i know what Forstella Ford are planning for the Halloween show... and i'm not telling!

thanks for paying your internet bill...

Our website is currently down. So, when you read this, that means it will be back up. We are just lazy and forgot to pay the bill on time, so it got shut down. It sucks for us, because our e-mail is also down, but it should be fixed by tomorrow.

The following on-line distros have our CD available:

• Insound
  
• Revelation
  
• No Idea
  

I guess that's a pretty boring entry to this weblog we have set up, but oh well. I don't really have anything else to say right now. Nothing that belongs on here, anyway.

I hate small towns. The only thing in the entire world I wanted to do last night / early this morning was find a phone so I could call someone with whom I really needed to speak. The phone line in this house was tied up all night by people using the internet. The van was tied up by Jim sleeping in it, so my only option was to walk to a payphone. We're in a town with a population of 1700+, on a road that has a few spread-out houses and not much else. Frustrating, to say the least. Let alone pointless, because I ended up just falling asleep without ever accomplishing my original goal.

Oh well, we're about to head to Binghamton, and HOPEFULLY we'll be bringing our new friend Kill Devil Hills with us. We played with them here last night and they were really amazing. They're without a show today, so we're going to see if they can play the show we have tonight. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

So, as you read, we are without a roadie for this portion of the tour. We're getting by, but we always hate it when we have to go by ourselves. I can understand why coming with isn't the most appealing thing in the world, though. I can't say I'm having that great of a time, yet. I don't know what it is. This part of the country (New England) is really pretty, but really boring and dead, too. It's almost impossible to find things to eat off of the highway, let alone a gas station of something like that.

The drive from Wisconsin all the way out to Haverhill, MA was very long and horrible, too. We left at about 2 pm CST on Friday and got to the show at about 5 pm EST on Saturday, and we only stopped for a few hours to sleep in a motel parking lot. Luckily, the show ended up being really cool. We met up with the guys from Hot Cross and hung out with them for two days, which was really awesome.

Suddenly, I was bowled over by an inexplicably powerful gust of laziness. I have been irrevocably dazed—well, for a little while at the very least. What I'm trying to say is that I, Tex, will not be going on the eastern U.S. “leg” of the current Forstella Ford tour. I wish them the best of luck and the most amazing of times. It is possible that I’ll still pipe in from time to time…very possible.

This is a message to those of you in the "greater" Milwaukee area. Whitney is taking some copies of our new CD to some record stores today, in case you want to pick it up. He said he was taking them to Atomic and Earwax in Milwaukee and CD Warehouse in Racine.

To everyone else, of course I'll mention when it's available from more on-line distros.

I think that's all; I don't want to waste any more time on-line!

i wrote some stuff and its gone.... tex has a shit load of pictures that i don't think anyone wants to see right now. everyone is sleeping cept me. last night we kicked it out in madison with a whole posse of sorted trouble makers. it was really fun but my hip kills from a big fall on the cement at the capitol. i have to work in green bay tonight and that will bring an end to my racine vacation. i think someone is up now... i bet its nick.

You guys need to quit neglecting the fuckin' commas and shit!

man, i'm not in racine right now but its ok. i called nick. we had our party and it was pretty cool but after my brother and his friend made me and my friends and my parents go out to a 70's retro bar. i'm the only on in the group that doesnt have to work in the morning. my dad was talking to my british friend danny all night about the war and stuff which was pretty funny. i just can't belive my parents hung in til 1am with everyone and my mom was on the dance floor and everything. funny stuff. i was all down on myself a couple of days ago cause i wouldn't have a cool birthday and all of a sudden people surprised me and showed me that i still have a few friends. got some emails that were cool and some cards that were cool as well. i got a tent for my birthday!!! who wants to go camping?!?! girls i mean....

post script: i am so serious when i say that one of those sweatshirts (L) will HAVE to be left or sent to me in the mail before you leave! i'll give you the envelope and the postage but you will not screw me on my quest for one of those sweatshirts... you know i've wanted one of those for a hella long time.... hook me up.

I ordered some new hoodies today from VGkids . They are going to be black Fruit of the Loom hoodies with the red circle logo on the front. We're going to be picking them up on our way out to the east coast so we might not have any for people in this area...

It sucks being home for this long... grr. I can't wait to get back out on tour. I also can't wait to see the Assistant (a.k.a. the best band ever).

Word.

Do you want to know the most surefire way to ensure that your Sunday evening is well spent? Well, this is what you must do: First meet Mark and Jessica at midnight for french fries at an all-night diner. Second, invite Mark and Jessica over to your house for drinks (it is important that you simply offer them drinks, while you yourself refrain from consumption of the spirits). Then what you do—after some has passed—is put on a Tahiti 80 record and make Jessica and Mark dance. Fix yourself a cup of tea (two sugar cubes & a dash of rice milk). Sit back in your easy chair, armed with a digital camera and snap pictures as the rug is cut over and over again. Finally, post said pictures to the internet!

I’d sincerely like to apologize to everybody who was planning on seeing us in either Grand Rapids or any part of Canada. We made it to the show in Grand Rapids 30 minutes after it ended because of the repairs we had to have done on the van following the previous night's break-in. Luckily, we will be playing in Kalamazoo in November (also w/ With Arms Still Empty). Hopefully, it’s not too out of the way for anybody that was planning on seeing us last Thursday. We weren’t able to make it into Canada, due to the heightened levels of security. These are obviously circumstances that were beyond our control, but we still feel really bad for missing 7 shows that we were really looking forward to. We are going to do our best to reschedule all of the Canada dates as soon as it appears that it will be possible for small rock bands to enter the country again.

On a separate note, I would like to point out to Martin that our van was broken into while Amy and I were at a Travis show in Chicago. Hands down one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Take that you Scot-pop hating bastard :). J/K. You know I've got nothin' but love.

cept that blogbot thing always seems to get kicked off by people that warn it all the time for no reason but no one cares. current event, funny haha.

This is really cool - I am updating the Blog using AIM. I don't know how it works, but it's exciting nonetheless.

I updated the images page. I only really added one new image, but I put a link to the tour photos from last winter, the two movies, and some photos that Nate Baker took in Grand Rapids, MI a while back.

so its my birthday monday and my dads birthday on tuesday. i'm aging fast. today i'm less then half my dads age on tuesday i'm more then half my dads age, fuck that. among other birthday related conversations my dad was just telling me about the matress i was conceived on. thats always good to know. i had a record smashing day at work. apparently when the president said to spend money it meant to give me massive tips. gas prices also went down to 1.31. today was a good day i think i can afford an ak.

NO IDEA has copies of the CD, if you like to order from them. It's only $7.40 (before shipping), which is really good.

We just got back from our show in the Detroit area (W. Bloomfield, to be precise), and I have to say that it was the first time we've played around there and nothing went wrong. In fact, I would say everything went almost as well as it could have, which was a pleasant surprise following one frustrating event after another. Throughout the entire trip to Grand Rapids, I started thinking about all of the CDs I actually lost, and each time I thought of a new one, I would start becoming more and more frustrated. Then, we got there only to find out we were too late for the show, and that people we used to consider friends that were in another band playing the show wouldn't even look at us, for reasons unknown to us. As Jim pointed out, it was very much like being in middle school all over again. You have to start sitting at a different table at lunch because some people don't like you anymore, but they never really said why.

Things are starting to look up (way up) again, however. One of the things that was frustrating me the most is no longer an issue. See, I was a bit upset by the fact that I picked the 2.5 days we originally had off to go to Texas, seeing as we now have almost a whole week off. But if you've read the posts below, you'd realize that Jess is coming up HERE to visit me (well, not just me, everyone else, too). It's going to be an amazing time, I know it. I'm so excited!

yes, i'm going to see death cab for cutie on thursday... hope they play a better show than cursive!

does that mean i get to meet you?? i just worked 5 hours and drank 3 hours....

look out milwaukee general mitchell international airport, cause i here come!

man why do i always have to work. i took a dudes shift tonight so i could watch the packer game on sunday afternoon but i still have to work sunday night. i need to figure out some days off for this coming week cause with no canada shows there is room to kick it in racine county. well i'm off to yet another night of capitalism GOD BLESS AMERICA!

The funny things we do sometimes in the name of rock an/or roll! The Fucking Vold and I decided to trail behind the Forstella Ford van on the way to the Grand Rapids last night. Because of the break-in, the van’s window had to be fixed and that delayed our departure. We didn’t get on the road until nearly five, which means we got to Chicago around six, smack dab in the tail-end of rush hour. So what I am basically saying is that the combination of these two factors (having to get the window fixed + rush hour) caused us to show up for the show thirty minutes after it ended! Suck!

Vold has to work today, so he and I made our way back soon after arriving. Twelve of the most futile hours I’ve ever spent in an automobile in a single day. But fun nonetheless.

If you’re in the Madison, WI area, you should be really excited because this is a good weekend for shows. Tonight is Beulah and Mates of State… It is also rumored that Mike Kinsella is playing, but nobody really knows for sure. Tomorrow night is Por Avion (Vold’s quiet-pop combo) with The Super Eights (ex-Best Boy Electric) and The Buddyrevelles (Motorcoat Records) @ The Catacombs. PLUS! There is an after-show PARTAY (which is guaranteed to be the sausage party to end all sausage parties!) @ 1024 East Johnson. Forstella Ford members might very well be representin’, if that sways your decision to attend.

So, we're not going to be going to Canada anymore. We were going to be playing with another American band when we were up there, and they decided it wouldn't be a good idea to try to go, either. The lines at the borders are really long, and they're not even letting "normal" adult people that don't have musical equipment and merchandise in. We've also heard you're not supposed to go in for more than 48 hours, and that you have to have an important reason for being there. So, we're playing the two shows in Michigan, and then coming home for the week or whatever. It's upsetting to me now, because I would have much rather spent this time in Denton than the two and a half days I just spent down there, but oh well.

I also lost about 75 CDs when the van was broken into, along with my passport photos and birth certificate. I wouldn't have even left my CDs in the van, had I known it was going to be in Chicago, but Whitney didn't even really know my CDs were in there, either, so it's not anyone's fault. I don't know if we should be grateful or offended, but whoever broke in opened up two boxes of our CDs and decided to not take them!

Oh well, c'est la vie.

i think it goes without saying that one can be in support of the country and not want to have a HUGE american flag in the background of ones cd release show. i'm in support of the elimination of terrorists as much as the next guy but that doesn't mean i wanted to see forstella ford with a big bright flag in the background. theres a time and place.

It has recently been brought to my attention that Forstella Ford are "un-patriotic bastards."

Look out if you are a God-fearing, Old Glory waving, good-ole-boy from these great United States. They, these Forstella Fords, are out to corrupt all we hold near and dear! Nobody is safe!

ok, i don't have time to post much, but our van was broken into last night in chicago with my friend amy. it's a little pain in the ass, but i don't think it's going to cause too much trouble. if you'd like to laugh at me, let it be known that this isn't the first time something like this happened when amy and i went to chicago together. after a hot water music show i locked my keys in the trunk. after another show at the fireside we didn't even notice that the car had been broken into until we got home and opened the trunk to discover that amy's purse and cell phone, my discman and CDs, and our friend kari's laptop and digital camera were all gone. then two days after that, amy and i walked out of the fireside bowl to discover the entire car was gone. it took three hours, and $150 to get it back.

gotta run, too much crap to take care of.

watch this. and this.

my head is about to explode. watch out.

Well, if you'll remember you changed your shirt after the 3rd song.....

After viewing the images below, please note that there is only one photo in which the huge flag is not present. Note also that said photo is of yours truly. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

I have to say that I am having an amazing time on this short break in our tour; possibly the best time I've ever had! The only negative thing that has happened the entire time is that I went to see Cursive and they were extremely bad. They took some of the best songs ever written and played them like they were the worst songs ever written. To be fair, however, I didn't even watch their entire set, and it did seem to sound better from the car outside the club. Maybe they just got off to a bad start. No matter, even if they were incredible, they still would not have compared to all of the other amazing things I've been doing, such as flying to Texas to be with the coolest girl I've ever met (Jessica), eating cold leftovers from three different boxes mixed into one interesting Indian/Thai/Chinese dish, spending more time in parks that I have in my entire life (including when I was young), going to the used book/record store here and not finding a copy of our CD amongst the reduced price CDs that wouldn't sell and/or were overstocked, listening to the one Death Cab for Cutie record we didn't have with us in the van, seeing a movie that was so bad it was good (Hearts in Atlantis), staying up all night, listening to Travis cover Britney Spears, taking silly pictures, getting free coffee from the local hip coffee shop, and tons more. I know some of those things might not sound earth-shattering; I'm sure it has more to do with the company you're keeping than what it is that you're actually doing. I only hope the show Cursive played* doesn't get crowded when paired with the only other negative thing that is going to happen... leaving tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really looking forward to going back on tour! It has been a lot of fun so far, and I think it will only get better (a spoonful of shows with the Assistant helps the medicine go down). It's just that I'm leaving this time as a different person, in a lot of ways, and it's going to be rough sometimes where it wasn't rough before.

Cody's recent post in the guestbook has made me scared to get on another plane; a relocation to Texas has been considered! I just hope that, if someone tries to rush into the cockpit on my plane, there are fat people on board that can sit on him (see the afforementioned guestbook entry if that confuses you).

* I would like to state that Cursive is one of my favorite bands ever, and in no way did I mean to slander them on this site. I realize that sometimes bands have less-than-stellar shows. I'm sure they were just as disappointed, anyway.

before viewing the images below, please keep in mind that the american flag in the background was put there by the globe, and was not the idea of us or any of the bands playing. also, when viewing the 3rd picture from the top, please note that i do not actually look like a rabid rodent. apparently, cameras add 15 lbs., buckteeth, a pointy nose, beedy eyes and a foaming mouth.

I just put up a veritable ton of photos from the record release show @ The Globe. You can look at them by clicking here. All of them were taken by my friend Michael Pinney, save the ones of The Vida Blue, which were taken by Mark. The pictures are really huge… Someone may want to do something with them in the future and I didn’t want to crop them too much for that reason.

Oh, it should be noted that the huge American flag at the back of the stage was not our idea. It is sickly overly patriotic and slightly more than slightly embarrassing, to say the least.

Yeah, so speaking of the Globe show, let me just say WOW! Thanks to everyone for coming out! The turnout truly exceeded my expectations. It must be said, however, that the show in general made me feel either really old or really out of touch—I can’t quite decide which. I recognized only a small handful of faces. Maybe I’m both old AND out of touch? Very possible…

Being at home is making me feel anxious. It’ll be really great to hop back into the van Thursday morning—I honestly cannot wait!

This is so great... I’m at home, it’s Monday and I don’t even have to think about going to
work or anything. I have three full days to do nothing and I’m loving it. But, still I can’t
wait for tour to resume. hmm.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the show last night. We really could not have
asked for a better turn out.

OK I’m going to get ready to go play hockey with my buddies Noah and Ian now.

Word word...

The CD release show tonight was simply amazing. A lot of fun. All of the other bands (The Vida Blue, Since By Man and Mock Orange) were incredible. I got the feeling that Mock Orange were pissed off about something, but I thought they rocked, anyway. Playing at home when you've been on tour for over a month is always awesome. You can give the false impression that you are always really good at playing your songs.

I'm hanging out with Cody tonight, and he showed me the new Fugazi CDs. I just have to go on record in stating that they were simply amazing. Best Fugazi record ever, in my book. Easily.

I'm seeing Cursive tomorrow. Can't wait.

the war started at high noon central time.. football isn't on anymore...

Well, home again, home again it is! We rolled back over to the good side of the border at 3:45 or so “last night.” I’ve a few hours to catch up on (postal) mail (that said, let me highly recommend this record, which I’m currently listening to for the first time. But you must remember that I am the group’s official wuss-rocker…!), drink coffee and shower before we head up north to the show. Hope you’re all there and in good spirits…err…feeling good enough to buy me copious amounts of spirits @ the BBC in between the each of the bands—that’s what I really meant.

Wisconsin is freezing. Spoiled by southern and western weather for so long, I almost forgot what cold is!

But enough banalities...

ok, so we made another video while at my house that night... this one is not for the weak of heart. the sound quality is a little bizarre at times and there are clips from the pajama party at my house. surprisingly, i am actually in this video. just look for the only girl. that's me. the band was playing at this weird outdoor park in oklahoma. so if you were at the show, there is a good chance you are in this video. just like i am. you can have something in common with a stalker.


irrational and repeating live

9 hours later, i am still alive. what a trip to take by myself. i stopped once in memphis, once in little rock, and once in texarkana. the life of a stalker is a hard one, indeed. i hope the rest of the tour is jawsome, even without me along.

It definitely feels good to be back north of the Mason-Dixon Line (or as it more frequently referred to in the post-antebellum United States; the Waffle House/ IHOP border). Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time in the south, especially hanging out with Jim’s stunt double, Andrew. They look astonishingly similar. He actually made me laugh so hard that I kicked out the taillight on our van. I’d just been sitting on top the van after getting stuff out of the car topper, and he told a couple jokes. I laughed so hard that I fell off the top of the van and put my heal through the light in the process. Cincinnati treated us really well, and we are presently chilling and watching movies with stomachs full of spaghetti and tofu. One more show and we’ll be headed home for a few days! I think we’re all looking forward to having a little break. But even more excited about touring for another couple months.

It has recently come to our attention that a lot of people don't realize that you have to click on the image on the main page in order to enter the actual site. I fixed that, and also added a link to the video we made for Mercurian Harmonium. We made it while we at our new friend Jessica's house in Denton, and it's all tour footage. She has a Mac with the iMovie program on it, and we got bored and made a video. We made another one with some live stuff on it that I'm going to put up eventually. Probably Monday?

Anyway, due to the fact that I am normally the one behind the camera, I'm almost not in the video at all. I would have to say that most of the video is Tex, Jim and Whitney.

In order to download it, you'll need to have a Quicktime plug-in installed, and patience to download a 10.6 mb file.

tex is the computer master.

Impromptu, unannounced show in Nashville tonight. The turnout was sparse, but everyone seemed really into it, many perused and purchased merch, and the sound was spectacular, so, all in all, the show was pretty amazing. We also had really great burritos at a place that had a salsa bar and cilantro garnish. Those are very, very good things.

the world has been in the dark too long. it must be made public: Jimmy Sardines is a Heartthrob!

Terrible show tonight. If so few people usually turn up for shows in Memphis, I can't for the life of me imagine how Elvis ever became The King.

The one highlight (for me at least) was noticing that the Sun Records studio was located something like a half block down the road from the venue!

You can't escape Elvis references tonight. Don't even try.

We thought we had a place to stay, but it turned out we didn't. We ended up having to rent yet another hotel room. I love hotels, but if you've ever been on tour, you surely understand how financially impractical they are. But all is ok because we have Jessica with us. She skips school five days in a row for us! How rad is that? She is the best co-roadie a boy cold ever ask for.

We're, right now, offing a 5th of vodka and an 18 pack of Bud. Tennessee rules because they sell brew until 3 in the morning. Are we looking at another all-nighter? Only time will tell. Only time will tell.

Oh yeah, don't forget to download the mercurian harmonium video!

love,
A Hound Dog.

HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! that movie rules!!!!!!!!!!! haha, mark that old movie effect where things in motion get blurred is awesome! nick shakin his head rules. i wish i was on tour. download that movie and get quicktime if you need it.

so yeah it is nine something in the morning, a few of us are still up and we have to leave at 11h00. oh well, it has been fun.
i'd just like to give a "shot" out, as whitney likes to say, to jessica and her housemates for letting us take over their lovely house for these three days... thanks to fletch (the dog) too he was a shit-ton of fun.
this blogging thing ain't so bad.

my directorial debut :

mercurian harmonium

we stayed up all night at my house to make this music video. that's right, all night. when you see the dog chasing the flashlight look at the legs, and that's me. this video is about 11 megs, so it is advised to use a broadband connection for optimum downloading.

the stalker

So apparently Steve Albini joined Neurosis and they were asked to write the soundtrack to the apocalypse. Then they ended up playing in Oklahoma City at a little park pavilion with us last night and possibly again tonight in Denton or Dallas, TX. They're called Cursor, they're awesome guys, and they will probably be meeting up with us again on their home turf in the Carolinas. If you live in TX, LA, FL, or any other place they are playing within the next 2 weeks of their tour, it would be in your best interest to go see them.

Speaking of the apocalypse, the world must be damn near it's end, because we are in Texas and having a really good time. The Wreckroom, everybody that works there, and everybody that came out to the show were awesome. Particularly the drunk, 6'10", Kentucky carpenter, in a cowboy hat and overalls, insisting we play surf music, who gave us a winning lottery ticket ($2), and paid Jim and myself ($10) to play (with chest drums and humming) a Ventures song for 5 minutes, while insisting that he was once a woman, had decapitated and shot other men, had just been released from prison, and could make his own pasta from scratch. To say the least it was an interesting show. And I don't think I'm alone in saying I look forward to playing in Ft. Worth, TX on our next tour. So much for the "Everywhere but Texas Tour: 2001/2002."

last night, i learned that p diddy jam on guitar (the one with all the choppy guitar) and i broke my first string since i got graphite saddles in april 2000. puff daddy will do that to a man's guitar.

score one for the stalker.

Look what damn time it is! I'm still awake. Screw you guys, I'm going home!

You know that song that goes "baby's cruel, yeah... way cruel...", don't you? It's stuck in my damn head right now.

So, we're in Denton, TX right now, staying with our new friend, Jessica, who was nice enough to stay up with us until all hours of the morning (well, not all hours... it would be hard to stay up until multiple times in a single day, would it not? Unless you took naps.. hmmm...), trying to coax us into playing games like mah jong (sp?) and spin the bottle. Luckily for her she was unsuccessful in both attempts. She was also rad enough to take us to Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. so Mark, Jim and I could buy pajamas. Let's just say that sleep on this tour has never been so sweet.

If you're in Oklahoma City, I expect to see you at tonight's show at (in?) Rogers Park. Make sure you show up early so you can be rocked by independent music's newest, most brightly shining rising stars, Gratuitous Gratuity. Werd.

Well, I'm off to eat some vegan waffles. A rather uneventful, poorly worded blog, this. Sorry.