Binge Cafe

Martin Luther King Day at the Pinhook!

2012-01-16T16:06:00.001-05:00

Flyer by Catherine Edgerton.

Records & Hopscotch

2011-09-03T21:26:00.004-04:00

Beloved Binge is going to the studio September 5 - 8th next week to be recorded analog style by Jerry of Duck Kee Studios, and produced by Syba of dog land.

Our 4th album is yet to be named, but will contain 15 songs accidentally chronicling our story from our Big Tour in '08-'09, a really sad event whose Sept '09 anniversary is the week we are recording, and more adventures. Yet, Rob declared after we test-recorded yesterday: "I think we are making a pop album." I am hoping this is not the case: you will have to let us know.

Jason from the Center for Documentary Studies will be video taping part of our recording session, which means I will need to avoid throwing my drum sticks to express opinions. They are the most useful tools of expression otherwise, so I highly recommend 5Bs plastic tip.

Plans are to release the album on a flash drive necklace, and include a copy of both Seeing Through the Fence and Backpack Drumset as well as other doo-dads, and also to release a limited number of vinyl-style copies with art by a super good friend of ours.

After our recording session next week, we are happy to be playing a Hopscotch day party!

You are invited: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170430726367562

Future plans with flash/albums are to tour in 2012 in the US and to Europe via cargo ship.

Hope to see you at the day party and/or on the ship!

Love,

BB

Beloved Binge / Battlestar Canada Split (not banana)

2011-06-25T13:54:00.003-04:00

You're invited! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=116552921763609

Summer Backyard Festivals Presents...
Beloved Binge and Battlestar Canada 7 ' release (limited edition) party with The Wigg Report and Sawteeth. A vegan Potluck and keg of Beer. It's an early show 4-9pm. Enter through the side gate. No dogs. This event is free. The records are $5 each.

Sawteeth-530pm
http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/sawteethmctweedy

The Wigg Report 630pm
http://www.reverbnation.com/thewiggreport

Battlestar Canada-730pm
http://www.reverbnation.com/battlestarcanada

Beloved Binge-830pm
http://www.reverbnation.com/belovedbinge

Bring your own plates, silverware, and vegan yummy food (please list the ingredients of your dish for those who have food sensitivities). A portable chair or blanket would also be good.

Washington, DC: STPP Festival

2011-06-03T15:22:00.007-04:00

Beloved Binge is playing the STPP festival, Saturday 6/4 at 5 pm (1920 Lounge), heading up in Weston with friends Sequoya (6/4, 8 pm, Dukem) and Joy in Red (6/4, 1920 Lounge, 4 pm)

But first, Beloved will have to fit the following, plus the bands, into Weston:

I made a bold Facebook bet that he would not be able to do it. I think I might have even put $5 on the line.

Need to fit squares into circles, or high rises into one story houses? Rob's your man. If you have $5 I can borrow, you're my person.

Beloved Binge is Sleepwalking and Bull City Vegan Challenge

2010-09-22T18:34:00.002-04:00

Bull City Vegan Challenge! Thank to the Herald Sun for the feature. Thanks to DL Anderson for the press photo!

Beloved Binge has been playing in our practice room-style...excited about experiments and new songs and bouzoukis and loop pedals. We hope to emerge sometime in the winter when the bears are hibernating.

For now, Eleni Binge has been involved in the October challenge -- hope you can make it out for the month of October to vote on your favorite dishes. Like here if you want! Also stay tuned for two screening announcements.

Bull City Vegan Challenge

Promote Your Page Too

Careers and Touring

2010-07-25T15:18:00.005-04:00

Rob on WQFS with members of Mr. Free & the Satellite Freakout & Silver Bullet in the background.

For the past eight years, though I've been working, it has been largely part time since '02 when I left HR management to travel with Rob for six months, and, following this, formed Beloved Binge in '03.

Since '06, we've been touring every year and have met so many different bands and musicians that I cannot keep track of them all, except for our CD collection, pictures, and of course my spotty memory bank.

We have, however, made friends throughout the US which I refer to as band cells. It's a tight network of people that you can call on when you need something in their town and vice-versa. Just last week we received a CD from an Omaha musician we met on our '08-'09 tour, and we regularly keep in contact with another guy in Ohio we met at WE Fest in Wilmington. And more.

The band we played with last night, Mr. Free & the Satellite Freakout, knew the space we played in their hometown, Tucson, as well as the band we played with. There is little explaining. I can tell ya, there is nothing like finding good people and knowing you have a cell.

I cannot think of many other situations where you meet up with complete strangers, hang out for 8 hours (or overnight) trade music you both made up, then part until you may or may not share the floor/stage again for months or years to come in maybe a different city. Another great thing about touring is you get to visit people you care about and have QT, which makes it a fun way to tour and travel.

Now that I'm looking for full time work again, I am going to miss being on the road for extended periods. We're still planning on regional tours and of course can take vacation to tour. Somehow this feels different than giving up stability to barely sustain yourself, then to meet others doing the same thing. What other career asks you to commute 200 miles, load and unload heavy equipment up stairs or in the heat, play for 30-45 minutes to, at times, three people, load out again, stay and watch others, then, a few hours later, accept $0 - 50 divided by 10-15 people, then maybe sleep on a floor? This job description requires a unique mix of perseverance, hope, and imbalance.

Speaking of, Beloved Binge have one more mini-tour coming up in August. We're excited to be playing with L. Brown Odessey again, this time in Charleston, SC, then returning to Club Drink in Myrtle Beach. After that, we're not scheduling anything for the Fall so we can develop our new songs and release our fourth album. We're taking our time. It's going to be Bouzoukied all over the place and we hope you will find it playable.

In the meantime, we're excited to announce a split 7" -- OK -- not announcing it officially yet, but more to come.

Back to last night. We played in Greensboro. Starting out our evening we met members of the three other bands and drove to WQFS radio for an on-air appearance around 5 pm.

As one of the members of Mr. Free asked on air, "Is anyone going to ask why this man is wearing a toga?"

Following the radio show, we went out and ate a falafel pita wrap with Danny of the Raving Knaves. We first met Danny when he ran house shows at the Elam House, and we played there back in '07 or '06. Super nice guy who does sound and used to be in Boxcar Bertha.

The space we played CFBGs is a small gallery with an awesome foosball table. Lately I've been challenging people to random tennis and mini-korg duels with little to no hope of actually winning. It was in this spirit that I trash-talked both a random attendee and a Mr. Free band member then challenged them to a duel. Though victory is important, it is not critical.

That night Mr. Free & the Satellite Freakout began the show with a foaming from the mouth singer who posed in strange statue positions for parts of songs:

Following Mr. Free were the Raving Knaves, popped driving without a license punk:

We played next, then closing the night was Mr. Toga with his band Silver Bullet.

I'll be posting videos soon on www.youtube.com/bingecafe.

In the meantime, it's onward to the job boards.

May Hem Minestrone

2010-05-15T11:57:00.020-04:00

Binge & Beloved at the Raleigh Marijuana March May 1st after our show. Akin to Seattle's Hempfest.

If May were a soup it would be minestrone -- lots of little beans and grains. This month finds Binge and Beloved engaged in many different pursuits and activities. Except not skydiving.

Picture taken by the awesome Jeremy of Effingham.

Rob Beloved debuts with Joy in Red this upcoming week on May 19th at a house show (songs & info here). I'm not just saying this as Ms. Beloved: JIR are simply amazing. Something about the combination of Matthew of Sequoya's banjo + mountain screams and Rob's guitar glued together with longtime musician but newer drummer Mike Wright (Cairo & Byproduct. He also recorded, mixed, and mastered the songs on MS) makes JIR powerfully rich and, I think, lasting.

Fittingly, the group began on our porch as an acoustic jam of Rob and Matthew, interrupted at 1:00 am only by the incessant honking of a neighbor's Aunt (who later returned and did a 'drive by honk' to spite us). The first output incorporates as much mountain (Lazareth's Mountain) as 'hood (Mama's Milk). Invite.

This moment finds me typing in Weston, returning from our first show in Athens. We played an early show at the Go Bar with Black Balloon --

and Brer Paladin.

I'll be uploading videos soon at my Youtube channel. Though there were more people who arrived late for the Karaoke following our show (no comment) we enjoyed playing and meeting the kind Chris of Black Balloon. He was so sweet that he offered us money to film his show the next night since our show was less than profitable. How awesome is that?

It seems to me, though, that touring, especially new cities, is initially about the hand shake. There is a power to in-person that cannot be recreated online or from a distance. Only in the showing up, half the battle according to Woody Allen, is something planted for future return harvesting (it's Spring, so forgive the banal gardening analogy).

Even with low-turnout shows in new cities, you get to meet both venue reps and/or bands, they see you play, you catch their show, they talk with you. Typically, we've found, that it is in these meetings that future arrangements for better shows are created. Or just call me Polyannabinge and continue to sulk over these sad shows.

In addition to the hand shake, we got to eat at the infamous Grit, which has outdoor seating convenient for dog-traveling. My favorite thing about the Grit are the wide and delicious selection of vegan cakes. However, I've been off sugar for almost a month excepting the Rosetta's controlled lapse. What's a gal to do? Sometimes pictures speak more than words.

I shared.

It was only one slice, but per Beloved, he noticed an increase in temper and irritability. Is a study accurate when only one person is the participant, and the other the evaluator? According to my college statistics course, not so much, but in this case, I'd say Beloved has a solid study finding. In addition to a black eye. Kidding! ~~Later on she had chocolate almond-milk ice cream bonbon truffles.~~. Quiet Beloved! They were new products and had to be tested!

Tonight we're playing and screening in Charlotte at a nice place called Pura Vida. But first it's off to the Leeanne-recommended Zizi's -- which boasts my *dream menu* and is exactly what I'm talkin' about when I'm blabbering for the 1,000th time that Durham needs a 'down home cooking cheap eatery' for the veg & veg-option wanting community.

In addition to Rob's show on Wednesday, Beloved Binge's first show in Chapel Hill for a loooong time is this Thursday at the Reservoir. We're so very happy to be playing with our favorites Ponchos from Peru out of Wilmington, as well as Actual Persons Living or Dead. Come check out the show! Invite. Hosted by Rod Serling.

This week Binge Cafe will host a friend from DC, participate in outreach at the APS walk for animals and, the next day, the Bull Days of Durham, and take part in the Cleveland Holloway first ever Block Party organized by the awesome Catherine of Midtown Dickens. We'll be BBQ'ing and hanging out on Primitive Saturday after 1 pm.

Speaking o' outreach, if anyone of you wanted to give Rob a present or me (just because?) you can most certainly and happily do it through this event we're participating in, where we have been transformed into Team Triangle. Your $ will go to an org that works at reduction of suffering most strategically, philosophically, and effectively -- an org we would leave our house to in the event of death. See our team profile here, complete with Syba adorable-ness, and donate a few bucks if you can! Your donation will be good for at least 10 birthdays/holidays.

At the end of the month, we're heading down to Wilmington to camp & play WE Fest, and annual festival of mostly DIY bands from all over the US taking over the Soapbox and other nearby stages in the city. At $1 per day, the fest is one of the most affordable around for 12 hours of music. That's like less than .10 per hour. Cheap!

In addition to part time work, I continue to work on compiling & writing Tales of a Greek Father and setting up screenings (locally) of Seeing Through the Fence.

In the book category Rob is reading Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang, and, to keep with the animal-title theme, I am just about finished with Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, a highly entertaining and accessible (as well as devastating) read about the state of our current food industry as it pertains to the raising, transporting, and killing of animals for food.

He writes frequently about our forgetting and remembering, critical to sustain the current factory system. I encourage anyone to read it who cares about the treatment of animals. I know you do.

Touring and Prioritizing

2010-04-11T02:21:00.012-04:00

Free Electric State release: Caress

First of all, we're super excited to be playing the CD release party for Free Electric State this Friday 4/16. We'll be at the Pinhook, starting at 10, followed by A Rooster for the Masses. The Facebook invite. We saw FES recently at the Cat's Cradle, opening the show for Deerhunter and Schooner. They were amazingly good. Nick's melodic guitar sentences channel the Pixies, and Shirle's voice reminds me of one of my favorite singers BITD Carrie Akre (Hammerbox, Goodness).

A few weekends ago we headed to Greensboro to play at the Flat Iron with Pinche Gringo & Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands. Pinche Gringo was a one-man band prior, and still retains a foot-operated snare he trades off with the kick while playing guitar. Here he is live:

Crystal Bright are new. Flippy did not fully capture their sound (or sight) but :

We returned to Greensboro a few days ago, this time to play with Bart of Invisible's newer project Workday/Schoolnight.

He's got a series of thrift-store tapes that he uses to dub into the mixes. Here he is in action:

We also shared the bill with Cassis Orange, one of whom will be moving to Durham! The drummer is based out of DC.

Here is a short video:

After our Greensboro show, we headed to Boone to leaflet. Boone students were incredibly nice and I met a professor who is interested in hosting a screening next Fall. We're planning on largely staying home and touring NC and surrounding states primarily. I realized that we'd been all over the country, but hardly screened Seeing Through the Fence in NC at all. Silly. I'm mapping out all NC colleges and universities now. If you know any professors who might be interested in screening the one-hour version for their class, let me know.

We also stopped by Asheville, primarily to leaflet, but arrived later than expected and were rained out. Lucky for us, Rosetta's awaited and we ordered a variety of foods you see here -- vegan mac & cheese, mashed potatoes & gravy, tacos with soyrizo, and a tempeh reuben.

If comfort food were a mattress, we bought the memory foam. I'm avoiding overt sugar like cupcakes, but just in Durham. Since the strawberry cake did not reside in Durham, I allowed myself a small discretion and ordered a slice. To my credit, I left about one bite uneaten, and shared it with Beloved.

After our eyes bigger than stomach meal, we decided to take a walk around Asheville. On our walk, Syba stumbled upon a friend.

Since Syba has proven to be smart through a battery of tests conducted due to some sour rumors began by our good friend Joe (tests consisted of a tennis ball, bowl, and me), we assumed she knew her friend the pig was brass.

It's common knowledge that dogs have a great sense of smell, but this sense must be super-power strong if she's picking up any scent here:

We'll be having that Santa Claus talk with her, "There is no brass butt..." etc.

After Asheville we headed to Cullowhee, to leaflet the next day. Due to several rock slides, parts of 40 was closed and it took us a heck of a lot of U-turns to find our way to this small town.

The next day, on our way to Knoxville to leaflet and play a show, we passed through several small towns including Gatlinburg, TN. I had no idea that hidden in the Smokey Mountains was a tourist trap including the spinning wheel of DEATH.

Fake Wheel of Death! (Based on real Wheel of Death. It keep on turnin.')

I'd rather be on that wheel than in a Tourist Trap. But it did seem like a fun place to spend a few hours, kind of like a guilty pleasure book/show such as the Three's Company episode I watched the other night.

Death simulations aside, it was a beautiful drive, but we had to stop once to let Weston's brake pads cool off because they were smelling like burning plastic due to all the hillly ups and downs.

I did have time to prioritize while Rob drove. I've been a bit overwhelmed lately both with all of the projects I'd like to start and other daily interferences such as email and Facebook. At one point I had decided to minimize my distraction exposure by creating Facebook Fridays. Translation: only checking this time-zapper one day a week.

The problem is, as a person managing a band and film, staying in regular contact is part of the guacamole dip. But with the charming alliteration, like Meatless Mondays, it's hard to resist the idea of Facebook Fridays. It might see it's day.

In any case, I took the time to list the projects I'm working on and would like to begin, prioritized them all, then broke each into smaller tasks as suggested by time management professionals. This way, when I start work on something, I make sure it is in the priority category.

First priority is screenings of Seeing Through the Fence combined with leafleting/activism. After seeing all of the investigative footage coming out lately, including this, it's hard not to take some form of action.

Once complete (though priority #1 will be ongoing), I can move on to the next project. For instance, one project I'd like to start is a series of tour stories from bands, compiled into a book entitled Breaking Down: Stories from the Road. But that's priority #4 right now.

Another project is a series of interviews, kind of like a talk show, from our porch (both literal and traveling porch). But this is later on the list as well.

Beloved Binge also has a lot of new songs, and it has been two years since we've released an album. Nevertheless, this is priority three. My preference is to wait until we have even more new songs so we select only the best to appear on the album. We'd like to release our fourth album on USB flash drive and vinyl. This time around we'll be shopping around for some help once we figure out how to do that. It'll be DIY + help. The help we need is filtering. A sifter.

Second priority after the documentary is a project I began even before my dad died this past September, a biography/memoir called Tales of a Greek Father. I have a collection of Dad's writings about his childhood years in the village of Pirgos, Greece, during WWII and the Greek Civil War, as well as his experience shipping over to Canada in the 60's then opening over 25 restaurants in the US without credit.

There is also another priority, a restaurant project that is currently top secret! But I'll dish soon enough. Which brings me to this blog: priority number 100. You can see I'm doing a good job with this.

We spent the next morning and afternoon at a park named after one of our favorite bands, who ironically, we missed due to our Knoxville show. The park must be low on funds for editors because they misspelled it:

Knoxville is trying to be known as the most dog-friendly town, so we heard, and this was carried out in many off-leash dogs rampling about in the fields and encircling river. Syba dipped and ran, repeat.

Then we were off to the Pilot Light for our show. The area reminded us of Seattle's Pioneer Square.

We'd been trying for some time to get a show at the Pilot Light, but never succeeded in getting a message back. I tried phone calls (old fashioned!) and emails (but never faxes). It occurred to me that booking a show is very much like launching a military offensive. As booking person, you are the General and the enemy is silence.

This in mind, I saved my best weapon for last, a smattering of Facebook inquiries to Pilot Light page administrators until someone emailed me with a date. Some might consider this stalking; we call it strategy. But it would never work with Facebook Fridays.

In any case, the Pilot Light army are super-nice and we were happy to meet many of them at our show. As Anne from Cantwell, Gomez & Jorcan predicted, things in Knoxville start late, but we were on early.

The Pilot folks kindly let us start later, but there still was not much of a crowd. We were fortunate that a press contact I had emailed came out to the show, the publisher of Blank News. He will be writing up our show in their next issue. He also told us about a festival we should play, called Big Ears, saying we were two weeks too late this year since it happened in late March. Bands included The National, Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, & the Dirty Projectors. Luckily, he said, it sounds like they will be putting it on again next year.

Sharing the bill with us were Soft Opening (from Asheville):

...and locals The Sniff:

And video:

We rolled out of Knoxville around 2:30 am and headed home. Asheville on the way means another stop at Rosettas, but this time no cake.

Beloved Binge will be playing some Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, and Durham shows this summer, but otherwise no tour plans beyond NC for a few months at least. It's nice to be home to focus on writing new material, improving existing material, work on other projects, and watching the yard explode. But camping in parking lots will be missed, too.

Spontaneity and Nudity: Our trip to SXSW to play a film premiere afterparty

2010-03-15T23:07:00.015-04:00

Not to worry, there are no pictures of nude BB to be found in this blog. You can keep reading.

As you may know from our last blog, BB was invited to play the movie premiere afterparty of “The Weird World of Blowfly” at SXSW. Though we hadn't booked a tour around the event due to it being later-minute, we managed to get another show in Houston, and were up for the adventure, like pioneers heading West, but also South.

This was one of our rare 'tours' without Syba. Perhaps feeling the guilt, Rob bought Syba a "Big Bite" before we left.

Guilt diminishing, Rob played keep-away. But not for too long; our girl's got clever chops.

Also before leaving, Rob plowed our back and front yard, then went Little House on us and built a fence entirely made out of our old willow oak tree (pictures of fence to arrive soon on Sloping Band House).

You might be wondering what I was doing while Rob played, plowed, and posted fences. I planted a peach tree then helped plant a vegetable garden in our front yard (starters courtesy of our neighbor Tyler). I also Judged the fence. (It was Good.)

Feeling all Green and gardeny, we set off for our riduculously far gas-guzzling not strategic mini-tour to Austin, driving until Birmingham. As Rob can be somewhat “protective,” I'll call it, of who drives Weston, I offered to and did relieve his tired gas-pedal foot alternately.

In Birmingham, we visited with the friendly, sweet, intelligent as all heck Keith, a Physics student we met at my screening last year. After leaving the screening last year, I kicked myself, mentally (hurts just like the real thing) for not interviewing him. He has an amazing story, which I taped this time around using Flippy (flip video) on his porch, and will be posting on a new series to be announced shortly.

But first, we met up and all leafleted Samford University, and then, we headed to the Bottle Tree to have some delicious vegan food including peanut butter pie.

Keith and Rob outside the Bottletree in Birmingham.

This establishment is also a venue ½ run by one of Man or Astro Man? I believe. We'd like to play there next time. As we ate, the song In Our Talons by the Bowerbirds came on and we felt like home.

After hanging out with Keith and interviewing him on his porch, we went onward to Houston, driving fiercely and madly toward our destination only stopping for fuel. Weston began to make a noise near his rear foot, which was originally attributed to our music gear. That was hopeful.

After a call to our favorite VW shop in Durham, Lonnie's, it was apparent that the CV joint, not the cymbals, was the cause of the rattling. We decided to keep going and hoped we could make it back.

Meanwhile, we arrived to Super Happy Funland in Houston to play the SXSW overflow fest!

They painted all our names.

I can't repeat enough how kind these folks are. This was our second time playing this venue. They even made free vegan chili for everyone.

The show started early because there were four bands and one 90 minute movie of pure bicycle porn. More on this later. First up was Joe Firstman from Los Angeles (originally from Charlotte).

Next were our favoirte favorites, the Midtown Dickens.

Here I share with you a new song that we loved, Elephant.

Midtowns know how to merch.

And eat. How many bands do you know that roll their own (veg) sushi?

Next we played what ended up being our “first” set for reasons Blowfly. After our set, the 90 minute bicycle porn film fest began. To get us prepared (foreplay?) for the fest, a local bicycle advocate pedaled through the establishment nude:

This is a high res photo, feel free to zoom in.

What followed were various short films of people and bicycles in numerous combinations, but to sum up the bicycle seat serves well as phallic substitute, there is a lot you can do with bicycle chains and pedals besides crank your bike, and these films made a unique opener for BB's second set.

After the fest, only half the members of Blowfly had arrived due to some chaos and hotel booking problems. The down time led to a large gap between the fest and their set. The sound person asked us to play again, so we set up again and returned to play about four or five songs until the arrival of the entire band.

Besides Clarence Reid and Tom Bowker, the band was entirely new. Two weeks before their tour, while we were staying at Tom's back in Miami, most of the band quit. He assembled the rest in about a week, including the bassist for Little Richard.

Little Richard, at a Rest Stop

His playing made it quite evident he had been doing this for some time. When he was performing a bass solo, Rob pushed aside about four naked dudes to go watch. So you know it was good.

Clarence aka Blowfly authored the “first rap song” per reports in 1965, Rap Dirty. I taped part of it for you:

For some attendees, the nudity continued possibly and most probably due to extracuricular chemical usage prior to the event.

Meanwhile, Rob and I headed to the back parking lot to pop Weston's top and sleep from about 4 am until 9 am. Due to the proximity of the lot to transportation, it was not a restful sleep:

Tired Rob next to our sleeping quarters.

Reportedly from inside sleepers, it was no better in the venue due to a movie playing until 6:00 am and a snoring symphony from several couches. We did, however, enjoy pancakes, tea, coffee, and Emergen-C with the Midtown Dickens, that is, until we met the Original Rapper and he rapped dirty to us while sitting in Weston's swiveled around passenger chair. It works way better on stage.

Nevertheless, we headed to Austin, where we dropped off a couple of Blowfly members then took Tom to register for the film festival since the movie “The Weird World of Blowfly” was premiering at SXSW that night. Inside, we met Kim Fowley, who I could tell was some sort of back-in-the-day character. He was with a reporter who had interviewed Tom.

Kim was tall and thin, wore a suit, and leaned on a cane due to vertigo. Conversation joking about heroin and Burroughs-like dry wit followed. He and a friend of Jello Biafra's posed with Tom for a photo then discussed different bands. Kim was part of forming the Runaways (and later litigating with them) and since has and continues to score music for films such as American Graffiti.

Rob and I were quiet, since we're not musical encyclopedias and didn't know these folks, so Kim asked us who we were. “Oh, like the White Stripes?” he said, then acknowledged he was only saying this due to the boy-girl duo dynamic.

Usually I don't get taken off guard too often in conversations, but for some reason, his simple request that followed made me pregnant-pause. I'm talking twins or quadruplets.

“Name five of your songs.” Pause. More pause. Delivery of first twin. “Just give me the names of five of your songs.” Rob kicked in, “I was born in a vacuum cleaner!” I added, “I don't like people...” and then quickly named three others.

In retrospect, my brain was trying to grapple with 1) Why is he asking this / testing us? 2) I'd better think of our most interestingly named songs and 3) Which songs are interestingly named? 4) Oh, crap, our songs don't really have very interesting names afterall.

Apparently satisfied at rattling us, he handed us his card and asked us to send him material. I got the feeling he does this with a lot of people. BB = B-.

Onward to the show, we arrived at Beerland nearby to find it closed. The sidewalks were thick with people, mostly younger types boozed up and heading in all directions. We managed to park Weston temporarily, but decided to leave for a couple of hours until it opened. There was not a poster for the show in sight on the venue doors or outside walls. This was our first indication that things might not go quite like they had went in our heads. Let me tell you, in our heads, wow! Someone should sell tickets to that.

Back to outside of our heads, we returned to Beerland later and set up our equipment since we were first. There were some misunderstandings about when we'd start (we thought 10:45 pm, earliest – the club thought 10:00 pm, latest) so they got that ironed out with a few calls to booking agents.

After it was apparent that there was still only a handful of people in the club and it was inching toward our start time, we took matters (or rather stickers) into our hands and gave them out in front of the club, asking people to join us for our show.

I noticed several people go to the door to pay, then turn away after talking to the door guy. It was then we found out the cover was $13 (this is a good lesson in preparing and asking the right questions, folks) AND there was a good free show next door, so we started offering to put people on our guest list. By our set time, there were a few more people in the audience, maybe around 25, but nothing, again, like we expected from our head-previews, where we were body surfing across the crowd, matching shoes flying in the air.

We did set up Flippy and manage to get a recording of our set. I post for you here newer song Some People Think I'm Nuts and older but unrecorded Unification of + and - :

At one point I spoke with the friendly club owner, who has been open for over 10 years. I mentioned how in Durham the same people that come out for a folk act would be at a metal show. He said Austin used to be like that, but 10-15 years ago. As a club owner, even booking different genres together doesn't work. He noted that people come out to see one band but don't stay for the entire show anymore or aren't as open to unknown bands.

There are so many bands and venues, so audiences, he said, are quite apathetic. Is this transition inevitable? Before we left Seattle, I found it to be the case as well. Music “scenes” or communities grow, change, and die like we all do. It just takes time for the image to catch up with the actual state of things. The actual state is somewhat subjective, too.

Next up were Foot Patrol, from Austin.

In accordance with their name, this band is all about feet and foot fetishes. The singer is a 25-year old blind man whose talent (in music, not feet) was noticeable to his instructors at the School for the Blind when he performed [insert impressively difficult composition here...I wish my memory was better] at [insert young age like 7 here...again, memory!]. The drummer is one of his former teachers.

Blowfly (caped and masked Clarence to the far left)

Blowfly had arrived from their movie premiere, and closed out the night at about 2:00 am. Here is a clip from Clarence's song Masterpiece:

Since we didn't have a large audience during our set, Tom invited us to play their encore. I objected, since, um, it is their encore...and the audience might be just a little disappointed when BB got up there and played, say, Pumpkin in a Tie or I don't like people. He insisted, reminding us it was the “Weird World of Blowfly” and they did things like this. Weird things.

By the end of their set, after Clarence limped away in his cape, I planned to call it off (it was late and people were leaving), but Tom did an intro for us and made a hoo-ha-ha so we returned to the stage. After Rob's borrowed amp wouldn't start, I began playing, then promptly ended after one verse. It was quite silly and most definitely was not in my pre-show head.

Lesson #2 or 3: listen to your gut. Unless it's growling and the only thing you have to eat is Taco Bell.

Speaking of eating, Tom's tradition after the show is to take everyone out after to some place that he said had vegan options. We were quite worn out and ready to leave, so after payment, and dropping off a few documentaries for Tom to take to the “Filmmakers Lounge” we headed home.

The next morning, at a truck stop, we woke up to a small plane dive-bombing us, or it felt like us, but s/he was actually fertilizing a nearby field. BB will not be dive bombed, or fertilized! We left early but became concerned when we heard the CV joint clunking at lower gears (if this were a movie, you would now hear the voice of our mechanic, Lonnie, quiet but discernible: “If the CV joint starts making noise at low gears, go to a repair shop – immediately!”).

We had two choices. One, find a repair shop at the next nearest city (Jackson, MS) and I'd miss work on Tuesday or more depending on available parts. Two, keep driving until the CV breaks. This is risky since a broken CV = a stranded Weston. And there is a lot of space between “cities.” Choose your adventure!

My instinct was Blind Hope so we went with that, and made it all the way to....as of this writing, we're actually still on the road approaching Atlanta, so I actually don't know if my Blind Hope worked.

Happily, though our pre-formed in our head adventure was different, we still had fun and I had a lot of time to plan while on the road. Here's some things I accomplished:

Mapped out our rough tour plans for the next year;
Decided on dates to possibly record our fourth album then release it (USB release + album!);
Sketched out a Porch Life interview series synopsis & plan;
Supplemented our yearly plan with updates;
Studied Greek and learned the phrase The Captain has Sunk with His Ship for my new song;
Made a couple of new songs up featuring Rob, trapped as the driver, singing backup for harmony experiments (scientific experiments);
Decided I didn't like You;
And more!

Just joking about You. Though there are some Yous I don't like, those who read this blog I'm most certain I do.

Update: We made it back in the wee hours.

Week Four: 23rd stop in 27 days, SXSW, & more

2010-02-28T19:35:00.015-05:00

We're home! 23 stops in 27 days, so we're a little tired but gearing up to go play SXSW next week.

We started off our last week of February sweetly at the 24 hour mostly vegan ice-cream shop, Karma Cream. Half of the displayed flavors are vegan as are most of the toppings.

If you're too cold for cream, vegan cupcakes are on hand unless it's 2 am after your show in which case they're all gone, which is good, because cupcakes at 2 am are never a good idea. But another sundae is.

Karma Cream is in Gainesville, where we played our show at Tim and Terry's which is near the University of Florida off the main strip. The Gainesville alt-weekly The Alligator kindly covered our tour, renaming Beloved Binge to Blessed Binge in the process.

One of the most important things you can do as a touring band is ensure that you are playing with a good local band. By good I do not mean Karen Carpenter on drums and Jimi Hendrix on guitar – though that would be worth blogging about.

Rather, a local band who understands how to take care of touring bands because they tour and/or understand the reciprocation inherent in the touring community relationship. This extends to the band's audience – if you are a good match, their fans might just like you as well and stay to see you play. This is in contrast to fans who are just there because their brother/son/sister/daughter is playing, or because Johnnie is cute.

The folks at Tim and Terry's were super sweet. It's the kind of place where people hang out on their porch and play music. They provide bands a delicious meal and a percentage of beer sales during their set.

We must not have inspired much beer-drinking in our set, because at the end of the night we received $5. This was a wakeup call for BB. First on our to-do list is to write songs about beers and beer-drinking (“This Bud's for BB!”). Second is to make new t-shirts, “BB drinks Beer” or “Beloved Brewsky,” inspired by the name Rob was called while leafleting a campus (“No thanks, Brewsky.”)

I'm also thinking that we can throw out our no-drinking-while-playing policy and drink beer heavily during out set, and even extend this to soaking one another and the audience with PBR. The classic drink-reminder that we haven't yet employed is to simply ask an audience member to buy us a beer, then spill it all over my gig rug, then ask for another.

In any case, we played with a band Red Paper Bird who had a very nice guitarist and singer, but the bassist thought he was both Super Cool and Hot. Either temperature extreme made him a joke. Ladies and gentleman, this is a public blog, but I don't mind being honest here. Example one: I was talking with the bassist and one of the nice guys, giving city/venue recommendations...the bassist, ignoring me, turns to the nice guy, shows him a video on his iPhone, continuing to ignore me. Nice guy apologizes a minute later...Rob reports bassist was showing nice guy videos of naked ladies. It wasn't just what he was showing, but that did make it worse. It was the level of disrespect this guy showed both on and off stage. I'm sure he's not reading this blog because there is no frontal nudity, but words of advice: you know, I actually have no advice.

The drummer twirled his sticks so much it resulted in missed beats, and after their set he exclaimed, “Weren't we original?!” to which I replied, though it was not a question, “No, not really.” The singer had a nice voice, the sax player was good, but nothing was original. I'm not faulting them for lack of originality. Though I believe there are bands playing 'original' music out there, like children, most music has parents. There are degrees of originality, however, and this was at 1.5 if 1 is a direct copy of another style.

Preceding the music portion, a poetry ensemble called the Last Word hosted a number of poetry readings by different audience members. I was told it would be very raunchy, so I awaited the Raunch. It could be the many poetry readings I went to in Seattle BITD, but aside from a few references to cavity searches, this was pretty tame stuff.

The next day we got a call from the venue, and apparently we were shorted, and were given a little bit of additional cash. Beloved Binge will now officially end its endorsement of Beer and start writing raunchy poetry.

After a trip to the 24-hour Karma Cream, we headed to the Paynes Prairie State Park nearby, only 10 miles outside of Gainesville. The next morning, Syba was happy to be in the woods again, and playing her usual keep-away / hide-&-seek game around Weston. This involves one of us running around Weston and her chasing us.

It really was a beautiful park until we found out there were ticks and had to make sure Syba didn't roll in the leaves anymore.

We got a digital camera after our last one died, and took an art shot of Syba smelling the ground.

The preserve was alive and swampy.

We went out to the boardwalk to watch the creatures, and heeded the warnings.

Be very afraid.

This next picture is for my friend Aguavino. I think it should be part of a Name that Bird contest. Or at least, tell me what this bird is.

Not only were there birds and alligators, but the cutest armadillo made his/her way out to the trail.

We hiked about 8 miles that day, though dirt and through mud.

If you look closely, you can see Syba mocking Mr. Beloved. Though she did not come out of our hike clean, she definitely has better instincts in crossing mud paths than Rob or I.

Mud paw: fun on the road

As usual, it was wonderful to be away from the city after a long week of shows and screenings. That particular week we had seven events within five days, so we were ready for a break. On Monday, I screened the documentary for the newly formed Philosophy Club at Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

The following morning Rob and I handed out free samples of over 300 So Delicious Coconut Cream bars to students at the University of Flordia, Gainesville, along with Vegan Outreach brochures.

They went so fast we could not sample them, so we retired to Karma Cream for one last stop before leaving for our show that night in St. Augustine, FL.

Once again we met the Bakery Outlet folks and all headed to Nobby's. Rich does a tremendous job of organizing and promoting shows and more. Check out the festival he's playing in, and helping promote on a grass roots level, Harvest of Hope.

He'll also be handing out free vegan food samples as of this writing so stop by his table!

This particular show was organized by Patrick, whose band the Winslows headlined. The first band to play was Neil's solo project from Indiana, who all played later that night, switcharoonie extreme style, as Jenny is a Boy.

Version #1, Neil Cain

Version #2, Jenny is a Boy

Following was a band from New York, Tiger Piss. We played our set, then The Winslow's took to the floor. A picture of them from outside:

And in:

A short video, bringing back the mosh:

I don't know if I have mentioned this, but Rob is a great source of support at screenings. Here he sits and awaits my intro at Valdosta.

Here we returned and screened Seeing Through the Fence with the Philosophy & Religious Studies club. I presented for this group last year, and was kindly invited back.

The professor and advisor of the group, Cristobal, does an excellent job of bringing events to Valdosta that would otherwise not make this somewhat remote location a tour stop. We had a wonderful time discussing the topic and look forward to returning again someday.

Next we were off to the beautiful city of Savannah to play a show at the Sentient Bean. We had heard of this place during our last trip and vowed to play there. We arrived early which gave us time for Syba park action:

Savannah is beautiful, with old stately homes lining the street by Forsyth park.

Later, we played, but were the only band. I do not recommend this. You need a local, usually. A local band was supposed to be lined up, but it did not happen. From a brief sampling, I'd say our best shows are not at coffeehouses. As a local pointed out to me, folks aren't at this venue for shows usually. We felt more like background music. Again, in hindsight, we could have sung songs about drinking coffee.

You know it!

However, we enjoyed an awesome sandwich and the people of the Bean were super nice. Met a touring poet too, and we exchanged CD for poetry.

Also, the local alt-weekly Connect Savannah wrote a blurb about the show and compared us to the White Stripes. We are like the White Stripes in that I'm a female and Rob is a male, and we're a duo. In any case, we are grateful that the reporter mentioned our show and included our chess press picture, the one my mom has in a frame at home.

Our show in Myrtle Beach came about through a Myspace status update. I had never used the feature, but decided to say something like 'I'd rather by playing my new Mini-Korg than writing this update.' Patrick of Some Ambulance responded to the post, and said he liked our songs and we should come play Myrtle Beach. Turns out we really liked their music as well, so he set up a show for us at Club Drink.

Rob talking with Patrick of Some Ambulance after our visit to the Myrtle Beach dog park, Barc Park.

First to play were locals the Filthy Few who were kind enough to allow us to set up a show on the date they had already booked.

Next up were the excellent L. Brown Odyssey, with creatures including a horse who simply danced and drank on stage, a viking in faux fur, and other characters I'm not certain of. These lads are from Charleston, SC. I highly recommend you check them out.

L. Brown Odyssey video flip:

Next up were Some Ambulance:

and

As the name suggests, Club Drink was definitely a drinking bar. Okay, all bars are drinking bars, but the drinking was particularly heavy this night. It was also the celebration of two birthdays, both of which were Some Ambulance members. The club became progressively packed as the night progressed, ending with our lights-on set that we cut short due to it being after 2:00 am. The crowd was super-responsive and it was a great way to end our Snowbird'n tour.

The alt-weekly, the Weekly Surge, wrote up our show here (http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/02/25/1334274/last-minute-weekend-guide.html)

Some exciting news: we're heading to SXSW next week to play with the band I mentioned on my last post, Blowfly. Their documentary, the Weird World of Blowfly, is premiering at SXSW. The producer also worked on Loud Quiet Loud, the Pixies documentary we saw recently.

Blowfly is playing after the premiere, so Tom (heckler from last post) invited Beloved Binge to open for the show / after party, after seeing us play in Miami at Churchill's.

In more good news, we're playing with our home-slices the Midtown Dickens at Super Happy Funland in Houston the day before! Blowfly is also on this bill. We're looking for a show in Birmingham, Alabama for the way down, or a screening.

One last bit of news – I was interviewed for the new project Our Hen House. I first met Jasmin a couple of years back during the New York premiere of Seeing Through the Fence. She worked for Farm Sanctuary as the NYC outreach person. In short, she and her partner, Mariann, are amazing. I hope you have time to check out the interview, and future episodes of Our Hen House.

BB with Traci and Patrick of Some Ambulance after the show.

Thank you everyone for your support and good thoughts during our time on the road this past month. It has been amazing meeting new people and being a part of the touring community.

Week Two: Boars, Beaches, and Seatbelts

2010-02-18T19:19:00.020-05:00

We may be surrounded by a heck of a lot of sand, but our 2^nd week has us continuing to wear Russian hats and heavy coats, along with the obligatory shivering and cursing of the cold.

After Columbia, SC, we headed east to the lovely town of Charleston, which, I learned, is called “the Europe of the South.” The splattering of parked bikes near the College of Charleston where I screened my documentary reminded me of Amsterdam.

At the beginning of our tour, we were handing out free Primal Strips courtesy of VegFund to students when leafleting. We also gave out a few at my Charleston screening.

Students at the screening reacted to the free strips and literature

At this screening I met my second Greek – another stopped by the Columbia screening. Greeks can be very loyal that way – whether or not they are interested in the topic, they will come out to see other Greeks!

This screening was hosted by Alliance for Planet Earth. Fritz, the group's leader, kindly brought fresh fruit and bread for the audience.

Next we were off to play at Outer Space, directed there courtesy of Fritz himself.

Rob, Fritz, me

Fritz would like to see an alternative to Capitalism and presented us with the sweetest road gift, a box full of pecans, beans, quinoa, and spices.

Outer Space is under an overpass, and warm as heck. Easiest load-in ever from parking lot to door to floor.

Seems to have a built-in audience as well – the audience of 50+ stayed for the entire show and actually listened to the bands. This was a Wednesday night, too.

We played with two other duos, a new offshoot of another band called Cabbage and Sleepy Eye Giant.

Sleepy Eye Giant

This duo even had a mini-Korg ala ours as well as a I-forget-what-it's-called but it runs the Korg by foot, using pre-programed bass lines. Pretty cool!

Weston and BB eventually made it to Florida, via reststop. We camped here one night and the next day I found reststop ruins on a walk!

Ruins, circa 1980?

We hit Jacksonville to leaflet next. I tried to engage Syba during quiet times in play but apparently my hint via stick was not enticing.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed some rolling, which is always a crowd-pleaser.

One professor walked by as Rob offered a leaflet to “help animals” and she nodded toward Syba and said, sarcastically, “Nice touch.”

Getting clean.

Touring ain't always glamorous (unlike the rest of this post) and here Weston stops to do our laundry. We made it up to him though the next day when we stopped at the beach.

Now that's Weston.

Syba, conscientious objector to photo taking

Rob, dog whisperer. This usually precedes Syba burping in his face.

Beach BB, baby.

We dusted off the sand and headed toward Yesterday's Social Club to play the Infintesmal monthly showcase bbq.

Plenty of vegan options were available and Rob ate well that night.

There were many bands sharing the bill, all a part of the Infintesmal family. We were grateful to be included since we are foreigners.

Jack of Devil's Playground kindly transferred our show to this showcase, and the sweet folks at Infintesmal included us. They also have an awesome band, called Memphibians.

Another early band we really enjoyed and have a t-shirt to prove it were Tuffy. Though they are compared to Modest Mouse, I think they deviate as well. After the show one of the guitar players drunkenly was selling/giving away his shirts, so we traded him one for a CD.

Another highlight was a band that takes Switcharoonie to a new level, Dig Dog.

All three players took turn at the drums and each was excellent. Catchy songs and fun stage act with audience stage-sitting.

We were happy to meet a handful of vegans and vegetarians too. One of the co-founders of the label is vegan, and his fiance runs the “Southeasts only completely vegan catering company,” Amy Guacamole. Check it out. She knew all about cashew cheese technology and vegan sausages.

Next we were off to the woods to get some quiet camping time and hiking in with Syba. Hiking was somewhat conducted in fear after Rob learned that wild boar inhabit the woods and, per the ranger's warning, will Take Your Dog and Eat Him/Her. (And feel no guilt!)

While I did not want to encounter such a fate, I thought that this claim might be a little overblown and a way for them to encourage you to keep your dog on leash. Until, that is, we encountered this:

Wild Boar Prints!

Later that night, we awoke in fear upon hearing loud rustling in our camp. The rest is hazy, but I believe I nudged Rob and said, “The boar are here! The boar are here!”

However, in the sanity of daylight, hoof prints were not to be found at our camp. Images of their knocking over Weston and grabbing a tasty meal of Syba faded to a slight feeling of silliness. This was reflected in the following photo shoot, which I call Fern on Your Head and Pinecone on Your Head.

Besides pinecone walking contests, we also enjoyed a hike.

Next we had a screening in St. Augustine, the “Oldest City in the USA.” Of course, this means the oldest that was “discovered by Europeans.” It has a nice cozy downtown, but very touristyish.

We screened the film at Flagler College and were happy to find the members of Bakery Outlet Records in attendance. (We're looking forward to our show later next week at Nobby's back in St. Augustine!)

A nice reporter from the Gargoyle attended and interviewed me afterward. There should be an article soon.

We then headed out with Rich and Ashley of Bakery Outlet Records and enjoyed our first meal at a raw vegan restaurant. The food was phenomenal and the whatever it was made of sundae was delicious. Better still was hanging out with the awesome BOR folks.

Next we were off to Winter Park to screen the documentary at Rolllins College with the EcoRollins group.

They had a delicious buffet of spanikopita, hummous, pita, and juices. The screening was held in a ballroom so fancy I felt like I should have worn a suit, or at least, a sweater without dog hair.

After the screening we had a show at the Peacock Room, but heard there was one of those Supreme Master restaurants nearby so we headed out to order some delicious foods.

How can you go wrong with such a happy name? While we waited for our order I fueled up. Weston needs gas and I need sweet:

The Peacock Room show was mostly uneventful, though we met some nice folks at the end who helped Rob leaflet the next day, and the sound guy / owner was fun to talk with. He played Seattle during the early 90's and we talked about RIP clubs I miss terribly such as Rkcndy and the wonderful OK Hotel.

For this show, we were to play the entire set of 3 hours. I wrote up a setlist and divided it into three sets, and BB played a lot of oldies and songs we don't typically perform, mostly for an empty room as the bar and performance space are separate. However, bands receive a percentage of bar sales so we didn't do too badly financially. I would recommend playing with a local at this venue (as with most others) though.

They were very dog-friendly and Syba got to hang out and be our audience. Though Syba's all about the clubs, the next day it was dog park time.

Florida dog parks are pretty decked out complete with multiple drinking stations.

Some dogs took turns, while others simply shared the small bowl.

Next we were off to Miami. I was not really looking forward to it as my only images of the city were from references of very old MTV Spring Break specials. As we rolled up to Sweat Records, located in a neighborhood that makes ours look like Disneyland, we were happy to find our friends inside:

Not only did they stock vegan cupcakes, but primal strips and more vegan goodness. Fellow husband-wife duo Pocket of Lollipops played their sympatico off-kilter songs for us.

There was a lot going on that night in Miami, and Matt (Sweat Records employee) recommended we check out the International Noise Festival next door at Churchill's Pub after our early show. This began what I can only call a whirlwind of days and new musician friends and unexpected shows that we've never quite experienced before. It was this night that due to a few random chance experiences we began our venture into the music community of Miami.

The first surprise was not related to the Miami community but our own: we were beyond happy to find Scotty not only attending the fest...

...but putting on a camera-flashing audience-gawking performance via Clang Quartet:

He and many others travel from afar to attend this conference, organized by Rat Bastard, the Godfather of Noise, whom we met later that night.

We also ran into a man that happened to stop by our Sweat Records show earlier that night. He said he liked BB then invited us to play the conference the next night, Friday. Since we're not a noise act, I was worried BB would not quite fit in. He hushed us up and pointed out the other non-noise acts playing. It wasn't until later that I realized the conference was more about acceptance of different musical expressions than about simply noise acts. It's all noise.

This same man refers to himself as the “Japanese Jew” and has played in several projects including his most recent, Big Bad Brown. I'd link you to his site, but he doesn't have any recordings up and does not plan to. Luckily, I've got a short video posted below.

He also had a recording studio for years. He is apparently referred to as the Miami Andy Warhol, which ain't just because of his glasses. We discussed production (he is an executive producer at Universal, I believe) and he introduced us to his current bassist Henry. In talking with him about music and also the question I have “what's the most difficult thing about being alive?” I found him to be humble and compassionate. And comedic.

Miami runs late, and we were at this club until after 2:00 am and could have stayed longer. Met many of Ravelstein's friends and had some great conversations that night, which are my favorite (conversations).

Saturday was for more dog parks, and we found another in Tropical Park. For some strange reason most of Miami parks do not allow dogs. Luckily, the dog park did in fact allow dogs, and Syba found a friend right away.

This park, like others in the area, had a bunch of fun stuff like climbing toys and jump through hoops.

We were ready for our set at Churchill's. The club has been around for years and Marilyn Manson got their start here. It has that feel of longevity and history, a long-time dive similar to the Milestone in Charlotte.

BB played on the outdoor patio after a noise act. The sets were all pretty informal, which was good since Rob's guitar was tuned to a bass that night. Nothing like a little dissonance.

Our new friend Henry played next, with his informally named project the Mystics.

With distorted bass hitting and slamming throughout, then bow-breaking at the end, one can only imagine how dangerous Henry's set was after he asked his bandmate, apologetically: “Did I hurt you in the end?”

They were awesome, but might have been responsible for breaking my camera as the above is the last normal picture our poor 2002 model camera took. From then on, there are some artful, but distracting lines present:

Camera fall down and go boom. Is there therapy for cameras?

My solution? Ala Dawn Dineen and her new duo Somerset Frisby, I bought a Flip Video Camera. Footage to follow. I'm amazed at the sound and picture quality.

Saturday night we played a show for the other side of Miami, at a love festival taking place at Tobacco Road. It's more of a sports/blues bar, and I remembered what it felt like to play to an audience not so much into the rubble pop we play. In fact, I ended our set early, but did not throw my drumsticks. In the beginning, the sound guy asked if I knew how to play the drums well. It wasn't a good sign. If we had of just played a show here, we would have dismissed Miami completely.

Good news was, Churchill's called us to ask if we would like to join the bill with our new friend Henry & Ravelstein's band for the Fat Tuesday party on 2/16. We were planning on checking out their show anyway so why not play as well.

Before this, our next stop was a trip back to West Palm Beach to visit my Dad's eldest brother Sotos, and his wife Eleni. Though they live in Toronto they head down here each year to avoid becoming frozen. It was wonderful to be with family for a couple of days. A highlight was their singing a duet with my Dad's sister Katie and Uncle Taki (who are in Karditsa, Greece) via Skype:

On Tuesday we held a noon screening of my documentary at Florida International University for the Environmental Law Society.

Afterward we enjoyed some down time at VO Leafleter Extraordinare Linda's home. She kindly treated us to homemade quesadillas made with the new Daiya vegan cheese.

Later that night, we headed back to Churchill's for our show with Big Bad Brown and Ravelstein. We liked them a whole heck of a lot. Here is one of their hits:

It was their first show with their 'new' project, and a Tuesday night, so pretty quiet...that is, until Tom showed up. During our set this tall blonde man that reminded us of a combo of Rob's dad and brother started the Super Heckle of BB. It was great. Some words were exchanged about my drumming and insults hurled about our lack of knowledge of bands he rattled off. Then we dedicated “Miso” to him.

Turns out he's going through some hard times, and quite a character, writes a music blog for the Miami Herald, and plays in a band called Blowfly (the singer wrote songs for KC and the Sunshine Band and others and reportedly wrote/rapped the first rap song).

We ended up staying at his house two nights, and he not only accompanied us to my documentary screening the next day, but ran up to tell the radio station who then made an announcement, handed out handbills at the college (Miami Dade, Kendall) and did an (unrequested) intro to the event (or rather, to the state of security at the college). Afterward, he took us to a veg restaurant, then an Indian store next door where we met up with Henry briefly.

Here we find him back seat driving:

“They will click-it-or-ticket-your ass in a heartbeat.”

Now I can use this when my navigational skills are challenged by Beloved.

Later that night we went to Whole Foods for a group shopping trip then I made some greens and vegan sausages.

Exhausted but happy after Miami, Rob and I were off to Ft. Myers on Thursday for another screening.

Thank you to everyone who has treated us so kindly on the road. After our last long tour, I reworked my idea of "local" to include the community of musicians we meet touring. The road is a place where character is exposed and you find out, quickly who your friends are and who will become your future community.

Love,

Eleni, Flip Video ("Flippy"), Rob and Syba

No Snow in South Carolina! Snowbird'n Post #1.

2010-02-02T19:22:00.010-05:00

View from BB's back door, 1/31. Note Beloved's woodpile.

Beloved and Binge fled through the iced Governor-warned-us-not-to-drive roads on the morn of February 1st, heading to Columbia, SC to screen Seeing Through the Fence for a Politics in Film course at the University of South Carolina.

The class was full, about 90 students in attendance. When I asked if any of them were vegetarian or vegan, only one or two hands went up. We played the film, then I hosted a discussion afterward for about an hour. There were many questions about health, economics, and even a new one, which was: "What about greyhound and horse racing?"

As always, it was an amazing experience talking about this issue with a large group of people who had possibly not had much exposure to the issue. Particularly critical when investigations keep coming out such as this one conducted by Mercy for Animals at a NY dairy farm. (This was on CNN, too.) Sometimes folks ask why we don't eat dairy products. This question is answered with a look at this video...the CNN one is less graphic, but both are informative.

Rob is in charge of picture-taking at the screenings, but I distracted him with statistics-writing (as in, how many veg students?) so there are no visuals during the class screening. Picture tiered rows upon rows in a lecture hall. However, later that night (about one hour after the Q&A finished) I held a screening for the environmental group SAGE at the Green Quad for about 30 people.

The next day, Rob and I leafleted the school for Adopt a College and handed out free primal strips (courtesy Vegfund.org).

One for you, two for me.

While leafleting, a student came up to me and said he really liked the film and told all of his friends about it, which was very nice, since I'm never certain of the response unless I hear direct feedback.

Syba helped too.

Speaking of the screenings, it's always inspiring both to meet instructors and students who are engaged in some form of activism outside of their own interest. In other words, in addition to self-improvement, they are reaching out to frost the world, if the world were a vegan cupcake, with even more frosting.

So many cupcakes and only one stomach.

After today, I do believe in the Vegan Cupcake God(dess). On our way to a wifi location, we happened upon an Earthfare grocery store. That was VCG's first act of kindness to us. Second, when I stopped at the bakery case, I was greeted by at least five different kinds of vegan cupcakes and cakes. The clerk informed me that the bakery manager here is vegan! This was VCG's second act for us.

Mint doesn't have to be green.

After tasting the first selection, I began to doubt VCG's existence due to the apparent spirulina mixed in with the frosting to make it green. Not a good flavor combination, if you're thinking of trying it at home. Mr. Beloved finished the slice for me.

However, I began to Believe again after buying a second selection -- Banana!

Notice the apple in the background to show you I have balance. Those ARE my bites.

The deli also had a nice selection which included our favorite soy nuggets that I thought were only available in NC:

Tonight we're heading out toward Charleston to leaflet, work, screen my film, then play a show! Here are the Facebook invites:

Screening at College of Charleston: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=276307602365&ref=ts

Show at Outer Space: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277481171610&ref=ts

Rob's also busy setting up regional tour shows (weekend).

Thanks to everyone for your well-tour-wishes and great support. And thank you, VCG.

February Beloved Snowbird'n Binge Tour Dates, Booking Panel, Show

2010-01-17T13:56:00.016-05:00

A few things are occurring in the world of Beloved Binge, in this order: 1) Booking panel moderation 2) Show and 3) Tour.

First, I am honored to be moderating a panel on booking tours, as part of the Secondhand Freespace series, on Wednesday January 20th. If you are on Facebook, here is the official invite. Otherwise, here are the details in poster form:

If the other Secondhand events are any indication, combined with the number of questions I hear about touring, this promises to be a a fun and informative event. It's a unique opportunity for you the music-person to share and gather from a wealth of local resources, which, in turn, you can apply to conquering the planet. So bring a notebook.

In the meantime, please ask any questions you'd like to see covered about touring here or on the event page wall. I'll try and address them with the panelists during the event. And did I mention what a fine series of panelists they've got lined up? Experienced nice folks who can save us a lot of time. Tour-booking is time consuming enough without the extra burden of easily avoidable common mistakes.

For our next bit of news, this next Saturday, January 23rd, we'll be playing our only show until March-ish in the area. The show is a benefit for Colin M 's top surgery, and the details can be found here on Facebook or, again, in poster form. We'll be on the radio today live on WXDU talking about this show and the panel.

During our tour, and now generally at shows, we invite audience members to make drawings. Eventually, Rob and I plan to scan all the drawings and post it on our BB Facebook site.

For now, we selected one drawn by a certain Scruff depicting a show in NJ. Not only did he have time to keep my borrowed drum from slipping, but somehow to document the scene in picture form. We decided to use this picture as part of our tour poster for our upcoming tour. Big thanks to Scruff.

Speaking of which, we have some confirmed and tentative dates for both Beloved Binge and my documentary Seeing Through the Fence. If you know folks in these areas, feel free to send them along to us, and we might give them cookies or snacks. I might update this list in another post soon, but for now:

2/1, 5:00 PM: University of South Carolina, Columbia SC: Screening and discussion for Politics in Film course.
2/1, 7:00 PM: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC: Screening for SAGE
2/3: 9:00 PM: Show at Outer Space, Charleston SC
2/3, 6:30 PM: College of Charleston, Charleston, SC: Screening for Alliance for Earth
2/6, 2:00 PM: Show @ Infintesimal records BBQ showcase, Jacksonville, FL
2/8, time tba: Flagler College, St. Augustine FL, Screening for Philosophy Symposium
2/9, 4:30 PM: Rollins College, Winter Park FL, Screening for ECO Rollins
2/9, time tbd: Show @ Peacock Room, Orlando, FL
2/10: Show in Titusville FL TBD
2/11, 8:30 PM: Show @ Sweat Records, Miami, FL
2/13, TBD: Possible show @ Valentine's Bash
?2/14: West Palm Beach, FL, anyone?
2/15, time TBD: Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Screening for SALDF.
2/16, 12:00 PM: Florida International University, Miami, FL: Environmental Law Society
2/18 or 2/19, time TBD: Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Meyers, FL: Screening for Power of One AR and Environmental Association
2/20 - 2/22: GAINESVILLE SHOW/SCREENINGS pending -- anyone???
2/23 St. Augustine pending
2/24, time tbd: Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA: Encore screening for Philosophy & Religious Studies Club
2/25, time tbd: Show @ Sentient Bean, Savannah GA
2/27, time tbd: Show @ the Drink, Myrtle Beach SC, with Some Ambulance and TBD

This time around Weston is armed with a Propane heater for those extra cold nights that leave my cooking olive oil frozen solid and Syba's water dish a mini ice-skating rink for ants, if ants ice-skated and hung out during the winter. Though we're heading south, Google weather tells me it's still chilly sometimes. As a safety measure, Weston is also armed with a fire extinguisher.

Our Gin Rummy games will continue, and I hope that my continued winnings will not embarrass Mr. Beloved as I post them on these pages. Speaking of Mr. Beloved, he reanimated his blog and will be periodically be posting back at Sloping Band House. Speaking of blogs, I now post recipes converted from traditional to vegan-style here: Hortamatic. Speaking of food, hot damn, who has been watching the Saved by Seitan video I shot with Chef Shirle and Megafaun? 9,000 + people, I guess. Can't all be my mom.

More soonish!

Love to everyone who has helped me piece together this tour and all of our projects. You know who you are?

Eleni

Greece and Back

2009-12-16T10:40:00.013-05:00

Rob in the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, sporting the Parthenon behind him

In my defense, the date on the last blog is *wrong* since our tour ended in October, not August. So I'm only a wee bit late with a few updates.

Rob and I met my brother in Greece and stayed for three weeks to take care of business and spend time with the family. It was hard to go to Greece, but it was also good to be near family. We spent most of our time in my Dad's hometown of Karditsa, including the national Greek holiday, "Ohi Day" ('No' Day). As a good 1/2 Greek, I went to the parade:

Apparently this was during a loud moment:

I love Milan Kundera's take on parades, and was also very surprised to find a copy of The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Greek, which I bought for my philosophical aunt Katie.

Dad's sisters Katie, left, and Patra, right

Rob and I also spent time in the nearby village of Pirgos, where my father was born and raised. The village is quiet and wonderfully old, though people are starting to return and build villas.

In the evening you can hear the soft clanging of goat bells in the distant mountains. It's kinda the most beautiful sound ever. The schoolhouse below was attended by my Dad in the 40s, and still remains, as does the huge tree to the left:

Complete with school bell ala Little House:

We made a trip to Athens to visit cousins, and went to the new Acropolis Museum . The difference between the old version and the new is similar to that of the difference between the Greece I first saw in the early 80's and today's new, modern, EU version.

As happens quite frequently in Greece, during the excavations to create the museum, ancient ruins were discovered. This extended the project of creating the museum significantly, but also allowed for a unique presentation of the ruins below your feet. Throughout the museum the glass floor is a window to the ruins. Here is an outside view:

My favorite part of the museum is political. Back in the 1800's, many of the Parthenon's original marbles were removed by the Earl of Elgin under the authority of the Ottoman Empire. The thusly named Elgin marbles have been a point of much controversy henceforth (wow thusly and henceforth! nice!).

In short, the Greeks want them returned. In the museum, this is expressed by setting up blank spaces for the missing statues, noting they are not there because they are at the British Museum or the Louvre (or other museums for different pieces).

Though still apartment-blocky, Athens is a lot of fun and full of outdoor cafes. Here, while waiting for my cousin, we stopped at a Cafeniou in Athens to drink Nes Cafe Frappes. Below, my winning game of Rummy is documented (pictures of actual scores available upon request):

Look at all my points!

I'm still in love with Greece and am sad every time I leave behind my family, the mountains, the safety, and now, for always, my dad.

Our return home brought a visit by my uncle from Albuquerque, Steve. Not only is he family, but he is also an amazing guitar builder. He made me this one, complete with a dedication in the back to my dad inside where you can't see it unless you're me and you open it up:

I'm writing a song on this new guitar at present called "Does 'Things could be worse' mean I should be happy?" I think it'll be ready in time for our show on January 23rd.

During my uncle's visit we attended Troika and played as well:

Photo by the Secret Carborro Ninja

Every performance we attended was packed and we're so lucky to have this festival here in Durham.

We also were visited by my first cousin Maria from Toronto, and her nine-year old son. I was worried he wouldn't like the food but he ate everything. In fact, the first night he had already started on day #2's food supply.

Our first Thanksgiving Record Party was in 2007. We hosted the second this year, and DJ Joe spun records while we all ate and drank spiked cider.

Speaking of food, for a very long time Binge Cafe wanted to make a website called "Veg-o-matic" whereby the user plugs in a traditional recipe name and out pops a vegan version like a little baby. However, Binge Cafe doesn't know how to do that. So, I introduce to you her sister Hortamatic. I'll be posting conversions and conversion requests regularly.

I'm at work booking our February Florida tour -- we have about 3/4 of the dates lined up for the film and still setting up BB's shows as of this writing.

For now, happy holidays.

Here comes Syba claus.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Tour

2009-08-31T14:56:00.028-04:00

So after my last post, I was gently reminded what it meant to choose windows. A few days before our tour ended in June, we got a call from our neighbor about a branch falling on our neighbor's house. Only it wasn't branch-size:

Both of our electricity lines were knocked out. At the time this happened, other things started to happen, enough so that I decided to keep a list of all the windows breaking for the record.

It cost a lot to partially remove the tree, which, after 9 months of touring, made it necessary to work temporarily and forgo our tour to Europe then visit to Greece.

It would have been nice to go to Greece, since my Dad died earlier this month. But life doesn't color in the lines you draw in your head. I never did either, but that doesn't make the deviations from drawings any more bearable. I'm happy that the Seattle Times wrote an article about Dad's life. I also put up a memorial. Luckily, as I have done since childhood, I took a lot of interviews with Dad and have some sort of record of his life besides memory. Of course, he stars in the documentary as well.

Binge Cafe is not a confessional blog (lucky for you, reader!) so I give these details only to provide some framework surrounding our current tour and decision to cut it short and fly to Greece for Dad's memorial in October.

Before we set out on tour, Rob, with the help of good friends David and Mike (tofu mama) painted our house as you see here. We'd been wanting to convert the blah white into bright for awhile. As one neighbor said about the orange (twice) “Is that primer?”

In between working normal-style, I made time to experiment with making ice cream, alfredo sauce, omelets, and cheese out of cashews and almonds, courtesy both of the Vice Dream recipe book and Rockin' the Stove's adaptation of the Veg Times recipe.

The ice cream here is a cashew blended with maple syrup, then whipped up to shape in my 70's ice cream maker. I made two varieties: the first, peanut butter (tasted similar to peanut butter ball dough), and the second, peppermint. I added shredded up chocolate chips to the latter. Both were slightly grainy creams. Thanks to expert friend advice, next time I would soak the cashews to reduce or eliminate graininess.

The cashew alfredo I adapted based on the goat cheese recipe, simply adding some water and fresh garlic to the blended mix, then cooking with noodles or quinoa which results in creamy delicious thickness.

Almond omelet

The almond omelet was a similar recipe, but I added fresh onion to the blender and some cheesy nutritional yeast and tumeric for color as well.

Before we left town we played our first show at the Pinhook. Needless to say, this sign says it all in terms of our love for everything 'hook:

Also before town-leaving I read a couple of books I'm about to recommend to you. The first also received an endorsement from Greco, who usually leans toward Spanish Art History but makes important exceptions:

This picture is also included due to my good friend Aguavino's request that Greco be given equal time alongside Syba, Binge-Cafe style. In any case, I highly recommend the book for all folks wanting to make a difference. Reviews are here.

The second book is also a must for anyone interested in how ideas (yours, maybe?) can have lasting impact, called Made to Stick. In detail, and with interesting stories and studies, the book reviews the main elements of 'sticky' ideas.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Our first stop on this tour was in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, sponsored by Green Unity 4 VCU, who also gave me a nice shirt with their club name on it. The Richmond alt-newspaper, Style Weekly, kindly covered the event as well.

During the screening I picked up a copy of Time Magazine ($5! Same as entire NY Times Sunday edition. What gives, Time?) simply because it had a big chunk of meat on the cover. Though the article touted the benefits of sustainable agriculture, one of the sidebars in the print edition pointed out that meat cannot be produced sustainable in today's quantities demanded, and that the best thing to do was eat more plants, directly. (!)

My people. And, my food:

The next day I had a noon screening sponsored by the Environmental Law Society at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, whereby they staffed the event with vegan scones available at their very own college store. (The scones were courtesy of this awesome org called Vegfund. Upon approved application, they pay for vegan food for your events, providing it's an event that wouldn't typically be full o'vegans, like a vegan party.)

The town of Williamsburg itself seems less progressive, perhaps because it is a colonial tourstop complete with reinactments and shops full of stuff you don't need in an economic crisis or otherwise. (I hear you. Scones ARE needed, though, like air and water.)

Following this screening and a quick tour of the town Rob and I headed to Harrisonburg, VA, to screen my film at James Madison that night. The sponsors were EARTH and ARC. Here I am after the screening, at the merch/literature table.

James Madison University

We had a few days off after these screenings, and chose to busk the next day after buying small mini amps as documented here. During our busking, we met this super-nice club owner who invited us to play a show the next day. Unfortunately, I had no idea that my dad had died a few hours prior to our busking. I always thought that I would know when he died, or sense it somehow. It was not until the next afternoon that I learned he had died.

After this we spent some time in the woods which was good. There was no way I was playing the show. Here we are first at the chimneys, close to Harrisonburg.

A number of days later we played at Dahlak's in DC. It was the hardest show I ever played. Luckily we were surrounded by nice people and got to share the bill with Dawn Dineen and the Ash Lovelies.

Dawn Dineen

Ash Lovlies

During our time in DC, we were also fortunate to visit the studio of Yarner Records. Here is Dawn in her studio, all blueish and cool like the Cascades.

I also had screenings at James Madison University, sponsored by the EARTH and ARC clubs, George Washington University, sponsored by SALDF, HATS, and Green GW, and American University, sponsored by Eco-Sense.

George Washington U (before start time)

American University, Q&A

After staying for quite awhile in the DC area, we headed to spend a couple of more days in the woods which was a relief. One of these days, a not-so-good-feeling-day, Syba blasted past me while hiking on a trail and knocked me over, bowling-pin style, flat on my back. I felt much better afterward.

After the woods we headed to the University of Delaware where I had a screening with the Students for the Environment. The University of Delaware Review kindly covered the event.

Now we were off to Philly, the land of easily accessible vegan cake except that I am not eating sweets for 40 days as a sort of fasting during the memorial period. We did, however, enjoy the vegan cheesesteaks available at Gourmet to Go, or Govinda's.

Manhattan Room, Philadelphia (can't you tell?)

Later that night we played a show at the M Room in the Fish Town area of Philly. The good thing about the show was that we got to see and share the bill with Non Canon and a side project of the Hermit Thrushes, Water Beasts...(the project is so Side that there is no site, so I link you to HT instead).

Non Canon

Water Beasts

We headed out to NJ where I'd be screening my film at Princeton. We forgot the camera in Weston, so I present you in front of a majestic door that you will just have to believe is a part of the university:

Me in front of Princeton's majestic door

The next night we performed as part of Lazlo's Blow Up Radio showcase in Parlin, NJ at Buddie's Tavern with a couple of other bands.

Lazlo is one of the dedicated indie-music supporters that make up the village I'm talking about in our title line. So is his friend Scruff -- here they are on our last tour (I never blogged about the end of our 9 months on the road) before we played live on Blow Up Radio:

Scruff & Lazlo, June 2009

Lazlo is hosting a benefit for Spondylitis from October 16th - 18th, so be sure to check it out. Scruff is a devotee of Hawaiian shirts as well as Elvis Costello:

Scruff & Elvis, Sept 2009

The following night it was New Brunswick, where we played at Octopus Studios. Awesome show run by a guy from the Delfields, who also played at the show. Opening were the amazingly good Fun Machine, who played an entire set of Beethoven covers in preparation for a theatrical performance.

Fun Machine

The evening continued with us (thanks Scruff for the picture!).

Then followed with the Delfields:

The Delfields

And ended with a super-nice duo called Brick & Mortar, who had an interesting setup complete with two high-hats. The high hat was in such close proximity and used at such random intervals as to surprise the audience standing nearby.

Brick & Mortar (high hat in foreground)

After more woods/hiking, we headed back to Philly to screen my film outside at Drexel, sponsored by the Sierra Club and Asbury Ministries. The movie screened on a ginormous inflatable screen, which, to clarify, (by asking the tech people), you cannot jump on following the movie.

Seeing Through the Fence outdoors

Next we screened the film at Sarah Lawrence College, sponsored by SPAAR. The campus is quite small and reminded me of a cozy hobbit village. Quite the opposite with our next stop to screen the film at Yale:

Yale stairwell & me at the screening

The screening was sponsored by the Sustainable Food Project and the Yale Student Environmental Coalition. We had a great discussion and they even provided vegan cake! Which I did not eat. But Rob had two slices to make up for me.

Yale, Q&A

An article about the screening should be coming out in the Yale Herald later this week, as I interviewed with their film reviewer prior to the screening. The student with the hat in the forefront of the picture told me he thought that meat was more natural than non-meat foods. We discussed the antibiotics and hormones in modern meat, and how the factory mechanized process was anything but natural. In fact, a campaign to challenge the term is underway. Here's a quick guide to this term and more.

Sound guy Justin, Bob of awesomeness, and Rob, at Two Boots pizza

As continuing part of the It Takes a Village saga I introduce to you Bob from Bridgeport. We were lucky to discover Bob through CT Indie and Tweefort. He organizes shows in the area, and brings new meaning to the phrase 'above and beyond.' When he's not ensuring the Facebook invites include all the bands, expressing excitement about your NEXT show AND screening via invite walls, and encouraging you to go on various radio shows, he's booking the Two Boots in Bridgeport. Nice, nice man who has a lengthy history of involvement with indie music. Before the show, he invited us to attend an art opening at a local skate shop, also run and curated by super nice folks.

No pics of us playing, but here is a suavey shot Mr. Beloved insisted upon due to the fanciful backdrop:

That night we played with a Danbury, CT band Poverty Hash:

...as well as the amazin' and super-fun Boardlords....

who will be forever known to me as the Floorboards due to the unfortunate combo of my poor stage-memory and hearing which resulted in my shouting out this name after "Stay tuned for ..." They embraced the new name gracefully and even said they are available in knotted pine or oak.

Speaking of floorboards, Weston is now sporting fine floor courtesy of Rob's brother in law who installed the flooring over our old, sad carpet:

Now muddy paws and spilled water dishes (Syba!) will be of little consequence.

Jamie & Rob

We've been hanging out with Rob's sister & family for a couple of days. This means some hiking in the woods and Syba jumping from cliffs (photo by Jamie):

Last night we played our last show of the tour at the Elevens. In our third installment of village-gathering we played with the Werewolf Police (with a member from the aforementioned CT Indie), Fields of Gaffney (met Eric Gaffney at our last Northampton show) and Merene (former Aaron B & the True Believers).

Fields of Gaffney

Werewolf Police

Merene

We enjoyed all of the bands. Big thanks to Mark for setting up this show, especially since it was right after a busy festival weekend. The night was officially complete with a dancing lady of questionable sobriety and frequent "wooo!" exclamations.

As a bonus, we found a huge rock in my drum cases at the end of the show. We're assuming the positive meaning of this, which is, we rock. Werewolf Police named the rock Stony, but we still didn't keep him/her.

Our last stop of the tour is a screening for Trinity College in Hartford, CT. In total, we had 20.5 tour stops for the past month, 13 of them screenings.

After the screening it will be a 10+ hour drive back. We're leaving for Greece on Wednesday, returning by the end of October.

This tour has been full of support from friends and kindness from near-strangers. Thank you everyone for being part of our nameless village.

I choose windows. The glass kind.

2009-05-25T14:13:00.048-04:00

You think everything falls apart without you. Really it just changes. This means falls apart, or, maybe, rebuilt stronger.

Speaking of strength, some Reststop Philosophy for you. The three of us were attempting exercise to assuage our guilt or future treat-eating, and stumbled upon these two structures, eye-ball stumble-style.

One is a concrete building without windows, the other a wood barnish building with a few windows. Not to go Three Little Pigs on you here, but I asked Rob which structure would he choose to live in, given that severe weather (like hurricanes and wolves blowing houses down) were probable. He chose the correct answer, which is B., the wood structure. He wants to see out the windows, risk and all. Life choices are very much like this. Complete security is possible, but I'd rather see the storm from my windows. (OK, to take this further, I'd also admit to wanting to build a cellar to hide in, to have the best of both worlds.)

Speaking of, at the beginning of our tour (September - October 2008) we budgeted for fuel being at about $5 a gallon, though it was 'only' about $4 at the time. We and our budget was relieved when fuel dropped to about half that amount. From November onward, gas became:

El Cheapo! I really just wanted a reason to shout this again, as I did much to Mr. Beloved's annoyance whenever we passed these signs.

I was thinking about maturity recently as I was biking home from Whole Foods and some teens did not move out of the way. And then I realized, one-line style, that maturity is the process by which we go from thinking we are the center of the world, to the realization that we are nothing. Or maybe a moon.

As babies/kids our parental figures pay complete attention to us. To some extent, this attention is expected from others as we continue to age. We think we're way more critical than we are. Conversely, too much importance is placed on the opinions of others rather than our own understanding of morality.

All this is leading up to the most important observation that you've certainly noticed: ~~Binge Cafe has grown up and moved to Wordpress and does not know what it is doing. Bear with it/me~~.*

*(Binge Cafe tried to use Wordpress and failed miserably...I've never met an unfriendlier application. I couldn't even manage separating paragraphs, and upon searching the forums saw this was a common problem. Blech. I'll stick with blogger for now.)

~~Back in the olden cave-days of Blogger,~~ (sorry poor Blogger!) Binge Cafe left off somewhere in Texas around March. It's late May. Why has Binge been so neglectful of her picture-posting travel-talking? No one knows. Below, Rob captured my intro at a screening hosted by the University of Houston Environmental Club. They supplied vegan cookies, so I supplied love.

In Houston we also screened my film at the University of Houston, Downtown, for the Philosophy Club, and at Rice University for the Environmental Club and Humane Society.

I think strawberry oat pancakes are pretty darned good. I also tried mango but this was not as exciting as anticipated. Though I've been just using water, I find that soy milk tastes a whole lot better. We'll be making these pancakes on the awesome Rockin' the Stove -- stay tuned!

BB played a show at Super Happy Fun Land which makes me want to do a documentary on people who run DIY spaces, except that I want to tour with Seeing Through the Fence until it becomes as outdated as the Brady Bunch, but with less silliness.

We played with our friends Football, etc (formerly Tin Kitchen of NJ) who moved to Houston recently. They also kindly attended my screening at Rice. They're awesome and you should check them out.

Note the vintage BB shirt...warmed our little hearts.

Also on the bill were a band from Brooklyn, whose name has been deleted from the Recycling Bin, brain-style. Dangit, this is becoming a habit. Again, not out of malice. I liked 'em.

The venue folks were so kind that they even let us sleep inside the warehouse.

Which is good cause the over-drinked lipstick lady who kept kissing her dog (evidence below) crashed on the couch.

After Houston we were off to Lafayette, Louisiana to screen the film at the University of Louisiana. Earlier in the day we leafleted there, then headed toward the theater. There was a breathtaking and lifetaking swamp in the middle of campus, which Syba did not swim in.

Probably because of the alligators.

Luckily we lived long enough for Rob to sample a local beer. After Lafayette, we were off to Baton Rouge to screen the film for an environmental group. Louisiana requires that each campus have a piece of artwork. This one, outside, even has Greek writing.

Next we were off to New Orleans. We had not been since 2002 pre-Katrina, and made a short visit to pay our respects to the 9th ward, sad. BB performed at the Dragon's Den, complete with Cafe Bamboo, the only veg restaurant in town.

We played with this nice duo, High in One Eye:

As with many duos, this drummer was awesome...

And not just cause he was borrowing my tom. We were also lucky to meet up with fellow vegan leafleters at our show.

Vic has handed over 55,000 students information about the animals behind most meat/dairy products in Spring semester alone.

In the third installment of meet-ups, we also ran into the Des Ark crew the day after our show, and made time to catch solo-Aimee at another club.

New Orleans is beautifully parked and historied. Rob and I went to City Park and we highly recommend it. We took turns watching Syba while the other of us went to see the sculptures and statues. During Rob's turn, I decided to shoot portraits of Syba, but should have removed her harness to appear more professional.

Above please find her stoic alert pose. Below, find Syba hoping to make some money from the stuffed ambiguous bear or fluffy green man company:

In a separate shooting, these are Syba having "alone time."

Except how I invaded her space to document it.

She also looks fine in a brown hat, no? Anyone?

I like how the shifter look slike a microphone that she's about to announce something into ("Help!")

In any case, back at the sculpture garden, it was full of interesting pieces, but the below was the most striking. The plaque following details more about the artist's intent.

I took this one for mom, who is the most modestly great violinist.

Sorry if these are violas mom. They're definitely not guitars.

Binge Cafe just lives for pictoral juxtapositioning. Here I want to demonstrate the complexity of human-hood, meaning our choices to protect some and eat others. Presenting, a nice sign in a parkish place where we stopped to exercise en route to our next stop:

And next to this sign, another sign:

Conclusion: Turkeys are not Important Birds. This reminds me of an essay I just read, Consider the Lobster by the late David Foster Wallace (thanks to Nicki for the recommendation). In the historical outline of lobster-eating, Wallace noted that eating this creature before the mid 19th century was akin to stuffing a handful of bugs in your mouth. They were plentiful and crawling all over the beaches, and thus thought of as waste, supply n' demand-style. There were some disturbing descriptions of a lobster's ability to feel pain, noting the small hairs within the shell on their soft bodies.

Speaking of turkey, a professor at the next screening we held in Stillwater, OK, at OLE Miss was so kind to us. After joining us for leafleting, she gave us homemade tofurkey wraps:

We also screened the film in another city in Oklahoma. No pictures.

Finally it was Sunday and we were free to relax again. Here is Rob working on a song for you and me.

Syba should have been a fish.

Atlanta has the most amazing coop, Sevenanda (Durham coop take note!) They have a variety of deli options for vegans and lovers of delicious foods (same thing). Most importantly, they have a rotating supply of vegan cakes to ensure Binge keeps on a regular exercise schedule.

The first place we performed in Atlanta:

Life's short. I wouldn't go back there. We were on the bill with four other touring bands. As you might imagine, this did not translate into an audience, apart from the nice bands who stayed, like these guys:

They asked if they could take our coloring book idea, where blank coloring paper and crayons are put upon the merch table for audience use. Of course I said, "You kiddin' me? That's MY thing. MINE!"

The next night, we performed as part of a Star Magazine showcase, set up by the awesome Justin formerly of Elevado, presently of Batata Doce.

The show was a lot of fun, and we hit up the cheap Chinese food place afterword with Justin #2 and got to preview tracks from his new band Glen Iris. (Note! They will be playing at our house as part of our Thank You Party 6/29. You are invited!)

This is completely self-explanatory:

We skipped the cleanse and had some seitan sandwiches instead.

One of the best screenings we had was at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. Before the screening, Rob gives students information on modern factory farms.

Below, heading to the screening. We use the same merch suitcase for BB and the documentary.

And this is me during the Intro, I believe.

There were roughly 100 students there, so the discussion was a lot of fun following.

In the arena of new foodstuffs, I decided to pick up some Laver because it has lots of good things like iron, iodine, B12, and DHA. But also important is the product's edibility.

The results were 50/50. Mr. Beloved reported, "Yuck," while Binge maintains that, when dry-roasted in a cast iron pan, it's just like a chip. A really good chip.

Anyone else cook this stuff? How?

At some point in Georgia we decided to take a break and rent a pedal boat for $5. It was a lot of fun, and I can't believe that Syba actually stayed in the boat. I might say it is a good workout leg-wise. Rob kept stopping just to see if I was pedaling, which, I was. Heavily pedaling, at least 40%. Rob says 20.

We also had a screening in Athens, GA (no pictures) at the University of Georgia. We were happy to arrive back home in Durham for a couple of weeks. In fact, we didn't really feel like going back on the road for the 9th month.

Duofest was a ton of fun and all the duos, I mean all of 'em, I really loved. We were honored to have Mecca Normal, and David of Mecca was kind to do a sketch o'me (he sketches different bands they play with).

Even though we hesitated to leave our porch again, what better way to start road life back up than playing a show on an old farmhouse porch with one of our favorites?

It was wonderful to see the Midtown Dickens again. New songs, crazy harmonies, we love 'em.

BB played next. These pics are courtesy of Michelle's iphone (I-phone?)

The show, complete with vegan cookout, took place at the home of Banjo Bob, who outdoes BB in both 'off kilter' and 'quirky.' He's awesome. We have his Apples & Oranges album, and lemme tell you, the songs will break into your headspace and cross the monkey bars.

Rob's photo. And his book.

We did some leafleting around the DC/Maryland area, and Delaware, then were off to New York, after a quick stop in Phili to get the infamous Vegan Treats cake at GoVindas. You should have seen the look of disappointment on my face when I saw the empty cake case -- coulda sank 1,000 ships. Luckily the vegan philly seitan steaks made up for this, 40%.

New York was our next stop. I attended a Farm Sanctuary meeting then debate. Jasmin, who runs the NY action, is one of my favorite peoples. The debate was something to the effect of, "Should we exploit animals less?" and if you can imagine, there was an opposing position, answering "No." The moderator, who had declared himself neutral (or been declared neutral) later admitted he was one of those people who would not care if someone kicked a dog in front of him (as an example of caring about suffering when it is right in front of you and/or when the animal is a 'member' of the family). Jasmin did a great job of summarizing parts of the debate and afterthoughts on her blog Making Hay.

It's interesting to drive in NYC. You're prepared for the worst, so when you're actually there it isn't as bad as you'd imagined. You do find parking. You do get lost and go over a bridge that puts you back in Manhattan when you were needing to stay in Brooklyn. But somehow, if Weston does not stall, you get to your destination with minimal stress and yelling/honking, and a feeling of accomplishment, like graduating.

My favorite contrast to the streets of NYC is the people-made Central Park. Instead of opting for the $8/hour parking in the park, we lucked out and found a FREE spot across the street with no restrictions except to be out of it 10 days later. I was so happy that I thought we should stay there forever, or at least 10 days.

The only downside of our Central Park visit was an unfortunate live exercise program event blasting the workout throughout the park -- "One, two, YOU CAN DO IT! Come on now, UP, UP, down, UP!" complete with breathy gasps for air and bad music that makes you (me) run away which is why it is effective for exercise.

In the park, finally away from the noise, we found a castle that was built for weather reporting, and took turns being king/queen. I present you Rob the King, overseeing his people.

And a view from the Castle:

After the park, and before the show, we (I) had a very important mission, mission cake. New York is just bursting with vegan cake, or so it seemed. We limited our selections to those within walking distance (1-2 miles) of Central Park. I was hoping to find my favorite, which we'd missed in Philly (Vegan Treats. Could it be a coincidence that they are based out of a city entitled Bethlehem?) Admittedly, I had high expectations:

Photo from Vegan Treats, http://www.myspace.com/vegantreats

So it was with some disappointment, expressed fully after finishing the cupcakes within 10 seconds, that I instead found these tiny overpriced things:

In a desperate move later that day, I bought this slice of cheap(er) cake at a coop later that day:

To summarize, it looked better than it was. The frosting was wonderful, but the cake part was a little dry. But 10 stars for generous frosting.

After getting lost, only slightly, we were able to find time to eat at one of our favorites, Food Swings, in Brooklyn. I had the fish sticks, and Rob made the seitan sub disappear. We also had the Buffalo strips on sticks with a ranch dressing. All vegan! (Do I need to qualify that anymore?)

Finally it was show time and we made it to Goodbye Blue Mondays.

This is a cozy little club snugged under a subway line. We played there last tour and they're super nice. I forgot my camera and the owner mailed it back. BB was added to the bill somewhat late, so we opened up the night. We were happy that a member of the band we played with when we first moved to Durham (at the Wetlands! RIP) the Lost Patrol came out to see our show.

After us, a fabulous lady & her banjo played a set, Chelsea McBee.

A train went by during her song about a train. Next, the nice Key of V performed. A duo, so automatically of course they are on our good list(s). Besides that, they were good.

I took this shot while waiting for my laptop to boot up. It never did.

Tip: Do not purchase an HP TX1000 series laptop. I'm trying to resolve the issue with the BBB. Meanwhile, I got a similar little netbook to my friend Aquavino, and I love it! Mine is an ASUS.

After NY, we made our way to a State Park for camping purposes....

...I think I need a new sweater.

Next it was over to Boston to screen for the Veg Society, a very kind group of folks, I'll say.

The room extended to the right too, where the other half of the audience sat, by the buffet. We stayed with a vegan family restoring their Victorian home. The house had beautiful woodwork and tall windows, a spiraling staircase, and pocket doors. Syba loved it too because they had a dog and a stuffed bunny she proceeded to de-ear. She also left her green ambiguous Bear there, perhaps as an apology for the rabbit.

After Boston, Weston began practicing defiance again, this time by stalling. He chose several convenient places:

Shopping complex exit, at the light;
Middle of busy intersection going up a hill with fast oncoming traffic;
On-ramp to Mass Pike ("Folks, the trucks can't get by you...you're going to have to move.")
Highway ("I'll help you folks pull over to the breakdown lane...");
Dark alley;
Another intersection ("ID and registration, please.")

All these were spread over the course of a day, during our futile attempts to get to Hanover, New Hampshire, for my Dartmouth screening. Luckily, we finally made it to a cold rest area close to Hanover. Since, Weston sort of sounds like he has a cold (swine flu?) and has continued to intermittently stall. But boy, can his top sure pop!

At Dartmouth, all this trauma was mitigated by the baking of vegan cupcakes by one of the students.

They also ordered Indian food for the audience, some of whom were lined up before the screening.

A reporter was there and interviewed me then published the article here in the Dartmouth Free Press. We also leafleted the school.

After, we barely made it to the Lebanon Food Coop, one of the most overpriced I've seen. Some say that all coops are overpriced, but this is not true from our coop experiences across these plains and mountains (the US). On average, we eat for about $2.50 a meal each.

We headed to Rob's hometown of Enfield CT, arriving the next day at his cousin's home. With the next picture, I wanted to illustrate that though Syba actively avoids Weston, while we were visiting outside she had the choice of either hanging out in Weston or Rob's cousin's grassily wooded back yard, and she chose the latter entirely on her own (see below right, behind cousin):

She later moved to the driver's side, where it was much more comfortable to squeeze between the clutch, break, and gas pedals. Before I continue to make fun of Syba, you might wonder why *we* were all hanging out in Weston instead of on lawn chairs by the firepit. I'll refer you to Rob for his response.

A couple people recommended Danbury, so off we went to our show there at Cousin Larry's Cafe. Met a kind blogger there who runs the Hat City Blog and bought a couple of our CDs. He told us about the history of the town, where hats to Danbury were like tobacco to Durham.

Our next stop has become a tradition of sorts when we're in this area, and it is one of our favorites because we get to meet up with the folks who run Vegan Radio (see Scott & Derek below) and eat at Cafe Evolution (also below).

We made it to Northampton and enjoyed Oh Sweet Mama's baked goods.

OK, so I ate a bite pre-photo. Later that afternoon, we took a trip with Derek of Vegan Radio....

...whereby Weston displayed the non-glamourous side of touring and stalled on the busy arterial. Derek and I got out and pushed Weston's backside, hot from the sun like a griddle, so we kept removing our hands to avoid burns and pancake-hands.

We decided to park next to our show location at the Sierra Grille and then bus or taxi to the radio station. Once up, you can hear the podcast at: http://veganradio.com/. For now, you can listen to their archives. They've asked us to create a theme song...this would be our 3rd theme song creation I think (Tech Notes Radio & Endangered Durham were the other two) so we're very happy to continue on in this business.

The show at the Sierra Grille was one of our best in awhile. The kind folks that book the place give bands a free dinner at 7:30 pm. We were on the radio and missed this, but they have plenty of vegan options reportedly, which is good since I believe the other bands were vegan as well. We played first (there are some great photos taken by Derek here). Have I already mentioned that Derek is an amazing photographer? Yep. He's also taken many of the pictures you see in leaflets of farm animals at Farm Sanctuary and elsewhere.

After BB, Vio/Mire played, solo though:

Then it was Aaron B and the True Believers:

They were a lot of fun and I told them all to check out the musicians on Trekky Records as they might be cousins, first or second.

We also met Eric Gaffney (of Sebadoh!) who was at the show and signed our mailing list. His more recent project is Fields of Gaffney. If this wasn't enough, he's either vegetarian or vegan...

Speaking of bands who 'make it,' Rob and I were talking about a band we met on tour who we have been trying to contact about a show in their town. Despite several emails to this band, we had not heard back. Since they seemed very enthused about helping us out before, I was stumped. “Oh, they're busy,” Rob said. “Recording, and I heard they just got signed to a label.”

It seems to me that bands are like orphans at a very noisy orphanage, waiting, trying to look pretty, to sound nice, to be adopted by a label. Or a fan base. Or you. Once a band is adopted, their departure is viewed with some degree of envy, but also joy that it is possible (if that's what we want...and to some extent, that's what we all want – validation).

Maybe we're all seeking adoption, whether it be for work or friendship. To what extent an image inconsistent with our true character is projected for the sake of survival, or a good life, is unclear to me. The ultimate impact of rejection is also unclear. Possibly we adapt or completely drop out. But certainly we change.

The actual adoption has an impact as well. Once accepted our maturity can again be assessed by how we react to our fortunes. My favorite people are those who become greater after adoption, in character and spirit. Rather than accepting exclusive membership in the now available 'higher' class, they remain members of all societies.

I'd just like to insert here, and perhaps I've said this before, that I feel most at home with musicians. Not all musicians, but the majority. Something like a family feeling, which I get with certain vegans too. And Greeks! Don't forget the Greeks.

After the show were were hoping Weston would take us all the way to Providence, RI. He did, pictures forthcoming. For now, I leave you with a love letter found at the Providence Whole Foods market, where they write, "Vegan Options!" on their deli case, in which I found this little happy friend, just waiting for me to adopt it.

PS: Some readers were having trouble with my last post, "We're Gaining Weight, that means Growing." That is, the first picture would show up, but the words were from my previous blog post rather than that one. It obviously worked fine for some people who made comments relating to the recent post, but not others -- in fact, I tried accessing it on a computer here and had the same issue. Perhaps this is a browser problem? But the previous posts all worked. Hmm. In any case, let me know if you have any issues.

Important PSS: The ruling yesterday in California broke my heart. But you can lend some support here: http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/1million