How is Florida like
a totalitarian state?

The weather turns warm! At 2 AM I can stand outside on the sidewalk in shirtsleeves. The employees tell us that this club was built for $1.6 million by River Phoenix and friends, just before he died. Only vegetarians get hired here. They give us a full (vegan) dinner and $100 for hotel rooms. Once again, the club is half full but appreciative. During sound check the house soundman told Jim that he was "sorry to have razzed you about your cables... your sound is awesome" After the show we eat across the street and witness the Ybor City scene. Girlie-girls abound and bound around, doing handstands and splits on the sidewalk for strutting boy-cops in Star Trek haircuts.

My 39th birthday, on the road. We stop at a beach and, for the first time in a long time, I take off my boots and put on my ridiculous space age sandals provoking gibes about my taste in footwear. I stand in the water with my pants rolled up and my shirt off, soaking up the sun. We find a baby hammerhead shark and a garr. Shells litter the white beach. Jim makes a still life out of it. I realize that I am doing what I always dreamed of: traveling on the road, in a band, playing music I like, and with people I like. I am living a dream come true. But my stomach hurts because of the food I ate and I need exercise desperately. If there is a way that 39 feels then that's me. We are off to see the largest collection of Salvador Dali's work in the world, right here in St Petersburg, Florida.

Words fail in front of Dali's works, staring at "The Hallucinogenic Toreador." Dali makes me laugh. This collection is enormous, breathtaking, overwhelming and exhausting. It costs $8 to get in, but includes a guided tour by a knowledgeable staff. This place must be seen to be believed. Recommended stop on any tour within one hour driving time. 5 stars

Nicey-nice place with a jazzy setting and prominent dance floor. Expensive decor. An entire instrumental band called "Ten Penny Heroes" take a table right in front. They have all our CD's. We go for a couple of songs of Jonathan Richman's set down the street. He plays "Velvet Underground," Roz's favorite. We play two full sets to a half-full house. Then Kevin Ghiloni approaches us with an offer to stay at his house. He's the punk fairy godmother, offering his home in Merritt Island for touring bands from all over the country. He tells us he's on a first name basis with members of Rancid, Green Day and what seems like the entire hard-core circuit. He also tells us he's a parole officer in Brevard County with an emerald green '94 Camaro that has a $3800 stereo.

18,000 miles, and no
one got hurt.
(Kevin Ghiloni's front yard, Orlando, FL)

When we wake up the tropical breeze shakes shadows and sunlight on the window blinds. Jim does two phone interviews and we stop off at Ron Jon's 24 hour Surf Shop. It's an enormous tourist-oriented retail carnival. I can't bear the thought of giving them a penny for anything. On the way to breakfast Roz, at the wheel, tags the rear end of Kevin's bitchin' Camaro at a stoplight. We end up giving him $220.00 for repairs. The fun never stops.

Martyn creates the followup
to his stunning cover for
"Krill Slippin"
(The Milk Bar, Jacksonville, FL)

Subterranean, black, sprawling and over air-conditioned. This dank box could hold a thousand people in it's myriad rooms. Tonight there are about 40 people here. Stories of "several" tornadoes wreaking destruction on the River District of Jacksonville have all the employees stunned. Someone lost a car under falling trees. We play a tight, short set. Jim thinks we should avoid playing in places called Jacksonville.