The Pilgrimage

Located in Richmond, Virginia is one of the most amazing spectacles ever beheld my human eyes. It has nothing to do with the founding of our country, nor does it in any way shape the state of the world, although, to be quite honest, it would be a better world if that were true. No, this pinnacle of human achievement is the best best BEST Arby's EVAR, and I will tell you why. If by the end of this post you don't believe me, you should just kill yourself, because nothing will ever make sense again, and we already have too many delusional retards running around doing things in our country.

Ok. Let me see... where to start. First off, it doesn't look anything like an Arby's from the outside. It looks like a really nice house. In the middle of a shopping plaza. When you walk in, the ordering area has all this stuff in it. Like a open brick grill/stove thingy. And fresh produce and meats that are being sliced up for your food. And a barbecue pit. And an ice cream bar. And like about a million other things, but you get the idea. Nothing like a fast food place.

You walk up and order, and the board that the food's on looks like it was photographed by Annie Leibovitz. It is THAT appealing. Everything looks ridiculously good, and you can't believe your eyes. So you order, and you are handed a little buzzy thing for when it's ready. So you go fill up your drink cup at the most breathtaking soda machine you've ever seen, all the while taking in the decorations - canoes, geese, and other lake-y things suspended from the ceiling, and an enormous stone fireplace right in the center of the building. Then the moment of truth. The thingy in your hand tells you you're about to have a life-altering experience. You get your food, and realize that it's not just Arby's food all dolled up. The turkey on that sandwich? Actual turkey, carved from a bird. Lettuce, tomato - freshly sliced. Bread? Forget about it. Delicious whole grain and soft. Oh, and that shake you ordered? Made with real ice cream, just blended a second ago.

As this sinks in, you make your way to the table, which is hewn from logs, as are the chairs. Sitting down, it starts to dawn on you that this may indeed be the best meal you've ever eaten. Then you remember that you brought your laptop. Oh, if only there was free Wi-fi... oh wait. THERE IS, and it's fast, because no one's even using it.

Basically, throw some whiskey and cute girls in this mix, and I'm blowing my head off, because life can only go downhill from there. This place is so freaking ridiculous, I often think about driving the 6 hours down JUST to have a meal or two there.

I'm not kidding.

Lioux, tell the nice people I'm not lying about the majesty of this restaurant.

Scooby Doo And The Case Of The Drunken Waitress

L: After being freshly inked, it was off to the next club for the next show. This time we had to show up extra early, as there was no hired sound man for the night. We had also invited some friends, an amazing duo from the D.C. area to open for us.

This was also the show one of our PR people was meeting up with us on the road for the remainder of the trip.

Load in and set up went really well. I helped Marconi set up the club’s sound system and he did most of the sound adjustments throughout the night for both of the bands.

I was surprised to meet and talk to people who actually TRAVELED to see the band. One woman who had seen us at both Richmond dates last year had moved to Silver Springs, MD and drove all the way down to come back and see us. A couple of guys told me they had traveled more than two hours to come see our show and couldn’t wait until we took the stage. Another club patron had gotten there really early and watched us, intently, as we sound checked. A short while later, just before we were going to start, our waitress came over and told us this patron wanted to buy a round of drinks for the Sister Kisser members.

WOO HOO!!!

The turnout was amazing. We’ve played this club many, many times and I can honestly say it was the largest crowd we’ve ever played to for this particular venue. Not only was the show well attended, but everyone seemed to really enjoy the set and even prodded us on for some encores.

We did pretty well merch-wise also, selling a bunch of our t-shirts and CD’s.

So all in all it was a great night. We played well to an AWESOME crowd, met some cool and interesting Fans and Listeners, saw some old friends and faces and did pretty well for ourselves this night.

Now we’ll be traveling with two vehicles to our next destination, Greenbelt, MD.

What Child Is This?

A: As an ardent fan of the magnificence that is Arby’s, and a devout believer in the true power of the Market Fresh Turkey Ranch & Bacon sandwich, I have, over the course of the last few tours, converted the rest of SK into zealots, just like me for this deliciousness. It didn’t take much coaxing, thank goodness, because Arby’s, though technically a fast-food establishment, actually offers a wide range of tasty and relatively healthy food. Sure, you can go for broke with a Big Beef & Cheddar, Curly Fries, and Large Milkshake, but you can just as easily get a wrap, a bottled water, and if you want to push it, a brain-meltingly awesome apple or cherry turnover, all freshly made. Seriously, if you haven’t experienced the majesty of this chain, what the hell are you waiting for? I could go on for days about this, and I may, later on, when we have nothing else to say, but I digress for now.

We pull in to an Arby’s last night, and I pass a bulletin board where people have stapled/tacked local business opportunities, cars for sale, rooms for rent, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary, but something catches my eye as I blast into the inner doors. I stop in my tracks, and turn around to look again, and I notice that someone has tacked up the inner photo holder from a typical wallet – you know, frosty looking plastic, kind of like a tiny book? Anyway, I assume someone dropped it, although that would be kind of hard, I imagine, and some other kind soul stuck it here in the hopes it would be reunited with its presumably distraught owner. Thing is, it’s filled – FILLED – with pictures of little children. And little children who don’t even bear a passing resemblance. So it begs the question:

Whose pictures are these, and more importantly, whose kids are these?






I started to giggle at the thought of someone collecting other people’s baby pictures, but then it turned to kind of an uneasy feeling, as my mind drifted to the darker side of humanity, naturally, and I began to become a little sorry I had laughed so quickly at what could possibly be a really terrible situation. But then I quickly recovered myself and saw the inherent nonsense in this whole thing anyway, pretended nothing was wrong and made Lioux hold them up so I could snap a few pics with my phone.

L: Alienwhere also left out the part, this was our SECOND Arby’s stop of the day. We really should get some sort of sponsorship from this chain.

And yes that was a bizarre bulletin board find. Alienwhere came running in the restaurant just to show me.

Once back inside, they had messed up Elle’s order and she was standing at the counter. They forgot to put cheese on her Market Fresh Sandwich, and she was just humbly asking them for a slice she could put on the sandwich herself. Not only did they give her a slice, but INSISTED on giving her another free sandwich. Arby’s is AWESOME!!!

[DAMN IT! While we are now traveling in the van and I’m writing this I just realized we left the sandwich back in the hotel fridge].

*sigh*