Last minutes these days

I'm back, and the shows went great. Thanks to everyone who came out and played and organized things and helped clear out our basements by buying records! I put up some photos from the shows over on the Eggs website. Some quick observations, and then I'll get back to recovering from the inevitable cold that comes from breathing secondhand smoke and staying up past 11.

• This is a young man's game. I realized this at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday morning as we carried our equipment up three flights of steps to Rob's apartment in Brooklyn. It's hard to believe we used to do this day after day after day.
  
• Cigarette smoke sucks. The difference between playing in New York and D.C. was striking--in the former, I lost my voice all on my own, about two-thirds of the way through the set. In D.C. it was pretty much gone by the time we got onstage. I can't wait till smoking is outlawed in bars everywhere.
  
• Rental vans are smaller now, but the amenities are better. I drove all weekend, so I didn't get to watch any of the movies on the DVD player that came with our Buick Terraz, but I've seen, say, The Big Lebowski enough times that I don't actually have to watch it anymore. The lesson here--if you're driving, you get to choose the movie.
  

And now, back to the Western Channel.