BSR 08

Have been busy again with local stuff. Worked to death on Friday, survived the BSR, had a large cookout/bonfire on Saturday for the locals, and just did the grocery shopping. Should probably eat soon, I don't think I've had anything except a few salt potatoes since the really bad pizza after the BSR's moved West.

Crisafulli's partically collapsed, making things even more fun. The sidewalk was barricaded off, and seeing how that's where I normally park when I go to the VFW, I had to park infront of Wolf's house. Kids everywhere, always a mess. Could have sold a lot more jello shots than we did. Easily. 500 was not enough.

The entire office decided to take Friday off, so it was me being the only optician for Oswego county for a day. Go me, it really sucked.

BBQ chicken, baked beans, and all the other fixings to feed about 40. Kept me busy, then out came the pyro as all the downed trees went on the bonfire. Was fun, I ended up covered in soot and slightly singed but none the worse. Last people left at about 2am and I crawled into bed.

Feels like it's too soon for the weekend to be over. Worked through another one, ha! That ADD thing doesn't pay off sometimes.

Ended up leaving the 335 & the ibanez in teh car overnight. Oops.

I was gonna say something else I think. Can't remember now.

Stone Gods = British Audioslave?

Srs bznss here for a mo.

Whenever a famous group splits up, acrimoniously or amicably, it's members usually have one hell of a condrummer to face when moving onto their new post-band break-up projects: they have to assert their own musical identity, to a degree where their fans and critics won't accuse them of merely recycling their past; also, to remind aforementioned aficionados and skeptics of how they got to the position of being able to judge their favourite musician's new work in the first place.

The Darkness are a rock and roll cautionary tale, if there were ever was one. It's not entirely surprising that, of the two acts to spawn out of The Darkness' demise, one would fully embrace certain elements of The Darkness' sounds while the other completely turns their back on it.

We'll start off with former Darkness singer's Justin Hawkins only single so far, "Do It In The Dark", a song designed for a website that encourages responsible energy consumption. Good for Hawkins. The partnership is a great idea: the political group gets to show that it has a sense of humour, while Hawkins gets to show that he's more than the guy whose former band had a video where a pterydactol humped a spaceship.

The problem lies with Hawkness taking all the aspects that made The Darkness great and - ribald humour, campy vocals and shredding guitar solos, huge hooks - and making them even more over-the-top, to the point of being almost shrill. Simply put, at the beginning of the song, Hawkins sounds like he's trying to regurgitate his lungs and the Lep-style vocal overdubs aren't endearing either. The main riff has a nice, treble-heavy, AC/DC sheen to it, and some of the lyrics are very clever (the line “I wanna lay you out in Quark /I wanna do it in the dark" is absolutely genius). But even though "Do It In The Dark" is only 2 minutes, the song still needs to dial it down, for the sake of reducing energy consumption - both Hawkins' and the Earth's.

Meanwhile, the Stone Gods (consisting of former Darkness members Dan Hawkins, Ritchie Edwards and Ed Graham, along with recruited bassist Toby McFarlaine) sound like they are attempting to disavow any trace of irony or tongue-in-cheek humour that were present in The Darkness. No doubt that this in order to convey the impression that the are "Serious Rock Band." Take a look at their publicity photos. How much more black can they be? The answer is none. None more black. If that's not enough evidence for you, then the the press material on the Stone Gods website, which states that the Stone Gods is "an entirely tougher, edgier and heavier beast than their former band", should suffice.

No one would dispute that when listening to the opening moments of "Burn The Witch", streaming at the band's website and MySpace Page. The opening lick, and the chord progression beneath it, has a little minor-key, NWOBHM thing going on before setting into a more generic, sludgy blues riff that perks up a little bit due at the end of the phrase due to some Aerosmith-style syncopation.

It's unfair to judge Stone Gods just on the few tracks they have up (no, I've not bought the EP), but, so far, the band sounds like they're trying too hard to convey solemnity. Rather than being powerful, it comes off as just being humourless. We'll have to wait and see what more the band has to offer. If the band writes even one halfway decent song, they could become the British Audioslave.


So, with that little bit out of my system, I'd like to share (ie. bookmark for my own future use) two new shows I've been sent.

( Rush - Snakebites in Tampa 2007June16 )

( Waysted Tangiers show )

Remnants of a conversation from yesterday, broken down into it's base Q&A format:


"Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
"A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.


"Q. Where will the government get this money? [borrowed from China!]
"A. From taxpayers.


"Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
"A. Only a smidgen.


"Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
"A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high- definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.


"Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
"A. You're the one that voted for him."

*edit* I should add that tonight's Sri Lankan Beef Curry (with extra jalapeños) was so delicious it made me sweat.