Spent the day hanging out with our friends’ (Gary & Chiristina’s) cat Mr. Hoovis at their house in Salt Lake City, sun shining through their living room windows as it was a beautiful day in ‘ol Utah. Deceptive, though, as it’s still pretty chilly outside. Gary & Christina had to work all day, but Hoovis is good company. He’s an interesting cat with an interesting story. A couple years ago, Gary & Christina were in the Dominican Republic serving in the Peace Corps and helping a village build a water system. At the time, they owned Mr. Hoovis’s father of a similar name -- which escapes me at the moment. They owned the cat mainly to help ward off rodents and giant spiders in and around the shack where they lived for two years while serving in the DR. One day they came back from working with the villagers on their water system to find out that one of their neighbors had made a meal of their cat -- Mr. Hoovis’s father had been devoured by their neighbor. Rightfully so, Gary & Christina were pretty ticked off and upset at the loss of their feline friend and protector. The villager whom they had gotten their cat from kindly offered up when of their cat’s offspring -- Mr. Hoovis.
Upon completing their Peace Corps mission, Gary & Christina moved back to the States and brought Mr. Hoovis with them. We all quickly noticed that Hoovis wasn’t a normal house cat. He was not fat and happy, he was a lean mean fighting machine. Used to battling rats and tarantulas on a daily basis. He had gnarly claws and was super high strung and aggressive. A feline ninja if you will. Ready to pounce at all times. A hunter. A street fighter. Since moving to SLC, Hoovis has apparently beat up all the other cats in their neighborhood at least once -- to some of their neighbors’ chagrin. Interesting how even pets can reflect cultural differences, eh? Mr. Hoovis has mellowed out considerably though... slowly becoming more and more Americanized. Still brawling every once and awhile with neighbor cats or bringing home a mouse or two a week, but doing a lot more basking in the sun in the comfort of a living room these days as he did with us most of today.
We had a short 45min drive up to Ogden for the show last night. We left with enough time to track down this little local diner called Sill’s Café in Kaysville, UT that we had stumbled upon at the end of our last East Coast tour while desperately seeking somewhere local and unique amidst the muck of chain restaurants and strip malls. Sill’s is amazing. Seeking local places like these never let you down. Great food. Great service. Low prices. And a unique overall experience. Cam and I both had Dale’s Breakfast: 1 egg, 2 strips of bacon, SOS on hash browns and a scone (more like an elephant ear than what most people would refer to as a scone. Similar to Merritt’s Café’s scones to any familiar with that historic Boise diner). Anyhow, epic dinner. Dale’s Breakfast cast us $5. Epic. Breakfast all day is the best!
Show last night was held in the dining hall of the Weber State University Student Union Building in Ogden, UT. It was a benefit concert to raise money to help stop the genocide in Darfur and other places around the world. It was hosted by a WSU student group called Weber State STAND! Great kids. Doing great things on campus, and doing their part in this global struggle. Both in raising awareness and funds for the cause. And throwing fun events like this one. We loved it. Very unique setting and a fun crowd. And we got to play with our buddies the Darlin’ Broads again. Really sweet and unique duo from Huntsville, UT featuring two brothers -- Jackson and Jonah. They play proggy punk folk. Super tight. And super fun. Made some new friends in Ogden band The House Cats, as they got the evening rolling with their politically charged psychedelic rock. The Blood Blisters closed the night out.
Thanks to Cameron, Dave, Skye and all the other Weber State STAND! Folks for having us and for being such an awesome force on the WSU campus. If you’re anywhere near Ogden, their holding a Fashion Show with live music and other festivities in the Grand Ballroom C in the WSU SUB on March 20th to raise even more funds for Save Darfur and other causes. Check it out. Sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.
We’re driving through Wyoming right now on our way to our show in Greeley, CO tonight. Very excited for this one, which is another benefit concert. Gonna be a fun one. Day has been sunny and clear once again. But near Rawlins, WY we once again ran into blowing snow making the road a little sketchy for awhile. Without fail! That area has got to be the worst in the country. Always gnarly and super windy every single time we drive through there.
Below is a picture to prove that Lisa really does drive every once and awhile. In fact, she got the gnarly section today.
Reporting via satellite in transit to Colorado for all of us Finn Rigginses.
::: gilbert
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