2,038 miles, 6 states, 4 days

I never thought that i would be behind the wheel for 2,038 miles, about 35 hours drive time, all in four and a half days. It was pretty much the most ridiculous road trip I've ever taken, beating my 1,842 mile trip from Orlando, Florida to Denver, Colorado in may of 2005. Although the trip from Florida to Colorado had two breakdowns (thanks Uhaul), this trip had none and went very smoothly. I've been traveling all over the states with CircleSlide and Downhere over the last 8 months but I never had to do any of the driving, got to kick back and mostly sleep my way across the US, not the case this trip. Oh and I should not forget to mention the tiny detail of having no heater, and since my destination was the very snowy Clark Summitt, PA, that added to the adventure. The grand trip was from Nashville to Charlotte then up to Clark Summit, back down to Charlotte then back to Nashville, all with 10 minutes to spare before I had to be back at work. All of this craziness was to drum for a good friend of mine, Tim Bruns, at his "CD pre-release" show at BBC. The show was great and the people there seemed to really enjoy the music, so all that driving was definitely worth it. No private jet or other fancy ways of transportation could substitute the adventure and sights of a small car with no heater road trip. The East coast is beautiful and I'm so glad i got to see a lot of it in a short period of time. I should have been taking more pictures than I did, all I really have is this one I took with my phone, i think it's a Pennsylvania sunset.

Sigur Ros and Heima

If you have not heard of Sigur Ros yet let me do you the favor of introducing you: Reader, this is Sigur Ros, Sigur Ros, this is the reader. Sigur Ros is an Icelandic band consisting of four main band members and a the occasional string quartet and/or horn section. They have been making beautiful music since 1994 and I see nothing in their road that is going to be stopping them anytime soon. I could go on and on about the epic nature of their albums, the ballads to the silent, or the language Hopelantic that they use quite often in their songs, a collection of syllables that are neither English or Icelandic and have no meaning, but I think the only way for someone to appreciate them is just to listen and not be informed by some Joe-schmo (me). What i do want to talk about is their release of Heima, their new DVD. Heima is Icelandic for "Home" and the DVD is just that, Sigur Ros going home after a huge world tour and performing a series of unannounced concerts to people in their home land. Sigur Ros performs songs in places ranging from small village gathering halls, caves, an old fishing port, and even an outdoor show that goes down in history as the largest concert ever in Iceland. The cinematic quality of this DVD is nothing short of matching the beauty of their music. The countryside of Iceland and the music of Sigur Ros are truly a match made in heaven. Do yourself a favor, if you appreciate beauty, art or music you will check out this DVD. I'm pretty sure that even if you have never heard of them before you will love it.

No Shave November Prediction

That's right folks, it's November, actually it's halfway through November already and you know what that means: No Shave November. I've never taken part in this ritual, but from what I understand from many hours of study on the topic it is a right of passage for males. I'm pretty sure that a journey to manhood would not be complete without going at least one entire month without shaving. So goodbye razors and Gillette, and hello homeless looking Tim. I rendered up a little over exaggerative prediction on the outcome of my journey, we'll see how close i can get to this.

Walking with our Founding Fathers

Took a walking tour today of downtown Williamsburg, VA, which was originally Middle Plantation, a 1632 fortified settlement located on the Peninsula between the James and York rivers. It was renamed Williamsburg after the capital of the Virginia Colony was moved there from Jamestown in 1698. Williamsburg received a "royal charter" as a city in 1722 and was the center of some political events in Virginia which lead to the American Revolution. A piece of American history which made for a great fall walk with the Downhere boys and Jason Gray. The afternoon trek was a much needed break from the day in and day out tour schedule that can easily be too routine without breaks like this.

Dinner with the General

I'm on the road again with Downhere wrapping up their fall tour and tonight was one of the more interesting stops on the whole tour. I have gotten used to the mode of operation playing at different churches and school gyms around the nation but had yet to experience playing at a military base. Tonight we played at Ft. Eustis, Virginia, a United States Army Transportation Center and School. All the guys in Downhere are veterans, playing this same military base no longer than 6 months ago, and since it went over so well they were invited back and additionally invited to have dinner with the General at his house on the base. General Jim Chambers was a great host to an amazing dinner in an old Victorian house that was built in 1911. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to General Chambers talk about his experience in the Army and how he came to be a General. On top of a great meal with good company and great stories, the view from General Cambers backyard was priceless.

Decatur, Illinois

This fall I've been on and off the road with the band Downhere as the lighting director for their fall Wide Eyed and Mystified tour and it's definitely been an amazing experience so far. This last weekend was a quick three day trip up north through Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Our stop in Illinois was in a little town named Decatur, which much to my delight is the subject one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite song writers, Sufjan Stevens, on probably one of my all time favorite albums, Come on feel the Illinoise. The songs lyrics can at first come across to the listener as silly and nonsensical, as if Sufjan was just trying to use a bunch of words that rhymed with "Decatur", but upon further investigation one will learn the lyrics are a beautiful retelling of random events in the history of Decatur. The fact that Sufjan can rhyme words like alligator, emancipator, aviator, debater, and operator in an accurate and artistic storytelling is just one of the many reasons why he is in my list of favorite songwriters. Here are the Lyrics to Decatur by Sufjan Stevens and a quick explanation of the song in his own words:

Our step mom we did everything to hate her
She took us down to the edge of Decatur
We saw the lion and the kangaroo take her
Down to the river where they caught a wild alligator

Sangamon River it overflowed
It caused a mudslide on the banks of the operator
civil war skeletons in their graves,
They came up clapping in the spirit of the aviator

The sound of the engines and the smell of the grain,
We go riding on the abolition grain train
Steven A. Douglas was a great debater,
But Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator

Chickenmobile with your rooster tail
I had my fill and I know how bad it feels
Stay awake and watch for the data
No small caterpillar, go congratulate her

Denominator, go Decatur, go Decatur,
It's the great I Am
abominate her, go Decatur, why did we hate her?
It's the great I Am

Denominator, go Decatur, anticipate her
It's the great I Am
Appreciate her, appreciate her,
Stand up and thank her.

In an interview with Noel Murray on July 13th of 2005, Sufjan had this to say about his song Decatur:

"It's really an exercise in rhyme schemes. It's just fun and games. But I think a person from Decatur will acknowledge that all of these references are based on real events and circumstances that have happened in and around Decatur, throughout history. So "alligator" rhymes with "Decatur," but there also was an alligator sighting in one of the rivers in Decatur. And "caterpillar" refers to the manufacturers of Caterpillar construction equipment. And, you know, they've had sightings of kangaroos there. There was a flood, and it did exhume a graveyard where Confederate and Union soldiers were intermixed. So a lot of the rhymes sound silly, but they're actually based on fact." - Sufjan Stevens

Read the whole interview here

Great song, great song writer, thank you Decatur.

Scraped Knees and Dinosaurs

I had a flashback to my childhood this weekend, spending a majority of my time doing the types of things I loved to do when i was a young lad. For starters I climbed some trees. I'm not exactly sure when the last time was that I climbed a tree, but I'm pretty sure I discovered this weekend that there is something inherent in all boys (and men) that is intertwined with climbing trees. First of all it's dirty, and secondly it's dangerous. What more could any real man want right? Men, if you are out there reading this and you haven't climbed a tree in a while, step away from the computer, find a good tree, and climb. Maybe you have neglected this need for so long and could use a little refresher course on tree climbing, if that is the case order the Tree Climbing Basics DVD offered by Tree Climbers International.

Apart from tree climbing I joined my friend Trevor and two free tickets to the BBC Worldwide presentation of Walking With Dinosaurs, a theatrical production including 15 life sized and realistically moving dinosaurs. Trevor and I, along with a few thousand 10 year old kids and their parents, were awestruck at the realistic movements of these gargantuan beasts. I snickered at the 8 year old girl sitting in front of me as she tucked her face away into her moms arm and cried when the 60 ft. tall Brachiosaurus walked out on to the arena floor, what a wimp, and cheered with all the other boys at the totally awesome roars of the Tyrannosaurus-Rex, things any good 10 year old boy should do right?

It was a great weekend hitting rewind and doing some things I loved as a kid. If you're feeling too old, go climb a tree.