Reputation Precedes Us, Then Follows Us. As Ezra’s Talking Master P doll would say, “Uhhhh, na-na na-na.” For all future reference, Ezra is the man. Not The Man, mind you, but the real the man. He set us up the tour. He set us up the album. He set us up the bomb. All our base are belong to him.

There’s no way to wake up quite like having a pug try to burrow under your blanket with you. After spending a quiet night at Ezra’s Pug Central, we ate some peanut buttered toast and headed out to run some much-needed errands. Trade Up Music may be small, but it was chock full of just what I needed: a new snare stand. In case you’re wondering how an entire store can be full of one snare stand, let me assure you that there were plenty of other musical instruments and parts there. I just wasn’t in the market for a new glockenspiel. Judah played Axel’s Theme from Beverly Hills Cop on the glockenspiel. In my opinion, nothing more could be done with that instrument that would justify my purchasing it.

Up the street were cheap burritos. Cheap burritos, Oregon style. They were good. I ate chorizo. Gimme that Mexican sausage.

Ezra, our fearless leader, moonlights as a staff member at the Portland Mercury periodical. At six o’clock we all arrived at a small bar in order to watch the most anticipated rivalry in Portland history come to a head. Five staff members from the Mercury (Ezra included) went head to head with staff from their rival paper, the Willamette Weekly, in a heated game-show style competition called Dysfunctional Family Feud. The whole thing was very strange. The host wore a red velvet smoking jacket. The game was played exactly like Family Feud. While the game was quite entertaining to watch, I think the only thing I learned was that the marketing coordinator from the Willamette Weekly is a sex fiend. “Name something you do on your birthday.” “I like to get oral sex!” “Name something people do in the bathroom.” “Masturbate!” “Name something you pay for with a credit card.” “Phone sex!” Yeah. She was pretty gross. What made it worse was that she always had a correct answer. What’s up with people? I bet her ideal day is getting oral sex from a telephone in the bathroom.

During the game, we were informed that a member of the Willamette Weekly team was none other than the music reviewer who gave the Velvet Teen an unfavorable review. Josh proceeded to draw an unflattering caricature of him. (See photo) Judah then approached him during a break in the program and threw his arm around him while Lauren snapped a photo. (See photo) I would have participated, but I was, you know, finishing my fifth Heineken, and I was passed out under a giant velvet painting of a reclining nude. (See photo)

The show at the Blackbird was quite good. First up, Captain vs. Crew played a truncated set. They rocked it hardcore until their drummer punched a hole right through her bass drum head. Puncturing a bass drum head is something akin to having your guitar’s fretboard fall off. There ain’t nothing for it but to cry and cry. Our set was very tight. This may have been only our second show this tour, but I felt much more confident and we played much more solidly. I can't wait to hear us in a week, or in a couple of weeks. (Our cd release show on April 19th should be spectaculatious.) The crowd was sparse, but it turned out that most of them were there for us! Our reputation must have preceded us. Then the Reputation followed us. Their set was probably even better than last night's. The sound at the Blackbird was much more forgiving than it was at the U of O. After the Reputation, everybody left. Well, almost everybody. I felt bad for the Prom. They played an incredible, poppy piano rock set, complete with the three-part harmonies we've come to expect from pretty much nobody. They also played for pretty much nobody. The Prom deserves better than that, people! They deserve better! It's up to you to help them. It turns out Chris Walla recorded their latest album as well. I highly recommend finding yourself a copy and buying it and listening to it again and again until you are tired of it. Then give it to me.

Afterwards, it was back to Ezra's Pug Palace to shower and to re-inflate my air mattress. Sleep ensued, bringing a supple, meticulous end to the cyan-tinged Oregon day.

-- Logan