While in Florida, the heat pushed me to do things I'd never thought I'd do. Waring sleeves was just too much, so I had to borrow a silly tank top from Garin just to stay remotely comfortable. In west palm beach, I was slightly distracted from the heat by a guy who was hanging out around the show who carried birds with him. The guy let us take turns hanging out with the bird and when it got to me things got a little wild. For no apparent reason, it started flipping out, making crazy noises and flapping its wings. I thought it was going to fly away and bring me with it! Luckily it calmed down enough to let go of my arm and move on to someone else. 
In Alabama, things got as southern as you could imagine. We pull up to the address we had for the venue and it turned out we were playing in a giant shed behind a little house in the middle of a field. When shows happen there the house converted into a coffee shop and the back living room turned into the merch area. The air conditioned house proved to be a much needed oasis from the deathly heat and the bug infested grass. 
Austin is one of the few cities in the country that I have come too several times. It's pretty much the only place in Texas I can stand and it is strange being somewhere so far from home that i feel a sense of familiarity. If it wasn't for the year round heat, I could foresee calling it home for a while. The 6th street area houses tons of cool shops and bars. Great restaurants cover the city. The capitol building is rad. They even have a theater that plays the classic films Jaws and Jurassic Park. A city full of good food, people on bikes, big city parks, and bands playing around every corner, Austin is by far the best thing the state of Texas has to offer. 
Above the venue was an old hotel which I apparently became a whore/drug house. A couple of years ago one of the biggest murders in Manitoba happened in one of the rooms. The promoted offered to show us where it happened. Apparently a guy was there completely fucked up and managed to dismember another man in the bathroom and stack his extremities on top of his torso in the bath tub. The next day he walked into the police station and said "I think I killed someone." Incredibly disturbing and unbelievable. 
After the show we drove overnight to Thunder Bay. Once we crossed the province border into Ontario, the sun revealed some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen, full of thick forests and glass like lakes. We even saw a giant moose on the side of the road!
The next day was in Thunder Bay. It's always overwhelming looking out onto one of the great lakes. The just go on and on forever. There was a street festival going on and the show was fairly descent. 
Today we had a day off and got a hotel in Salut Saint Marie on our way to Sudbury. The town is completely boring but we lucked out and found the best hotel. It has a huge built in water slide that goes in and out of the hotel to an indoor pool. It was a good way to kill some time and relax after some ridiculously long drives.
Tomorrow we continue on and play in Sudbury. We meet up with a couple more bands so things should get more interesting. We are told that it is supposed to be a good show so our heads are up!
Also, don't believe the myths. There's no pot of gold at the end of rainbows. 
The day after coming home I was put straight to work. June 1st was moving day! Tara and I moved into a completely amazing new house with ten of our friends. Three floors, ten bed rooms, a living room, dinning room, awesome kitchen, two decks, and a back yard. Tara and I even get our own bathroom! This is probably the nicest house I will ever get to live in. 
For my birthday Tara and my room mates threw me a big BBQ on our new front deck. Nothing says summer like veggie burgers and grilled corn! One of the coolest things about our porch is that there is a huge white wall that we can use to project videos on. While all the festivities were going on also had Fraggle Rock playing for us and all the bypasses on the street to enjoy. It was an great night with good friends. One of the best birthday's I've had.
Late that night we had to drive down to LA to shoot a music video to go with our new record coming out this summer. Twelve hours of filming and non stop head banging. Honestly it was probably one of the more unpleasant experiences I've had. It was super hot and I felt completely dead the whole day. I'm not really sure if I'm into how the video will turn out but oh well. At least I got to be in one. 
When we got on the first train from Moscow to Yaroslovl, I was pretty excited to be riding a train in Russia. This first train ride was in one of the first class cars and was only a few short hours long. Had all the train rides been like this I think I would have enjoyed the trip a whole lot more. Much to our surprise, the rest of the rides were in economy cars where there are no rooms, doors, or privacy. Just your bunk in an big communal space among all the other bunks. Some rides we lucked out and had fairly pleasant company. Other rides we were stuck with loud crying babies, creepy old men eating sardines out of cans, or angry military guys who didn't seem too happy about sharing a train with americans. To make things worse, the rest of the train rides for the trip were anywhere from 15 to 21 hours long. In total, we spent about six and a half days riding on trains. Everyday was train-taxi to show - play - taxi to train. Had we been set up on a more efficient means of travel and actually had time to explore the country the trip may have been a lot more enjoyable. Instead, we just sat on trains. 
No lanes, no speed limits, no rules. Being in a cars in Russia were probably the most unsafe situations I've ever been in. The taxi drivers will speed in between cars with spaces so tight I'm surprised anyone still has mirrors attached. The one night we actually drove to the next show in a 12 passenger van stuffed with two bands and their luggage and equipment, we actually got side swiped by a drunk driver. I doubt there is even any kind of system to getting a drivers license there.
We got Pinarella, Italy early in the morning and had time to walk down to the beach where a huge festival was going on. The Mediterranean was colder than anywhere I can recall and even in contrast to the sunny heat the water was unbearable. The fans in italy were some of the most die hard of the tour. The clubs were smaller but packed out and the shows were wild. 
Aarau, switzerland was probably the most awkward show of the tour but was a pretty nice city. There was a cool mix if modern metropolitan as well as old original buildings. There were also many views of the beautiful green hills. 
Barcelona was full of huge cathedrals, statues, towering ancient buildings wall to wall, and one of the nicest beaches i've seen. The shows weren't the greatest but the country made up for it.
It was a pleasant chance to spend 5 days in a country with a familiar tongue. It was gloomier than anywhere else but we were fortunate to get a few sunny days. In London Garin and I again made a post show trek into town to see Big Ben and the parliament and the Tower Bridge. 
After landing we drove to the first show in Wiesbaden. It was definitely a trip to get a chance to walk around after load in and realizing it was a completely different country. Everything from the architecture to the language to the cleanliness of the air was just a total change from anything I'm used to at home. 
In every aspect, the hospitality overseas surpasses the states. Waking up a full table of breakfast and lunch goodies is something you never get touring in the US. There's even a ready supply of soy milks and yogurts, and all kinds of other vegan goodies. 
