See No Evil Book and Gorilla Biscuits Show

After seeing the movie Syriana I was inspired to pick up a book called See No Evil by Robert Baer. For 20 years Baer was a CIA case manager in the middle east. He wrote this book and the movie was based on some of his experiences. I really enjoyed the book. Sometimes it got a little confusing with all the middle eastern names, terrorist organizations, etc. But the subject matter was really fascinating. It really gave me a whole new view on terrorism, oil, etc. It also confirmed a lot of what I already know to be true. And of course, the spy stuff was awesome! Ha. Anyway, if you are at all interested in the state of the world and what’s going on this is a good book and read to get your feet wet. And hey, it’s August 2006 and I finally finished reading a book this year!

Last night I had the pleasure of catching Comeback Kid and the temporarily re-united Gorilla Biscuits at Rocketown here in Nashville. I was really impressed with Comeback Kid. They put on a great show, were really tight and wound the crowd way up. One bummer was that GB’s set change took FOREVER. Come on, you don’t need to take 45 minutes to tape down set lists, etc. To add to the anti-climax was the fact that the opening audio of trumpets that they use was not working. But once they got going, Gorilla Biscuits put on a great show. I’ve seen Walter (guitar) play with Quicksand and Rival Schools. But never with GB’s. So I guess last night it all came full circle. Civ did good keeping things going and provided some great stage banter. I was especially impressed with their drummer, Luke. He was like a machine up there playing SO fast. Picked up a cool shirt for only $12. And I managed to not get kicked in the face or otherwise mangled. The biggest wonder of all, however, came in the form of an actual circle pit. The first time I actually saw one in Nashville and at any show in a good long while. That was refreshing. Anyway, if you are into old school hardcore and you live in Virginia, Maryland or New York…don’t miss out. Here’s the remaining dates…

August 31 – Richmond, VA – Alley Katz
September 1 – Baltimore, MD – Otto Bar
September 2 – New York, NY – BB Kings
September 3 – New York, NY – CBGB’s

I missed openers Tradition, but also caught Righteous Jams from Boston. Not into them, at all. Boring. And their singer was wearing an Abercrombie t-shirt and Nike’s. Yuck. Sorry guys.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

You are probably wondering what the heck happened to the blog / website the last 24-72 hours. Well, I changed back to iambillpower.com as my main domain with iambillpower.org pointing to it. Every time I change something the fine folks at Earthlink.net always see fit to screw it up somehow. Anyway, you can’t even read this post right now but you will be able to in a few days. So I’ll keep posting so you have something to read when it all comes back up. Since I was down I thought I’d take this opportunity to tweak the design once again. It’s fall and the Irish look was nice for the summer, but it was time for a change. I’m not going to ask if you like it. The last time I asked people complained and said they didn’t like it. I like it and it’s my site. Deal with it.

The new Channels CD, “Waiting For The Next End Of The World” came out today. It’s the latest dish from Jawbox/Burning Airlines guy J. Robbins. Could be a good time. You never know.

I’m damn excited for the Gorilla Biscuits show tomorrow night here in Nashville. Are you going? You should be!

A Canadian University has an unusual advertising campaign featuring George W Bush. It’s called Yale Shmale. It’s for a school called Lakehead University. Pretty clever.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Ronee and I returned safely home last night about 8:30pm Central Time. When you’ve driven across country a couple times, a 6 hour drive doesn’t seem all that bad. I took a ton of pictures and hope to post some of them this week. It was our first Jewish wedding and I love when they carry the chairs around. Well, I have to get to work. More later…

Where Did You Go Ohio?

Ronee and I are traveling to Ohio this weekend for a wedding. It’s going to be about 6 hours of driving – each way. I hate weddings, but the groom-to-be is a good dude so we want to be there for him. Yadda yadda yadda. So, that’s going to be it for me for a few days. Have a nice weekend, everybody. Peace…

Sorry Pluto, Congratulations Milwaukee

Photo courtesy of Makeup & Effects Laboratories, Inc.

At first the title of this post was going to be “Sorry Pluto, Sorry Milwaukee”, but when I thought about it Milwaukee is probably the kind of place that would be might proud about being designated as America’s Drunkest City. So, congrats to you Milwaukee, you drunk bastards.

What did Pluto every do to anybody? Pluto was just fine being a planet. Years have gone by. Can’t you just leave Pluto be? Evidently not. Sucks to be you, Pluto. Astronomer’s everywhere are pissed!

Run for the hills, people! Batteries are on the loose in your town! It’s a frightening, ever deepening BATTERY CRISIS!!!!! EGADS!!!! Jihadist suicider batteries are blowing themselves up everywhere. No lap is safe! Agggghhhhhhh.

I saw an ad for a CD in the recent issue of Alternative Press. It was for a punk band called “Much The Same” on Nitro Records. (Checked them out on iTunes. Pretty cool incidentally.) Here’s what the press quote said…“Survive is sure to be a hit with punk fans across the board, from skaters to bloggers and anyone in between.” Evidently a “blogger” is now a type of “punk fan”. Weird with a capital W is what I say that is. Do you journalists even think about what the heck you’re writing? Because that makes no damn sense.

All you damn scene kids can stop the rumor mill now. Underoath is a) not breaking up b) not kicking anybody out c) did not quit the Warped Tour because of Fat Mike. In fact, they are getting ready to tour Canada and most of the rest of the world followed by a US headlining tour. Seriously. You can check it out for yourself at the Underoath MySpace page.

It’s your new favorite record label, Shit Sandwich Records, your new favorite blog, LifeIsAShitSandwich.com and finally from our friends in the UK just a plain old fashioned, straight up Shit Sandich. Enjoy.

Have you seen the neo-Nazi answer to the Olsen Twins (TM) yet? They are called Prussian Blue. Here’s a picture of them in their Hitler happy face t-shirts. Ronee and I saw a bit about them on a ABC News Primetime the other night. You can read their ignorant-tastic fan blog here.

Bob Dylan Thinks Your Band Sucks

In a recent article in Rolling Stone, good old Bob said…

“I don’t know anybody who’s made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really…You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them, there’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like, static.”

Man, if you are Jacob Dylan (The Wallflowers right now that’s gotta hurt.

Dunkin' Donuts, Here I Come

That’s right, today is the day that Dunkin’ Donuts returns to middle Tennessee with the grand opening of their new store in Franklin, Tennessee. Yes! God bless you, Joe Rando!