Woke up at the La Quinta feeling like I hardly got any sleep. That’s because I didn’t. I know I’ve been on tour for a while when I actually start looking forward to eating at places I would never eat at when I’m home, like Denny’s. Last night or morning when we pulled in the hotel I noticed the Denny’s in front of the hotel and I figured we would eat there in the morning. As a matter of fact when we were in the elevator Todd asks me

you know what La Quinta means in english?

nope

“Behind Denny’s”

I laugh because there is a lot of truth in it. Wherever there is a La Quinta, there usually is a Denny’s right in front or behind it. Either way I was looking forward to that Superbird. But when I get downstairs and everyone is in the lobby I motioned for Denny’s and all I got was a banana thrown at me. Might as well have been a tomato or cabbage. Lame. Guess not. So we drive and we’re tired and progressively getting more and more hungry. By the time we get there Timmy will end up driving longer than he slept last night. We pull off because everyone starts getting crazy, especially Sean. Try taking 6 hungry dudes and posing these options; Jack In The Box, Cracker Barrel, Wafflehouse, and Cheddars. After much deliberation and arguing, we decide on Cracker Barrel even though there is a 25 minute wait. We sit down and I order, along with Chauncey and Todd, the greasiest meal; fried chicken and mashed potatoes with mystery gravy. I feel gross. We all leave in better spirits at least and jump in for our never ending ride to New Orleans. As we are driving to New Orleans we all start to get this weird feeling. Hurricane Katrina hit this place so hard that even if you’ve never been here before, you can almost tell that something happened. We pass a body of water with the top of trees sticking out over the surface. It was so strange and creepy. And you can see the water line on this elevated road we are driving on, almost reaches the top. Sean tells us about some cool people he’s met that live in the bayous out here. Some real uber remote swamplife shit. And Chauncey starts telling us about these huge nutria rats that live out here, which are such a problem that supposedly you can get money for shooting them and bringing the bodies in. We start talking about rappers from here like Lil Wayne, Master P, BG, Juvenile, Manny Fresh, and Young Turk. It was pretty entertaining. And then we started reciting lines from Mobb Deeps Godfather Part 3, because there were several rainstorms and lightening on the way in, and the third of which we dubbed the G.O.D. father part 3. So we finally get into the French Quarters and if you’ve never been here and you have been to New York, the downtown area of New Orleans is a very VERY low scale version of Times Square with a lot less people aimlessly walking around with camera’s and funny hats. But either way it seems like the area has come a long way since I was here 2 years ago. It was completely dead then. They actually treated us really well in the House of Blues. The food was great, hospitality, and drinks. The show was a thin crowd. It was intimate but the one redeeming quality thing about it, is that when you come to a place that doesn’t get much of anything in terms of live shows that kids can get into, the people have an appreciation that is unparalleled. Tonight was a fun night. Chauncey made drinks backstage for each man. He calls them “backstage spritzers.” These time’s are the happiest of the tour; drinking and laughing about dumb shit like Tim and Eric’s Tordo’s Flavor Dust. LUST THE DUST!.

Wake up feeling a little better, not much. We drive to Seattle today but first stop at Denny’s for what was to my surprise, a decent meal. Chauncey orders a nice raspberry lemonade drink thing and I notice he loves an assortment of refreshing drinks. At a gas station or rest stop Chauncey will always get a frozen drink or something interesting. It’s amazing the little things you learn about people when traveling together. Chauncey tells me he always gets the Superbird at Denny’s, which is basically a grilled cheese with tomato, bacon, and turkey. I get mine without bacon and when it comes, it gets housed. Cage does not feel good today. It seems like we all caught some form of the same bug except Sean AKA Destructive Force AKA Speedo, and Todd. We finally make it to Seattle and hit traffic until we get to Nectar. A friend of mine, Shaina Foley, who used to work for a company that brought us out to Seattle a bunch of times, now works as the booker for Nectar and it is cool see her in that position after many years of coming here. Familiar faces are great on tour, most of the time. I hit up a diner down the street and get back in time for soundcheck. After soundcheck Chauncey and I do a photoshoot on the 2nd level of the venue with a sick photographer named Darien Chin. The photo’s came out amazing and we were psyched. I’ll have them soon. Time for me to go on and I still don’t feel great. But the sound is probably the best yet on the tour and I attribute it to their soundman Bill, who is excellent, and actually cares. During soundcheck, Cage went to the hotel since he was feeling under the weather. He calls me from the hotel and says “yooo we’re staying in The Shining” referring to the Stanley Kubrick movie. He explains that we are staying in a mansion-like hotel with very old, classic decor that looks just like where Jack Nicholson‘s character goes crazy in the movie. I’ll see it when I get there. I watched Cage’s set from the stairs, and for as miserable as he felt earlier, with a fever and body aches, you would have never known as he performed with poise and control. It is important to be able to perform when things are not 100%. More times than not, it is usually the case with most performers to have to work through problems as if they never existed. After the show I got to meet several fans from Vancouver who drove to Seattle because the Vancouver show was canceled. So to the boys and girls who drove down and had to go through the border, thank you. After the show we head to the Marqueen hotel. Cage was right. This place is creepy. The rooms have green doors, the wallpaper is a old floral pattern, and there is no elevator. Instead of an elevator there are stairs with a huge chandelier hanging in front of them. When we get inside the room, Cage tells us the guy at the front desk told him Ted Bundy used to live in this building, and the bar he used to pick up his victims from is still there, around the corner. Todd then goes downstairs to get an extra blanket and comes up like this place is really weird. He tells us he saw an employee in the hallway and asked him if he ever saw any ghosts here. The man tells Todd no but he always gets chills on the third floor. He also said that years ago, a woman hung herself in the room right below ours. Not too long after Todd turns to me and says “I kind of like this place, it reminds me of staying at someones Grandmas house.” While this is happening Cage is on the phone dealing with Chauncey and Sean who are complaining that their room smells like dirty diapers. Cage is rolling his eyes while I’m laughing because that is just funny to me. It sounds horrible. I lay down and watch a panel discussion/debate on whether or not Michael Jackson was murdered. Apparently Latoya has just accused doctors of murdering her brother. This whole thing is blowing my mind and I think our country is so sick when I realize that this breaking news is on every news channel. I’m guilty for being sucked in and succumbing to what is feeding my eyes and ears with useless slop. I watch this until I’m too tired to keep my eyes open.