thanksgiving

hi everybody. we went to a little home-style cooking restaurant in austin, tx tonight with the shout out louds and it was a lot of fun. most of them were very interested in the traditional thanksgiving dinner and when they ordered, they consulted us on the quality and authenticity of the sides. Ted said he liked the fried okra but i think he was just being nice because i told him it was my favorite. mostly the turkey with stuffing was the jam. so, after the dinner we went to play pool and foosball and get to know each other better. "Cheers" in Swedish is "skol" like "skull" but i think i'm spelling it wrong. it also has an "a" with the circle over it. After a long night of hanging out and being secretly sad about just general thanksgiving stuff, i decided the best thing to do would be to throw myself into the Swedish culture and so Ted and Carl taught me to toast properly (the Swedish way) by looking each member of the party in the eye while saying SKOL and then drinking and then making eye contact again. Also, if there are more than two people in the party, each should be aware of the arm with which they "cheers" each other so that if they are sitting side-by-side, for example, they should click left hand to right hand so that they create a circle-like shape with their bodies and arms, signifying closeness. If there are three people or more, it doesn't matter but if one-on-one, we must sit next to each other, face each other, click our outer-handed glasses and make eye contact when we say "cheers" and again after we take the sip.
Much better now.
There's a show tomorrow so i should get some sleep. happy thanksgiving everybody. i hope your uncles didn't go on and on about how great they are and i hope your mamas were nice to your girlfriends/boyfrineds. it's hard on everybody so remember that we all have our hang-ups and that we are all human--even the weird family members who don't always seem to present that "human" side first.
everyone's just as strong and/or hurt on the inside. but remember, you are not to tolerate any kind of abuse, not today or ever, from anyone. even family. if they're mean to you, you are not obligated to stay. you have your life to live (really live!) even if they are going the other way.
especially if they are going the other way.
my little 5-year-0ld niece did call this morning to say happy thanksgiving so i do have her and her wonderful, fearless little girlness to be thankful for.
happy thanksgiving.
k

portland and nesting

so, this was our room at the jupiter hotel in portland. i liked it a lot. boutique hotel. i think we could get this same room with one car-load trip to ikea. i think about ikea a lot when i'm on the road. i think about all the things i could get to decorate the house and make it look as cute as the ones in the catalogue. this is what happens to girls when they are put in a van on a rock and roll tour for a month. they start nesting, from satellite locations.

more photos

troubador photos

so, if anybody has show photos, please feel free to add them.
k

More Tour!

Okay, this tour is going great! The Shout Out Louds and The Sun are both great bands, and sweethearts too. And The West Coast was of the hook! Pamona CA and San Francisco were our favorites, with Seattle in there too. The KEXP show at the Triple door should be archived soon. So check out their website for more info. Hey thanks to everyone who is coming out to see us and saying hey. That means a lot when we get to meet you guys at the shows. Saw a break dancing show with the one and only Biz Marke DJing after our show in Seattle. He left a little to be desired as a DJ, but he is American Pop culture at it's finest. Don't forget to go to www.myspace.com/therosebuds for more goodies. We will be spending Thanksgiving in Austin Texas this year. Oh well, it is a holiday based on a fake premise anyway and if it was not for getting to spend time with people we care about we would not celebrate it at all. The songs "Come Back" from the Shout Out Louds, and "Justice" from The Sun are incredible and you need to hear them. Well I better go now. We have a long drive to Austin tomorrow. Till then...

Ivan

Tour!!

So we are on tour now in a hotel room in Billings Montana. One show so far at the Varsity Theater last night in Minneapolis. The Shout Out Louds and The Sun are both great. A beautiful sold out show! Tons of info and all kinds of stuff coming to this blog as soon as we figure how to post everything. Until then, here is a picture of the pirana from the aquarium in Minneapolis MN!