goin goin, back back, to hali hali

It's funny.

Right about now, past moments from this tour are actually turning into distant memories. Even as I sit here now, I glance over to the table to see the June issue of GQ that we stole from some espresso bar in Charlottetown PEI. They played chill music there and had a great wireless signal. The girls working were all good looking, and they had a lot of classic rock posters on the walls. That's one of a thousand memories.

Usually at this point of trips this length, two things happen: you realize how much you miss home, and how much you'll miss it out here.

The other night we were walking home from Pogue Fado, only to realize that we were way, way of course. Most of the cabs had been taken because it was already late on a busy night. Our feet hurt from walking so far and we were all bellyaching at the fact. Right around that time, we realized how good life was at that moment. There I was, walking the streets of Halifax with two of my best friends, on tour playing rock shows across Canada. Around that point we sucked it up and walked to McD's, where we ate McLobsters. They're pretty much a crime against seafood.

The trip has been awesome, and I'm glad to have to narrating it along the way. I largely write these stories here simply to catalogue what's happened, so that one day I can look back and say "Oh yeaaaaa...", yet I hope you enjoy the read as well.

We leave Halifax for home tomorrow morning.

six, six, siixxx!!!

Like any good band would, we went to go see KISS the other night.

None of us are really serious KISS fans, but that wasn't the point of going. Some things in life are just meant to be witnessed whether you like them or not. Seeing Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer play together onstage was, to some of us, as important as seeing the Mona Lisa: it's not that cool in real life, it just has to be seen.


...and any excuse to wear a hick trucker hat and scream "SIX SIX SIX!" in the streets was good enough for me.

ps. for the record I had the best Gene Simmons-tongue impression, if that's worth anything.

metal on metal!

Last night the boys and I watched Anvil! The Story of Anvil

It's a documentary on the 80's metal band Anvil. The film circulates around all their trials and tribulations over the past 30 years. It's incredibly well done.

The nice thing about watching this doc when we did, is that we are currently going through some of the same issues they went through while on tour. No pay, can'd gigs, low attendance, stuff like that. So you can image how nice it was nice to sit back and watch other bands freak out for an hour, except Lips (lead guitar and vocals) would assault the club managers. I'm still trying to get Dan to try that.


So yeah, watch this movie, even if you don't like metal.

back to the futuren

Okez-dokez. Seeing as I am in Frankfurt, Germanz, I am using the hotel kezboard and the kezs are all mixed up. Most obviouslz, the place of the Y key has been swapped for the Z key, for speed and linguistic reasons. So Iäm choosing not to edit anz of this post for pure comedic reasons.

Ive also chosen not to skim through cities as I've been doing latelz. Thez're all amaying places and deserve proper right ups, so I will visit them all at later dates when I'm good and readz.

But reallz, Slovakia, Hungarz, Cyech Republic, Austria, and Germanz have all been incrediblz beauitful. There have been so manz hilights along the waz and so manz rolls of film taken. I plan to set aside a sum of monez to get these rolls processed when I get home, mostlz so thez don't end up in the bin of exposed film downstairs in the studio - which I've never had the time or monez to process mzself.

So zes, tonight will be the last night in the European Union before embarking on to the United Kingdom for four dazs. We'll be in downtown London near South Kensington for that remainder of time. To be honest I have no idea what we're doing. I'll probablz end up doing what I do in everz citz: get all buyyed up on cheap beer and go running around the citz for an hour or two. This is bz far the fastest, easiest, most amusing waz to see the sights and mazbe even get into a little trouble while zou're at it.

Also, if anzone would like a postcard, send zour info to me and I'll do mz absolute best to get them out.

Furthermore, another reason to have a beer in celebration: Hue was accepted to plaz at NXNE this summer. Boo za ka sha.

pps. since this post is boring as hell so far, I should mention that I was sitting in Vienna enjoying a beer and Beyonce walked behind me. I said to a friend 'Oh hey, that was Beyonce'.

how many punchkis?

Warsaw as cool.

Wow, what a way to start a post. Right after mentioning how I pride myself in good writing structure, I blow it with a three-word thickheaded intro. Moving along...

Warsaw was actually quite interesting.

This was another classic example of a city that has been rebuilt within the past few decades because of the effects of war. Beautiful architecture, good food, and nice people. Well, mostly nice people - I had to talk Charlie out of a fight with no knowledge of the Polish language whatsoever.

The monument of Frederick Chopin. This was nice to see because I have a softy for his work, and I'll tell you why. When I was growing up we had a fancy piano at my house. This fancy piano played audio samples on command, so when my friends came over I would cue up the Chopin demos and pretend to play, when I would really just nervously slam on the keys hoping not to get busted. Needless to say I fooled 95% of my childhood friends into thinking I was a concert pianist by the age of 11.

One of the most frustrating issues on this trip so far is constant change in currency (and this will be the only thing I complain about). I can barely keep up with the exchange rates, and the result is that everything seems like a deal to me because the Euro is stronger than everything. There's been a reoccurring joke that none of us can remember any of the names of the currencies. For example, the Polish dollar has been called the names: schlotzky, punchki, polski, zlatki, dobri, fiski, tuskis, etc. And this goes for every currency so far.

moving along...

kisi, kisi

Here is a rough itinerary of the trip. Seeing as I am a few days behind in writing and currently reside in Budapest, you can see that I have some catching up to do. I am a bit slow when it comes to writing entries, not because I don't know what to say, but because I set high standards for my writing and take pride in good quality posts.

So by taking a peak you should have a good idea what's in store. We've also added four days in London after our Frankfurt departure. It would also be pretty sweet if one of you could see if there will be any good live music shows in London between May 2-5th. I'll even buy you something! (depending on how good the show is).