A Day To Remember

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is really bad, and the good news is really good.

Bad news first: my dad, whom I love very much despite our emotionally attenuated interactions, has been diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis is fair; he's scheduled to receive a pre-operative course of radiation and chemotherapy, followed by a surgery and possibly more chemo after that. The surgeon says his condition is currently "manageable", but things certainly do not look stellar by any means. If you're of the praying kind, please say one for my pops; he's got a lot to live for and we're not ready to see him go. It breaks my heart to see my dad in fear for his life. I hope to God he can get through this...

Mere hours after consulting with the surgeon today (and whilst feeling like a man in a deep funk), I received a phone call that I've been waiting more than ten years to receive.

Last week, I sent 3 demos to a man that I contacted out of the proverbial "clear blue sky" about a month ago. That man's name is Marvin Etzioni.

Marvin Etzioni is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He's produced albums for "roots"-type artists such as Victoria Williams, Grey DeLisle, Peter Case and Tom Freund. He produced the track "Miller's Angels" on Recovering The Satellites, cut by a little band called Counting Crows. You may have heard of them before. Marvin has even played mandolin on some of the Dixie Chicks' material.

Most importantly (to me), Marvin produced a song called "Brother" and the album Pale, both early gems from my favorite band of all time, Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Marvin Freaking Etzioni heard our demos and said he'd love to make a record with us.

I could go on, but I won't. I will savor this moment of validation and preserve the details for myself and those in my Circle of Trust. This day has taken everything I had to give, but I will never forget it as long as I can rub two brain cells together.

Podge of Hodge

1) Agreeing with Jake on the Fatty Tax idea. Now...does Jake agree with me on the Fairtax idea?

2) Because I live in Metro Atlanta and have only a radio and a broken tape deck in my car, I listen to 88.5 FM, which is a non-commercial radio station run by students at Georgia State University. I've discovered a lot of exquisite new music there, and the station generally just beats the piss out of 99X and Project 96.1 (or whatever they call it now) when it comes to playlist diversity and quality.

That being said, a lot of the DJs on 88.5 suck and should get out of the "biz." Yes, I know they're college students and not professionals. Yes, I know they don't get paid for it. The thing is, some of them are quite good - they have a passion for it and inject personality into the experience, making it fun and clever for everybody involved. This makes it all the more irritating when the lackluster DJs are on-air. I'm not asking to hear Radio Guy, but neither do I want to hear the pre-medicated cast of Awakenings.

I heard a chap this morning reading a "concert calendar" as if he were reciting tax code to a group of IRS trainees. Then, to make matters worse, he told me I could hear Performer X at "Smith's Oldie Bar."

Dude, it's "Smith's Olde Bar." Pronounced "old."

If you:

A) think the word "olde" has anything to do with 50's-era rock and you are in college, you should consider dropping out, and

B) have so little knowledge of prominent music venues in your area that you could commit such a blunder, perhaps you should reconsider the rationale of DJ-ing a hipness-defining college radio station. (Question: "Is taking part in WRAS a required course or something?" Answer: "No. It's not even a recommended course.")

3) I'm sneaking this in here at the end as a little joke to myself, regarding all the times I've talked about big posts. So if you're still reading, the joke's on both of us.

We are in the VERY early stages (can't emphasize that enough) of finding a professional producer to help us develop a new recording project. We have a couple of people in "talks" and we'll let you know if and when a direction is chosen. I just wanted to tell you that we still write, still want to be a "real" band, and still want to give you something cool to spin as you get fat and old like us. The time is right for us to take the next step and consider thinking about preparing to possibly make a record we can be proud of maybe.

We'll keep you posted.

Stop crying about second-hand smoke and put down the cheeseburger, fatty!

I would like to take a moment to address an issue I have with the taxes imposed on cigarettes, and because our number is dwindling, a resource where the government can make a few bucks to make this a healthier place.

I had to propose an amendment to the constitution for my poli-sci class and here's what I got:

PREFACE:
The federal and state governments tax cigarettes and alcohol and use the tax money to fund things ranging from healthcare to education to road improvements. In recent years, the tax on cigarettes has skyrocketed and states have banned the act of smoking in public establishments to varying degrees. The tax on a pack of cigarettes ranges from 17 cents per pack to $2.575 per pack (the US median is 80 cents per pack).
In 2005 the US department of the treasury, alcohol & tobacco tax and trade bureau collected $8.9billion in alcohol excise tax revenues.
Obesity has become the number one health problem in the US causing more annual deaths than smoking, yet there is still a fast food chain on every corner, contributing to the demise of the public health without paying into the debt it causes.

Proposed Amendment:
With the concern for public health and wellbeing at the forefront of the nation's vitality, The federal government shall impose a tax of no more than 3%, and state governments shall impose a tax of no more than 2% on fast food transactions in an effort to pay into the healthcare system to offset the debt caused by obesity related health problems as it remains the leading cause of death. The federal government shall impose a tax of no more than 2.5%, and state governments shall impose a tax of no more than 1.5% on fast food transactions during times obesity related health problems are no longer the leading cause of death.

The federal government is permitted to use the revenues generated from this tax for the purposes of medicinal research, healthcare, fitness programs, and nutrition awareness. The state government is permitted to use the revenues generated from this tax for the purposes of non-entertainment hospital accommodations and instruments for obese and morbidly obese patients and school and local sports/fitness programs.

Fast food is hereby defined as foods designed for ready availability, use or consumption and sold at eating establishments for quick availability or take-out.

In addition, no state or federal facility shall have the authority to place restrictions on the sale of fast food above and beyond local zoning laws, nor shall they have the authority to restrict the consumption of fast food in areas where the consumption of any food is permitted.