Sloan

I am in a great little joint called Hattie’s Hat where there is great food, free wireless, AC (power) and bottomless coffee… and hopefully a private washroom. The White album is playing and Abbey Road was before that so I am happy as a clam but it’s my younger son Santiago’s 1st birthday today, which is a little sad for me. I did sleep in until 2pm PST (5pm EST) so it’s bittersweet. You’d think I was in Australia but not so. I think I will be away for my older son Francisco’s 4th birthday in September but a guy’s got to work. There are a bunch of things going on in Toronto when I am home but I am making the promise with you as my witness that I will be 100% available to my family while I home between these tours… unless it’s cool for me to see The Descendents… or Off! Happy birthday sweetheart.

PORTLAND Sunday, June 5th

Well, every night can’t be a Saturday.

MEDFORD Monday, June 6th

We always play Seattle and Portland and the next play is always San Francisco but it’s too far to drive in one night so we need to park the bus somewhere and let the driver sleep. Our day off in Medford OR at The Red Lion Inn has been a tradition for the past 7 years or so. There is a multiplex nearby. We have had movie nights there. It’s kind of romantic for the whole band to do anything “extracurricular” together. There’s not a lot of hanging out together at home and it’s a fun, bonding thing to do.

We saw Avatar last time we were in Medford and Tropic Thunder the time before. We’ve been a band for 20 years and that is hammered home by some other movie memories: We all saw Reservoir Dogs together in Glasgow in early 1993 and we saw a premiere of Pulp Fiction in Chicago in 1994. In 2002, we were working in Toronto with producer, Tom Rothrock and he stopped us in the middle of rehearsal and made us all go watch Standing in the Shadows of Motown. I guess he thought it might make us play better or maybe he was simply tired of watching us rehearse. I don’t really think it helped but it probably didn’t hurt and it was memorable.

We didn’t go to the Cineplex this time but we all watched game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and later (after a vote at an Irish pub) Fletch beat out Midnight Run for the movie that would play that night on the bus. I hadn’t seen either movie in its entirety. I voted for Midnight Run at the Irish Pub but in the name of democracy I watched Fletch with everybody and it was pretty bad. The people who had voted for Fletch laughed loudly to make it seem like it had been the right choice. I wish we had all gone to see The Hangover part 2 or a movie from this year. It would help me organize my memories so in 20 years when I ask when did we all watch Fletch, I won’t wonder if it had been 1985.

For those of you who haven't had a chance to stop over in Medford, OR. Here is a short travelogue to provide a bit of context: