News Nuglets

-- Obama claims troops are out by 2010.  which means at best, they start by 10, and it actually says that even the reserves are pulled by the end of 2011.  i guess we'll need them here for the end of the world in 2012.

-- Coen bros make a commercial in an snl manner to bust big coals chops:

-- octopus causes worst news story presented by cnn ever.  I cannot believe how bad this is.  Its the reason that local news is always a source of entertainment.  I feel like they just made this bad on purpose.  Does anyone else get what im sayin here?  On a lighter note, I ate octopus in Greece.  My friend Mano kept calling it "octopussy".  "Do you like the octopussy?",  "ask you friend is she likes the octopussy."

--this is a great link to some british weird news show connected with the bbc.  its called oddbox.  and on this little 5 minute episode, you get an 82 year old metalhead, a game called cornish hurling where the whole town just beats the hell out of each other for a ball, battle of the oranges, which is sort of like it sounds, and all kinds of other weird rad newsbits.  enjoy.

California bill seeks to legalize and tax marijuana

this is the biggest foray into marijuana legalization i've ever seen. Sure there's places just like california where you can smoke and its basically decriminalized... Denver, parts and parts of alaska come to mind... But there are many bills like this that haven't gotten nearly as much attention in the past few years, in weird places like North & South Dakota, and other farm states, that HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN that all you'd have to do to generate a shitload of revenue was to tax weed.

Awesome Band Alert #2

hello, and welcome to another addition of Awesome Band Alert. Today's band's are not new bands, but they are exciting and refreshing nonetheless. I feel that you guys who have not heard about them will be psyched to check them out. These are all bands from the triangle area of North Carolina which consists of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.  Let's get started.  band#1- the first two bands that we'll discuss played a killer house party (which are very rare in these parts these days) in Raleigh this weekend.  the first one ill talk about is Double Negative. (actually the first band that played was called Whatever Brains, but I missed them.)  So, Double Negative are no bullshit hardcore band that kill it.  Need more info?  how about a video showing them jam?  That should sum it up for you.  Brian Walsby is the drummer and did the art for our Exit Strategy video.  He has a new book (his fourth) coming out on Bifocal Media w/ yet another Melvins "official?" bootleg.

ok. band #2 is the Birds of Avalon.  they are labelmates of ours and put on a hell of a show.  We were all fans of the different bands that they are made up of (Cherry Valence, Dynamite Brothers, Olympus Mons, Pyramid, the Weather, etc.)  and so a few years back, they just started blazing away.  Ive gotten word that they have a new record in the can, and I cant wait to get my filthy paws on a copy.  The new jams and Can cover that they played were awesome @ the party.  This party by the way, was most certainly the perfect example of a how to do up a house party.  You couldn't fit one more person in (even tho they tried).   And there were super young lil dudes just rocking... some so young that they didn't even care about scoring beer, they were just there to party.  That to me, is always a beautiful thing.  It was getting so crazy that the floor was flexing, crackheads were being escorted out to the lawn, and i was starting to get a real "hey now!/old man" type vibe.  Haha.  It was hectic to say the least.  I had beer and confetti (that Craig Tilly- their singer threw out) in my hair, and even the next day some in my bed.

alright, and finally- band #3- Caltrop.  This is one of my favorite bands around right now.  i absolutely love their new album and have been jamming the fucking demos from it since last year.  Jason Lucian Thorr was a drummer in this band in the beginning and will still jam with them from time to time.  Adam Nolton is one of my favorite guitar players in the country and I believe that Sam and him having been writing some amazing licks while this band has been going.  Adam used to have this band called Pegasus while I was living in Chapel Hill about 5 years ago, and I used to love to go get stoned and listen to them jam.  But now, this band is even better, what with Murat from Kerbloki, and other local bands on bass and vocals, and speaking of Sam, I think that with this band, his guitar playing has improved from other bands he's been in, and his goddamn vocals on this are unbelievable.  I feel like this is a weird compliment, but I think the band sounds like Big Business if they wrote Earthless type jams w/ a Hendrix player on guitar and the dude from Soundgarden singing.  In the best way possible.  But they are even better than that, because hendrix didnt have a killer harmony man jamming guitar with him, and theyve got Murat on vox as well as John Crouch on drums.  And that dude is every bit the drummer that Jason was, and is.  Meaning- I hold them both high on my drummer scale.  So yup.  Come out to see them play with us this Sunday @ Tir Na Nog in Raleigh.  Now, all you have to do is check out all these links and you'll become a super genius, like me.

terms of service violation? for jamming funkadelic? wtf??

it has come to my attention that somehow and someway, the nice lady who posted Valient Thorr as Funkadelic has come under fire last week for posting that video and another one that had some band covering Bryan Adams.  And from what i heard, it was Bryan Adams peoples fault.  But the video clearly says that its VT as Funkadelic.  So I don't understand what rules were broken.  Karen Mann, a longtime blogger, has had her youtube account pulled!!  Now, I'm hearing this all secondhand, so I'll get the scoop and post an update.  If its a matter of renaming it and posting it again, well, we'll just see what we can do.  I was under the impression that there was footie of the whole shebang, not just the first few jams.  Cause believe me, once we started getting down, it just kept getting better as it rolled along.  I don't see what all the hub bub is in the first place.  I'm sure someone will feel the need to tell me.  But, c'mon?!?!  What about all the tribute bands and cover groups the world over.  This was a one time event for charity, not us fronting like we Appetite for Destruction or Baaad, or some other band who makes a ton of bread impersonating groups for a living.  what a load of shit.  george clinton, say it ain't so!  more soon...

The Kid from Deliverance has a possum

last time we were in san diego, i saw this in the office of the casbah on the back of the door with like 15 or so other "andre the giant has a posse" type bootlegs from a few years back.  it made me laugh so hard, i spilled my drink all over the office, and had to go find someone to clean up the mess.  (not that im too good to clean up my own mess, but c'mon, i'm handling business, and playing nice with the folks, i really didn't have time....).  I hope you enjoy it nearly as much as i did.

Valient Thorr on Current TV.

we did this a while back, but i'm really psyched on it.  If you dig it, go here, and register and "up" it.  That way theyll keep playing it, and dudes will find out that we are badass.  haha.  it takes like two seconds.  thanx fer yer support.

WOW! 2 of my favorites, together!!

man, how come no one ever showed me this before!  I can't believe with as much nerding out over both of them over the years as I've done, that I've never seen any of this footage before.  Now, I HAVE heard of the movie (Human Highway) that they did, and i'm pretty sure the footage of "worried man" that I always see is from that, but I never saw this jam w/ DEVO and Neil Young playing "my my hey hey (into the black)."  Its got Mark Motherbaugh singing as Boogie Boy.  What a gem of a find.  Anyone have a whole copy of this flick?  Time to add it to the list.  Check it out.
Neil Young & Devo

best line in a movie EVER.

Awesome Band Alert #1/ Today I am 30.

alahoyus.  Today is my thirtieth earth birthday.  and with that, i have a new little thing i'm going to do whenever i see awesome bands.  I don't know how many of you feel this way, but I see a million bands, and I used to get excited and impressed easily, but somewhere along the line, the quality turned into quantity of actual bands that are out there, and the output turned to shit.  Im rarely blown away, and I thought, well, from now on, when I am, Ill tell the world about it.  So, Ill tell you a little about them, and then you click on the links and check them out.  Simple enough, right?  Ok, here we go.  Awesome Band #1 is called Children.  I saw them the other day in the west side in Manhattan.  I believe they are from nyc as well.  I think we should take them out with us.  Pretty intense ripping stuff.  For fans of Early Man, Saviours, and other badass things.  Looks like they are working on a new record.  Awesome Band #2 is from the same town (Orebro) in Sweden that Witchcraft and Truckfighters and Winchester Widowmakers and about a 100 other awesome bands are from.  They are called Dead Man, and they completely blew me away last night.  Swedish prog/folk played now, that is every bit as ripping as any of the bands that you'd find on an Underground Psych comp.  i bought both of their albums.  One of which isn't available in the US.  i believe their 2nd lp, Euphoria, is available in the states on Metro City (im pretty sure anyway, just check their myspace).  The 3rd Awesome Band for this installment is a band from Iowa called Radio Moscow.  I thought these little dudes were just there to see the show last night, and then after dead man ripped, they got up and started grabbing the instruments and commenced to just killing it.  They were so young, and i was tripping out, b/c i thought somehow since I'd hit 30, that now everyone just seemed young and i was an old man... hahaha, but maybe that was the beers.  These kids were pumping out a Blue Cheer meets Hendrix w/ a heavy dose of British blues.  I had discounted them after hearing one single a while back, but obviously I heard the wrong track.  These dudes are solid.  Check these last two out and about right now.  Do not miss them.  alright.  Party On.

more nyc pics

alahoyus.  here are a few other pics i thought you'd enjoy from nyc.  the one with the clown was on the side of like a shiner's hospital ex-ambulance vehicle that clowns go see sick little kids in, I guess, but check out how sinister the clown looks.  And what kind of hospital lets a evil clown named "BJ" come over?  It just seemed like the dirtiest shit i'd ever seen.  Its no wonder everyone is scared of clowns.  There is no fucking way I'd want this clown coming over to cheer me up.  The graffiti was from Bushwick in Brooklyn.  "DICKCHICKEN" just made me laugh as i was about to get on the subway.  it also snowed like a mother while i was there.  beatuimous.

new york city recap

holy shit.  too much to tell.  But i have to try.  its been a hell of a week.  Last week after we did the benefit show in Raleigh as Funkadelic, Nitewolf and I split up to Jersey in the Cutlass on one hour sleep to see Metallica.  And I'm here to tell you that they rocked.  No bullshit.  They really killed it.  They played a ton of old stuff and a couple tracks from the new album.  I haven't heard it, but it doesn't really matter to me if it sucks or not.  Live, they pulled it off in the same vein as the old stuff, so it had the fast pounding rhythm that made me like them in the first place.  I dont know any of the shit after the black album, so im not sure if they played any of that or not.  I will say that there wasn't a point where i was like, "well, this one sucks."  and thats a good thing.  Thanx to the Sword for the sweet floor tix.  We were right there ten feet from Hetfield and Hammett.  Nuts.  Then around midnight, we went up to go see our buddies in Golden Error play in Brooklyn.  Then they took us over to this spot that we'd play later in the week called the Shank.  Its a new afterhours warehouse party spot in Brooklyn.  We partied there til it wasn't nighttime anymore.  Butts shaking, everyone just rocking out to some 50s and early 60s 45s thrown down by Jonathan Toobin, all night long.  Then, finally- we slept.  Now, i know i was there for like 4 more days between then and our first show, but to tell you the truth, a lot of it kind of blurs together.  I know that it snowed one day really hard, and it layed and was beautiful, and i know later i fell on the ice and got a nasty bruise on my side.  I know that i had many amazing meals, and i know that i spent too much money in many different ways.  I got fucking ripped off getting my alternator fixed, but thats mechanics in manhattan for ya.  I had some killer pizza @ my buddys spot in Brooklyn called Roberta's.  But i'm blanking on most everything else.  So fast forward a bit, and all the dudes are in nyc now and its a bitter BITTER cold day.  Im saying 20 at the highest.  in the teens for sure, and the wind chill coming off the east river was un-fucking-believable.  We manage get over to the event, and all day we are trying to stay warm.  We play (we slay).  Snowboarders fly thru the air.  Some other band plays.  We drink.  a lot.  a whole lot.  Then things are getting crazy.  I played/ talked video games with Spider-Man's girlfriend for a hot second.  But she wasn't there with Spider-man, she was with some dude who looked more like Elongated Man. Food is served.  Pisses are taken behind the tent.  Models are sucking down our rum.  Little kids are being ushered out.  Drunken howls are loosed.  Pants are dropped (not mine).  Tents are cleared.  I snag a pass to take pics at the top of the ramp.  Its so cold that my legs are knotting up @ the top of this 8 story ramp, and i'm hoping that if i fall, i can fall to the right so that i just end up sliding down this enormous fucking thing.  I wander back over to the stage just as things are wrapping up. The snowboarding goes over time.  Anthrax plays 4 songs, and are shut down for time.  BUT- they did get to play "Bring the Noise" with Chuck D from Public Enemy.  That's a highlight.  So then, after another night in the swank Thompson LES hotel they put us up in, we sit around all day (in my car) waiting to play this party.  And we rocked, and then it was time to split.  Debaucherous.  and really, waay to much to actually recap in a few paragraphs.  I know i'll be remembering shit from this trip for weeks.  So so so good to see all of you characters from all the different time streams of my life.

BONUS.  got to stop in DC for a record fair today.

I predict the future- Porn airs during Super Bowl

ok.  here's where i prove my powers.  Last night in tuscon, Arizona, viewers saw 10 seconds of pornography flash on the screen.  This just happens to be the year when everyone has to change their tv to a digital format.  This just happens to be that month.  And so, that means if you don't change your rabbit ears, you won't be able to watch the shows that are on your local stations, after like February 17th...  Ok, who do you think gives the ratings to all those shows that are so popular, but i don't know anyone who watches them, and can't think of how they've been around for so long, like CSI and Law & Order and all their 20 offshoots, or Everyone loves Raymond, or the one with the fat guy who's kind of like Ralph Kramden and he's in a new movie about a mallcop?  I'll tell you who.  Old people.  Older folks who don't give a shit about what they watch, they'll watch whatever's on.  Them, and other people who are too financially burdened to afford cable, and by now could give a shit b/c they've been without it for so long.  They watch those shows.  And a significant portion of these people are gonna be pissed and will not spend money to change it over because of these reasons.  They have been fighting the FCC on this for a while, and now,  I foresee that since this incident happened on a digital format, all the religious right and crazies are going to point and use this as an excuse to say that "satellite pirates are beaming transmissions into our christian homes!"  and through the miracle of this forcing of transition and technology upgrade, more analog pirate stations will arise!  This is a great day for freedom of speech kids!  or maybe i'm just ramblin...

Valient Thorr is Funkadelic

so, the secret it out.  On Friday, for the Raleigh Undercover, Valient Thorr played a set as Funkadelic.  I have to say, it was one of the most fun things we've done in years.  Thanx to all who came out and supported the Beehive Collective Charity Event.  And thanx so much to Craig from Birds of Avalon, and Murat from Caltrop for coming along for the ride.  Ride on.