What is it about Charles Bronson Deathwish movies that bring a nostalgic tear to my eye? Maybe it’s the names of the police detectives such as Stryker and Bronson's character Paul Kersey. Maybe it’s the powder blue police uniforms of the NYPD, or maybe is the sappy 80's score in the background that made every cheesy one-liner that Charles said the coolest thing you ever heard. Regardless, it’s what I'm watching and thoroughly enjoying at 2:46am in Los Angeles, CA at the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel with a bottle of Oregon pinot, a 1.5 liter bottle of Fiji water, one empty pack of trident tropical twist gum, two maracas, a rolled cigarette, a half of a dog biscuit (don’t ask) and my thoughts......

The past 7 days have flown by and have transported us from wistful chapped cold winds to blistful snow peaked mountains to the auburn dazeicle stillness of the desert and back to the bustling of big city hustle. I can remember Denver where the cool crisp mountain air made our instruments sound as pristine as the snow covered peaks in the background. And thanks to the altitude, we only had to drink half as much as we usually do to achieve the same amount of buzz. A few of us went to school in Boulder so going to Denver brings back a few stony, cloudy memories of going to Avalanche hockey games and shows at Red Rocks. From there we made the long trek out to LA and of course we had to stop at our favorite truck stop cafe The West Winds in Green River, UT for some mediocre chicken tenderloin dinners and soup (to be honest I don’t know why we like it here so much.) Maybe it’s the weird David Lynch like atmosphere and the fact that we are in the middle of absolutely nowhere UTAH where if we all got thrown into a couple holes in the desert no one would find us for weeks! I don't know why I find excitement in that. Probably the same reason why "Blue Velvet", "Wild at Heart", “Gummo”, “Bully” and “Clockwork Orange” are my top 5 favorite movies.

We pulled into LA with Anne Murray's "Danny Song" blasting through the smog; you gotta love the line "Even though we aint got money, I’m so in love with you honey everything will bring a chain of love.......and in the morning when I rise, bring a tear of joy to my eyes and tell me everything's gonna be alright" We had by far the dirtiest, worn out van in the city and got some much needed rest before our troubadour show.

Our LA show had the biggest turnout yet (nearly sold out) and talks of celebrity sightings proved to be untrue except an appearance by Zac Efron, who Taddy was most definitely pleased about. After the show we partied at the club next door which within 15 minutes made me turn right around and go pass out (for many various reasons, but mostly because I couldn't bear to witness another sparkler themed group tequila shot cheers for some dudes birthday who was actually trying to blow out the sparklers every time one got near him as if the joke never got old ) Anyway, San Diego was next and we played a great show on the UCSD campus at a venue called The Loft although they desperately need to get a bar in there ASAP. Playing shows sober really sucks. We stayed at a hotel in Del Mar, CA that was built in the late 1800's and kind of reminded me of the hotel in The Shining! Nonetheless, we survived and spent the next day in Del Mar tightroping railroad tracks, chucking rocks off cliffs and into the ocean, climbing dirt walls and eating at Jakes Bistro on the beach (amazing Chilean Seabass and Bloody Mary's). After another near sold out show at our favorite Orange County club the Detroit Bar that night it was back to LA to shoot our music video for "Don't Forget Sister"......

Now keep in mind that we didn’t get to bed after our OC show until 3am back in LA and had a 7am call time downtown this morning. So to say we were exhausted would be the understatement of the year. But the authenticness of our exhaustion actually went well with the video concept and with the help of some Asahi beer (shot the video in Little Tokyo so there wasn’t much options here) and some excitement for "Don't Forget Sister" being released, we had a great shoot. Don’t want to give away too much, but I think the video will be ready within the month and we'll send out an email so you all can watch and embrace the magic of music video cinema at its finest.

So this leads me to here at the hotel room exhausted/excited/famished/energized about playing San Fran tomorrow. San Fran is the last show of this NickelEye tour and what a great tour it was. I know we are going to keep in touch with those guys for a long time. Now we have a few days off before we get back into the rehearsal studio to start working on some new material so stay tuned and we should be back on the road in April or May so don't be surprised if you come to our next show and hear an unfamiliar new LVD track that tickles your eardrums!! Excitement will be rolling in to a town near you.

Now I think Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) has a gun to a vigilante's temple and I just can't wait to see what unfolds here. Talk to you all soon

Howie Duck Douglas Diamond

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