Roanoke...you bore me.

Apparently we are down the street from the largest mall in southwestern Virgina. In bigger news, I don't care.

We're not too far from Virginia Tech, and today is the one-year anniversary of the massacre there. There's definitely a somber mood around here, so we'll be checking out of this Best Western in a minute and moving on to the last show of this mini-tour, which is at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.

There's also some potential HUGE CRAZY news coming up regarding the band...but you'll have to wait and see.

Don't call it a comeback!

It is a comeback, I guess...either way, I am back on the road with A Place To Bury Strangers. We're currently in Asheville, North Carolina. What's here? Some bars, some stores, and A WHOLE LOT OF SMELLY HIPPIES. Jesus H. Christ, this place is teeming with them. Well, look at the restaurants here, what would you expect?





But it's all good, no hippie beatdowns today...yet. The show is at The Grey Eagle, a pretty cool spot, and there's a Cajun restaurant here that serves gator so my day is made. Tomorrow we head to Athens, Georgia, the town that Stipe built.

Damn, I hate hippies.

On the Pacific Rim.

So I've spent the last 5 days in California. I don't have a solid grip on what I think of it yet. It's definitely a nice change of pace, weather-wise. The views are amazing. I got a really cool tour of L.A. from APTBS's old bassist Tim. Saw Merv Griffin's house, and yeah, it's as big as you think it might be. No camera this time, so pictures will have to wait till the next tour.

I'm in San Diego now, and the sunset is crazy. The women here are something else, too. Back home, you know exactly what you're getting into, because within 5 minutes they'll tell you exactly what they want, what's wrong with you and everything you've ever done. Here, it's a little more mystery. A little more spacey too, but it's interesting.

Overall, California is a good time. Next time I'll have some more time here in SoCal, but so far it's been good. But I know I could never live here.

Next stop: Tucson, Arizona.

It's my jack in a box!

Who does this? We do.

Califor-ny-aye.

We're in the sunshine state, at last. We drove down yesterday morning/afternoon, and it was quite enjoyable. Northern California is like nowhere I've ever been. The vegetation, the landscape, it's like another planet. We stopped in the town of Mount Shasta, next to the mountain of the same name (pictured above). It's crazy seeing snow-topped hills when the temperature around you is a pleasant 65. Oh, did I mention that? Yeah, I'm in San Francisco and it's about 70 degrees out. Sorry to rub it in. Actually, no I'm not.

Right now APTBS is doing a session at Daytrotter studios, and are performing as part of the Noise Pop Festival tonight here in SF.

I've never seen the Pacific before, and I gotta say it's pretty cool. We've gone over 4,000 miles at this point, coast to coast. I don't know what to make of this place yet - everyone has a different opinion on California, and I always figured I wouldn't like it - but we'll see how it is after the San Diego show.

Coming down the mountain.

Descending from the highlands at the California/Oregon border looked something like this. The drive was pretty incredible, not Rockies incredible, but close.

You can still rock in America.

It's good to be home. I learned a few things in Canada:

1. The girls there are like American girls, except for the fact that they're unassuming and nice.
2. It's 40 dollars for a 24-pack of Budweiser. It's an import there.
3. Their currency SUCKS. Why they haven't come up with a 1 dollar bill yet, I do not know. Screw that change!
4. There's an A&W in every town.
5. I will never complain about the weather again.

Going there also reaffirmed my love for the USA. The first thing I did after we crossed the border (after playing The Star-Spangled Banner) was order a giant chicken sandwich and potato salad. No gravy on that!

We're in Seattle at the moment, as you can ascertain from the pictures above. How ironic, then, that today is the day there isn't an open Starbucks in the country. It was almost 60 degrees today, a far cry from the frozen blasts we encountered in Wisconsin and the Dakotas. I probably shouldn't have been reading this book while we drove through frozen wastelands, but it was good for a scare. And it's an awesome read anyway.

I've never been this far west; I'm looking forward to seeing the Pacific for the first time. The desert too. And maybe, just maybe, some Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. We'll see.

Calgary & the Canadian Rockies in pictures and video. Words can't describe.

Edmonton girls love me.

What can I say? It must be the whiskers.

Canadia, you're crazy.

Road trips are fun. Tours are even more fun. Touring from Minneapolis to Winnipeg in late February? Not. Fun.

Let's tell the tale of the last 4 days in pictures, shall we? The band did an in-studio at a college radio station in Minneapolis, which was cool. Apparently people up there love salty nuts.
The next stop was Fargo. Yeah, that's right. Fargo, North Dakota. Where ice forms on the INSIDE of your window. The clip above was from towards the end of the set. The sound is bad, but you can get an idea of what A Place To Bury Strangers do live. I also discovered other things. Like attractive girls exist that far out in the middle of nowhere. Also, they love SPAM. And people actually go to shows in -30 degree temperatures. And bands unload in sketchy back alleys too, apparently.

Then it was on to Canada. Land of cheese fries with gravy, mounties and badass biker gangs. In Regina, Bobby Orr's legacy is immortalized in falling over. There are giant ice mountains. And I heart this place. At least we're not dead yet!

We'll be up in the Great Whit North for a few more days, then be smuggling- I mean crossing back into the good ol' U.S. of A. on Tuesday. You might not hear from me until then, but don't be scared. I might just be snuggling with those cute polar bears from the Coke commercials. They love to hug! And by hug I mean this.