Well, not to make myself a cup of coffee... although, I am right now... coffee is more of a "means to an end" and not, "the end to my means" (I was up until 3:00 AM last night).
I am on my way out to the "Gym of the Pacific" as my friend Marcus calls it (i.e. The Pacific Ocean).
I'm going surfing (or something that resembles it at least... not sure that I would call it surfing yet... maybe when I can stand up consistently).
Going to make the drive out to San Onofre State Park.
Marcus said he saw Dolphins while he was out the other day. You see a lot while sitting on your board waiting for a good wave. I always see pelicans picking fish out of a moving wave OR Flocks of Seagulls!
So, I've had touring on my mind for the past few weeks for several reasons:
- My friend Cory Joseph is out touring in the middle of Oregon at the moment, having a ball I imagine. (www.coryjoseph.com) - I'm right in the middle of preparing for an extensive tour in October and November of this year. - I pulled out a bunch of photographs from a few months back that chronicled my last tour through California, Oregon, and Washington in February and March of 2008.
I originally had every intention of sharing these photographs with everyone. However, I find myself so caught up in the daily grind at times, that I either forgot to share them through a blog OR by the time I realized that I should have been posting my photos, I figured that everyone wouldn't have any interest anymore. However, I decided that maybe I should let you decide. I'll post a few pictures, tell a few stories, and let you gauge your own interest in my previous exploits.
To start off, there is a lot of the United States (and the world for that matter) that I have yet to see. I can tell you, that I am dead set on seeing as much of the world as possible. I think this mainly stems from the fact that I am not very impressed by the small window of the world we call television. I feel that a lot of the images we see on it everyday are biased and ultimately tailored in some way to fit a purpose. This purpose varies, but for the most part, it seems to culminate into a method in which to sell a consumer something, whether it a product or someone else's perspective… but let's save my thoughts on television for another blog. The long and short of this argument is that the world around us as we know it and the world we see on television never seem to converge at some juxtaposition that we can firmly call reality. This is the reason I enjoy to travel! There is no bias behind hoping in a car and seeing something with your own eyes.
With this being said, touring is perfect for me. I get to satiate my desire to see the world while also sharing my art with the people I come across.
For this last tour in February and March of 2008, I traveled through California, Oregon, and Washington, playing various colleges, universities, churches, and venues. I can tell you in all certainty aside from the wonderful people I met, that all three of these states are beautiful and I had a hard time conserving film. I snapped quite a few repetitive shots from my car as I drove up Interstate 5 all the way through Northern Washington:
Most of the above shots are Northern California, right before you cross over the Oregon border. You hit a large mountain pass right after you drive through Redding on I-5. There was a HUGE downpour as I was driving through this pass on the way up to Oregon, so I missed out of taking a lot of photos, because the conditions were sort of, well, dangerous. It had snowed the day before, so the road was quite icy and slick. I decided to snap some shots of the region on the way back down because it was much more agreeable weather then.
As I crossed into Oregon, I definitely rolled the car windows down. I love the smell of pine trees.
There was one point on the way to Astoria, Oregon that I pulled over to the side of a snow cleared highway to snap a few shots of a gorgeous area where the snow was melting into a shallow stream. I climbed down to this area and took a break from driving and snapped off a couple of shots before I hopped back into my car to play my gig at Clatsop College.
For those of you unfamiliar with Astoria, the 1985 movie "The Goonies" was shot there, as well as some of the other outlying towns (including Seaside) in the immediate Northwest area of Oregon; I was clued in to this factoid by the Astoria locals in various conversation during my stay.
Astoria was a really cool place to visit. It's a REALLY small town that sits right below the mouth of the Colombia River. It's a beautifully hilly area.
If you look closely at that last picture, there is this HUGE freighter off in the distance in the Colombia River. Those ships would scare the shit out of me in the early morning (were talking like 3:00 AM/4:00 AM). They have a huge epic horn that they blare as they are traversing through the heavy fog laden current of the Colombia River; it did an excellent job of startling me out of a deep sleep on a few different occasions. It literally felt like the freighter horn was right next to your bed when they pulled it. In one particular early morning moment of sleep before jumping out of bed startled, I think I was dreamily concocting some sort of story that a hell-bent train was heading directly through the room in which I was staying in before I came to my woken senses.
Here's another picture of one such culprit:
as well as some pictures of the less populated side of Astoria:
Anyway, for the most part, these are just a handful of the pictures and stories that I have from my trip. If you want more, let me know! Leave some blog comments. Show me that you're interested and I'll write and post some more blogs concerning my last tour. In the meanwhile, I need to get back into the present and continue preparing for my next tour coming up in October and November. There's no time like the present, right?
As a side not, if you're interested in seeing me play in your area, show me! Demand me below! Trust me, I watch this thing like a hawk:
Mike Vitale events at Eventful
I'm going to be writing a blog concerning a contest that I will be running in the near future regarding bringing me to your town for a performance (no matter where you live in the United States). You can get a jump on this by demanding me above today! Show me that you want to see me and get your friends signed up too!
Thank you all for reading this and for your continued support. You bring my dreams into fruition everyday just by listening.
You ever have one of those days that constantly test your patience? Today has been one of those days for me.
My day started with the inexplicable headache... I ran down the checklist of things that could have caused it:
1. Did I eat? Yes, constantly. Been lifting weights so I've been eating A LOT! 2. Have you consumed caffeine? Yes. In the form of one cup of coffee and a soda. It's one of the few addictions in my life... it compliments my vain addiction of starring in the mirror every 2 minutes to flatter myself and my compulsive need to go through my routine (lick the door knob three times, turn it twice, knock once, before entering a room... this may or may not be funny... I guess it depends if you're obsessive compulsive... read a David Sedaris novel and decide for yourself). The above stated is like "Where's Waldo". Find the lies dressed in the stripped shirt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sedaris
But I digress...
At any rate, the headache is there, and I have work to do, which always makes the things on your agenda "not as fun".
I finally decide (after a complete day of work, i.e. music stuff, booking fall tour, new album prep work, etc.) that I need to go out and get some aspirin and something to eat aside from the protein bars, protein shakes, and eggs/toast that I've already consumed since this morning. I do the search for my car keys (surprisingly find them rather quickly), but discover that my wallet is no where to be seen... which is when I remember that I left it in my best friend's car last night. This poses a new problem. I have three dollars in cash on me, not much to eat in the house (save for a can of 100% white chicken in water and ranch dressing), I need aspirin, I need something decent to eat, and my best friend is M.I.A.. What do I do?
Well, I'm proud to say that I came up with a solution (cue the MacGyver theme song again... no, seriously, hit play on the youtube video below and then keep reading):
- I spent $1.61 on Excedrin. "My headache was THIS BIG, but now I took Excedrin, and it gone!"
- I bought Lettuce and one Roma Tomato for $1.04. Combine this with the can of Chicken I have and ranch dressing... voila, salad!
However, this grocery store accomplishment had to wait in line... and wait in line... and wait in line... and wait in line. Nope, my day of patience is not quite over. I fell prey to the ol' grocery store line predicament:
There I am at the grocery store. There are several lines to chose from (roughly 10 check stands... all open). Which one do you chose? This isn't the kind of question that anyone really asks themselves, right? You just pick a line (normally the one populated with the people that only have a few items). Well, the line I picked was a bad choice. The person in line two people ahead of me had only one item, unfortunately, it required a price check (that took about 5 minutes). Then the next person in line had a price check (go figure). Lastly, the person directly in front of me had a dispute with the price on a few of her items (which caused another price check). Meanwhile, I decided to pass the time by watching everyone who joined an adjacent line leave in a timely manner with their delicious groceries.
You have to smile in situations like this; it happens to us all and makes me a little more thankful for the days that go completely right. Patience is a virtue, right? I'm working on it.
I went surfing again with my friend Marcus a few days ago (and when I say surfing, I mean this loosely... like it's a good day of surfing when I can stand up on the board when I catch a wave). But, I guess I should save this for my next blog... I'm going to be late for my gig at Aurora... need to take a shower still!
[SPECIAL NOTE TO READER: I no longer play this residency in Newport Beach because the local law enforcement put an end to this show... no joke. It's a shame because it was a huge success and I miss all the people that would so kindly show up to the performance every week at Aurora.]
Meet Kayte and Sarah.
Woops, wrong picture…
Aside from their well deserved titles of Capt'n Crooked and Private Tater (I'll let you distinguish between which is which), these ladies own and operate one of my favorite places to spend free time in Orange County: Aurora, a Mediterranean Restaurant/Watering Hole on the Balboa Peninsula of Newport Beach.
At initial glance of their dimly lit and antique adorned eatery, you may feel less of a restaurant vibe, and more of a longing urgency to make yourself comfortable (with drink in hand) along a rustic leather couch that adorns the window laden entrance way of a quaint beachside establishment. However, this initial pining for a seat is normally substituted for the traditional and classy rod iron glass table reflecting the delicate illuminated vibrance of vintage microphone stands that have been engineered personally by Sarah to become light fixtures
as well as several hundred hand mounted wooden mini mirrors that adorn the deep left wall of their cozy Mediterranean corner of the world. Personally, I use these mirrors to check for cilantro between my teeth after I have completely devoured their delicious and unique Coos Coos recipe. I relish in this aura of finely tuned intricacy (that might come across to some social circles initially as a half hazard masterpiece) and savor in Aurora's overwhelming intimacy yet lively and chatty vibrance as you sip on a thick hand-blown glass of fresh homemade Sangria. Above all else, you don't arrive at Aurora to watch a football game on their massive 60 inch LCD flat screen television, mainly, because they don't own one. Aurora is about art and about meeting new people… which brings us back to Kayte and Sarah.
These girls know how to entertain. Granted, as a writer, I know how to embellish someone and where their true talents and attributes come into play, but I would never even attempt to describe the personality that these two woman posses. If you meet them once, I guarantee you'll never forget their names. In fact, I feel that this small sign perched on top of the porcelain toilet lid in the Aurora coed bathroom says it all:
HeyYou! Dirty boys don't get laid. So, don't be dirty and lift the seat. -The Girls
Now, you may come to the conclusion that these two lovely ladies are like every other creative business owner vying for some personal unique quality to an old idea. However, upon further investigation, you'll discover two witty, crass... yet tactful, self-reliant, overbearing, adorable, zany, fervent, and talented young woman who host my free weekly residency at their establishment every Thursday night at 9:00 PM and trust me with the way in which I do it by allowing me to entertain along my own rules. You ladies are tits!
AURORA 2307 W. Balboa Blvd. Newport Beach, CA 92663
EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT!
Starts at 9:00 PM
Free show (but please make sure you pick up some grub or have a drink… or 10).
~ Mike
PS
I surfed for the first time today... I feel that this may be the beginning of a brand new and beautiful life long habit. 6:00 AM has never felt so good to me before in my life... minus the chaffing.
1.) How will my turnout be at Hennessey's tonight?
THE ANSWER: No Way!
At this point, I decided that "Yes" and "No" questions are integral to a clear and worthwhile answer... so I rephrased the question:
2.) Will my turnout be good at Hennessey's tonight in Laguna Beach?
THE ANSWER: Ask Again!
Hmmm, the suspense is killing me... so I ask again...
3.) Will my turnout be good at Hennessey's tonight in Laguna Beach?
THE ANSWER: Yes!
GREAT SUCCESS! You heard it here first (especially all you superstitious ones); the turn out will be good tonight regardless of whether people are there or not. Personally, I still hold true to the good ol' fashioned idea that people generally show up when they want to see a good show:
Hennessey's 213 Ocean Ave. Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Show starts at 8:00 PM with John and I. We play until midnight because we're serious like that.
All Ages until 10:00 PM
FREE SHOW (just make sure to support the venue by getting something to eat or drink... after all they are kind enough to let us put on the weekly show).
