Oh yeah...this again.

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Day 1
Christoph Hall Tour word of the day: Masturbatorium (not sure how that one came about)
Beverage of the Evening: Sierra Nevada


So here we are on another tour. We have the same crew as last time (Myself, Brian, Laurie, Martin, and Edward). The Nebuchadnezzar has been getting quite a workout this year touring. 20,000 miles in 6 months. As seems to be the standard, Brian along with his girlfriend Julie, spent the days up to departure working on the bus. At 350,000 miles it's showing some battle scars but is running strong. Finding Vegoil in Minneapolis this time was a bust for the most part but we did find enough to get us to Chicago. We were in the bus for only about 10 minutes when the same old jokes surfaced. We enjoyed a breakfast of Coke, coffee, chips, and candy and started out. With the Dead Kennedys playing we realized that we missed a few things and will likely have to pick them up in Detroit. The ride through Wisconsin was a bit warm (the AC is down) and we are going south. The sky is looks like the Simpsons. Hopefully the clouds will bring a bit of cooler weather. I still haven't been able to get my phone to act as a modem so I can hit the internet from the road so I will post when I can.

We pulled over into a rest area to change one of the oil filters. The pressure was dropping rather rapidly although the filter was clean-ish. We are due in Chicago at 6 with sound check at 6:30 so hopefully we can bypass the traffic. We stopped at the Illinois border for restrooms and some truck stop Taco Bell where Laurie bought a bottle of Vitamin Water and a cup of ice. As soon as we returned to the bus Laurie poured her Vitamin Water into the cup of ice. She immediately discovered that the cup had a huge crack in it and now her lap was soaked. Of course after the initial flurry of activity it was necessary for the rest of us to tease her by saying she wet her pants.

Listening to Prodigy got the song "Smack my Bitch Up" stuck in everyones head.

I'm not sure what it is but every time I travel across the Wisconsin/ Illinois border and decide to get food it seems as though the comprehension of the order taker rivals that of a dandelion.

Tonight we're playing at Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Sound check went well and the people are really nice. I'm having chicken pad thai for dinner on the club. Laurie has been feeling a little under the weather but she sounds good. Tonight should go well- not sure where we are sleeping tonight but thats a bit of the magic I guess. Traffic on the way in to Chicago was its normal nightmare self with the whole construction on the interstate thingy. It was nice to get out of the bus...about 20 degrees cooler outside. Hmmmm...thoughts of Miami are starting to become a little forboding. Things are going well but I'm missing Jennifer, my girlfriend, already....what a wuss!

Just finished the first show. We were a little rusty but I think it went well. A friend of the band (Nathan) lives here and came out to see us. A friend of Brian's also stopped in to see the show. Its always cool to see friends when your on tour. Dinner was good and a little spicy but I think I ate too much before going on stage. I was feeling a little heavy. Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow night in Detroit now that we are getting back into it. I've been here in Chicago a few times before but have never really had the time to do anything here aside from look at the insides of a few nightclubs.

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