On the Road, Off the Road

June 24, 2012

Howdy-

I have been on the road and off the road and on the road and off the road lately- jumping from At the Drive-In to Sparta and working at home on some new projects in between tours…

Welcome to what will become Hello Day Cafe. We are opening a place with our longtime friends Joey Cazares and Hector Saenz. Coming soon coffee, downtown lunch delivery, and food for our friends Bowie Feathers and Tricky Falls

It seems like we are plagued with the job of taking down mirrors.

This is Joey. He will be doing the cooking… I will be doing the eating. Expect some top notch vegetarian dishes!

You know one of my favorite tour mates is Scott “Ed” Edwards. He is currently on tour with Against Me! (another one of my favorites)- they had a day off in El Paso so Ed and I hit the links… my old/new favorite past time…

The course looked nice… I used to play here in High School when I was the worst player on the second worst High School Golf team in El Paso.

Dapper? Indeed…

I met this character on the back 9- he/she was not into me at all…

ATTACK!!!
I lived through it but it was scary…

We went out to an old family friend’s farm a couple of weeks back and helped pick some squash and learn about what they are doing. The Hobson’s are retired and have turned their Southern New Mexico farm into a benefit garden so to speak- last year every pound of food was donated to an El Paso food bank- 32,000 pounds in all- they cover all the cost which is substantial, so we are working on some plans to help them out

Wagons and wagons full of squash

I thought this was going to be an award winner… not even close. We had a great time and expect to hear more about this project, I am rounding up volunteers!

Meet Chad Morris. He owns and operates Picacho Roasters out of his house in Las Cruces. He and his lovely wife took the time to host a coffee tasting for part of the Tembloroso and Hello Day Cafe crew.

His beautiful coffee roasting machine

Fresh beans

I don’t typically like lattes but this one was delicious.

Check out this clever contraption. Chad says its the best way to make a quick, perfect cup of coffee.

Mmm… Smells good

Chad’s wife Lauren loves to bake. She made AWESOME biscotti (family recipe), cherry pie, lemons bars, and caramels. We were wired on coffee and high on sugar

LA rehearsals with Sparta- Chopper was in charge of the guitars and that makes me feel safe and happy, every time.

Mr. Matt Miller

Mr. Tony Hajjar

Back home and eating some Beet Salad and toasted pine nut quinoa- we are obsessed with Beets lately!

We caught this band at Low Brow Palace in El Paso- they are called Turbo Fruits and they were great…

They were opening for Deer Tick, who has one of the best albums of the year by far- this band is fantastic… I left before the antics of stripping and what not…

Sauerkraut, Avocado, Rye Bread, and mustard grilled is one of the best sandwiches ever!

Cannibal Corpse at Tricky Falls- amazing…

My friends have some fine feathered friends laying some fresh eggs- I am not a fan of birds at all but I am warming to these ladies…

The second weekend of Coachella found our tour mates and family members Zechs Marquise hanging out backstage enjoying the weather, I love when these guys are around.

While I was in LA before the second Coachella I got a chance to hit up Astro Burger and enjoy a veggie burger- I love ’em

I had a day off in LA so I took the opportunity to hit up the LACMA

The Urban Light Installation outside the LACMA

Next door is the La Brea Tar Pit- which surprisingly after 17 years of going to LA I finally visited

What did the bear say to me? Only we will know…

Dan Hadley took us over to his favorite El Salvadorian restaurant- I have never eaten this food before but I enjoyed it and will return

After a day of ATDI rehearsing in Atwater Village I took a few Texas friends to my old haunt in SIlver Lake- the trusty Red Lion, never fails…

It was good to see you old friend…