July 2006

Well, finished the show at Heart Attack Jack’s in Topeka and damn!!! we played a pretty good show. We are looking into getting back in there sometime, great bar, great regulars too! Anyway, don’t have much time. Don’t forget to come out to Duffy’s in lawrence on Tuesday. The ATB, at least in part, will be playing around as well as Guse, my other band.

See ya there.
I’m out.

MP

ATB’ers,

See you at the Wormy Dog in OKC
Chris Knight and friends will be there
I hope I get a chance to tell him hi from Aaron
Maybe Chris will give us props for coming so damn far

See you tomorrow at Heart Attack Jack’s
8 PM
New posters are in and will be available at the show
Aaron said he might autograph and auction the first one
Bring your bidder cards

g

Finished. Coursework for the PhD. I am sitting in my last class ever typing this.

No worries Steve. I made it to class this AM and finished my take home final with 1 minute to spare. What a time at Duffy’s last night! It was nice to play for a few more people there. Hats off to our friend Rob for bringing several friends from KC.

It felt great to actually play a gig yesterday. I was singing Mike McClure yesterday walking home from class and felt like I was preparing to play a football game.

Dismissed our innocence for original sin.
Mama, mama don’t make me go.

Am out of here!

Hey everyone, Just wanted to let you all know that I am hosting an open jam at Duffy’s every Tuesday; starting this week. If you get a chance, grab your guitar or instrument of choice and head out to Duffy’s (inside the Econolodge in Lawrence, corner of 6th and Iowa). Jam starts around 9 or 9:30. 785-979-9309 if you have any questions.
I’m out!

MP

Just returned from a quick Kansas City trip

Thanks to Jordan for the place to stay and the Southern hospitality

Aaron and I played with Dusty and Scott (from the Dirty Boot Band) by the pool

Nice job Dusty on scheduling an outdoor’s show on the hottest day of the year

We did have three fans that stayed the whole time

The plug in kind

See you at Duffy’s or Heart Attack Jack’s this week
g

Know what a phrase is you never want to hear while walking into a bar?
"Someone call 911"
More on that to come.

Ron Clark: "You don’t see many out-of-towners here, do you?"

Lady behind the counter at the liquor store in Orlando, FL after asking to see Lucas’s ID: "Yes we do."

I want to go home. There is too much sun here. There are too many close-to-naked girls outside of my window by the pool. There are too many single, gorgeous women auctioneers who make soooooo much more money than I do.

I’m averaging $10.00 per day on coffee, to say nothing of food. It is quite enjoyable, though, sitting outside Tower III at our usual table every night, watching people try to walk through the disabled automatic door after 10:30pm. We got kicked out of the hot tub on Tuesday before I even made it all the way in. We almost started a fight at the sea food joint when an unnamed associate of mine realized they added the gratuity to the ticket. I wondered about the equivalence of that argument to the arguments we get from the old curmudgeons about the buyer’s premium.

We get to dress up tomorrow for one more day of classes, a big party, and a ludicrously early wake-up call the next day for the flight back to civilization. This roughing it stuff is for the birds. I can’t wait for San Diego next year.

That’s spanish for new car!!! It cost me my soul (what was left), my first born, and a pint of blood but Bobbie and I bought a new van. It was extremely funny watching the expression on the car dealers’ faces as two twenty-somethings asked to see the mini-vans. Any, here’s a pic. July 19th is coming up, see you at Duffy’s!

MP

Just ventured to the public library. The only piece of my information that they don’t currently have is DNA. Of course they do have my drver’s license, birthdate, and social security number not to mention height, weight, eye color…

I am sure G dub can get them my DNA too.

The whole concept of a library is neat. Here, let us give you 200 dollars worth of books, CD’s, DVD’s and you can promise to bring it back.

It is nearly a socialist concept and doesn’t really seem to fit our capitalistic country.

OK, this is obviously not going anywhere productive so I will stop.

g

Last night’s descent into Orlando went without incident. Aaron [McKee] drove us back to the Carib Royale where Ron and I, after having acclimated to the nicest resort accommodations I’ve ever experienced, had a pizza, a sandwich, and two drinks for about $30. Aaron convinced us to go with his family and him to Epcot today instead of the Kennedy Space Center to which I had full intentions of going.

Until about 3:00pm, I hated him for that. The rides, while quite stimulating, were not by any means educational to a science geek like me. However, after half the crew went home and we remaining troupers began walking the ethnic half of Epcot, I flip-flopped my position like the Democrat I am.

While part of Epcot is dedicated to be a technology smörgåsbord brought to you by the likes of Kodak, Nestle, HP, and GM, the northern half is an ethnic tour of several countries. It’s arranged in a large circle around a lake, and in the center of the lake, several black and burned barges sit, ready to astound the passers by and the onlookers as soon as the sky darkens.

We hit the United Kingdom for an appetizer and a beer sampler, France for some real wine, Morocco for me to take a picture with a weird hat next to a camel, Japan for some Sake, and we got as far as the German beer before the sky rendered us awestruck. The entire park was wired for sound, with large, two-story pillars of speakers and can lights spread equidistantly around the perimeter of the lake. Through these speakers played the soundtrack to the fireworks. The pyrotechnics were larger and more awe inspiring than anything I’ve ever seen in the Midwest, and they, along with spotlights, building lights around the lake, and the three story tall globe video screen, were synchronized to the music playing through all the speaker towers. I can’t imagine the engineering behind the show. All I know is that I’m a little shell-shocked from the events of today.

It’s 2:51am EDT and I’ve about had enough. I have to be in class tomorrow at 8:00am, so I’ll just slip away.

I’m so high right now
I’ve always wanted to say that and mean it

It’s either 8:55 or 9:55pm. I honestly don’t know if it’s CDT or EDT. I haven’t flown since I was 3 years old, which I obviously don’t remember. For all intents and purposes, this is my first flight. Ron and I are cramped in the back of a Boeing 737 and are somewhere at a cruising altitude over the Southeast. I guess I expected the planes to be nicer, newer. I guess if I can cut wheat in a machine from the early 1980’s, Southwest Airlines can haul people around in planes from the 1980’s. The only difference is that if I crash my combine into a mountain or ocean, people don’t die.

One of the reading lamps is burned out on the seat in front of me. I don’t know why I find that so funny. I sure don’t find the drink prices funny at the airport and on the plane. A small coke costs $2.50. I didn’t ask what a nice Scotch costs. The cheap ones are $4.00 on the plane and $5.00 at the airport.

"78 degrees as we start our descent to Orlando. Fasten seat belts, turn off all electronic devices…"