After January’s big, broke tedium, I was eager to head to the Tampa show to try and make some dollars again. But, I was also glad to have a few more weeks to spend with Renee before hitting the road again. She came down to spend a weekend with me and we visited the Shiele Museum of Natural History for a big special Dinosaur weekend (imagine that, my girlfriend’s a nerd). We collected some fossils- well, shark’s teeth- and had a great time. We cooked and baked some more, of course, and she met my good friend Preston, as well. She and I have started making it a tradition that almost every time we’re together we watch ‘Scott Pilgrim’ together and of course that continued,. But I also wanna recommend (I’m always passing on my new favorite bands/books/movies to ya’ll) ‘In The Loop’ a scathing and hysterical British political satire. It’s amazing, though a strong R rating….can’t imagine any Tortugaholics would mind that, though.
A few weeks later I was jazzed to find my old friend from Brooklyn Tony was down for a spell, so he and I grabbed coffee and lunch before he decided a little spontaneously to join me heading to Asheville for the weekend. I would be visiting Renee, of course, and he planned to stay with a good college pal of his. It was a pleasant drive up, and after picking up my lil’ lady from work, we dropped him off at Ed’s. We ended up snowed in at Renee’s parents, though, and were house bound for the day, and later that night cooked for her folks. It was an AMAZING meal of Catfish and bear (yes, bear) and corn casserole and coconut pie and I nearly burst. The next day there was a solid enough thaw to get out and grab coffee and then do some constructive bar-hopping with Tony & Ed, and Renee’s friend Shannon, before Tony and I returned to Charlotte.
For Valentine’s Day Renee came down from the hills and among our revelry (wink, wink) and fancy dinner we made an incredible Nutella cheesecake. If you follow me on face book, you likely already know of my love-obsession-addiction- for Nutella. It’s cracktacular. I’d tell you more about my Valentine’s Day, but I see no reason to share those juicy details for free. I’m in negotiations with The Spice Channel for that story.
Again with all of my Arty crap/pop recommendations: Read ‘Empire State’ by Adam Christopher. It’s a really great noir/diesel punk/superhero adventure. Listen to Montt Mardie for some jumpy, fun, dance-y Scandanavian goodness.
So of course this brings us all to the time for me to strike south for Lakeland and the Tortuga Lair for the duration of BARF. It was a pleasant enough drive, and Den-mother Joey welcomed me in the Thursday before the show opened. Friday, she and I set up our merch tent and fetched our passes and what not, and enjoyed a Cuban and a few hours at the hookah bar before grabbing B from the airport. Cartee met us the next morning before cast meeting (having spent the night in Orlando) and we welcomed the opening cannon of BARF 2012 with a great Huzzah! 4 shows on the tower stage, and the festival opened with a great first Robin show. The weather was slightly cloudy, so the crowds didn’t hold through the day, but a great R show was had (between you and me, we some how topped ourselves Sunday) and the weekend was given a passing grade. Between weeks one and two, times for us were kind of lean, but Cartee helped work on my car, Justin Beemer, whose water pump gave out Saturday night. Otherwise, we lounged around the Tortuga Lair and waited for weekend 2. The weather for second weekend wasn’t any better, but the crowds seemed larger and were certainly no less enthusiastic. Great fun was had by all, and here we are waiting for the rest of an already great run!
#tortugatwins
