eddie from ohio journal March, 2005

In like a lion, out like a lamb. Still waiting for the lamb part. In recent weeks we've seen Minneapolis, MN, Madison, WI, Cadillac, MI, Burlington, VT, Syracuse, NY and other outposts of tropical life. Don't get me wrong, the love inside was well worth the cold outside. The audiences have been warm and inviting. It's just that we can't fathom what made you people move to these places in the first place. I know, I know, to each his own. We're just sayin' , that's all.

On the way we've had some memorable moments. The midwest tour was shared with Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, two of our best friends in music. Time spent with them is. . .well, it isn't anything like work, I can tell you that. They also introduced us to a gem of a place on our drive from Minneapolis to Madison: Norskie Nook. This little restaurant, just outside of Eau Claire, WI is a bavarian/scandanavian outpost where the teenage waitresses are all dressed like the St. Pauli Girl and they serve 35 kinds of homemade pie. Yes, boys and girls. Who knew that heaven was in Eau Claire? Anyway, we sat down to plates of hot turkey and roast beef sandwiches (you know, the kind on wonder bread with gravy on top?), homemade beef-vegetable soup, and lots of pie. I had banana cream and cherry (the best cherry pie I've ever had, and I've had a few). Dan blew off lunch and had four pieces of pie instead. Four. You see, there aren't all that many advantages to being a grown-up, but that's one of 'em. If you want to eat four pieces of pie for lunch, who's gonna stop you? Norskie Nook: 5 stars.

Another highlight was driving by the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, OH.

Go to the website: www.solidrockchurch.org before you keep reading this. I'll wait. Ok, see that very very large Jesus reaching for the sky and rising out of the water? Well, in person it's bigger than you can possibly imagine, and it comes up on you out of nowhere, right on the side of the highway. Scared the living crap out of me. A question:

I know I'm just a Jew, but wasn't Jesus the guy who walked on TOP of the water? I'm not sure whether to run away or convert.

So, the band has been reading a lot lately. Don't know what's come over us. Julie has plowed through "The DaVinci Code", "Life of Pi", and "Devil in the White City". Eddie has been buried in the manual for the new digital mastering program that he's added to his basement studio.

Mike has devoured "Still Life with Woodpeckers" by Tom Robbins and "Slapstick" and "Player Piano" by Vonnegut. He's now reading Bob Dylan's autobiography. Turns out Dylan is a genius and an ass. And I didn't even have to read the book. I just finished a great book called "Middlesex", which I think won the Pulitzer Prize a year or two ago, and am currently in the middle of "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Housseini which is breaking my heart with every sentence and which I can't put down for the life of me.

So, that's it from our hotel room here in Stanford, CT. We are about to check out and head to the next show. Maybe we'll see you there.


Robbie