair,(and loving it), we headed into athens,ga to the Caledonia. played with our buddy "E" and his band; had a drunken evening with much rock. you know it. back to suzie's for more dog time and hearty breakfasts made by, and for, drunk stuntmen.

on to the Somber Reptile in atlanta,ga. the name sort of reflected the vibe of the night, but it was salvaged by the shenanigans pulled by our extremely loyal (and fucked up) fans in hotlanta. Rev. Larry delivered a fine sermon(set) and bodily fluids flowed freely. left for winter haven, fla. around 5am. ouch.

the Blue Guitar in winter haven firmly lodged itself into the top ranks of the best places we've ever played last night. great people run the joint, great patrons and fans of music and one hell of a cuban sandwich. great accommodations in the band apartment, great show show by the stuntmen, great Caesar's ghost i'm watching the sun come up-AGAIN! hooo-weee!

that takes us to today at Judy's house. 2 wacky sounding cranes on the front lawn. football on tv. tomorrow we're off to places we've been in florida and some we haven't. adventure awaits. check the website for tour dates and let some folks know we're coming to a town near them.

until next time, best wishes.

j.j.

and so it begins....

1/14

we left fully packed from the valley and headed to NYC and the Lakeside Lounge, an intimate setting for the 1st show of tour. keeping volume in mind, it was a quietly intense performance. thanks to Pam W. for draggging some new friends to the show. and old friend of the Murph, Jen W.(who works for Blue Man Group) came to the show, and after a few libations and a delicatessen stop, we retired to her place. one day down, about 62 to go.

1/15

day off in Manhattan. what to do? it only took seconds for us to agree to our friend Molly"s suggestion of a pedicure at her salon, Go Girl. that's right, a pedicure. apologies to those out there who can't believe the stuntmen got pedicures before you did. well, only 4 of us got one, and Jamu and Honey worked their magic on the ol' dogs. after a nice coat of polish was dry, (steve-silver w/red and green stripes, terry-black w/rhinestones, j.j.-blue w/yellow and gold stripes, and freddy got the full red white and blue patriotic treatment), we went in search of a good hot dog. we came upon Crif's on St. Mark's Pl. and stuffed ourselves with meat tubes. time for a beer, i guess. we found a bar only fred could love-"Welcome to the Johnson's"- kind of set up as living room complete with 4th grade pics of the kids. a few hrs. there and it was time for chow. Pam W. met up with us a took us across the street to Festival, a fine Mexican joint with nothing but spanish on the jukebox. a feast ensued, believe it! we checked out a new musician friend Christopher at the Sidewalk Cafe, and then gratefully made it back to Jen W.'s. (i had a nice brisk walk back to Johnson's for my phone that i left there. yay!) many thanks to Jen for the 2 night stay.

1/16

on to the famous Double Door in Charlotte,NC. home of (yes i've said it before) sound man extrodinaire Les Moore. unfortunately 2 inches of snow fell and that is a state of emergency in these parts. the few who were there(including Missy and George behind the bar and Todd at the door) were sufficiently rocked. Bushy's cousin Kyra was there and we love her. back to her digs north of charlotte.

1/17

Kyra lives with a delightful woman named Martha who is a photographer and professor. she has a beautiful house in the woods and really put out the welcome mat for us. had a great bow bow breakfast, a dip in the outdoor hot tub, and a nap by a roaring fire. touring is hard!! hated to leave but duty calls and we headed to Winston-Salem,NC. Rubber Soul was the place and it was a fantastic show. an bonus was that we were sharing the bill with the Cigar Store Indians. we had heard good things about them throughout the south and after we rocked, they rocked. we hope to see them again. made some new friends and one of them, Mark K., was kind enough to take us back to his estate/ranch for a night of debauchery. we stayed up pickin' and a'singin' until the sun came up. it snowed while we were there, though none of it hit the ground. steve even got a spoon fiddle lesson from mark. terry wandered off and tried to ride a pony or something, but you'd better ask him.

1/18

a short ride to.....RALEIGH!!! we love it there. pulled up to The Brewerey and got our needed dose of Jac Cain, the man! openers Need to Breathe were great and nice folks to boot. sorry for the short set. it was out best crowd at the Brewery yet, and with Jac making us sound great and Rusty behind the bar keeping the room lubed up, we can't go wrong. thanks to everyone in the room, it was a great show. got our pictures taken for an article in an upcoming issue of No Depression magazine,(thanks Shawn), and retired to our friend Renee's house for movie night. thanks to Michael and Elliot for letting us crash in your rooms. cool Harry Potter Legos!

1/19

what to do with a hangover in Raleigh? we have experience in this and it was off to Sadlack's Heroes for a John Hill's Delight sandwich and a beer(or water). well, that's what we did. we opened the place and got fed. did and interview for N.D. with Peter B. that was fun. we even got in an honorary round of "Drunk Stuntmen Bingo" with winner-take-all stakes. our man Jac is a man who can call bingo. "simon says" bingo to be precise. the entire bar repeats the call from Jac. it's hilarious! again, we hated to leave but we had a short drive to Carrboro,NC to the Temple Ball/De La Luz performance space. it's relatively new but very well run by our new freind Rick and cohorts. great perks with a massage from the lovely and talented Nikki(sp?), and all u can eat BBQ. thanks for the northern style sauce and Sam Adams beer("in case you guys are homesick"). Peter B. showed with his girlfriend and friends and Shawn for more pics for N.D. Peter requested "Stars" and slow danced with his girl while we played. it was very sweet. at the end of the night we were left with full run of the place as well as a keg of local brew to work on. we laughed our asses off telling road stories to Rick and then fell asleep on the stage surrounded by space heaters.

1/20

woke to some delicious coffee from Rick, got our minds straight for the drive to nashville,TN. a travel day. got to our buddy Curt Brewer's house and pretty much crashed.

1/21

today. laundry, washing of the dirty ass, brushing of the teeth, etc. we play 12th and Porter tonight in Nashville. we're buzzing a little from the news there will be some industry types there to see us and more pics for N.D. off to the mid-north of the country and places we've never played yet. new adventures. check the website for a show near you or someone you know. until next time,

j.j.

1/21

after cleaning ourselves thoroughly,("make sure you brush your teeth and wash your dick"-Daryl F.), we rolled out of Curt's house and called our man Wayne Mills to meet us on Music Row and do some shmoozing. dropped off a cd at Mercury records, (still no Wayne), then met up with No Depression co-editor Grant A. for even more pics for the magazine. he's a great guy and we had fun being goofy. after several rolls of film and a few changes in scenery, Wayne finally showed (he gets lost sometimes), we stopped in to visit a new friend Becca at her office at Major Bob Productions. thanks for the Dr. Pepper! the posse then went across town to Sweetwater's. "best real dive in town", as Grant put it. the place lived up to its billing. a bonus was that it was next to a BBQ joint called Hog Heaven. we dug into the take-out they so kindly delivered to us. some had pulled pork, some had the turkey, but either way the incredible taste silenced us. all were in agreement it was the best BBQ sandwich (white BBQ sauce?!?) any of us had ever eaten. no Wendy's dollar menu today!! oh yeah we played a show, too. (mouth, watering) 12th and Porter is a well-known establishment in nashville with yet another cool soundman, Mike. we were 1st of 3 bands and thanks to steve's calls and our Music Row visit, some bigwigs came to see us. we delivered the high hard one, inside and tight. they could only hope to get out of the way on time. made many more new friends and even saw our old pal Randy, who was at our last Sutler show as well as down in FL at the Flora-Bama last oct. drove back to Curt's with a small caravan late night and stayed up even later. made drunken plans with Wayne to watch the Super Bowl at his house. more on that later.

1/22

got up early for the drive north (god no-not north!) to Indianapols,IN. of course it was bitter frickin' cold and we got numb just loading into the Melody Inn. an old-school bar with real character and run by a cool dude, Dave. thanks for the pizza! we played with Ellen Says No from Seattle. good fun kids with energy. the room was a little tight but made new friends we did. there's nothing like steve leaving the stage and walking outside during "mary in a bathtub" only to do somersaults back into the bar to get the people going! some new friends, Ryan and Teri, brought us back to their apt. building for a night's lodging. we picked through Ryan's cool record collection as Teri cooked up a storm. played "Don't wake the Freddy" except with Scott instead. sorry i passed out before the pasta was served( at 7:30 am), Teri. the boys liked it though.

1/23

woke to Ryan's 2 kittens running all over me and the need for coffee. thankfully before parting ways with Ryan, he took us to Cath, inc. "Indy's Original Coffee" shop. thanks for the free joe and pastries, dude! all fueled up, we made our way to Akron, OH and The Lime Spider. snow and fucking cold is the theme for this part of the tour, although we tour to avoid this type of weather! anyway the Lime Spider is a nice big room with a serious choice of beers. they were showing french pornos from the 1920's. a first for me. openers Rosavelt kicked ass and we knew what we had to do. we did. thanks to Dan for the great sound. Keith, bassist in Rosavelt, offered his place in Cleveland (30 min. north) as a stunt-crash spot. we accepted, and after procuring a case of PBR pounders for the boys, we made it to Keith's in 1 piece with the lovely sisters Pandora and Falcon (no joke) in tow. up late again listening to Gram Parsons, Neil Young=FUN. took an ice cold shower=NO FUN. drifted off to the sounds of Madden Football and a fierce Rosavelt inter-bandmate rivalry.

1/24

up way too early and headed north (WHAT? kill me.). i averaged 85-90 mph through OH and IN into IL as we thought the drive to Wisconsin, yes, that Wisconsin, would be 10+ hrs. we made it in 8. cursed traffic in Chicago slowed us up. arrived at the club-Witz End in Stevens Point,WI-with horn blaring and nearly a doughnut in the parking lot (just a little stir-crazy from the van). nobody saw us but it was hilarious. Paul and his crew welcomed us and served up some local "Point" beer. Stevens Point is home to the U. of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. a school for environ. science as well as paper science. "treehuggers and treecutters", as Paul put it. what? I thought it was funny! the Witz End crowd took little time to warm up to us but all was well in the end. more new friends to add to the list such as Jeff, a local DJ who played us on his show in the week prior to the gig. he even gave away some tix to our show to someone, but then took them away when they couldn't tell him what they had called in to win. love it! new friends Tallula and Amy graciously offered to put us up at the farmhouse they're caretaking and we said YES. off to the 24hr. grocery store for breakfast provisions, then to their place to fall asleep next to a roaring woodstove and snow falling outside. Yankee magazine type stuff.

1/25

had another great bow bow breakfast with fresh eggs from the chickens out back, homeade jelly and toast and bacon and strong coffee and i'm stuffed. went for a nice hike through the Wisconsin woods with Tallula, Steve and Leasha the dog. ahhh nature! hated to leave, but you know the drill. finally going south all the way to Highwood, IL just north of Chicago. stopped off to try some famous Wisconsin cheese curd. basically it's chunks of cheddar. could've used some crackers or salami (weezy and brooklyn i'm looking in your direction). my tummy didn't really like the curd. it made me fall asleep with the directions in my hand and we went way out of our way. we finally made it to the Wooden Nickel, another cool dive run by cool folks. as it turns out, Tallula and 2 of her housemates frequent the place when they're home from school in Stevens Point. she called them and they came down for the rock. "Hi, nice to meet you. Thanks for letting us stay at your place last night." they were cool and brought other cool people to the bar and we all had big fun stunt-style. thanks to Sandra behind the bar for my endless water refills. we left right after to try and make it to Wayne's house for Super Bowl pregame (all 10 hrs of it!)

1/26

scott and steve battled some serious whiteout conditions in IN. i woke to see them riveted on trying to determine where the road was. wisely, i went back to sleep. stocked up with Super snacks in Nolensville, TN where the Wayne Mills compound is and knocked on the door. OOOPS!! turns out Wayne's not home! he got a little tipsy, (ok, a lot tipsy), and forgot to call us with the news he was staying in Tusaloosa until tues. you will never live this down, Mills! apologies to Carol his wife for waking her up. things were getting desperate but again Curt Brewer comes through in the nick of time and saved us. Scott made his now-famous sweet and sour meatballs, Bow served up the snack we took from Sadlack's in Raleigh,NC. peanut butter, jalapenos and provolone on a bagel and heated. we've dubbed this new wonderful sandwich "the Stuntman". you reading this Sadlack's? hint hint. Super Bowl wasn't really a game, but congrats Bucs fans. had some laughs watching the new Jimmy Kimmel show and sunk into deep REM.

1/27

today is a day off. we play the Exit Inn tommorrow night. you can log on to the following websites and hear a simulcast of the show called "Billy Block's Western Beat": http://www.wdvrfm.com , http://wdvx.com , and http://knbtfm.org . we go on at 10pm CST. hope you can check it out. until next time,

j.j.

1/28

steve went in town to Music Row to meet and greet and we lounged at Curt's. got to the Exit Inn in Nashville and got the low down on the gear sharing thing from our man Slade, the stage mgr. i like not having to shlep my gear in every once in awhile. many acts tonight, so sharing the kit is obligatory. the club is a big place with a big stage and great people working there. Billy Block has his Western Beat radio show there every tues. unfortunately, Billy wasn't there for like the 1st time in the history of the show, but his wife Jill made us feel quite welcome. the show's guest host, Daniel Tashian(son of Barry Tashian, who played with Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris) was an engaging fellow and a fellow drummer(he played a bit with the artist before us, Clare Burson). they run the show quite well and it is a favorite for the bigwigs to come check out new talent. thanks to steve's shmoozing, there was no shortage of bigwigs there when we hit the stage. oh boy. we really played well and the honchos dug our set as well. after the show we went to the bar next door with Bob(of Major Bob Productions. he discovered Garth Brooks),Scott H. and Chris E., all of them fellow drummers and movers and shakers in Nashville. thanks for the Guiness, Bob! we then headed downtown to the studios of CMT where our man Curt B. programs the videos(you can blame him!). he gave us the grand tour and we pulled as many shenanigans as we could without getting him fired. bow got it on tape but we can't release this "Stunts at CMT" tape for 2 yrs. we promised Curt. we swerved our way back to Curt's to watch bow's taping of the night's proceedings. many laughs, then sleep.

1/29

today, we ride. it's off to CO. 19 hours from Nashville,TN to Keystone,CO according to MapQuest. put in 7 behind the wheel and stopped at King Tut's Truck Stop in Lake Egypt,IL. for some corn nuts, my new favorite road snack. i recommend the chile picante or the taco flavored. finally got some zzzz's after seeing the Arch in St. Louis,MO. it's the Gateway to the West you know.

1/30

arrived in Keystone, CO at the GOAT(soup and whiskey) a little early and dizzy from the altitude. i got winded just eating lunch! our hotel rooms were right next door at the Keystone Resort so we took full advantage. loaded into the GOAT and checked in. gee, there's a hot tub 15 ft. from our room with a full view of the ski area. guess what i did? soaked my ass and then took a nap. we got things rolling at the club and it was as fun as the first time we played the GOAT. 3 sets of the rock and then it's party time. we stayed there until the wee hrs. but the "one bartender tells us to leave while the other bartender tells us to stay" confused the hell out of me. back to the hotel for a tub.

1/31

had a nice breakfast at the GOAT and then roamed the ski area watching people fall down on the slopes. what's funnier is watching them scramble for their scattered stuff as it heads down the mtn. ended up doing what i do best at a ski resort, sitting at the bar. my new friend Keller at the Last Lift Bar served up some fine Bloody Marys and he even got me to try a tequila/brandy Bloody Mary. interesting and not at all bad. another new experience! met up with the boys for lunch at the Goat(many thanks to Scott the owner and all who work there for the great grub and GOAT swag. makes all that sucking wind onstage worth it!). thanks also to our new friend Paul, who owns the liquor store across from the GOAT. he bought a cd the night before, broke it while trying to open it, then gave the boys a bottle of Jack Daniels when we replaced the cd. "Take it from our drummer Puff. Being good, it gets you stuff."-Faith No More

hated to leave, but it's off to Nederland,CO and NedMex. you guessed it, NedMex is the mexican restaurant in teeny tiny Nederland. i guess Crosby, Stills, Nash and even Young all lived here at one time. did some walking around and then plopped down for a fine dinner of burritos. frickin'delicious!! the food alone was worth the trip. but the best part of the night was my cousin Andy(of drunkstuntmen.com message board fame), making the show after driving down from Cheyenne where he's stationed. there's no real way to describe how great it is to see family when you're on the road. it's just great! andy and i got to catch up on all the family gossip, etc. and i was really psyched to see him. played some tunes for the sparse, yet diverse NedMex crowd. kind of a weird night. got to meet Kari, a friend of our pals Mutt and Ruby. finally got the invitation to stay at Matt the bartender's place and after a slightly harrowing high speed ride(Matt seems to really know these roads), we settled in and stayed up late regalling Matt with funny stories from the road. many thanks to him for the accomodations!

2/1

woke to the rumble of a 2 mile long train going by. the primary railway through the Rockies runs about 200 yds. from Matt's place. damn thing went on forever. we got our shit together, did the "Hi nice to meet you, thanks for letting us stay at your place" thing with one of Matt's housemates, and hit the road for Colorado Springs,CO home of the Utopia Cafe.(i see hippies in my future). turns out the hippie factor was low here. cafe owner Lee and his lovely bartender Johanna(a new englandah) made us feel very welcome. met 2 new friends, Bill and Diana, who had read about us in the paper(nice work Al Bones!)and decided to check us out. hope they enjoy the cd. our old buddy Paul from the GOAT show (and J.D. donation) even made the show after he couldn't get into the Stones in Denver. what really made the night was the large group of kids(it was an 18+ show) that came out and seriously got down. we even hacked through "Sweet Home Alabama", (a first for us) at their request and it wasn't too bad either. their energy was infectious and much needed, as were their merch purchases. thanks to all. we really had a great time at the Utopia Cafe and afterwards we ended up at Lee's place being debaucherous and watch some of bow's tour footage and a screening of Happy Gilmore.

2/2

Groundhog Day. a favorite Bill Murray vehicle. breakfast by scott hall and a viewing of The Rock on Lee's stadium quality entertainment system. bong rattling bass! we hit the road north and it seems our warm weather streak in CO is coming to an end. it was blizzard conditions all the way to Boulder,CO and the Mountain Sun Brewery. sloshed the gear inside and had a fantastic meal-hippies can mf'n cook! the show started off quiet at the club's request and it sucked. but the blood got moving and the volume got up to where it should be in no time and by the end the room was ours. some dude brought in some of the most sophisicated recording gear i've ever seen to bootleg a show. wonder how it came out. despite the weather some good, kind friends made the show with presents for J.J. i love presents! thanks to Kari and her friend(can't remember her name-sorry) as well as our man Matt from NedMex for the "stress management". a good friend of Terry's, Tony Z. braved the elements and made it out to the show to see us for the first time. we partied with him the last time we were in the area but we didn't have a show. it was great to see him and he really enjoyed the show. he invited us back to his place and after a grueling ride we settled in for a long night. got some dog time in with Chino, his dog and passed the gtr. around all night. Tony has a funny songwriting style, actually quite hilarious. saw the sun come up and stay up and i think i slept, but i'm not sure.

2/3

a frickin' day off for the love of Pete! recovery, recovery, sweet recovery! did some laundry, ate a fine kielbasa soup prepared by freddy under supervision by scotty and a great salad from bow. watched Tony Z. do the sports on tv at 6:22 and 10:22pm. i've known a few sportscasters in my time playing baseball in high school and college and i'll tell you....our man Tony is a pro. a natural. waited for him to get home and then more debauchery ensued. we had a great time, Tony. thanks for the generous hospitality! enjoy the cd's!

well, week 3 done. i'm catching up slowly but surely.

best,

j.j.

2/4

left Tony Z's and went straight into another blizzard on the way to Aspen,CO. blizzard, then clear as a bell, then more blizzard. arrived in Aspen behind a snowplow at a top speed of 30 mph. yuk. more sucking of the wind during load in at the Grottos due to altitude. we've played here before and it was a great show last time. seems we're coming into Aspen a few days after the Winter X Games left Aspen. the people must've been spent from the extremeness of it all because the show tonight wasn't what it was before. to top it off, the flu that had reared its head in scott recently decided it was my turn. felt like passing out during the last set and the feverish chills accompanying a full body ache (my toenails were hurting!) hit me with a vengeance. luckily our good friend Lexie S. and Jenny the dog made the drive up from NM to see us. it seems we have a habit of getting sick right before we see her and Jenny. sorry. we spent a week at her place last year recouperating from road sickness and it looks like we(or at least me) will be needing Lex's TLC again. finally got to the hotel room with hot and cold sweats dictating a shitty night's sleep.

2/5

woke feeling pretty much the same as the night before and not looking forward to the 4 hr. ride to Steamboat Springs,CO. loaded up on various medicines and tried to sleep, but the awesome scenery kept me up. saw a bunch of different critters and went through some towns that define the word "remote". got to Steamboat, home to the famous Tugboat Bar and Grill. loaded in and then went back to the condo where we're staying and tried to nap. too much coughing and shivering. struggled through the show but the folks really came out and got the hell down. we even played "Pink Houses"with a dude who said he was John Mellencamp's cousin. no shit! it was a less than stellar version, but it went over nonetheless. left immediately after the last note for the condo to get some rest. Lexie's talking of hot springs tomorrow and i can't miss that. watched Chris Rock on HBO and busted a gut before going to bed. motherfucker is funny!

2/6

Lexie made us a "guerilla breakfast", which is basically taking the little amount of ingredients you have and feeding 7 with it. got some dog love from Jenny and then Lex, steve, scott, Jenny and i made the commitment to find, and partake in some local hot springs. after a few wrong turns we were on the right track on this steep, twisty, snow-packed road requiring the 4WD. it led us to Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs. got the rules rundown,(sorry Jenny, no bow-wows allowed) and made our way to the pools. air temp.= 18 degrees. water temp.= 105 degrees. it was bloody heavenly. soothing for the flu-ridden body for sure. soaked in this mtn. oasis for about 45 min. and then-did i mention it was 18 degrees out? i froze my icy hair off getting out! not so soothing for the flu-ridden body. in all it was an amazing place and a first time experience for me. it's all good. a short nap later and it was back to the Tugboat for round 2. this night topped the first. more folks getting down means the dancing doesn't stop no matter what we played. at the end of our last set break "Stairway to Heaven" was playing on the juke. now i'm a huge Zep head. i mean, John Bonham pretty much taught me how to play drums. although it was time to start the last set, i considered it sacriledge to interrupt the most requested song in radio history. i opted instead to play along to it and soon enough the rest of the band joined in and ended up playing the song out, complete with "The Song Remains the Same" ending. i think Lexie got it on bow's camera. our man Paul from Keystone appeared again with some friends in tow, and i even met a guy i played baseball against in college. USM never loses to Colby, dude. despite all the fun being had, my flu reached epic proportions and i could not get warm under 154 layers of clothing. we beat feet back to the condo for a cough and expectoration festival. thank you Robitussin!

2/7

9 hour drive to Cortez,CO today. it's home to Koko's Friendly Pub. saw even more critters(many deer, 2 coyotes, bald eagles) on our way out of Steamboat Springs. you see so much more wildlife in this part of the country compared to the east. i love it. drove by Arches National Park in Utah (the most direct route from Steamboat Springs,CO to Cortez,Co is through Utah. go figure.) and was blown away by the rock formations there. arrived at the aforementioned Koko's and it turns out it is the bar section of a Holiday Inn Express. a first for us. the place did live up to its friendly billing and bar mgr. Brad set us up. thanks for the tacos! we were stuffed into a 10x10 corner but rocked nevertheless, with steve and i battling a major case of frog in the throat. got to meet just about everyone in the room(sorry, names escape me again)and these folks were about as genuine as you get. we all had permagrin as we walked to our rooms. we're thinking of changing our name to Mel and the Magictones and capitalizing of our Holiday Inn (Express) success.

2/8

unbelievable continental b-fast(biscuits and sausage gravy at a continental breakfast?!? unheard of) at the H.I.E. and loaded up on the O.J. as a child, steve's parents had taken him to nearby Mesa Verde National Park and suggested we visit it while we had the chance. so we did. the park was home to the Anasazi people who lived in cliff dwellings you've probably seen on tv or in National Geographic. of course, we took the guided tour led by the cute-as-a-friendship-bracelet Becky the Ranger. the Anasazi created a little town on the side of a cliff and lived there for 75 yrs. that's it. the ruins we toured weren't so ruined, as Becky informed us they were 90% intact. it was like taking a 1400 year step back in time. we even met some dudes from MA on the tour. scott hall can smell a Sox fan from a mile away. on the way in and out of the park we witnessed the devastation several recent fires (caused by severe drought) had on the landscape. it was somewhat depressing to learn from Becky that over 80% of the park had been burned in past 10 years. nevertheless, this place is a must-see for anyone in southwestern CO. we settled in for the drive to Santa Fe,NM and 5 hrs. later we were at the Catamount Bar and Grill. Tammy greeted us with a cheerful hello and a firm handshake. i like that; instant respect points. we played in a big room above the restaurant with a bar and some pool tables and filled with folks looking to cut loose. we provided the avenue for just such an activity. Lexie and Jenny rejoined us after a day off from stunt tour, and we got to see our old friend Janine and met her sister, too. the place was certainly jumping and we sold and signed a few cd's by the 2nd set. after we played a couple Skynyrd tunes there was some guy yelling "Freebird",(of course), and we singled him out for everyone to "laugh at Freebird Guy". there's one at every show. well old Freebird Guy turned out to know scott hall and was in scott's younger brother seth's band back in Westford,MA. pretty goddamn funny. still feeling the lingering sick, we made the short drive back to our NM Recovery Center,(Lexie's house). we ate, i read 27 emails(it's been awhile), went to bed.

2/9

glorious day off at Lexie's. went for a hike with Jenny to the nearby hill and used the cell to call mom. the higher you go the better the reception. did the family calls and got back in time for dinner. Janine came over and we all sat down to a fabulous meal of tofu pad thai with red curry/coconut soup on the side. chef Al, of Amber Waves, Paul+Elizabeth's and Cha Cha Cha fame, outdid himself again. did i mention we eat pretty well on tour? we can get stuffed on 4 bucks at Wendy's, as we are experts in the 99 cent menu. seriously, Wendy's should do a commercial with us! sort of along the lines of Jarred's Subway commercials, except we don't lose weight. we stay the same weight. or maybe Wendy's should give us side jobs as In the Field Quality Control. we know our shit. but screw Wendy's tonight-we got chef Al. got really full. sleepytime.

2/10

brisk morning hike with Jenny brought me back to my hikes with my dog Arrow on Mt. Tom in Easthampton. i miss my boy. spent 4 hours on the computer typing 2 weeks worth of diary entries only to be knocked offline, losing it all. i almost put my fist through a wall. this has now happened to me 3 times in my diary writing history-very pissed off! anyway, we leave tonight for a 19 hour drive to San Francisco.

2/11

we finally get to CA and what do we do? go to In and Out Burger, naturally. went to the first one we came to. just as good as the last time you had it. best fast food burger on the frickin' planet! shakes, too. stuffed, we crossed the Bay Bridge into S.F. and did a little driving tour of the waterfront. ended up in the Haight-Ashbury section of town and walked around. went to my favorite music store in the west, Amoeba Records, and spent too much $$ on cd's. met up with a former Tauntonite, Constance B. and headed to the place we're playing. the Make Out Room is in the Mission, which is the very neighborhood i landed in back in '96 when i came out here with Dieselmeat. many memories of Jimmy Spliff and Phil Crumar, the Shotwell Bar, and the band came flooding back. got back from my stroll down memory lane and met some old friends before we went on. Dan P. from Spouse lives and goes to school out here now, and it was great to see him at the show. we caught up a little and then Noho transplants Dave D. and Janine L. made the scene with some friends in tow and brought some hootin'and hollerin'to the Make Out Room. great to see them as well. thanks to Dave for getting us some promo info. before we hit town. people i met at John and Christine Freitas's wedding made the show as well. Emily W., Christine's sister, came out despite having a hangover from the night before. and Jeff C. and posse came out and offered us a place to stay. the show went well despite being told to turn down a few times. having so many peeps in the house made it so much fun. Constance said we rocked the room like no other before us, and she's a veteran of the Make Out Room. ha! back at Jeff's we did the stay up late thing with new friends Blaise and Brandy. hung on until 6am in time to see terry, Blaise and Brandy doing a synchronized dance rountine akin to the Electric Slide crossed with some of the creepy line dancing we've seen at the Borderline in Tampa,FL. funny and weird.

2/12

up at noon and 1 hour later i'm in the famous Cancun Taqueria on Mission St. eating the best chorizo burrito i've ever had. one bite away from a food coma. headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. more menories of mtn. biking here in '96. some of the best riding in the world. arrived in Ukiah,CA and did laundry. loaded into the Ukiah Brewing Company, run by kind brothers Sid and Brett. Sara, our waitress got the food portion of the evening underway with some delicious steamed clams. only an indicator of the meal to come. we left the table desperately in need of a nap. but we have a job to do after that kind of meal and we delivered 3 sets and kept the volume down. it's called playing to the room. we sold a bunch of stuff, thanks to Pat at the door, and enjoyed a few pints of Brett's IPA. Sid was putting us up at his place so the party headed there after the show. the gig ended early so we were beginning the party portion of the evening at 12:30am, usually the start of our last set. this feels strange but in a really good way. we had another hazy night and even silently watched the Matrix. many thanks to all the first rate folks at the Ukiah Brewing Company and everyone at the show. truly a great time. if any of you are in wine country CA,(sonoma, napa), go there. it's a mistake not to. tell 'em the Drunk Stuntmen sent you.

we got out of Ukiah and decided to take Dave D.'s advice of a drive down the coast of CA on rte. 1. 5 twisty, steep, switchbacked, ocean viewing hours later(it was truly an awesome drive with 200 foot cliffs down to the water) we reached Fairfax,CA home of Peri's Bar(or Peri's Silver Dollar as we thought it was called). new friend Yotom(sp? it sounded like "yo, tom")greeted us from behind the bar and made us feel welcome. we got set up up on the tiny stage and ate some pizza and even some ice cream. Fairfax is a cool little town just north of S.F. and apparently many musicians live here. Santana, Sammy Hagar, and most of the G. Dead have houses here. didn't meet any of them, but did enjoy meeting Buddy Owen, original member of the Vanilla Fudge and all-around great guy. thanks for working the tip jar for us! he even plays in a band with the E Street Band's original drummer, Ernest "Boom" Carter, to the delight of t-bone our big Bruce fan. met a new fan, Smilin' Tom, who bought up the entire Drunk Stuntmen catalog after the first set and had us sign all 3 discs. now that's cool! thanks a lot. our old pal Emily W. appeared with some new friends in tow. some of the folks there had connections back east and had heard songs from our cd, "More Bad News", on the local radio station, especially "Clown to Be". to have people singing the words back to you is pretty neat indeed. Emily hooked us up with a place to stay with friends in the area(Chris, Scott, Jake and Mako the dog). As we were getting our shit out of the van there was an incredible sound of screeching tires and metal crunching into wood as a car flew off the road above us and came to rest about 40 ft. away in the backyard of the house we parked in front of. we were in shock as we called up to the sounds of survivors. we listened to someone reply, "I'm O.K." and soon after the cops and rescue folks were on scene. according to Jake, people lose control and T-bone other cars there a lot as it is a treacherous road cut into the side of a hill. a little excitement before hitting the floor.

2/14

mf'n Valentine's Day away from my Valentine. i made sure to call Heidi last night at midnight eastern time to be sure. i miss her terribly. made the short but again, incredibly scenic drive from Fairfax to Bolinas,CA. the entire time we've been in CA and have told someone we were playing in Bolinas they would smile slyly and tell us we'd "have a great time there, heh heh." the town's got character. a quiet ocean town where the locals rip down any signs the state puts up directing folks to their beloved hippie town. we're playing a place called Smiley's, Est. 1851. the place was even open during prohibition! how's that for character? not a sign of Johnny Law to be found. we got there early and decided to sample the local Bloody Mary(breakfast). people were puffing in broad daylight on the benches in front of the bar. there was a serious air of laidbackness going on here. it's going to be an interesting night! took a nice long walk on the beach thinking of Heidi. got some major dog time in with the seemingly endless number of dogs in Bolinas. everyone has one with them. we're staying in the suite above the bar tonight so it was eat, then nappy time. was a little groggy setting up the gear but the locals are starting to come out and they look restless. Albie and Amber behind the bar got the juices flowing for the masses and there were many couples in the place on a romantic weekend. (made me miss Heidi a little more). well the crowd was, in a word, diverse. patron of the night had to be a woman(maybe in her 80's?) named Verona who told us that she had been bed-ridden for the past 2 1/2 years and tonight was her first night out with her husband. they only stopped dancing once so she could peel off her restricting panty hose and keep groovin'commando-style. she really was a treat. the lovely Constance made the 40 min. trip from S.F. and had more fun than she expected. our friend Leslie, who made it to our Make Out Room show in S.F., also came to Smiley's with some local friends. we'll see you back in Noho, Leslie. we played 3 sets, had one hell of a time and then brought the party upstairs. finally saw a police presence at 3am from the balcony. he was just turning around. scotty played song after song on the piano in the suite and we all sang at the top of our lungs(the Drunken Asses from SNL!). nobody said boo to us. no cops means no curfew. up late again.

2/15

hard time getting up today. got a much-needed coffee and a morning stroll on the beach. bumped into many of the people i witnessed being crazy last night, but i don't think they recognize me without my drum kit. probably couldn't talk to them coherently anyway. more dog time(Arrow would love it here), and got back in time to be evicted from the suite by housekeeping. downstairs for more Bloody-sampling. ran into our man from Fairfax Jake, and Mako the dog, as he was in town to do some surfing. running into us at a bar will get you sidetracked! he told me there are more shark atacks in this section of CA than anywhere else in the U.S. surf's up! had to drag ourselves out of Smiley's. big thanks to Don Deane, the owner, and everyone we met at the legendary Smiley's for a fantastic time. we'll be back. drove along the magnificent coastline to the town of Mill Valley, home to MASH character B.J. Honeycutt, and home to another In and Out burger. gorged, we headed north in a fucking serious downpour to the town of Willits,CA and the Shenachie Pub. kind of hard to find, but warm and welcoming when you do. it's small place(read: intimate)so we stripped it down to accomodate the room. we were quite well recieved. Pete behind the bar and Poohbah(no kidding?) at the door rolled out the red carpet for us. thank you both. i learned a bit about the Waldorf School from some new friends. sold a bunch of cd's and siged all of them, which seems to happen alot lately. we had a great time at the Shenachie Pub but it was our last gig before 5 travel days/days off. we high tailed it out of there and headed south.

2/16

11 hours and not much sleep later we were in the Joshua Tree National Park. stopped by the Joshua Tree Inn where Gram Parsons died and Emmylou Harris was a regular. we saw Gram's room and it had lots of memorabila in it as well as dozens of guitar picks left behind by visitors. it was a little eerie. wanted to stay there for the night but the price was too steep. so we stayed at the place across the street from the place where Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris used to hang. drove into the Park and saw where G.P.'s manager had cremated him(it was on VH1's "Rock's 100 Most Shocking Moments). a conctrete slab read "Gram Safe At Home" and there were many inscriptions in the rocks from fans. it was kind of spritual. saw some amazing rock formations and serious vistas on our way back to Joshua Tree. we stopped for provisions at the local grocery store and ran into a local character named Coyote. he pegged us for a band right away when he saw us and laughed hard when we told him the band name. thanks for the local loco, dude. back to hotel to enjoy his gift and bust a gut laughing at the Simpson's 300th episode.

2/17

today(and tonight, and some of tomorrow) we drive to San Antonio,TX and the home of our close friend and part-time benefactor, Jody W. made our way back through Joshua Tree National Park and hit I-10 E. so far on tour we've been listening ot the radio or cassettes in the van and it's getting a little tired. recently we bought an adapter so we can play cd's in freddy's player he brought and finally listen to some new music. as if to signal misfortune ahead, freddy's cd player didn't work. we tried everything, even the "smack it around" method. nothing. back to the radio or a tape we've heard 10 times already. (shitty event #1 behind us). undaunted we searched our handy In and Out Burger location finder and found our destination outside of Phoenix,AZ. at 5:30 pm MST we said a bittersweet farewell to the beloved "Double Double" burger (w/onions) and the thick chocolate shake; the side of jalapeno peppers and the super-fresh fries. we even got the lowdown on their secret menu. i ain't sayin' a word. trust, this is only a temporary adieu. we'll be back In and Out Burger, we know how to find you. 7 uneventful hours later...

2/18

i get my shift behind the wheel in El Paso,TX. we're almost in San Antonio, right? think again, mr. 585 miles to go! steve inadvertently filled the gas tank only 3/4 full, which we realized after getting underway again. what the hell, gas stations are everywhere. i mean, they get oil from the damn ground here. it was 5 am in desolate Bakersfield,TX when i got off the highway with fumes going to the engine. we pulled up to the obviously closed gas station but salvation was in the "24 hour credit card service" sign. or was it? not one card we tried worked. we waited 2 hours to be able to "Please See Attendant" as the pump maniacally flashed back at us. got the gas. back on the road. (shitty event #2 behind us). approx. 41 min. later i noticed a little too late that a state trooper was approaching me on the westbound side of I-10. he was slowing down rapidly and lights went on. you can see where this is going. 95 in a 75 mph zone. OUCH! guilty as charged. i get to call the local Justice of the Peace(for real) to get the financial damage. Officer Baker asked me the name of the band. he didn't laugh too much when i told him. i laughed when he asked if there was any Anthrax in the van. resisting a joke about that terrible band i chuckled "no". thankfully he didn't search us. i don't know what i'd do without my AK-47. angrily drove the rest of the way to Jody's and pretty much crashed. Hard. stayed good and motionless a solid 9 hrs. only moving to throw down a couple tacos from our other favorite place to eat in the southwest, Taco Cabana. our good friend Kate came over and we waited for Jody to get home. he was taking us to "Chachos". Taco Cabana on steroids, as Jody put it. this better be good. it was. we got there around 11:30(it's tues.) and the place was packed. a live band was in the corner pumping out the hits("Brick House", etc.). Jody did the food ordering as he's been there before. we took care of the drinks. margaritas and don't stop making them! we drank them out of the rocks margaritas and had to move over to frozen ones. there was a minor melee when the food hit the table and i had one of everything. we had a veritable blast. the place is open 24hrs. a day. next time we go at 4am! got some movies and went back to Jody's very full and a little tipsy.

day off at Jody's. mostly recovery and laundry today. a few more Taco Cabana tacos and a fine dinner by chef Bow. some sort of chicken thing with some broccoli and asparagus on the side. yummy! did get to see our old friend Zippy, and Kate came over to hang with us on our last night in San Antonio for awhile. we rented 3 movies and i made it through 1. beddy-bye.

2/20

we ride. 26 hours to Virginia Beach,VA. we left as late as we could, leaving no room for error. a final run to Taco Cabana for the best fast food tacos in the game. again, only a temporary adieu,T.C. you can't keep this 6 man taco eating machine away for long. It started to rain, then downpour on our way out of San Antonio. 16 hours later in Atlanta it finally ended. i'm talking cats and dogs type of rain. hydroplaning type of rain, which we experienced a few times. it was unbelievable. we saw many accidents with many ambulances(even the coroner wagon) but we managed to keep the rubber side down. at least we didn't run out of gas.

2/21

it's Heidi's birthday today so i called her from the road. it's fun trying to figure out where in your last sentence the cell lost signal so when you call back you can pick up the conversation again. technology. did manage to call home and get a cake from the Look Bakery(thanks, Sue!) and some roses(thanks Bob Stacks!) just wish i could be there. we arrived in Virginia Beach, VA at Phil's Grille thinking we were late but it didn't seem to matter. Kelly our waitress and Jason behind the bar set us up with food and drink and we leisurely loaded in. so