PRODUCER of The Rock

Here he is on a Saturday almost afternoon, heading off to work. There will be more of this before we leave for the western slopes, but until then, he delivers his amazing moustache (and skills) to Pachyderm Studio -- shepherding the lads on their way to stardom. This week -- White Light Riot. Next week, The Bad Plus for studio set up.

Just remember, children -- presentation is everything.

KITTY RETURNS FOR AN EVENING

Kitty came home with Wendy. They had dinner. I got home from work and we sat at the table with our laptops listening to the Unicorns. I took this picture eventually. I was psyched! Now, I'm drinking a Miller. Kitty's finishing up her collage project for an art class. Gettin' 'er done.

Basically, I came here to do two things tonight: drink some Millers, hang out with Kitty, search some of the internets, eat some tuna melt, and go to sleep ... looks like the Millers, tuna melt, Kitty, and the internets are done ... guess it's time for bed (double bed).

Three Weeks of Miller Time?!?!? Hell Yes!

And just who wouldn't want to go on a honeymoon trip with this Total Party Animal?!?!?! (Gotta love the new intel Macbooks -- in this case, photo taken by Kitty's computer ... and I SO miss college Kitty!).

Might as well post one of Fatguy, since we'll be seeing him out there on the coast of Oregon! Here's to ya, Fatguy (first year that I missed your B-day in quite a while --- happy belated!). We'll race you to the coast. If you get there first, draw a line ... if we get there first, we'll erase it!

RAMPING UP

No self-respecting, observant traveler sets out on an adventure without proper archiving tools. Meet the Lumix. An awesome little camera which The Stork dropped down our chimney, replete with a big phat memory card. We can make movies with it, of course, and are figuring out (soon) how to post them on the blog. (Any suggestions are welcomed.) In any case, this camera came highly recommended, sporting a Leica (slightly wide-angled capacity) lens and multitudinous settings including one called Starry Sky which opens the lens for a maximum of 15 seconds. Nice! Our nemesis will be a lack of cyber cafes along the way, in which case, we'll load things up after returning home. It is the Wild Wild West, after all. Or, so I hear.

Meanwhile, Brent, re-embracing Navigator status, continues plotting our course with the assistance of the mesmerizing and addictive Google Earth. Shy and retiring lo-fi hotel owners who escape modern website ways and means cannot escape the intrusive satellite fotos which enable us to spy upon their locales. Bingo! We'll see how it all pans out.

Ahh... The Dude has returned home from a long day in the studio. I'll have to check in with him before I head to bed... work tomorrow.

OUT WEST : S&N Travel Journal #1

It all starts with some money. Here's Brent's bacon, laid out on the table, courtesy latest recording session... check the "thumbs up" envelope it was delivered in. Looks like a drug deal and we're still trying to figure out why cash and not check . But, nevermind. Meanwhile, my contribution is in a checking account, which isn't as photogenic as cash tonight, but suffice to say, it's there and ready to go. At any rate... we leave town on October 3 or 4, due west... the long anticipated Post First Year Anniversary Honeymoon and Scout Landmark Birthday Adventure. A long title, albeit fitting. Prior to departure, we will have paid formidable taxes for 2005 (eeccchhh), pre-paid propane, procured a dogsitter (the lovely Miss Maureen Dog-Lover Donohue) who has rapaciously offered her services for the length of our journey, and will pile into the Golf (Turbo Diesel, 50mpg) after long deliberations regarding which chariot to assign; comfort or top notch gas mileage. We decided on the latter and are hoping that the upcoming elections, which have already brought gas prices down, will be on our side. Imagine... the current administration working in our favor for once in all these years -- for selfish reasons, true, but we'll take anything we can get from those elitist, economy raping bastards. NOTE: You should ALL pile into a car before November 4, just to get something out of it all.

We're Googling to decide on a car rack to which we'll attach a carrier, and begin (loosely, Scout version -- Navigator notwithstanding) to plot our destinations. We want all loose, but there are pals to visit along the way, and we can't be cavalier in regard to their schedules for accomodating our arrival. They will be living real lives while we take a holiday. It looks like this so far: Boulder, Denver, the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, drive-thrus on Vegas and LA and then, up the coastal highway to SanFran where we'll spend some time. After that, the wine country, cliffs and redwood forests and on to Oregon. Seattle will be our final party stop before heading home across the top of the country. Let's hope the money lasts. Otherwise, you'll hear from us deep in the delicious grease of some lo-fi diner kitchen in the middle of NoWheresVille, working hard to get home. Or... maybe not.... if more of this happens....