Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Night Lights, the descriptions by Chris Fafalios!

I was very inspired to write my quick thoughts on each of the tracks on Night Lights by reading Steve's blog. Steve did a great job on the blog, and I hope that I do a great job as well.

1. "Heart Of Gold" - This song is so Punchline-Americana. When we were writing this song, I pictured the troops coming home from Iraq and this song blasting as they landed on U.S. soil. I'm not sure if this song will be on our new album, but I kind of think it should. It is very easy and fun to play. I would like to play this song on Regis and Kelly, or even Regis and Kathy Lee. My favorite part of this song is Steve's quiet singing part toward the end - I think he sang it very well.

2. "Changing Lanes" - This song should've been on Action. We wrote it for the movie "Gepetto's Secret". I hope that Gepetto's Secret comes out eventually, because it definitely featured the voice of Tom Bosley from Happy Days. There are so many parts in this song. I would love to have songs with lots and lots of parts again. This song is like a musical journey through a Pixar world. I also really love the key change at the end of this song and the guitar parts at the end, they make me feel good.

3. "Pretty Petty" - This song wanted to be on one of our albums so bad. Unfortuneately, its wish didn't come true. This was the second version of the song that we recorded during the Belan era. We altered the original meaning of the song to be about bad music/bands who are all about their image. I wish we cared about our image. We are normal dudes. Can someone come up with an image for us? I wish rapping clowns wasn't already taken.

4. "Over You" - This song's lyrics originally were "she'll never get me over you", which I thought was a cool lyric with a double meaning. We changed it though, obviously to make it less confusing. This is a love song. I hope we stick to our guns and make a whole album without love songs. There are way too many other things to sing about.

5. "She Always Leaves" - Steve wrote this song and sent me a demo he did of it, and I loved it. I even remember re-writing all the lyrics to it in my old LIVEJOURNAL back in the day. Such a fun song that puts me in a good mood. We wrote the bridge last, and it kind of sounds like a whole different song. This is the only Punchline song with the word "ass" in it.

6. "Castway (punk version)" - This is fun. Some people like it, some people hate it. I'll take the album version any day. I do like Steve's talking second verse, where he adds in little "ums" that we just left in there.

7. "I Live A Lie" - I really like this song. I'd have liked to see how this song turned out on an album. I think it the long run I would've liked this song more than some of the songs that did make 37 Everywhere. Very fun and party-like ending, it kind of makes me want to mosh.

8. "Behind The Scenes" - We blew it not recording this song for an album! One of my favorite songs we ever made. I like the sexy beginning, and I think the whole song should be like that, with slammin' choruses. I always pictured a music video for this song, that is like punk rock Wizard Of Oz. I thought that I would be The Tin Man.

9. "Downtown" - This song is so PUNK. Not really. I wrote a bunch of the lyrics in this one, and one of them is about a monkey in a tree. Not exactly my shining lyrical moment, but this song would be decent to MOSH to.

10. "Let A Lion" - Steve was probably on some weird drug I never heard of when he wrote this. I'm just kidding. I love this song because it sounds like something I've never heard before. I like music that doesn't sound like other things.

11. "Battlescars (acoustic)" - I like this better than the album version (maybe). I love the keys at the end, and I also love the hits before it goes into that. One of our most personal sounding recordings, I think.

12. "Coldest of Calendars (piano)" - I like this. I always like piano.

13. "Getting There is Getting By (acoustic)" - "See these circles under my eyes, I think of them as part of my disguise, cause getting there is getting by". Those are the additional lyrics. If those would've been there in the original version, I'd have liked it more.

14. "A Trip To The Other Side" - A song for an old friend. We wrote and recorded it at our Manhattan apartment during the recording of 37 Everywhere after we found out our friend John Beatz had passed away.

15. "Icicles" - What a mess of a song! Its just parts all put together, with big stops. Regardless, people seem to always ask for this song. Maybe its the subject matter, about feeling alone on Christmas, that people really relate to. I wrote a bunch of these lyrics and I'm not especially proud of them. I think that songs should give people hope, and this is just a very non-hopeful song. I think Steve does a great job of writing hopeful lyrics. Maybe I'm not seeing the "hopefulness" in this song.

16. "All Hopped Up On Jinglebells" - I am very proud of this song. I wish it could become a CLASSIC Christmas song! It reminds me of going to my friend Shrimpman's party on Christmas Eve. I like this song way better than Icicles.

17. "Don't Try This At Home (acoustic)" - Only Punchline song ever with a harmonica. We need to use harmonica more. Steve sang great on this, good job Steve.

18. "Greenlight (acoustic)" - We were trying to fool you and make you think this was actually recorded live. It wasn't. That's all tracks of us in the background, being the audience of our own band. At least I'm not trying to convince you its real!

19. "Pretty Petty (2005)" - Where's the chorus? Greg Wood is really good at guitar.

20. "Punish or PJ" - PJ is amazing in this. My Mom thinks he has a good voice. I do too.

That's all my descriptions. Enjoy!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

NIGHT LIGHTS: a collection of previously unreleased Punchline songs.

This Tuesday, December 1st marks the release of the first ever Punchline b-sides album called "Night Lights". We have held out for a very long time without putting out a b-sides album, but the time has finally come. We have decided to release it digitally only, as to not confuse people and make them think that this is indeed the new Punchline album. Sometimes, b-sides albums can end up being one of a person's favorite albums by a band...two really good ones I can think of are Nirvana's "Incesticide" and Ween's "Shinola". Being as there are 20 songs spanning the past 6 or 7 years, I really think there is a good chance that people who like our band will really like this collection.

We are releasing the album the same way we put out our song "Heart Of Gold". Basically, it'll work like this: You can have the first 6 songs of the album for free, and you can have the other 14 for a donation of at least 6 dollars. We are leaving the option to donate more if you feel generous, because all of the money we make from this will go toward the recording of our new album. We started our own record label with the release of "Just Say Yes" called Modern Short Stories, and since the release of the last Punchline album we have also released a book (Whistle Pig) and an amazing album by a solo artist from Massachusetts (Justin Oliver's "For Rose"). Whether or not we release the next Punchline album on our own label or another label is still up in the air, but we surely NEVER IN OUR LIVES want to try to impress record label people and try to convince them to PLEASE PUT OUT OUR ALBUM and MAKE US BIG. What we do want to do is go and record our best album on our own terms, and if a team of people want to invest their hearts and budgets into it because they absolutely believe in it, we'll consider doing that. If not, we'll put it out on our own label again, because our label is awesome anyway.

Basically, I want to say thank you in advance for your donation should you choose to get "Night Lights". A lot of my personal favorites are included on this collection, including "Changing Lanes", "Pretty Petty", and an acoustic version of "Battlescars" which rivals the real version in my opinion. Another favorite of mine which never saw the light of day before this collection is "Behind The Scenes", a demo that we recorded for 37 Everywhere which we decided was a little too different to be included on that album. We'd definitely love to hear your feedback on the album as well...maybe a song that didn't make the cut years ago can be given a second chance if people think it should.

We are playing a show on December 29th in Pittsburgh in which everyone who was ever a part of Punchline will be playing together. This should be a very special night. Steve and I will also be putting together the stories behind each of the songs on Night Lights, in case anyone is interested in reading about the writing, recording, and possibly even the meaning of each song.

We have been a band for 12 years, and we look forward to being a band for another 12 years. We hope you enjoy our b-sides album, and we look forward to recording a new album very soon. Thanks for listening, because we love to make music!

Friday, November 6, 2009

I wonder if I'll ever stop getting the Christmas morning feeling before we play a Pittsburgh show. We got to the hotel last night around 3:30 AM, and I was awake this morning by 8 because I am already filled with adrenaline. I am always happy to be able to play music in front of a room of hometown folks. I am also happy that I woke up so early because I got to enjoy a Continental Breakfast. I had myself a belgian waffle, a blueberry muffin, and a banana. Bananas are my favorite fruit.

We had a very great show in Louisville, Kentucky last night. In all our years of touring, we have never played in Louisville before. Obviously it was great to hear people singing along and see people enjoying themselves. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. We even had a van party before we played. Paul and I hid from Steve in the back of the van. We basically act like we're 8 sometimes, which I think is incredible. I wish I had a bed tent to set up in the back of the van. Remember bed tents? I had a He-Man one. On the late night drive, we discussed the Universe and things like Black Holes and the Speed of Light. In case anyone didn't know, we're also geniuses.

Its pretty crazy and pretty awesome that there are no days off on this tour. I am actually happy about that. As much as I would like a day off to go to the movies and see "The Blind Side", I am totally cool with a show every day.

Can't wait to see "The Blind Side" though.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

SO MUCH SALMON

We had a show last night in East Lansing. Oh man, I ate SO MUCH salmon there! It was a very cool show other than the fact that we were competing with a Taking Back Sunday/All-American Rejects show in the same town. Do you think that stopped us whatsoever from rocking? No way. I also ran 3 miles again this morning on the "Elliptical Machine", which should probably make up for my mass consumption of salmon last night. Paul and I hung out in the van and listened to good music after Steve and Pat "hit the hay". I like listening to Derek White recordings and being amazed by them. We are heading to Pontiac, Michigan today. I hope that Green Day isn't playing Pontiac tonight too. I don't think they are. I like this tour a lot, and I also like this hat a lot.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

THE BLOG IS BACK!

Back to tour means back to blogging! We kicked the tour off in Cleveland last night. I can't imagine a better place to start a tour. Obviously we had a fantastic set playing for lots of great people in Cleveland. It kind of felt like a friend convention. I liked it. I also like the bands we're touring with, so far all good dudes. This blog is so generic so far. I liked when I was a kid and we'd use the word "generic" as a really derogatory term. Here's an example of how it could be used:

"Hey, do you like the Green Bay Packers?"
"No man, the Packers are GENERIC!"

That's a true story.

So far on this tour, I have been eating like a child who was left at home and ate whatever he wanted. I ate candy and chocolate bars and taquitos and burritos. I drank beer and Red Bull. I'm going to change that today. I'm in search of the PERFECT SALAD (which often times is an Olive Garden salad, although that thing tastes way too good to be good for you). I woke up at 8 AM this morning and ran 3 miles on an "Elliptical Machine". Its the first time I ever used one of those. I'm not sure if it worked. We'll see if I'm really ripped in a few hours.

Playing our first show with Paul in like 5 years was very monumental. I enjoyed his singing, guitar-ing, and v-neck t-shirt. He needs to get caught up on some good music though, I think I'm gonna make him a mix CD.

I think I'm gonna try to find some food before I drive to East Lansing, Michigan. I'm going to scavenge like a vulture. My Mom gave me a big box of candy bars to take on tour. I'm going to resist the urge to eat a Baby Ruth right now. "BABY RUTH!" - Sloth.

Here are some pictures of my friends.







Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Practicin'.

Today is October 21st, 2009. I think its strange that it'll never be October 21st, 2009 again, except for today. I'm making the most out of this once-in-a-lifetime kind of day. First of all, Andre got a bath today, which he needed very badly. If there's one thing Andre doesn't enjoy, its getting a bath. Giving Andre a bath is bascially like water-wrestling with Andre for 15 minutes. Once its all said and done, he definitely smells way better.

Today is practice day. We only have a few more practices left before we head out for our November tour. Playing with Paul again has been very nice. He is a very talented dude and it feels good to rock together again. We have a lot of songs to choose from when deciding what to play on tour. The decision of what songs we'll play each night will be very difficult. I wish we could play 15 songs per night. How about everyone buy 10 copies of our CD and give them out to all of your friends so that our shows get 10 times bigger and we can play 15 songs per show? Yeah, that's a perfect idea.

I saw a great cartoon today called Adventure Time. It inspires me to want to make cartoons with my good buds Tony and Justin. In a perfect world, I would live in a big mansion due to my bass playing and cartooning. Once I conquered both the bass playing and cartooning world, I'd like to try my hand at game show hosting. I'm going to create my own game show.



Here are a list of things I want to accomplish in the next 6 months:

Release a Punchline B-sides album
Release a Punchline 7 inch limited edition record
Make sure that everyone hears the new Justin Oliver album
Film a pilot for a kids show
Complete a very introspective and all-encompassing Punchline DVD
Record a new Punchline album

I know a lot of those goals are Punchline related. What else do you expect me to do? I'm the freakin' bass player of Punchline dude.

Our first show of the tour is in Cleveland on November 2nd. What a perfect place to start a tour. I plan on watching the hastily made Cleveland tourism video before that. I also plan on rooting for the Cavs.

Time to practice.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

A blog about one of my favorite songwriters.

The first time that I met Justin Oliver was in Myrtle Beach at a venue called The Lazy I. Basically, The Lazy I was a room in the back of a record store where bands would play. We probably played to about 10 people in that little room, but something very important happened that night...we experienced Heaven and Breakfast (featuring Justin Oliver as lead singer) for the first time. We hit it off instantly, enjoyed a night at the beach together, and the Heaven and Breakfast EP became regular listening in our van - a soundtrack to our crazy first tour in 2001. As we would sneak into hotel pools late at night and clunk across the country in a white van with big purple letters spelling "punchline" on the side, the Heaven and Breakfast EP was in regular rotation.

Over the years, we developed a great friendship with all of the Heaven and Breakfast guys. We would play together in each other's towns, which was always a day we looked forward to...the day would start with bro hugs and end with beers. We were always happy to talk about our good buds up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and spread their music to everyone we knew.

Before Heaven and Breakfast ceased to be a band anymore, they released a full-length CD that once again went on to become a staple in the Punchline van. I couldn't tell you how many times we recited the lines...

"All alone
I'm never anywhere I call my home
These four seats are my furniture
The road it holds me like a lover"

When we recorded our Action album, we had a spot in the bridge of a ballad called "Coldest of Calendars" for some intelligent, poetic, moving lyrics that would give you chills. Who else would we ask to do it but Justin Oliver? We sent him the track, and within a few days he sent us back the song with his part added. What he laid down on the track went on to become one of my favorite parts of the whole album.

Justin went on to be a part of another great band called The Casual Lean. They made a lot of great music over the years, including "We Are The Deer", a song from the first person perspective of a deer being hunted and killed. The song to this day still remains in all of my top song lists (because I love to make those). I've talked to Justin about the song before, and it seems like he wasn't too crazy about that song. I would beg to differ with him, bigtime.

I can't remember exactly when it happened, but I remember hearing the news that Justin had been in a bad accident. It was a very scary time for all of us, and I can remember the relief we felt when we heard he was going to be okay. Once we knew he was alright, we very guiltily (is that a word?) looked forward to the music he would write about the terrible experience (sorry Justin). He didn't let us down.

After his time in The Casual Lean, Justin would send Steve songs that he would record himself, purely for our enjoyment. Every time we got a new song or two, I more and more couldn't believe that this dude wasn't HUGE. He had a voice and lyrics deserving of international recognition, yet we were only part of a small group of people that ever got to hear these songs. He also did a kickass cover of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U". How cool is that?

I am extremely proud to say that we'll be releasing Justin Oliver's new album "For Rose" on Modern Short Stories. Anyone who loves real music from the heart is going to love this album. This collection of songs is a masterpiece from an under-appreciated artist who I am going to do my darndest to make sure IS appreciated! I will be spreading the word hard in the coming weeks about this album. I know everyone will dig it.

Friday, October 2, 2009

FISH TACOS IN YBOR CITY

Last night we played in Tampa, Florida...Ybor City, to be exact. Ybor City is definitely a place that I could see myself getting into. The show was great, and I kinda felt like it was the best we've played all tour. There were lots of old friends at the show, including Greg Miller who has come to see us play for over a decade now. We met him at Memaw's Alaskan Tacos, where I had my first ever fish tacos. I actually really like fish tacos now, and I'm thinking of getting on a fish taco diet. I'm sure I could eat all the fish tacos I want now that I am running every morning! My last sentence was a lie, I don't run EVERY morning, but most mornings. I ran about 3 miles today, which I thought was damn awesome. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Tampa thanks to my favorite website of all time - Priceline! We are about 2 blocks from the arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play. Maybe they'll let me play goalie tonight.

We are going to Sarasota tonight to play at a place called Powerhouse Ministries. It sounds like probably one of the toughest and most blessed places ever. Obviously I'll say a prayer that everyone enjoys my blog.

Tomorrow we head to Orlando to play at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. I have a feeling that this is going to be the best show of the tour. We'll be staying the night with my Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Mike and Cousin Anna, who are my very top-notch family members. I'm also looking forward to hangin' with my puppy-cousins Sid and Eva. They're very nice Yorkies that think I'm a cool guy. Also, thanks to my wonderful family, we'll be spending Monday morning at the MAGIC KINGDOM, which is obviously one of the most magical places of all-time. I'll obviously be going into Tinkerbell's shop and asking if I can call Tinkerbell. I obviously WON'T be going to the Hall of Presidents, an attraction that I have held a grudge against since I was a small child because my parents made me go into it in 4th grade. No 4th grader should ever be made to go into the Hall of Presidents, that's just wrong.

On a side note, I hope to someday have my own talking robot in the Hall of Presidents.

I'm gonna go walk around Tampa now and see if I can find a Fish Taco Store.

TREADMILL RUNNING PLAYLIST:

"Wreckless Love" - Alicia Keys
"I'll Get There" - All
"Panic Attacks Are Normal" - Barely Blind
"Heist" - Ben Folds
"Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" - Coheed and Cambria
"Good Good Things" - Descendents
"America's Suitehearts" - Fall Out Boy
"My Head" - Goldfinger
"Enough To Be On Your Way" - James Taylor

Thursday, October 1, 2009

MY FIRST FESTIVAL AS MAYOR!

Here is one of my ideas for improving Belle Vernon in a small way. I think it would be really great to start with Graham Street Park. I think that a summer festival at the Park would be a great way to raise funds for many improvements I'd like to make. I'd like to buid a nice makeshift stage and hire a great local sound company for that stage. I'd like to bring in a few great bands that people would travel from all over to come see (I definitely could pull some strings to get some great bands, and with my newfound Mayor-dom I could probably get them to play for free with a promise of a great time and helping the community). I'd also have a couple of the best local bands come and play at the festival. I'd make tickets affordable, and have all of the proceeds go toward the improvements I'd like to make. I'd also have all local churches and businesses be able to set up tents and booth to sell whatever they'd like to sell, which in turn helps out a lot of local businesses as well. All I would ask is that each booth charge 1 dollar more for every item they sell. For example, at a gyro stand, charge 6 dollars instead of 5 for a delicious gyro. That extra dollar from each gyro, or hot dog, or basket of chicken fingers will go toward the park improvements. Obviously food and bands would not be the only thing going on. I would definitely have a 3-on-3 basketball tournament going on during the festival. The entry fee would be 15 dollars per team, and the winning team would take home a nice prize purse. A percentage of the entry fees would also go toward the Park improvements. I would time the tournament so that the final game would happen during the headlining band, to make sure that the game has an AMAZING soundtrack! I'd also have many other tournaments and contests going on that would interest a lot of people. Some of my initial ideas: a Connect 4 tournament, a Scrabble tournament, an Arm Wrestling competition, a Freestyle Rap contest, a Bench Press competition, and a Grilling contest. I'd like to have something that would interest every single person in Belle Vernon. When it was all said and done, and everyone in Belle Vernon had the time of their lives at this amazing Park festival, this is what I'd like to do with the money raised...

- Build a nice amphitheater in the Park for future festivals and events

- Renovate the basketball court and tennis court

- Hire a local company to build a small fitness center for everyone to use, because not everyone can afford expensive gym memberships

- Hire a security officer to keep the park safe and free of crime

Steve brought up the question of basketball nets for the court. Well, I have the answer for you. I will pay for new nets out of my own pocket, because that's how much I believe in the Park!

Steve, being my Vice-Mayor candidate, also brought up the point that the things that I want to do would be expensive. My answer to Steve is that I want to raise 100,000 dollars with this festival, which is not a ridiculous thing to think if I could get a cool band like Aerosmith to play. I'm sure Aerosmith would play for free if I promised them a few gyros and let them stay with me.

Obviously I'd be wearing my tux at the FEST.

BEAUTIFUL GREEN FEST!

Please leave me comments letting me know some of your ideas. That's one thing about me being mayor, I will ALWAYS welcome suggestions of how to make the FESTIVAL better!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

FAFALI-YES!

Today I decided that I want to run for Mayor of the town I live in. That's right, I am going to run for Mayor of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. I was driving from Pensacola to Jacksonville today and it just came to me that I would be a GREAT Mayor. Picture this: me dressed in one of the finest Italian tuxedos, complete with cumberbund and top hat (a monocle is also a possible accessory). Now picture me standing on a fire truck, leading a parade right down Broad Avenue. I'd have pockets FILLED TO THE BRIM with delicious candy for all the kids lined up on the street to see the parade. Its a wonderful thought that has me inspired to run one of the hardest campaigns, maybe of all-time.

I just laughed to myself thinking about my opponent in the election reading that first paragraph and using it against me.

I'm really taking this seriously and I was thinking about what a great experience running for Mayor could be. I'd definitely be able to run a great campaign. Thinking about making commercials alone gets me very excited. I also think that we could have some KICKASS rock n' roll fundraisers. I honestly do think that I could do a great job as Mayor. Here are some of my initial ideas for Belle Vernon:

- Obviously I think BV needs a movie theater. Everyone in town has to drive at least half an hour to go see a movie, and I think that having a movie theater would bring people from all over the Mon-Valley, just like Wal-Marts does. It would also create more jobs for people in the Valley. I would do everything in my power to make this happen, although I have no idea if a Mayor has anything to do with this. That's beside the point though, because I will be a very special Mayor who could make the impossible possible.

- I think I'd like to get funding to get Graham Street Park fixed up really nice. Last time I checked, there wasn't even nets in the basketball hoops anymore. That's completely unacceptable. I think that Graham Street Park could be one of the nation's finest parks with a little work. I would like to get funding for a security officer for the park to keep it safe for all the kids. I'd also like to get a stage built there for outdoor events and concerts that could help with funding for upkeep with the park.

- I'd like to do everything in my power to create more things for younger people to do in the community. The Mon-Valley, and Belle Vernon in specific, has had a major problem in recent years with young people and drugs. Many people turn to hard recreational drugs as an escape from the monotony and boredom of life in a small town. I think having a center where concerts could be help and clubs could meet would be very beneficial to cutting down on drug problems in our area. I'd like to help create more clubs for people to join, even if they are for a very specific thing. How about a canoeing club? Or an arm wrestling league? Maybe a Nintendo Wii organization? These all seem like silly examples, but if 10 people are into anything, there's no reason that they shouldn't have a place to meet and have the whole community have the chance to be a part of.

- I would personally take care of all disputes between neighbors in the community. I would like to be like "The Wolf" in Pulp FIction for all of Belle Vernon. If there are any arguments about zoning, or neighbors getting mad about someone planting a tree that hangs over their property, I would be great at resolving the issue. I have had to deal with compromise with my occupation for over 12 years, I feel like I have become quite an expert at it.

- I want to have MANY COMMUNITY DINNERS to benefit the less fortunate. I'm really good at making burgers now, and I'd love to have a big HAMBURGER DINNER to benefit the less fortunate. Obviously we'd also get some great entertainment...maybe I'd even try to get the TUMBLE MONKEYS from the Lion King show at Disney World to come in for it. Obviously we could raise enough money to feed all the hungry people in the Valley. That would make me feel good about the community.

- I have travelled all over the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom over the past 12 years. I have seen the best and worst cities in the world. I know what makes for a great city, and although I think that BV is a very good city, I do think that improvements can be made. There are a lot of things about being Mayor that I will have to learn as I go along, but I think that I can handle it.

- Steve Soboslai will be running as my Vice-Mayor. I also appointed him my campaign manager.

My Mom was very against me running for Mayor, but I convinced her by asking her how I was supposed to run for President if I don't start somewhere! Obviously I want to be President, it has always been my main goal. This will be a good start. I think I will have a good chance to win if I can inspire young people to get out there and vote for Mayor. I doubt anyone under the age of 60 really bothers to go out and vote for Mayor, but I want to make it happen. I want to inspire people to go out and practice democracy in its most pure form!

Keep my tuxedo/parade dreams alive! I'll throw out CARAMEL CREAMS!!!!

Fafali-YES! in 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Snuggie Beaumont

Right now I'm using my Snuggie as it was fully-intended. I am laying in bed with Steve and he is under the covers, and I don't necessarily like to be under the covers with him, so that's one benefit. The second benefit is that I'm on my laptop, and I can be under my covers with my computer on my lap, but I also have my hands free to type at the same time. I really do think its a pretty great invention, even if it is only a big robe without the belt.

We hung out with Barely Blind tonight down in good old Beaumont, Texas. They are my good buds. It was Brad's birthday at midnight, and he wanted to go to Waffle House for it. It was a perfect ride where we all sang to him. Reid's parents made us a delicious spaghetti dinner earlier, but our second dinner at Waffle House was great as well.

Steve beat me at ping-pong, which makes me want to retire.

We went and saw Inglorious Basterds today and it was incredible. Quentin Tarantino is the greatest director of all-time, "and you can quote me on that" (John McQuilkin). By some crazy coincidence, Farewell happened to be at the same theater. We didn't see them, but their van was outside. They must have been seeing another movie. We decided to write a note that said "Get out of our town freaks. You are not welcome here" and leave it on their windshield. We even smeared a little of Pat's blood on it. I'm sure it really freaked them out.

Beaumont, Texas is probably in my top 10 places that I could probably live. I don't like the mosquitoes and ants though. I wish mosquitoes would go extinct.

We gotta drive all the way to Pensacola tomorrow. Maybe I'll write an insanely long blog. Or a book.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Its Enough To Be On Your Way

We spent the day today in Dallas. First off, I was pretty happy that people in Dallas are pretty much oblivious to my fame. I didn't even have to wear any kind of disguise - I could just walk in public without a fake moustache and Oakleys without any sort of problem. At first I thought that maybe I just wasn't that famous in Dallas, but then later I realized that its just because the people of Dallas are so respectful of celebrities' personal space.

We played at around 2:30 PM at this sort of "festival" of bands at the club called "Live @ Mocah". Any club with an ampersand in its name is obviously cool with me. We obviously rocked extremely hard, despite the fact that I had to wear my glasses during our set for the second show in a row. I think they're a good luck charm though, because we once again played flawlessly.

My old buddy David Swann came to the show, and later hooked us up with some delicious food at the restaurant where he works - Dick's Last Resort. I couldn't resist the crabcakes, and I'm glad that I didn't resist them because they were delicious. People were throwing napkins all over the place, and I didn't know if that was allowed or not. Turns out that it was allowed. Our waiter was really awesome, and he said some really funny things like "kiss my black ass", "where you goin' whitey?", and other things that wouldn't be nearly as funny if I said them. It was a great dining experience, and I hope to someday do something really cool for David Swann to thank him.

I listened to the James Taylor song "Enough To Be On Your Way" about 10 times tonight. I heard it for the first time tonight, and I found it to be very mysterious sounding. I could not for the life of me figure out what the song was about, but I was definitely impressed to hear JT say the F word in it. I'd definitely be interested to hear peoples' takes on what this song means.

Friday, September 25, 2009

San Antonio, Holmes!

Hey, I'm in Texas. I'm actually on the way to Dallas from San Antonio. Tonight was a cool show in San Antonio. It was a very "intimate" show, but that is nice sometimes. I got to see my buds Joel Hennig and Matt Adams at the show tonight, which is always great. I like that both of those guys are great runners too. I learned that 125 Texians and 527 Mexicans died at the Battle of the Alamo. I'm glad that I decided to never die, nor get the swine flu. I had to wear my glasses at the show tonight because my right eye is bothering me. The reason for that is probably because I have disposable contacts, but I barely ever change them...maybe once every 5 or 6 months. Its okay though, because the people of San Antonio got a special treat with a special "glasses" show from me. I think I played even better in my glasses. It doesn't bother me that they sit crooked on my face either, because I think that's stylish and cool. I also decided that I'm getting pretty famous now. I decided to start my own mailing list, and I definitely decide to make it INCREDIBLE. One thing that I decided today is that when I get really HUGE, I'm going to have an entourage of cool looking dogs that follows me to press conference and awards shows. I've really been getting extra famous over the past couple weeks or so, and I gotta say that it really has its up and downs. People always expect such great things out of me. I really feel the pressure to keep producing excellent podcasts, blogs, video blogs, and most importantly, FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATES. I think I'm handling my fame well though, and really not letting it get to my head. I think one of my best qualities has always been my INSANE AMOUNT OF MODESTY.

We all ate lunch at Wal-Marts today, which is a great place for lunch. You can really stretch your money out at Wal-Marts. I ate chicken for both lunch and dinner today. I don't have a problem with that at all. Someday I might stop eating chickens, but not yet. I definitely feel a little guilty lately about eating cows, because I kinda think they're gorgeous. I'll tell you right now, I'll never eat a horse.

I have 4 mosquito bites. I see no reason why mosquitoes should exist. I don't think it would mess up the ecosystem if they were all eliminated. I am going to start constantly applying Off spray to avoid these itchy red bumps. I hate them.

I need new shoes.

Here's a cool truck I saw.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Okra-homa City!

Had yet another BLESSED show tonight in Oklahoma City. I knew that the show was going to be BLESSED because when we were at the laundromat, a guy said to us "I hope y'all tour is BLESSED". He definitely knew what was up! I love when people say "That's what's up" in kind of a southern way. I am very happy to have all of my FAVORITE SHIRTS completely clean again. They all smell so good and look so cool. We have a day off tomorrow to drive, and there's a chance that we might go camping with our good buds in Between The Trees. I really hope this happens, because I love to camp. Maybe I'll get the license plate "LUV2CMP" when I get home. I'll be the first one in line for Smores! I went to Wal-Marts twice today. I'm glad I got some great stuff. One of my favorite parts of going to Wal-Marts is when I got some breaded okra from the deli and Belan thought that okra was octopus. I actually wish it was, but alas, its only a vegetable. We went back to Wal-Marts later and we got stuff to make sandwiches for the entire tour for $30.03. That's quite a deal. I also got lots of great snacks that are delicious and economical, like: chocolate chip pop tarts, cream cheese and chives crackers, pumpkin muffins, whole wheat bagels, and some kind of fiber bars. Also, I've worked out on the treadmills for 3 mornings in a row. I went 1.5 miles the first day, then 1.75 miles the second day, and 2 miles today. I am planning on doing it again tomorrow. I can't believe how hunky I'll be if I keep this routine up. We had a great show in Oklahoma City tonight. One cool thing was when Steve rubbed his guitar against some girl's head during our set. I'm sure she thought it was cool. This tour is a tour full of good dudes. Here is a picture of the dudes.



Let me also note that 1) people at clubs don't flush toilets, and 2) I will never get the swine flu. I promise.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Love of Horses and Fear of Frogs

I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Today I saw 4 really great/gorgeous horses frollicking in a field. It really made me think about how cool/gorgeous horses really are. Yesterday, we also passed two cows that were being very romantic. It seemed like they really liked each other. I went running again this morning, and I think I'm very good at running. I plan on going tomorrow morning as well, and maybe not eating a big burrito and three pieces of pizza and a gas station sandwich as my diet. I also learned the very hard lesson that Punchline is not a popular band in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Maybe the fact that we've never played in Tulsa didn't help. Other than that, today was rather uneventful. I'd probably say seeing those horses playing was the best part of the day. Sarah informed me that Andre saw a frog and cowered in fear when he saw it. I like that I have a dog that's afraid of frogs. I'm looking forward to getting to Texas. We plan on camping out on Thursday night, which could be very awesome. I don't plan on sleeping on the ground though. I am very spoiled when it comes to hotels these days. We are at the Hilton tonight. Belan gets very upset about the fact that these fancy hotels charge you to use the internet. Luckily, I have my AT&T USB connect which allows me to always be connected to the internet. I'm so connected that at some point I'll probably snap and destroy all my technology and go live in the woods in an old abandoned bus. Hopefully there's a bus I can sleep in when we camp out. Also, I definitely hope there's no frogs because I'm terrified of them. Hey, whatever Andre thinks is cool, I think is cool. Except for peeing on the carpet.

OKLAHOMA!

We are heading to Oklahoma City today. I'm sitting in the lobby right now to use the INTERNETS. I would love a bagel, maybe I'll try to get one after I finish BLOGGING. Liking things on facebook makes me really happy. I had myself a nice WORKOUT this morning. I worked up a nice sweat, which made me feel good about myself after eating Arby's and Texas Roadhouse last night. I do enjoy a good Texas Roadhouse sweet potato though. The way I figure, sweet potatoes HAVE to be amazing for you. They're orange for god's sake. I bet they have lots of BETA CAROTENE. I have no idea if I spelled the correctly. I hope Oklahoma City is as cool as I remember. I hope to ride a mechanical bull while I'm there. My buddy Kevin from Farewell did some real bull-riding in his day. I promise that I'll never do that. It seems very unnecessarily dangerous. Kevin is a real country boy. I like that about him. I'm going to get my picture taken with him today. I also want to have all the bands on my podcast. I'm going to get Ryan from Between The Trees to do an acoustic song on my podcast too, because that dude can really sing his you-know-what off. Before you know it, I'll be in Texas. My good buddy Tony has a great nickname for Texas. Steve and Pat LOVE to sleep. This is a very scatterbrained blog. I don't care though, because its my blog and I'll do what I want. I really enjoy this blurry picture of Sarah and Andre.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The World's Most Perfect Mix CD

If I had to make a mix CD for all my friends to show them how much I like them, this would be it. Feel free to make this CD, and think about me while you listen to it.

1) "I Want You Back" - Jackson 5
2) "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" - Stevie Wonder
3) "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" - Prince
4) "What A Fool Believes" - Michael McDonald
5) "September" - Earth Wind & Fire
6) "The Tears Of A Clown" - Smokey Robinson
7) "Your Smiling Face" - James Taylor
8) "Here It Goes" - Jimmy Eat World
9) "Beating Heart Baby" - Head Automatica
10) "Touch The Sky" - Kanye West
11) "Jailhouse" - Sublime
12) "Your Party" - Ween
13) "New Mistake" - Jellyfish
14) "Hymns For The Heathen" - Cursive
15) "Heaven For The Weather" - The Streets
16) "Million Bucks" - All
17) "Italian Sun" - Triangle Shirt Factory
18) "God Only Knows" - The Beach Boys
19) "More Than A Woman" - Bee Gees
20) "A Day In The Life" - The Beatles
21) "Emaline" - Ben Folds Five
22) "Hide and Seek" - Imogen Heap
23) "My Juvenile" - Bjork

I hope you all enjoy my mix CD. I hope that all fits on one CD. I'd put Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T." on the bonus disc.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

News Day

I am writing this blog from the Best Western in La Crosse, Wisconsin. This is a very special Best Western, because it has an INDOOR WATER PARK. We got here late, so the pool is already closed, but I can guarantee that I will be up at 7:00 AM to take advantage of the WATER SLIDE and BASKETBALL HOOPS IN THE POOL. I'll be tearing it up for at least 5 hours tomorrow morning.

We are about halfway through this tour, and tonight we announced three very big things. The first big thing is that for all of November, we will be touring with Hawthorne Heights, Just Surrender, Monty Are I, and Nightbeast. Obviously that tour will be great. The second big thing is that after this tour, Belan is leaving the band. That was the bad piece of news. Belan is a good bud, so it sucks to see him go. I don't like his decision to leave, but I'm not going to hold it against him either. The third (and probably most surprising) piece of news is that our old friend and former bandmate Paul Menotiades is going to be playing with us again. I am looking forward to playing music with Paul again. He's a very talented guy, and it'll be nice to see and hang out with him again after seeing him only twice in the past 4 years or so.

I had a great burrito on our way to the show today. It has sweet potato puree in it, which I think it an excellent idea. When I eat a sweet potato, it makes me want to write a song.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

COWS N' PUPPIES

We had a nice little quiet night at the hotel last night with the Farewell guys. You gotta make the best of days off, and I do believe we did. I took a swim, and accidentally slipped and fell on my side. My leg hurts today, but in a very cool way. I guess it also wasn't necessary to note that I accidentally slipped, because I would assume that most slips are accidental. We also took a nice trip to the Olive Garden, where I enjoyed the NEVERENDING PASTA. Unfortuneately, that only meant one dish of angel hair pasta for me. I really got JIPPED on that one. I'm trying to say "jipped" more because its a great and under-used expression. I hope that it doesn't have any offensive undertones, because I don't mean it that way.

I am currently sitting in the van in the parking lot of Mojoe's in Orland Park, Illinois. On the drive here, we announced some important news, but we did it in a very vague way. We let the WHOLE INTERNET know that someone will be leaving Punchline after this tour, and someone else will be coming to join us on a tour in November that we have yet to announce. I will clear up all of the mysteries very soon, but we figured that building suspense would be VERY COOL. I am pretty sure that a lot of people will think that the news is all very cool.

As many of you know, when we're on tour, Steve and I share a bed every night. We usually have no problems/accidental foot touching, but we did have a problem last night. In the middle of the night, Steve slammed into me and awoke me from my deep slumber. He almost knocked me off the bed. I tried to push him off of me, but he refused to move. He laid very lifelessly against me. I then yelled and him and pushed him harder, to which he opened his eyes slightly and mumbled something about how "he sees how it is" and mentioned something about "The South". This morning he had no recollection of it, but Belan experienced it too. I will get my Revenge on Steve. Indeed.

Steve also got a WRITTEN WARNING for speeding today. He is out of control. Here's a pic of me holding it.



Shout out to Hardee's Thickburger! A nice surprise at an Ohio rest stop. Also very psyched about a KICKASS new Andre video in which he barks at some cows. He also sneezes a few times, and the cows look at him and OBVIOUSLY think he's nuts!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Confusing train analogies.

Cleveland is a great place to play music. It was a Monday night and it was a pretty laid back show, but I talked to some real sincere people who got me all psyched about what we do. I got some good pep talks yesterday. My band self-esteem is doing well and I am looking forward to the things that we'll be doing for the rest of the year. I went and had a big continental breakfast this morning, and then got a shower. While I was in the shower, I was thinking about train analogies. I was thinking to myself at first about whether the train ride was nearing the end, and it was almost my stop. Then I thought to myself that maybe the train ride is just beginning and I'm about to step onto it. Then I realized that neither of those things are the truth. The truth is, I've been walking beside the train for years. I don't have a ticket, but I have a destination, and I also have one of those sticks with a handkerchief tied to the end with a few of my things in it. One of the things in my stick/handkerchief is my laptop computer. As I'm walking along beside this train, I've met many other railroad-walkers. I've also slept in the woods a lot, and seen some pretty cool sights. One time I even saw a baby deer, but I never told anyone about it...until now. This analogy makes perfect sense to me. That being said, I think I'm about to step up to the ticket window and tell the guy selling tickets to give me a ticket to anywhere, and I'll see where it takes me. I might not have enough money for a ticket though, in which case, I'll just continue to walk beside the train. I think I'll get there eventually.

Monday, September 14, 2009

BEYONCE MADE ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS OF ALL-TIME!!!

Dang, the shows have gotten REAL good. Pittsburgh was insane. Toledo was great as well. I'm looking forward to Cleveland tonight, Cleveland RARELY disappoints. Plus, I'll get to chill with my good bud Tony tonight. Obviously we'll probably do some videobloggin' or something of that nature.

Pretending to take Kanye's side in the Kanye/Taylor Swift controversy is really entertaining to me.

I want a Spicy Chicken Sandwich. I am always hungry. That's one of the two things that Sarah really loves about me...that's I'm always hungry, and that I can ice skate really well.

Here are some pictures.

Toledoans.



Lovin' Belan's cell phone.

Friday, September 11, 2009

BREAKFAST IN BED FOR MY GOOD BUDS



This morning started out amazingly. I woke up and went down into the hotel lobby, where I saw my good buddy Pat Dee sitting and enjoying some CB (Continental Breakfast). I had some eggs, sausage links, toast, and a warm biscuit. I also had some cranberry juice. While we were sitting there, Pat came up with the BEST idea I've ever heard...that we should surprise Steve and Jon with BREAKFAST IN BED! I couldn't stop smiling when he suggested this. I was in charge of Steve's breakfast, and Pat was in charge of Belan's. We did it this way so that we'd each be getting breakfast for the guy we share a bed with. You should've seen the look on their faces when we walked into the room we heaping helpings of breakfast food for them! They woke up with the biggest smiles and immediately dug in. I even got Steve some OJ, and that's his favorite!!!

The tour has been going pretty great so far. My favorite show of the past few days was New York City. I always have fun in New York City. I have so many COOL BUDS in NYC. One of my cool buds in NYC is Vinnie Caruana. He is like The Fonz of guys in bands. I strive to be cool like Vinnie in every day life. We went to The Continental and did shots of tequila. They were delicious!



I'm also always very excited to see Timmer, Hoo Daddy, and BB GUNZ.

One show that was not so great was Baltimore. The people that were at the show were great (obviously), but I guess we did something to make the city of Baltimore mad because there weren't that many people there. What's up Baltimore? What did we do? Being Monday night probably didn't help, but that doesn't usually stop Baltimore. At least we ate at the Paper Moon diner with our friend Janice. She got the turkey dinner, and I don't blame her. I LOVE SWEET POTATO FRIES.

I think all the bands on the tour are very cool. So far I'd vote Kevin from Farewell as tour MVP. One cool skill he has is that he can restore tractors.



I am looking forward BIGTIME to our hometown Pittsburgh show tomorrow night. Its going to be "VERY NICE" (say that in a Borat voice). We played in Poughkeepsie last night, and after we played, we went to the bar next door with all the other bands and watched the Steelers win. A group of guys that were bigger than me were saying "F*** the Steelers!" and the YINZER in me came out and I yelled at them "SUPER BOWL CHAMPS" and a couple of cuss words. Belan was worried they were gonna beat me up, but after I said that they really backed down. I think they were intimidated by my Mickey Mouse shirt I was wearing.



Well, that's all I'm gonna blog for now. Sorry I didn't blog the past few days, I was too busy doing MANY COOL THINGS. I'm gonna go to Allentown now. My very nice girlfriend is making the drive all the way out to see me play bass. She loves my bass skills!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Vienna Fingers

I have to say that this tour is really great. We played in Vienna, Virginia tonight at Jammin' Java. Needless to say, I jammed the #&@! outta my Java. I think we have played better every night on this tour so far, and tomorrow things will be running on all cylinders. I will be fueled by some delicious sweet potato fries tomorrow night as well. Pat is looking forward to redeeming his last Baltimore show. I hope we can find that pack of hooligans that held him down and forced him to drink Margaritas before our last Baltimore show. They need to pay! I had a great mozzarella and tomato sandwich tonight, as well as a bowl of chili. I have been eating decent food, but spending way too much money on food so far. I'm a little confused as to why none of the clubs so far have provided any food or drinks whatsoever. I'm gonna go broke eating sandwiches. Its okay though, because I love sandwiches. We are sleeping at Cory's house tonight in Baltimore. Cory is cool, and he has a cool dog named Sadie. We played with the Diesel Pigeons tonight, and I think I want to adopt them and make them my sons. I think all the bands are having a good time on this tour, because the shows have been great so far. I plan on turning things up a little bit more each night. Tonight I did a funny little dance on stage, I just made it up on the spot while we were playing. It was kind of an ode to Josh Bonner/Old-School Steve, in which I kicked my legs up very high and to the side. I think it really won the crowd over. People cheered very loud tonight, which is always a great thing. I want to keep stepping it up each night, so that by the end of the tour I'm hanging from the rafters and punching my bandmates in the face during our set. That would be great. Maybe the shows will get so good that my head will just explode and glitter shoot out all over the crowd. I have big dreams. When I was taking a shower tonight, I was wondering whether anybody hated me. I hope not, because I would like to be well-liked. Let me know if you know anyone who hates me. On second thought, don't.

Raleigh Caps

Well, North Carolina turned out to be a great state to have the first two shows of the tour. I have to give NC mad props for being full of great shows. I definitely realize that being belligerent and obnoxious onstage is the PERFECT way to be when you're playing the bass. I took off my shoes and threw them at Pat tonight during "My White Collared Shirt". He only dodged one of him. I threw them at him because I don't respect him. Our old buddy Zach (bassist of the band Sullivan who is no longer a band) took me to a great place to eat called CookOut. I got a burger with some chicken nuggets and hushpuppies. Dang, it was great to eat hushpuppies again. About 2 hours later, we went back there with the rest of the band and I ate again. This time I got the BBQ sandwich, which was also fantastic. After we played tonight, I met a lot of nice people, including a nice man who told me he wanted to be best friends with me. Maybe I'll take him up on it, who knows? I fully realize that I'm writing about food way too much in this blog, but I also have to mention that we ate lunch in a Japanese/Italian restaurant today. It was the first Japanese/Italian restaurant we ever ate in, and I had a wonderful sushi lunch. We also got our van washed, quite possibly for the first time ever. I figure at 180,000 miles, its time for a wash. I think it recommended a wash at 180,000 miles in the manual. Tomorrow we head to Vienna, Virginia, another town that we have never played music in. The grammar is this blog is pretty awful, I'm ending with so many prepositions and wording things very awkwardly. That's what I get for blogging at 3:07 AM.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Day 1 of Tour, obviously

Tonight was Day 1 of our tour with Between The Trees, Farewell, and Action Item. Our show was at the Soapbox in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is where they filmed a show that Nick really likes, Dawson's Creek. We walked down by the water and saw a very large ship. We anticipated meeting the other bands, and by the end of the night we probably left a very strange first impression. We all drank quite a few Pabst Blue Ribbons before we played, and we played what I would consider a GREAT set. I definitely took my shoes and socks off, and even played one song without a shirt (which is something I haven't done in the 12 year existence of our band). Belan had one too many and messed up quite a bit on guitar, but I forgive him. It really doesn't matter. Of course I dedicated the whole show to the greatest performer of all-tme (MJ). Overall, it was a great first show and I think we hit it off with all of the bands. I met a lot of cool dudes. One guy that I'm unsure of whether he likes me or not is Bingham, who was Between The Trees' merch guy/tour manager. I really wanted to be good friends with him, mainly because I've never known anyone named Bingham. I hope I can win him over, but I get the feeling that he's not the kind of guy who's into antics, and I am sometimes full of antics. We'll see I guess. We are staying at a hotel recommended by our good bud Jim Logrando. Its called the Carolinian, which is a great name for a hotel. I made sure that Steve and Jon drank plenty of water before bed. I'll be mad if they get sick. That's all for now, please enjoy this great picture of Belan and I.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Long Time, No Blog

I haven't blogged in quite some time, but I think I will start again now. I am spending my Sunday riding in the van on the way to Penn State to play a Sunday night show, obviously the best night of the week to play a show. We played at UConn last night, where I ate a cheese sandwich. I also wished a whole lot of people "Best Wishes" on facebook, which was great. We (Punchline) put up a new song called Heart Of Gold for download. Joel Hennig made the biggest donation for the song. He's a great guy, as is everyone else who got the song! I'm full of Dunkin' Donuts today. It was a really healthy breakfast. We have big Punchline news that I'd like to tell everyone but I'm not going to yet. We are home for 4 days before we leave for the Absolutepunk tour. Its going to be a good one. I look forward to spending some quality time with Sarah and Andre before we leave. I'm glad we have Netflix now because I got to see that new movie "Se7en" with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

I also recorded a new podcast on ChrisFafalios.com where I read stories I wrote when I was 8.

Friday, June 12, 2009

PENS

The Pens just won the Stanley Cup. I feel like I'm 12 again. Incredible.

PENSBLOG

This is my very own Pens blog!

The videos I promised.

Here are the videos from last night in Toledo that I promised in my blog 10 minutes ago.



Game 7

We had an incredible first show of tour in Toledo last night. I'm going to try to get a video up soon. I also had an awesome dream last night that the Pens won the Cup tonight, and then I got my name on the Cup too for some reason. I guess because I had played for them before. I think that's going to be a new lie of mine, that I used to play for the Penguins. Here is a picture of me with some AWESOME bedhead.



We play in Hazel Park tonight, which is near Detroit. I am going to feel bad for all the Red Wings fans after the game, but I'm hoping we can still be friends.

I spent $7.87 on food yesterday. That got me 2 cheeseburgers, a large french fries, and a 6 inch tuna sub on wheat with american cheese and a little bit of sweet onion sauce.

I'm gonna edit video now and hopefully get one up before we have to leave this hotel.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Ole' Toledo.

Today is the first day of the Major/Minor Tour. We are kickin' it off in PARTY CENTRAL aka TOLEDO, OHIO. We will be partyin' even a little bit harder tonight because not only is it the first day of tour, but its also Pat Dee's birthday. I like how I act like I party real hard.

Starting a tour also gets me in the mood to blog, which is why I'm returning to blog mode.

The following video also gets me in the mood to party and blog.

texas and toast twitterin' scene from tony hartman on Vimeo.



That's right, the first episode of TEXAS AND TOAST will be finished soon. The world doesn't know what's coming!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Travellin'

Here is a short list of all the places that I've been in the United States in which Ticketmaster has sold tickets for that particular show. I wish I also had the list of shows without Ticketmaster tickets and shows in other countries because I think this list would be 5 times as long!

Sun 08/13/00 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Mon 08/28/00 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 09/29/00 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 10/20/00 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Sat 03/16/02 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Wed 05/01/02 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 02/21/03 The Palace Gainesville, FL
Sat 02/22/03 Jannus Landing Saint Petersburg, FL
Mon 09/08/03 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Wed 09/10/03 Webster Underground Hartford, CT
Fri 09/26/03 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Sat 09/27/03 Metropol Pittsburgh, PA
Thu 10/16/03 Showplace Theatre Buffalo, NY
Thu 11/06/03 Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL
Sun 11/23/03 Bogart's Cincinnati, OH
Tue 11/25/03 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
Sat 11/29/03 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Sun 11/30/03 Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza New York, NY
Fri 12/26/03 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Mon 12/29/03 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Tue 12/30/03 Fletcher's Baltimore, MD
Fri 01/02/04 Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza New York, NY
Sat 02/28/04 Club Laga Pittsburgh, PA
Mon 03/01/04 Lincoln Theatre Raleigh, NC
Wed 03/03/04 Recher Theatre Towson, MD
Mon 04/19/04 The Palladium Worcester, MA
Tue 04/20/04 Mr. Small's Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Wed 04/28/04 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Sun 05/02/04 Flanagan's Dublin Columbus, OH
Tue 05/04/04 Jillian's Entertainment Center Covington, KY
Fri 05/07/04 Shelter Detroit, MI
Sat 05/15/04 House Of Blues Chicago, IL
Fri 06/11/04 Theatre Of The Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
Sat 06/12/04 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Fri 06/18/04 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Sat 06/19/04 Mr. Small's Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Sun 06/20/04 Klub Phenomenon Freeport, IL
Mon 07/26/04 Shelter Detroit, MI
Wed 10/20/04 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Sat 10/23/04 The Intersection - Showroom Grand Rapids, MI
Sun 10/24/04 Knights Of Columbus Hall Indianapolis, IN
Tue 10/26/04 Clutch Cargo's Pontiac, MI
Wed 10/27/04 Odeon Concert Club Cleveland, OH
Fri 10/29/04 The Chance Theatre Poughkeepsie, NY
Sat 10/30/04 Chameleon Lancaster, PA
Sun 10/31/04 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Mon 11/01/04 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Thu 11/04/04 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Fri 11/05/04 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Tue 11/09/04 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
Wed 11/24/04 Theatre Of The Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
Sun 12/26/04 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Tue 12/28/04 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Thu 12/30/04 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Sun 01/23/05 Agora Ballroom Cleveland, OH
Fri 02/11/05 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA
Wed 02/16/05 Rock Island Denver, CO
Mon 02/21/05 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Sat 04/09/05 House Of Blues Cleveland, OH
Fri 04/15/05 Meridian Veterans Club Butler, PA
Sat 04/16/05 The Orange Street Garage Akron, OH
Sun 05/01/05 Convention Hall Asbury Park, NJ
Mon 05/02/05 Living Room Providence, RI
Tue 05/03/05 Valentine's Albany, NY
Wed 05/04/05 Higher Ground - Ballroom South Burlington, VT
Thu 05/05/05 Axis Boston, MA
Fri 05/06/05 The Vault Port Jervis, NY
Sat 05/07/05 The Continental New York, NY
Sun 05/08/05 Webster Underground Hartford, CT
Mon 05/09/05 Dave Glicker's Downtown Farmingdale, NY
Tue 05/10/05 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
Wed 05/11/05 Tremont Music Hall Charlotte, NC
Fri 05/13/05 Thee Imperial Jacksonville, FL
Sun 05/15/05 Orpheum Tampa, FL
Mon 05/16/05 Will's Pub Orlando, FL
Tue 05/17/05 Planet Rock Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach, SC
Wed 05/18/05 123 Pleasant St. Morgantown, WV
Thu 05/19/05 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Sun 05/22/05 Agora Theatre Cleveland, OH
Mon 05/23/05 Shelter Detroit, MI
Tue 05/24/05 Shorewood Legion Hall Milwaukee, WI
Wed 05/25/05 The Bottom Lounge Chicago, IL
Thu 05/26/05 House Of Bricks Des Moines, IA
Fri 05/27/05 Community Center Jefferson, SD
Sat 05/28/05 Creepy Crawl St. Louis, MO
Sun 05/29/05 El Torreon Kansas City, MO
Mon 05/30/05 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
Tue 05/31/05 Club Boomva Ogden, UT
Wed 06/01/05 The Boardwalk Orangevale, CA
Thu 06/02/05 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
Fri 06/03/05 Majestic Ventura Theatre Ventura, CA
Sat 06/04/05 House Of Blues West Hollywood, CA
Sun 06/05/05 Glass House Pomona, CA
Mon 06/06/05 Modified Phoenix, AZ
Wed 06/08/05 Galaxy Club Dallas, TX
Fri 06/10/05 The Brickhouse Saint Albans, WV
Wed 06/22/05 The Palladium Worcester, MA
Thu 06/23/05 Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence, RI
Fri 06/24/05 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Sun 06/26/05 Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Hampton Beach, NH
Mon 06/27/05 The Baycenter Dewey Beach, DE
Thu 06/30/05 Theatre Of The Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
Fri 07/01/05 Webster Theater Hartford, CT
Sat 07/02/05 Water St. Music Hall Rochester, NY
Wed 07/06/05 Odeon Concert Club Cleveland, OH
Thu 07/07/05 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
Fri 07/08/05 St. Andrews Hall Detroit, MI
Sat 07/09/05 Bogart's Cincinnati, OH
Sun 07/10/05 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Wed 07/13/05 Jannus Landing Saint Petersburg, FL
Thu 07/14/05 Revolution Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fri 07/15/05 Hard Rock Cafe / Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
Sat 07/16/05 Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre Atlanta, GA
Sun 07/17/05 House Of Blues New Orleans, LA
Mon 07/18/05 The Meridian Houston, TX
Fri 07/22/05 House Of Blues Anaheim, CA
Sat 07/23/05 House Of Blues Anaheim, CA
Sun 07/24/05 House Of Blues San Diego, CA
Mon 07/25/05 House Of Blues Las Vegas, NV
Tue 07/26/05 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
Wed 07/27/05 Roseland Theater Portland, OR
Thu 07/28/05 Showbox At The Market Seattle, WA
Fri 07/29/05 Croatian Cultural Centre Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Tue 08/02/05 The New Oasis Sparks, NV
Thu 08/04/05 Mesa Theater & Club Grand Junction, CO
Fri 08/05/05 CityLights Pavilion Denver, CO
Sat 08/06/05 Beaumont Club Kansas City, MO
Sun 08/07/05 Cain's Ballroom Tulsa, OK
Tue 08/09/05 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
Wed 08/10/05 The Blue Note Columbia, MO
Thu 08/11/05 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Fri 08/12/05 The Rave Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI
Sat 08/13/05 Wheaton Grand Theatre Wheaton, IL
Sat 10/01/05 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Tue 11/29/05 Knitting Factory New York, NY
Thu 12/01/05 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
Fri 12/02/05 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Sat 12/03/05 NorVa Norfolk, VA
Sun 12/04/05 Toad's Place New Haven, CT
Mon 12/05/05 North Star Bar Philadelphia, PA
Tue 12/06/05 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
Thu 12/08/05 The Loft Poughkeepsie, NY
Fri 12/09/05 The Palladium Worcester, MA
Sun 12/11/05 Icon Buffalo, NY
Mon 12/12/05 Alvin's Detroit, MI
Tue 12/13/05 Beat Kitchen Chicago, IL
Wed 12/14/05 House Of Bricks Des Moines, IA
Thu 12/15/05 Ascot Room Minneapolis, MN
Sat 12/17/05 Hi-Dive Denver, CO
Sun 12/18/05 Black Sheep Colorado Springs, CO
Mon 12/19/05 The Clubhouse Music Venue Tempe, AZ
Tue 12/20/05 The Clubhouse Music Venue Tempe, AZ
Wed 12/21/05 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA
Sat 01/21/06 The Hangout Edinboro, PA
Fri 01/27/06 Shelter Detroit, MI
Sat 01/28/06 The Journey Madison, WI
Sun 01/29/06 Metro / Smart Bar Chicago, IL
Mon 01/30/06 Ascot Room Minneapolis, MN
Tue 01/31/06 Sokol Auditorium / Underground Omaha, NE
Wed 02/01/06 The Bottleneck Lawrence, KS
Thu 02/02/06 Marquis Theater Denver, CO
Sat 02/04/06 The Avalon Theater Salt Lake City, UT
Sun 02/05/06 Bourbon Street Saloon Boise, ID
Mon 02/06/06 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Tue 02/07/06 Rock-N-Roll Pizza Portland, OR
Thu 02/09/06 Slim's San Francisco, CA
Fri 02/10/06 The Boardwalk Orangevale, CA
Sat 02/11/06 Jerry's Pizza & Pub Bakersfield, CA
Sun 02/12/06 The Alley Las Vegas, NV
Tue 02/14/06 SOMA San Diego San Diego, CA
Wed 02/15/06 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA
Thu 02/16/06 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA
Fri 02/17/06 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
Sat 02/18/06 The Clubhouse Music Venue Tempe, AZ
Sat 02/18/06 The Starlite Room Edmonton, AB, CANADA
Sun 02/19/06 Launchpad Albuquerque, NM
Wed 03/08/06 Shelter Detroit, MI
Thu 03/09/06 House Of Blues Chicago, IL
Fri 03/10/06 Creepy Crawl St. Louis, MO
Sat 03/11/06 The Rave Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI
Sun 03/12/06 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Mon 03/13/06 Concert Hall At Ramada Winnipeg, MB, CANADA
Wed 03/15/06 The Starlite Room Edmonton, AB, CANADA
Thu 03/16/06 MacEwan Conference And Event Centre Calgary, AB, CANADA
Sat 03/18/06 Richard's On Richards Cabaret Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Mon 03/20/06 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Wed 03/22/06 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
Thu 03/23/06 Senator Theatre Chico, CA
Fri 03/24/06 Downtown Brewing Company San Luis Obispo, CA
Sat 03/25/06 House Of Blues Anaheim, CA
Mon 04/10/06 The Crowbar State College, PA
Tue 04/11/06 Knitting Factory New York, NY
Wed 04/12/06 North Star Bar Philadelphia, PA
Thu 04/13/06 Axis Boston, MA
Fri 04/14/06 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
Sat 04/15/06 School of Rock East South Hackensack, NJ
Mon 04/17/06 Webster Theatre / Underground Hartford, CT
Tue 04/18/06 Chameleon Lancaster, PA
Wed 04/19/06 Icon Buffalo, NY
Thu 04/20/06 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 04/21/06 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
Sat 04/22/06 Shelter Detroit, MI
Sun 04/23/06 Metro / Smart Bar Chicago, IL
Tue 04/25/06 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Thu 04/27/06 Marquis Theater Denver, CO
Sat 04/29/06 The Avalon Theater Salt Lake City, UT
Mon 05/01/06 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
Tue 05/02/06 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Thu 05/04/06 Slim's San Francisco, CA
Fri 05/05/06 The Boardwalk Orangevale, CA
Sun 05/07/06 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA
Mon 05/08/06 The Epicentre San Diego, CA
Tue 05/09/06 Rock N Java Las Vegas, NV
Wed 05/10/06 The Clubhouse Music Venue Tempe, AZ
Fri 05/12/06 The Door In Dallas Dallas, TX
Thu 06/22/06 Emo's Austin, TX
Fri 06/23/06 Skate Park Bridge City, TX
Tue 06/27/06 Amphitheatre @ Sandcastle Pittsburgh, PA
Thu 06/29/06 Mississippi Nights St. Louis, MO
Fri 06/30/06 The Blue Note Columbia, MO
Sat 07/01/06 Sokol Auditorium / Underground Omaha, NE
Sun 07/02/06 Hawkeye Downs Speedway Cedar Rapids, IA
Tue 07/04/06 Summerfest Grounds Milwaukee, WI
Wed 07/05/06 Metro / Smart Bar Chicago, IL
Thu 07/06/06 Temple Club Lansing, MI
Sat 07/08/06 Rex Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Wed 07/12/06 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Thu 07/13/06 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Fri 07/14/06 LCMR Auditorium Cape May, NJ
Sun 07/16/06 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Mon 07/17/06 Toad's Place New Haven, CT
Tue 07/18/06 Saratoga Winners Cohoes, NY
Wed 07/19/06 Water St. Music Hall Rochester, NY
Thu 07/20/06 Chameleon Lancaster, PA
Fri 07/21/06 Ritual Live Levittown, NY
Mon 07/24/06 NorVa Norfolk, VA
Thu 07/27/06 The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
Sat 07/29/06 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
Sun 07/30/06 The State Theatre Saint Petersburg, FL
Tue 08/01/06 House Of Blues New Orleans, LA
Fri 08/04/06 White Rabbit - Main Stage San Antonio, TX
Sat 08/05/06 River Stage Pavilion San Angelo, TX
Sun 08/06/06 Dos Amigos Odessa, TX
Tue 08/08/06 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
Wed 08/09/06 The Clubhouse Music Venue Tempe, AZ
Thu 08/10/06 House Of Blues San Diego, CA
Fri 08/11/06 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA
Sat 08/12/06 Jillian's Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
Tue 08/15/06 Glass House Pomona, CA
Sun 08/20/06 WOW Hall Eugene, OR
Mon 08/21/06 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
Tue 08/22/06 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Wed 08/23/06 Knitting Factory Concert House Spokane, WA
Fri 08/25/06 Kruzer's Parking Lot Twin Falls, ID
Sun 08/27/06 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
Mon 08/28/06 Midnight Rodeo Amarillo, TX
Sun 10/15/06 Knitting Factory New York, NY
Sat 10/28/06 Mr. Small's Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
Sat 11/04/06 School of Rock East South Hackensack, NJ
Sun 11/05/06 Webster Theatre / Underground Hartford, CT
Mon 11/06/06 The ICC Allston, MA
Wed 11/08/06 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
Sun 11/12/06 Greene Street Greensboro, NC
Tue 11/14/06 Sector 7G Augusta, GA
Wed 11/15/06 Back Booth Orlando, FL
Thu 11/16/06 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fri 11/17/06 Fuel Jacksonville, FL
Sat 11/18/06 1982 Bar Gainesville, FL
Mon 11/20/06 Walter's On Washington Houston, TX
Tue 11/21/06 Stubb's Bar-B-Q / Waller Creek Amph. Austin, TX
Wed 11/22/06 The Door In Dallas Dallas, TX
Fri 11/24/06 Skrappy's Tucson, AZ
Sat 11/25/06 The Sets Tempe, AZ
Sun 11/26/06 Hot Monkey Love Cafe San Diego, CA
Tue 11/28/06 Knitting Factory Hollywood - Front Room Los Angeles, CA
Wed 11/29/06 Chain Reaction Anaheim, CA
Thu 11/30/06 The Boardwalk Orangevale, CA
Fri 12/01/06 Rock-N-Roll Pizza Portland, OR
Sat 12/02/06 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Sun 12/03/06 Bourbon Street Saloon Boise, ID
Tue 12/05/06 Bleachers Provo, UT
Wed 12/06/06 Marquis Theater Denver, CO
Thu 12/07/06 Grand Emporium Kansas City, MO
Fri 12/08/06 House Of Bricks Des Moines, IA
Sat 12/09/06 The Loft Madison, WI
Sun 12/10/06 Headliners Toledo, OH
Mon 12/11/06 SoZo State College, PA
Fri 03/02/07 LaBele Theatre South Charleston, WV
Fri 04/06/07 The Loft Madison, WI
Sat 04/07/07 Magic Stick Detroit, MI
Mon 04/09/07 House Of Bricks Des Moines, IA
Wed 04/11/07 The Rock Papillion, NE
Thu 04/12/07 Creepy Crawl St. Louis, MO
Fri 04/13/07 The Basement Columbus, OH
Sat 04/14/07 The Hangout Edinboro, PA
Sun 04/15/07 Icon Buffalo, NY
Mon 04/16/07 School of Rock East South Hackensack, NJ
Tue 04/17/07 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
Wed 04/18/07 Knitting Factory New York, NY
Thu 04/19/07 Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub Cambridge, MA
Fri 04/20/07 The Station Portland, ME
Sat 04/21/07 Living Room Providence, RI
Sun 04/22/07 Webster Theatre / Underground Hartford, CT
Mon 04/23/07 Crocodile Rock Cafe Allentown, PA
Thu 04/26/07 School of Rock East South Hackensack, NJ
Fri 04/27/07 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
Sat 04/28/07 Diesel Club Lounge Pittsburgh, PA
Sat 07/14/07 Italian Club Charleroi, PA
Fri 07/20/07 Metro / Smart Bar Chicago, IL
Sat 11/17/07 Diesel Club Lounge Pittsburgh, PA
Thu 01/24/08 Safari Sam's Los Angeles, CA
Tue 03/25/08 Knitting Factory New York, NY
Fri 06/27/08 Harpers Ferry Allston, MA
Sun 08/31/08 Gravity Cheswick, PA
Wed 09/17/08 FYE on Broad St Philadelphia, PA
Thu 09/18/08 FYE Record Store Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 09/19/08 Hot Topic Harrisburg, PA
Fri 09/19/08 Champion Ship Lemoyne, PA
Sat 09/20/08 Apache Cafe Atlanta, GA
Sat 09/27/08 Diesel Club Lounge Pittsburgh, PA
Fri 10/10/08 Club Paradise Buffalo, NY
Sat 10/11/08 The Hangout Edinboro, PA
Fri 10/24/08 Marlboro Rec Comm. Marlboro, NJ
Sat 10/25/08 Crocodile Rock Cafe Allentown, PA
Sun 10/26/08 Tink's Scranton, PA
Fri 10/31/08 Jaggard Methodist Church Altoona, PA
Wed 11/05/08 Agora Ballroom Cleveland, OH
Thu 11/06/08 Frankie's Inner-City Toledo, OH
Fri 11/07/08 Portage 9 Portage, IN
Sat 11/08/08 Metro / Smart Bar Chicago, IL
Sun 11/09/08 Mac's Bar Lansing, MI
Wed 11/12/08 Water St. Music Hall Rochester, NY
Thu 11/13/08 Point Beach Clubhouse Milford, CT
Fri 11/14/08 Community Center Penacook, NH
Sat 11/15/08 Vibe Lounge Rockville Centre, NY
Sun 11/16/08 Middle East Upstairs Cambridge, MA
Fri 11/28/08 Belle Vernon High School Auditorium Belle Vernon, PA
Fri 12/05/08 Sterling Community Center Sterling, VA
Sat 12/06/08 Harmony Grange Wilmington, DE
Sun 12/07/08 Pikesville Bowling Center Pikesville, MD
Thu 12/11/08 Skelletones Grand Rapids, MI
Fri 12/12/08 Hayloft Liquor Stand Mount Clemens, MI
Sat 12/13/08 E.S. Jungle Indianapolis, IN
Sun 12/14/08 LaBele Theatre South Charleston, WV
Sat 03/07/09 Diesel Club Lounge Pittsburgh, PA

Friday, February 20, 2009

bananas.

Today is Day 3 of shooting for the Ghostie video. Everything is going great so far. I was in makeup a whole lot yesterday. First I had to get a second face put on top of my regular face. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Then after a very quick shoot, I had to scrub lots of glue off of my face and then get painted orange and have a banana attached to my forehead. I definitely enjoyed having a banana head. If humans got to choose what they looked like and everyone had a real original look, I think I'd go with the orange skin/banana forehead combo. I think it looked good on me, and Sarah thought the orange really brought out my eyes. Even if I can't be orange or a banana head, I would still like to definitely try to start wearing that all white sweatsuit that I got.

Andre did great in his part of the video. I think he's the next Benji or Beethoven. My face hurts from scrubbin'.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Fantastic Valentine's Weekend.

Had an absolutely great weekend. Tony came down on Thursday and we practiced our Whistle Pig set for the big show on Friday night in Altoona. We practiced it ourselves, and then in front of a great audience which included Sarah, Andre, and Andre's toy Mason. Here is a video from Thursday night.



Tony and I then stayed up very late leaving a ton of videos on people's facebook walls, and we also did some great video responses to some of our favorite Youtube celebrities (like John McQuilkin, Christiethepup, etc...)

Friday was a very big day. Tony and I once again practiced, and played Tetris on Wii. I got 428 lines on Tetris, by far my best score of all-time, including when I was in middle school and would go down to the computer lab every morning and turn on all the computers for Mr. Romanchak and spend my entire homeroom period playing Tetris.

"I'm gonna put you in the garbage can, sir" - Mr. Romanchak

The show went very well. I was a little nervous about my singing parts during the Punchline acoustic set, but I think I ended up doing alright. I have this thing where I can sing my harmonies perfect when its just Steve, Belan and I in the room playing together, but when you bring microphones into the equation I sometimes don't sing as well. I think I did well though. I should have some of that footage up soon. Here is a little after-show footage...



Anthony and Trevor were both great at that show as usual.

I think our Whistle Pig set went well too, especially for our first one ever (other than our set in Red Lion, PA with Seether at some sort of arena).

Here is a clip from it.



I spent Saturday with Sarah celebrating Valentine's day. I got her a Sheetz breakfast burrito and hash brown which she totally loved. Later on, I cooked a fancy dinner of Rosemary Chicken and Balsamic Raviolis. I capitalized the fist letter of each word to stress the fact that it was Fancy. I think she really enjoyed the dinner. We also had some Fancy Wine and watched the perfect Valentine's Day movie - Hot Rod starring Andy Samberg. I hope it was the best V-day of her life. Maybe she'll leave me a comment and let me know if it was.

On a side note, Sarah and I can also eat an entire shrimp ring in about 5 minutes (but only while watching The Secret Life of An Amercian Teenager). On another side note, The Secret Life of An American Teenager is one of the worst shows I've ever watched, which is probably what led me to so ravenously eat shrimp. The one good thing about it is that Bacala from The Sopranos is on it. I love Bacala. Here's one of my favorite Bacala scenes!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The show of all shows tomorrow.

I have been neglecting my blog for over a week now. That's not even right. Its mainly been because I've been way too busy writing songs and making animations to be spendin' any time at all bloggin'! I'll be headin' down to Pittsburgh in about half an hour to have one more acoustic practice with my buddies Steve and Belan, and then I'll come home to spend the night rehearsing with my good buddy Tony Hartman for our first Whistle Pig show tomorrow. It'll surely be a great show, I'm just really hoping that I don't mess up my singing parts during the Punchline acoustic set. I also hope that I don't read Whistle Pig poetry with anything less than pure ferocity. Here is an animation I made.



Next week, we'll be filming at new music video for Ghostie at the Tom Savini school. I can't wait to paint myself orange and have my arm fall off. Should be very very great. I'm also planning an all-out animated video for My White-Collared Shirt. Speaking of that song, its probably my favorite song to play live now.

I watched American Idol last night and I hate the scenester-lookin' kid with the tight red pants. I'm so mad he made it into the final 36. My favorite dude was the big bald dude with the fu manchu. He's awesome.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I made a commercial today.

Today I woke up very inspired to make a great commercial for our March 7th show at Club Diesel. This is what I came up with.



I'm looking very forward to our upcoming shows. Our next show is an acoustic one in Altoona next Friday. Tony and I will also be doing our first WHISTLE PIG set, and I'm pretty sure we're going to BRING THE HOUSE DOWN. I'm also pretty sure that we're going to make a Whistle Pig television show.

I think a lot of my goals are outlined in this tube.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Its Whistle Pig Day!

How could I possibly not blog on Whistle Pig Day? Today marks the official release of Whistle Pig. I hope Tony is enjoying this day as much as I am. Even though I didn't make the trip to Punxsatawney today, I still watched it on TV. My favorite member of the Inner Circle is definitely The Ice Man. Here he is.



I have to also mention in my blog that the Steelers won the Super Bowl last night. People celebrated the right way in Pittsburgh by burning couches in the middle of the street. I tried lighting mine on fire but it wouldn't catch.

I guess I haven't blogged about another important thing that happened, that being that PJ left the band. I didn't completely see it coming. Its pretty weird, but I'm doing my best to remain positive about everything. Jeff Kopanic is playing with us at all our upcoming shows, and after just one practice he could easily play a show with us. His first one with us will be on February 24th. I think he's ready.

I've been spending the past week writing a whole lot of songs. Writing songs is fun.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Gorgeous Books!

Today was a very eventful day in my life. First of all, I got a copy of Whistle Pig in the mail (which means that Tony and I are now officially on our way to GETTING BIG IN '09). Here is a picture of me being genuinely happy to have written a book with my good buddy.



Today was also very eventful because I went and bought a new vacuum sweeper. Its a Hoover, and I think Hoover is a brand you can trust. I bought a Bissell from Wal-marts a few months back and it already broke. Life rule: you cannot get a quality vacuum sweeper for 40 bucks at Wal-marts. For quality, you at least gotta drop a Benjamin on one. I even bought a warranty for my new Hoover! I was going to take a picture of it because its gorgeous, but I don't feel like it at the moment. Maybe next blog.

Last night was a very eventful night as well. I will soon blog about what happened, but not yet. Its big.

Tomorrow I plan on meeting Tony in Cranberry, PA to make plenty of blogs, commercials, and Whistlepods. We also are going to figure out how to sell 400,000 copies of our book so we can just write great kids books for a living. After I meet with Tony, I plan on meeting with my bandmates in Pittsburgh to make some more plans. I will follow up both of those meetings with friends on Friday with a meeting with my old friend Josh to plan on making a great video. That last sentence may have been a bit confusingly worded. Well anyway, Josh has access to a great green screen. This is a good thing.

Steve wrote and demo'd four songs that I think are amazing. I can listen to them on repeat even though I'm in the same band with him because I love the songs he writes. I am very proud to be in a band with him! I think we will make another 9 or 10 albums together in the next 9 or 10 years. I'd like to be part of making 10 albums, 15 books, 3 movies, and 14 cakes over the next 10 years. Yep, sounds like a plan.

Here's a great video I blog I made, featuring some great Andre bath footage.

Lana and Sue

I emailed the people at Pets Without Parents (the place where I got Andre) and sent them some pictures and videos of him, and they've sent me a bunch of emails back, but this is one of the best ones...

Hi Chris,

I forwarded your video to Lana and Sue who are the owners of Springwood Cabins in the Hocking Hills area and also the women who fostered Andre and his litter since they were 5 days old! Needless to say they loved the video as they'd gotten very attached to them. Below is their email address. They asked me to give it to you in the hopes that you'd continue to send them updates, pictures and of course....more videos!!

Email address:
info@springwoodcabins.com

In case you're unfamiliar with Andre's story, he and his littermates were found alone in a field at 5 days old. No mother in sight and Lana and Sue bottle fed them all until they were old enough to eat on their own (6-7 weeks old). If you are unfamiliar with what this entails - let me tell you, it's a lot of time and sleepless nights! These women are the best rescue workers we know. They are very committed. Emails like yours make their day and validate all the energy they put into their work.

Thanks again Chris for your willingness to "share" Andre with all of us.

Meg
PWP Volunteer