the apple miner colony

35 mm

2010-02-25T16:23:00.000-08:00

ok, so, better late than never right?

check out the video ryan made of the 35 mm footage from tour:

http://www.vimeo.com/7669354

also, the documentary made it into the albuquerque film festival with a slot for the band to reunite and play live! start makin travel plans if you aren't there already.

HOUSLE!

2009-10-05T10:16:00.001-07:00

ok friends, we need your help again.

james longmire and tristan love (film crew for the tour) made a short film in prague including members of A Hawk and A Hacksaw (members of neutral milk hotel). it is beautiful and wonderful, and it has a chance to be aired on pbs!

all you need to do is click this link, click on 'vote for shorts,' and click on the button for HOUSLE. they don't require an email, a name, or anything. just a click!

do it!

http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/category/vote/

and to watch what you're voting for:

http://www.vimeo.com/4516347

mother falcon!

2009-09-14T23:35:00.001-07:00

remember? mother falcon members will make up the new Apple Miner Colony in Austin, TX.

they're in the running (CLOSE running) to play at austin city limits.

they neeeeeeed people to sign up for an account to vote for them to play

you won't get spammed if you ask them not to spam you.

you probably wouldn't anyway... come on...
sign up for an account and vote EVERYDAY for them!

you'll be helping out friends of and future members of apple miner.

vote here:

http://delllounge.com/soundandthejury/Mother-Falcon/default.aspx

long time no post

2009-09-01T13:33:00.001-07:00

hello everyone, we're all still alive!

i am back in salt lake city, currently not paying attention in class.

i just wanted to let you know that very soon tristan and james will be getting some clips as a preview to the documentary up on the website. i'm very excited as you all should be!

a few things are happening in the amc world as well as my own, and i'll be getting back to writing about it all very soon.

let it burn over our love, and over our lives. goodbye.

2009-07-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

saturday was the day of the show. i slept in and played ukulele while cole went to breakfast with his mom. then they picked me up and we drove to the top of the mountain. cole and i leaned over the edge of the look-out and talked about future plans of austin and the type of artspace we'd like to open up.

it was time to pack up and go to the venue. warehouse 21 is a really cool space, and when i got there there was a group of people making a really great set for the show. There were huge branches full of leaves shrouding the stage with red apples hanging from fishing wire all over the ceiling, meant to be picked and eaten by the audience. There was a big paper lantern with a leaf/stem coming out the top of it. I tied some little branches to the micstands.

I got a picture of emily as god arranging the galaxy around the sun.
Outside there were sets by many of the people i've grown to love and a few that i don't know at all. Matt puckett, nukulele, bluebird pioneers/bandera, nate peacock, etc. There were burgers being grilled and trains rolling by.
everyone only began their set first and sounded really tight. cole and i went outside to have sort of an emotional talk on a bench. james stood far out of earshot with a camera, afterward he took us to get whiskey and talked about the difficulties of making a documentary about his friends. it has definitely been a delicate balance of not wanting to censor anyone from the film crew but also knowing when you need to tell them that you're uncomfortable. from the car we saw a baby jack-rabbit and watched it for a while.

tristero played a fantastic set as well, then it was time for apple miner to start. here's how the set was:

1- costa rica: this song wasn't played on the tour, but i'd been craving it. i'd requested it but they needed time to practice it but never had any.
2- bailey moore: they sang, “hooray for hallie rose” instead and i cried a little.
3- all the ghosts: i don't think i was sounding my best tonight because my throat was very swollen from a hard day. i felt a lot better, though, when cole forgot the words momentarily and not only did i remind him, but i heard a few people from the audience yell it out. the overall show contained a lot of little mishaps like this that only made it better because everyone knew this was the last show with this band and emotions were running high.
4- oh lonely elk call: this has become one of my favorite songs by apple miner. jack's baseline and mitch's trumpet solo are the things that dreams are made of.
5- con todo mi amor por mi hogar- one of my favorite lines comes from here, “oh how i fear nothing in all the world like i fear the fall of losing the ones i love.” and when the drums kick in- oh lord.
6- heat haunted fever: this is sort of a staple song that is really fun to sing from the audience. i looked around more and was refreshed by people knowing all the words.
7- to buckle and to fold: though it never seems to go over all that well live, this song is extremely powerful.
8-better days: the dance number. with sing alongs, a fade out-then-back-in, and having an excuse to lay down and be silent at a rock show, this one never loses.
9-a heart so swollen: this is my favorite song to sing with cole and also just one of my favorite songs he's written period. i learned a version of it on ukulele that i'm going to play at a show back in salt lake city.
10-cerrillos: cole and ben sat at the edge of the stage. emily rocked the trumpet solo. i cried, a lot.
11-dark feral dogs: this song pretty much wraps up the entire feeling of this tour and a struggle that much our nation's youth is going through. the chorus ending is the most epic thing ever.
12-rabbit feet: the chart-topper, as we say. i cried again. one of the most poignant notes on heartbreak i've heard.
13-being human being: contains the name of the tour: home is wherever you are. now i know i've been saying that i cried, but i bawled during this one. patricia hugged me, the sing along felt so vital.

the show ended. everyone went backstage. cole cried, and everyone else did too as they hugged each other in a sort of farewell. even though most of us would see each other again that night, in the coming days, or in austin, it still felt like a significant goodbye. we talked more about the future. the last breakdown of equipment took place while i unexpectedly fell asleep on the couch.
a large chunk of people went back to cole's house where he had a victory cigarette (he didn't have any on the tour.) i hadn't eaten but had had some whiskey and lost a lot of liquid from my eyes so soon it was time to go to bed and reminisce on what had just happened.

i thought of everyone i'd met. thank you, thank you for loving me.

like a shadow

2009-07-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

The next day in fort collins was the very last “get in the van”/role call. We woke up early to get a head start in getting home. I walked around kicking people to get up and help clean/pack up then soon after we were up. I slept a little then we listened to more this american life. We arrived in santa fe and were immediately reminded of how bad the drivers are.

We pulled into the parking lot and starting pulling everything out of the vans to once again pile in cole's house.

We got them all clean, inside and out. After a few surreal hours cole, matt tillson, and i watched super troopers and were immediately reminded of how bad it is.
The next day a small group of tourers went got some breakfast. We took the vans back and cole felt like he was being stripped of two pets. Pet dinosaurs. We went to dinner with cole's mom then had some practice/blog-writing time, then went to the film crew's house to hang out and drink some whiskey before dave's birthday party.
Dave lives with ben at A1 which is a really neat warehouse. Ryan and cole bought him a copy of Labyrinth.

check, check, czech.

2009-06-29T16:48:00.001-07:00

i threw myself willingly.

2009-06-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

In the morning jack's mom made us cinnamon/wheat pancakes, bacon, eggs, quiche, fruit, etc. it was amazing. We took the short drive to boulder, checked out the venue, hung some posters, and ate some expensive food.

There was another good soundcheck before the show with matt, mitch, and cole running sound. The show was absolutely great, and the response by the audience was pretty fantastic. One guy named james wrote a really cool compliment as a comment on this blog: http://nateshorb.blogspot.com/2009/06/keene-on-apple-miner-colony.html

after the show when loading up the truck one of kyle's back windows shattered. This car has seen some tough times. Cole, anthony, and i rode with matt tillson to his house in fort collins and pretty much just passed out.
When the sun rose we went to big city burrito. This place is amazing. I got a potato burrito on a spinach tortilla with guacamole, grilled onions, cheese, black beans, hot salsa, etc.... sounds pretty ordinary but let me tell you. Far from it.
mike 'f'lawless
matt tillson
cole wilson. Back at the house bluebird pioneers (cole, matt, mike, geoff)practiced for the first time in a while.

Cole and i realized we were becoming alcoholics when we got grumpy about there being no beer. Finally, though, matt and dave arrived with a ridiculous amount of growlers.
Another sound check, an adorable dog, and the show was off. Tristero played first, and ellen guided the dog outside because, and let me just make a little note here: dear humans, dogs ears are sensitive and you should not take them to loud concerts in enclosed spaces and keep them on a leash, pulling them into you when they're obviously feeling uncomfortable. I saw this happen way too much on tour.
Then apple miner played. The audience in fort collins was probably the best of tour. They got really into all the sing alongs and packed into the garage.
Then bluebird played totally unplugged. This was the first time i'd seen them and i absolutely loved it.

colorado colorado...las palmas?

2009-06-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

The drive to denver was one of my favorite drives. Everyone's morale was lifted because we were finally leaving the midwest and weren't feeling as soggy and unappreciated. Cole especially had more bounce in his step. In the non-smoking van (piloted by miss patricia and otherwise known as 'the brain' because it holds all the equipment and is countered by the smoking van named pinky) included patricia, wendy, emily, will, maurice, cole, and me. We listened to this american life, a trend in this van, and had long philosophical discussions concerning religion, media, etc.
we stopped at some tiny gas station that was closed. The bathrooms were locked so all the girls and boys that had to pee just went around back. The place was surrounded by wind turbines, which i've developed a fascination with because of their beauty and massiveness. One of the 'wings' is bigger than a semi, it takes one with a very large bed to transport it. I walked around a bit and heard a rattle from the bushes.
at a pitstop somewhere else i wandered off to some fake palm trees that were all tangled in the ropes that held them up. There were a ton of birds chirping and hopping around in them, they didn't mind the artificiality of them.

We arrived in castle rock (near denver) and drove into a gated community that houses the trueaxes (jack's family). They own a beautiful home and were extremely hospitable (once again, thank you!). They had pool, fooseball, beer, food, movies, wifi, a beautiful family, and two adorable dogs. Everyone was so, so very happy to be in colorado and out of the midwest. That night we caught wind that d-numbers was playing in town that night. They are an amazing band from santa fe. We decided to go surprise them at their show. We danced and drank and played connect four and i have to say i was extremely amazed by this band. The drummer reminds me of dylan (amc's drummer.)
the next day was breakfast, laundry, etc. jack's mom wanted everyone to sign a cd, and this was the second thing i've signed on tour- which makes me feel a little weird. Cole and mike sat down and made a really solid setlist. We had a band meeting discussing the plan for the night. We had choral practice for dark feral dogs. Which sounded amazing.
The venue is a place called eliot street collective and it is an absolutely beautiful space in denver meant for performance art, concerts, etc. we had a really effective soundcheck really early on and i started learning more about how to run sound from cole and mitch, and more about all the equipment, which are things that i'm very interested in becoming well-versed in.
tristero played a great set as always, and were followed by dovekins. They are a band including consisting of a found art drumset, upright bass, banjo, guitar, acordian, trombone, kazoos, slide whistles, etc. everyone got their dancing shoes on just for them. Apple miner played and this, along with brooklyn, were my two favorite shows of the tour. It went really, really well. It also continued the trend of boosting morale.
Laura goldhamer (of dovekins) then played a set with just her, her pianist, and a few guests near the end. To each song she made a short film, mostly stop-animation. They were so beautiful and perfect, the first song/video brought tears to my eyes not because it was a sad song necessarily, but just because i'm so glad to see people making such amazing things. Taking so much time to make five minute films to share with people wherever you can. Please please please check her out.

a big long post, post -tour.

2009-06-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

the ride was pretty hilarious because cole and i were in very close quarters in the backseat with ryan. ryan is fairly hyper all the time anyway, so needless to say he was very high energy rolling into his hometown. tristan and mike up front chugged redbulls while ryan read every sign in funny voices ("hot soup? you bet!") and described all the sites with accompanying stories. my personal favorite was when he pointed to a house and said "that lady's house used to be covered in shit [then immediately]- that over there's the marina-- " and so on and so on. no real explanation.
we stopped at his house and met his puppy then headed to mike e's house. the home was absolutely beautiful with a huge backyard/baseball diamond and we were fed and pampered to the max (thank you guys!). we played frisbee and baseball, drank beer from a keg that was there, ate some great pulled pork/wild rice, and overall loved life. cole and i got a bed again which was great.
The next day a group of us just hung around and watched planet earth (we probably watched close to the whole series at mike's house) and did some work. Then it was time for the show at sister's camelot. The guy showed up late then didn't have the key, so in the meantime we all had a beer. The space, when we got in, was really cool. It was a potluck which was nice. This was one of the most efficient load-ins/break-downs in my opinion. The show was great. cole and i got some good dancing in, and we headed back over to mike's.
morning number two in minneapolis we hung around in the driveway for way too long and i talked to people who tease a lot about the importance of kindness.
on the drive to omaha i shared the backseat with maurice and danny to work out some harmonies because i really wanted to sing with tristero. we got a total of one song worked out between all the other distractions/me being slow at these things.
we got to houston's house there where the first things we saw were an adorable dog named cosmo and a vat of boiling grease with a turkey inside. we caught wind that the party tonight was going to be up to 100 people. soundchecks began then suddenly it seemed like the party just sort of appeared. not at the door, but scattered around, drinking beer, talking... out of nowhere. everyone only played and i had to go upstairs because the dog was being held down there where it was too loud and it was really sad to me.
the show began and the audience was really into it and the basement was packed. overall it was a great show though a little later into it the audience started getting too drunk and chatty. it seemed to be acceptable to walk on stage and grab the mic. tristero played a great show but they didn't play 'unstuck' so i didn't get to try out the new part (which was probably a good thing.)
afterward color chart, the film crew's improptu band, started their 'set.' it started with the hit, "guy in the coonskin hat says please be careful with that." then something magical happened, i started hitting a cymbol and told ryan to start up again, he started singing about kyle's truck being weighed down by all the equipment. then the subject of el rojo terrible (the trombone player, john) got brought up. so ryan's saying, "waaaay down, waaaay down" (still in reference to the truck), and i started saying, "roooojo, sleepin' on the stove. rooojo, sleepin' on the stove." and it turned into this crazy chant with harmonies and rounds and everything. this is a song that would pretty much get sung everywhere else we went from then on.
houston came downstairs and scared the crap out of me and yelled at everyone for being too loud. cole and i set up our tent and crawled on in, it was loud and hot oustide. cole was hilariously drunk and cranky but we eventually got to sleep.
the next day was stupid hot and i was feeling sick. we went to a slightly unpleasant breakfast then thriftshopping where i found a skirt, an extra tank top, and a dress all for $6... then a sweet coat for $10. having new clothes when you've been wearing the same things for a month is the most glorious feeling. when we got back to the house we took a vote on whether we wanted to stay in omaha or drive to kansas city that day. the majority (by one vote) wanted to stay in omaha which i wasn't happy about. then, miraculously and due to cole, we found out that the show was that night and not the next. so we loaded up and headed into KC.
cole and i drove with dave which was awesome. dave avoided killing us when a car in front of us slammed on its breaks, though we could smell burning rubber for a while. thanks dave!
driving into kansas city was the most beautiful thing i'd seen on the tour so far. it was full of abandoned bridges and buildings, and weird 'trash' (such as plastered torsos and old movie signs with big red arrows that should be lit up, trains, etc.).

we played at a place called the foundation which was just as stunning inside as out. i took a ton of pictures.

when we were unloading, trish and i lagged behind a little bit to take some photos of those weird torso statues through a fence. this car pulled up with two guys inside. the driver leaned his arm outside his window and yelled "hey, may i ask you girls just what in the hell you're doing?" and we replied, taking pictures. he said "what in god's name is so interesting in there?" and we just sort of mumbled about it, trying to avoid getting harassed any further. "who lives here?" he asked, and we said we didn't know. "well why don't you find out who lives there, go in, ask him if you can look at that stuff from inside rather than peering through a god damned fence?" i remarked that we were playing a show that night and his mood completely changed. "oh, alright! well, see you later." and he drove away.
there was definitely not much a crowd there, but that allowed for the cameras to capture the band playing in such an awesome space. the first bands that played were really loud, punky, and expressive. adam tramposh played an amazing electronic set.
right before apple miner was up something strange happened. two men stood up. the first was dressed completely in pink sans orange shoes. the second was mostly in black and white and was wearing clown make up on his face. they pushed around a strange cart filled with pink drums and other contraptions. they banged the drums and yelled out nonsensical "philosophy" and a song claiming, "I WANT TO BUILD A HOME" over and over. at one point the man in black started concocting some pies in tin made with whipped cream and strawberry flavorings. it was a very long process. ryan filmed him doing this while james followed the pink man around the room, still yelling. finally the pies were complete. man in black smashed one in man in pink's face. the remaining pie flew past his head and onto the monitors/some equipment. everyone gasped. man in pink kept walking and yelling. man in black realized the weight of the situation and turned serious, "wait, we need to clean this up." i watched patrick the soundman power walk up to the man in pink and grab him by the neck. he didn't say anything at first, just stared into his soul. i grabbed some paper towels and we cleaned up the mess.
the clowns were allowed to stay and the apple miner colony began. it was a good, solid set as always.
afterward i was still feeling sort of bad physically. we got to adam's house (thank you sir!) and it was hot as balls. cole and i got a bed again, right next the air conditioner which helped. the next day was the worst of all, i felt absolutely awful and couldn't stop sweating.
tensions were still high and had been since chicago. there were several arguments that morning. we tried to decide where to go and what to do. do we just cut our losses and cancel the show in wichita? and just head straight to denver? or do we plug along, be as professional as possible, and head on down. eventually the latter was settled upon. the drive down to wichita is a long one, so we found a motel between wichita and kansas city (in ottowa.) ryan called and totally sweet-talked the lady, being the ladies man he is. he somehow got 7 rooms, for 28 people, for $220. so it was like $8 a person.
we drove in and it was small and sort of dirty, but still heavenly. everyone's mood got better and energy came up. it was air conditioned. the people were nice. cole and i roomed with maurice, mitch, and matt.
A group decided, somehow, to go bowling in lawrence, kansas because it was only thirty minutes away. I was excited about this for several reasons. 1. i love bowling. 2. my sister is moving to lawrence next month. It will be our first time living apart and i've been thinking a lot about it. I even started writing a song the other day. 3. lawrence is the place where i had the dream that inspired me to call cole in the first place. 4. that night was our six month anniversary.
Bowling was absolutely fantastic. This was actually the most fun night of the tour in my opinon. We all picked bowling names, danced, and bowled. The juke box was linked to the internet so it was easy to play any music you would want. Cody w mainly djed. I was at the bar getting a pitcher and overheard the bartenders complaining about the awful music, when in reality it was probably the best music that place had heard in years.
We headed home fairly late and our room attempted to watch nightmare before christmas. It took too long to load and i cashed out. Soon after so did everyone else. The next day we checked out and went to a gas station to clean and vacuum the vans. We then had a very pleasant ride to wichita.

Turns out that wichita is an insanely religious place. On a walk from the venue (a christian coffeeshop/venue) to get some food, we spotted 18 some-odd churches. There was a group of four sisters who called themselves Shel hanging out playing some music when we first arrived at meads corner. They played mandolin, piano, etc. it was full of really tight and cute kitten harmonies and their parents were with them managing. The local band that opened called themselves a christian hardcore band, and they were definitely christian. I sang with tristero on one song for the first time which was fun. The apple miner set was well played but there were some major sound problems and a general sour mood eminating around. A large group of people including Shel left a few songs in. the people who did stay, of course, were glued to the stage and very attentive. Afterward mike and cole had a very productive talk about how to make the last four shows of the tour the best they could possibly be.
The gallery that we were supposed to stay at fell through so becky, the one who helped set up the show with me, offered up her small house (thank you!). We crammed in like sardines but managed quite well. We pretty much just cashed out then took off to denver.

minor turbulance among the minor miners.

2009-06-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

it was a long drive into columbus, ohio. dave lewis set a show up for us vic's midnight cafe. there was a solo act covering great old country tunes, followed by yet another cover band much more strange. a very... flirtatious...woman in a red evening gown singing foo fighters along side a bass player wearing a fuzzy hat, turned up way too loud, standing on the amplifiers, falling to his knees, thrusting, etc. we all teased cody d that if he started taking drugs now, that could be him in 40 years.

here's ryan being smeepy after the show.
we all camped out in a tiny yard which was sort of fun and sweet. the next morning we bought some amazing fresh fruit from a stand across the street, upset some dogs in the next yard by existing, and dave blessed all our vehicles (and gave an extra blessing for cole... said "he'd know when it comes up.")
we drove into chicago, and yes, listened to the sufjan stevens song. tristero had a show booked at a bar that i don't even want to mention because it was really impolite. cole and danny got cross with each other and danny ended up getting a little bit too upset and got kicked out. the army that is the tour talked to the bar about what a good guy he really is, and he apologized. they let him back in and they played a great show. we had a little band meeting in a parking lot and almost got towed. we got in pretty late to sam quinn's house and cashed out pretty soon after arriving. the next day we took the train to a nice but expensive breakfast place. chicago, to me, is one of the more beautiful cities we were in. all of the buildings are brick but they're all different kinds of brick. most of them look really old- and there's a lot of wood, metal, chain-link, etc. debris lacing them. cole and i went back to sam's to get some work done and pretty much stayed there all day until it was time to load up for the show.the show was booked at an absolutely beautiful bar/lounge called the whistler. they had this really neat blown-up image in a bunch of little frames. i really, really liked it. on the drive over, however, we got a phonecall that the people in the band under 21 were to absolutely not be allowed through the door. there were no exceptions, and none of the typical hooplaw of putting black X's on their hands so as not to serve them alcohol.
we contemplated playing without them, but that is not really the style of apple miner. anthony and i wandered to an amazing coffee shop and tried to set up a show there. we actually did get it rolling, but then about fifteen minutes later the owner changed his mind. finally we found a basement about a block away that we could play in. cole and ryan wore suspenders to assist with the hanging on of the britches.
the opener, angel olsen, followed us there and played the show with us. and thank god. she is absolutely amazing, visit her page and listen to all of it. my favorites are "lonely universe" and "who cares, i'm not a moralist." the space was small and a bunch of people left after angel, but the people that did stay were really attentive and excited about the music, as is pretty much every person who has the patience to stick around for apple miner. i got to sing "dark feral dogs" for the first time.

afterward, though, the mood changed drastically. we had another band meeting underneath the deafening train tracks. the racket was fitting for the storms brewing. some people, myself included, were very happy with the show and our resourcefulness in the face of troubles. but the vast majority of the band had felt like the whole night was a failure in many ways. turmoil ensued and feelings were hurt. not a good moment, but every tour must have those.
once back at sam's, cole and i learned that the best way to make things work to leave town the next day to minneapolis would be for us to leave at 6am with the film crew. it was actually sort of a relief, just to be able to leave before dawn and get away from the previous night with neutral parties.

ithaca

2009-06-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

(mo and i with synecdoche "tattoos" by me. mine: "everyone" and "everything," his: "somewhere" and "maybe somday" )

on the drive into ithaca, mike and dave's homeland, we passed schenectady. it of course had me thinking of synecdoche, new york (charlie kaufman, probably the best movie of all time). when maurice joined the tour in new york we almost immediately connected over this film and now we've probably clocked a couple of hours dicussing it. and possibly that much time singing "little person" (written by jon brion, performed by deanna story in the film). if you haven't seen it, rent it. watch it when you have plenty of time with little possibility for interruption either alone or with a friend or two who are sure not to talk at all during the movie or laugh at sad things.

we got to dave's dad's house and dave made us all some amazing spaghetti. most of us just sort of ate, drank beer, chatted, and went to bed.
the next day we wanted to go swimming so we set out on foot for a crazy trek to the swimming hole. eventually we found one with condoms, panties, and a few other things that i won't mention. needless to say we were not in the right place, but eventually found our way down to a magical little gorge at the base of a waterfall. the waterfall poured out from underneath a road above and right next to an old abandoned building built into the huge rock cliffs. this buildling had trees bursting out of the brick through the top, broken windows, and looked like either the wall had been swallowing it for years, or like it just somehow always existed within the hills and the water finally wore away enough to expose it. it was sort of post-apocolyptic. the rocks were really slippery and uneven everywhere but right by the building they were higher and flat and i wondered if it wa a parking lot or driveway years ago.
i saw a little turtle and swam like a fish in the little pools with emily, cole, and the constant thought of crocodiles underneath me (i'm the kind of girl who's afraid of sharks in pools.) we swam up to the waterfall and fell underneath it's illusions. we pretended to run up it on all fours, then to fly over it with our arms oustretched. i promise there were no drugs involved despite how it seems. i held my hand under it and resisted letting my arm plunge into the water. it looked like it was constantly coming closer to consume me but i trusted in its kindness that it would not.

later on that night we played a show at the nines. it was yet another noisy bar but a decent amount of people were paying attention to the music. dave and mike both call ithaca their home so they brought some dedicated audience members out. the major downfall of the show came when the sound person blasted a sound like all the souls of hell screaming up through the vents right on stage. the music had to be delayed while we assessed whether or not cole had been actually deafened in his left ear. i wasn't even on stage and one of my ears was ringing for days after. if i didn't know the band and cole well, i'd have not noticed a thing and been really happy with the show, but i could tell that the level of really 'putting on a show' had been somewhat sullied. the lyrics to "hooray for bailey moore" got changed to "hooray for mike and dave."
the next day cole and a few people needed to stay behind and practice, namely geoff. he wasn't able to bring his upright bass on tour for obvious reasons and has had sort of a difficult time finding one to play in the cities we've visited so he brought a viola instead. he picked it up for that very purpose a few months ago and impressed everyone with how good he already is at it. the rest of us headed back over the the river to with a car full of instruments and played on the rocks. i picked up a saxaphone for the first time since i made it squak as a child and learned a little riff for a tristero song. i'm now sort of addicted to the saxaphone. and the violin.

when i got back a group of us went to see UP, a very sad and charming pixar movie. my favorite moment is when doug the dog says, "i was hiding beneath your porch because i love you" after being yelled at by an old man. then we went to a bar with 48 beers on tap and played some pool.

the next day i went out thriftshopping with cole to look for a dress but couldn't find one i liked. everyone but cole, dave, and i left for syracuse to watch tristero and everyone only. isntead we rented let the right one in and wall-e (sort of an interesting combo) and made awesome sandwiches after we ventured to the grocery store. they were rosemary bread, apple smoked cheddar (toasted), avocado, cracked chili hummus, sauteed red pepper/garlic/shallots/spinach, and simmered pastrami. we also got some sun chips and brownie ice cream and stayed up until around four thirty in the morning.

funny games

2009-06-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

whenever we get a chance to run around after being cramped in vans or tiny sleeping areas, we take full advantage. the competitive spirit runs high with the colony. here's a little montage of fun and games.

north hampton

2009-06-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

we drove into north hampton and arrived at chris jenning's house (holla). we threw our stuff in the barn, played some basketball, took some showers, ate some food, i went on a walk, then we set up for a backyard show. of course the music brought the rain, but everyone crowded underneath the tarp until it stopped and it didn't seem to phase the audience one bit. it was ellen's birthday, so "hooray for bailey moore" became "hooray for ellen brand" for that night.

cole at this point was pretty ill. i layed him in bed with some blankets and kleenexes and water and my cell phone. the gang was going out dancing so i decided i'd go out while cole slept. i walked with the film crew and a few others to a nearby dance club/bar. inside we were all barefoot, sweaty, and dancing in no time. i was very impressed at kyle's dancing ability to dance and i am determined to one day have a dance off with him. i couldn't figure out how ryan dances for like a half hour then i finally realized it was a mix of ska and the running man only on a really small scale. ellen had angel wings on that i kept flapping for her. i stole mitch's hat several times for badassery purposes. basically we made the party.

cole called and i needed to get back so i tried to rally people to walk back with me, and by the time i got people out of there and got back it was really late and a man in a wheelchair had cornered me in a parking lot trying to get me to play his guitar.
the next day we got cole to a doctor but not without a few reminders of why america's healthcare system is fucked. but, he got some antibiotics and mike got his toe wrapped up (he got a pretty gruesome toe injury), we found out the receptionist went to CSF and had a class with cole (one of many, many coincidences such as this), and we were on our merry way.

"sad song, last dance

2009-06-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

and no one knows who the band was." except all you awesome people!
unless some outside force as strong stormclouds and the seas combined overthrows the destiny of this band, the last show forever for apple miner colony as we know it will be in santa fe, new mexico on june 27th at warehouse 21 (1614 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501). it will be epic, there is no doubt in that. i recommend you drop some money for a plane, train, or fuel plus somewhere around $5 for the cover and come see this end of eras.

peachy keene

2009-06-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

we got home late then woke up the next morning pack up and head out to keene, new hampshire. the traffic was way worse getting out than it was getting in. the city did not want us to leave. keene was yet another sharp contrast to new york. people were almost creepily polite. everything was spotless and green. cars always stopped for pedestrians and the roads were wide and cushy. the show was at a place called armadillo burrito. bandera (above) got to play here and it was very nice to hear. they are one of my favorite bands including people i know personally.

apple miner played and the strings walked around the room playing rather than sticking to the stage. el rojo's family was there and gave some very generous donations to the band (thanks again!), and show generally was a success.

afterward we stayed at sort of a strange house where we were told we weren't allowed to use the restroom, but there was a nice campfire and plenty of places for tents. the next morning some did some garden work as payment for using space in the yard while the rest of us packed up. we found a great little diner for breakfast, walked around a bit, then headed out to north hampton.

for the record, we are in minneapolis right now and i am really that far behind in updating this blog. i promise i will catch it up one of these days!

a bunch of little apples in the big apple.

2009-06-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

the drive into new york was surreal. we went from wide open plains and horse and carriages into first suburbia, then into new jersey. the part we saw was almost 100% power plants and billboards. i actually found it to be quite stunning. then finally, gridlock traffic heading into brooklyn. patricia is a badass driver and parker so we got into a spot right by backyart (lia's house) with pretty much no problem.

i had planned to meet up with my cousin, kristin, and her family as they live in brooklyn the first night in, but we ended up getting in later than expected and we had to forego the visit. we went to a restaurant that apparently we'd looked at the lunch menu for and ended up being too expensive for a few of us. cole, cody d, and i went next door and got pizza and soda. we then decided to just head on back to matt pucket's apartment (the other place some of us stayed). of course pretty much right then it started pouring rain. calling a cab came up, but we were determined to prevail in navigating the subways. this was a good call because it actually ended up being sort of fun, and we saw more of the city that we'd have otherwise missed. after a long trek we finally made it back, soaked and triumphant. jeremy (matt's rad roommate) made us some tea (from scratch) and we had some hilarious conversation before crashing.
the next day i'd made new plans to see kristin's family despite her not being able to make it.
robert (my cousin in-law), 2.5 year old wilsie clover, baby wyath acre, cole, and i had some coffee and played in the apartment for a while.
i watched the somewhat bizarre but highly effective methods to get wyath to both fart and go to sleep and gave him many kisses as this is the first time i'd met him.

we went on a little walk to get some food and robert showed us how to get a meal without getting yelled at in new york. they had to take off to a doctor's appointment, but pointed cole and i in a direction to a beautiful little playground and park. we sat near the shore next to the bridge and stared at the skyline. a pregnant young girl and her older husband were getting photos taken on the rocks. two hip girls were eating lunch and shewing the pigeons away from their feet.

later on cole started feeling sick, but he and i went out for a steak dinner anyway and it was really good.
the next morning was museum of natural history day! i woke up wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and bounced off the walls until we got there. we were going to meet will and emily there, but we somehow ended up on the same train.
once there, cole's illness started getting magnified so we stopped to rest in the museum often.

we got pictures of ourselves next to our power animals.
it was time to load in for the show at coco66. i found out that before the music there was to be some stand-up comedy. this was exciting becasue i'd never seen stand-up live before. most of them were actually pretty funny! my favorite bit was by a really tall guy named jared who talked about the snuggie being the official uniform for depression.
the music began and the bar got really crowded. the apple miner colony then performed one of the best shows i've seen from them. the audience was super into it and afterward there comments like, "you got people to dance and sing... in brooklyn. that's insane." this is definitely a contender in the contest for best show of the tour.

ithaca

2009-06-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

one

warn perilous clouds
"tomorrow's abandoned you,
drag your feet today."

two

infatuated
by rain fifteen minutes old
by the time it goes.

we played a biker bar in amish country.

2009-06-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

after the show in DC we split up, some staying at ellen's house, some at tamir's. i went to tamir's house, where his parents were so hospitable (thanks!). we got there and there was beer and cookies all ready for us to partake in. in the morning we had one of the most luxurious breakfasts of the tour, with eggs and veggies, bagels and cream cheese, coffee from a french press, juice, toast and jam, etc. afterwards there were even smoothies being made that were very delicious.

this day was an emotionally charged one for me on a personal level as it was my best friend in junior high/high school's birthday who passed away when we were 17. i sang her happy birthday in my head and managed to stay positive and creative all day in her honor.

we started the drive into pennsylvania. i spent the entire time drawing on some tracing paper i bought with colored pencils. it didn't work out to get a show in philadelphia, but geoff pulled some strings and got a show in honeybrook, a really small town in PA. as we neared the venue there was a feeling of disbelief in the van while we passed several amish carriages and farms. we caught wind that we were actually going to play a biker bar here. this was confirmed when we arrived at a bar with men and their bitches, leather, motorcycles, slurring strangers at the bar, and so on. yes, the apple miner colony played a show at a biker bar in the middle of nowhere/amish country. the show went off and there were definitely a few people that really stopped to listen. patricia even heard one dude say "those kids really got their shit together!" then speed off on his hog.

here's a picture of tristan filming jack looking uncomfortable at that very bar.
that night we stayed with matt rosen's family on their stunning property. they had a horse and a pony that were very lovey toward each other. matt plays guitar in a band called nautilus and they're extremely worth listening to.

"you are the reason that you're here." -jeff hanson

2009-06-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

so after asheville the plan was to go to richmond and play a house show. but we got to jese stretch's property (huge) and started throwing a frisbee, then ellen got a kickball so we started playing kickball, then geoff got a van full of beer, then the grill started up... needless to say the show ended up not happening. but the night was really magical and fun! i had forgotten how much fun kickball is. the team i was on was ruling pretty hard, but i was really terrified of the other team and a few times i just crouched down and covered my head when someone was running at me instead of making it my duty to get to the base. the points started getting all mixed up as the competitive spirit rose and in the end we called it a tie.

the next day was a show in DC set up by ellen and her mother for a nonprofit called A Wider Circle, which helps underprivalidged familes furnish their homes. it was a totally different crowd, definitely an older one, but the show was one of the more successful ones yet. we sold twenty some-odd cds and all the sing-a-longs were heartfelt and heard.

more later, i promise-- right now we're in ithaca but a lot has happened from then till now!

as for now i just found out that jeff hanson, one of my favorite songwriters, died a couple days ago. please give him a listen or even better go out and buy an album. i recommend Son.

apple miner colony is a famous indie rock band now.

2009-06-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

just to start us off, here's geoff eating a gigantic steak.

exciting tidbits:
-Venus Zine featured the apple miner colony and other santa fe greats in their 'scene and unheard' section. this is an international magazine. go to your local borders/barnes and noble and pick up this months issue, page 13.
-the new cds (not burned copies...) are finally in! hopefully we will sell them online eventually, but otherwise contact cole or myself about deets on getting your hands on one.

don't carry the world up on your shoulders.

2009-06-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

i sit, drinking a beer at one o clock pm, and i update.

after a high level of difficulty booking a show or even a place to stay anywhere in alabama, we decided just to sneak on through and camp at the border to florida. the clouds protested greatly, trying to keep us out.

finally we arrived in an absolutely beautiful and out of the way forest in tallahassee, which i quickly realized i was allergic to. there was a river flowing right by our campground with really amazing water, but i was too afraid of gators to get in and so was cole. we saw an albino squirrel and a really cool lizard. cole saw a tree frog. we played scrabble and ate food and looked at the moon.
the next morning i was pretty miserable with allergies and i'll admit i got a little whiny. we decided to leave earlier than planned which i was happy about, but it didn't end up happening. we packed up and started our way into georgia.
i was a little nervous because i booked the show in augusta and wanted it to go well, but soon after arriving people kept coming up to me stoked on the place. cole told me it was the nicest venue of the tour. ryan gay played and he is really charming and good, sort of dylan-esque. not too many people showed up but the people who did were really into it. this is the first show that i sang on 'a heart so swollen,' which is now my most favorite song to sing. it is such a fun duet! i like standing next to cole and singing together. i love looking back at the enormous band while i'm not singing. after the show that night there was a pretty righteous dance party in front of the stage with all the apple miners plus a few more. ryan was nice enough to let us stay in his brand new two bedroom house where there was little to no furniture and they'd just finished painting. thanks ryan!
the drive from georgia in north carolina was absolutely stunning (contrary to the above photo.) there began to be hills and mountains for the first time in a long time. a lot of the forest was covered in kudzu, which is sort of an invasive plants brought over from japan- it completely takes over the ground covering but also completely covers any trees around so it looks like they're all wearing clothes of vine. asheville was a really damn cool town that i could totally see myself living in. very hippy, very healthy, very beautiful, very artsy.
the venue, firestorm cafe (an anarchist bookstore), was having plumbing problems that for some reason jeopardized the show, but it went on anyway. here, the people are amazing and there is no boss. the whole thing is worker-run.
my good friend matt dudley from my senior year came all the way out from portland to see his parents, me, and the show. i wish i could've seen you more dear friend, i'll owe you a trip out to portland.

nukulele opened which i'd never heard before. everyone only didn't get to play because of a time issue (my only complaint about the venue is that they were not clear on when we needed to be there, set up, be finished, etc.), but they were invited to play the next day at the 'been open one year!' bash. apple miner played totally acoustic which was interesting, but the entire crowd was wrapped around the band's gigantic finger. this was probably the best audience we've had so far, though there is some stiff competition.
naomi (james' cousin) invited us to stay at her extremely lovely home, then the next day we packed up and head out to charlie's (tenor sax player). her property was also extremely beautiful and there was food, showers, and a river.
well it looks like i'll have to catch up some more later, we're off to new york today!

a heart so swollen

2009-06-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

by
cole bee wilson

such a pretty weed
(daisy in the ground)
growing up inside of me
(growing sound)
like winter in a tree
(cold without a home)
fills it up with golden leaves
(golden bows)
so let's go for a ride
(holding in the hand)
and walk into the countryside
(country grand)
love you so i do
(love you so i do)
cause what you said about the world is true.
(oh so true.)

cause i don't want to live or die leaving life behind
if it don't mean nothin.
if everything's a droubted doubt with no way out
for a long time comin.
i just want to make my peace and take some ease
in the things you told me.
like everything's a runnin spring, a golden beam
down a long road comin
that we're both still runnin.

i don't want to fight
(i don't want to run)
i don't want to fight with you tonight
(come undone)
let's just kill the lights
(pillow and the sheets)
learn to really live, goodnight.
(come to sleep.)
so mornin should it come
(i'm not going to lie)
by evening if we both don't run
(say goodbye)
then by the rising sun
(let it take it's time)
tell you you're the only one
(baby try, let's try, let's try, let's try.)

i just want to touch your hair, it still seems fair
if you still don't love me.
ready now to kiss your knees and let life be
what it is already.
cause i don't want to reach and crawl, and give my all
where there's so much stolen.
ready just to lay right down on the cold hard ground
in the next storm comin,
with a heart so swollen.

what time is it? it's about a quarter to party.

2009-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

wow, it is really difficult to get updates in from the road! i know i haven't really covered much after houston, so here's an overview of new orleans, and i'll try to get more in hopefully tonight about places after that:

so after houston we took the long drive into new orleans. the drive was absolutely incredible, and many parts of the highway were on stilts in water. there were white herrings everywhere, and everyone felt like we were driving into some exotic jungle or far away swamp. most of the houses were raised above ground too.
patricia knows how to pick the best pitstops somehow, and we stopped at one with a tiger. yes, just an ordinary gas station in the middle of nowhere, with a tiger.

we accidently drove through the french quarter looking for the venue and got really excited about spending some time there. the venue was just outside there, in a really old looking two-story house among a myriad of gigantic, modern buildings. the bottom floor was the bar and the venue combined which was a very small space. but doable, as is pretty much anything with this group.
everyone only and apple miner colony played preceded by westin and mitch, which earned the whole gang a free shot at the bar, which in turn earned the bartender a free cd. the group was divided on going out and going to bed, and eventually it was decided that we'd stay in new orleans another night and go out then.
so the next day i gave cole a haircut, we walked around the neighborhoods, showered, dealt with angry neighbors, then we all met up again at our hosts house (thanks betty!) to go out on the town. after eating some disappointingly bad seafood, we all headed to the absinthe bar and partook. something about the street and music and bar reminded us of parts of mexico. then we wandered bourbon street.

bourbon street looks incredibly charming, even moreso than the rest of the city, but walking down it was pretty disgusting. every single place was a bar and/or venue and/or strip club. about 75% of these places were one of three different chains. the streets were filled with tourists, almost completely naked girls, and big guys trying to convince confused people that they were actually supposed to be in this bar, over here. the girls danced around not even half-heartedly with little to no expression on their painted and exhausted faces, luring men to them with their index fingers. nonetheless we got a beer and walked around.

finally we got to a bar that westin had picked out and the mood greatly changed for the better- it was the oldest bar in new orleans. it was lit only by candles and had a grand piano (with a pianist) with a counter built over it so you could sit around it with your drinks. we did, and the pianist was really nice. he asked about our tour and eventually asked dave up to play the piano. we pretty much took over the piano for the rest of the night until they closed and had rowdy sing-a-longs. it made the whole night worth it. we opted to take the van home rather than the trolley and cashed out.

miscellaneous photographs.

2009-05-28T18:58:00.001-07:00

haikus

2009-05-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

for the places we've been.

georgia.

too deep to see feet
swamp waist-high by age thirteen
come with me to shore.

florida.

leap onto my hand
the blood you draw is not mine
but the colony's.

alabama.

snuck across your feet
under cover of rainfall
we were never here.

louisiana.

lush with disaster
unlcad dolls on pianos
both so overplayed.

houston.

imminent warble
death comes when you've given up
please don't lay down yet.

san antonio.

two cannon ball eyes
screeching secrets into plains
listen hard and weep.

austin

here's a safe haven
here are pains that hault your sleep
one prong on the fork.

more stuff that happened.

2009-05-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

in texas there are these birds called grackles. they're actually apparently an invasive species, but they make the most beautiful sounds and fluff up their feathers if you get close to them.

a few more mishaps: kyle got in a car accident, nothing serious- just a screwed up front bumper. emily broke her trumpet, but she got a shiny new red one, like an apple. mike lawless has been sick but now he's feeling better, only now wendy is sick. mike everett got food poisoning so bad that he had to go to a hospital in houston to get an IV. he's feeling much better now.

austin was a sanctuary, after the places we stayed. dylan's parents have a beautiful house with a huge backyard including a pool, great lighting, a hammock, and audio(the dog)'s doppleganger: domino. we drank some 'ronas in the pool and later mother falcon (pictured above) played, and they are absolutely amazing. look them up. apple miner colony's talking about a scandanavian tour next summer with mother falcon. MOTHER FALCON. the band played really great and the audience was very into it.

san antonio went really well, cole and cody were on home turf. i met his family. they are all really great people. before apple miner went on there was a family band (mother, father, son, daughter, uncle) with the daughter (maybe age 16?) as the front woman. it was adorable. the son had his guitar and ego turned way too far up and he and his dad made some really inappropriate comments, but they let geoff use their upright which was nice. apple miner sounded really tight, and we made somewhere around a third of the gas money for the whole trip in that one night.

we stayed at anthony's house that night in his grandparent's HUGE backyard. they fed us an amazing breakfast and lunch. apple miner played an acoustic set in the family room for the family, including anthony's aunt, who's had ALS for seven years. cole says it's been the most important show of the tour so far.

later we went to the wilson ranch (cole's dad/stepmom's place), which was yet another paradise in contrast to the perils of the road. horses, goats, cows, a swimming pool, huge yards, tons of awesome dogs, and good food and beer. cole's dad is hilarious and stephanie is very nice. cole and i stayed in georgie's room. the next morning we woke up in her bed then headed to houston where one of the openers was called Georgia's Horse, and she had a bunny on the cover of her album.

houston was sad... the venue was really cool (super happy funland) but it seemed like the population had lost hope. it was hard to get people to open their hearts, minds, and wallets.

country roads, take me home.

2009-05-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

and home is wherever i am. currently, home is a highway somewhere between Amarillo and Denton, Texas.

i made little presents for everyone coming on tour, little matchbooks.

the day we left everyone was waiting with their stuff, smoking, filming, relaxing until it was time to pack. the vans and 'new equipment,' *wink*, arrived. i suggested the names pinky and the brain for the vans which was quickly accepted. then role call, and then we're off. it's only been two days but we already have role call and loading down to a pretty good science (mostly thanks to dylan blanchard).

our first show in albuquerque was a house show. it was totally packed, and there were five bands on the bill including Small Flightless Birds. by the time everyone only went on everyone was already exhausted, some even asleep in the 'green room.' but, alas, we perked up and watched them rock, hard. the last song they were playing was suddenly interrupted by a "cops!" alert via nathan (who lives there) in the microphone. we weren't sure if the apple miner colony were going to be able to even play, or especially plug in. everyone seemed to be filtering out, and the mood dropped. but the go-ahead was given to set up and start, and so it was. people seemed to crawl out of the woodwork and soon it was completely packed again. there was jumping, screaming, chanting "till the cops come!", clapping, even crowd surfing (seriously). when all was said and done we retreated to tents, chairs, couches, floors and slept off the first day of tour. the next morning there were stretches/jumping jacks, and the small running crowd took off like they will every morning. we cleaned the house to a point where it looked better than when we came, and headed off.

amarillo went great as well. 10th street deli was a meow-wolf/kilby court-type venue in the heart of what seems like a great town of nothingness. i started to walk to get cigarettes by myself in broad daylight, but had to turn around and run back after getting totally weirded out by a creepy dog chained in an alley, a man pointing a fake gun out his window, and otherwise no one around. cole eventually walked me the couple of blocks. inside the small store was a burly, gnarled man with bloody hands and a wad of dip in his cheek buying a 40. he turned to cole, looked him up and down, and says, "here's the first thing: you gotta have a job. you gotta be bringing in the cash. if your'e living on welfare or food stamps you're nothing but a slacker you understand?" cole nods and says "i understand." the man keeps ranting, and the store owner finally asks him to stop harassing his customers. the man put his elbow up on the counter and said, "now you're really makin' me mad." my fingers dug into cole's arm a little but the dispute quickly ended and we made our way back to the venue, the film crew slowly following us with their mount on top of their car.
amarillo is so strange like this, full of crazies it seems. looking at the kids at the venue i couldn't help but wonder how they'll turn out. if this town is built to destroy brains or if it was just a fluke of a certain age group. a small group of people ventured out and found a bench on the side of the road with an advertisement saying "the pagan easter bunny did not die for your sins, but jesus did." there was a photos of a pink bunny crucified.

back at the venue, the show began and everyone loved everyone only, they sold 4 cds right after playing. the apple miner colony started and it took a few songs, but finally everyone tuned in and connected. aside from a group of painfully wasted and irritating yet enthusiastic girls in the front, everyone danced and listened intensely. it was a small crowd in size but big in spirit. i sold a ton of merch (soon to be sold online?), and everyone was super excited. afterward we got invited to a fancy ranch with promises of showers and hottubs and saunas by a guy who dropped about $60 on cds. but he bailed with a dead cell phone so we rolled out our sleeping bags and slept on stage in a big pile.
dylan was nominated to stand on a box to turn the light out, after the plug was pulled we wanted to see a jumpkick off the box. he prepared to do the greatest jumpkick of his life, but instead fell straight through the box. he jumped out and tried to fix it, and accidently pulled the lid off instead. the film crew missed it all! then we traded off talking about poop and philosophical items dealing with eve and the apple and so forth. i got the giggles which spawned a whole lot more giggles from the band. Ryan and a very nice female who's name escapes me went to Whataburger with a huge order for the band. we downed some beer and ate our burgers, peed behind dumpsters because the bathroom was broken, then passed out.

elise is sick and wendy sprained her ankle. kyle had to leave to get his breakpads replaced in dallas. dylan left his drumstick bag in santa fe. so far those are really the only hiccups.

and now we are back on the road. take me home again.

and can i just say how strange it is to constantly have cameras on you?

congratulations, from the bottom of my heart.

2009-05-20T10:48:00.001-07:00

The Apple Miner Colony was brought together by the College of Santa Fe. Due to some gross financial mishandlings, however, the college is almost certainly doomed to close its doors. After the tour, then, most of the band will be dispersing across the country and world to finish their educations, follow other dreams, or just get back on their feet.
For graduation this semester, it was decided that it would somehow be too expensive to host graduation at the actual college, so one was arranged at the community college. A large number of students did not like this idea and organized their own, official graduation ceremony outside on the grass at CSF. Both students and faculty divided, two graduation ceremonies commenced this morning. I attended the more 'rogue' version at the college and found myself getting choked up. I was saddened by the tone of the attendees, inspired by the professors and students who spoke, and riled up by Emily's speech in particular.
I began to think about dreams. The hopes and dreams of everyone on the grass today. Who is goverened by their dreams and who holds the reigns firmly in their hands.
Do you have the reigns on your dreams? If so,o you run them out of town, run them into the ground? Do you run them under warm water when they've gone cold and stale, run them to the airport when they've got a flight to catch? Perhaps your dreams have control of you. They hold you in their hands as your creator, tell you that things could be ok if only you could accomplish this or that. They never point out the okay things all around you.
The question of this generation, and it's one we take very seriously, is how to run hand in hand with those fruitful fantasies and ambient ambitions as equals. How to travel often, maintain passionate loves, keep our friends close, but keep the stables in our heads clean and smelling fresh. How to avoid a nine-to-five and therefore a life of servitude to someone else's ideals, yet be able to pay a mortgage or for our daugthers hospital stays. How to attain our wildest desires in a realistic and responsible manner.
I watched a group of students accept their diplomas today, and I was filled with nothing but hope that they, and I, are going to change everything. So, congratulations, Earth and humanity. You're about to receive the best back massage you've had in a long time.

one-two-three-four-one-two-three-four!

2009-04-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

a melodramatic introduction.

embark, if you will, on a mystical journey through the deep south, east coast, and midwest of america. join thirty others on the road, exploring pale underbellies, colorful character, hidden skeletons, and towering civilizations. plunge into the depths of audial pleasure that will rattle your innards and impale your thoughts around a spear of melodic poetry, trembling violin, quaking trombone, and a vast array of other painstakingly casted instruments that make up the apple miner colony. you will not need a suitcase or garbage bag. no, you will require no luggage. just bring your best feet for travellin'. your best lips for kissin'. best ears for listenin'. and best heart for lovin'. these will always keep you home. keep you safe. keep you true. rides such as these will never bee all bright rosy apples, kisses, and castles.* the going will get tough. "the times [will be] hard and full of sorrow."* but after trials there will be ease. ease in knowing that your flash in the pan came about at a time when beauty, love, and music are triumphing over the dark forces of humanity. knowing that if you were not yet born, you would be blissful yet ignorant to this slight and beautiful moment in the infinite chain of moments. and if you were to be already dead, well, you would be mourning your passing and greiving your family. but instead you are here and you are watching a little bit of art and love spread out across a patch of land, and then leaving to lead and live your own magical mystery life. your army of doubtlessness and arsenal of kindness right by your side. welcome, then. to the greatest day of your life. to your eternal birthday. to the home is wherever you are tour.

*cole wilson

"home, you are my home. home is wherever you are." - cole wilson