London so far...

Beautiful weather here, every neighborhood we chance upon there is sun, pubs, and english sausages. Good times. Today we did an instore at Pure Groove, one of the coolest record shops I've been to in a long while. Was planning a big night out tonight having a day off finally, but the hour long ride into Hackney and our lack of rest until tonight barred us from leaving our comfortable abode here. We met a really cool band last night called Bodies of Water and were keen to hang out with them so it's a shame we stayed in. But, Mick has a copy of Samuel Beckett's complete works and I've begun reading a play called Play which is quite good and humanistic in it's portrayal of a man, one girlfriend (i think), and one lover. The guys are watching a movie in the other room, ahhhh. Staying inside was a good decision.
x ann

Manchester

Hmm, where to begin. Manchester is a city of greatness, there are cool shops, people, and places to eat everywhere in the Northern end of town where we stayed. We had two proper full english breakfasts! The place we stayed in was a pimp ass (sorry no other way to describe it) apartment right next to a supermarket and in walking distance of the fun. We played a show to people who'd even come all the way from Spain and Atlanta, Georgia to see us in Manchester. I will never forget that, and I hope that we can continue to grow with those that have followed us and supported us so much. I have so much love for them. After the show we went to a rocknroll bar called Big Hands with our labelmates The Answering Machine and Mick. Late night fun at it's finest. Had my first drink of tour, southern comfort and lemonade, so delicious and refreshing, kind of a girl drink I suppose. :) xo ann

Cambridge, Bristol, and Nottingham

Wow! Our first show in Cambridge came with chocolates, fruits, veggies, and an amazing dinner. Everyone was so nice! Last night, we played in Bristol where there was a guy who'd been to 250 shows last year and just been to a festival and was still at our show front row and center dancing. Kudos to him! The owner of the club gave us homemade Lemoncello (did I spell it correctly?) in exchange for our album. I wish you all could have tried this amazing drink, holy! After the show, we went back to the hotel and ran into a band called Detroit Social Club and had a drink with them in the lobby. Super sweet guys, they taught us what to say when we play in Newcastle, where they are from. Hmmm, but I can't seem to remember it now. Now we are sitting at the Bodega in Nottingham getting ready for show numero three here in the lovely UK. We've been totally spoiled so far, well fed, new friends, and awesome venues. :)

Longest trip, thanks United

Our day of travel began at 9:30am.

9:30am - picked up by good friend and taken to airport.
10:30am - mean United lady #1 threatened that we wouldn't be able to take our guitars on the plane, thanks mean United lady #1.
12:00pm - board plane and sit for one hour because there is complications with the door
1:00pm - told that plane cannot fly so we have to switch to a different plane, thanks United.
3:00pm- board United plane #2, served prison food and told there will be no movies on the flight, oh thanks so much United.
5:00pm - encounter more mean United stewardess ladies on board the plane, who roll their eyes when we ask for drinks, thanks again.
2am - arrive at London Heathrow.

At least they gave us appreciation vouchers?

Summary Part Two

Just back from a week with Bad Veins and Division Day, and we:

1_Learned how to play beer pong,
2_Won a match of band tennis
3_Learned how to say underwear in French (thanks Aaron!)
4_Made some new friends for life
5_Took lots of pictures
6_Went bird watching on Lake Shasta

Now off to the UK where we will:

1_Play lots of shows
2_Visit Castles
3_Eat at least five full english breakfasts
4_Eat confectionary bars
5_Make new friends
6_Take lots of pictures

Turtle the Tortoise

Just as we were about to step in the van to make the trek back to SF from LA, a woman yells out, "Hey, is this your turtle?" And there was this little guy racing across the street towards us as if we were long lost family. He came really close and just lingered near us so we brought out seven snap peas and a carrot for him. He seemed a little shy at first and then after he realized what was handed to him, he was in hog heaven! He ate everything patiently with such determination and joy! It felt so good to know we were bringing such happiness to little tortoise. He kept eating and eating and when we were out of snap peas, he just wanted to hang out with us in the grass. It was so hard not to take him home but San Francisco is too cold for a little desert tortoise. Hope to see you again little guy.