I woke up to the smell of Val and Gen making yummy omelettes for everyone. After some hearty breakfast munchies, Corbett had us in a trance as he showed us the most amazing thing.





A YouTube video of a monkey making ramen noodles from scratch.



Seriously, people. Look this thing up. It will blow your mind.

I headed to the neighborhood gym while Austen and John went to buy a new tire. When they were done, everyone picked me up. After a quick stop at an aMAZing local ice cream shop, we headed out of town. Now, I don't know if you've heard this rumor, kids, but San Francisco is hilly!



We had the day off to do some driving. (Our next show was the following day in Seattle.) We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge...



... and decided to check out Muir Woods on our way out of town.



We got there right before they closed, and right after they no longer charge admission. Nice! Muir Woods was beautiful, serene, and inspiring.











The gals shared a tender moment.



And then, so did the guys.



John also had a solo moment.



We came across a bridge, and decided to rest our legs and take a couple of pics.





Can you spot John, Gen, Val, and Austen in this one? It's Calamity-Magnet-Where's-Waldo!



Before we left, we created The Bear Series...











We continued our drive to Seattle, stopping in Ashland. Austen has a friend there. We planned on meeting him at a local bar, stopping for the night, and driving the rest of the way the next morning. Once there, however we were informed that Seattle was actually a much longer drive from Ashland than we had planned for. Val was a trooper and offered to drive a few more hours. She went to take a nap in the van while the rest of us finished the drinks we had already ordered.

Side note: The best sign ever was in the women's restroom.



We soon piled back into the SUV. Val was captain, John took co-pilot, and Gen took the middle bench for some shut-eye. Austen had been driving all day, so we decided to "have a party" in the back - which meant drinking Jack out of Sprite bottles and playing war, ending with the loser (Austen) giving John a wet willy. I don't think he liked that too much, but we've all made up. (Sorry!)

It was early in the morning by the time we stopped and got a hotel room. Val had driven us through hills and fog and was ready to pass out. She's the best! :)

We were getting ready to head out on the road again, so you know what that means… Tour Gas Fund Raiser at The Red Lion Tavern! After Austen and John shared a BBB Coffee…



… and some of us destroyed a plate of potato pancakes…



… we played a somewhat acoustic set, had a few German beers, and were able to make a little gas money in the process. :)









Thanks to the general manager, Chaz, for having us back!



Also, big hugs, kisses, snuggles and rainbows to everyone who came out to hang out and contribute to the tip jar (which we for some reason re-named the Fap Jar): Katie, Lauren, Knasas, Luda, David, Patrick, Dan, Keith, John, Dennis, Sharon, Scott, Timberly, Alan, Adrienne, Jamie, Elsa, Dimitrius, Raymond, and Mate.















Oh, and thanks to Katie for taking pics!



Later that night, we went back to Austen's place to continue the celebration. Val and I stopped to grab some snacks, and thought it would be nice to bring Austen some butter beans as a gift for welcoming us into his home.



Then we found this amazing pic of Austen on a horse when he was a kid. Nice outfit!



John showed his affection for Val.



And Austen showed his disgust for me.



Austen, Val, and I ended up hanging for a while. When the sun came up, we took these glorious photos.





Then Val and I got in a quick workout on Austen's exercise contraption.



That made us hungry and tired, so we went to IHOP and then went home to sleep.

-Sara

After taking care of some obstacles hooking up our trailer that morning (Austen is the best!), we headed north to Oakland.



We got to Uptown Bar, loaded in our gear, and met up with John's friend, Erica, for some Chinese food.



Val wanted to document my amazingly sexy flip-flop/ski cap combo.



We're traveling in Austen's vehicle this time. When we got back from eating, we were so fortunate to get a flat tire. Yay! Fun times!



We called AAA and had the tire changed right before we went on stage. There weren't a lot of people there, but the people who were made it fun.

When we got off stage, we decided to do a group shot to commemorate our first show on the road together. Thanks, Chloe!



My friend, Jym, came out to the show. He plays drums in The Mr. T Experience – a fave of mine. It was good to see him and catch up.



Val's friends, Corbett and Katie, also showed up and were kind enough to offer their place to crash for the night. Thanks guys! :)



Austen looked like he was getting sleepy, so it was time to go.



"Who's gonna' pack the trailer tonight, guys?"



They both did. We all did. Teamwork!



We went to Corbett and Katie's place in San Francisco, blew up our air mattresses, and went to bed. Special thanks to Larry from Uptown Bar for having us! We love you, Larry! :)

Hello Friends,

It's Valerie, Sara is out watching a Dodgers game so I thought I'd do my part in blogging. Sorry we've been slacking with the updates and such. It's been a challenge adjusting back to life not in van, doing things like cooking (yay!) and washing the dishes (boo!!)... It's been over a month since we've been back but it still feels like yesterday. We'll write more on that later when we get the pictures organized =)

In the meantime, we're rehearsing and Sara is brewing some new songs in her head, Genevieve is baking cupcakes, Bourdet grew his beard back nice and full, Zabielski is enjoying that blanket he got somewhere between El Paso and Phoenix, and I got a haircut. Oh, I was also thinking about the list of things that are better on the road:

1) Beef Jerky
2) Gas Station Coffee
3) Country Music (not that I wasn't a fan before, but it makes for great driving music)
4) the Back Bench of the van (for stretching those legs and previous night recoveries)
5) Ghost Stories during the night drives

There's more that I can't think of at the moment. But it has been nice being home, sleeping in our own beds, and working on making more music! Last night, we played the Knitting Factory for Justin Riner's (from Loverlee) birthday party. It was our first LA show since coming back from tour and it was a blast. Zabielski got so excited he nearly broke the floor tom and Sara rocked off the A string of her guitar. Next up is the Viper Room on Thursday with the Dollyrots!!! See you there!

laters,
Valerie

PS - Thanks to all those people across the country that made our first tour so awesome: all the venues and bands we played with, all the couch and floor owners that we crashed with, all the pets we petted, old friends, new friends... thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Can't wait to do it all over again!

Hi friends!

We'll be playing our first Los Angeles show in over three months THIS FRIDAY at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood. We'll also be celebrating Justin Riner's (Loverlee) birthday that night.

Won't you join us?

Here are the set times. For more details, please visit our MySpace page.

Doors at 7:30
7:45-8:25= The Bentleys
8:35-9:10=The Modlins
9:20- 10:00= Loverlee
10:00-10:15= longer set for Squaregirls (who are also DJing between all sets)
10:15- 10:45= Jane Error
10:55- 11:35= Calamity Magnet
11:45 = Enid The Dowl

Hope to see you there!!!

xoxo,
Sara
Calamity Magnet

Sara was the guest on L.A. Talk Radio's Sam in the Morning yesterday.

If you missed it, you can stream the Podcast here:

Sam In The Morning

She talked about future plans for Calamity Magnet, her reasons for leaving The Rentals, her recent visit to the Playboy Mansion, and more! Genevieve and Valerie from Calamity Magnet also called in to the show.

Check it out! :)



Calamity Magnet

Day 12 - NEW YORK, NY

July 8th, 2008

We all met up and started our drive to New York, with our friend David in tow.



As we got into the city, David told us about the new waterfall sculptures in the Hudson River.



We arrived at The Knitting Factory, unloaded our gear, and had sound check. After that, we were pretty hungry. The Joes were meeting up with some friends at Pianos, so we dropped them off there. Val and Gen wanted tacos. David and I dropped them off at Snack Dragon…



… but not before we could get a photo of me in front of the best mural ever across the street.



David took me to Frank's, a great Italian restaurant around the corner. Folks, do yourself a favor, Go to Frank's and try the asparagus appetizer. Yummers! On our way back to Knitting Factory, we noticed a sound coming from the back of the van. I leaned my head out the window, and noticed we had a huge flat, due to a large nail sticking out of the side.



We pulled into a gas station, and David changed the tire.



It took about an hour and a half (by the way, that was the most messed up spare placement I've ever seen in my life), but we made it happen. Thank you SO MUCH, David! You're the best. ☺

I was bummed, because the flat tire set back our arrival time to the club. I ended up missing The Besties and The Heavenly Tenants, who I was really looking forward to. Gen and Val caught their sets, however, and set they were both great. I got there just in time to change into my show clothes and catch The Mood, who were amazing!



We played after The Mood, and had such a great time. After the set, we all headed over to the after party at Black and White. My old friend from Dallas, Frank Hejl, came to the show, as well as the after party. It was great to see you, Frank!



Here are the Calamity gals…



And here I am with the beautiful Corinne from The Mood…



We danced the night away to the awesome 50s and 60s rock'n'roll the dj was spinning, and then headed off to bed.

-Sara

Day 11 - BOSTON, MA

July 7th, 2008

We got up and headed to Boston.



Z is from Massachusetts and hadn't played Boston in a few years, so this was kind of like a homecoming show for him.



Our friend, David, took a bus to Boston from New York to meet up with us. We picked him up at South Station and headed to the venue.



We misplaced the camera again, so there aren't any more photos from this night. ☹ We played at T.T. the Bear's Place, and were excited to learn that we had a write-up in the Boston Globe! The Bynars played first, followed by the fun keyboard pop that was The Appreciation Post. Thanks to both bands for playing with us that night!

Z had a lot of relatives come to the show, so it was a family reunion of sorts. I wish I had a photo of A and his mom side by side, because it was sort of freaking me out how much alike they look. His family and friends were all so nice, and it was sweet of all of them to come out to support him!

We also have to give a shout out to our friend from Los Angeles, Matt Knasas (kickin' asses), who was visiting his hometown of Boston, and came out to the show.

That night we split up between Z's brother's place and Val's brother's sister-in-law's house. (Jeez, that's a mouthful!) Thanks for putting us up for the night, guys!

-Sara

Day 10 - ROCHESTER, NY

July 6th, 2008

We woke up…



… and started our trip to Rochester. We passed through Pennsylvania…



… and soon found ourselves arriving in New York.



We passed through Buffalo…



… and found ourselves in a bit of traffic.



Unfortunately, we lost the camera in the van and have no other photos for this day. ☹

We rolled into Rochester and loaded into The Bug Jar. Still Fighting It went on first, and played a great set – even covering a Tom Petty song, which is something we do, too. ☺ Burning Daylight played next, and they were great, too! I talked with lead singer Nick before their set, and it turns out we know some of the same people in Los Angeles. Small world!

After we played, we hung out for a little, we grabbed some grub and hit the road. We headed to Syracuse, where we stayed for the night. Thanks to everyone who came out to the show, and to the other bands for being so rad.

-Sara

Day 9 - GRAND RAPIDS, MI

July 5th, 2008

Val and I woke up and checked out the view from Ryan's rooftop.



After saying our goodbyes, we were on our way to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We passed through Indiana…



… and found a new magnet for the van at a gas station along the way.



We crossed the Michigan state line…



… and soon made our way to the Whiskey Lounge in Grand Rapids. We played with Bless You Boys…



… who we were put in touch with through our friend, Tim.



Before we played, we decided to check out the fireworks we were given.



Patrick Lewis kicked off the night.



After our set, Bless You Boys took the stage. Definitely check these guys out on MySpace.



We stayed at the Bless You Boys house that night. They have a cute little Chihuahua…



… and a crazy rabbit that actually looks nothing like a rabbit.



Thanks for everything, guys!

-Sara