Paris snapshot

Our European adventure/tour kicked off with a night in Paris. This is just a snapshot... much more to come later. The biggest news from the Popes is that we'll be LIVING in Paris for 2 months after the tour. So, while you won't find much here in this post, I wanted to give you guys that little piece of information so that you'll stick with me and follow me around Paris for a while. While it won't be all play (Ron is working on the new album, and I'll be working on the business side of the new album), I am sure we'll find some time to run around and show you the sights. 

For now, here's a glimpse into how the tour started off...

 

We adore Paris! And I'm quickly becoming obsessed with my latest camera acquisition. A point and shoot that gives me a pretty good range of manual functions (Canon G15 for those who are interested). Lightweight, compact, pretty quick on the autofocus... I'm a happy girl. 

Running off to another sound check... only a few more shows this tour!

xoxox,

b

bus liiiiiiife

...seems so close to thug life if you squint. So, we're off. We spent a week in London getting ready for the tour & now we live on a bus. In London we stayed in Shoreditch and ate at almost every restaurant imaginable in the area, so I have a few recs for you... but not for now, my friends, not for now.

For now, I'm going to catch you up on my oh-so-glam life of sleeping in a bunk, showering in random places, and using Caffe Nero for the free wifi, decent coffee, and smooth jazz elevator music.

So the bunks. These were made for men? I swear when I lay flat I am head to toe the right size for it... and that's a tall 5'3. Outside of babies, no one can sit up in them... we don't have any actual babies on the bus, but this is what I imagine. This can also lead to some interesting ways for actually getting in the bed. I should probably be on a bottom bunk, but everyone wants the top, right? So I hike my leg up the side, jump off the other foot, and manage my way to horizontal position in hopes that I land in the right spot. And if you need something at the foot of the bed or need to fix the covers? Let's just say if you're not flexible, you are screwed. No way, buddy.

... and then yeah, there is no shower. Last night I took an ice cold shower at the venue because I couldn't figure out how to turn on the hot water. Turns out you turn it on OUTSIDE of the bathroom. YES - that makes the most sense. There I was, naked in a hopefully locked bathroom, and I find out you have to LEAVE said bathroom to make the water a mild form of warm.

Sounds just like the picture of glam right? I shouldn't ruin these things for you guys. So, I take it back... picture me running around in Louboutins, staying at The Ritz, keeping my camera in a Celine bag. YEAH!

OH, so I've been getting a ton of questions regarding my baby-size suitcase, so I'm going to do a few packing/travel advice posts. If you have any questions, shoot them to me at travelsizeme83@gmail.com.

'till then, I'll keep instagraming and you keep hearting my photos. I love that you do that.

-b

imagination station

Most people in Byron Bay seem to be on perma-vacation... and that's an incredible thing if you can manage it. We, however, manage to always squeeze in work when we find the time (noooo/blahhhh/rawrrrr/etc). It's super lame and counterintuitive. However, when your job lands you in a place like this super fantastic music imagination station, it doesn't suck quite as much.

We were hooked up with a friend of a friend who runs a studio/artist haven ON the water in Byron. Pretty sweet gig, ehh? OH, and they have a major beer sponsor that just delivers cases upon cases of beer to their doorstep every month. To say it does not suck would be a slight understatement.  So when we were offered the chance to go chill for the day, we jumped on it. We wandered the 30 minutes down back roads to get to the place and were much better for it. 

They fed us their free beer, we talked shop, we played some tunes (i.e. I was sort of drunk after 3 beers so I twirled around a bunch and looked like a spastic 5 year old), and we met a baby and a dog. Perfect day? I say YES. 

then things got a little hazy on the way home. I think we met a spirit guide in the form of a dog and I forced Ron to take a photo of me muscling up a drunk handstand (hey! at least I remembered to point my toes). It's a miracle what three beers will do to me after all these years of being a fully grown/mostly functional adult. 

listen, I don't judge you and your hobbies.

And with that: goodbye & goodnight!

xxoo,

b

postcard

seriously. I never know anymore - even with all of my fancaaay technology.

more pretty pics & updates coming soon.

in the meantime, click on ron's tour dates - buy tickets - and then suggest things for us to do in Australia and Europe. thanks thanks thanks!

stay tuned! 

-b

(btw - photo is in Montana)

see: ugly face

what is this??? is this the world's ugliest Real World cast? Yes. Yes, it is.

Or. OR have we gone so tour crazy that we played my favorite game of "make the ugliest face you can make" game?

While having a few (too many) post-show drinks at Cheer Up Charlies in East Austin, this magnificent thing was accomplished.

You can tell that Ron and I have played this game before by our use of hand gestures to make not just an ugly face, but an entire ugly being. Don't judge us by our hobbies! We don't judge yours!

A big shout out to newbie player, Carl, who gave a dramatic ugly face. A big non-shout out to a poor showing by Meghan. What is that? How does she manage to still look cute while attempting ugly? However, I think the clear winner is me... or Ron. But we're veterans, so that's expected.

What do you think? Vote on who you think is the ugliest in the comments below.

see: live-ness

up close and personal with some live show shots. Happy Sunday!

©DancePanda Photography 2012

the right nows.

Dana Lamarca (@crazyfreshdana) (aka: danja) + Kyle McCammon (@kylemccammon) at the 

Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, Oregon

road food: Buraka

food posts! I can't get enough. I am just now leaving LA, so I have things to say about that, but I'm going to take a step (couple weeks) back for this post. One of the best parts of riding around in a van across the country is trying out different non-chain restaurants. Trust me, I get enough of the chains also... to the point that Subway is literally making me gag just thinking about it. And it's far too early to be tired of Subway. Here's to another month!

However, when we land somewhere with something awesome, I'm gonna tell you kids about it. Enter, MADISON, WISCONSIN! One of my favorite college towns. I actually care nothing about the school, but the town is amazing. You've got your standard college bars, but they actually have above decent food also (woooo, happy crazy person dance in the street). PLUS, everyone is SO excited to be there. You can just feel college in the air. If you don't know what I mean, you haven't been to the right places.

I avoid sound check at all costs, so I took a walk from the hotel to meet Rp for dinner. I slid past the lovely capital building and successfully avoided harassment from their resident crazies that park themselves on benches outside of it. We discovered an Ethiopian joint, Buraka, so we were pretty content to try that out (as always).

Have you tried Ethiopian food? Well ya should. This is, hands down, Ron's favorite food & is pretty high up on the list for me. So, let me walk you through this.

1. You eat with your hands. While they will give you a fork if you ask for it - don't. It's better this way. Have I EVER misled you???
2. It's served with the perfect scooping tool - spongey bread called Injera. Tastes similar to sour dough.
3. If you order meat, beware that there are little bones floating around! Nobody wants to do the heimlich at dinner.
4. The vegetables might look gross, but THEY ARE NOT. Trust me on this one. Nothing is weird about them and you won't be sick all night from them. GAH. Grow up and eat your veggies!

Another cool thing about eating Ethiopian in various places is that it isn't standardized. Every kitchen is a little different and takes different things from where they learned to cook the cuisine. For instance, this one put potatoes in all of their vegetable dishes, haha.

So if these pictures do not totally gross you out (and you aren't a total wuss), you should go! We've been in New York, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Columbus, and now Madison. Take my word for it.

love/hate/comments below.

see: Behind the Scenes

... because I know you like to know.
Happy Saturday!

Austin: We've arrived.

in fact, we arrived JUST in time to make it to Antone's Record Shop to do a little show preview. It was a free (FREE... FREEEEEEEEE!!!) acoustic set and we gave away free (FREE!) beer. It was pretty fun. I got all nostalgic for record stores & wanted to buy everything... and then I remembered I live in a van most of the time.

From there we went to our BBQ heaven, the Salt Lick. I can't tell you why it has the best brisket in the world... you have to find out for yourself. All I can say is - if you're in a town known for great BBQ and all of the locals (and anyone who has ever visited) tell you to drive 30 minutes away to get BBQ - you know you've made the right decision. So, we relaxed on their beer deck with a couple of buckets of Shiner Light Blonde & went to work. Any photos of Meghan's cleavage, she took herself.... and below is proof that Carl does not actually smell bad (since I took a picture with him).

TONIGHT: full band show at the ND. Rock.

Later!