and then the fever broke....

I am happy to report that I woke up this morning feeling markedly better than I have at any point in the last two. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I went to bed early, having consumed plenty of liquids as per usual, and dreamed of trying to kill this huge rat that was extremely fast, furry, and elusive. It totally grossed me out. Perhaps this rat represented my sickness? I don't know. I'm no Freud.

Being in Freud's home country, however, I have been observing the locals here with a keen eye. Given that Frankfurt is such a shopper's wonderland, as I mentioned yesterday, everyone is tidy and well dressed in smart attire from head to foot. No one spits or shouts or even honks while they drive their mercedes through the streets. This of course made me feel especially repulsive, as I am a fountain of phlegm and snot right now. We didn't really do anything much last night, aside from eating a bit of pizza and perambulating a bit. Nuno and Brian and I were all extremely beat, so we went to bed relatively early to prepare for today's pre-show chores. I had to fetch a new pair of bass strings, Nuno inquired as to a repair on our valiant steed, and Brian was determined to clean some of his show clothes. As it turned out, my errand was the only successful one to my great surprise.

Tomorrow we have a 5 hour commute to Berlin, where I will be able to rendezvous with my parents. They are serious MBD groupies, and are just about that age where the word retirement comes into play. When I gave them the schedule of the tour they very glibly said, "Oh you're playing in Berlin? We've been wanting to go to Berlin! Maybe we'll show up for the show!" Needless to say, I'm excited to see them. My parents have been amazing to me since I've graduated school. Whereas most of my friends have immediately found themselves in jobs and hating every day of working those jobs, I have been busting my ass playing music, forefitting my nights in favor of rehearsals, lugging my "gear" around for shows that rarely pay more than $30, and basically being an all-around bum. This tour will represent the first time in my life that I'll be able to pay my own rent for a bit and still be able to buy some miscellaneous items. That's kind of scary, too, because I know that this type of tour will not be the norm for me...yet.....

My Mom and Dad used to come to all of my sporting events and such when I was a kid, so having them at shows provides a similar sort of solace and comfort for me. I know there's never going to be a moment when they come backstage and say, "oh it was great, but I didn't really like that fill you played in the 7th bar of the outro for Dragonfly" or "your groove was really lazy in Workhorse....you should really work that out and pep it up a little bit," but it's not even about their approval and enthusiasm that makes it nice to have them in attendance. It's more that I can be satisfied knowing that I am making them proud not only because this music kicks ass, but also that I've been working hard to get to this place. I also have to say here that I am extremely LUCKY -in more ways than one- to be in this position. Sebastian, one of my best friends and most fruitful collaborators, recommended me for this post back in the Summer. He and I started playing music together in my band Lemming, and then I signed on to play bass for INLETS, which is his personal brainchild. He'll be making fun of me tomorrow for talking about him in blog form, but I still figured I'd give him a shoutout since he is the reason I'm here. He also is a tenured veteran in MBD (check out the youtube from joe's pub....he's playing lead guitar and bells on something of an end). If you haven't already, I implore you download the INLETS debut EP FOR FREEEEEE (yes, freeeeee) at www.luvsound.org. He will also be doing a radio performance with INLETS for WFMU on feb 26th, and a show at the famous Brooklyn hipster hangout Union Pool on feb 24th. Check that ish out.

In other musical news, Nuno played me a Portugese band called Linda Martini in the car today, and I loved them. Check them out on myspace. Also check out a band called Critters Buggin that Brian showed me. Good stuff. That is all I have for now. Hope you are all enjoying yourselves in the frozen tundra that is NYC, or wherever you may be.