Howdy To All, I have a lot to talk about, as usual. But, I left my laptop in a hotel and I just got it back. Thank you oh mighty one. Change is one of the only absolutes in this life (the other is a vodka). People change. Circumstances change. Our world constantly changes. That's life. It's not always easy. Things are different for me now than they were just a couple of years ago. One thing that is a little difficult for me now is this -- more people that I know or meet have this perception that I'm successful.  That's O.K. I can't complain. In some ways, I feel successful. But, I felt successful back when I had different players and we just played in Texas and Oklahoma. Anyway, the problem is that I meet a lot of people who, though they are nice as pie, eventually each one of them gets around to something they want. They want to be my drummer. They want to open up for us. They want a job, or they want me to find them a job. They want to video tape the show. They want to get their bands demo CD to someone at my label. They want them and ten friends on the guest list. They want to borrow a guitar until they get theirs out of hock. I really try to do my best to help as many people as I can, and, I'm happy to do so. And, I will continue to do so.  That's part of life. And, that goes with my job. But, every person? I mean, I talk to a lot of people. About ninety-five percent of everyone I talk to now eventually gets around to asking me to do something for them within about thirty seconds of the beginning of our conversation. The other five percent usually wait one minute. Ha Ha. But, that's just the way it is and I'm O.K. with it. I don't think that I could handle fame very well. I mean, someone like Harrison Ford can't really go out and hang out with his buddies without causing a big stir. I can go anywhere and nobody looks at me twice. If someone does recognize me, I'm flattered, and, I usually make a new friend. Really, about the only time that I have to deal with the "Harrison Ford Effect" is when I go to see a band. I used to love to go see bands play. I still do. But, now I have to deal with something. I can't listen to live bands because I'm spending all of my time listening to some guy "talk" about his band. If I have to go to the bathroom, there's some other guy who will follow me in there, talking about his band the whole time, thinking that by talking my ear off, I probably won't notice him looking down to get a peek at Mr. Friendly. I've had people follow me into the bathroom with video cameras too. Sometimes, I don't mind the video people, because, as long as they have that damn video camera on, they won't stop to ask me if they can be my roadie. But, seriously, this is part of any band's policy -- no video cameras allowed, no audio recorders allowed and photographers must have permission from the band. Right before I left for this tour I received a bootleg video of Reverend Horton Heat. It was manufactured in Italy where video copying is legal. It was from a show we did in Houston back when Taz was in the band. I remember the gig. The photo on front was done at the same time in Houston. I remember how nice the photographer guy was. He told us it was just for his local fanzine. I remember the guy with the video camera at the gig. We told him it was O.K. and he assured us that the tape he was making was just for his personal use. YEAH RIGHT! Now it's twenty bucks on E-Bay. A bootleg CD of a show we did in Florida came out just in time to circumvent sales of our new (at the time) CD. It was manufactured in Italy as well. I know, I know. The Grateful Dead let anyone tape them and distribute it to their friends. In fact, they encouraged this behavior. But, The Grateful Dead have been rich guys since the sixties. Just about every show we do, there is someone who wants to video the show. And, they all say the same thing. They say, "This video is just for my personal enjoyment, I would never try to sell it or give it to anyone." That's what Tommy Lee and Pamela said. Those guys who video taped us in Houston have probably made more money than Jimbo did on that whole weeks worth of gigs. When you know, like I do, all of the struggles that Jimbo has had to put up with to be where he is today, and, some little thieves with video cameras made a lot more money than he did on that Houston gig, it makes me mad. Don't screw with Jimbo or you're going to make me mad. Seriously, what really bugs me about these video/audio recordists is that they want something for nothing. Even if it is for their own personal use it's them getting something for nothing. Hey, would you walk up to me and say, "Give me a free, one-of-a-kind video or else you're a jerk!" Well, now that I think about it, people will try that too! And it's funny how when we tell people that they can't video us, they all act like I've changed into some kind of asshole rock star who's too big for my britches. But, in reality, it's them who've changed. They used to just let me hang around and be myself. Now, they have a video camera on me the whole time. Not just the gig either. Even in the bathroom! Is it that hard for people to see that at some point, this video/audio thing can become an invasion of my privacy? But, you find out eventually who you're real friends are. I am happy that I've got a few good friends who never want anything like that from me. Sure, they need help every now and then like anyone does. And, I'm still happy to help them in any way I can. But, these are all close friends who know me well enough to see just how many people ask me to enable them. I think that if you asked my close friends about me they would all say that I'm far from the rock star thinkabee that some jerky people will say I've become. Still, I'm am grateful for my problems. If you look at some of the other problems that people have in this world, it's easy for anyone to see that I'm lucky. One more thing about friends. They're not as important as family. O.K., we played in Champagne, IL, Lincoln, NE, and Kansas City, MO since I lost, and retrieved, my computer. It's been fun so far. I'm still getting used to my White Falcon guitar, but, I'm making headway. I have not been able to do as many meet and greets as I'd have liked. Sheerly aggressive people sometimes ruin it for everybody. I love those nice people who wait around to talk even though I can't talk to them because I'm too occupied listening to the most aggressive jerk in the club. Because of those nice people, sometimes I have to get mean. And, I can get mean if I have to. We're in Lawrence, KS tonight. The Bottleneck. This was one of our first places we played north of Oklahoma. We still love it. It one of the must-play places for bands traveling across the country. Thanks to Brett for the gigs.  Oh yeah, last night I ran into Roger Nabor at our gig in KC. Actually, he was one of the promoters. Roger is a person who has done so much for blues, rock-a-billy and American roots music. He runs a club called The Grand Emporium in Kansas City. It's a place that has done well by promoting musical artists who, at various points in time, have had a hard time finding gigs in a lot of places. Let's face it, the Blues doesn't have a lot of venues, but, The Emporium has been a constant for years. Thanks to Roger for the gigs he gave us. And thanks to Roger for helping keep the blues alive. Well, that's it for now. Thanks to all of our wonderful fans who've made this tour enjoyable. Until Whenever, Jim "The Reverend Horton" Heath