After arriving we had the rest of the day off in Wolverhampton with all the excitement that it implies.  We played the Civic Hall there and it was a good first show, we had a good crowd and just a little bit of first night jitters.  The opening bands are great (so you should show up for the whole show). First up is "The Quill" from Sweden who are doing a heavy blues rock thing at times reminiscent of Soundgarden, I think the rythym section used to be in Firebird. Next up is Oslo Norways mighty "Glucifer" who fuse garage rock and a stoogey/dolls attack to form a unique powerful take on what should be circa 2004, their now album "Automatic Thrill" is great. 

The Nottingham show at Rockcity was real good and a local poster maker did a cool silk screened poster for the s how, the Manchester show was also real crowded and quite rockin'. The worst part so far has been load out where we fit a ton of equipment into a tiny trailer, it's like playing tetris with 200lb weights. 

Today is a day off in Dublin where there is much Guinness to be drunk, the Guinness over here is so amazing compared to the stuff back home, nobody really has a good reason why either. The explanations I've gotten have varied from Irish potato demons and St. Patricks ghost to "America just gets the bar mat squeazings from Guinness taps". 

I'm tired, goodbye.

Time to drink, until next time.

The shows have been really packed, probably the best crowds so far have been in the SwedeNorFinnish area. 

The most exciting part has has been the really long (15 hour) ferry between Stockholm and Helsinki, on the way over we had really nice cabins with windows and running water. We were entertained at the disco by a troop of Tyrolean chedde-wurst dancers who thru many garish costume changes and inexplicable dances showed us that chedder-wurst connects many people, cultures, and their pets.

On the way back from Helsinki we ended up with tickets that could best be desribed as "prisoner class" gone were the rooms and bedding instead it was one large deck (below the car decks) with a few hammocks set up on the walls and for entertainment we watched old finnish women chase around and killing rats with a stick to put in our porridege (one helping only).

Yes, it's a great life in the navy
My head hurts, bye

thank you.

On a sad note, Jimmy Bags advice column "THE BAG HUTCH (no shit)" will not be running due to it was a figment of my imagination.

Recent shows; we played an old slaughterhouse in Dresden on a rainy day which was as cheery as it sounds. Next up was a short 16 hour drive to Warsaw which included a 4 hour Polish border stop (where nobody spoke any discernible language and the entire debacle was conducted through mime) and a 2 hour "dead body on the road stop" which I hear is a common occurrence. The rest of the ride seemed like we were driving through peoples backyards, over train tracks and on pre-war (W.W.I) roads. Poland itself was grey and there were giant factories that made gloom (not gloom like early Cure records, but real lonely, oppressive, suicidal, sad clown, crippled child, 3 legged dog gloom). We were late so it was a giant clusterfuck and there was the usual language barrier (did I learn Esperanto for nothing?), but it was a real good show.  On an epicurean note, when in Warsaw don't eat cold watery tomato soup. It doesn't taste bad but after a few hours it feels like a dozen badgers are trapped in your intestines fighting to get out. The type of stomach ailment that even Bromo-Seltzer can't fix.

Next up Prague, which is stunningly beautiful almost unbelievable, tons of old amazing buildings wedged together on winding streets. There seems to be two Pragues however, the everyday touristy one which is full of Franz Kafka action figures, knock-off Russian bullshit ("it's the same ice-pick that was used on Trotsky, really.") and those egg like dolls that open up and there's a smaller doll inside (repeat until sleepy). Then at say 11p.m. all the tourist stuff vanishes and another Prague slinks out, not the kind of stuff that has made Prague one of the porn capitols of the world, but a nightime population consisting mostly of pickpockets, not so subtle prostitutes (they walk up and say : "sex?"), shifty cab drivers and general nogoodnicks. I have never seen such a dramatic shift in street life. The show was really good, great crowd, however a word of advice for any band that is booked at the Palace Akropolis, beware (everything).

Well that's about it, just enough time to answer some letters:

To S. Cook of Bayonne : Shave it, let it heal, shave it again, and remember; ointment, ointment, ointment.

To Mr. X of Latvia : Ed is not a superhero, although he played a heroic piece of veal in an educational film "Borscht Belt Baby : The Danger of Unregulated Meat" (1978, Retardo and sons, U.K.).

To Checkers of Swansea : The "Grape Ape" was a cartoon character who was a giant purple ape and said "grape ape", I was mistaken for him at a Foodtown (frozen food dept.) in Highlands N.J. 1984.  In 1995 I impersonated the singer from Blues Traveller, but only for the purposes of sex. In 1995 I also impersonated Meatloaf, again only for the purposes of sex, this time with Phil Rizutto (holy cow, indeed). In 1997 I was mistaken for the character of Harry from the film "Harry and The Hendersons" (a comic romp starring John Lithgow (pre- sex change). Oddly enough it was at a "Harry and the Hendersons" convention in Hackensack N.J.

Well, time to drown my sorrows, go to hell.

Good luck slugger, we're expecting big things from you.