<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:podcast="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
  <channel>
    <title>The Presidents of the United States of America</title>
    <description>With THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE, THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA have delivered an inventive, uplifting and often brilliant rock &amp; roll album. From the opening, celebratory blast of “Mixed Up SOB”--which embraces the spirit of the band’s 4 million-selling eponymous debut--to the warm, Shins-like lilt of “Loose Balloon,” the group commandeers your attention with fourteen contagious winners.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Simply put, THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE delivers the goods with PUSA sounding as vital as ever. With the collective strengths of founding vocalist, basitar player and principal songwriter CHRIS BALLEW, original drummer JASON FINN and guitbass player ANDREW MCKEAG--who officially joins the band with this album--PUSA lend their joy and enthusiasm to any and all within an earshot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recorded by Northwest legends The Fastbacks’ own Kurt Bloch (Robyn Hitchcock, Mudhoney, Les Thugs) and mixed by Martin Feveyear (Epoxies, Amber Pacific, Screaming Trees), the disc marks an alignment between the band and EMI via the new imprint Fugitive Recordings. Sharing the landscape with recent, acclaimed efforts by Ween and They Might Be Giants, PUSA--as masters (and progenitors) of “Joy Pop”--dig deep and pull off their most diverse and accomplished record yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Case in point is the twangy, swing-informed exuberance of “Flame Is Love,” which effortlessly shares the company of more recent numbers like the riff-tastic “Poor Turtle” or the light, countrified “Truckstop Butterfly.” As for the aforementioned “Mixed Up SOB,” it was originally penned in 1989 and first existed as “a slow, 12-string kind of thing,” says Chris. “It wasn’t until I decided to Cars-ify it that it came to life.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Chris is very prolific and there’s never a lack of new material,” Finn explains. “He’s also got stuff from the last ten years on his computers. And he’s always sort of rifling through fragments of material from hard drives, cassettes, Dictaphones, wherever. And every time we do a new record, he goes through that stuff. And every time I think I’ve heard every song that he’s ever written, he pulls out like eight great songs I’ve never heard, and I’m like, ‘Why the %$@ didn’t we do this one or that one?’”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then there’s the glistening, piano-touched pop winner “More Bad Times,” which is brand new, sort of.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Replete with an a cappella break and a captivating acoustic shuffle, the song--which can’t help but be one of the main focal points of THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE--is essentially a hybrid of Presidents music and the lyrics to a song by an old, obscure group known as Ed’s Redeeming Qualities. “I used to go see them when I moved to Boston in 1988. They had a ukulele, a violin and an old man shaking a can of rice,” Chris chuckles. “And they had a song, “More Bad Times,” that was very different musically. But I always loved it.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“So, we’re goofing around with acoustic guitars,” Ballew continues, “and Andrew started playing a new riff, and all of the sudden that other song came into my head, and I starting singing those lyrics over it and changed the rhyme scheme and it just fit. I wound up writing a final verse and discovered how much fun it is to take an existing song and turn it into something else. When we finished it I was like, man, this is the feel good hit of the summer.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I was just playing this part on this Silvertone guitar that Chris had in his house and it was tuned an octave higher. And he was like, ‘Keep playing that! Keep playing that!’” Andrew laughs. “He started jumping up and down and got all excited.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“It’s certainly one of the high points and it’s in a spot where we rarely go,” Finn acknowledges. “We’ve gone a little bit further out toward the edges on this one, but in a totally focused way. Of course, people have always expected a ‘mixed grill’ from us stylistically. Our earliest crowds in Seattle didn’t know whether they were going to get loud, soft or all ska on a given night. That was part of the fun…as long as it wasn’t ska very often.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since the Seattle-based trio first burst into the public eye with its aforementioned debut – on the strength of radio smashes like “Lump” and “Peaches” – it has been plugging away in fits and spurts with remarkable success. Look no further than their twice Grammy- nominated debut The Presidents of the United States of America, which continues to thrive as an enduring modern rock disc since peaking at 6 on the Billboard Top 200. Enjoying the kind of longevity shared by eponymous classics of the genre like Violent Femmes and Weezer, it’s found a new life on digital services like iTunes since its rights reverted back to the band in 2003.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1996’s II rocked just as hard, giving birth to the full throttle, Top 10 single, “Mach Five,” which fostered PUSA’s most imaginative and infamous music video. Meanwhile, accelerated fan favorites like “Lunatic to Love” and “Tiki God” left their imprint on then-up and-comers The Hives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In advance of a much-deserved hiatus, two well-chosen covers helped leave a substantial cultural mark. First, a boisterous take on The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star” musically defined the smash Adam Sandler flick “The Wedding Singer.” Next, “The Drew Carey Show” adopted the Presidents’ rendering of Ian Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks” as its theme, bringing the trio into millions and millions of living rooms across the fruited plain. “Ohio!” indeed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In 2000, Chris, Dave and Jason reconvened for the vibrant studio-only effort Freaked Out and Small, which boasted the airwave favorite “Tiny Explosions.” Giving PUSA a chance to record songs that Chris had crafted outside of the band’s unconventional 2-string, 3-string format, the project included the riotous track “Jupiter” and live in-studio performances on the accompanying DVD. “We weren’t officially working again at that point, Jason explains. This Musicblitz company appeared out of the ether and offered us a chance to make a record with no touring obligation. Sounds like a hoot, says us, and we had a blast recording it for 10 days, then didn’t give it another thought. Neither did Mudicblitz, who went out of business a couple of weeks after putting it out.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A full reformation followed a series of reunion gigs for 2004’s Love Everybody, and while critics were handing out four star reviews and “Some Postman” was a radio favorite, the band ultimately realized that operating as a touring band and maintaining its own PUSA record label was a huge undertaking. As Finn puts it, “Being our own label was interesting, but ultimately the day-to-day realities of managing a retail operation were taking too much of our rocking time. Plus, during our frequent DIVA tantrums, it was less fun calling and screaming at ourselves!”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With Love Everybody, Dave stepped away from the band for touring purposes and ultimately passed the guitbass to McKeag, a Seattle music vet and longtime friend of the band who was initially introduced to the group by Dederer years ago and who first served as a roadie for The Fastbacks when they opened for PUSA on their June 1996 U.S. tour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“After 200 shows in the band, I’ve finally earned my stripes. Woo-hoo!” Andrew laughs. To which, Finn adds, “Andrew is a huge, huge guitar player. He takes the rock &amp; roll of the band and capitalizes the ‘R’s’.” It’s a notion upheld by the punchy, rollicking “French Girl,” the quirky and undeniably sharp “Fangs”--which boasts Jason’s finest harmony vocals to date--and the blistering, forceful anchor track “Ghosts Are Everywhere.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then there’s “Deleter,” a bona fide funk song with horns that the band built from a beat that Finn had been playing at soundchecks for years. “One day at practice we put it together but I couldn’t make any lyrics fit,” Chris explains. “Then I remembered an email I had from Robyn Hitchcock--who I’ve been friends with and whose records I’ve been playing on for a while--and he asked, ‘Do you still have that horn part you did?’ So I wrote back, ‘No man. If I know you’re not going to use it, I delete it. I’m a deleter.’ And he replied, ‘She’s a deleter.’ So we started riffing back and forth. That banter became the chorus. I wrote the verses and we finished it.” Soul singer Fysah Thomas rounds out the song with the first ever guest vocal appearance on a Presidents album.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With a cover image of a hand with a pin coming in to pop a balloon, Ballew says the track “Loose Balloon” fostered the album art. It was also the first song he wrote for THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE. Written on Christmas Day 2005, the first he spent alone after his marriage dissolved and his kids were off with their mom, Ballew says, “The split was a positive one but that day I was really bummed. My whole life was changing. And that song came out as therapy.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When it’s suggested that although it came from a dark place, it still translates as a song of strength, Chris is quick to explain. “When you write a song and you play it live you have to live it,” he says. “If you tell a sad story, you have to live it over and over again each night. So my version of musical therapy isn’t to wallow in the sadness but find that little bright spot and turn up the volume on it.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That sentiment lends itself to the title of the record: “Whenever we were on tour over the last couple years and things were sucking and we’re sitting backstage somewhere, cold and eating whipped turkey in some strange third world country, everyone would be quiet and I would say, ‘These are the good times, people.’ Like, this is it! This is what we signed up for! And it sort of mutated into the record title, when I thought that without the sarcasm, it could be used as a positive statement. “&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps that outlook also explains why PUSA have persevered and remain able to make inspiring music on their own terms long after so many of their ‘90s alt-rock peers have gone by the wayside. With an average age of show-goers at around 20, the band’s high energy shows continue to pack venues all over the world, selling out shows in London, Amsterdam, New York, Sydney and Seattle on its last world trek.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE, new and old fans alike should find little problem joining the party with PUSA circa 2008. “I know this stands up strong against our entire catalog. And I hope our fans agree. We’ve finally gotten to the point where we can let the vibe come to us and then we jump out at it and reel it in. I think we’ve really brought our ‘A’ game to this album. I feel like we’ve given as much as we ever have on this record.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Forgoing the director role he has assumed in the past, Ballew says a democratic dynamic steered the project and greatly improved the energy of the band. Playing to their strengths on THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES PEOPLE, Chris concedes, “I’ve just kind of learned over time that it’s a lot of stress for me and I don’t necessarily end up with something better. I just decided to lay back and not care while caring deeply, letting the cream rise to the top.”</description>
    <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa</link>
    <generator>Delta</generator>
    <rating>0</rating>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <item>
      <title>Dave's New Blog!</title>
      <description>Holy shit! Dave has a new blog! Go to &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24EPMO5Gk_" title="http://www.musicstillmatters.com"&gt;www.musicstillmatters.com&lt;/a&gt;! NOW!</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/05/12/Jh7Lk4Sj/daves-new-blog</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 17:50:38 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>7HPUTU9-US</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Odense show review via Google translator…</title>
      <description>We here @ PUSA Central found this review...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/14g_HANh_" title="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmdhZmZhLmRrL2FubWVsZGVsc2UvMzE3ODg="&gt;http://www.gaffa.dk/anmeldelse/31788&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;....exceedingly entertaining when we pasted it into the Google language translator.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Check it out post-translation:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;President of the American punkpop Henryk bored Odense a Wednesday&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The Danish emo band Minor Flaw played first gig tonight. The band must be commended for its attempt to play line-up, and to engage in an ambitious trestemmig vocals dish, but several places were hard to digest. It was an honest, heartfelt attempts, but it never properly shone through. Most because the contrast of the insane the Presidents of the United States of America was so markedly.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Wow!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It was the feeling we were left with after the U.S. fantasilitterater, The Presidents of the United States of America, or just Pusa, had left the scene at the venue Posten in Odense. In the U.S. the group has had great success in the mid-nineties, but after their first, selvbetitlede album, it has been little success. Although it has now been to six albums, the band at home perhaps best known for a few hits, and to play a guitar with two basstrenge and a bass guitar with three strings. However, it is not the album page that is strong at Pusa. Put it mildly. This is despite having had met many connoisseurs Pusa-up Wednesday in New Jersey. And the Seattle band delivered a half hour harlekinade with humorous action and musicality of the highest quality.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Humor first&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From Pusa went on stage was the humor and punkpop the animal purchased ticket. Lead singer Chris Ballew worked as an lalleglad idiot, and the band's two other members were velspillende and big smile. The two musical street intersection, guitbassen and bassitaren was with surprises galore net in the circus, there a half hour gøglede and played the audience in an extremely game shape. The whole line was wrapped in joy, scream and yell. Minus pie, but plus beer, reminding it of a mature version of a børnefødselsdag that had been closed in for. And clowns, it was Pusa.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From the set the first number "Old Man" had been singing in Odense. From the second number "Kitty" Pusa members jumped around on stage. From the third number "Rot in the Sun" so that neither the audience or the band back. There was hoppet, sung and Headbanger. It is partly because the band is a study in self-confidence and hard work. Or least obvious talent.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A fable-like freak show&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It was bizarre. Chaotic. Game. As when lead singer Chris Ballew was stooping with his microphone stand over his back and sang. As he stuck the microphone out to a casual audience which was allowed to sing an entire verse - which coincidentally sang well. Or when he suddenly pulled two "clones" up on stage, which was identical to him from his bald crown to toe. As when he and Andrew McKeag synchronously whos millwheel The proposed motion on the guitar. As when the equally synchronously kosakdans danced while they played solo. Or, as when Andrew McKeag played slide guitar with his empty beer bottles.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The many strange actions were purely in with the audience, which was greeted turn up, to see the now small hesitated hitmagere. Especially the front of the House jumped the people constantly, and sang at almost all of the claimed numbers. Up front was crowd surfed, and one was even so brave to run up on stage and plunge over the remaining quantity. Chris Ballew smiled at the man and asked, "Do you think they are gonna catch you?". The band's biggest hit, "Lump," was the evening's best number, but the whole set smelt return of joy from the audience side.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Pusa was a freak show with a superior delivery of the newest and old numbers. Sound has not changed significantly since their debut album in the mid-nineties, and it made the concert a bit trivial. But it is the only one who is to blame a gusto band that plays music better than most.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; - Andrew</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/04/02/fzQTNK-J/odense-show-review-via-google-translator</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:13:53 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>t_73crwGf5</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>SUPER FUN TIMES ROCK AND ROLL WITH SNOTTY HEAD</title>
      <description>greetings from the land of the north! we are in Norway and traveling to the third show of three here...the tour has been a real treat so far...we started strong and stayed musical and rokin all the live long day...one highlight was in Odense in Denmark there were two guys right up front that looked EXACTLY like me...I brought them up on stage as my “clones” that I made to keep me company in my old age during the Back Porch story time breakdown part...they were amazing...dancin and goofin...there was a big snowstorm in Norway so instead of driving from gig to gig here we are flying so lots of airports which is where I am now...thats ok...anything for the rok! now I have a snotty head and it hurts real bad like...but somehow I am pulling it together for the shows...I made the set list so that I can sing the songs a little easier and it seems to be working...as a result the set is a little more groovy and relaxed and I like that noise...Amsterdam was fun as usual of course with jumpy people and super nice sunny days off wandering with Kate finding amazing food and old antique toys and folk art to gape at and photograph....look at them below!.... ok better go drink my 4,289th glass of water for the day...gonna get better for Moscow! bye bye...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24wo_f-8h_" title="http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/corocker/?action=view&amp;current=ballew1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/corocker/ballew1.jpg" alt="Photobucket"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24wo_g-8h_" title="http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/corocker/?action=view&amp;current=ballew2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/corocker/ballew2.jpg" alt="Photobucket"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; - Chris</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/29/C7MJsFqZ/super-fun-times-rock-and-roll-with-snotty-head</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:39:51 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>EIMFRB0QvG</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Its cold in Norway... who knew???</title>
      <description>Well, I suppose I did! But it was a bit of a surprise to wake up to a bunch of snow this morning in Oslo... especially because I'd gone to be early &amp; hoped to go for a run today (Jason ain't the only one that goes fer a jog, though he's WAY better than I am about actually doing it regularly &amp; can run much further)! I suppose I could have anyway, but I let the snow keep me in &amp; I went back to sleep for a little while before heading out into the slushy streets for coffee, etc. We arrived here yesterday to a cold dry day... just in time for an appearance on TV2 where we rok'd "Ladybug" and "Dune Buggy"... very mellow scene for a TV show &amp; everyone was real nice. Thanks for the Subway sandwiches too! You can find the clip here:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24qeK9Cxg_" title="http://webtv.tv2.no/webtv/sumo/?progId=294505"&gt;TV 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;However... it takes FOREVER to download, so crack a beer &amp; get comfortable while you wait. We arrive towards the end of the program, so once it downloads... skip ahead unless you speak Norwegian! &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I'm off to soundcheck now. BTW... we're having lots of fun on this trip... big thanks to our crew- Toad, John and Lee and huge thanks to all our diehard fans, new &amp; old, for supporting this silly ol' rock band. You keep on coming out &amp; rok'in... we'll do the same!</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/27/rnJ26UfM/its-cold-in-norway-who-knew</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:31:18 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>VU8NvyILu9</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Hamburg/My twitter fascination may be unhealthy</title>
      <description>I've been a twitter user for a couple of months, getting in on the front edge of this huge user spike they are having.  Their usership has gone from around a million late last year, to between 8 million and a &lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;zillion&lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, depending on which tech blog you are quoting. Yeah, me and the tech blogs.  Sure.  I'm not even sure 'tech blog' is a real term.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Anyway, I enjoy it.  But here's where I may have crossed a line: Last night in Hamburg, in the middle of a &lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;blazing&lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt; show, I tweeted DURING a song.  Ok, it was in the middle breakdown of our tune Backporch, which live has CB improving a little story, or rapping, or starting 'dueling banjos', or whatnot.  I always go pretty 'small' with the beat there to give him space to let his freak flag fly, and went down to kick and hihat with my feet, so I could pull out my iphone.  I will say that the 'timekeeping' element  of my accompaniment was not good.  Apparently texting makes you speed up.  Who knew?  Anyways, I &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24ml_o6ng_" title="http://twitter.com/Jasonfinn/status/1377937723"&gt;got the sucker off&lt;/a&gt;, with pic even, just in time to come back in for the end of the tune.  Is that so wrong? &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;IS IT? &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Might be. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let's see....what else....killer show!  I know I say that all the time, but we feel like we may be turning a corner in Germany.  Who knows if it applies in the big picture, but it's historically a weaker territory for us, and it would be nice if we were 'moving the ball' here. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Off to Denmark! &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;- J</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/24/-l4FQ25g/hamburgmy-twitter-fascination-may-be-unhealthy</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:26:58 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>niPSDvdb_Q</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Amsterdamusing pt. 1</title>
      <description>First off:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;THANK YOU Amsterdamianites for TWO super cool gigs.  CB was speaking for all three of us when he said we think of your town and Paradiso as our European home.  We did a decent job I thought of mixing up the setlist night to night (we rarely play 2 night stands).  That's despite handing over the setlist duties on Night 2 to Mr. TIMMY DUB, who many of you will know from our Forums (Hey, did you know our &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24uwH0fkg_" title="http://www.presidentsrock.com/pusaforum/"&gt;FORUMS ARE BACK&lt;/a&gt;?).  Timmy might have more PUSA shows under his belt than anyone other than Stef, who lives in Seattle, and should probably be penalized in some way for that.  SOO....when CB ran into Tim at the chippy late after the 1st gig, it seemed like the thing to do.  Good job TD!  He is also a fan of the NFL, and Tampa Bay Bucs in particular...which is a rarity for English Lads.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;onward:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I managed a nice little run this morning, which can be viewed on ultra-dork site &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24NfG1fkg_" title="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/netherlands/amsterdam/512123772591852133"&gt;mapmyrun&lt;/a&gt;.  Just shy of 8 miles, which while not taking the place of the 12 milers I should be doing twice a week, is still pretty good for Rock and Roll Tour Running.  I always get a little nervous at the start of a run in a foreign city, because I have literally NO sense of direction.  I get around Seattle and other familiar places by brute memorization.   So, there's always the thought that (years from now) a dog, momentarily off it's leash will come bounding back out of some thicket to it's owner gripping my sun-bleached tibia bone in its jaws.  Thereby solving the Mysterious Disappearance of Jason Finn from (some town) Way Back in '09.  A much shorter version of that paragraph is on my &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24ml_2fkg_" title="http://twitter.com/jasonfinn"&gt;twitter feed&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let's see....Andrew and I are going to take the train to Hamburg tomorrow, so we can stay tonight in the AMAZING American Hotel.  I will be enjoying about 1/2  a bottle of beguiling Californian Pinot whilst reading in bed.  Now that is a very rare and very glorious night off.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;This cafe (where I am piggy-backing on the next-door Paradiso's open wifi network) is closing, so it's off to dinner and sleepy village for me.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rock on!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;J</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/23/zBow1yGs/amsterdamusing-pt-1</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:20:58 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>59qWxarofF</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>ABOUT TO GO ON IN AMSTERDAM AND FEELING FREE!!</title>
      <description>We are in the belly of the Paradiso and Jason just got back from a little run...he is sweaty and growling all over the pace...like a little drummer bear...I am getting scared of him...he is still growling....I should put a bow-tie on him and make him join the circus...he is like a market research bear...Im gonna put him in his cage now....ok...there he is....oh now Andrew is back...he went for a walk with our sound guy and he is having a little nog before the show...nog? no he is having chips....jason is growling in his cage and we are still scared...I ate noodle soup for dinner and I am feeling buzzy from it...andrew is still eating a pile of chips and drinking nog...nog? So now its time to warm up the voice...no jet lag this time...went to bed earlier and earlier back in the states to get ready and that werked like a charmey...ok...more in a few...oh and new song up on &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24zDH7ckg_" title="http://babypantsmusic.com/"&gt;babypantsmusic.com&lt;/a&gt;...my daughter and I wrote a song about our favorite pie company in Seattle! wee...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;-Chris&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/23/DwobfqPp/about-to-go-on-in-amsterdam-and-feeling-free</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:05:12 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>6BLke126sE</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Europe, what do you request?</title>
      <description>Hey Continental (and UK) PUSA people....&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let's try some of this 'tech' crap out...anybody using Twitter?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;if you're coming to one of these gigs: find me on the &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24ml_cbYg_" title="http://twitter.com/jasonfinn"&gt;twitter&lt;/a&gt; and follow.  Then, when I send out the call for requests for the show in question (probably morning of, or night before), send 'em in, tagged #PUSArequests.  We'll see if this works.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;If you're not on twitter, it takes about 4 seconds to get signed up.  Personally, I'm totally hooked on it....so if it ends up being a problem for you, you're welcome. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I'll try to get 'em in.....Hint:  we are probably already planning on playing Peaches. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;J</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/19/6TKSGUnr/europe-what-do-you-request</link>
      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:29:51 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>C4FSvqf2FL</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>PUSA 20% off everything sale!</title>
      <description>HELLO MUSIC FANS...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Its chris ballew from the PUSA calling...to tell you...that... WE HAVE GONE INSANE AND ARE SLASHING PRICES...!!!  thats right...totally nutz...  from RIGHT NOW until MARCH 14TH everything..thats EVERYTHING...in the store is 20% off!!  you heard me...you can stop crying for joy now...  just go get that hard to find t-shirt or that little CD (my new kids CD should be up there any day now...)  Just enter this in the discount code section when you check out: “PUSA20P”:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/24dO55_if_" title="http://www.indiemerchstore.com/thepresidents"&gt;www.indiemerchstore.com/thepresidents&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;my work here is through....&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;i love you all... &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Chris&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/03/02/qCyQs1dt/pusa-20-off-everything-sale</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:54:40 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>fLc7x7zd1d</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>NEW CASPAR BABYPANTS VIDEO UP on CBTV</title>
      <description>just put up a new video on &lt;a href="http://links.imeem.com/14u_C9Nf_" title="http://www.youtube.com/user/casparbabypants"&gt;CASPAR BABYPANTS TV&lt;/a&gt; for the CB version of Monkey River! It stars my little daughter running all over the zoo in a daring disguise! check it out! EXCLAMATION POINT!!!! wee.</description>
      <dc:creator>The Presidents of the United States of America</dc:creator>
      <category>blog</category>
      <link>http://www.imeem.com/pusa/blogs/2009/02/23/tQaE4y9f/new-caspar-babypants-video-up-on-cbtv</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:59:08 -0000</pubDate>
      <guid>oguG_OHsLF</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>