THUNDERGUNT RAMPAGE PART 3 finally !!!!!

THOSE DARLINS/THE GRATES OCTOBER 2009 forever!!

SO to recap: we are in Los Angeles in a really crappy hotel, sweating and drinking and eating other people's ham sandwiches.

We went to this guy Gary Calamar's house to do a private lil acoustic show for him. It was pretty cool. He picks out music for a bunch of TV shows like True Blood.
Gary and Nikki
'
Gary, Me, Kelley, Lauren, Nikki, and Gary's WIfe

Lauren set the whole thing up and works with us on all kindsa cool stuff. like taking over the radio like pirates. she's real badass.
our manager JT Chillin Out LA style

SO this is what its like ya'll? I have no idea who these people were but i bet if i knew i woulda peed my pants. LALALALA

Who are those Hunks????

Went for a walk around the hotel- pretty pretty


I ate at this diner twice while we were there... can;t remember the name now though.

Here we go! Beverly Inn, the shittiest hotel you can stay at! (actually probably not but its pretty bad). We almost got kicked out of this place... and there was obviously a transvestite prostitution ring going down here. but somehow they didnt seem to care. instead they focused their anger on us. Dont stay here if you go to LA.

ON the way to our show at BARDOT (private party oooooo LALALALA)

CApitol Records building was across from Bardot. pretty cool lookin.

This is a painting of an accessory. not a toy. i mean not a dog.

THis is what the stage would have looked like at bardot if you were watching it on tv in 1959

Ceiling was high profile! (baha)

Fireplace



Went and checked out the tourist strip. never been there before. WHOA so many people that are so annoying! It was awful! and great! im glad we got outta there with out losing an arm or an appendix or something. there were a ton of michael jackson paraphenilia/dopplegangers too. pretty annoying.

princesses

THIS YODA SUCKED,,, HE WAS A JERK AND WOULDNT LET ME TAKE HIS PICTURE AND HE WAS CREEPY AND WEIRD

it was completely unrealistic too. He was like 6 feet tall. and there was this guy dressed up as one of the beatles but he was like 6'4, chubby, old and had grey long hair in a ponytail. he looked NOTHING like any of the beatles. I think he was scottish too. and they expect you to pay money to take pictures of them!

John waynes footprints were the same size as mine, i swear!!! and i have an incredibly small foot. Like a 5 in womens or something. I think they musta been really high heeled boots or something. Maybe not, because apparently there is some controversy as to how tall john wayne actually was, and some say he wore size 11 but others say only a size 7. Either way i like how he punched his fist into the concrete.

This is cool because he put his guns down. some of the other cowboys put their horse's feet down! i think gene autry was one of them.

What a dream boat!!! Paul Newman!!! thats not my hand though, its lin's haha.

Humphrey Bogart!!! another dream boat! This one definitely had the best note to sid---- "May you never die till i kill you"


Mann's Chinese Theatre



Our good friends Chris and Maritza, New acquaintance Bart Simpson, and Lin


Great Head Dresses


BAck to the Beverly, yeah they really did have color tv can you believe it.



ON TO THE NEXT TOWN!!!

We saw this hilarious bus with a huge best in show dog.

Played in Phoenix at Modified arts, an all ages space (which recently closed unfortunately). This band, The Chandails, was really really good. And they were all 16!

Seriously, check those boys out. Chandails on Myspace

So this cool guy Norm showed up with some serious threads! him and patience were doin it up gymnastics style.

Then Kelley joined the club.... balancing on beams and swimmin in kiddy pools alllll nite.


Pretty view on the ride to Albuquerque


We stopped at this really good little mexican taco stand kinda place and ate, and next door was a really awesome thrift store. The lady that worked inside was extremely old and looked like she could definitely do magic. She had rose tinted glasses. She also asked us if school were out! heh heh. anyway, these are some paintings that i really wanted to buy, but they wouldve gotten broken in the van so it was a no go.


I guess what made this place so good was that it was actually cheap, like thrift stores used to be.

Stopped at a tourist shop, the Painted Desert Indian Center. Nice.







All the Crap I Bought


More Pretty Desert View



So we stayed in SantA Fe for 2 nights.... Nikki used to live there. We had a pretty small show in Albequerque but it was still fun cause of Nikkis crazy friends. Santa Fe is so crazy because it is 7,000 feet above sea level! makes my head spin just thinkin about it. Thats 2,000 feet higher than Denver! Yeah, i definitely threw up.... and it was snowing!

anyway, we ate at this really good diner that was near where we were staying, The Tune Up. THEY HAD AMAZING FOOD and yum yum yummmy green chiles. Dont forget, if you are ever in New Mexico, get green chile's anywhere. You can't get them that good anywhere. This is what lin ate:

This is what I got- Yes thats Plantains and Mole Sauce mmmmmmm

Kelley about to chow down... I got this dish the day before, it was like a breakfast burrito plate w/plantains. It ruled & makes me DROOL

Nikki & her green chile burrito. I think I'm gonna get this next time.


And then, when Lin was unknowingly posing for a innocent picture, he got attacked BY A BEAR


The Girls of The Grates came with us to the Dallas Art Museum before we headed to our show. We had a grand old time for the 15 minutes we were there.

Abbey Roadin' it





Our friend hooked us up with a room we couldve never afforded ourselves at a crazy nice hotel. So we partied.
and peed on the floor in front of the front desk while we were checking in. well, not we. him. anyway...

Party in the Elevator! with john grate and patience grate!

View from the hotel the next day: VA VA VOOM





THis is the shadow of the hotel. We were on the top floor i think. The pool was on the roof! Oh MY!


So it was the last day of the tour with Grates.... Sad but true! We decided to do boy car, GIRL CAR. we also got our friend, Mr. cactus, and he joined in on the fun. he got to go with the boys car though, obviously.
Alana and Mr. Cactus

Mr. Cactus flyin' high with USA and Texas Flags.

Byron, Ty, And Alana, awaiting Take-off

BOY CAR- they wish they were that cool

GIRL CAR- seriously though, where's the real party at??


So we went to austin, not before almost running out of gas and stopping at a gas station in the ghetto and getting harassed by an old dude with a grill. He actually pulled a sack of weed out of his pocket when he was looking for change to pay for his cigar. Dumb DUMB.
Any way, we were late to our instore at Trailer Space but it all worked out and was a fun time. We chilled with the Strange boys some, and then went on to the continental club. we got to hang with our pal Dante from Hacienda too! \
Our good friend Anna had recently moved to Austin from Murfreesboro, and we stayed at her house. It was so fun and good to see her! she made us the most wonderful breakfast, probably ever. Mexican Fiesta Omelettes, Fried Plantains with Yogurt, and Pumpkin Pancakes... YEAH!!!!! Thanks anna. We love you.


Anyway, that about wraps it up on the Grates tour, although there were many memories and fun times I'm sure I have failed to log. Either way, we had such a wonderful time with possibly the sweetest band in the universe.

Bye