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Old 09-26-2007, 03:44 PM   #1
chris1979
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Posts: 246
Default New blog update from Jeff

Please delete if there is already a thread for this:

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/blog

Greetings friends. Today I'm writing from Vancouver, where I'm enjoying a nice day off. It's my first time here and I'm liking the city a lot. While our main reason for being anywhere is to play music, it's nice every so often to have a day off and do something non-music related. And over the last couple of weeks we've done some pretty cool things that I'd like to share with you. So sorry, there won't be any sex, drugs, and rock and roll in this blog. You'll have to wait for Ginger and Lisa's next ones for those stories! Just kidding, of course…

You'd be surprised where you sometimes have the best day off. You might think that places such as New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco would be the best place to spend a day off, and that is often true, but it also some of the not so obvious places where the true fun takes place. For example last week we were had a day off in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the last couple of years I've been to Phoenix a bunch of times; and while I've never had a bad time there, I've never had a particularly great time either. However this was one of my best days off so far since we started touring in May. I think a lot of this has to do with where you stay and who you know. Luckily Billy and Jimmy have some very nice and generous friends in Phoenix who really made our stay there fantastic. One of these people is Bradley. He is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and he set up a pretty memorable night for Jimmy and I especially. He organized these two historic events in Pumpkin history and for that we are forever grateful.

If you didn't watch the Arizona Diamondbacks play the San Francisco Giants play last week you may have missed Jimmy Chamberlin throwing out the first pitch. Unfortunately I was somewhere else that night, which I'll get to in a second, so I didn't get to see it. I searched YouTube for a clip but couldn't find anything. If you have anything, please forward it to the site. But from what I heard, Jimmy's pitch was so ferocious that Barry Bonds decided to take the night off.


While Jimmy was striking out the side at the Diamondbacks game I was on the other side of town at the local hockey arena watching the Phoenix Coyotes play the Colorado Avalanche in an early pre-season match-up. Being a huge hockey fan I was super excited just to be able to see some puck while in the middle of a tour. The morning of the game I received a call from Doug, our tour manager, and he asked me if I wanted to drop the first puck at the game. My first response was a "no way." However Doug quickly talked me into doing it and I sure am glad he did. From the minute we got to the arena the Coyotes staff treated us fantastically. Right before the game started, Chris, our production manager, and I were walked down near the boards and we got to watch the players walk out of the locker room and onto the ice. If you don't follow hockey, you probably don't know that Wayne Gretzky (the greatest hockey player that ever was) is both part owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. It was an honor to stand within ten feet of him during the national anthem. To be honest I was so nervous before walking out to center ice to drop the puck that I don't really remember much of it at all except that I tried to walk away before retrieving the puck back from Coyotes captain, Shane Doan, who former Los Angeles King and now New York Ranger, Sean Avery, named the most overrated hockey player in the NHL. I would have to disagree with Sean on this one because Shane is not only a monster player but also seemed like a really nice guy. Once again thanks to Bradley for hooking all this up.



Now on to my final subject of this blog-the JLAM. You may be sitting there wondering what JLAM means. It stands for Jon Lemon Approved Meal. Often while on tour, time-or the lack of it-dictates how and what you eat. It isn't uncommon to arrive to a city just before you have to go to soundcheck and get ready to play. So in terms of food, you eat what you can and most of the time we eat pretty well. But when we have a day off we like to take it to the next level, and that is a JLAM. Jon Lemon is not only our Front of House sound engineer (the one responsible for making what you hear sound amazing), he is also the person we ask to find the best restaurant in town. This doesn't mean the most expensive; it means a place that passes the highest culinary and aesthetic standards that Jon over countless years of touring has devised. These meals are often so good that we talk about them for days afterward. For example, on Sunday night a couple of us went out for a JLAM at restaurant here in Vancouver called Gotham. While primarily a steakhouse, Gotham serves fish, chicken, and lamb dishes as well. The steaks there are an A+. Jon and I are still talking about them. So, if you are ever in Vancouver and you want an excellent steak, you need to go have a JLAM at Gotham. You won't be disappointed.


Thanks for indulging me and reading about this stuff. I hope I see some of you out on tour.

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/gall...s/IMG_1599.JPG

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/gall...s/IMG_0154.JPG

 
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