A drip style coffee maker in Geneva, Switzerland
Fall, 2006

A stove top espresso maker in Geneva, Switzerland
Fall, 2006

A stove top espresso maker at La Laiterie, in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Fall, 2006

A stove top espresso maker Tofori, Italy.
28 November 2006

Wien, Austria
7 December 2006

At the West Philadelphia Warehouse. I did not actually have any coffee from this maker; I only drew it. We played a show here, but then stayed elsewhere with Gregory Pizolli. The warehouse was cool and had the feel of a European squat. Mike, Michelle, and Ben lived there with two dogs and two cats. Sebastian, one of the cats, was very friendly. Ben had cooked a fruit crumble with pomegranate and strawberry that was very delicious. Michelle was working on designs for passive solar heating panels. The handle and lid-knob of the coffee maker were made from transparent, red plastic, and the handle was slightly melted.
3-4 November 2007

Espresso machine at Krankies Coffee Bar, at the Wherehouse (Werehouse), Winston-Salem, NC. A small coffee grinder is pictured to the left of the espresso machine. The last time we played at the Wherehouse, the coffee bar was still a relatively new venture. It seems now to be thriving.
6 November 2007

Coffee bean roaster at Krankies Coffee, Winston-Salem, NC. Chris was roasting beans when I got up this morning, and he showed me how the machine works. I did not realize that the beans start out greenish-white in color and only turn brown on roasting. Duration of roasting and temperature determine the darkness of the roast. The beans are poured into the funnel at the top and then go into a rotating drum which spins above a row of gas jets. They are roasted to the desired darkness, which is determined by time, temperature, color, and sound; the beans can be heard, a bit like sparse popcorn, as they expand and burst their husks. When they are ready, the operator opens the door and the beans pour out into the lower tub, where rotating arms stir and cool the beans. This coffee roaster dates from the early 70s at least, and was built by M. & E. EAKANTAPHE in Greece.
6 November 2007

Chicago, IL
Mark and I stayed with Regina Greene and David Daniels last night. We left Dan in the care of Malcolm Felder since there is only a dog and no cat at the apartment where he lives with Naoko.
Regina uses a French press chiefly to make coffee, but she keeps it wrapped in a dish-towel so that the coffee stays warm longer.
8 November 2007

Minneapolis, MN
French press at the home of Dan Luedtke, of Gay Beast, in Minneapolis, MN. Part of the plunger mechanism was broken so that when one pushed it down, it didn't go down evenly, and many grounds would slip up past the filter-mesh disc. Later in the afternoon I was able to fix it with one small hose clamp purchased from the Ace Hardware down the street. It seems to be working well now.
Monday, 12 November 2007

Minneapolis, MN
Still at the house of Dan Luedtke. My first attempt to fix his French-press did not hold for long. Hopefully my second attempt will last.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007

Cincinnati, OH
I purchased a new travel-mug-French-press in Bloomington, IN yesterday. Today we are in Cincinnati, Ohio and the new mug is pictured on the floor of the performance room of the Art Damage Lodge, a former Masonic hall where the new tenants, Jon, John, and Joe organize and host interesting music shows about three times a month. The space is beautiful, and the guys are quite nice. They took us up into the attic space and showed us the strange pit/isolation chamber where the masons perhaps had some kind of initiation ceremonies.
Thursday, 15 November 2007

Columbus, OH
We performed last night at Skylab, a kind of loft/DIY venue/art gallery in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Aaron Hibbs of the band Sword Heaven lives here and organized the show. He cooked a nice curry for the touring bands last night. We slept in the space and this morning he woke me up because he had to sand the plaster patches and touch up the paint on the gallery walls to prepare for an opening tonight. Aaron is an artist/musician, does odd jobs, and is training to break the world record for continuous hula-hooping.
Saturday, 17 November 2007

Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, Ohio, at the home of Denny, Brendan, and Pete. We used the ground coffee that we purchased at Krankies Coffee in Winston-Salem in this machine. Brendan helped us to get it started, but it leaked a lot of coffee onto the counter. When brewing the second pot we realized that it worked much better if the pot was put into the machine straight-on. We forgot our ground coffee at their house and that was a bit sad to me.
Sunday, 18 November 2007

Georges Lake, NY
Thanksgiving Day
Silver Bay YMCA on Georges Lake, upstate New York. A coffee filter funnel for a single cup.
Thursday, 22 November 2007

Chicago, IL
Breakfast at the home of Genie (Eugenia Williamson) in Chicago, IL. Coffee and toaster waffles.
Sunday, 2 March 2008

Milwaukee, WI
The apartment of Tony Schwader, across the street from the club, Mad Planet in Milwaukee, WI. I got up early to drop the van keys off at Joes Auto, which conveniently shares a parking lot with Mad Planet. The van just barely made it to the show. We were losing electrical power and steering fluid. The bracket that holds the steering fluid pump in place became metal-fatigued and broke, causing the serpentine belt to throw. It is kind of amazing we made it here. Now we are waiting to hear from Joes Auto and I wonder how long we will be stuck in Milwaukee. We are supposed to be in Minneapolis tonight, but I think that is unlikely. It is early still, and Mark and Dan are still sleeping, or trying to sleep. Maybe I will try to nap more in a little while, but right now I have had a lot of coffee.
Monday, 3 March 2008

Milwaukee, WI
Interior of Fuel Cafe, Milwaukee, WI. The auto garage is still waiting on the part this morning to arrive from Chicago. We are supposed to be in Iowa City tonight. If the part shows up there is a good chance we can be on time for the show, but if it does not show up we may be stranded in Milwaukee for another day. Yesterday at Tony’s apartment I relaxed and sent a bunch of e-mails I had been meaning to send. When we got up in the morning yesterday we could not at first use Tony’s computer because he was at work and we did not know the password. He returned our call on his lunch break and informed us that his password is “fuck.”
Tuesday, 4 March 2008

Milwaukee, WI
Still at Fuel Cafe. Why not? Coffee refills are only 50 cents. Decided to hop into a cinnamon roll as well.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008

Milwaukee, WI
Still at Tony and Andy’s place in Milwaukee. Still waiting for Joe’s Auto to fix the van. We’ve been three nights in Milwaukee now, and have missed shows in Minneapolis and Iowa City. I don’t know if I can stand to draw this coffee maker again.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008

Ames, IA
Having breakfast with Nic at the Practice Space Loft. Such a relaxing morning. Difficult to believe that the harrowing drive down snowy Route 20 with our 360 degree spin-out was just yesterday. Nic scrambled some eggs that came from hens that are raised by friends of his.
Thursday, 6 March 2008

Bloomington, IL
Played and then slept at the Porch Honkey House last night. It was a fun show and the kids were nice. They didn’t have any coffee making paraphernalia though. So this morning we are at the Coffeehouse and Deli in downtown Bloomington. The coffee is good and the food looks good and cheap. We will probably return here to eat after a little record shopping.
Friday, 7 March 2008

St. Louis, MO
Arrived early at the Lemp Art Center in St. Louis, MO, and had an afternoon coffee and cream sherry with Mark Sarich. It is always a bit like coming home to visit Lemp.
Friday, 7 March 2008

Tulsa, OK
We are staying with James and Jessica in their cool loft. Downtown Tulsa is amazing and boasts the second highest density of art-deco architecture of any city in the U.S. (after Miami.) Playing the Sound Pony is always a treat because it is a bicycle-themed bar and they lend us bikes so we can ride around downtown. I didn’t see the bats downtown last night, but I could hear them screeching.
This morning Jessica let us see her genet, a small animal from South Africa, a bit like a cat.
Monday, 10 March 2008

Oklahoma City, OK
We stayed last night with Lesley of the band Balthazar. Three excitable dogs live here. Lesley has the day off from work and her only plans are to work out. Right now she is teaching Mark how to shuffle cards.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Austin, TX
I’m at the lovely home of Matt and Margaret Darby, who welcomed me on Snowden Becker’s recommendation without even having met me. Today I can relax a bit since we arrived in Austin, Texas yesterday afternoon and we are playing a second show in the same town tonight. A day without a long drive! The house where I am staying is 50’s in construction as well as style of decoration. There are also two friendly dachshunds who live here.
Thursday, 13 March 2008

Pensacola, FL
We played our first show in Florida ever last night, at a place called Sluggo’s in Pensacola. The friendly Bartender/Door-guy, Ryan, offered to put us up for the night. It was so nice out that both Mark and I slept on couches on the front porch. A roommate of Ryan’s had recently moved out and taken the coffee maker, so in the morning I walked around the corner to the Circle K. Later we went to the End of The Line Cafe for their Sunday vegan brunch, and then in the afternoon we went to the beach.

We also got news today that our show tomorrow night in Jacksonville is cancelled, which means that today is only the first of three days off in a row in Florida. We have plenty time to work on our tans.
Sunday, 16 March 2008

Orlando, FL
Greg is being very kind and letting us stay four nights at his place. He works at the Stardust video and coffee shop and got us free coffee there, though this picture was made of his kitchen before we went to Stardust. Later in the day we saw the Florida production of Blue Man Group at Universal Studios; Dan got us free tickets. After that we went back for a second night in a row to the Florida Hospital, which is run by the 7th Day Adventists, and has a really great cafeteria with many inexpensive vegetarian selections.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008

Orlando, FL
We played in Tampa last night, but returned very late to Greg’s house in Orlando because we wanted to be here early to start setting up our equipment on the Bus. Tonight we will play on the Bus while it is moving. We are about as well prepared as we can be, but we are still nervous for the show.
It is Mark’s birthday today; he is thirty-five.
Thursday, 20 March 2008

Winston-Salem, NC
We played our last show of this tour here at the Werehouse tonight. I suppose actually it is March 23rd, as I have stayed up, possibly quite late, finishing this picture. It is the same coffee roasting machine that I drew once before on our last tour. Tomorrow we get up early and drive back to Boston: we are anticipating a fifteen hour drive. It is always nice to visit Winston-Salem and play the Werehouse. Dan thinks this may have been our 8th show here.
Saturday, 22 March 2008

Macias, ME
Thursday, 3 April 2008