Well, yesterday Kim and I drove down to SF to go see the Borders in-store show. Unfortunately, on the way home, Kim said she would probably never do that again, and I can't say that I really blame her.

We left at 1pm to get there by 3, but we didn't get there til about 4:15. The show was supposed to start at 4. I ended up so desperate to park, I went into a garage that charged $3/20 mins. We ran to the store and were way, way, WAAAY in the back.

The set was about 30 minutes long, and was pretty disappointing. I hate to say that, but their banter in between songs was more interesting than what they played. Good energy, though.

They played Alphabet of Nations, Fingertips, Dr. Worm, Istanbul, Flying V, Robot Parade (sorry HG - that's Kim's most HATED song by TMBG), Alphabet Lost and Found, Fake Believe (mixing the two versions, which was kinda cool). I think that's about it.

The signing afterwards was a debacle. I brought my two DVD inserts from my Amazon DVD and the other one I bought for my friend's son. I also brought my Gigantic DVD insert, and my photo from the last signing (and the only surviving picture from that much-better event).

I got up to the front of the line, and they said, "oh, we have some pre-signed DVD inserts we can personalize for ya" and -yoink- nabbed my two inserts. "But wait!" said I, "one of those is the Amazon one with the extra tracks!" "Oh, you have the Amazon one?" said a helper to my right. "Yes-" said I as I looked back to the table, seeing my DVD inserts lost in the sea of pre-signed inserts.

>sigh<

Well, I held out my head (see pics) and said, "Can I get a picture with you guys?" Linnell grabbed my head and signed it before I could ask him to sign the BACK of it. But then I got the picture. They seemed entertained by the whole idea.

The lady helper to my right actually said, "OK. You're done." and I grabbed my stuff - HOPING that I had it all, and moved on to Marty Bellar for a few follow-up signatures.

I seemed to have everything, but in fact, I lost my poster. Which was no big deal, really - it was too big to carry around, and it was still raining. Oh, well. Most important for me was:

1) Signed copy for my friend's son
2) Signed photo of all three Johns
3) Making sure I still had my head and camera

So everything else was icing. Then back on the road - Kim and I were about to strangle each other when we finally got on the freeway out of that godforsaken city. Then we were crawling back to Sac, a grueling 4-hour trip in hydroplaning rain. Yikes! Multiple accidents ... just glad we weren't on the Westbound side, which was about 10mph for -no joke- about 80 miles.

We did stop for a nice dinner along the way, but it was still exhausting. We paid $15 bucks for parking for about 70 minutes, $6 in bridge tolls, and 7 hours in the car. To be honest, that may be why I didn't enjoy it as much. Plus my view sucked.

You can see my sucky viewpoint at My Webpage that I put up with pictures from the show.

Now I'm not feeling well, have a headache and I think I'm getting sick. I gotta go get some lunch.

It was cool, however, to be with the Giants on Easter. I also asked Marty, "So how do you like being a Giant?" to which he replied, "I love it." He was sitting by himself, reading a paper while the Johns were doing the autograph thing. I felt bad for him, but some other diehards asked for his signature, too. I asked him, "You don't mind all the travel?" since he looked like he was a 5th wheel, and he replied, "No, I really don't. I love to travel." Nice guy.

Ok, my head feels so weird right now that I feel like I'm bouncing up and down. Gotta go.

BigJohn

i'm sorry your view sucked & you got robbed on the parking & fought with Kim & all the other bad stuff & now you feel sick. i hate when bad stuff happens when you're just trying to have a little fun.

the pix are good though, & the captions are hilarious. you have a good attitude, BigJohn.

why do the people with the biggest heads always end up in front of us? in Fayetteville i was literally spiting the fuzzball guy's hair out of my mouth through the whole show.

ps... i wonder if Henry was sad because his Daddy wasn't home for Easter? i thought of that yesterday, & it made me really really sad.

And not even coming home the next day, either. They're in Seattle tonight. Oh, well. I'd be happy if I were Linnell's kid, even when he wasn't there.

Kim and I weren't really fighting - usually when we drive to SF, which we both hate doing, she drives and I navigate, since I'm good at finding us on the map. Well I was driving, and she couldn't find where we were. That was frustrating to me, cuz I kept having to pull over and find us. And then ( this is why I hate this city) when we found the street we wanted to turn on, it was about a 50-foot drop, not a road.

So we were both pretty agitated, it was raining, and we were stressed to the gills. But as soon as we got on the freeway, the mood totally lightened up and we were happy again.

And I put in TMBG and drove and drove and drove.

BigJohn

well i'm glad it was nothing serious. you two are such a cute couple.

i think having for a Dad would be about the same as having anybody for a Dad, if yer a kid. just about everybody's Daddy hung the moon. (i know mine sure did) i doubt Henry realizes he's famous or anything. he's just 'Daddy' to him. he's never known anything different...

(...and it would suck to have to miss him)

that's about the same view I got at the Trees show in july. I thought it was pretty awsome, but I guess I could have been closer. Actually, I was probably a bit further away. that was my first show, so maybe that's why it didn't feel so far away. anywho, HOW CAN SHE NOT LIKE ROBOT PARADE!!!! but that's not the point i guess. Sorry it was disapointing. 30 minutes is pretty short for a show!!! sounds like you got ripped off
better luck next time bigjohn!

You should have seen the pictures from the other in-store. They were super awesome. Biff has a few of them turned into banner pics. I guess it's my fault for being late. Oh, well. Got my head and picture 'graphed, so

BigJohn

instore shows are always short, cuz they're free.

on the one hand, i like the full size grown up shows... because they are full sized, & for grown ups. in the other hand, i'd LOVE to go to an instore, cuz you get to meet both Johns. i've only ever met the Flans (and some Dans & a Marty) cuz i've only been to regular shows.

so they both have their upsides & downsides i guess. (not that there could ever be a downside to seeing but you know what i mean)

ps... i only have 2 banners from BigJohn's other instore, but they're great.

Sorry to hear that so much of the experience was disappointing...

But it's cool that you got to meet and Marty, though. (I didn't get a chance to meet them when I saw TMBG at Sokol Auditorium last July... )

Sounds like you still had fun at the gig anyway, I bet these instore things are always that hectic. My band played at Borders once, but no-one knew we were coming and we ended up playing in the coffee shop which overlooked the whole store, it was a surreal experience!

I never thought about Henry not having his Dad at home over Easter, that it pretty sad, unless he was out on the road with him....?

I'll probably be spoiled forever since my first in-store, which was at A Clean, Well-Lighted Place for Books in SF, was about a 45-minute set. Probably closer to an hour. I have almost the whole thing recorded, but in Mono, unfortunately.

Maybe it wasn't that long, I was probably just from my first in-store. Such fond memories...

BigJohn

I probably won't get to see an instore, at least not here
which means I might not get Linnell's autograph for a long time
maybe someday! in the distant future!
next time they come here, it'll be very unlikely that it will be an instore
so I'll have to take a trip sometime when I'm older
DAMN ME BEING SO SOUTH AND NOT BEING ABLE TO DRIVE!!!

your day is coming, klim. if you think living in Texas is bad... try Arkansas. at least you have a few big cities...

i have Linny's autograph, but i've never met him. Christmas before last they sent out signed Christmas cards to everyone who bought stuff from the TMBG store, so i got it then. then a couple of summers ago Suzuka Blue mailed me a signed pic she bought off ebay.

it's not the same as actually meeting him... the one upside though is that i'm sure i'd just say something stoopid anyway.

yeah... maybe Henry was traveling with em. (but i kinda doubt it...)

that's so cool about the tmbg store card thing!!!
I wish that did that this year, cuz I bought lots last year!!!
i thought I bought some stuff the year before that, but that may have been the christmas i got my first tmbg CD, but that was from ebay i think.
OH, and I don't think they'll be doing an instore here in texas. Maybe if I take a trip somewhere sometime, I'll get lucky and be able to see an instore!
or maybe get an autograph on Ebay!!!