June 23, 2007

Dear Diary,

The NORVA in Norfolk Virginia is the best venue in the world. The coolest part about it isn't the stage or the room or the place itself (although that was really cool too)…the coolest part is their philosophy. They believe in catering to and taking care of the artists. Their main goal is to make us happy and make us comfortable. I'm game!!!!

Upstairs, where the backstage area is, there is a whole other world. There is a basketball court, a game room (which I'm sitting in right now while Hal and Randy are playing ping pong…neither are winning) with three arcade video games, a HUGE big screen tv, three leather couches, a marble coffee table, a pool table, ping pong table and a foosball table. And that's just the game room. Then there is a catering room with a bunch of tables, another big screen tv, full meals (lasagna, salad, shrimp, and a bunch of other things), full fridge of sodas and water, a condiments. Then, the main dressing room is insane. Even more couches and TV's, a huge wooden hot tub and steam room, and a separate lounge room with more leather couches. Upstairs is a basketball court, raquetball court and a full gym. The guy, Frank, who showed us the tour of the back stage area was telling us about his touring career…Led Zeppelin and all Jimmy Paige's solo stuff, plus many many more. He came back here to work at this venue because it's the best in the world. IT feels really good to be taken care of. OH!!! And they have a washer and dryer and a girl who does our laundry. Places to sleep. Anything we could want. It is truly incredible. We felt like we died and went to Rock and Roll heaven! ?

So the rest of the day, leading up to that point, was pretty uneventful. We drove and drove and drove from Nashville to here. Well, I slept and slept while they drove. Domo first, then Dave then Kyle and Randy. We stopped at a Starbucks and subway on the way in. Got to our hotel around 5 ish and had van call at 6. When we got to the venue we had some time to sit and chill and actually hang out with the Tesla guys. I can't tell you enough how amazing they've been to us. They are just the coolest people and I feel really thankful that we're on tour with them. They treat us like friends, they watch our shows, they are interested in our well-being. It feels really good, especially since most of us grew up listening to them.

The actual show was really fun. The crowd went nuts, so much so that there was a line at our merch table for people wanting to buy stuff, talk to us, and have us sign their new cds and shirts. Everyone we met was so cool. After tonight, we'll go back to our hotel and Tesla will go to Europe. Then we have a bunch of stuff planned for the12 days in between until we meet back up with the guys. Monday night we'll be in Baltimore playing at Fletchers bar. We've never been….have any of you guys? Wednesday I think we'll be in North Carolina, and then Friday we might be in Boston. I'll keep everyone updated as soon as I find out the details.

Overall, I keep feeling so happy to be here, playing with Tesla. They are such amazing people and their fans have been so cool and so accepting to us. I've come to the conclusion that Tesla fans are the best in the world (other than Poets fans of course ;-) I think it's a really great fit and I'm not homesick at all, although we do miss all our sex ninjas out in La la land. Keep checking in and sending your good vibes. We're definitely feeling them.

Love, Sally

friday june 22, 2007

after getting to spend a couple of "down" days in the absolutely beautiful city of nashville meeting with record store owners and doing live interviews on radio stations, we spent out final day there in absolute style!!!

friday morning, we were up and out of our hotel rooms by 9am and off on our search of starbucks for the caffeine addicts before we headed to an absolute treat. tom zutaut and andy were able to get us invites to be given a private tour of the custom gibson factory just outside of town. this isn't where they make the run of the mill gibson guitars that end up on most music store showrooms and only a select few get the honor of seeing this. this is the factory where they make the pieces of art that end up in glass cases out of reach of the masses and where they make the painstakingly perfect remakes of the classics and custom guitars for the legends of music!

the first thing we were shown was the finished guitars that were either waiting to ship out to their owners or waiting to be sent to higher end stores for showcase & sale. some of the most amazing and breathe-taking guitars you could ever hope to see in one room. instruments ranging from $5000 to $50,000 and up. we were even shown guitars that are not for sale that were made for historical purposes, including the "elvis" guitar, the "christmas" guitar and the "20th century" guitar which is inlaid with real diamonds and tells the story of the entire century from top to bottom and is worth upwards of a million dollars.

we were also taken into the actual factory where we were taken past all the machines and the process of making a custom guitar from how the wood is chosen right through to the finishing details. we also had the chance to go around the rooms and meet the people who put their blood, sweat and time into carefully crafting these instruments with care. we were all in awe at both the process and the people who make it happen. we could tell this is no ordinary job to them, this is a way of life and they are making a difference in music.

the entire 2 hours we were in the building, there were very few times when our jaws were not dropping and our eyes were not wide with amazement. it felt very spiritual being there and made us all appreciate the other aspects of music that we don't always think of doing what we do. it made me wanna just pick up a guitar and start riffing and creating music and i can't even play guitar that well!

at the end of it all, i was so taken by the whole experience that i didn't feel right not walking out with a physical memory of all that we'd seen. i walked around the room and picked up any guitar that seemed to stand out to me and found a perfect SG, got the seal of approval from domo on how well it played and traded some plastic for some history and became a proud dad just like that!

we left the gibson factory speechless and went to lunch with tom & andy at tony roma's a few miles away. we stuffed ourselves while listening to many historical rock & rolls stories told by a man who was there for it all in the 80's & 90's and then headed over to the ryman auditorium for soundcheck.

now, for those of you who don't know the history of the ryman, this is the place that was once the "grand ol' opry" and is a venue that any artist only dreams of being able to play. there's so much music history inside those walls that you can feel it the second you enter its' threshold. walking onto the stage and looking out, it is lined from top to bottom with church-like pews and stained glass windows and, in retrospect, it really was like being in church. many people's blood has been shed and hearts & souls have been poured out on that stage and we were destined to do the same later that night!

our green rooms were lined with black & white framed picures of many of the people who have graced the stage there in previous years and it was really humbling to walk the halls there.

needless to say, we won the crowd over quickly and gave the people a show they hadn't expected to see from an opening band! the lines of people who wanted to meet us and have us sign their new cd's & t-shirts afterward seemed endless! we met some of the nicest people in nashville that night and didn't want it to end.

when tesla took the stage, we went back to our green rooms for a bit to relax and ended up having a full party up there including some of the coolest radio personalities in rock & roll and some of our myspace friends who drove from all over the state to show us true love. no one wanted to leave the ryman friday night, including us. after we were all packed up and ready for our impending 14 hour journey to norfolk overnight, we held out as long as possible, standing outside the venue by the van continuing to hang with our poets friends and family until we could wait no longer.

tired and physically exhausted, we finally crawled into our beds and set off across america for the next show just a few hours off at that point.

there's probably a million little details that i could add to what i've said already and i'm sure sally & domo have a few cool stories of their walk down nashville's main country music bar strip, but a blog is a blog not a novel ;o) please feel free to hit any of us up in a myspace message if you wanna know more about what we did and saw on friday in nashville cause there's just so much to say and so much we did and saw!

needless to say, we can't wait for our next trip to nashville to rock the town and chill with some of the best people on earth once again!

randy

after a long overnight journey from albuquerque to dallas which i believe took about 11 hours in total, we arrived and checked into our hotel rooms around 2 this afternoon. good thing too cause many a shower were needed by that point!

after our glorious 2 hours of downtime, the band and crew headed over to the house of blues, dallas at 4:30 and as usual were greeted by the many friendly faces of the tesla crew. being early, there was time to get into our green room, relax, eat and soundcheck with no stress whatsoever before doors.

this was very nice for me because i really wasn't personally feeling well today and needed the nice slow pace to get myself together mentally and physically. sally was a total gem for me tonight, finding me tea and a stomach sedative at the venue.

what can i say about the show...it fuckin' ROCKED!!! the end

just kidding, i'll tell you more...

the curtains opened to a dallas crowd that would become our best friends for the next 45 minutes. it only took to the end of the opening song to have them waving hands in the air and holding up drinks in approval. kyle (our front of house engineer) had everything dialed in right away for the crowd and the stage mixer gave us one of the best monitor mixes we've had yet! that made it so easy for us to do what we do!

hal's voice was so on, he was belting out licks he's never done before. as had been the case at many recent shows, "strange things happen in the dark" was a crowd fav and when we got to the end stab, they wouldn't stop cheering.

during earthman, hal took care of the crowd through the verse and first chorus under solo spotlighting while dave, domo & i lit up some cigarettes, shared a little jack and caught our breathes over by the drum riser and sally chilled with her beer.

when that song ended, hal intro'd "son of a gun" by saying "this is a song about telling people to fuck off!" and the crowd both laughed & cheered in approval and we were off & running with guns-a-blazing.

here's where we broke the mold though. that was our last song of the set, we went all out and gave them a king sized ending and were getting ready for the curtains to close. the crowd would have none of it though. they started yelling & chanting for an encore...and ENCORE...for the OPENING act that they'd never heard of before they arrived tonight. we were given the green light to give the people what they wanted and we broke "spy vs spy" out of the vault and tore it up one more time.

after the show, it was back to the green room for a quick smoke, a few hugs and some fresh beers and then off to the merch table to meet & greet. this dallas rock & roll crowd bought almost everything we had to give them and stood on lines to get our signatures and shower us with love! at times, we were all standing in front of stacks of cd's and t-shirts piled 7 and 8 high each trying to keep up. i don't know how to properly describe the feelings of being appreciated like that but, in my opinion, we handled it with true rock & roll class and style and made sure we satisfied everyone who stopped over to us. sally even got to sign her first breast tonight and i can't say i wasn't jealous ;o)

we headed back to the green room once again to relax, hang with a few friends who came to support us and get some delicious HOB ribs in our bodies, with occasional trips side-stage and out to the balcony to watch tesla weave their magic over the crowd. they were dead on as usual and amazing to watch. they once again proved to us why they can still rock the house like few other bands in history!

toward the end of their closing song "no way out" we made our way back to the merch table to see the crowd out and got bombarded once again like we'd just came off stage ourselves. an hour later, we were able to sneak back to our room, pack up and load into the van taking us back to our hotel.

we have to thank everyone who was there tonight who reads this blog for coming out in time to catch our set and show us all the love and support that was thrown our way! dallas people can totally rock with the best of 'em and we can't wait to come back to this town and do it all over again sometime soon!

also, many thanks to kyle and dereck for doing their jobs to the "T" and making our night as a band both easy & fun!

thank you all! we'll write again tomorrow with all new stories from the road.

randy

So we left Phoenix around nine this morning after a very sleepless night of hangin out, air guitar(Hal was up til like five am) playin it;-), and actually fixing our real ones. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch, which to me looks a lot like Oregon instead of Arizona. All was good until we realized that New Mexico is an hour ahead. SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! We were like an hour late to load in and scrambled to set up and get dressed to play our asses off.

I gotta say, jumping onstage and playing for hundreds of people instantly after sitting in a van for eight hours is a wierd-ass contrast. But i'm not surprised that in the face of adversity, this band just keeps on kickin. Lots of mad love from the crowd.....people screamin for an encore. Randy signed some chick's breast. I think the best part of the whole night for me was after Tesla finished we all went to the merch booth to hit the last rush of people leaving and got to meet some of the coolest people, who were just filled with enthusiasm about us and said the very things that keep the rock and roll flame burning. The fans rock like whoa!!!! Especially the' most delicicious lil ladies Letty, Ione, Ceylinda....such a pleasure, and have been dedicated longtime fans of ours.

Lastly.....it's after midnight and we're driving all night to Dallas, lookin for a truck stop to get a cofffee and some smokes.....Goodnight, see ya'll soon;-)


cheers.........domo

June 16, 2007

So we left LA this morning. Even though we've "technically" been on tour since the House of Blues, Sunset gig on the 9th, we've been anchored in LA going back and forth to the gigs. And, since the last two shows were cancelled, we had two extra days in LA which turned out to be a blessing in disguise to give us a little more time to prepare (even though I STILL left without grabbing my usb plug for my camera…very important).

So we all met at my house around 10am this morning, had a band meeting with Derek our tech and Jimmy (management) to go over details for the trip. Then we packed up the van and left LA at noon. The van is nice. A big maroon Ford something-a-rather 15 passenger van. I had the guys take out the back bench and I made a really comfy back area cubby hole thing. It's like my little hide-away area, equipped with two foam mattresses, a feather comforter, pillows, my snack bag and all my car belongings (books, computer, ipod, crossword puzzle, etc). I also got a little fan that clips on to the handle on the back door since the air conditioning doesn't circulate back here on the floor. The fan is heaven sent. It was well over 100 degrees on the way to Arizona today. We stopped in Coachella for gas and I just about fell over from the heat. I know I'm going to have to get used to that feeling since we'll be in the hot hot heat all summer long on this tour from Texas to the East coast.

I'm really excited and looking forward to it, and looking forward to sharing it with all of you guys. The Tesla guys and crew have all been really amazing to us and the fans are really digging our show. It's such an amazing feeling to go into a packed house of thousands of fans that have never heard you, win them over, and end the night by signing ticket stubs, cd's, t-shirts, body parts ;-) etc. PLUS, I am so thrilled to be in a band with such cool people and get to hang out with them 24/7 all month. It's like a dream come true.

So right now we're just hitting the Arizona border. Other than being hot as shit, it's beautiful outside. Blue skies, huge mountains. I'm loving seeing the country this way. Stopped in Blythe for some Denny's and have a few more hours until we meet our tour manager, Kyle, at his house in Scottsdale. I've slept a bunch already this today. I put my ipod (which is my very first ipod so I'm all excited) on shuffle and before I fell asleep the last time, here are the songs that came up…it seemed to be perfect at the time:

1. Imarobot "Talk Turkey"
2. Creedence Clearwater "Hey Tonight"
3. GNR "Since I don't Have You"
4. New York Dolls "Subway Train"
5. Madonna "Get Together"
6. Operation Ivy "Freeze Up"
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers "If You Have to Ask"
8. Kinky "Again and So On"
9. Tommy Lee and DJ Aero "Work This Floor (Blend)"
10. Allison Krauss "Blue Trail of Sorrow"
11. T.REX "Solid Gold Easy Action"
12. Snoop Dog "Gin and Juice"
13. Darkness "Love on the Rocks with no Ice"

Then I fell asleep. We're all listening to the Thieves right now in the van. Randy is driving, Domo is reading, Dave is sleeping, Derek is keeping Randy company and Hal is reading. We miss you guys and we'll be in touch every day. Make sure you come say hello to us on the page and read the blogs. We'll be updating things everyday.
All my Love
Sally Hope

So anyone who has read our lastest blogs and bulletins knows that there have been some really cool things happening in the Poets camp. Well, there are even MORE MORE MORE things we want to share with you all. We've been working hard all year and we finally have a team we are proud to be working with, and some really cool new things to share with everyone.

1) A repeat of previous blog, but our album is coming out nationwide on August 21st. Now this may not SOUND that exciting, but what it means is that you will be able to buy our brand new record (which we recorded at Linda Perry's amazing studio this fall/winter), which has all the new members (the Poets as you know it) on the record, with new album art and photos (created by our amazing graphic designer Brian and photographer Nick Spanos), at any huge music store in the country. We're talking Target, Best Buy, Wallmart, everywhere. As well as all online outlets like itunes, yahoo, msn, aol. Everywhere. This is huge for us.

2) We just shipped our single out to radio, which means that on June 26th, you can expect to hear our first single, "Rock and Roll" played somewhere on the radio. Along with that, you'll be able to purchase the single on all online outlets (again...itunes, aol, etc).

3) We're working on a tour for the summer that will take us all over the country, including the midwest and the east coast. So keep your fingers crossed and DEFINITELY keep an eye out for show dates.

4) We (Hal and Jay) have been working day and night to get you our very first music video, and I'm happy to say that we will be presenting it to you all VERY soon. We just finished it and will post it very soon. Keep an eye out. We are so excited to share it with you all.

5) Our official website is under consutruction, but we are happy to tell you that it will be finished soon, and when it is, we know you will all LOVE it.

6) Other than that, our amazing teams at CEG, Contraband, RocketScience, Adrenaline, and TKO have been working their asses off to get Poets and Pornstars music in stores near you, in your favorite magazines, playing in your neighborhood and online. Check out www.croshalgroup.com for updated details on us.

Thank you all for your support.
All our love
SMOOOOOCHESSS

Dearest beloved Sex Ninjas

I would like to make a spectacular announcement of epic proportions
...It has taken exactly 2 years and 4 months...(or by some counts
longer)...but the day has finally arrived...as of August 21st 2007...Poets and
Pornstars debut album, will finally and PROPERLY be released...and not
just on some dodgy online web outlet ...but in a completely adult and
grown-up way, available in stores NATIONWIDE....

Thats right, your nearest Target, your local record shop, your
friendly neighborhood, illicit, street-corner-lurking CD-hustler or any other
variation thereof will as of summer 2007 sell the greatest rock and
roll record ever made(...more or less)

YAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

Now normally I would take this sort of opportunity to make some
grandiose and otherwise preposterous statement about the momentousness of
this occasion...something along the lines of "this is the most amazing
event since the birth of the universe!!!" or "The future of Human
Evolution has now taken a whole new path into a uncharted realms of divine
wonderousness!!!"...or some such thing...but as it has indeed taken so
long in the making, and is still so completely new to us, and I admit,
also so as to avoid any random sort of "jinxing" situation, I will merely
settle on saying... Life is Good.

We want to thank Adrenaline Records, Warner Brothers/ADA and
Wenzl-Hopper for making this happen. You guys frikkin RAWK

AND THE GOOD NEWS DOES NOT STOP THERE, little lovelies....

We have completely re-recorded, re-mixed and re-mastered the record and
(as those of you that have already heard the samples on myspace will
know) IT SOUNDS AWESOME... In the true, awe-inspiring sense of the word.

AND YET MORE RADDNESS!!!!

We have added FOUR NEW KILLER SONGS to the record...

"Rock and Roll" which will be the first single

"In The Dark", probably the sexiest song ever written if we do say so
ourselves

"My Devil's Song" (also known as "sex wine women sugar magic money")

and a SPECIAL HIDDEN BONUS TRACK which'll rock your balls off (even if
you don't have any)

SO send us good Jedi vibes and keep your fingers crossed for us here in
2007 little lovers.

Hey everyone...so as you all know, we just got back from our tour with Veruca Salt. We had a fucking BLAAAAAAAST!!!! We want to thank everyone for coming out and making our trip unforgettable. AND, we have a Q&A from us for all our fans, so you know what it was like for us on the tour. Enjoy!!!

1) WHAT IS THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING ON TOUR?

DOMO: Seeing the country was really cool and how people
are in other places was very interesting

HAL: Not sitting at home wishing we were on tour.

RANDY: ahhhh, the secrets and stories that no one else will ever know unless they were there because it gives us a tighter bond as a band and family AND the inside jokes that come out of all of those secrets. oh, and getting to see the
differences in people's lifestyles and personalities from city to city.
people can surprise you!

SALLY: Everything! Traveling, seeing the country (which is so much more amazing than I ever realized), playing shows, being with the guys 24/7, laughing, inside jokes, always being together.

DAVE: Seeing new places, new faces ; ) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, playing every night!

2) WHAT IS THE WORST PART ABOUT BEING ON TOUR?

DOMO: Hotel coffee

HAL: Infrequent showers, meals, toilet facilities and the
other accoutrement of civilized living

RANDY: there's a downside? maybe sally's feet in my face right after i wake up on the bus...i mean, her feet are nice and don't smell or anything, but breakfast
afterward would be nice, ya know? ;o)

SALLY: Odd sleeping/eating schedules. Trying to stay healthy (food and exercise)

DAVE: Finding good food and having time to enjoy it. Not getting enough sleep. Missing family and friends back home.

3) WHAT DID YOU MISS THE MOST WHILE YOU WERE ON TOUR?

DOMO: Nothing!!!!!!!!

HAL: See number 2

RANDY: a closet....suitcases were meant for getting from A to B....not C, D, E,
F, G...

SALLY: Regular soap (not hotel soap) and normal sized towels (both of which would be easy to remedy). Otherwise, nothing at all. I had the best itme.

DAVE: Good food, sleep, and friends and family. And exercise ; )

4) WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE GOING TO MISS BUT DIDN'T?

DOMO: I didn't think i would miss much and didn't miss
anything.

HAL: I didnt expect to miss anything truth be told...and If
I could spend the rest of my life on the road, rolling
into town with the Poets and Pornstars traveling
circus, selling our snake oil, exciting the locals,
packing up and moving on again, I would, will and hope
to.

SALLY: My personal space. I really value alone time, so I thought I might get annoyed being around people all the time, but it was quite the contrary. I think I had more space on this tour than I've had in a long time. Just because people are around doesn't mean you can't be in your own "space," whether that be in your thoughts, or being together comfortable in silence. I had more "me" time than I allow myself at home (like writing, thinking, reading, etc).

DAVE: Nothing


5) WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SHOW ON TOUR AND WHY?

DOMO: Portland! It seems like those peeps were just hungry for somethin good and were really into it. Even though we were different than what they are used seeing.

HAL: Oooh, thats tough...other than coming home and playing
for a packed house of 400 of our beloved sex ninjas in
LA, it would have to be a toss up between Tempe and
Portland...the denizens of both being highly skilled
in the arts of rocking out and shouting out loud about
it.

RANDY: can't answer that objectively. c'mon, L.A. is our home....homecoming is always the best feeling and we had the best friends and fans EVER to come home to!!!
all the cities rocked, but outside of L.A., i think it's a toss up between Portland and Tempe.

SALLY: This is tough. Our LA show was like nothing else on tour, but that is to be expected since it is our home and we hadn't played in two months. Everyone was so amazing and the energy was crazy!! But since it was a hometown show, I don't think it counts. As for the other tour shows, it would have to be either POrtland or Tempe. Portland was buzzing with energy and people excited to hear music. They were open to us and loved us. They were all rocking out. It was really cool to have won over so many people. As for Tempe, there weren't as many people there as there was in Portland, but the people that were there were definitely music lovers and you could tell. They were amazing.

DAVE: The Roxy show was EASILY the best though I'm not sure for me that it qualifies as part of the tour since it's our home. But in a way, it still felt like I was on tour because we were only home for a short while and I didn't really get to catch up on sleep because we got in that morning ; ) Plus, we used the same van and trailer for
our equipment. And we went out of town the next day... So, yeah, LA = ) Our home-town friends and fans are THE BEST. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!

6) WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY?

DOMO: This is really hard to answer...there's so many but one does stick out, in Seattle when my friend Marta just showed up fresh out of a car from Pasadena, California was amazing!!! She's so rad!!!

HAL: Too many to choose from...and some of them too
indecent to share in civilized company...all I'll say
is this...Randy/ 'Sharpie' / Port-a Potty/ Albuquerque

SALLY: There are so many. I had a really amazing experience while driving through Wyoming. IT was unbelievably beautiful outside. I had a chance to think a lot, look out the window, take pictures and videos, think about how lucky I was and how much fun I was having, reading, and just taking it all in. Also, we had a fucking blast in Portland. I got to spend some time with my cousins and their kids, who I haven't seen in forever. AND, that night we all went to a BBQ at Domo's uncles house and I laughed so hard that I almost threw out my back. I hadn't laughed like that in a long time.

DAVE: Man is that tough. I'd probably have to say not being able to fall asleep the morning we left Oregon because the scenery was too overwhelmingly beautiful.

7) IF YOU HAD TO SUM UP THE TOUR IN ONE WORD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

DOMO: Love!

HAL: I hate questions like this...if I could sum it all up
in one word, I woldnt need a lyric book or a memory
bank or a musical instrument...but so as not to be a
wanker and a spoil-sport, I'll happily take a leaf
from sally's book and just sum it up like
this,..."raaaaaad."

RANDY: SUBWAY

SALLY: INEVERWANTTOCOMEHOME!

DAVE: Indescribable (in a single word ; )

8) WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO IN THE VAN WHILE TRAVELING?

DOMO: Reading, something i hardly get to do at home.

HAL: Sleep...and annoy Jimmy (our tour manager.)

RANDY: are you kidding? SSSSSLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!

SALLY: Read, write, think, look out the window, take pictures. I tried to only sleep when it was dark outside so I wouldn't miss the sight-seeing.

DAVE: Stare out at the landscapes I've been needing to see for far too long.

9) WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CITY TO VISIT?

DOMO: Porland, such a beautiful city and lots of beer and coffee...and no sales tax was rad!

HAL: Every city has its own personality and charm, and
you'd wanna be there for different reasons. Personally
what I liked the most was the stuff inbetween the
cities...Oregon's hills and forests, which look like
someone copied them wholesale from the "Narnia
Guidbook for Landscaping Enchanted Kingdoms for Elves
to Live In"; the praries and deserts of New Mexico,
where you'd any minute expect to meet your animal
spirit guide or stumble accross Jim Morrison and The
Naked Indian talking to you backwards about the
meaninglessness of meaning; And then there's the
cornfields and pastures of the American
heartland...Its almost too much. This is an amazing
country...its a whole fucking continent..its a hundred
and one different countries, cultures, vistas and
wonders in a single breath-taking sweep.

SALLY: Well, the journey was so amazing. I mean I really got a feeling for how beautiful this country is, and how different it is from state to state. I saw the greenest greens, the coolest looking trees, the bluest skies, and the fluffiest clouds. The traveling was one of my favorite parts. But as for a city I enjoyed, I would have to say Portland. We had the most time there to walk around and enjoy the city. And that is what we did!

DAVE: That's another tough question because we met so many wonderful people and in the end, they're what makes the city. But, on a purely aesthetic level, and quite to my surprise, I'd have to say Portland. I'd been to all of the others and still love them. But I hadn't been to Portland and it had a charm and beauty I wasn't expecting. For a minute, I even imagined what it would be like to leave my beloved LA and live there. Impressive.

10) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU PACKED THAT SAVED THE DAY?

DOMO: My toolbox.

HAL: A more apt question would be; "name one thing you
didnt forget to pack that could have saved the day but
didnt because it was in your apatment in LA"

RANDY: Goober!

SALLY: My laptop

DAVE: Extra clothes. Packing light...what a bunch of BS ; )

11) WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T BRING BUT WISH YOU HAD?

DOMO: My nylon string acoustic guitar.

HAL: Exactly...

RANDY: i plead the 5th ;o)

SALLY: Nothing. I packed pretty well.

DAVE: Sweat pants. Jeans get old.

12) WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR A BAND WHO HAS NEVER BEEN ON TOUR BUT IS ABOUT TO GO?

DOMO: Some audiences are gonna love you and some you really have to fight for. Hold your head up and blow em out even if they seem unresptive....just do your
thing as best as you can.

HAL: Make sure your in a band with four people you love
enough to live with on a tour bus for the rest of your
life...Some days you'll all be in a shitty mood, some
nights you'll play to an empty house, some days you'll
leave half your shit in a motel room in Salt Lake
City...the only thing that makes it worth while is
being able to joke/consol/fight about it with the
people you love, your family, your gang, your
band....if thats all good ...you got it made.
Everything else is cake.

SALLY: Make sure that you're going with people that you respect and like a lot. It's also really important to have similar lifestyles. But mostly, I think it's important to genuinely love your band. We do, and it was amazing for us.

DAVE: Rest up, PRACTICE UP, and get ready for the endurance test that is the road.

13) CLOSING STATEMENTS...

DOMO: Being in a band is awesome, especially when you in
one with people you love to be around. So touring is
the greatest thing for a band to grow together, bond
and work as a team.

HAL: I love my band. I rest my case.

SALLY: I LOVE MY BAND. I love touring. Veruca Salt rocks. Our fans are the best. And, I can't wait til we go back out!!!

DAVE: Live your dreams. I now have. If you don't know how, ask people who you think might have an idea of how to do it.

Dearest Beloved Wonderous Sex Ninjas and Love Nuggets

We just wanted to send you all gigantic smooches of legendary proportions for an absolutely PHENOMINAL Saturday Night.

We have NEVER had so much fun at a f*cking show. There were moments i couldnt even hear myself singing, becuase of the screaming cocophony of loud. rowdy delicious sex ninjas belting the lyrics back at us. It was beautiful and overwhelming and you little lovelies rock the fucking Kasbah.

And the house was packed. The Roxy was sold out. Filled to the brim. Wall to Wall with LOUD ROWDY DELICIOUS LOVE NUGGETS.

We've said it a 1000 times and we will say it a 1000 more times, we will shout it from the rooftops and burn it into the sky in 10 foot high neon letters...There are no fans anywhere in the universe as Jedi, ninja-like or as all around BADASS as Poets fans.
We f*cking love you guys.

Hal, Sally, Domo, Dave and Randy

Hey everyone...

Our good friend The Ninja Rockstar set up a really cool Fan Site for our girl Sally on myspace. If you'd like to join, pop on over to http://groups.myspace.com/SALLYHOPE.

Also, if you'd like to become part of the street team too, you can join at myspace.com/poetsandpornstarsteam.

Hope ya'll had fun chatting with Dave tonight on AIM. Look for the rest of us this week.

Smoooooches
XOXOOXOXOXOX