Kia Ora

I left SF to take the dreaded 14 hour flight to Auckland. I was more panicked than usual since I didn't have a seat pre-assigned. There's no way in hell I'm sitting in a middle seat in coach for more than half a day. Luckily my soon-to-be-history elite flier status scored me an exit row seat with legroom for days. Plus they had a ton of great movies on demand. I watched The Darjeeling Limited, Control (the Anton Corbijn movie about Ian Curtis & Joy Division) and some of Casablanca. It ended up being a smooth flight and I touched down in Auckland feeling pretty human. I hit the hotel and slept until about 3. I figured this would keep me relatively safe from jetlag since New Zealand is really only 3 hours behind the west coast, but a day ahead. So time-wise it's not such a big change. I left on a 7pm flight went to sleep and woke up in Auckland at about 5am. Sleep until 3 and I'm pretty much on track. It worked ok at first but got progressively worse as the other elements of jetlag took hold and the circadian rhythyms start to fall apart. After waking up I connected with the rest of the team (minus Kirk & Dan) and took a ferry to Waiheke Island where Claude's wife Ila's family (she's a Kiwi) treated us to an amazing Kiwi barbecue with tons of great, fresh, local food & wine. Huge green-lipped mussels, whitebait fritters (apparently a Kiwi delicacy) and so much more. They live on 5 acres of macadamia trees and it made for a beautiful, relaxing setting. As the sun set, Ila's neice sang a beautiful traditional Maori song from the balcony before we had to head off to catch the last ferry back to Auckland. It was a perfect way to land in New Zealand.

Auckland from the ferry...

Gabe gave a photo shoot on the ferry. Oh that hair!
Glen soaks up the sun...

Ila's auntie's house on Waiheke island...

Gener getting his mussel on...
The next day was show day. We played some weird 80s dance club outside of town a bit. It was a good show and the band played over 3 hours which they haven't done in a while. The crowd deserved it though. It's been like 10 years since Ween played down here, and the kids were psyched.

Mickey in Auckland...

The next day we had a late morning flight to Wellington and a show at a club with the absolutely most ridiculous name ever: The San Francisco Bath House. I mean, I have no problem with the existence of bath house culture in SF or anywhere else, but come on. Who names a rock club after that shit? Ween paid homage, playing Homo Rainbow in the encore. It was a tiny place and a pain in the ass to set up the gig, but the band loves those places and tore it up. The crowd gave it right back and with that we had brought the Ween to New Zealand.

Here's Chip on the patio of the SF Bath House...

High over New Zealand...
Now it's Wednesday and we had a day off in Wellington. The weather was stellar and I set off in a rental car with Claude, Chip and Kirk for some 'splorin. We drove up the coast to Waikanae Beach where we did some wading and had a drink at a cafe where the chef gave us directions to a "bushwalk". After some trial and error we found the trail head and headed off. It was a great trail that criss-crossed a rocky creek a bunch of times before heading straight up the side of a small mountain. It was more exertion than I've experienced in a while and it felt good to be sweating and get the blood pumping. We got pretty far up and found an amazing vista where we sat awhile before turning back. The landscape was unreal. Not unlike California's coast but with all kinds of crazy plants and the incessant sound of cicadas or some such animal. The air here is so clean and fresh it's like I can't suck enough of it in. On our way back to the car Kirk & I detoured for some blackberry picking. A perfect end to a healthy dose of nature. I'm really wishing I was able to come down here early and do some real exploring but I guess there's always next time. It's only the other side of the world. Tomorrow we're off early to fly to Brisbane. Wish me luck.

Waikanae Beach...

Me & Kapiti Island...

Knee deep in the Tasman Sea...

Chip digs the sights...

We worked hard for this view...

Blackberries...


The thing they don't tell you about New Zealand is how cheap the pony poo is...

Port of Departure

Since the idea of flying all the way from NYC to Auckland in one shot seemed like utter madness, I decided to break up the journey with a few days in SF. This was one of my smarter decisions of late. I stayed with Val and borrowed Lucas' car, both of which were key. I got in Tuesday evening, on Wednesday I met Lexi to get the car key at Crepes on Cole, where I had my favorite french toast. Then I cruised up to Marin and did some walking around on Bolinas Ridge. I looped down through Stinson and back over to Mill Valley for lunch at Joe's Taco's, always a destination when I'm back in the area. On my way back to Val's I stopped at Baker Beach. The day topped off with drinks & sushi at Tsunami with Chad & Erin. Not too bad for a layover.

Foggy on the Ridge...

Me at Baker Beach. Note the naked man jogging in the background...
The next day Val & I went to the SFMoMA (after some always-delicious Zazie brunch). There was an exhibit by Olafur Eliasson, an Icelandic artist that does all kinds of crazy interactive stuff with light and whatnot. It was pretty sweet. We also saw a bunch of photography and stuff before getting tired and sick of the children and bailed.

The Kaliedescope Tunnel catwalk from 5 stories down...

Oooohh!!....

Val in the Room For All Colours...

That night we met up with Chad & Erin again to see the new "final" cut of Blade Runner at the Castro. It was pretty amazing, especially there. I love that theater so much.
On Friday I didn't have to leave for the airport until 3 so I drove out to the beach for a walk before jumping on the Muni...and the Bart...and then the airport.

Cleared For Takeoff

The days are starting to slip by faster and faster as the day of departure approaches. Everyone keeps telling me how awesome this upcoming trip sounds, and I guess on paper it does. New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii... all great places to visit, especially in February/March. Of course the reality is that I'll mainly see these places' airports, hotels and venues. Oh and the insides of many, many planes for more hours in 3 weeks than most people spend in their lives. I'm doing my best to adjust my attitude and maximize my chances of enjoying myself, but it's a daunting prospect. Maybe I'll feel better on the other side of a 15 hour coach flight. On the plus side I'll get to spend a few days in SF on my way there. Not only does this serve to break up the journey (I couldn't bear the thought of the 24 hour travel day that is NY>Auckland) but it gives me some time in one of my many hometowns. I've already got my first 5 meals there planned.

In the meantime I've been lazing around NYC. Mom came to visit and we went to the Metropolitan museum. I've now been to 2 art museums in the last couple months. Of course these are the only times I've ever been to a museum in NY. I don't always take advantage of the places I live. The Met was amazing though.
Now it's crunch time. Less than 48hrs until liftoff. Laundry, packing...
The slow season is over.

"So goodbye, so long, the road calls me dear
And your tears cannot bind me anymore,
And farewell to the girl with the sun in her eyes
Can I kiss you, and then I'll be gone."
-Tom Waits

Did You See Me??

OK! After spending 2 days trying to remember my password to update this thing, I have succeeded and am ready to start this shit rolling again. I'm not sure what it was about the last few months but everytime I sat down to write for this thing I just bored myself thinking about it. Maybe my life's been too boring over the winter. After the joy of watching the Red Sox win another world series (which, for the second time felt anti-climactic after the absolute ecstasy of watching them beat the Yankees in the ALCS) I settled in for a long winter's nap. Or series of naps. I did another short tour of the northeast with Ween which was fun but apparently not worth mentioning here. I headed north to Vermont for Xmas which was nice. I definitely miss that sort of lifestyle and the solitude it affords. I took a nice long solo walk around Sodom Pond which is next to my sister's house. The fresh air, exercise and solitude went a long way.

Here's me contemplating it all...

And the abandoned truck I sat on to do so...

I just returned home from the last of the US Ween for a while. We did a little swing thru the southeast, ending with 3 shows in Florida. I couldn't help thinking as we drove across from St. Pete to Ft. Lauderdale that the whole place will be underwater in my lifetime. I count that as no great loss. Ween tour (and to a lesser degree, tour in general) is similar to how I've heard war described. Long periods of boredom punctuated with short bursts of terror (or in our case, rock). There's way too much downtime spent in places that have zero cultural offerings (and I'm not looking for museums and avant-garde film here, just a restaurant that isn't Nascar themed). So I spent a lot of time napping, reading, and watching Arrested Development DVDs.
I flew home just in time to watch the Patriots embarrass themselves and all of New England with a joke of a performance in the Superbowl. I could shrug that loss off so much easier if it weren't for the fact that a) the Giants are my second most hated team (after the Cowboys) and b) I live in NYC and have to be subjected to the douchebaggery that is NY sports fans. Whatever, the Yankees still choked far worse and the Giants don't even play in NY. They're from fucking Jersey for christ's sake. So now I'm enjoying the next couple weeks off before I head down under for a 'pacific rim' tour with Ween. We're doing New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii, which I know sounds great, and I'm sure it will be in its way. However, you can't imagine how much time I'll be spending on airplanes during that 3 weeks. I get sick just thinking about it. And on that note, I'll leave you with some (mostly) Ween pics.

This was the view from my hotel in St. Pete. It's where the Yankees do spring training. I couldn't help but daydream about sitting in that room and sniping Joba Chamberlain from the comfort of my desk chair...

Mickey digging in...

Dave sings Ace of Spades...

Rock 101: The big ending...

And take a bow...

The kids can't get enough...