Ya know what sounds good today? hmmm? Howsabout ten hours in Ol Orange for a drive along the Autobahn?

Yes, yes….that was the drive today, but at least now we know we have the stuff to become cosmonauts when we grow up. Is no problem to sit in defective cramped metal box and use recently empty drinking vessible as urinal! Yah!

Read a bit and napped a bit….apparently, at this point the only way to tell that we are actually asleep is by the terrifyingly vivid dreams that accompany any REM. At one point Alf and I are discussing the benefits and drawbacks of Interleague play, the next I stood on a Nordic battlefield in only a loincloth, the bloodied head of my vowed enemy in one hand as I licked clean my 9th century brazen swurd with the other!! Ah well—the past lives have come back to haunt us in the Motherland!

Lunch is at a charming Roadhouse, where we all got our buffet lunches and then sat as far away from each other as possible. Anthony made the surprising discovery that fresh shrimp are as valuable as plutonium deep in the German heartland—who knew? A modest shrimp salad that would go for 5.99 at Sizzler weekdays costs as much as a sealed car battery back home!!

Finally made it into Frankfurt and were met by the great guys putting on the show, Fonzi and Daniel.

They fired up the grill and we sat to grilled goat cheese and brats with good local Bindlinder. We coulda been sittin in Alex’s patio on a Sunday afternoon—

The club was a proper dungeon deep below the fevered Earth surface. Down there the heat of the day dissapated and the shadowy fog of a thousand drunken spirits bade us to stay and play!!

We immediately behaved like children at Knotts Scary Farm when we discovered the Funucular lift that took the gear down to the club’s final surface—-

Played a long sweaty set down in the bowels, and later surfaced to find a full moon hovering over a sweating Frankfurt.

Perhaps just one Kebap before returning to the hostel to continue our battles on the bloodied tundra, yes? Yes!

Breakfast in Berlin back at Wild of Heart after a late goodbye to Mr Jay.

It’s laundry day, and a fond farewell to all of the ghostly pasrasites that have been haunting our damp suitcases.

Finally hit the road for Czech, got into town 7:30pm and had to hit stage by &:45–curfew, don’t ya know!

Caught up with our new pals in Mouthguard, them strapping Australian lads with the old school sound that drives us to the beer!!

Mrs. Gardener is in town now, so a little feminine sense to help out with this crazy sausage fest……..back to the hotel and onto Vienna tomorry.

First we take Manhattan, etc etc…

We jump the first train to Berlin and are immediately kicked out of First class…..apparently, these people don’t realize who they are dealing with! We tried to tell them we were in Agent Orange, that failed as well….

It’s been ages since we’ve been back to this nutty town, and for our money, it was a lot more fun when the wall was up…. That did not stop us from slumming around the Eastern Bloc and selling counterfeit Marlboros!! I love this place!!!

Anthony and Alf, being exhausted by this constant abuse, demanded their own hotel rooms…..what those boys do when they are by themselves I do not know and do not want to know. Checked into the Berlin Mark and hit the gray streets……

Treated ourselves to a Thai feast and met up with a few locals.

Tomorrow it’s Wild at Heart Club, a very cool club/bar/restaurant/shop—cheers

What can ya say? They call Riesa the Chino Hills of Germany, and it’s no wonder! After grabbin up the blonde guitar guy at the hamburg airport, it was a smooth little 7 hour jaunt to this nutty town–apparently, all of Germany is under construction!

Pleasantly surprised to find the club an isolated rec center out in the farm lands…..Met up with the fellers from GG Elvis, and the obvious hijinks followed….

Question! What do you call it when it feels like meat, but does not taste like meat? We call it dinner over here, and I belive we went the whole day without eating an animal…grrr—we’ll get em tomorrow!

>

Well sir, GG came on and did not disappoint…..we were afraid the clothes weren’t coming off but, oh yes…in no time we were treated to a nice portion of ass!!

Yes, even old jaded punker rockstars have to stay at hostels sometimes…keeps the ol credibility up with the crusties, ya know? Just wouldn,t be right to have the kids see us crawling out of the local Four Seasons after the mani pedi and brunch….

After a good night’s rest, the fellas are on track. Onto Hamburg now, one more night as the power trio and then we hopefully pick up Kimm at the airport Friday morning…..then and I can lower my guitar down to the kneecaps again and play every other chord like Paul Stanley!!

Let these pictures take you with us on the magical tour through the beautiful German countryside…..

What can I say? That beautiful port town makes a band hungry. The show was a gas, learned a bit of the local language,

Anthony is crowned the new fooseball king…..

let us continue now—onto Riesa and all the delicious animals they may have in store!!!

Miracle of all Miracles!, US Airways came through and got the fellers into Heathrow right on time! Met up with Ant and Alf, grabbed a quick bite in Terminal 5, and hopped Brit Air for a quick jaunt to the mainland…

Landed in Dusseldorf and the tourvan wasn’t ready, the tour manager was stuck in highway construction, the backline wasn’t there……things running in the usual mode, eh? Luckily, our old pals in SNFU sent their van to pick us up, and we were soon safely cocooned backstage at the Zakk club. It was a high school reunion for Punk Rock dinosaurs!!

Played our set as the rockin power trio, as Kimm wouldn’t be joining us til Riesa. Benny the tour manager finally arrived with all the goodies from Machete Merch, and the sale was on!

Spent the rest of the evening catching up with old friends and a lot of cool German fans. Mr. Chi Pig stayed close for much of the evening, entertaining us with his skewed take on the world order!

And as usual, the night ended with a long ride in a van, 30 minutes to find a parking place near the hostel. Gig one under the belt, and so far all limbs and appendages intact…cheers!