Tired and retired

Jamie notices an unusual noise, “what the hell is that sound?” he asks the general population of the Funkwagen. Jordan, perpetually (and often imprudently) optimistic, yells that it’s just normal groaning and nothing to worry about. He and Andy, who is navigating in the passenger seat, can’t hear the terribly ominous whining and thunking emitting from the back right tire. Evan, skeptical of the van’s ability to avoid disaster, orders Jordan to slow down and open the double doors. Jordan obliges, Evan leans out to take a gander and . . . “Oh yeah that’s a flat tire. Oooh that’s a bad one, that is a real flat tire.”

At this point it’s 3AM and we’re somewhat lost outside of Cleveland Ohio. We know we’re within fifteen minutes of Julie Marx’s house where we plan on spending the night, so we figure we can take it really slow and make it there in one piece. This turns out to not be true.

We are literally one minute from Julie’s house when the stench of burning rubber becomes too pervasive for us to go on. After a short break, we manage to pull it into the parking lot of the nearby Jewish Children’s Center and call AAA. Unluckily, whenjj they come, they say that they can’t jack tl2kfpopppppppp

I'm falling asleep, I'll have to finish this post later. Happy 4th of July!

Why are we at Logan airport?

We just finished playing a really fun show at a unique venue in Nashua New Hampshire and we're on the way to my friend Sam's house in Boston. I'm really excited because I haven't seen her since Sevilla. "Head down 93 and when you get into Boston just take 145/Bennington and call me," she says. It sounds so easy.

Twenty minutes later and we're low on gas, circling Logan international airport for the third time. "So do you live in Terminal A or Terminal C? Because we just can't seem to find your house anywhere." I'm laughing while Jamie belligerently curses into the camera; Andy dodges imaginary sniper bullets (authorities might not take kindly to Funkwagen's rugged exterior circling the airport) while Evan generally makes loud noises. LOUD NOISES.

Eventually we find 145/Bennington, and this experience (coupled with the rest of our tour) has convinced me that we as humans give (or receive) absolutely terrible directions. I think Googlemaps does not just make life easier, it makes up for a biological direction-giving deficiency. You may start to notice that when people point, it usually has absolutely no connection to reality. "Just head up the road [man points upward, towards the ceiling fan in front of him, meanwhile the road he refers runs perpendicular to the general direction in which he motions], take the curve that veers to the right [man seems to be warming hands on a fire], hooks left [is he fishing now?] and then you just keep going [He reels in his catch] 'till Snarlsberry Parkway [meanwhile "snarlsberry" was renamed I-100 about twenty years ago.]

Only two days left!

http://lollapalooza.mp3.com/feature/2007lollapalooza/?band=MOXIEPLEASE
There are only two days left in the contest and we have a long way to go, but we can do it with your help! Please vote, tell someone else to as well, and thank you so much for what you have done already!

wha wha

mewsing

Evan and I have stripped to our boxers, and Jamie is the only one still fully clothed. We’ve all created miniature sweat swamps in our respective seating arrangements thanks to a combination of a faulty A/C unit and a sweltering heat. We’re down twelve water bottles; we have about five more hours to Buffalo. We now take rest stops at least every hour to give the engine a break. The Catskills + Funkwagen + 1000 lbs of equipment = Trouble.

As it turns out I’ve been living off of pizza and honey nut cheerios. I don’t think Andy would be living anymore without his mulit-vitamins. Too bad he ran out . . .

Last night at the Tudor Lounge we played another really sweet show. The venue was pretty small which was fun . . . and really loud. A lot of people stood outside to listen. There was a great juxtaposition between the crowd that the band before us (Purple Monkey Dishwasher) brought, and the regulars at the club. There were also a lot of people that Jamie affectionately calls “hippies,” mainly because they had dreds, piercings, danced a lot, and smoked marijuana on the sidewalk directly outside the door. “It’s Buffalo, what else are you going to do?”

These “hippies” absolutely loved our Funkwagen. In fact, we had difficulty leaving because they kept coming inside to check her out and pay her compliments. I guess they really liked our music too? One guy literally told me he was inspired, and asked if he could come with us (Of course I said yes, but I think he has a day job holding him back). I found that to be a great compliment, because inspiring people is indeed one of our goals as a band and in life in general. When did you last feel inspi(red)?

And in other van news, we almost ran out of gas for the first time, which let me tell you, is a thrilling experience. I was meditating at the time but apparently this is how it went down: We leave the bar and pass two gas stations that are closed. We’re on empty. We get on the highway and get off at the first sign of a gas station. It is also closed. WTF. We continue to drive. Everyone is getting nervous and Jamie is freaking out. Ten minutes, nothing. Fifteen minutes, no sign of fuel. Twenty minutes, the engine starts “pinging” and Funkwagen shudders like a man with hypothermia. She’s giving it all she’s got but she doesn’t have much left.

Two minutes later, we hurtle haphazardly through the exit coast into a gas station, finally stopping at an odd angle next to the pump, just moments before disaster.



New Photohunt high score: 485,000 (at Kenny’s Castaways?)

Two Shows

In the past couple days we had two AWESOME shows in Delaware and Long Island. There is something inexplicable about playing for a crowd of utterly unfamiliar faces. On the one hand, I feel like restricted by the desire to prove that we're an incredible band, but on the other hand I feel even more free to play and act however I want. It's also incredibly rewarding to create an enrapt audience out of strangers who might just want to relax and drink at a bar for the night.



I love playing at the small bars because I love meeting the people afterwards. We also get to see some good shows- tonight's bands were badass and "Code Anchor" reminded me of my favorite groupo Sevillano "O'Funk'illo." This evening people also starting spontaneously dancing to our music, which has always been one of my favorite things about playing live. Just knowing other people dig what we do gets me so pumped up.

I'll try to post some footage that Priya took at the show (Yeah Priya and Laura came with us and it was sweet!) but right now the camera is destroying tapes so I have to take it to anger management class. In the mean time, enjoy this video of our take on "Idioteque."



I also want to thank you all for continuously voting for us on Lollapalooza's "Last Band Standing." As I make this post, we have had 565 votes, which is amazing. Keep up the good work! I think we can make it to the top 100 by the end of the month, but we need all the help we can get. Tell your friends, make a Facebook Event, etc. Andy and I were just talking about how we'd sort of be technically opening for Pearl Jam...

Also, keep making those small changes and inviting others to join you, and post some of your thoughts on this blog in the comments section. In fact, please make more comments in general. I love feedback and interaction, so post away.

youth is the engine of the world

It's 7AM and I watched the sunrise. I just got done meditating and I had a small and simple revelation that I want to share with you. As friends of mine I am going to ask you to do two things. The first is a personal favor that acts as a metaphor for the second.


I'm going to ask you once again to vote for Moxie on the website http://lollapalooza.mp3.com/feature/2007lollapalooza/?band=MOXIEPLEASE so that we can play at Lollapalooza.
And I'm going to ask you to change the world, starting with yourself and in baby steps.

Let me explain before I lose your attention. In this Lollapalooza contest, we only need to get in the top 100 to make the next round, which means we only need around 1500 votes. If only half of you vote and also convince someone else to vote, and you do it every day for the next 10 days before the contest ends, we'll easily make it. 1500 votes seems like an insurmountable number, but if I can convince most of you to help us, and if I can convince most you to invite others to do the same, the task will be completed with ease.

In the same way, if I can convince most of you that together we have the power to make massive change in the world, we can do it with ease. It doesn't take all of us doing massive things, in the same way that this contest is not won by one person casting 1500 votes. We only have to take a few small steps together, and MOST IMPORTANTLY to invite others to take those steps with us. Like dominoes or a spark or ripples in a pond, if we can incite those around us to act differently in small ways we WILL make a big impact.

What do you think is wrong with the world today? Where can we make a difference? Depression, obesity, poverty, energy crisis, civil rights for women, gays, minorities - the list goes on and it all seems too overwhelming to deal with. Just like 1500 votes in 10 days seems impossible. But there are two very small things we can do that will make all the difference in the world.

First, make the change in yourself. (Cast that vote, in the metaphor). Depression? Smile. Obesity? Choose for yourself to only eat organic. Poverty? Donate your change to the beggar. Energy? Turn off your lights and computer when you're not using them, etc. There may be better ways, but start small!

Second (and this one is by far the most important), you have to encourage other people to do the same. If you can get one other person to make that small change, and they can get only one other person, who gets one other, it will end up being huge. This step is deceptively simple, so I suggest this. Make a public declaration somewhere of what you think needs to change and what tiny act you will do to change it. Then invite others to join you. Put it on your answering machine, your away message, your facebook profile, your door, your hallway. You can post it on my blog as a comment, you can send me a message and I'd love to talk about it.

My revelation was simple. I realized that we, as youth, are the most powerful people on the planet today. I realized that we are on the brink of a million possibilities and we're letting opportunity slide by us ignored, or shunned by apathy and a false sense of helplessness. Maybe we all think it's impossible, maybe we all think someone else is already taking care of it.

So here's my small change: I'm getting vocal. And I'm asking you to do the same.

If we don't do something, someone else might. They might not. On the other hand, if we take small steps, I guarantee you something big can happen.

peace and love to you all. Enjoy your lives!
jordan

multimedia

I love playing live music. It makes me really happy.


Our lovely Funkwagen is still not yet road ready so we rented another Enterprise cargo van. It's pretty funny because there are only two seats so every time we pass a toll booth or a cop the two people in the back with the equipment have to hide somewhere so we don't get ticketed. Thus far we've gotten away with it. Anyway in case you never saw on the photobucket account, this is what happened to Funkwagen:

Also, I uploaded some new photos. Unfortunately my camera was out of battery for the entirety of our time in D.C., but there are some fun ones from Mississippi.

“Hold on there’s a band staying in my house”
-Evan's sister to someone on the phone