Albany, Boston, Montreal, Toronto in three days.

Albany was actually pretty lame. The high point of it was a diner that was an old converted railroad car. It was charming and had the authentic new england old lady owner who greeted us and told us the history of the place. The Club next door however wanted to be in NYC. The promoter rep was named "Vegas" he sported a wife beater, bandana underneath a brimmed hat, and for some reason carried a lone drumstick in his pocket which he would pull out from time to time and twirl only to replace it back into his pocket. I didn't ask.

The DJ that worked in the club and played really bad Mash ups really loud. To those who do not know what a Mash up is it is the worst idea since Run DMC teamed up with Aerosmith to form the RAP/ROCK style of music. Mash ups for those of you who are blessed to be ignorant of is when a dj takes a song and puts the music to the lyrics of another songs recording. It usually consists of a rap tune and another tune that is far left of the rap genre. It might have been a good idea, once. It drives me insane and takes very little effort or creativity to create. So this DJ not only did it but did it horribly.

The Club had shag carpet and chinese lanterns, a small stage, an inferior PA System, and little to no lighting. It was in the middle of an industrial district, which would be cool but well, it was in Albany. The show went over somewhat well but I have grown extremely bored with it and eagerly count down the days until this is over. I have learned a lot out here. I shall not take for granted my home, my brother, my friends, my family, my beagles, my city, everything that it has to offer, my yoga practice, my ability to practice yoga, my bicycle, my neighborhood, my sleep, and the list goes on and on and on.

So we left Albany at about 1:30 am and found an all night diner to get some food at, since the club did not provide dinner and there was nothing around it either. So we walk into this diner, a rock band, a black bus driver, Chris, and myself. There were four New York State Troopers having coffee. If looks could kill we would have been dead. They stared at us the whole time we were in the diner. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the band were really drunk, and loud. Fortunately the manager was so happy that we had all come in and ordered a ton of food and seemed to keep them off of our backs.

We eft the diner at about 3:00 am and headed to Boston. I woke up at 6:45 am to load in and set up for the Breakfast at the Black Rose pub in Boston that we were to play at. It's a very famous Irish pub. The place was packed full of Bostonians dressed head to toe in Green eating breakfast, putting a base down before embarking on a day of drinking. Needless to say not one person cared about the band or had heard of them. These people were all about eating breakfast and talking about things irish.

My friend Matt made the drive from Northboro to see me. It was so good to se him. It has been about five years since we last saw each other. As soon as the band finished and collected their $3000.00 I put the guitars away and Matt and I went out for breakfast. We didn't want to stay at the pub as they had already been giving away Guiness for the last two hours and there was trouble in the air. We drove around for about ten minutes before Matt decided to park at a hotel garage. We decided to have breakfast at an upscale hotel on the waterfront in Boston. The name escapes my mind at the moment. As we were walking in we looked up and right there was Ted Kennedy. I have seen this guy on television a million times, mostly with a look of disgust on his face when that retard George Bush is giving a state of the Union speech. I mean, right there Ted Kennedy, it was cool. I don't get star struck but I think that was cool.

Breakfast was good and it was so great to see Matt however brief. Some people in your life are the genuine thing, and Matt is that. Although I have not seen him in five years it is as if things didn't skip a beat. Matt is family. 

Ok so it's now 11:00 am and Matt drops me off at the bus. We are to head up to Montreal. Unfortunately some of the guys didn't make it back until 2:00 pm, I mean they did start drinking at 7:30 am and it was St Patrick's Day in Boston. So we drive out of town and stop at FED EX to drop ship our merchandise to OHIO since you cannot take it into Canada without paying a huge tax. 

Six hours later we find ourselves at the border. Of course they want everyone off of the bus. The put us in a line up and ask us all questions individually about criminal records etc. An hour later and we are on our way to Montreal. What an awesome city. We arrive and Chris and I decide to splurge on our own room to get off of the bus and away from the band. 

The next morning we walk around Montreal in Old town area by the waterfront. It was just like being in Europe. Montreal is an absolutely beautiful city. I really want to go back there when it isn't covered in snow and cold. If you can go visit this city. 

We get to the gig and find out the load in is up two flights of stairs. Whew, what a work out. Cool club, it used to be a socialist spanish headquarters in the 30's. There is a Spanish Tapas restaurant on the second floor. The food was absolutely amazing and reminded me of Barcelona. 

The gig was ok, the band wasn't that tight. Yawn, I grow ever increasingly more weary of the set. We loaded out and found a late night Falafel joint and ate and returned to the bus before we  headed to Toronto. 

I didn't sleep because those knuckleheads that I work for were drunk all evening running up and down the isles of the bus acting like complete morons. I am now tired and grumpy. It's been almost a week since I have had a decent nights sleep. 

Toronto is cool, the club was great, the show, well, good by the bands standards. The crew in the club were great. I again found an excellent Falafel joint, had some food and went to the bus. I went to bed around 3:00 am. We hit the American Border at 5:50 am. Half the band were still up drunk and acted like absolute morons at the border. I call the bass play retarded in front of the Border Officers. I think that they liked that. They let us pass and I went back to bed. 

I awoke 100 miles outside of Columbus Ohio. I checked email which I was unable to check over the last two days. We arrived at the Double Tree in Downtown COlumbus and Chris and I got a room and retreated there. IT's a suite, with a separate room with a living room and a kitchen. It's huge. I plan on doing some Yoga later. I am run down and need a nap. I awoke feeling sick this morning. It has subsided but I am exhausted. 

The show tomorrow is sold out. That's about it, the rest of the gigs are selling poorly. it's ok, I will be in Portland in 10 days, have two days off, and then finish the last week of tour. 

I'll write more later, I'm off to take a nap.

I miss you all and hope that you are well.