New England is COOL!

Hi Friends!
Hope you all had a great weekend and are having a nice time starting a new week! This was a crazy weekend, both on and off tour!

First...OFF TOUR. For those of you playing CATCH UP, read no further...here are some winners and losers from over the weekend:

-The Denver Broncos LOST the AFC Championship game to Pittsburg...sending the Steelers to the Super Bowl. Boo!

-The Seattle Seahawks WON the NFC Championship game over Carolina...sending the Seahawks to their FIRST, ever, Super Bowl. Good work.

-The new "UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION" movie was tops at the box office this weekend, followed by Hoodwinked, Glory Road, Last Holiday and Brokeback Mountain. It took in $27.6 million...which is pretty comparable to our weekly paychecks on tour.

-Many RENT fans died over the weekend...from holding their breathe - thinking that by doing so, the movie would somehow do better at the box office...giving it a boost for Oscar nods.

-Miss Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry, was crowned Miss America 2006 in Las Vegas this weekend...the first time the pageant has been held outside of Atlantic City. Unfortunately, for Miss Berry, she can only wear the tiara and sash and use the wave while she is IN Vegas, because of the legal bind city officials had placed on their travel and tourism slogan, "What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas." Angry Miss America Officials refuse to comment...

-Duke, Florida and Pitt entered the weekend as the 3 remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Men's Basketball. Evidently, no one told them the goal was the END the weekend the same way - and now EVERYONE in college basketball has lost a little something. It's only fair.

-NBC announced that it will cancel 'The West Wing' at the end of this, it's 7th season. Early fans of the series from around the country were heard saying, "Um....it's still ON!?"

Now - ON TOUR news:

So we left New York, sadly, and we headed NORTH - to the magic of New England! Our first stop was Portsmouth, New Hampshire - and even though it was only for a HOT SECOND...24 hours, or a little more...we had a great time! We did one show at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, and had a chance to walk around downtown and do some shopping and eating and what not.
I LOVE PORTSMOUTH! Such a beautiful little town - and you can feel the history in the streets and buildlings and everywhere!

The venue. The PINK venue.

The streets of Portsmouth. It felt very London-esque, to me...and I've never even BEEN to London.

A cool church in the center of town. Don't enlarge the pic - it gets blurry. Sorry.

I am a little angry that we were RIGHT THERE on the Atlantic Ocean and we didn't really go TO the ocean. I mean, I've BEEN to the Atlantic, so it's not THAT big of a deal...but it would've been great to get some pics. Oh well.

We ate here Saturday night. Everyone was happy.

Chris had a beer called SMUTTYNOSE PALE ALE. It made me laugh. Hoops and Yoyo had soda.

Saturday evening, after eating in Portsmouth, we headed Northwest to Burlington, Vermont!
And as we were rolling through town, we all got really excited to be in ANOTHER great little town in the Northeast!

We had ONE show today at the Flynn Center here in Burlington, and before that, most of us did our own exploring around the city. The hotel, venue and city are all an easy walk from each other - so it's nice to have that freedom. I hoofed it around today and shopped down Church Street - ate lunch - and then headed to the theater. Our show went well - had a full house and a very receptive audience.

Looking up Church Street...towards A CHURCH. Geniuses...I'll tell you what....

Hey LOOK! It's the FLYNN CENTER - where we performed!

How can you be sure? Check the MARQUEE and the POSTERS in the window.

Tonight, a group of us did LAUNDRY at a local laundromat...which seemed to be the cast and crew of Willy Wonka and the student body of University of Vermont. Good times.

L: Chris sits, silently reading. R: I try out my UNDERWATER setting on my camera on Elisa. HIGHLY successful, I think.

L: Todd enjoys episodes of LOST on his laptop while his laundry is on the spin cycle. R: Travis, Elisa and Chris smile for the camera!

Jen multi-tasks while on the laundry trip.

And after we got back, I went and met some of the cast at a local restaurant for some dinner. I DO have to let you know that I took some LIBERTIES with one of my blog-features today...and instead of trying the Cheesecake at the restaurant tonight, I tried the apple crisp with Vermont white cheddar cheese on top of it. I KNOW! Crazy, right? Well, check below for the pics and review.

The delicious Apple Crisp with Vermont White Cheddar Cheese. SERIOUSLY - something about the warm apple crisp and the cheese just WORKED! I gave it a solid 9 on the MASE - and Chris Sizemore was there to back me up. It was a pleasant surprise.

And here is where we got this treasure of a dessert....

And that is IT! Tomorrow we have 2 school shows here and then the rest of the day to explore - and we're off to Camden, NJ/Philly on Tuesday. No rest for THIS wicked group! Oh yeah - and it's getting COLD finally....YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Hope you're all well! Let me know who YOU think is going to win the Super Bowl in 2 weeks...in the comments section! This is a scientific poll - and once the results are in, I will announce them.
CHEERS!
G