my trip to Arkham

I had a great time last weekend.  well, all last week really, starting on Wednesday.  Me and the guys went down to Nacgodoches to see Brian, to take band pictures, to practice some, and to play a gig or two at open mic sessions.  started off great.  we loaded up and headed out, but my dad’s truck only had a tape player and we only had CDs.  And let me clarify that 3 band members on a road trip = at least $3000 worth of CDs.  seriously.  it’s kinda funny.  and so we went on a zelda quest for batteries for the discman I had plugged into the tape drive.  I needed either a Chevron, Texaco, or Diamond Shamrock in order to use my  gas card to pay for it so we drove on searching for on of the above mentioned… nothing but Shell and Shamrock.  we must have driven 75 miles before we finally found a Texaco… and it was so old that the pumps didn’t have an electronic method of payment.  inside the store I don’t think I could have bought much other than motor oil and a crappy spare tyre.  we drove on and FINALLY found a modern Chevron and stopped there.  Joe broke a $20 buying a 5 cent jolly rancher and I got lots of batteries and a bag o’ chips.  On our Way again and Joe and I unianimously voted to listen to the Aladdin soundtrack.  we made a beauitful duet on A Whole New World that had Joey in stitches of laughter for a good 2 minutes after the song was over.  First thing we did in Nac was find a place to eat.  We stopped off at Ya Sushi expecting $11 dinners and we found $17 dinners instead… but we ate there anyway regardless and it was good food.  the red snapper was mighty tasty.  also we started a chorus of chopstick drumming on our plates cups and the table, and we got a group of girls who had walked in previously to join us in the noisemaking.  it was fun.  then we left our overpriced dinner for a reasonably priced motel room, where we watched some of the most entertaining television programmign in the universe.  I now feel qualified to teach preschool and Kindergarten.  mesmerizing documentary on that.  also some excellent jazz.  Even though it was played by an evil, hunchbacked, nasty-toothed, red-shirted brittish monster.  the bass player looked like Chuck Norris and played like a god.  he was amazing.  all we couls say was “look at Chuck go!”  next morning we had a continental breakfast, which means really stale frootloops, milk that’s been sitting out all morning and tiny muffins.  tiny muffins rock.  we went out shopping then for clothes for the pictures at Mr. G’s Fashions. ….. Yes.  It’s a pimp store.  I bought a black pimp hat and some cufflinks and Joe got some dark green dress clothes.  then we went to Brian’s appartment and it was great to see him again.  we practiced some and Joe hid smarties all over the room.  Even after several months of not playing with us, we didn’t miss a beat and it was a great practice.  after that Jake showed up and we went to Arkham Comics to take pictures.  It’s this little comic shop that Joey used to go to back when he went to school out here, but it was moved and rennovated.  That comic shop is SO FUCKING COOL.  sofa king cool.  they have the giant 6 player X-men arcade cabinet right up front with 2 soda machiens behind it, then you enter into the comics area, with walls lined with comics and a little stand by the register bearing japanese junk foods and candies.  in the back is the gaming room with tons of pewter figurines, dice, magic cards, and a gaming table, then off to the right of the main room is the arcade!  score!  2 different versions of DDR, 2 pool tables, 2 skiball machines, and a whole wall of other great arcade games.  We took some great picks there and then we went to some railroad tracks and finally did a shoot in the woods.  it seriously looked like we were jamming in the middle of the Cambodian jungle.  reddish brown mud and all.  after the pics we ate chicken and then we went to a little coffee shop called Java Jack’s to do an open mic jam.  it was great fun and everyone loved the 3 songs we played so much that they asked us for one more song!  that was the first time that’s ever happened to me at least which was very cool.  We got a smorgasbord of compliments on everything form my voice to our songwriting to our harmonizations which was very cool.  We even sold a T-shirt that we didn’t have yet.  then we packed up and drove over to another place called Rita’s and played the open mic there.  that place was happening and we got just as good of a review at our electric set as we got at our accoustic set earlier.  people were even dancing and singing along to the music which was way way cooler than I could have ever possibly imagined.  Covenant kicks ass.  If you ever hear us live, listen for that song.  anyway that was so badass I can’t say it enough.  both shows were my favourite show yet.  We got invited back to Rita’s to play a full set by the manager because we got such a good response.  after Rita’s we went to Jake’s house and hade drinks and played Halo 2.  Excpet Joe doesn’t drink.  He’s a good boy.  Joey and I are baaaad.  anyway I got pwn3d and then we went to bed on the 3 couches there.  the next morning we spend many dollars playign X-men, and several other arcade games at Arkham Comics, then we bought comics and magic cards and a few start wars figurines to play Star Wars Life with, and then we started the drive home.  We listened to Weird Al, Radiohead, STP, and Weezer on the way back, and it was a blast.  The whole thing was a blast.  then the next night on Saturday we played another gig at the coffee shop in Hutto, Java Rocks.   that was fun too, but nothing like Nac.  my sister is here this week for thanksgiving.  it’s kinda nice to see her again.  she looks pretty good.  like she’s genuinely happy and she’s doing well.  Much better than last time I saw her.  anyway… I still have stuff to say but I’m a windbag.  I’mna go do stuff now.