I closed Superstar in May…

And took a dive trip with Donavan to Honduras…

And spent way too much time in a hammock…

Came home and lit a show in The Dells…

Traveled with my dad to Scotland…

And hiked the highlands in search of vistas, goats and heather…

Built a wall….

Hung out with my mom’s new dog, Emmett…

Went to NY to build my next show…

And opened it in Atlanta…

I’ve started snapping a photo of my room number on my phone so that I can look in my phone for my room number the next time I come into the hotel with that blank look on my face.

For a detail-oriented person like me who doesn’t balance his checkbook, Mint is a godsend! I watch each credit card transaction come in, categorize it and now pay closer attention to where I’m spending my money.

Go check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

1. After having gone to bed at 1:30 am the evening prior…
2. 7:30 am wakeup.
3. 7:33 Get dressed in your bunk into the clothes you wore last night.
4. 7:36 Stumble into the bathroom, brush teeth, pee.
5. 7:38 Fill cup of coffee, add a bit of sugar.
6. 7:39 Eat a yogurt and a nutri-grain bar, if you have any left.
7. 7:50 Wander inside to see if Load-In’s started yet.
8. 7:52 Check out the space — “how bad is today going to be?”
9. 7:57 Meet Crew chief –”how bad is today going to be?”
10. 8:00 Load in the show. Land the truck, pull the snakes, build front-of-house, stack the towers, balance the room, set the pit, check it all.
11. 1:00 Go to lunch.
12. 3:00 Take a nap. Set your alarm for 5:30.
13. 5:40 Wake up and eat something.
14. 6:00 Sound check the band.
15. 6:20 Sound check the cast.
16. 6:45 Sound check the principles.
17. 7:15 Focus.
18. 8:00 Mix the show.
19. 10:12 Pack up the console.
20. 10:20 Pack up the pit.
21. 10:45 Pack up the towers.
22. 11:00 Push boxes to the truck.
23. 11:40 Grab ice for the bus coolers.
24. 11:50 Shower at the theatre.
25. 12:05 Store the dirty towel under the bus.
26. 12:10 Drink a beer back on the bus and unwind a bit.
27. 1:30 am… Go to bed and don’t forget to set your alarm for tomorrow.

Saw the Alamo. I remember most of it.

Played a very cool space in San Antonio, right on the river walk… a very cool part of town.

Went to Waco… didn’t fit real well. Enjoy:

I promise better, more frequent, wordier updates.

2008 was truly a unique and wonderful year for me. I saw some amazing sights and lived some great adventures on the other side of the planet. Here’s to hoping that 2009 is half as good.

I went to Portland,

and used a speaker cluster older than dirt:

We went to Canada and played a hockey arena in Kamloops. It was a bad day.

We flew to Alaska and put on a show. I went skiing on some of the best snow ever.

We spent a week in Beverly Hills playing the historic (translation: small and old) Wilshire Theatre.

Came back to MN for Christmas… heading back out tomorrow to Tucson where I’ll get out of the cold and ring in the new year!

Oh! The tour bus was out with The Jonas Brothers (ask anyone in middle school if you don’t know who they are). New bus and new driver after Tucson… there may be a round TWO of “guess who used to ride Dillon’s bus!”

Glittering prizes for whoever can correctly guess who had this bus out before the JCS crew took it over…

We had a stop over day in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Patty and I spent the day exploring all the touristy things we could find on the strip in the rain: NY, NY’s roller coaster was closed, the double-decker “Deuce” bus was running (we got front row seats on top!), the Stratosphere had closed it’s thrill rides, but the observation deck was open. We ended up finding a nice (very tasty) turkey dinner at the MGM Grand and had bought tickets to see “KA”, a Cirque show at the MGM. The show ended up getting canceled due to a broken motor/cable. Very sad for us.

Made it out to Palm Desert, CA (temp = 80° F) for five shows over the weekend. On Saturday, a few cast members organized a cookout on the patio off the green room. It was great to grill out and hang with everybody between shows.

Off to Portland, OR tonight for two shows, then into Canada for a couple one-nighters before saying goodbye to our bus and flying to Alaska on Monday for a week’s worth of shows in Anchorage. We’re not bringing any set, lighting or sound equipment — just using what’s up there. Should be interesting, to say the least, to learn to mix the show on a new console in one day. We’ll see how that goes…

Lobby of the Spencer Theatre on our first public performance.

Enroute to Colorado Springs on board the crew bus… load-in tomorrow, official opening night on Monday (?!?) night, then off to Greeley and then California by way of a Thanksgiving dinner and some time at the tables in Vegas with Doc.