Whew! Time flies when the van you're driving gets 10 miles to the gallon. If you, or someone you know, would like to sponsor our next tour in an all-together green light, we're ready to combine your money with our good intentions.

Pennsylvania, let's see. We were soggy. And at one point there were tears in Philly, but that led to free parking so: embarrassing, yes, but economical. We rolled into Washington D.C. and had just enough down-time to experience the following: some serious museum time, a home-made sushi fest made by Liz (where we met a bunch of cool people who work their asses off, including a health care lobbyist who was very secretive about his work), warm hospitality via two lovely friends Emily & Cecile, hopeful Obama sightings, and more rain. Lesson learned: you have to drive all the way to D.C. to hang out with a pink fairy armadillo (somethingus truncatus).

Observe the following pictures: 1) pink fairy armadillo 2) health care lobbyists 3) far more home-made sushi than can fit in a doggie bag

Greetings dear readers! Back in Portsmouth we were able to find a glass wizard who outfitted poor Rocinante with a nice, sturdy piece of lexan to cover her embarrassing windowless hole and prevent rainwater and confused birds from entering our vulnerable vehicle. Here's our new friend Greg running a bead of black silicon while Gillian and I make jokes about the sticker collection on his toolbox. After being properly weatherproofed and invoiced, we made our way to the Montiki and got ready for our show.


The Montiki is a karaoke bar put together by the talented and resourceful Monica Dorley. Monica has done an impeccable job of transforming her basement into a full-on party paradise. Look no further than Monica's collection of shrunken heads for an idea of how appropriately the Montiki is decorated. I've never seen anything like it. Our show was well attended by many wonderful folks and afterward we were treated to some very rambunctious karaoke with highlights including "Magic Man" by Heart and "Leather and Lace" by Don Henley. Gillian and I contributed to the evening with a rousing rendition of "Love Shack", but the real magic was yet to come. Apparently Monica Dorley, in addition to her skills in graphic design and interior decorating, has some pretty sick Michael Jackson dance moves. After a little prodding, she agreed to demonstrate, only after going upstairs to retrieve her silver sparkling Chuck Taylors. Here she is rocking just like the King of Pop prior to the coronary. Behold:




Who's bad now?!? The Dorleys clearly are not to be fucked with. The next day we gathered our stuff and headed down to Boston where we enjoyed a few days off with family and met some old friends. We played a house concert at a gorgeous residence in Newton that could only be described as "artistically decadent". Thank you Karen and Joel for hosting our show! We were treated very kindly by all of our family, friends , and other guests and we thank you for all of your generosity. Countless thanks also go out to Julie and Susana Dorley for their work and coordination putting this together. The day after the show we met some friends for dinner and I somehow managed to convince Gillian to split a 'Scorpion Bowl' with me, whose ingredients weren't listed but proved to be very refreshing, tropical, and intoxicating. It was perfect.


After Boston we headed back to Burlington, Vermont and played a wonderful gig at the Skinny Pancake. The Skinny is located right on the Burlington waterfront and serves all manners of delectable crepes. The friendly staff treated us to an amazing dinner, desert, and a thorough sampling of local brews. After the gig, I performed some emergency electrical surgery on my ailing amplifier and we set out to NYC.

We had a great time playing at the Living Room in New York City on Saturday night! The sound was the best I have heard yet. Having never played in the city before, I was convinced that we had accomplished something great by booking a slot at the Living Room on a Saturday night. That dream was crushed when I heard the guy following us play a Bob Marley cover with his fly down. What a shame.

I'm convinced that there is at least one of everything in New York. If you're looking for a blind guy that plays the blues, there's probably at least two dozen. If you're looking for a midget prostitute, there's probably at least five. If you're looking for a crazy bastard that walks on broken glass all day, there's one at the Spring Street subway station. Here's a pic to prove it.

With high spirits, we continue our tour south at this point, which is convenient because we spent last night in Poughkeepsie, New York (which means powerful kingdom in a native tounge) and it was rather frigid.


Thanks for reading! We hope to see you somewhere down the road.

Cheers!
TR

Most of the time, I walk around pretending to know as much about pop culture as anybody, but I was just recently reminded that it's simply not true. Derek Maus (pictured here with magnetic poetry pieces in his mouth) in Potsdam, New York knows more about art, music, literature, and obscure Cold-War era Russian satirists than me, you, or anybody you know. In addition to being a professor at SUNY Potsdam and Fullbright Schollar, he is also an excellent concert promoter who brings great bands to Potsdam solely to enhance its music scene, and an all-around good guy.

We are deeply appreciative of all of the good people of Potsdam for their gracious hospitality. We had a great time playing for you, and I might also mention that I really enjoyed getting wasted at the Open Mic night and singing a particularly sloppy rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Good Times.

Prior to Potsdam, we found ourselves in Cleveland, drinking toddies at the wonderful Barking Spider Tavern. The Barking Spider is one of the last few clubs that actually has live music seven nights a week, and hosts a slew of wonderfully kind and eccentric characters such as our new friend Miles. Miles has one eye and likes to hang out at the barking spider and build miniature buildings out of cardboard. He gave us one for the van. It is awesome. Not pictured here is Charlie James Brown, who somehow manages to embody both of his namesakes, is one hell of a picker, and rocks a decent amount of bling. Also not pictured is 'weird cat guy' who walks around with a cat that is too cool for anyone on his shoulder. Here's to you 'weird cat guy'.

In other news, we have both fully recovered from our H1N1, and are pleased to report that it's not such a big deal. Rocinante suffered a mild tragedy while we were driving briskly on a gorgeous Vermont highway. Apparently some air pressure differential high tech physics shit caused one of dear Rocinante's window to spontaneously explode. This happened to coincide
with a torrential downpour which lasted about 16 sleeping-bag drenching hours. Repairs will be underway shortly.


We've played quite a few shows that aren't mentioned here.. We had a great time at the Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati, saw an incredibly rocking blues singer in Burlington, and enjoyed a very nice evening at the Howe family farm in Gilford, New Hampshire. If you happen to be near Gilford, you simply must check out Beans and Greens. It's like coming home to a place you've never been to before. After leaving Gilford we connected with old friends in Portsmouth and are preparing for a great night at the Mon-tiki.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us in our journey thus far!

Cheers,
T.R.