Sidewalk meal

Tonight we tried one of the Kogi BBQ truck that drives around the LA area. You can follow the trucks on Twitter for real time updates (generally if they are running late), but the regular website also lists the locations of where they will be for the week.

After a late "lunch" today the plan to eat at the truck, which would be in North Hollywood from 10:30 PM to 1:00 AM was perfect. The fact that I had Mexican food for lunch was not the best "previous meal" to have sitting in my stomach, but whatever. We've been trying to hit up some newer places that aren't big fast food chains, or are in areas we haven't ventured to before and after being here a little bit over a week, all of them have been hits.

We got there right at 10:30 and there was a line at the truck of about thirty people. The total wait time until we finally sat down (on the sidewalk) and ate was about fifty minutes which went by relatively quick. Rather than try one thing and then wait until whenever the next time will be, we decided to just get a whole bunch of stuff. I got three tacos (Korean short ribs, spicy pork, and spicy chicken) as well as "shooters" (little mini "burgers" that I believe were just the Korean short ribs on a bun with all the fixins on the tacos as well some mighty tangy/spicy sauce). My friend Noel got a chicken quesadilla and tacos as well and we shared the four items. The quesadilla was also amazing, with a spicy red sauce on top of it as well as sesame seeds. We seemed to eat all of this within about twelve minutes and were both full, but not gross full.

I would definitely hit one of these up again. It's a cool experience and worth the wait even if it does feel absurd standing in line at a truck parked in front of a bar. The only complaint I had was the exhaust from the truck or maybe generator while we stood in line.

Bostin Mass is the Rippinist Town

Burbank Italian pizza place called Northend Pizzeria. Northend is apparently one word out here, hey man, whatever, it's cool.



----------------
Now playing: Harvey Milk - I've Got a Love
via FoxyTunes

Roscoe's

Tonight we hit up Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles off of Sunset and it was fucking d-lish-iss. A little confusion ordering had my friend Noel get something she didn't think she ordered, but we still ate just about everything on our plates. Fried chicken, fresh home made french fries, mac and cheese, waffles. Sounds like a weird combo, but it was great. The chicken and waffles and syrup work together. The chicken was tasty, fried perfectly, not spicy or extra crunchy or anything like that, home cooking style fried chicken, the way it should be eaten. I can't wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu.

Night out

Last night I made it out to my first show out here in Los Angeles as a resident. I've seen shows here and there as a visitor. The club was called Spaceland in the Silver Lake are of Los Angeles. It's right near Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers were out of town, so it was a quick 30 minute drive over there. I'm still getting used to the highways here; even though I've driven them many times it's still a shockingly huge difference than they are back east. Seems like everyone goes about 75 mph, habitually switching lanes back and forth for no particular reason. It takes a little getting used to, but I think the Massachusetts experience has hardened me into having just a big of a "fuck you I'm from Boston" attitude on the road. That mixed with respect for the rules here as some of them people actually follow, like my favorite: people don't cut you off turning left at red lights, they wait until everyone going forward is past. Even the most obnoxious looking douche in the BMW will wait their turn. A far cry from Massachusetts where every dickhead in a Patriots jacket can't wait the four or five seconds to turn and has to disrupt the flow of traffic. So there are good and bad things about driving here. Driving home was also a breeze, I didn't even make it through to the end of Torche's Meanderthal album which is a brief thirty-six minutes.

I got to the club far too early, and parking was non-existent, until I noticed a valet parking guy for the club which was a pretty awesome little perk. The club was pretty cool, small, maybe comparable to TT the Bears. There was a smoking area which was cool, if you're a smoker (!). Going to club shows by myself in Boston was never a big deal, and I go to huge concerts by myself all the time, but going to a club one seemed a little more daunting. There was nobody there when I walked in, and at the end of the night there were maybe thirty people there.

The first band were billed as a "disco-punk" band and apparently ex-members of something else, who knows. I originally cringed at this description, but they turned out to have a cool little Gang of Four vibe going. A guitar player, a drummer with a laptop that played beats and some noise and then an instrumentless singer. They were easily the best of the three openers. They played a brief 15 minute set. I would definitely go see them again.

The second band, Protect Me didn't really do it for me. A two piece (bass and drums) noisy mess that sounded like they may have done all their homework and practiced but hadn't mastered their instruments and how to make them sound good. The ideas were there, but execution was "meh". I think they were underage, as they looked like they were both about sixteen.

Next up were another two piece band (what the fuck is with this trend? What happened to the good old days of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Earth, Wind and Fire where there were like sixteen people on stage!) from Brooklyn who were traveling with headliners Screaming Females called Shellshag. They didn't really do anything for me either: a guy playing a Stratocaster and a woman playing drums standing up with bells all over her. People seemed to dig them and they had plenty of energy and a cool little thing going, but in the end when they said they were from Brooklyn I thought to myself "no shit, no wonder that was not enjoyable". Only good band to ever come out of Brooklyn was Biohazard. Ha, take that weird hipster two piece band!

I saw Screaming Females a while back in Boston with Throwing Muses, and frankly they blew TM off the stage. What initially sounded like just another indie rock band with a girl screaming turned out to be a different beast all together. Elements of funk and heavy metal but not funkmetal and straight up rock, and even a couple moments that (most likely unintentionally) sounded like Rudimentary Peni to these ears.

Your initial thoughts when you first see this band are the make up of the band, a really tall bass player, and a really short female guitar player. Maybe 5'2"? Last night she wore a long Victorian looking dress, has short hair and the guitar is almost as big as her. She's not traditionally pretty, but I easily developed a crush on her after the first time I saw them and I went and found videos online. If anything though, the crush was more on her stage presence and her guitar playing. It would be easy to fall into the old "wow she is great...for a girl", but it's beyond that. She smokes most male guitar players I have seen (at least in club settings). Listening to them you'll initially think they're just a really tight indie rock band with a chick singer and then all of a sudden, BOOM she'll play a fill or solo that drops your jaw. There was a guy in the front row who literally had his mouth open the whole time last night. When I first saw them it was in a packed club from the back so I was pretty excited to be able to be right at the foot of the stage for last night. Her vocals go back and forth from Bikini Kill/Sleater-Kinney style to guttural screams, all the while playing an intricate lead pattern on the guitar, not just strummed chords. Last night they played for maybe 40 minutes and it was great. I felt like I was seeing something special because of the size of the crowd and just how well the band present themselves. From the way she dressed and carries herself on stage to the tightness of the rhythm section they are the real deal. They apparently played some shows with Jack White's band recently and I'm sure the crowd loved them. Here's hoping they go on to bigger things than last night. LA must have been busy doing something else last night as it was a shame they played to such a small crowd.

I captured some video of the show on my iPhone. The sound is horrible but...the picture is good.

Estimated Prophet

I don't think I would ever drive across the country again. If I did it would have to be either with someone I was very close with who shared some of the driving duties, or if I was getting paid to do it.

I'm a stickler for keeping stats on things. Here are some numbers:

I drove 3,268 miles. From my driveway in Massachusetts to where I am in southern California now. For the first few days part, the drives got progressively longer:

Day 1: 206 miles (Woburn, MA to Amsterdam, NY)
Day 2: 446 miles (Amsterdam, NY to Cleveland, OH)
Day 3: 500 miles (Cleveland OH to Terra Haute, IN)
Day 4: 535 miles (Terra Haute, IN to Salina, KS)
Day 5: 704 miles (Salina, KS to Fruita, CO)
Day 6: 514 miles (Fruita, CO to Las Vegas, NV)
Day 7: 363 miles (Las Vegas, NV to Granada Hills, CA)

The best drive was probably day 6 which was from Fruita, CO to Las Vegas. That is where I hit Utah which was beautiful and obviously the Colorado trip through the mountains was intense, but it was also the tail end of day 6 which started in Kansas and ended in Fruita, CO.

I listened to 540 different songs, some of them multiple times.

I smoked 0 cigarettes.

I smoked 5 joints.

I killed “alot” of bugs

I don’t remember where I left off on my last entry, I think it was the night before Day 5. Or who knows, it doesn’t matter. I started getting to a point where being by myself was fun and all but I just wanted the trip to end. So I took the long ride from Salinas, Kansas to Fruita, Colorado, which is just outside of Grand Junction. The first half of the ride was completely flat. I got to Denver, ate dinner and decided to drive a little bit through the mountains, and maybe stop after an hour or so. My car barely made it up and down in those altitudes. After a while it drove fine but I was getting nervous and decided to lay of any marijuana I had for the night as it was kind of a treacherous drive; winding up and down 7% grade roads, snaking through narrow canyons, and once the sun went down and I realized I had been driving for close to 9 hours (or at least “out”), and wanted to push myself for a few more hours, or until I got real close to Grand Junction. I thankfully never grew tired on this part of the day, as I did earlier during the flat parts of Kansas and the first couple hours in Colorado.

I check into my hotel, and as was identifying me on the whole trip, my Red Sox hat and Massachusetts license, the guy at the counter asked where I was coming from or going. I told him I was moving from Boston to Los Angeles. He replies, “ah, from a cool city to a crappy city”. I ignored this useless troll working at the hotel desk in a place called fucking Fruita, Colorado and made my way down to my handicapped room.

Aside from people like this guy, and various gas station employees, etc, I didn’t really meet a single person. I didn’t need to. I generally don’t care much about what people’s opinions are and that kind of thing. As much as I come of as cynical from time to time about people, in the long run I don’t really care. After spending all this time in the middle of the country though these “salt of the earth”, “real Americans” just grew tired to me. Their accents echoing in my head when I fell asleep at night. They make eye contact with you and generally always say hello or whatever which is a lot different than on the coasts where everyone just ignores you. But you get this sense that under their breath they are like “Look at this faggot”, or “This guy from up north, yada yada yada”. Then you start getting deeper into like Missouri, which to me is a truly frightening mix of religious/gun zealots that probably have no idea what the word zealot means, and then just poor people who look at you like they want to stab you because you’re from a different place. As much as you feel welcomed at around places like this, there is that underlying racism that’s still there, and people who feel like it’s real important that they own a gun because there are bad people out there that are gonna get them. Zombies who watch too much television, or listen to politicians convincing them that terrorists are on their way here this very moment. These are the people that vote for people like George Bush twice in a row. He didn’t steal an election, there are just millions of these fucking people living in this country. Now they want you think they are truly concerned about health care when in reality they are frustrated crackers who probably got laid off, and when it gets down to it they are seriously concerned that the president is no longer a good old boy like them. He’s a black man. Can you imagine if the president we elected was as dark as say Wesley Snipes or Seal? He would have been assassinated on January 21st. People who literally think there is a guy in the sky who created the earth and when they die they are going to go to heaven and people like me are going to burn in hell for eternity. People who think prayer in school is an important issue. In other words, idiots. The lowest common denominator people you can think of. These are people I dealt with for four or five days.

Ending in Las Vegas was no better. A place that was so gross and disgusting, I just had to indulge myself in it a little by getting drunk, gambling and eating shitty food. If I were a lower man I probably would have ordered a girl from one of those cards they hand you out on the street advertising “$35 special!”, etc. I hadn’t been drunk since maybe 2000 or 2001, and didn’t get out of control drunk but enough that I started getting angry at what was around me. Gross men with the spiked hair, those long sleeve shirts with the big collars or Ed Hardy gear. Girls dressed like they were going to a cocktail party with the emphasis on the first four letters of that word. Sure I love a good slutty looking woman from time to time to walk by me, but this was a constant stream of sadness and hopelessness. At one point I walked by a nightclub inside the MGM Grand ,where I stayed and two guys were yelling at some girl to “get over here right now” in front of hundreds of people; like she was a dog or something. That’s when I made my way back to my room to hopefully sleep and get out as soon as I woke up.

The drive to Los Angeles was a bit tiring. I stopped at the Hoover Dam, which was like a ninety minute ordeal. It was worth seeing as the place is huge and I’m definitely glad I saw it even if I was only there for maybe thirty minutes. After that though, the drive through that desert was so hot. You would open the window and it would feel like you were sticking your hand in an oven. I arrived here a little after 6PM and that was that. The end, etc.

As much as I say i wouldn’t do the trip again, I’m sure I would. This was my second time doing it by myself, and with all of the other trips I’ve done by myself in the last 15 years or so I’ve easily logged at least 10,000 miles of being in a car alone for extended periods of time. This time it was a little different. I was leaving home, leaving all of my friends and family on an improvised trip to start an improvised life out here where I still don’t know what will happen. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I had an amazing sendoff weekend with my friends and family between my band’s last show and the cookout with a small group of my closest friends the night before the show. Going from having all of those people around me weekly to not having them around me and just having them on the internet and phone is going to be hard, but I think I made the right decision. Even two days in I feel comfortable saying this.

Did I mention I hate being hot though?

Every song I listened to:

Hold On Loosely .38 Special
Caught up in You .38 Special
Night Of The Long Knives AC/DC
Have A Drink On Me AC/DC
Put The Finger On You AC/DC
Amoeba Adolescents
Lord Of The Thighs Aerosmith
Walk This Way Aerosmith
Won't Be Hanging Around Albert King
Rain When I Die Alice In Chains
H8 Red Anthrax
Lone Justice Anthrax
S.S.C./Stand Or Fall Anthrax
Blood Anthrax
Imitation Of Life Anthrax
Hired Gun Bad Brains
Secret 77 Bad Brains
My Daddy Rocks Me - Part II Bechet, Sidney
I'm Just Wild About Harry Bechet, Sidney
Feed The Tree Belly
Angel Belly
You're No Good Betty Everett
The Sign Of The Southern Cross Black Sabbath
Burnin' For You Blue Öyster Cult
Chase Brown, James
My Thang Brown, James
These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You Brown, James
"I Can't Stand It ""76"" Brown, James
Staples Buffalo Tom
Velvet Roof Buffalo Tom
Center Of The Universe Built To Spill
Else Built To Spill
Little Tiny Pieces Bullet LaVolta
I Don't See You Camper Van Beethoven
Where The Hell Is Bill? Camper Van Beethoven
Folly Camper Van Beethoven
I'll Be With You Tonight Cheap Trick
Dream Police Cheap Trick
Letter Bomb Circle Jerks
Roll It Over Clapton, Eric
Can't Find My Way Home Clapton, Eric
After Midnight Clapton, Eric
Key To The Highway Clapton, Eric
Let It Rain Clapton, Eric
Animal Farm Clutch
Texan Book Of The Dead Clutch
Big Fat Pig Clutch
Milk of Human Kindness Clutch
Big News I Clutch
Droid Clutch
Ta-De-Ah Cole, Nat 'King'
On the Sunny Side of the Street Cole, Nat 'King'
Sometimes I'm Happy Cole, Nat 'King'
Sweet Lorraine Cole, Nat 'King'
Caravan Cole, Nat 'King'
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 Cole, Nat 'King'
You're Looking At Me Cole, Nat 'King'
Just You, Just Me Cole, Nat 'King'
These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You Cole, Nat 'King'
The Lonely One Cole, Nat 'King'
The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On) Cole, Nat 'King'
Don't Let It Go To Your Head Cole, Nat 'King'
Population Control Company Flow
To The Lions Converge
Hellbound Converge
Last Light Converge
White Room Cream
Tales Of Brave Ulysses Cream
Seekers Of The Truth Cro-Mags
Signs Of The Times Cro-Mags
Hand on the Pump Cypress Hill
No Moms D.I.
Spiritual Law D.I.
Rock And Roll Part II D.I.
Johnny's Got A Problem D.I.
Reaganomics D.R.I.
Violent Pacification D.R.I.
Capatalist Suck D.R.I.
Thin Line Dag Nasty
Field Day Dag Nasty
What Now? Dag Nasty
Justification [Live] Dag Nasty
Dear Mrs. Touma Dag Nasty
Ah-Leu-Cha Davis, Miles
It Never Entered My Mind Davis, Miles
On Green Dolphin Street Davis, Miles
On Green Dolphin Street Davis, Miles
I Thought About You Davis, Miles
Ghetto Thang De La Soul
A Little Bit of Soap De La Soul
Black Night (Original Single Version) Deep Purple
Comin' Home Deep Purple
Maybe I'm a Leo Deep Purple
Highway Star Deep Purple
I Need Love Deep Purple
Little Wing Derek & The Dominos
Keep On Growing Derek & The Dominos
Bell Bottom Blues Derek & The Dominos
The May 4th Movement Starring Doodlebug Digable Planets
Escapism (Gettin' Free) Digable Planets
Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) Digable Planets
I Want You To Know Dinosaur Jr.
Once Upon A Time In The West Dire Straits
Breakin My Stones Dirty Truckers
Long Train Runnin' Doobie Brothers
Still D.R.E. Dr. Dre
Some L.A. Niggaz Dr. Dre
"Nuthin' But A ""G"" Thang" Dr. Dre
Foosh Duke, George
Psychocomatic Dung Duke, George
Sweet Bite Duke, George
Solus Duke, George
North Beach Duke, George
Sometime Ago Duke, George
That's What She Said Duke, George
So There You Go Duke, George
Opening Duke, George
Rashid Duke, George
For Love (I Come Your Friend) Duke, George
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again Dylan, Bob
Pledging My Time Dylan, Bob
New Morning Dylan, Bob
Visions Of Johanna Dylan, Bob
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Dylan, Bob
Queen Jane Approximately Dylan, Bob
Guitar Rhumba Earl Hooker
Bonin' In The Boneyard Fishbone
Ma And Pa Fishbone
Servitude Fishbone
Sunless Saturday Fishbone
If I Were A... I'd Fishbone
End The Reign Fishbone
Ghetto Soundwave Fishbone
Fight The Youth Fishbone
Another Generation Fishbone
Feels Like the First Time Foreigner
Baby I Owe You Something Good Funkadelic
Can't Stop The Strain Funkadelic
Sexy Ways Funkadelic
Alice In My Fantasies Funkadelic
Cats Under The Stars Garcia, Jerry
Stop That Train Garcia, Jerry
Think Garcia, Jerry
Liquid Swords Genius/GZA
Corcovado (Quiet Nights) Getz, Stan
Estimated Prophet Grateful Dead
Crazy Fingers Grateful Dead
Bird Song Grateful Dead
Brokedown Palace Grateful Dead
Touch Of Grey Grateful Dead
Truckin' Grateful Dead
Eyes of the World Grateful Dead
Loser Grateful Dead
Brown-Eyed Women Grateful Dead
It Must Have Been The Roses Grateful Dead
Me & Bobby McGee Grateful Dead
Been All Around This World Grateful Dead
China Cat Sunflower Grateful Dead
Bertha Grateful Dead
Let's Stay Together Green, Al
Knock 'Em Flyin' Guided By Voices
They're Not Witches Guided By Voices
Office Of Hearts Guided By Voices
Tractor Rape Chain Guided By Voices
I Am Produced Guided By Voices
Watch Me Jumpstart Guided By Voices
Little Whirl Guided By Voices
EXP Hendrix, Jimi
Little Wing Hendrix, Jimi
Freedom Hendrix, Jimi
You Got Me Floatin' Hendrix, Jimi
Bold As Love Hendrix, Jimi
Castles Made Of Sand Hendrix, Jimi
How can hypermiling save you gas? HowStuffWorks.com
Are stupid people happier? HowStuffWorks.com
Is it possible to brainwash someone? HowStuffWorks.com
Laughing At Oblivion Into Another
Sundial Intronaut
Back In The Village Iron Maiden
Gentle Time ISIS
Celestial (The Tower) ISIS
Struttin' With My Baby J. Geils Band
One Last Kiss J. Geils Band
Back To Get Ya J. Geils Band
Must Of Got Lost J. Geils Band
Beat Crazy Jackson, Joe
Motorist Jawbox
I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) Jay-Z
Nigga What Nigga Who (Originator '99) Jay-Z
Lights Journey
Peachfuzz KMD
Gasface Refill [*] KMD
Mine Lake Trout
-> Lake Trout
Sounds From Below Lake Trout
Holding Lake Trout
Dancing Days Led Zeppelin
The Ocean Led Zeppelin
No Puedo Mas Los Lobos
maricela Los Lobos
Malaqu Los Lobos
The City Los Lobos
volver,volver Los Lobos
What's Your Name Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gimme Three Steps Lynyrd Skynyrd
Quintessence Mastodon
Blood and Thunder Mastodon
Ghost Of Karelia Mastodon
The Czar: I. Usurper II. Escape III. Martyr IV. Spiral Mastodon
Divinations Mastodon
Oblivion Mastodon
Hand Of Stone Mastodon
Sleeping Giant Mastodon
Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues McLusky
Alan Is A Cowboy Killer McLusky
Chases McLusky
Whoyouknow McLusky
Dethink To Survive McLusky
There Ain't No Fool In Ferguson McLusky
She Will Only Bring You Happiness McLusky
Walk Back Medeski, Martin & Wood
Wonton Medeski, Martin & Wood
Undone Medeski, Martin & Wood
Kota Medeski, Martin & Wood
Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down Medeski, Martin & Wood
Chantes des femmes Medeski, Martin & Wood
Filler Minor Threat
That's When I Reach For My Revolver Mission Of Burma
All World Cowboy Romance Mission Of Burma
Academy Fight Song Mission Of Burma
Outlaw Mission Of Burma
Fame And Fortune Mission Of Burma
Nebraska moe.
Head moe.
Kyle's Song moe.
Tea for Two Monk, Thelonious
Spine of God Monster Magnet
Blow 'Em Off Monster Magnet
I Control, I Fly Monster Magnet
Dinosaur Vacume Monster Magnet
Pill Shovel Monster Magnet
Twin Earth Monster Magnet
Look To Your Orb For The Warning Monster Magnet
Stone Dead Forever Motörhead
Rocking Chairs And Shotguns Mouth Of The Architect
Almost Certain/Drone Moving Targets
Awesome Sky Moving Targets
Always Calling Moving Targets
Lead Song Negative Approach
Friend Or Foe Negative Approach
End Of The Harvest Neurosis
Times Of Grace Neurosis
Closer Nine Inch Nails
F*ck Y'all Ol' Dirty Bastard
Veracity, Tenacity And Aspirin Only Living Witness
Believer Osbourne, Ozzy
You Can't Kill Rock And Roll Osbourne, Ozzy
Stompin' At The Savoy Pepper, Art
What Is This Thing Called Love Pepper, Art
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered Pepper, Art
Sample In A Jar Phish
Bouncing Around The Room Phish
Fluffhead Phish
Tweezer Phish
Ocelot Phish
Golgi Apparatus Phish
Free Phish
Limb By Limb Phish
Fearless Pink Floyd
Run Like Hell Pink Floyd
Painkiller Poison Idea
Alan's On Fire Poison Idea
Last One Poison Idea
1994 Quasimoto
Rappcats Pt. 3 Quasimoto
Mr. Two-Faced Quasimoto
Discipline 99 Pt. 0 Quasimoto
Bad Character Quasimoto
Put A Curse On You Quasimoto
Goodmorning Sunshine Quasimoto
Raw Addict Pt. 2 Quasimoto
Axe Puzzles Quasimoto
Dragon Attack Queen
Play The Game Queen
Play The Game Queen
In The Fade Queens Of The Stone Age
Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret Queens Of The Stone Age
Better Living Through Chemistry Queens Of The Stone Age
Talk About The Passion R.E.M.
Endgame R.E.M.
New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 R.E.M.
Radio Free Europe R.E.M.
Let Me In R.E.M.
Airbag Radiohead
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Ramones
Blitzkrieg Bop Ramones
Mama's Boy RAMONES
Time Is the Best Revenge Raw Radar War
My Friends Red Hot Chili Peppers
Aeroplane Red Hot Chili Peppers
Taste the Pain Red Hot Chili Peppers
Good Time Boys Red Hot Chili Peppers
Scar Tissue Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hollywood (Africa) Red Hot Chili Peppers
Out In L.A. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Breaking The Girl Red Hot Chili Peppers
Subway To Venus Red Hot Chili Peppers
St. Louis Blues Reinhardt, Django
Time On My Hands Reinhardt, Django
Fly By Night Ritenour, Lee
Tom Sawyer Rush
Broon's Bane Rush
Freewill Rush
New World Man Rush
Trees Rush
The Analog Kid Rush
Chemistry Rush
Between The Wheels Rush
La Villa Strangiato Rush
Red Sector A Rush
I Think I'm Going Bald Rush
Milk S.O.D.
Formaldehead Sam Black Church
Rhinoceros Smashing Pumpkins
Drown Smashing Pumpkins
Mayonaise Smashing Pumpkins
Mommy's Little Monster Social Distortion
Teen Age Riot Sonic Youth
Problems Faced When Travelling Soul Side
Name In Mind Soul Side
War Soul Side
Atlantic City Springsteen, Bruce
Highway Patrolman Springsteen, Bruce
Atlantic City Springsteen, Bruce
Nebraska Springsteen, Bruce
Johnny 99 Springsteen, Bruce
Spirit In The Night Springsteen, Bruce
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Springsteen, Bruce
Open All Night Springsteen, Bruce
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out Springsteen, Bruce
Don't Take Me Alive Steely Dan
Everything You Did Steely Dan
Haitian Divorce Steely Dan
Sign In Stranger Steely Dan
Kid Charlemagne Steely Dan
Green Earrings Steely Dan
The Caves Of Altamira Steely Dan
The Royal Scam Steely Dan
The Fez Steely Dan
Home At Last Steely Dan
Babylon Sisters Steely Dan
Aja Steely Dan
Blues Beach Steely Dan
Reelin' In The Years (Live) Steely Dan
Do It Again Steely Dan
Black Cow Steely Dan
Bodhisattva Steely Dan
Any Major Dude Will Tell You Steely Dan
Lunch With Gina Steely Dan
True Companion Steely Dan
Black Cow Steely Dan
Deacon Blues Steely Dan
Night By Night Steely Dan
Green Earrings Steely Dan
FM Steely Dan
Dirty Work Steely Dan
My Old School Steely Dan
Kid Charlemagne (Live) Steely Dan
The Logical Song Supertramp
Duel Swervedriver
Rave Down Swervedriver
Last Train To Satansville Swervedriver
Midnight Rider The Allman Brothers Band
Ain't Wastin' Time No More The Allman Brothers Band
Melissa The Allman Brothers Band
Ramblin' Man The Allman Brothers Band
Back Where It All Begins The Allman Brothers Band
One Way Out The Allman Brothers Band
Blue Sky The Allman Brothers Band
End Of The Line The Allman Brothers Band
You Don't Love Me The Allman Brothers Band
Blue Sky The Allman Brothers Band
Southbound The Allman Brothers Band
Trouble No More The Allman Brothers Band
Sail on Sailor The Beach Boys
Sloop John B The Beach Boys
You Still Believe in Me The Beach Boys
That's Not Me The Beach Boys
You Know My Name (Look up the Number) The Beatles
Dear Prudence The Beatles
Rocky Racoon The Beatles
Happiness Is A Warm Gun The Beatles
Hey Jude The Beatles
While My Guitar Gently Weeps The Beatles
Piggies The Beatles
She Sells Sanctuary The Cult
Love Removal Machine The Cult
The Big Neon Glitter The Cult
Electric Ocean The Cult
Inbetween Days The Cure
Colin's Heroes The Dambuilders
Shrine The Dambuilders
L.A. Woman The Doors
Love Her Madly The Doors
Heartache Tonight The Eagles
Peaceful Easy Feeling The Eagles
Already Gone The Eagles
In the City The Eagles
On The Border The Eagles
End Of The Party The English Beat
Save It For Later The English Beat
Ackee 123 The English Beat
Mirror In The Bathroom The English Beat
Young, Fast Iranians The F.U.'s
Promised Land The F.U.'s
Warlords The F.U.'s
American Band The F.U.'s
My America The F.U.'s
T.N.H. The F.U.'s
Daisy Chain The F.U.'s
Rock The Nation The F.U.'s
Choir Boy The F.U.'s
What You Pay For The F.U.'s
Outcast The F.U.'s
Beast In My Bed The F.U.'s
Pennies From Heaven The F.U.'s
Die For God The F.U.'s
Poor, Poor, Pitiful You The F.U.'s
Ode To Larry Joe The F.U.'s
The Grinder The F.U.'s
Walking Tall The F.U.'s
Lick My Shiny Boots The F.U.'s
This Is Your Life The F.U.'s
T Sux The F.U.'s
The Beast Within The F.U.'s
Peer Police The F.U.'s
Do We Really Want To Hurt You? The F.U.'s
Civil Defense The F.U.'s
Boston's Finest The F.U.'s
Rock And Roll Mutha The F.U.'s
Shitheads The F.U.'s
My Generation The F.U.'s
Killer The F.U.'s
F.U. The F.U.'s
Unite Or Lose The F.U.'s
Rifle The F.U.'s
Do Right Woman The Flying Burrito Brothers
Hot Burrito # 1 The Flying Burrito Brothers
King Of Pain The Police
Hole In My Life The Police
Be My Girl-Sally The Police
Voices Inside My Head The Police
Next To You The Police
Driven To Tears The Police
Invisible Sun The Police
When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around The Police
Miss Gradenko The Police
Before They Make Me The Rolling Stones
If You Can't Rock Me The Rolling Stones
Ruby Tuesday The Rolling Stones
Midnight Rambler The Rolling Stones
Shattered The Rolling Stones
Loving Cup The Rolling Stones
Dead Flowers The Rolling Stones
Shake Your Hips The Rolling Stones
Who's Been Sleeping Here? The Rolling Stones
Girl Afraid The Smiths
London The Smiths
Unlovable The Smiths
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby The Smiths
This Night Has Opened My Eyes The Smiths
Stretch Out And Wait The Smiths
Hand In Glove The Smiths
Panic The Smiths
Sweet And Tender Hooligan The Smiths
Asleep The Smiths
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want The Smiths
These Things Take Time The Smiths
Shoplifters Of The World Unite The Smiths
Is It Really So Strange? The Smiths
Back To The Old House The Smiths
Sheila Take A Bow The Smiths
Ask The Smiths
Oscillate Wildly The Smiths
Golden Lights The Smiths
Shakespeare's Sister The Smiths
Half A Person The Smiths
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now The Smiths
Rubber Ring The Smiths
William, It Was Really Nothing The Smiths
You've Got Everything Now The Smiths
Monkey Man The Specials
Do Nothing The Specials
Search And Destroy The Stooges
Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell The Stooges
Death Trip The Stooges
Behind Blue Eyes [Live] The Who
A Quick One While He's Away The Who
Slip Kid The Who
Without A Sound Torche
Speed of the Nail Torche
Across the Shields Torche
Grenades Torche
Amnesian Torche
Healer Torche
Meanderthal Torche
Fat Waves Torche
Little Champion Torche
Triumph of Venus Torche
Sandstorm Torche
Sundown Torche
Safe Torche
Plunger Umphrey's McGee
Mean Street Van Halen
Dance The Night Away Van Halen
Little Guitars (Intro) Van Halen
Pegasus Vast Aire
Taboo Vast Aire
Zenith Ft. Blueprint Vast Aire
Black Sunday Vast Aire
Raise the Dead Venom
Black Market Weather Report
Directions [Take 1] Weather Report
Black-Throated Wind Weir, Bob
Grindhouse (A Go-Go) White Zombie
Wilco the Song Wilco
One True Vine Wilco
Bull Black Nova Wilco
One Blood Under W (Featuring Junior Reid) Wu-Tang Clan
Shame On A Nigga Wu-Tang Clan
Let My Niggas Live (Featuring Nas) Wu-Tang Clan
Da Mystery Of Chessboxin' Wu-Tang Clan
South Side Of The Sky Yes
Powderfinger Young, Neil
Heart Of Gold Young, Neil
Are You Ready For The Country? Young, Neil
Birds Young, Neil
The Needle And The Damage Done Young, Neil

Distant Lights

Fuck it's hot out, but I think the nature of the trip and the constant moving is making it okay. It's 100 degrees or something here in Salina, KS with "extreme winds". With the windchill factor it makes it feel like it's 99 degrees. I got here late last night after driving half a day, taking in a Royals baseball game in Kansas City and then hitting the road for another couple of hours. Speed limit is 70 mph and late at night in Kansas there are very few cars on the road. So it was easy to hit 80 at times. The sky is huge here, and late at night it's amazing how clear it is. I tried to take pictures of it but then realized taking pictures of things/moments like that don't count.

I haven't had the energy to write much. When I get to the rooms at night I am usually falling asleep within an hour. I've driven about 1700 miles, or a little more than halfway there. I switched the route up a little bit and am going a more north route today. Pictures should be awesome. Also of note I will be hitting a state I have never been to which I think will be the 40th state I've been to. I have improvised the vast majority of this trip. The only time I turned my GPS on was when I needed to find my hotel in Cleveland which was in downtown.

Speaking of Cleveland, I hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was pretty cool. Some awe-inspiring shit there like Jerry's 1990 Doug Irwin guitar "Rosebud" as well as a few others. None of the ones from the 60's or 70's obviously. There was a Springsteen exhibit happening which was amazing. Saw the guitar he has strapped on from the Born to Run cover, tons of original lyric notebooks. Staring at the original hand written lyrics to like "For You" from Greetings, or Atlantic City...was awesome. They don't allow you to take pictures there which is kind of lame, and it seemed smaller for such a huge building. Then again I'm one of those people that will stop and look at something and be like "okay I saw it, let's go"

Have been growing tired of the accents of people out here. Their demeanor, everything is just enough to drive you crazy. People are friendly, but you also get a feeling they are thinking to themselves "this faggot better not try anything funny" about you. It was nice to not get a single comment about the Red Sox hat at the baseball game last night. Mainly because people know when to just shut up and mind their own business. That's one thing I won't miss about New England, people just need to tell you how they feel at every fucking minute. Unsolicited opinions on everything from jelly to the weather. It's tiring.  Other thing with this area of the country is every man looks exactly the same. Every woman that works in a convenient store/gas station, etc you get the feeling you could probably turn her out in five minutes. Wait what?

The next part of this trip is the more "pretty" shit, but I have to say I am ready to just get there and get settled. I am growing tired of driving. Thankfully I have a good friend making the trip more bearable with texts, a phone call helping with the decision to take this next route and a general demeanor, sense of humor and personality that rules.

I'll get around to pictures soon.
 

Looking for Steamers

Today was more like I remember these long road trips when you are the person driving...long and tedious. Not for the impatient. I almost started smoking again about eighty times but decided to eat or drink things instead. It really will wear you down. Especially being by yourself. Perhaps because of the small amount of sleep I got (about 4 hours), but I was already starting to feel the exhaustion coming on two or three hours in. I ended up stopping more than I like to normally stop but I had to keep getting different coffee based beverages. Next service area I would stop at to use the bathroom. I used to pride myself on going long hours in the car without having to stop to use the restroom. Today it was like I was my own girlfriend. I'm surprised I didn't start complaining that I was cold. I wanted to cover a little more ground than the brief journey the night before and kind of did, but not really as much as I'd like to. I did want to stop here though, so...not sure what the problem is here. I think I went 450 miles or so as opposed to the 200 late night miles last night. It's after midnight now; I can't imagine being up that late tonight. With a good nights rest and an actual breakfast tomorrow, and maybe a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame it should be a better drive.

This morning I left at 9:45 AM, stopped in Cleveland (where I am now). I got here at 6:20, enough time to check into this hotel I booked on the phone earlier, change my clothes and walk to the baseball park in time for the National Anthem. It was a nice park. I always find myself wanting to roam around these parks, especially if I don't have anything emotionally invested in either team. It's easy to lose interest. Cleveland were winning by a pretty big margin by the time I left during the 7th inning.

This hotel I am in, it's in a very old building, like blood pouring out of the elevators and creepy twins lurking around the corners of the long hallways. I got here and while checking in and getting all my papers and shit in order I asked the guy what floor the room was on and he lets me know I have been upgraded to the top floor, to "a suite with a little living room area and a kitchenette". What I did to deserve this I have no idea. I know the price on the door on the legal document says the room is a $279 room. I paid waaay less than that. I enjoy being high up like this in hotels and being able to see lights and other buildings and cars on bridges far away going who knows where. This room though, absolutely huge and unnecessary for anyone, even someone who can afford it.

Again feel like there's more there, just spent right now. Shit written down on paper though for good measure.

Briefly

Got off to a way later start than I had planned (10:45 PM - was aiming for 8:00 PM, ouch!). The car is more full than I had planned on having it, but it feels good to have as much shit with me as I could grab. The first few miles the car was tough to handle. I could feel the weight in it. It felt like it was veering to one side, but realized it was just paranoia. One thing I did discover was Cruise Control. I never use Cruise Control and I think I may become a friend of it on this trip. Does Cruise Control need to be capitalized? Well, on this trip it obviously does.

I was under the impression that I needed to leave in the evening for this trip for an unknown reason. "Because I did it before" was the most often given reason . Five minutes into the drive I forgot that in the last few years I've grown to not like driving at night on the highway. Perhaps it's the area of the country I am but people are all up in your shit with bright headlights and tailgating you in the right lane (this happened tonight. Was doing 62 mph in the RIGHT LANE. Not a soul in the middle lane and this guy decides I am going too slow in 'THE FUCKING SLOW POKE LANE". A number of "right lane closed" experiences later and I finally stopped an all too short 200 miles at a place called "Amsterdam, New York". I am of course doing my best impression of a person in Amsterdam I can. I was going to attempt to see a Cleveland Indians game tomorrow night, but seeing as I am behind schedule time and miles wise I may not make it which would suck. Seven hours from where I am. Check out time is 11:00 AM. It's currently 4:45 AM. I think I can. Fuck sleep.

A good last few days spent with everyone I would want to spend time with and then some. I hugged so many people it felt like it did that time Jerry Garcia died.

Will have more to say when there are more things to say.