:: Music As Social Agitation Records::

:: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 ::

i wound up staying bellingham much longer than i expected. which was good, because out of those experiences, this was created. it is me and eli's semi-project called "crystal pastures." let us know what you think!

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:: brs 1:33 AM [+] ::
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i am still in bellingham, hanging out until the local music radio show tonight and i am excited to finally get back home to kent. i was lucky enough to catch my brother and sister at home when i got into seattle from spokane and went home for a few hours before heading to port townsend... the bellingham shows were fun, especially the jason webley show, it was a nice way to finish the tour off. i have really come around to webley and his music over the last year or so, especially when he made such a nice gesture to the gaf church his last time here. the show went well, there was like 150 people there and i was able to unload 30 1985 cd's and 40 of the local compilation (dead air, um, dead air) and people signed the mailing list as well. i was mostly giving the cd's away but told people that if they wanted to donate money to me for the intended charities on the cd', that they could, and 10 bucks came in that way... it was a lot of fun being in bellingham for some live music on friday and saturday night and now i have mostly been holed up at jamie/kristen/eli's house and me and eli have been recording. apparently we are gonna try and finish an ep today, so we will see how that goes... fun, new songs of both his and mine and they are sounding awesome... look for an attempt at filling in the blank spots of the tour journal action and also look fr major overhauls of the masa site int he next couple of days...

the moist, cool spring weather here has been fucking beautiful the last few nights, especially at night when the near full moon has been coming out to play...

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:: brs 11:15 AM [+] ::
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so i am sitting at one of the horseshoe cafe computers. fucking hilarious.

it is oddly warm outside and oddly warm in my belly, as i just consumed my first liquid charge in months. it is odd everywhere. oddingham.

the children of solvency will probably be performing a song with me tonight. these are the lyrics:

"the mermaids won the battle
the mermaids won the battle
now we are all merfolk
now we are all merfolk
the mermaid king and queen
smile so lovingly
the mermaids saved us all"

the ocean is violence to most. yet some thrive there and fear the open air.
this is the most natural refutation of balance. of dark light, in and out.

i am in bellingham and, though i made 100 bucks in missoula five days ago, i am so familiarly worrry about my ability to afford being here for the next five days. nice, nice.

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:: brs 5:46 PM [+] ::
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oh, missoula in spring! how i love thee! if only my family were pocket-size and i could take them wherever i go... alas.

like, i kind of don't want to leave... someday, i would like to spend some significant time here.

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:: brs 2:12 PM [+] ::
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i am in missoula, chilling at peters house while he puts posters on his wall. he has lived here since october. today was overcast and warm here in western montana. i have been pretty moody. i am glad it took this long to hit me (maybe my tolerance is going up), but i am definately getting that weird ansy, unsatisfied gotta keep moving to misery missing things feeling. it is weird and hard to describe, like a breaking down jalopy. i tried pretty hard to get onto a show tonight at this girl niki's house but even though there is only three bands playing and i pleaded with the whole "i don't need to play a big set and i can play early and between bands and don't need any money and just want to play a few songs to make something of the day" spee-ul, she "didn't have room for me." eh. she hosts the local show here at the college radio station, me and tony played on her show last time we were in town... so yeah, i should be happy about last nights show. there were tons of people and they were pretty receptive and nice to me during my set and i got to hear no-fi on their old stomping grounds and the robot ate me and the conversation. the oblio joes were my favorite, though. so much fun. i have been so drawn to traveling songs on this tour, like tom and chaz's project "the transcendentalists." four fast chords a harmonica and a bellowing plea. s'all i need... the bus ride to missoula from salt lake city (following a nice 6am sunny walk with tom from his place to ther depot) was miserable and ansy, especially the last two hours from butte montana to missoula. and then we rushed right to the show at the boys and girls club. i think tyson was super happy about the show, though. tons of kids came and i think all the bands got paid pretty well (i recieved the most money i have recieved of any show on tour yet, 100 bucks)... it was a fun show. so yeah, we just went to the movie theater tyson works at to see if we could see a movie for free and it was a no go. and then jenn had to run off to watch survivor (a family tradition or something) and now me and peter are contemplating going to the show at niki's house, which i am less than excited about, though i would love to see some liver music tonight... oh, and i wrote a new song this morning (after watching the against me documentarya nd some of the half japanese one) and we tried to record it with me on guitar and tyson on keys and peter on harmonica. it didn't work but later in the day me and peter and tyson recorded a new wetness protection program installement. tyson had to leave to work half way through, but me and peter continued to record. look for a new masa myspace account for the WPP, with music up from the blair-joshua-matt session in little rock and this one today... plus some old stuffs... anyways... i need to go ride a bike or something... cheer up spend myself... tomorrow night is day three in missoula and some songs at tyson and jenns potluck housewarming party. their place is nice... oh, and the thing i like the most about "the pacific science center" (which is probably what hawaii will morph into) is the pacify. hope you are well...

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:: brs 7:03 PM [+] ::
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okay. we are chilling in salt lake city at tom's house. we got in at ten am this morning, after one of the through the night rides that you dread for days after. the trips where you get maybe half a set and have to hold on cause the driver doesn't know how to steer smoothly and she keeps trying to toss you into the aisle. oh yeah. so we got in at ten and walked back to tom's place to eat some breakfast (they had some stolen mini pizzas and i had made some mac and cheese with fake hotdog and corn mixed in). tasty. then we walked to the temple square and did the whole mormon tourist thing. checking out what we could as non-mormons, including getting a tour of the new convention chamber thing they got. it is the largest indoor religious structure in the world or something. an auditorium that sat 21,000 a roof top with six acres of plants, a giant choir and religious leaders puplit made from the wood of a single cherry tree from pennsylvania, cheesy paitings from the 70's worth millions, drained river fountains, phonebooths everywhere amidst the class and luxury, 50-100 couples getting married a day outside thew temple. then we walked to the musuem cause i wanted to check out the transcriptions joe smith made of the golden plates. we were able to find a single page displayed. after that we walked to another holy site, a new mostly outdoor mall near the old train station. i sat near this fountain while joshua and tom walked through the virgin megastore and barnes and nobles handing out last minute fliers for the show. this fountain was the sister fountain of the olympia one that gave me the inspiration for my next rock band, to be dubbed either "soggy lazer fountain" or "pacific science center." hopefully with members of b-18, sears catalog and [mute]. it is all about creating something that is easily passed off by cool kids and other ignorantes but that appeals to the child, the pure, the innocent with moisture, symmtery, violence, rythym... anyways, there is a lot more to it, it is another unifying theory, etc... now we are back at toms house after watching the kids get pounded by a five minute rendetion from this fountain of "god bless america." (the kid seemed to enjoy the fountain more when it wasn't trying to sing and be so patriotic). tom just ate a mushroom. we are gonna go visit a utah liquor store soon and then grab some food before the show. should be a fun one tonight at kilby court. drew danburry might stop by after his show tonight...

yesterday we were in denver. got into to town at like 5pm. had to call lisa at breakdown books to get directions via city bus to the bookstore/collective. it was a smooth one transfer trip, hardly any layover. got there in 20 minutes. had to take a free bus through the 16th street mall, a hip urban shopping area like westlake that spread along the street for a couple miles. got to the book store relatively early, especially comapred to everyone else. chris, aka bad weather california, showed up about 9pm. the show started at 7pm supposedly. i played first to like six people, since joshua was beinng diffcult and considering not playing at all. so i went first. then joshua went, to about 10 people. chris played to finish the night and right before he started about 12 more people showed up. despite the late crowd, it was a fun show. i loved playing through the amp they had there. wish i could have brougbh that torquois demon with me. it sounded sweet. i can't wait to get a bio-diesel vehicle and be able to actually tour with such things in tow again.... the collective was rad, had all the typical anarcho-bookstore/collective things. they are doing a bike-in outdoor movie series this summer and i want to try and come play before a movie night, the "journey of natty gan" movie night to be exact. such a good movie. one more awesome relic from 1985. the jar got passed around and me and joshua had 26 bucks to split after the show, which was one highlight, i guess. i was just a little frustrated about the whole no one shows up on time thing (which happens everywhere) and about having to go first because joshua was being difficult.... but here we are today, thorwing waterballons out the windows at people... after the show last night we went with chris and his friend to a diner. got some pie, and fries and grilled cheeses. good times. really nice people, despite their tardiness... okay, i gots to go toss some ballons...

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:: brs 3:08 PM [+] ::
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so last night was our show in forth worth at 1919 hemphill. rick turned out to be a lot nicer and more animated than in our mishappened email contacting. the collective place was pretty big and relatively cheap for them to rent... and big... (more soon)...

the night ended well. tony gave us a ride to the bus station, but before that we stopped by a neighborhood bar near the bus station. it was pretty classy looking and a sign at the door said they only take texas id's. tony scopped the juklebox though and they had plenty of quality cuts including mazzy star, modest mouse, and plenty of newer indie hits. we sat at the bar and meet a really nice bartender who used to own a music club in town. he had picked the jukebox albums. we each got a lonestar. joshua asked if they sold food there and they didn't but, hey the dude had five deluxe sandwiches from starbucks that some dude dropped off and also some strawberries. a nice fucking meal. free. we chatted with the 40 year old bartender at molone's bar for a bit finished our beers and hit the station.

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:: brs 10:19 AM [+] ::
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alright. it is 10am, about 24 hours after we pulled into austin from little rock, and i am rocking austin style hanging out at tony presley's listening to my favorite cut from the seattle band anybody human, "one night stand." so good. in a couple hours we will drive north to forth worthand me and joshua will be that much closer to home... last night weplayed a house show at this kid michaels. really nice, really nice kid. we traded tom robbins books (skinny legs and all for still life with woodpecker). he is into a lot of the indie, west coast songwriter k stuff and had some mass rare records. and a lot of smiles. nice guy. anyways, the show started like two hours late, an every growing tendency, with michaels roommate stewart playing a few songs off the cuff. good voice and pop songs. would have liked to seen more of him the rest of the night, but he seemed to stay out back of the house with his girlfriend. then dan solomon performed, and it was really nice to hang out with him and see him throw some words down. his performance was a lot more solid than the last time i had seen him and got me kind of amped up. joshua went next and had a good set. the pa was sounding good for his style and guitar and such. than fine:fifteen (whom had arrived late on the scene due to work) asked if they could go next and tony gave them the go ahead. i guess one of them had some studying to do, though they both (very nicely and professionally) did wind up sticking around for the whole night. it was a two woman duo with accordian and guitar. good songs, interesting vocal style. poppy stuff, with some old school stylings. i went next, and it was a fun set. i think i was a little more engaging and funny than awkward for once in a blue moon. of course, everytime i feel like i just had a good set, i tend to get the least response from people. and when i think a show is gonna go crappy, it usually turns out real good. anyways, played the political songs and the tony presley/blair harris/bill clinton hit. after me, tony played a too short set of new songs and it was awesome. really, really dig the new goods. and the acoustic vibe. we ended the night with the two of us doing a cover of sunflowers by low, which was fun and rough. there were about 14 people that came to the show and tony passed around a milkjug a few times and me and josh made ten bucks each. then, michael said he would buy all our albums for 20 bucks, which was way to fucking nice of him, especially since he already bought some community beer for us all. nice kid, i tell you. he is in this band called "a bear," check it out. after the show, tony had promised to show us the austin night scene. we wound up going to two bars that were pretty near (the "hole in the wall," which reminded me of the brotherhood in olympia, and another bar that felt a lot like the 3b tavern). it was late, so we didn't have much time to explore or drive around... maybe this morning... i am drinking a lonestar beer right now. it is ten am.

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:: brs 10:27 AM [+] ::
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i don't know if i should post this, but it (however truly real/significant it is) is starting to bug me a lot. i will try and clarifiy it better soon, but here is what i rambled to a friend via email to central america today:

"today we play at belvedere park on the banks of the arkansas river, which is a lot bigger here than it is colorado where it almost killed me a few years ago. i wonder how long it took that water there in colorado that we were near when the accident happened to travel all the way here. perhaps, there is a stick or something tumbling in the current that just arrived in little rock, after traveling the last 3 years down stream and we will remeet it today... i am having an artistic crisis. it would seem that there is some famous band that started in bellingham who has a lead singer that i am trying to copy and sound exactly like. this KILLLLLSS me. i hate it so much, helen. so much. for the record, if i am any sort of rip off artist, i am a built to spill (theres nothing wrong with love era) ripp off. it was driving home from the hospital where my step father had just passed away at four am with the windows down singing llong to that album that i "found" my voice. which is simply to say that after ten years of singing horribly along to nearly every song i heard, especially while crying myself to sleep to the 92.5 KLSY easy soft favorites, that the singing part start to well, work? i guess... regardless i have been singing nearly like this since then. argh. and now people pass off my music and don't give the songwriting a chance becuase i am OBVIOUSLY trying to ride the gibbard coat tail into stardom. this is an assumption, but after six years of touring as an musician from bellingham, washington and noticing certain patterns in certain reactions to my music, i know this to be true at least some of the time. and it fucking kills me. if any of it is ben gibbard related, it is that we listened to the same artists and loved the same music while growing into our own songwriting (something i have talked to him about)... what to do, helen? despite my strong, strong allegiance to artistic sincerity and love for art that is the most unfiltered, unaltered, unperverted coming from wherever through the human artist channel and out into the world, i am seriously considering concertedly singing different, altering things in order to not sound like some dude who is famous. perverting it on purpose, sacrificing the sincerity of it in order that the song, thing to be communicated, is more approachable for a certain cohort of people hearing it. hmmm..."

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:: brs 12:18 PM [+] ::
...

me, joshua and brendon are hanging out at the brand new, lush UofK library here in kentucky. it is finals week, i guess. last night was a fun park show put on by anthony and randi with some lcoal punk kids playing and listening. there was FNB dinner right when we got there which was awesome, even though we got pretty loaded up on food at the free kitchen in bloomington before we left. the show went into the nighttime darkness, and it got a bit chilly but most the kids stuck around to hear everyone played. we play with locals amanda muse and also sarah coleman. sarah has an awesome voice and a GOOD knack for punk/pop melodies. this really awesome duo from west virginia also played, pretty straight-forward punk songs with all the topical themes us liberals and them radicals have come to know. i forgot there name right now, but... anyways, brendon is driving us again today, which will be awesome since we are traveling through the hills of west virginia appalachia... this morning was beautiful, as was the drive yesterday. it seems that spring has finally arrived just in time for our shwos in the deeper, wetter, hotter south. nice, nice.... at least we have a couple more east coats dates and hopefully a visit with "the man who is jimes" tonight in baltimore... anyways, see you guys soon. oh! and i put together the tour itinerary finally. here are most of the details for where we have been and where we still have left to go. come say hi if you can!

april 15th @ Underground Coffeehouse (Viking Union at WWU, Bellingham, WA) 8pm
with tony presley, purrbot

april 16th @ D Street (1801 D St, Bellingham, WA) 5pm
with moster dudes, pussgut, glamorous transparent pat, tony presley, purrbot

april 17th @ Le Voyeur (4th Ave, Olympia, WA) 10pm
with tony presley, purrbot

april 22nd @ Club Live (2118 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA) 7pm with centreline, sayonara tiger, the hint, action toolbelt

april 23rd @ Monarchs Tavern (39th and Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA) 6pm with autumns disaster, more...

april 24th @ Ragtimes (19 W Market St, Arlington, VA) 9pm
open mic night

april 25th @ 1619 House (Williamstown, NJ) 7pm
little light, needles

april 26th @ DAY OFF

april 27th @ Devons House (329 paper mill road, Newark, DE) 8pm
with the metrosexuals

april 28th @ Charm City Art Space (1729 Maryland Ave, Baltimore, MD) 7pm with drew danburry, rhythmandfall

april 29th @ The Iron Saddle Saloon (137 E South St, Akron, OH)
with 4star radar, barium

april 30th @ Totally Awesome House (724 N. Main, Ann Arbor, MI) 7pm Totally Awesome Fest Day 3 with viking moses, grey lights, actual birds, hot meat for young lovers, more...

may 01st @ Ugly Mug Café (317 W. Cross St, Ypsilanti, MI) 7pm
with danjer danjer and viking moses

may 02th @ The Junk Shop (3659 S Hoyne, Chicago, IL) 10pm
with viking moses, shelley short, john bellows

may 03rd @ Relaxation Center (804 S Roger St, Bloomington, IN) 7pm with the impossible shapes, viking moses, odawas

may 04th @ Woodland Park (Lexington, KY) 5pm
with sarah Coleman, amanda muse, viking moses

may 05th @ Mojo Room and Lounge (4825 Belair Rd, Baltimore, MD) 9pm with Viking Moses, more...

may 06th @ Club Live (2118 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA) 8pm
with tenwatch shindig, silent film, waking state

may 07th @ Devons House (Atlanta, GA)
with dustin and the furniture, skyland point, oxygen booth

may 08th @ TBA (Arkansas)

may 09th @ Belvedere Park (Rivermarket & Clinton) 5pm
with blair harris, the things that always explode, the american princes

may 10th @ Michaels House (406 west 37th street, Austin, TX) 8pm
with dan solomon, tony presley, fine: fifteen!

may 11 th @ 1919 Hemphill (1919 Hemphill, Fort Worth, TX) 6pm
with dan solomon, tony presley and ten tin feet

may 12th @ Breakdown Collective/Books (1409 Ogden St., Denver, CO) 7pm
with bad weather california (formally the love letter band)

may 13th @ Kilby Court (733 S 330 W, Salt Lake City, UT) 8pm
with the transcendentalists, sons of guns

may 14th @ Union Hall (208 E Main, Missoula, MT) 6pm
with no-fi soul rebellion, the robot ate me, 1985,
old shoes, oblio joes, the conversation, aheartlesssolution

may 15th @ Tyson and Jenn's House (313 S 4th W, Missoula, MT) 6pm
with old shoes, annie j and the radiant murmur, purrbot

may 16th @ TBA (Boise, ID)

may 17th @ Rock Coffee (920 W 1st Ave, Spokane, WA) 8pm
with vindikat

may 18th @ Jarrod & Emilys House (823 Hood Street, Port Townsend, WA) 8pm
with the solvents, more…

may 19th @ Bay Street Coffeehouse (1302 Bay Street, Bellingham, WA) 8pm
with the solvents, matt hopper

may 20th Causland Memorial Park (8th St & N Ave, Anacortes, WA) 6pm
with the solvents and hopefully the gift machine, murder mtn, more

may 21st @ Fairhaven Courtyard (WWU, Bellingham, WA) 7pm
with Jason Webley

(1) comments
:: brs 6:40 AM [+] ::
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i know the second i start typing this brendon and joshua are gonna show up (i am currently at the library waiting for them to pick me up so we can drive to lexington). anyways, last night we played an awesome and super fun show at the relaxation center here in bloomington. the people of the house were really nice and hospitable and a lot of kids came out to the show and came down to the basement to watch the music inbetweening partying upstairs. joshua started the show off, and then me, brendon, the impossible shapes (the main dude solo, though) and odawas concluded the evening. everyone played really well and i enjoyed the local bands music. it was news to both me and joshua that secretly canadian and the impossible shapes and odawas were all from bloomington. joshua is a big fan of secretly canadian and the impossible shapes as well. everyone seemed to be drinking miller high life. bloomington reminds me a lot of what pullman would be like if the city of bellingham's 70,000 people sat next to WSU there, instead of the 15,000 locals there are there now. it is like bellingham alot, but with a big university and environs that are really similar to the oasis in the desert that pullman/moscow are. i am excited to come back again and visit. today we head to a park show in lexington, kentucky with food not bombs and kickball and skateboarding... hopefully we will ge there in time for some dinner foods...

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:: brs 9:39 AM [+] ::
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alright. well, we are what, nearly two weeks into this tour? and no update from our fairy godslands. tour has been well. a little on the poor side at times, a little on the vacant side some times, but well... we are in bloomington, indiana today and chilling at the library right now. it is a nice city, seemingly. it will be awesome to meet some local kids and see what keeps them busy. this is day four with viking moses. brendon rented a car, so it is almost like we aren't really touring together.... i mean, we are playing shows, but so much of the touring together thing is driving from show to show experiencing the in betweens and such...

we were in chicago last night. may 2nd. this nice kid alex put together a show for us at his house, where he has shows often, which was basically a cornerstore turned into a residence. with a huge living space and a huge basement show space. despite the fact that there had just been a big several day annual festival in town, and another all-ages show earlier in the evening AND it was a monday night show starting at 10pm. the first two local acts had a nice crowd (shelley short from portland originally and this kid joshua bellows), as did joshua and brendon... alas, the 1985 performance to the remaining for kids got shortened by pissy neighbors. i was a little disappointed by it but, oh well... those things happen... chicago was nice and spring-chilled, the buildings as big as ever...

oh, alexes house/space rented for 700 bucks total. wow.
more later, i hope...

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:: brs 2:53 PM [+] ::
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so may 1st was a night at the ugly mug in ypsilanti, mi which is really close to ann arbor. it was nice to finally be able to hang out here for awhile, since it has always seemed like an awesome college town and some people likened it as such to bellingham. of course, the university here dwarves WWU both in size and olden grandeur. we crashed at the totally awesome house, which though they were supposed to be all moved out, was still pretty trashed from the festival and a years worth or tornado creative enterprise. those kids are rad and i really hope they get there deposit back and that people get there things moved out and cleaned up before the landlords come a knocking. ..late sunday night (we crashed there two nights) joshua was playing some chessy riff on a guitar and we came up with a tribute song for the house... i think the lyrics were like:

"totally awesome is totally
out of debt and finally
free to float amoungst the clouds
free to finally sing aloud:
totally awesome. totally."

patrick did a verse and we tried to get jason to as well, but to no avail. that song will be recorded. it was a fun one.... the show sunday night was at the ugly mug cafe in ypsilanti with danjer (formally danjer danjer, and still a play on the first anmes of the two dudes in the band: DAN and JERmey). the coffeshop was pretty cool, seemingly located in the a building that used to be a cornerstore/gas station. me, joshua and brendon went first and everyone played good sets through dans portable yet awesomeable pa system. the show was supposed to go from 7-9pm and we thought that they were gonna let it run late, but by the time brendon got done it was almost 9pm and the owner was wanting us to get out. danjer decided to do some songs out in the parking lot (cold parking lot, mind you, as all of the east has been late winter cold while our home in the NW has been a nice mild 70 degrees. it even snowed on our way to chicago the next day). the danjer songs kept those remaining warm on the street for a good time and it was awesome that patrick and jason and some other kdis from the night before showed up to support the show and hang out. we went and chilled at a friendly house afterwards, chatting and eating macaroni with beans and peanut butter before the four of us (pat, jason, joshua and i) crammed into a pickup and drove back to ann arbor. (stopping for doughnuts and coffee along the way). jason and patrick had a lot of work to do at the house still. i would up passing out for a nap that turned into a full nights sleep and was unable to help them much with there quest.

oh, and during the day me, joshua and brendon walked around ann arbor, looking for records, books, burritos and computer access. the mission was a success. and we made it (via scenic side routes in brendons rental) to ypsilanti just in time for a drink and then the show... more soon...

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:: brs 10:05 AM [+] ::
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back to the future, again i guess... some recollections...

ann arbor on the 30th was a lot of fun. it was the third day of the totally awesome fest. the final night of music, celebrating the kids and shows that have happened there over the last year and some. it was good to see patrick elkins again, he is one of my favorite peoples. and jasons voss to, though i have this sneaky suspicion that he hates me or something. but not really, i just like to imagine that he hates me... sometimes i equate silence with distaste. its an insecurity... anyways, the night was awesome, as to be expected, and there was a lot of kids, though i guess mot as much as the first two nights (people were tiring out). we played with a handful of locals (including melting moments, actual birds and hot meat for young lovers) and it was our first show with brendon aka viking moses. luckily the hot meat set, which concluded the night, did't end with patrick jumping off the roof to his doom. he was already pretty banged up from other physical activities. the mic stand accident months ago in bellingham at the jimes show is starting to make sense these days... btw, that live jimes set (in all its naked glory) will be seeing a co-release on masa records and we're twins records. we are all way excited about that...

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:: brs 10:01 AM [+] ::
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