The week leading up to the Portugal/Spain trip was hectic, to say the least. Not only was I doing demos and writing songs at a frantic pace, I was moving all my things into the new place. indoing that I lost some things and some of those things would prove fatal to the health of my computer. Let me explain: I had a Dell PC CARD in my Toshiba Laptop that could accommodate either DSL or Dial-Up. At Alia’s house, I used the dial up but now, in the new place, I had a choice of either DSL or Wi-Fi. I should have played it safe and gone with the DSL, even if it meant using an extraordinarily long DSL cable. But i went ahead and bought the Wi-Fi software and tried to install it. Yes, tried to install it ONLY TO FIND OUT MY I.E. 5.0 was insufficient; i’d hafta download 6.0 instead. Which i did. But i forgot to actually install it and tried to install the Linksys Wi-Fi again and fried the F*cker. Lucky for me, the New Guy is not only a totally sweet and wonderful friend, he’s also a real Computer Genuis, in addition to being a complete Live CD collecting maniac. So he spents hours and hours and re-installed the Windows 98 SE and then we tried to do this Wi-Fi crap again. But here was the problem: The 6.0 can only be installed thru the actually online download which meant that my PC CARD had to be reloaded. Except for this; i couldn’t find the original software. SO I went to ‘Jazmaan’s’ house, which is only about 6 blocks from my new place (he used to live across the street), and we downloaded the Dell software so i could get online to download the Wi-Fi crap, ok? WELL…he did the download but my computer would only recognize his downloaded Dell software (which was a HUGE file) as small, 42k audio tracks. Yep, we were f*cked alright. Or rather, I was. So Jazmaan suggested I ran down to the Blockbuster on Lincoln and Ocean Park and get a free AOL install Cd, which comes with (or so he thought) I.E. 6.0. We installed that and guess what? It came with I.E.5.0, whcih i already had. Fed up, I packed my stuff up and listened to some tracks his some, Dexter, had done with his band on Cubase. The tune was instrumental but I could tell it was a good song, melodically speaking. it was interesting. it sounded a bit like Oasis, which i mentoioned and Jazmaan said that was their favorite band. He asked if i’d have a crack at mixing it a bit, just EQ’ing some things. I listened to the mix and it wasn’t very interesting. it DID need some help. I didn’t know if I could help but i gave it a shot. This, of course, was Tuesday, from about 7pm to about 10pm. I did some mixing for about an hour and we both thought it sounded great. I grabbed stuff, thanked Jazmaan and walked 5 blocks to the Bitter Redhead. The SPOILERS were already kicking some ass and I spotted some old mates i hadn’t seen in a while, like my old pal Willie Aron, who was now working on cartoon projects with Van Dyke Parks! Good on him, I thought. I walked over to the other end of the bar and Lee Ann instinctively handed me a pint of Stone Ale (eat your heart out, London! Stone Ale kicks but..AND it’s from San Diego!!!) and then I chilled and chatted with Peter Squeezebox, Rusty’s older brother. We talked about the impending tour and also the holiday Rusty and i were gonna take afterwards with Daddyo and our girlfriends, Hannah and Lucy (Chapple had to fly to Italy with his wife afterwards and Daddyo’s wife, Traci, couldn’t make the trip).The next day I dropped my computer off with Mrs. New Guy to give Mr. New Guy and then got my stuff together to fly to Portugal. Now, quite a bit has been written about this trip. Let me say that this trip entailed quite a bit of flying and jetlag and what not. It’s unfortunate it didn’t turnout as well as it could have. However, I have been personally assured that nothing like that will ever happen again. Let’s hope so. And move on. So, let’s jump to the after show schmoozing, which had LOVE and Teenage Fanclub having dinner together backstage and chatting as well as the brian Wilson guys trying to scam viddles off our plates. Walked out to the festival grounds and there were thousands of happy drunk Spaniards thanking us and asking for autographs. It was like a crash landing with some casualties but still we were able to walk away with our lives. Later on alot of bands were back at the hotel (we had Spiritualized and god knows who else at our hotel. Jason Peirce came up to me and Rusty and said that he thought were really do a great job and thanked us) and so Hannah and I were drinking with some people and then, knowing we’d have to take trains and stuff to Gandia the next day we hit the hay, happy, drunk and full of bliss…The next morning we got our bags and guitars and took a hotel shuttle bus to the train station and caught a 2pm train from Valencia to Gandia, which took nearly 1 hour. Then we sat and had cervesas and baccadillos at a station taverna. 40 minutes later, we taxi’d to the beachside city of gandia (10 min drive from station) where we were met by Eileen, our British friend who managed property in Spain. But there were now 7 of us; Kose and Troels also had decided to stay on and had changed their air tix. Also, Eric and caroline (from the Ensemble) were also on holiday nearby. Our place was first class. 3 bedrooms, kitchen, huge living room/dining, wonderful view, great aircondidtioning, washing machine and all the kitchen amenities. also 2 bathrooms and a shower. and it was dirt cheap, at about 11 quid a day per person. So we basically spent the the next 5 days drinking, eating, swimming and playing poker. Our pals, Ringo and Toni Harrison were round the first night and after that, each night, we played poker and drank wine and cervesas. Hannah and I had a total blast, as did the rest of the gang.

Got back to LA late friday night and Rusty and I made a bee-line to Gilberts for Tacos and Enchiladas and margharitas. The next morning I had to swing by my Mums to pick up Julian (my younger brother AJ, the practical joker, gave me a tee shirt that read: I’M BIG IN EUROPE) and bring him back over here. But then later in the day he got a bit sick and started getting a fever. The New Guy dropped off my computer and it was working and everything but wouldn’t connect to the internet, which, supposedly, is a small but solvable problem, as the computer may be reading the wrong program. So I was given an 800 number to call and have them walk me thru. But, it turns out it doesn’t work on the weekends. And so i was stuck still with no computer. I managed to use Rusty’s for a few minutes to send a few emails. But even as I type this, and it’s monday morning, Julian still has his fever again (it came and went several times) and i still haven’t called the company. Hopefull, a LOVE newsletter will arrive soon with adoquate news about what’s on the horizon for the LOVE boys and for those of you who purchased BARSTOOL BLUES thank you, and if the shipping has taken longer than you expected, PLEASE accept my apologies. i PROMISE to make it up to you. Also, I haven’t a clue about the message board on the LOVE site. However, since you all are the FANS and it’s YOUR BOARD, i suggest someone email management and offer to run the thing, since it is always outdated and generally in need of help. As for the band, we are continueing our writing new material, which i believe to be as good or better than anything post 1969, LOVE-wise. I stand by that especially if we are allowed to make the record I know we can. So look out, folks. Very soon, love will be back in your hearts…or maybe we never left? …Hoping to have it all recorded by the end of 2004 and ready for consuption in the spring, God willing. And also, I must get my room in order, as Ms. Hannah visits Los Angeles on the 25th for 2 weeks, which more than thrills me! Cheers, and May all be well. Oh, and a special thanks to the wonderful ensemble, Bjorn, Anna, Ketil, Stefan, Oscar, Caroline, Eric and Malin -My. And also, a big shout out to the best crew on teh planet, Kose and Troels…and the most under-appreciated guy on the team, Manager Glenn Povey…and of course the man who, when spot on, cannot be touched on that stage…

Mike Randle