Photos from my camera, shots of Ernie and the Berts taken by Lynn Payne. The other band is Vagora, shots of them taken by me. Thumbs below take you to the individual shots at Photobucket, or try these links…
Photobucket:
Facebook:
Got some photos last night of one of my favorite local bands… the warriors that call themselves Dethlehem.
Check ’em out on Photobucket… Grid View or Slideshow View. They’re also on Facebook, you can check ’em out there and tag people that you know.
Or, just click the thumbnails that you dig below…
While doing a Google image search for Star Wars Guitar, I came across several photos of this…
Now, that’s a hell of a guitar. It’s made from guitar parts (obviously) and an old toy Millennium Falcon. It’s even got Han & Chewie action figures inside. How insane is that? Despite the plastic-laden sound that it gives off (you can hear it in the video below), I’d love to have something like this, just for the sheer oddity and geekiness. Can you imagine rolling up to a show, and pulling that out of a case on stage? People wouldn’t know what to think. (Unless you were in the Phenomenauts and they’d already seen your van.)
Urlesque has a cool initial interview and a nice follow-up about the guitar and the process that Stevens used to put it all together. Oddity Central has a good article too. I’d love to see how much this goes for when it sells. Sadly, probably more than I can afford to drop on a guitar right now… but maybe I’ll hit up some toy shows & build my own. Ha ha.
I like guitars. I blog about a bunch of stuff, but I can’t believe I neglected adding a guitar category before now. Perhaps because I’m back to rocking out again, I’ve been more aware of guitars and music in general.
I have always loved music from an early age, and the guitar has always been my favorite instrument. Of course I wanted to learn how to play. I took a class in school because I needed 2 music electives one year. We did the Mel Bay “Marry Had a Little Lamb” crap and I skimmed through only sort-of learning to read music while I bought guitar magazines and learned my favorite riffs by tab at home or from the kids in the guitar class who already knew how to play & were taking it for an easy A.
I was also learning at church camp… the minister in charge used to play campfire standards & hymns for the sing-alongs, and taught me how to play chords to a whole song instead of the riffs that I was used to half-assedly piecing together. I think through this is where I first felt comfortable singing & playing at the same time. I remember that being a huge obstacle at one point, but now it almost seems ridiculous.
I took lessons at a music store for a while, and it was cool… but basically I learned 1 scale and how to play by ear. It wasn’t very structured, and I wasn’t a great student. I just wanted to rock… not learn.
Around the same time, I re-discovered punk rock. I had always been a fan of pop rock, punk rock, metal, & more… but when I learned that I could pop in the Misfits or Ramones and play along to the whole record, something just clicked. I fell into a three-chord way of life… and discovered that I didn’t need to be a great guitar player. Sure, there’s always room to improve, but I’m not trying to be Yngwie Malmsteen or Jimi Hendrix or anything.
With the punk re-awakening that I had, I wanted to write songs and be in a band. Playing the guitar was the means to that end. Luckily this was happening at the same time for me as some other good friends & eventually AiXeLsyD was born. I’ve played on & off in a handful of bands & projects since then and been part of a few different scenes. I’m very thankful for being introduced all the people that I’ve met through those endeavors. There’s a weird bond with other people in bands that you just don’t get if you’re not part of the whole thing. It’s like a weird brotherhood or religion or secret club… even within that I guess there are still more than a few who still don’t get it once they’re in it, but that’s a whole other blog.
This went a different direction than I intended, but you’ll have that. Maybe I’ll blog more about the band experience… I’ve had a few standard rants about bands over the years that I’ll have to rehash here.
My original intent was just to say that I was going to start blogging about guitars. I love guitars. I like to play all kinds, I’d love to own them all. I like normal guitars, but I gravitate toward the weird ones. I’ll blog about all of them here. Hopefully it’ll spark some discussions, awe, and ire.
Got some cool photos the other night from Ernie and the Berts‘ first official show at the 31st Street Pub. Bethany took all the ones of Ernie and the Berts, I took the ones of the Shutouts and the Undercover Saints.
To see the whole album, you have these options…
I had a good time taking the photos, hope you enjoy ’em. It’s good to be out & about and watching vital punk bands still playing.
You should definitely check out the Shutouts and the Undercover Saints some time soon if you’re into Pittsburgh punk rock. I found some free music online too…
You can’t afford not to check ’em out now. (Or would that be… You can’t afford to not check ’em out now?)
Snuff is probably my favorite band. I know virtually nothing about them, and every time I think I have a pretty damn close-to-complete collection of their stuff, I discover that I’m all kinds of wrong.
They seem to have different titles for the same songs. They have different recorded versions of many songs, which I really dig. They sing in Japanese and I think other languages sometimes. They have incredibly nonsensical album and song titles. I’ve never seen them live. They do a ton of crazy covers, and it’s hard to tell that they’re covers sometimes.
When I look them up on Wikipedia, I realize that there current/former members list is incomplete. I can only seem to find scraps and tidbits of information pieced together from outdated label sites. I don’t really know anything other than that there was an original formation, a revival, and a few changes since then… with Duncan Redmonds seeming to be the only constant. I have n idea why there were lineup changes.
There used to be an awesome site, Snuff.net… but it fell into the stagnant perpetual “updates coming soon” mode before it disappeared completely. I tried to start a Yahoo! Group, but there aren’t many of us on the list.
I know that there’s a seemingly infinite number of spin-off bands including (but not limited to) Guns ‘N’ Wankers, Dogpiss, Billy No Mates, Southport, Your Mum, Pot Kettle Black, URIN-8, and the list goes on.
Maybe I dig them more because they’re still a mystery? I really do enjoy actively earching for information about the seemingly now defunct Snuff & the related bands… especially whatever Duncan Redmonds has going on at any given moment. Maybe I’ll get it all sorted out some day.
Check out my Snuff playlist on YouTube:
While on Tumblr, I found an interesting post that I just couldn’t shut up about…
It’s about women in rock. I dug the sentiment, but I dunno if I agree with the premise. So, check out the original…
The girls onstage. The ones who might never play a major tour, the ones trying to grab some attention in a shitty bar, the ones who hear “show us your tits,” the ones who had better be traditionally attractive or no one wants to hear what they have to say, the ones who scream lyrics to a crowd…
(read entire post)
and my thoughts:
I enjoyed this post, but is it really still unfair for women in rock n’ roll? Some of my favorite bands are The Eyeliners, The Donnas, The Teen Idols, and Dance Hall Crashers… all successful women in rock. Even locally, we have the Motorpsychos… I certainly wouldn’t mess with them. And, one of my favorite locals was Sing the Evens, Play the Odds. I never once thought “Oh, there’s girls in this band, so I’m not going to take them seriously.”
I think all musicians are objectified to some level, no matter their gender. My wife would jump Bret Michaels in a second if we weren’t married and he wasn’t a giant walking STD. A guy screaming “show us your tits” is pretty much on par with a teenage girl yelling “I love you” to Justin Beiber… just slightly more vulgar.
A female friend of ours once asked my wife about me “Doesn’t it get you hot to see him up there with a guitar?” Her answer was a resounding no… but apparently it got our friend excited. Ha ha ha. Should I be insulted?
What do you think?
So I’ve been jamming with some cats in Ernie and the Berts, and they have both begun the addictive art of blogging. I’m not sure how exactly the blogs will take shape, and maybe they’re still not sure either. This hasn’t stopped them from posting some interesting stuff so far. I’m just glad that there are people out there just as insane as me sometimes.
Check ’em out…
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Oh yeah… <shameless plug>Ernie and the Berts is playing our 1st real show this Friday at the 31st Street Pub… you should come check it out!</shameless plug>
Did you read my Crapplebee’s post, and the AllergyEats blog post that it referred you to? (Really, check out all the comments, especially from AEPaul about the posts at aceliaconthemove.blogspot.com!) Okay, then you’re ready to read this.
Well, maybe read one more thing… the latest blog from AllergyEats with the response from Applebee’s. It’s awesome to know that there are others out there that share my affinity for writing letters/emails to companies and getting stupid responses. I encourage you to let AllergyEats know that you want to see it pursued further. I want to encourage you to pursue it yourself. Write emails, write letters, write blogs, make phone calls, blog, tweet, Digg it, post on Facebook or to the 3 people left on MySpace that aren’t bands, Tumblr, re-blog, re-tweet, re-Tumblr this until it gets out an annoys everyone and not just Applebee’s.
While Paul at AllergyEats dissects the message in his own way, I would like to translate the response as I read it:
Dear AllergyEats Subscribers,
“Dear people that we could really care less about,”
We recognize the importance of making sure our food-allergic guests have safe options they can enjoy at their neighborhood Applebee’s.
“We’re saying that we recognize that the food-allergic need to have safe options, but we don’t feel the need to mention any specific allergies or options. While we recognize the importance, we’re also not saying that we’re doing anything about it.”
Food allergies are a serious concern, and we are working to improve how we accommodate the needs of our FA-guests.
“We’re telling you that food allergies are a serious concern, even though they’re clearly not because it hasn’t yet affected our profits. We’re also telling you we’re ‘working to improve’, and again failing to mention any specifics”
Depending on the food allergy, we do offer different menu items that are appropriate options, or that can be prepared without the allergic food.
“We obviously didn’t read your blog, because you were told something quite different by your server and manager, about how there was butter all over the grill & absolutely no way to accommodate you.”
We recommend that you talk with your server or restaurant manager about the allergy, and how your meal is prepared, to help ensure your dining experience is safe.
“This is another way of letting you know that we didn’t read or comprehend your blog… or don’t have all that great of a grasp on the English language, because you already tried what we just recommended, and it most certainly did not work out for you.”
Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention — we value the safety and enjoyment of all our guests.
“We’re not going to follow up with the server & manager from that store who are obviously unaware of our apparent policies, because we really really really don’t care.”
Sincerely,
Applebee’s
“Full of Shit, Applebee’s (The newly sentient restaurant chain, now capable of writing letters.)” – Seriously. They couldn’t even sign their name or provide some contact information for a follow up?
I think I may just have to write to Applebee’s myself.
Well, someone at the Penn State Food Science department has a sense of humor. Ha ha ha. Have you followed my attempt to contact Galliker’s, the Yahoo! Answers question, posing the question to Turner’s, and Turner’s final suggestion? OK, then you’re caught up… and you can read this. I emailed the following to a bunch of people there, and as of yet have only received one reply. Here’s the email:
from: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
to: foodsci@psu.edu
cc: ca3@psu.edu, xd11@psu.edu, jdf10@psu.edu, tsd3@psu.edu, sep14@psu.edu, jmw5@psu.edu, jxc16@psu.edu, moconnor@psu.edu, emills@psu.edu
date: Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 11:03 PM
subject: Blue + Brown = …Green?
mailed-by: gmail.comSalutations Savvy Sustenance Science Scholar Staff!
I write to you today with something that has had me perplexed for quite a while. It was recently suggested to me that you would be the the ones with the most knowledge and best skill set to deal with my query. I of course, thought that this was a splendid idea… which is why I’m (obviously I guess) writing to you now.
Do you like “blue flavored” drinks and Popsicles? I do. I enjoy them quite a lot, actually. Whether it’s the seemingly fictional blue raspberry, some sort of punch, Faygo’s Jazzin’ Blues Berry, or “Bug Juice”… I just seem to gravitate to blue colored drinks. As of late, I’ve noticed an interesting side-effect of said blue flavored drink consumption: For some reason, it tends to turn my feces a quite disturbing shade of green.
First, I wrote to Gallagher’s and my missive went unanswered. Perhaps they did not find the humor in my inquiry. Perhaps they were upset that I mentioned rival dairy, Turner’s, as having a better Iced Tea. Perhaps they were offended that I offered to provide photos as evidence of my brightly-hued chartreuse bowel movement upon request.
Second, I posted a question to the Yahoo! Answers community, and wasn’t exactly satisfied with the answer. I understand the general concept that what you eat determines the contents of your waste, but want a deeper explanation. Why does the blue dye turn out so green? Why doesn’t it come out blue? What is going on in there? What exactly isn’t digesting? Does that much blue dye really need to be there? Are my insides dyed blue or green after it comes out? Is it harmful? Are my intestines playing some sort of practical joke on my eyes?
In a tertiary attempt to unravel the mystery at hand, I contacted the good people at Turner Dairy Farms, and was met with a couple of responses, each unfortunately unable to answer my original question… but courteous and accommodating nonetheless. It was a Mr. Yon & his Quality Control Manager at Turner’s who directed my attention to your esteemed department as the group that would successfully be able to provide a satisfactory explanation of the process behind the green from my behind.
I would really appreciate any insight that you may have on the situation. Have studies been done about this phenomenon? Has anyone ever asked you about such things before? I have so many questions, and you’re the education experts! I really appreciate your taking the time to read my email, and thank you in advance for your assistance!
The Emerald Excreter,
-ERiC AiXeLsyD
Perhaps it was too goofy for all the other stuffy scientists? Maybe they’re scared of the Emerald Excreter!
At any rate, I got an amusing an informative answer (finally):
from: EDWARD MILLS <ewm3@psu.edu>
to: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
date: Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 2:07 PM
subject: Re: Blue + Brown = …Green?
mailed-by: psu.edu
Eric,
Interesting question with possibly a very simple explanation. The human eye sees green when blue and yellow light are reflected simultaneously from a surface. Blue food dye reflects blue light. Find a yellow dye to go with it and you could account for the observed green.I would speculate that the blue food dye is passing through your GIT largely unchanged and is not absorbed across the gut wall. One of the more common pigments of normal stool in biliruben a yellow pigment (derived from hemoglobin or myoglobin breakdown). Put the two together and the resulting stool might appear green.
Have a great day!
Ed Mills
814-865-2394
Win! I did have a great day Mr. Mills, thanks to your easy to understand explanation. Finally, the great mystery is solved!
World (and Lunar) Domination 