BUMBLEFOOT TOURBLOG 2006

6 OCT 2006

Last night the parking lot was full at the hotel, so I parked in a lot across the street at a different hotel, next to this red car.  The next morning the car was still there, so I moved my car and took some pics.  Here's a link to download the full-size pics to this email, in case you want a better look...  [ tourblog-20061006.zip ]  I spent a good few minutes staring at the full-size pics, trying to find recognizable food wrappers in the filth.  It's a great way to kill time in a hotel room.




 

13 OCT 2006

Take a look at this picture of the hotel room.

See that little rectangular thing on the wall by the ceiling?

Here's a closer look...

At 9:30 this morning, that little square thing started beeping loudly in everybody's room throughout the hotel, waking everyone up in a most unpleasant way.  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  Ya jump out of bed, no idea what's goin' on - alarm goes on for 20 seconds that feel like 3 hours.  Your heart just tried to pound its way out of your throat, you're too pissed to keep sleeping, but somehow you fall back asleep.  Then the alarm goes off again.  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  Now you're screaming curses into the air, holding your ears, waiting for it to stop.  Some working part of your brain figures out that this will possibly or probably happen again, so you stick your fingers in your ears, put pillows over your head, that doesn't work, you arrange the covers to cover your whole head except your mouth, you start falling asleep, your fingers start drifting away from your ears, and BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  You slam your fingers into ears, curse the air, the alarm eventually stops.  It doesn't happen again.  Finally.  You sleep.

BAAAAAAAAAHP!  BAAAAAAAAAHP!  20 minutes later, just two hits.  You then realize this is random, unpredictable, you don't know when, or for how long each time, this is gonna happen.  You get up, stuff wet tissues in your ears, go back to bed with your fingers in your ears, the covers over your head with the breathing hole, and you wait.  You sleep and you wait.  It happens again, and again.  Ya deal with it.

This went on until 1:30 in the afternoon.  Heard there was an angry mob at the front desk making demands.
 

16 OCT 2006

Today at rehearsal, Robin gave me this gourd.  Looked like a swan with a skin problem.  The stem broke off before taking these pics - the stem looked like the beak.  It'll probably eat at me a long time that these pics don't give the full effect, due to the missing stem.  It really did look like a beak.


 

24 OCT 2006

First show of the tour today. Backstage, there's always a nice basket of fruit and vegetables.  I make special concoctions with the juicer, usually for Tommy (bass) or Kim (wardrobe) - a few carrots, half an apple, a small nub of ginger, and random other stuff - strawberries or banana or celery or wuddeva.  Whilst exploring the basket, I came across the biggest blackberry I've ever seen - as big as a decent-sized strawberry.   I ate both members of this photo.


 

26 OCT 2006

Day off - BOWLING...!  (Frank in action...)


 

27 OCT 2006

On the tourbus, heading back from the gig, hangin' with *amazing* tattoo artist Kat Von D.  She's just so fucking cool.  :)


 

29 OCT 2006

Me and Jen in the hotel room in San Juan playing with MacBook iPhoto...


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 NOV 2006

Robin's birthday - we threw him a party and all dressed up as Robin...



Was a chilly rainy night in Boston, hangin' at a bar with Pitman and Frank.  I don't drink.  I think I've always been allergic to the shit or something - the smallest amount of alcohol yields unpredictable results, literally one sip can potentially make me insane. I think Frank and Pitman get a kick outta that.  I pretty much never drink on tour (or off) - I have a responsibility to the audience, the band, and myself, to be at my best, I take that shit seriously.  But what the Hell, it's a night off, I'll take a sip from Frank's glass, just a taste.  That's all it took to get me fairly shitfaced, I just didn't know it yet.  Del called around 10pm and said it was time to get to the hotel and prep for Robin's birthday gathering.  Said "I'll be right there" and took off down the road, running.  And running.  Hopping puddles in the rain.  I kept on running.  Totally passed the hotel, passed I-90, kinda suspected I was going too far, but it felt so fucking good to just take off, I didn't wanna think or stop.  I kept running.  I ran until the road ran out.  Stopped, looked around - no people, no buildings...   just mud.  So I turned around and started running back.  Kept running.  And running.  Finally called Del, he was like "where the fuck are you, you were barely 10 minutes away...!"  Told him I didn't know where the fuck I was.  Frank got on the phone, he left after me, walked and got there a half-hour before I called.  I must have been running a long time, lost track of it.  They reminded me what street the hotel was on, I kept running, and found the street.  I couldn't even recognize the hotel standing right in front of it, they had to describe every detail, spell each letter on the sign, and I finally figured it out.  Went up to my room, dressed up, ran down, and waited for Robin.  A guy in the bar didn't seem impressed by our costumes, and when he left with his gal he said "That's not even funny" to me and kept walking.  He probably thought we were being anti-Semitic the way we were dressed-up, I suspected beforehand that would happen, I would have thought the same thing, but wanted to kick the guy's ass anyway.  Soon after, Robin came down, we had a great time.  I still couldn't stop running.  I ran in place for the next hour, while talking to people, I just couldn't stop, I felt like I would explode if I did.  It was such a party foul, we all split, I went to my room and did sit-ups and push-ups and ran in place until I passed out at 3am.  Woke up the next morning and did more until I hurt my back so bad I couldn't breathe.  That's when I stopped.  And that's why I don't drink.  I get the runs.
 

15 NOV 2006

First show in Canada - back finally stopped hurting.  More giant food backstage.  This is a giant carrot.


 
 

16 NOV 2006

Wyclef played a party tonight, me and Frank went - very cool.


 

18 NOV 2006

Bruises from the guitar hitting my leg two-and-a-half hours a night.

I don't think men truly suffer from "hair loss".  The hair is still attached to you, it just sprouts up *somewhere else*.


  

28 NOV 2006

Braided my hair 5 days ago in Cleveland...

Scalp is itchin' soooo bad, started takin' them out today.  Began at 2 in the afternoon.  Stopped to go see the Knicks play the Bulls, Bulls won, continued on...    took this pic at 6am, still had 20 more braids to go...

Went to bed 8am, woke up next day 3pm, finished by 5pm.  Took a shower, ate a Clif bar, played guitar, Photoshop'ed my face in the pic above (Select an area, Feather it, Pinch/Punch), wrote this. Gonna go play more guitar.
 

30 NOV 2006

Back to normal.

Had a great time in Chicago, leaving for Iowa tomorrow. Cold weather finally kicked in tonight.  Gonna buy Garrett's popcorn (caramel/cheese mix) for each tourbus before we go.  Jen turned me onto that stuff - totally addictive - it's a fat man's crack.
 

2 DEC 2006

Jen came to visit in Minneapolis, took the tourbus together to Winnipeg.  Everyone loved her boots.

Ice sculpture in catering...

  
CLICK LEFT PIC TO ENLARGE...                                                                              
 

12 DEC 2006

Learned something today - if it aint broke, don't fix it.

Yesterday I got a real intense back "massage" and then had a chiropractor "fix" me up, for the first time. It kinda hurt. Called out to Jesus twice. They said "It takes 24 hours - you'll feel the results tomorrow..."

Tomorrow (today): I feel like I was beaten with a sack of elbows. I can't lean forward. I just yawned and the side of my neck cramped up.  If you're ever thinking about having someone knead your back like dough and then make a pretzel out of your spine, please remember...  IF IT AINT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT.

Now go have yourself a nice fucking day.  :)
  
14 DEC 2006

Jammed tonight at the Metallica compound - me & Robin on guitar, Tommy on bass, Dizzy singin', Lars on drums.  Had a great time.  :)   The chair I'm sitting in is no ordinary chair.  It was cushiony, it swiveled, AND rocked back and forth.  Great chair.  Opened a fresh box of Wheaties cereal, poured some into a cup and sat in this chair.  With my cup of Wheaties.  Have had some good heart-to-hearts with Lars - he's a good guy.

My back and neck still fucking hurt.
 

16 DEC 2006

Arrive in LA today.  Billy Gibbons' birthday...


 

20 DEC 2006

Last GnR show of '06.  Got a massage tonight (different masseuse.)  It was great - I take back what I said in the December 12th posting.  My back feels great.

The stem really did look like a beak.
  
1 APRIL 2007

Been a long time since adding to this tourblog.  Just haven't had anything inspirational to put on here.  Till last night - couldn't find a parking spot at the hotel (been in LA rehearsing), so parked across the street in the lot of another hotel.  Pulled into the nearest spot, and guess what car I parked next to...........?



Yep, same car filled with garbage from the first posting, six months ago.

I think that's a nice way to end this tourblog.  Will start a new one for the next tour.

B'foot