The Uncle Bob’s rental space used by EMOTHT, Legion, Fake Tyrants, and NIHAMG was broken into last night/early morning, and several items were stolen. If you’re the type to hang out in pawn shops or guitar stores, keep an eye out for anyone trying to sell the following:
-Ampeg V6B Head (Matt Whitson)
-Marshall slant front cab (Keith O’Neal - This might be a 1960 A, I can’t remember.)
-Ampeg guitar cab with 4 Eminence Screamin’ Demons, no casters, and Tolex ripped on the front (mine)
-Marshall JCM 800, hot-rodded like hell with a 15+ knotted cable attached to the back of it (Wess Gregg)
-Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
-Boss Compressor/Sustainer
-MXR Micro Amp
-Ibanez Tube Screamer
-Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
-Boss DD-6 Digital Delay
-Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Full Chorus
-Boss Space Echo (reissue, floor unit)
-BBE Boosta Grande
Well immediately people were standing up, sayin’, ‘You got screwed.’ And I’d say, ‘Well, you know, I think there were a lot of ya’ll that got screwed.’ And then, one guy stood up and said, ‘No, I was guilty. You got screwed.’
“Of course, sex crimes in the workplace do happen, and employers are very frequently concerned about being drawn into a criminal investigation. The really astonishing thing about this case, the Jones case, and scores of others like them is the attitude of the U.S. Department of Justice: it is one of official indifference to crime involving American contractors–even when American contractors are the victims. When pressed to explain its inaction, Justice Department spokesmen typically respond with complete silence, or they mutter semicoherent gibberish about ‘inadequate resources’ and ‘legal complexities.’”
“The Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program at Justice, for instance, has long served as a fast track for students from elite law schools. Under the Bush Administration, however, the hiring shifted from the Ivies to avowedly conservative schools. Regent University Law School, founded by Pat Robertson in 1986, claims to have placed more than 150 of its graduates in positions with the Bush Administration. Regent, which ranks among the bottom tier of law schools, struggled to secure an accreditation with the American Bar Association, just as its alumni struggle to find employment. Hiring from fourth-rate schools is perfectly legal, of course, and the practice has the additional benefit of creating a new class of grateful civil servants.”
“In an unusual move, the Justice Department sued Fox Broadcasting Co. and another broadcaster Friday to collect $56,000 in fines for the broadcast of a raunchy reality show in 2003 that included scenes from bachelor and bachelorette parties.”
This should piss you off. If there’s any one organization that should be able to handle “legal complexities” because they have the greatest legal minds they could find is the Department of Justice. I guess it’s just easier to spend time and resources enforcing obscenity laws.
Mat Raymond, an independent promoter from Birmingham, Ala., said he was contacted via e-mail March 10th by ‘Tom Peterson/ Ronnie James Dio Management.’”
Mat Raymond reference on Idolator today (quoting from Pollstar).
Also, coming soon right here is my new feature “Awful Songs Stuck In My Head Because Jeff Remembers Everything He Hears” highlighting the random crap extreme barista and fellow bandmate Jeff manages to get stuck in my head. So far it will definitely feature Sir-Mix-A-Lot B-sides and Michael McDonald era Doobie Brothers. I’m sure you can’t wait.
The Loom Of Ruin: ANTI-WAR MARCH @ HOLLYWOOD & VINE: “As the day wore on, I found myself pondering the same question I faced five years ago. Namely, how do I physically express agreement with the march’s aims? I feel the same about chanting as I do about dancing, or taking off my clothes in public; nonnegotiable.”
I’m in the same boat. Not that there is a great deal of protest here in Birmingham, but I have the same problem nonetheless.
Oh yeah, that’s a link to Sam McPheeters blog (yes, that one.)
Legal Schnauzer: “We’re running the risk of getting way too big for our britches by insinuating that our humble blog has anything to do with the 2008 presidential election. But we’re trying to think like corrupt people. So follow me for a moment.”
Initially, a lot of what Roger at Legal Schnauzer does come across a little hyperbolic, but it is without a doubt compelling reading. He’s a very prolific writer having come out of the daily news world, so I can’t say I’ve been able to get a full grasp of the details from the archives but I’ve been following his blog since I ran across it researching details involving the Governor Siegelman case.
Much of the content deals with his ongoing difficulties with the court system in Shelby County and their attempts at putting his home on the auction block for a $1500 debt that they have apparently not made any effort to collect on (other than threatening to take his family’s home).
Anyway, I don’t know if the Alabama GOP is actually out to get this guy, but he is making as big of a stink as possible on a free blog site. I have to admit, much of me would love to see his work and Scott Horton’s be the thing that actually puts a serious smear on the bad guys.
Have y’all seen muxtape yet? It’s a very simple (only a three line registration) music streaming site. You pick a username to be username.muxtape.com and upload as many as 12 mp3s as a “muxtape”. They have to be from different artists, and you’re supposed to have permission to use the songs, so in the end I imagine this will get shutdown by the labels because we can’t have nice things.
Anyway, I made a mix of stuff I’ve been listening to lately here. Now, everyone go make yr own mix and post the link to it.
It’s been a little while coming now, but I’ve been meaning to write about the fun times had over the Cave9 fifth anniversary fest weekend. A while back Aaron put out the word that they wanted some reunion shows to go down for the fifth anniversary, what with it being a considerable milestone in Birmingham. After 13 odd years of doing this, Cave9 may have been in operation now more than double any other place I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some bands play on the floor in town.
BEBMD was kind of a strange band. Ranging from three to six very disparate personalities who all had lots of things going on in their lives, it was an ever-changing entity. Other than Jake and I, there were no other members that were in it at the beginning. We did sort of an official breakup back in 2004, and I wrote this sort of eulogy for the band:
Most importantly, I want to thank everyone that ever spent their time making music with me, because it’s been a really good fucking time.
That’s the thing that really stands out from the reunion. It was as fun as ever, especially during the few days Niles was in town. We managed to record two new songs and released them with the original three demo tracks from back in 2002, along with this t-shirt design:
I’ve never been more proud to be associated with a piece of merch. It’s possible we have a few of these left (they’re printed on slightly-bleached pastel shirts), but get in touch about sizing. We’ve also got a few copies of the “Harsh Toke” EP, and if you like you can get one from me for $5 or you can paypal that to me (nicholas.fine@gmail.com) and I’ll mail you one.
