March 17, 2005 - Redlands, CA

We pulled into Redlands about 2am, tired as fuck and ready for sleep. We were staying with Thom Green who played drums for Cherem in SLC a long time ago. As soon as we got inside pretty much everyone fell asleep, but a couple of us sat around and caught up with Thom for a little bit. Clint and the Rookie refused to wake up, so we left him in the van while everyone else got situated on the floor. After about half an hour of chit chat and Thom deciding it was time to turn in, I felt bad so I went outside to wake him up. I didn’t have the keys with me so I was reduced to knocking on the window. It took a good three minutes of knocking before they woke up, but as soon as they did, we headed back inside and fell asleep.

His daughter came over early the next morning, but she played in Thom’s room while everyone gradually woke up. The rest of the dudes rose and got ready, and while they did, Thom’s daughter, Maryn, asked me to play Polly Pockets with her. Since I am a sucker for little kids, she and I rocked Polly Pockets for a while until it was time for her to go to school. After Thom left to take her, we set out for Chico’s. Brook had been raving about it since we left SLC, so we were anxious to get there. It was about half an hour away, but came with a promise that it would be well worth the trip.

As we pulled into the parking lot, the house next door to the restaurant was having a garage sale. There was a guy standing by the back door keeping an eye on things, and when Austin got out of the car, the guy noticed Austin’s tattoos and said, “You get any of those in prison?”
“Uh, no.” Austin replied.
“Damn. Those are the best kind of tattoos.”
Austin wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, but it didn’t matter, because his attention had turned to Brook in the drivers seat, wearing just a jersey.
“Damn! You’re homeboy’s all blasted, huh?” He said.
“Yep,” Said Austin, “pretty blasted.”
At that point, Brook had parked the van and gotten out right next to his yard, within shouting distance, and the guy yelled out, “Hey, what’s that say on your throat Homes?”
“Dedication,” said Brook.
The old man nodded his head, took a drag of his cigarette and replied, “Hell yeah it does.”
We tried to contain our laughter until we got inside, and barely made it. Even if the food wasn’t as good as promised, that scene was well worth the trip.

The food was all that it was promised and we left feeling very satisfied, but then we noticed a problem. The parking lot behind Chico’s was too small for us to turn around in and too long for us to back out of. After about 20 minutes of trying every trick possible, the waiter from Chico’s came out with a box of Tofutti Cuties for us. At first we thought it was a sympathy gift because we were having such a hard time, but then realized it was probably more because we had left a very generous tip. While we snacked on those a few other drivers took a shot at getting us out of the parking lot. After over half an hour of trying, we finally unhooked the trailer with everything in it and put it back on after the van was facing the exit. Everyone was pretty irritated, so it was a quiet drive back to Thom’s house.


Back at the house, while everyone was taking naps and watching Anchorman for the seventh or eighth time, Maryn came home and she and I and Clint picked up right where we left off in our PP game. That got old pretty quick, and she came up with a new game that consisted of little more than her killing Clint and I and bringing us back to life. This was about the time that she re-named me Clayton for some reason. Not sure why, but that’s what she called me for most of the rest of the day. After and hour or so of that, her babysitter came so Thom could get to his church early to set everything up. Maryn and I and her sitter decided to let the dudes nap for a bit longer while we walked to the store for popsicles. When we got back it was time to go. We climbed back in our home on wheels and drove to the show.

Thom is the Pastor of an Alternative Christian Church, and has a place that doubles as a venue for bands when they need a show. It’s a nice place, and probably the only church I’ve ever seen that has Star Wars murals on the wall. It was still early, and no one was really there yet, so we all walked across the street to Barnes and Noble to kill some time. By the time we all got back, the show was ready to start and there were quite a few kids ready to have a good time. Thom’s band played and it was fun to watch him play drums again. He’d been singing in xDEATHSTARx for a while, but quit when they started touring. He’s a drummer at heart, so it was good to see him back behind a set. Aftermath played and kids were going off making it probably the best response of the tour. Cherem was up after them again and it was definitely the best show we played on tour, despite my string breaking halfway through our best song. We made up for it with an otherwise good show. After we were done, xDEATHSTARx came up and finished off the night. A good time was had by all, and after the show as we were all hanging around, this girl walked over to the merch table and sent several of the dudes into a lovesick haze.

As we got back to Thom’s, a bunch of the DS kids were hanging out and Thom put on a DVD of one of the funniest stand up comedians I’ve ever seen. I’m not much for stand up, but this guy was hilarious. It was a hell of a way to end the night.