Thursday, September 28, 2006

Bouncing here and there and everywhere. Or, perhaps, bouncing nowhere at all.

There's something I forgot to mention in the "things I learned on tour" entry and, well, it's not for the feint of heart. In fact, to me, it's downright depressing. It's up there with the end of Anna Karinina or Tess of the D'Ubervilles or the day when they stop making new episodes of the Simpsons. It concerns Gummi Bears.

You know which ones I'm talking about. They're the ones in the smallish green and brown bags with the overalled bear smiling out at you, made, I think, in some Nordic wasteland where the gummi is of a higher quality than here in the Americas. Anyway: they're gone. Somewhere around Texas I got an uncontrollable hankering and began checking every gas station, rest stop, drug store, street vendor, candy pusher, and grocer for those lovable orsine cavity inducers but no---they were nowhere. Have they gone out of business? Has Trolli mounted a hostile takeover? Were a tainted batch linked to a rabies outbreak somewhere in Finland? One thing's for certain: I need some. I'm like a junkie with twenty bucks and no dealer, wandering around Central Park at three in the morning, my man-mascara running from hours of fiending and weeping. Like Patrick Henry probably said at some point, "Give me gummi or give me death."

So, it's Thursday. Tomorrow, us, Two Seconds, and Division Day (to whose recent list of problems and worries you may add broken glasses and broken transmissions) will be playing Slim's. It starts at 9ish but get there early to lend an ear to everyone. We were allowed to choose the bill ourselves and chose, I think, rather wisely. Today we get to have our first practice in months, which will hopefully be filled with random, Widespread Panic jamouts I'd be embarrassed to hear tomorrow but which are incredibly fun when you're knee-deep in them. And, of course, new songs. I miss working on those. But we're giddy about it. Which, I'd say, is a good sign. I spent a month and a half playing music with the same three guys and I'm really excited to do it again today. And tomorrow. And until I've lost most of hearing and/or teeth. Hope to see your smiling faces in attendance. And, hey, I'll be at the Silversun show tonight too. I bet someone is double dipping. I know at least one person for certain.

Now, a poppyseed bagel awaits. Until we meet again which, now that I don't live in a van, will be very soon, goodbye for now.

12 comments:

Sabrina said...

Are you talking about Black Forest Gummi Bears.I don't think the bear has on overalls? & I'm sure they still sell them somewhere. 1 more day til Slim's

Anonymous said...

If it's the Haribo Gummy Bears you want, we have those german delights in abundance here in Scandinavia, I'd be glad to send you a shipment on a regular basis.

MPWayout said...

Oh...Haribo still exists and Black Forest, I've managed to sell many a gummy at my store today, too bad it's in Boston. Gummies go gooey in the heat maybe that's why you haven't been able to find them. I'm sure you could totally score some on-line.

Anonymous said...

I got 'Cause You Can as part of a free 25-song sampler from iTunes, and I LOVE it. And you have cute shirts for girls! That's rare in bands... haha. Well just wanted to say I think your music is great... and the fact that you're from SF is awesome too :)

birdmonster said...

Haribo's the treats I was after. It's good to know they exist somewhere, even if that somewhere is in Germany or Boston (but not everywhere in Boston because I checked at least one gas station). When without a good gummi I find that Cheezits cure what ails me. In fact, on my dessert island, it's Cheezits & coffee every morning, until you turn into some twitching orange humanoid.

Thanks one and all.

Anon: Good to hear. I promise live it's far niftier. You should come visit and throw produce.

Anonymous said...

I think I know the gummy bears you're talking about, the ones that only came in the brown and green package about the size of an index card, with someone resembling Smokey the Bear without the hat on the outside. I don't think they're Haribo or Black Forest, but I can't remember what brand it was. I suspect they may have been linked to Disney's Gummi Bear cartoon of our youth, and so might no longer be available. I'll keep an eye out, though...they were the best.

Incidentally, I learned in my internet research that gummy bear breast implants have been on the market since 2005. I've always been opposed to the idea, myself, but man, that's tempting... Could you eat your boobs?

Anonymous said...

ok i know i said this to all of u like 400 times but seriously i cant resist saying it again.

show last night...AMAZINGLY AMAZING+AWESOMELY AWESOME+llike the best ever.


o ya and tell zach the verdict is dad says show kicked ass (he then coughed and pretended he didnt say ass and corected it with butt) and my mom was like "wow that was way better than expected" (i supose that wouldnt mean much seeing as the last concert we dragged her to was tool...) but this morning she was like wow birdmonster was really fun and good.

o and my sister said that u guys were awesome too and she enjoyed the show. i supose she now respects my music taste a bit more but ya.

ok i have to stop babbling now im like in an oober weird mood cuz im still extremely hyper and didnt sleep at all last night cuz or the awesomeness...or just cuz im extremely weird. but ok

Anonymous said...

I think that the gummi bears you were actually after were heide's. haribo is a plain gold bag with a bear wearing a red tie. Heide's are brown and green with a smiling overall bear on the front.

birdmonster said...

Anon: Yes. Yes. That's it. Why would you stay anonymous when said information has made me the happiest man this side of...not having gummi bears? You rule. The internet wins again.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I think I can help here. The problem is 2 fold. Let me explain. The package you are talking about....originally those gummy bears we loved, yes they were Black Forest.....that bag design in now used by Heide gummies. Black Forest then used the similar bags they used today... But that was one of the confusions you have. The big let down my friend, is Black Forest in the last few years has changed their gummy formula with "real fruit juiice" if you noticed! OMG, that killed the whole yumminess of the their gummies. Very sad. They were the best. Ironically, some of the flavors that Black Forest had originally, Heide is using a very similar flavors/taste, not 100% but close. So I buy Heide now. Too bad Black Forest sold out :(

Unknown said...

My family grew up on Heide's gummy bears. They are yummy. My brother swears by it. We've never heard of Haribo until a few years ago.

You might be able to find Heide at a Costco that caters to Businesses. As long as you have a Costco membership, you can enter the store and hunt them down. That's what my brother did. He's super happy about them.

I'm reading up about gummy bears and am sadden that I can't find much about the Heidi brand. Your blog was one of the first to pop up on the searches. Thanks for sharing your need for Heidi's. That smiling bear in blue overalls will always be in my mind. :]

Unknown said...

You can also try Sam's Club. They have it listed on their website. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/heide-gummi-bears-36-count/160867.ip