Tag Archives: punk rock

๐ŸŒญ Dunked, Drunk, n’ Dried Dogs & Potato Wedges ๐Ÿฅ”

Posted on by Standard Reply

There are way too many ways to cook a hot dog. Not long ago, if you suggested I boil some… I would politely have found the quickest way out of that conversation. This time I simmered the dogs in beer, then popped them in the oven on the air-fryer setting.

I blogged about cooking hot dogs in 2010 when I asked how you do it, & later listed a bunch of different ways, and I like to slip them in on the New Year’s Pork n’ Sauerkraut. 2010? Hell, it only took me 15 years to get around to suggestion #3. Were air-fryers popular back then? I think it was just countertop grills.

Then again, sometimes I get weird ideas that won’t go away until they come to fruition. Hot dogs aren’t my favorite food, but they’re fun to make different every time. If not grilling, I like to cook them in the oven, especially when cooking dinner for the family & wanting a whole pack cooked at once. This time I did something different.

Lager-Simmered Air Fried Criss-Cross Cut Hot Dogs & Crispy Potato Wedges!

Man, I miss the legendary Dormont Dogs.

After you read this recipe, tell me what you’d do different, or what you like on your dogs! Oh yeah. sides too. I wanted to use corn starch on the potato wedges, but I was out, so flour it was. It crisped them up just enough to keep it interesting. I was heavy on the black pepper, so they had a bite.

Oh yeah, I cracked open a can of baked beans too.

I used ChatGPT to sort of bounce ideas around, and it helped me make a plan.

๐ŸŒญ๐ŸŒญ๐ŸŒญ

Wieners, โ€™Taters & Beans (Oh My!)

๐Ÿฅ” Potato Wedges

  1. Prep
    • Cut potatoes into wedges, about ยฝ” thick at the skin edge.
    • Soak in cold water 30 minutes (this pulls starch so they crisp better).
    • Drain, blot very dry. Moisture = soggy wedges.
    • Toss in a bowl with:
      • 1โ€“2 Tbsp cornstarch
      • 2 Tbsp oil (olive, canola, or peanut)
      • Seasonings: paprika, garlic/onion powder, salt, pepper, maybe cayenne or smoked paprika for punch.
  2. Cook
    • Oven air fry or convection at 425ยฐF (both will crisp better than standard bake).
    • Spread on parchment-lined sheet, not touching.
    • Cook 25โ€“30 min, flipping halfway.

๐ŸŒญ Hot Dogs

  1. Parboil
    • In a small pot, add:
      • 1 bottle/can Yuengling
      • 1 beef bouillon cube
      • ยฝ tsp onion powder
      • ยฝ tsp minced garlic
      • ยผ tsp ground mustard (optional, but yes itโ€™ll add a tangy depth)
    • Bring to a gentle simmer. Drop in hot dogs, simmer 5โ€“6 min (donโ€™t boil hard).
  2. Finish in Oven
    • After parboil, move hot dogs to a rack or foil-lined pan.
    • Toss them in the oven (same rack as potatoes if you can) for 8โ€“10 min at 425ยฐF (air fry/convection), flipping once, so skins blister and caramelize a little.

๐Ÿฅ– Buns + Cheese

  1. At the last 2โ€“3 min of hot dog oven time, open buns, lay on pan.
  2. Add cheese slices. Toast until buns are warm and cheese is gooey.

๐Ÿ”„ Timing Plan

  1. Start soaking potatoes โ†’ 30 min.
  2. Preheat oven to 425ยฐF (air fry/convection).
  3. While soaking, prep hot dog beer bath.
  4. Drain & coat potatoes. Get them in oven first (they take longest).
    • Timer: 25โ€“30 min.
  5. While wedges cook, simmer hot dogs in beer bath (~5โ€“6 min).
  6. About halfway into potato time (15 min mark), move hot dogs to oven on pan/rack.
    • Theyโ€™ll need ~8โ€“10 min to finish, which lines up with potatoes finishing.
  7. Last 2โ€“3 min: add buns + cheese.

Everything should hit the plate hot at the same time.

๐ŸŒญ๐Ÿซ˜๐Ÿฅ”

๐Ÿซ˜ Drunken Baked Beans

A simple can of beans made rich with the leftover beer broth from the hot dogs. Deep, savory, slightly maltyโ€ฆ itโ€™s like BBQ beans with a secret ingredient.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large can of baked beans
  • ยฝ cup reserved beer broth from hot dogs (strained)
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp mustard (yellow or Dijon)
  • Optional: dash of hot sauce or crumbled bacon

Method:

Taste and adjust seasoning โ€” more sugar if you like sweet, hot sauce if you like heat.

Combine beans with broth, sugar, and mustard in a saucepan.

Simmer low and slow (20โ€“30 minutes), stirring occasionally, until thickened and glossy.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Extra Tips:

  • Flip wedges and hot dogs at halfway for even browning.
  • If wedges look done before hot dogs, crack the oven door and let them hang on residual heat.
  • You can reduce a little of the beer/bouillon liquid into a quick dipping sauce (mix in mustard/ketchup) if you want to go wild.
  • I added the beer/bullion liquid to the baked beans with BBQ sauce… not what ChatGPT suggested.

๐Ÿซ˜๐Ÿซ˜๐Ÿซ˜

Needless to say, I didn’t follow that exactly… but I did toast the buns, & made the dogs to order. Mine had relish, my son’s had fresh jalapeรฑo from the garden, my wife didn’t want cheese, and my daughter didn’t want mustard.

Dunk, Drunk, n' Dried Dogs
Dunk, Drunk, n’ Dried Dogs

I gotta buy some damn corn starch.

Crispy Potato Wedges
Crispy Potato Wedges

I used Yuengling, but I also would use Straub Amber, Penn Pilsner, Lion’s Head, or Smithwick’s. What would you use?

If you do make this, you gotta crank some punk rock Dad Shit. (The Amazon Playlist has more than Spotify.)

Playlist | Proto-Punk ๐Ÿงท

Posted on by Standard 7

Inspired by the comments on a reddit post, I wanted to dig into some pre-“punk” proto-punk. I set Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, & Copilot to the task as I’m fascinated by their ability to parse & compile information if prompted accurately. (I’m also fascinated my their penchant to provide completely incorrect or even made-up information. Some time I will have to blog about my experiment in having them search restaurant menus in an area to see if they serve shellfish. Copilot recommended some seafood places, so clearly it wants to kill me.)

I added my own stuff that some of them disagreed with, but it is my list after all. ๐Ÿคฃ Going back to little Richard and including Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” were points of contention, as I would expect from a conversation with people.

Music snobs aficionados, audiophiles, and punk rock gatekeepers will argue all day every day about the origin of punk… but for me, to be clear, it’s the moment that the Ramones’ self-titled album dropped. So, with that in mind I gave the language models this prompt:

There is and always will be constant debate, but if we agree for the premise of this exercise that the Ramones self-titled debut album was the first punk albumโ€ฆ What are 25 songs that should belong on a proto-punk or punk precursor playlist?

I would assume bands that get mentioned as the progenitors would most likely include The Kinks, the Sonics, Link Wray, The Stooges, the MC5, the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, & more I’m sure to be missing. Maybe even the band Death who hailed from Detroit MI?

All songs on the list should have been released before April 23, 1976โ€ฆ and be listed in order if release date by single or album, whichever dropped first.

This has been corrected for my typically egregious spelling/typing/lack-of-proofreading errors. After tossing the rules to the wind, keeping to the spirit of punk rock, we arrived here:

  • “Little Demon” โ€“ Screaminโ€™ Jay Hawkins (1956)
  • “Tutti Frutti” โ€“ Little Richard (1955)
  • “Whole Lotta Shakinโ€™ Goinโ€™ On” โ€“ Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
  • “Rumble” โ€“ Link Wray (1958)
  • “La Bamba” โ€“ Ritchie Valens (1958)
  • “Love Me” โ€“ The Phantom (1958)
  • “Louie Louie” โ€“ The Kingsmen (1963)
  • “Surfinโ€™ Bird” โ€“ The Trashmen (1963)
  • “Baby Let Me Take You Home” โ€“ The Animals (1964)
  • “House of the Rising Sun” โ€“ The Animals (1964)
  • “Iโ€™m Crying” โ€“ The Animals (1964)
  • “You Really Got Me” โ€“ The Kinks (1964)
  • “Gloria” โ€“ Them (1964)
  • “I Canโ€™t Explain” โ€“ The Who (1964)
  • “Dirty Water” โ€“ The Standells (1966)
  • “My Generation” โ€“ The Who (1965)
  • “Strychnine” โ€“ The Sonics (1965)
  • “Iโ€™m a Man” โ€“ The Yardbirds (1965)
  • “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” โ€“ The Animals (1965)
  • “96 Tears” โ€“ ? & The Mysterians (1966)
  • “Wild Thing” โ€“ The Troggs (1966)
  • “Complication” โ€“ The Monks (1966)
  • “Psychotic Reaction” โ€“ Count Five (1966)
  • “Pushinโ€™ Too Hard” โ€“ The Seeds (1966)
  • “7 and 7 Is” โ€“ Love (1966)
  • “Iโ€™m Not Like Everybody Else” โ€“ The Kinks (1966)
  • “Youโ€™re Gonna Miss Me” โ€“ The 13th Floor Elevators (1966)
  • “Talk Talk” โ€“ The Music Machine (1966)
  • “Iโ€™m Waiting for the Man” โ€“ The Velvet Underground (1967)
  • “Doctor Please” โ€“ Blue Cheer (1968)
  • “Sister Ray” โ€“ The Velvet Underground (1968)
  • “Fire” โ€“ The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968)
  • “Jigsaw Puzzle” โ€“ The Rolling Stones (1968)
  • “Kick Out the Jams” โ€“ MC5 (1969)
  • “I Wanna Be Your Dog” โ€“ The Stooges (1969)
  • “Little Doll” โ€“ The Stooges (1969)
  • “TV Eye” โ€“ The Stooges (1970)
  • “Paranoid” โ€“ Black Sabbath (1970)
  • “Get It On” โ€“ T. Rex (1971)
  • “Schoolโ€™s Out” โ€“ Alice Cooper (1972)
  • “Suffragette City” โ€“ David Bowie (1972)
  • “Raw Power” โ€“ Iggy & The Stooges (1973)
  • “Search and Destroy” โ€“ The Stooges (1973)
  • “Personality Crisis” โ€“ New York Dolls (1973)
  • “Jet Boy” โ€“ New York Dolls (1973)
  • “Urban Guerrilla” โ€“ Hawkwind (1973)
  • “Violence” โ€“ Mott the Hoople (1973)
  • “Cum On Feel the Noize” โ€“ Slade (1973)
  • “Editions of You” โ€“ Roxy Music (1973)
  • “Ooh La La” โ€“ Faces (1973)
  • “Subway Train” โ€“ New York Dolls (1974)
  • “Hey Joe” โ€“ Patti Smith Group (1975)
  • “Piss Factory” โ€“ Patti Smith (1975)
  • “Roxette” โ€“ Dr. Feelgood (1976)
  • “The Next Big Thing” โ€“ The Dictators (1975)
  • “Chez Maximes” โ€“ The Hollywood Brats (1976)
  • “After Eight” โ€“ Neu! (1975)
  • “Ghost Rider” โ€“ Suicide (1977)
  • “Little Johnny Jewel” โ€“ Television (1975)
  • “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” โ€“ Pere Ubu (1975)
  • “Burn My Eye” โ€“ Radio Birdman (1976)
  • “Politicians in My Eyes” โ€“ Death (1976)
  • “Cherry Bomb” โ€“ The Runaways (1976)
  • “Roadrunner” โ€“ The Modern Lovers (1976)
  • “She Cracked” โ€“ The Modern Lovers (1976)
  • “Shake Some Action” โ€“ Flaminโ€™ Groovies (1976)
  • “Blank Generation” โ€“ Richard Hell & the Voidoids (1977)
  • “Anarchy in the U.K.” โ€“ The Sex Pistols (1976)
  • “Sonic Reducer” โ€“ Dead Boys (1977)
  • “Neat Neat Neat” โ€“ The Damned (1977)
  • “Chinese Rocks” โ€“ Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers (1977)
  • “Psycho Killer” โ€“ Talking Heads (1977)

I used Tune My Music to import it to Spotify from a text file, then copy to Amazon Music from there. I tried to go to Amazon first, but it messed up quite a bit of the songs. I did have to add “7 and 7 Is” by Love manually as it shows as “Seven and Seven Is” on Spotify. It weirdly plopped a Bob Marley song in that spot. Amazon was full of weird covers and the wrong songs when trying to import from text.

So, what do you think of the list? What’s missing? What needs added? Are my parameters skewed? Do you not accept anything past the date of what parameters were set? What obscure band that 14 people heard at the time is missing from this list? Don’t come at me with the Sex Pistols over the Ramones. Should we whittle it back to 25? Only have 1 song per artist? Come at me with healthy discourse.

Looking for a video of that one time I sang “I Turned Into a Martian” on stage with the Misfits.

Posted on by Standard Reply

Every once in a while, I just throw this into the รฆther just to see if it gets any response. One time, I got to pop up on stage and sing “I Turned Into a Martian” while Jerry Only played bass, sang, & Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein played guitar, & Goat (a.k.a. Eric Acre, a.k.a. “Chupacabra”) played drums. I’d love to find a video of it if it’s out there.

We take for granted that everything is recorded these days, but back then it wasn’t. Misfits bootleg videos were a hot trade commodity at one point online. I’m pretty sure this show was recorded, because Crowbar had closed-circuit TV’s that were displaying the show as it happened. It may have been deleted or not recorded, it may have hit a personal private collection. Someone else may have been in-house recording. Not sure if Doug Evil was there?

Thanks to Misfits Central & Concert Archives, I now have a specific date: Sunday, November 5, 2000. It was at the now-defunct Crowbar in State College, PA.

Actually, thanks to the Wayback Machine, I found some old photos form the show! Problem being I guess that I took them, but did not hand off my camera while I was on stage.

An-Die & I road-tripped to State College several times with several different groups to see the Misfits in several iterations in addition to seeing them a bunch in Pittsburgh… so my memories may be conflated. I know Russ from TVCasualty.com was there!

I’m pretty sure Murphy’s Law & Impotent Sea Snakes also played. I only remember this because Goat was pulling double duty, and our friend Laurel was apparently hit in the face with an… adult toy… during the ISS set.

I remember An-Die telling me that I had stage presence, and obviously Jerry Only has a huge stage presence, and it did not jive. Ha ha. I’m sure I looked weird, but holy shit it was fun. (I always feel weird signing without a guitar in my hands anyway.)

Another fun fact, this was after I had broken my nose, and i was wearing a bandage covering most of my face. I know I have photos of that somewhere but I cannot find any.

The Misfits - 11/05/2000 lineup @ Crowbar in State College PA | Jerry Only, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, Eric Goat/Chupacabra Acre, & some random a-hole.
The Misfits – 11/05/2000 lineup @ Crowbar in State College PA | Jerry Only, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, Eric Goat/Chupacabra Acre, & some random a-hole.

Oh yeah, I broke my nose stage diving at American Music Cafรฉ. Who’s set was it? I think it was Third Place, Tybalt, or maybe even Ten Pounds Lighter/Secrets Lie Within. I just remember someone fake kicking me that ended up not being a fake kick, a weird celery crunching noise, and my nose being mostly under one eye. I ought to try to chronicle old show stories some day.

I was the Fiend Club “Chapter Head” for a minute in the late 90’s early 00’s, so I got to see the band when they were in & around town. I think Jerry & Rocky sort-of kind-of knew who I was, but I always tried to not be a pain in the ass & ask for stuff or to get on the Turbo Die or anything. It was a fun time in life.

If you have the video, or have info that could help me track it down, I’d really appreciate it! Feel free to help by sharing this in fan forums & what-not online. We Are 138!

You can hit me up at the contact form here, on Threads, on FB, on Instagram, on BlueSky, TikTok, YouTube, or even X.

For more Misfits content here at the blog, check out:

Stolen Mazes! (Someone took my art.) ๐Ÿคฌ

Posted on by Standard 7

So, I recently got an interesting message via my contact form:

Hello, I bought a book in germany and in that book a "Kurt Heppke" from "Norderstedt : Books on Demand" is using your artwork. Did you ever give permission to that? I can send you more information if needed. Greetings from Germany, Hamburg

I did write back, but have yet to receive a reply. I would like to thank you Jakob, for reaching out! Not sure how you found me, but then again maybe I am sure as the one stolen maze is kind of highly specific in subject matter, but we’ll get to that.

I did do some light Googling though, like a modern-day super lazy Sherlock Holmes (or at least Dick Tracy). The ever-so-helpful auto AI summary was actually kind of enlightening…

An AI summary via Google about some weenis that stole a bunch of mazes to create print-on-demand books.

Yeah. That one past stuck out.

“He finds inspiration for his books by browsing graphic portals and libraries.”

I take that to mean “Bruh finds shit on Pinterest or Google image search and steals it to put into his books.”

Cover of Labyrinthe: Leichte Schwere und ganz ganz Schwere by Kurt Heppke, stealer of images.

I did find a book creatively titled Labyrinthe: Leichte Schwere und ganz ganz Schwere, which according to Google Translate says Labyrinths: Light, heavy, and very, very heavy. It luckily had a link that looked like a preview link, and I was able to see inside part of the book.

Mr. Heppke has a website, and apparently several books. I know that print-on-demand can be looked down upon by “real” publishers, and these are considered “low content” books, but theft is theft.

I have been drawing mazes since I was a kid, maybe 4th grade or so? I have put a bunch up on the internet (especially at this blog among other older sites) for free over the years. I don’t need this dude or anybody stealing my stuff, taking credit for it, or making money off of it. Oh yeah, taking credit? Dude has stones. That sure looks like a ยฉ 2022 to me by his name in a book full of mazes that he didn’t draw.

Two of my mazes appear to have been pilfered:

Bruh took a bunch of mazes, but these are mine,

The original posts can be found here:

Help AiXeLsyD get to the AmericanMusic Cafรฉ!
โœ Todayโ€™s Maze โœ

I know I have pinned them in the past, so they may be floating around there too. There are probably about 100 people on the planet who have heard, saw, heard about, or remember my old punk band, AiXeLsyD. Why take that maze? Our logo is right there beside a terrible drawing of my 1986 Buick SkyHawk. Weird. Also, it name drops Sheetz & Wendy’s as places to not stop (as well as a nudie bar). They may have a harder copyright infringement case than me? ๐Ÿคฃ I’m sure the maze is much older than 2012. The quality of the scan & the coloring is BAD.

The AiXeL-Mobile (1986 Buick SkyHawk)

I have thought about collecting all my old stuff for a book… but the thought of checking to see if they’re passable & providing solutions is overwhelming, and now that I put out You Can See Yourself Out, I feel like I have a level of quality that I need to maintain. Drawing the mazes & posting them has always kind of been a creative outlet & stress relief for me. I think I’d need to re-scan the pile of stuff that I have, and the stuff that I just posted to social media with phone pictures if I were to do it right… and include solitions.

I’m not doing art to get rich, or even make a living… but if I can fund keeping this blog AiXeLsyD13.com, and buy some art supplies, that would be awesome. I have made tens of dollars off of my books and merch. That’s not a complaint by any means, but some dude across the globe shouldn’t be making money off of my art. (As an aside, check this shit out! Art theft is rampant, and following @kilkennycat_art on Threads has opened my eyes to it.)

Which brings me to the other mazes here. I’m sure just by looking at the style, there’s a few mazes by renowned cartoonist, maze artist, & educational television host Joe Wos. I think there’s at least one by Sean C. Jackson. The cover appears to be by Brian Hilbert (Check out his Pittsburgh maze!).

Maze artists: Is your maze art here?

An index of stolen mazes assembled & being sold by Kurt Heppke.

I have tried to lift up other maze artists here. It’s a weird little niche. We gotta look out for each other, in my opinion. I did post about this issue on r/mazes, too.

I’m unsure of my next step. Is reaching out directly to Norderstedt Books on Demand and/or Kurt Heppke directly via email with some sort of cease and desist the way to go? Is that at all official? Is Google Translate even gonna get it right?

I don’t have any written verbiage here about my mazes being copyrighted, but I do have dated posts, and I think copyright is implied with any created works… no? I have no idea how any of it works really within the US, let alone internationally & specifically in Germany.

It also looks like this damn thing is available on more than a few sites:

…and so many more.

At any rate, I implore you to by mazes (or any art) from the artist through their official channels… or enjoy the many free mazes that are put out there by all of us.

So, Cease-and-Desist email or letter? DMCA Takedown? Both? Lawyer up? I’m assuming there is not much to financially recover with print-on-demand sales. I just don’t want anyone making money off of my art other than myself.

<shameless plug> Speaking of that, you can support your favorite punk rock letter-writing goofball maze artist by buying a copy of So I Finally Made a Maze Book or You Can See Yourself Out, or getting some cool swag from my TeePublic or RedBubble stores. </shameless plug> If you’re not inclined to make a purchase, that’s cool too. Maybe share the links, or just enjoy all the free mazes here, & check out all the other maze artists?

I look forward to your thoughts & advice in the comments!

Rock N’ Roll Movies ๐ŸŽฌ

Posted on by Standard 3

I like rock n’ roll movies. I’ve seen a bunch. I still need to see a lot of them, or it’s been too long to remember what I thought of them.

What are your favorites? Mine are noted below: โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… is good โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜† is bad. I just threw them in a table, then sorted by rating then title.

Please don’t say Rock of Ages. I have no interest in musicals. ๐Ÿคฃ

I used AI to partially successfully create a table with as-of-now correct IMDB & RT ratings. I’ll copy & paste it below, & link to my spreadsheet.

AiXeLsyD13’s Rock N’ Roll Movie List!
Movie:My Rating:IMDB:RT ๐Ÿ…:RT ๐Ÿฟ:Category:
A Mighty Windโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.287%82%Comedy
Airheadsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.222%57%Comedy
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventureโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.081%75%Comedy
Boom: A Film About the Sonicsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…8.9n/an/aDocumentary
Empire Musicโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.831%84%Comedy
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Sagaโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.563%81%Comedy
Fat Kid Rules the Worldโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.484%61%Drama
Heavier Tripโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.091%n/aComedy
Heavy Tripโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.094%85%Comedy
Honeysuckle Roseโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.360%74%Drama
Josie and the Pussycatsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…5.653%53%Comedy
Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son of a Bitchโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.789%88%Documentary
Mad Tigerโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.767%57%Documentary
Mission to Larsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…6.781%70%Documentary
Pick It Up!: Ska in the ’90sโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…8.0n/an/aDocumentary
Rayโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.780%87%Biopic
School of Rockโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.292%64%Comedy
The Other F Wordโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.278%82%Documentary
The Punk Syndromeโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.894%87%Documentary
This Is Spinal Tapโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.995%82%Comedy
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punkโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.882%93%Documentary
Walk the Lineโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…7.882%90%Biopic
Willie Nelson & Family (series)โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…8.386%100%Documentary
8 Mileโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.275%54%Drama
Anvil: The Story of Anvilโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.998%89%Documentary
Beware Mr. Bakerโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.698%81%Documentary
Bill & Ted Face the Musicโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†6.082%65%Comedy
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journeyโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†6.356%56%Comedy
End of the Century: The Story of the Ramonesโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†8.190%91%Documentary
It Might Get Loudโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.680%84%Documentary
Muscle Shoalsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.797%90%Documentary
Ordinary Worldโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†5.553%46%Drama
Searching for Sugar Manโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†8.295%92%Documentary
Sound Cityโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.8100%90%Documentary
Straight Outta Comptonโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.889%91%Biopic
The Blues Brothersโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.973%87%Comedy
Wayne’s Worldโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†7.079%84%Comedy
Whiskey on a Sundayโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†8.9n/an/aDocumentary
A Complete Unknownโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†7.4n/an/aBiopic
Almost Famousโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†7.989%92%Drama
Metal Lordsโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.762%84%Comedy
Metallica: Through The Neverโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†7.182%74%Drama
Onceโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†7.897%91%Drama
Rock ‘n’ Roll High Schoolโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.781%70%Comedy
Rockstarโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.352%57%Drama
Some Kind of Monsterโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†7.589%86%Documentary
Studio 666โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†5.756%80%Horror/Comedy
That Thing You Do!โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.993%82%Comedy
The Rockerโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.241%57%Comedy
The Runawaysโ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.570%66%Biopic
Wayne’s World 2โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†6.260%61%Comedy
CBGBโ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†6.67%39%Biopic
Hired Gunโ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†7.240%72%Documentary
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Foreverโ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†4.6n/a55%Comedy
SLC Punkโ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†7.463%89%Drama
The Dirtโ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†7.039%94%Biopic
Hysteria: The Def Leppard Storyโ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†6.6n/a57%Biopic
Becoming Led Zeppelinn/an/an/an/aDocumentary
Bohemian Rhapsodyn/a7.960%85%Biopic
Cadillac Recordsn/a7.066%68%Biopic
Elvisn/a7.377%94%Biopic
Gutterdammerungn/a7.6n/an/aWeird
Heavy Metal Parking Lotn/a7.583%78%Documentary
High Fidelityn/a7.591%90%Drama
Jimi: All Is By My Siden/a5.768%41%Biopic
Junen/a7.5100%83%Documentary
Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Parkn/a4.8n/a60%Action
La Bamban/a6.991%78%Biopic
Metal: A Headbanger’s Journeyn/a8.090%91%Documentary
Punk’s Deadn/a4.6n/a36%Drama
Punks Not Deadn/a7.090%76%Documentary
Rocketmann/a7.389%88%Biopic
Sid & Nancyn/a7.088%84%Biopic
Sound of Metaln/a7.797%90%Drama
The Buddy Holly Storyn/a7.1100%82%Biopic
The Decline of Western Civilizationn/a7.5100%83%Documentary
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Yearsn/a7.276%76%Documentary
The Decline of Western Civilization Part IIIn/a7.2100%80%Documentary
The Doorsn/a7.258%83%Biopic

As I have finished up, damnit I forgot Filmage, Tenacious D’s Pick of Destiny (& the TV show), Crossroads, Purple Rain, Frank, CB4, Big Money Hustlas, Salad Days, Pump Up The Volume, We Are Lady Parts, Popstar, Beavis & Butt-head, Breakin’, Pirate Radio, & more. I’m gonna have to do a part 2. Or maybe this is part 2 or 3 already? I blogged about rock movies back in 2012 a bit, & about rock docs.

Yinz like weird playlists?

Posted on by Standard Reply

I have been making goofy ones lately.

The latest one is Contradictions / Companions and it’s made up of songs that contradict or compliment each other. I mainly listen to Amazon Music, but this one was fun so I copied it to Spotify too.

Contradictions / Companions | Amazon Music

Contradictions / Companions | Spotify

I have a bunch more weird ones. Sometimes I reach out to Oddly Specific Playlists on Facebook or r/punk for help. Some have a specific order, some are designed for chaos goblins who always choose random.

Here’s some fun ones if you listen to Amazon, let me know if you want me to copy them to Spotify! (I usually do that with Tune My Music):

And there are plenty more weird ones. Lemme know if you check one out and think I’m missing some good obvious tracks that fit!

You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes

Posted on by Standard 2
You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes (Front Cover)

Well then, it’s finally here. I finished maze book number two! This one is better than the last one, I promise. The first was sort of a test run just to see how Amazon KDP works. I wholeheartedly appreciate everyone that bought that book, but this one just objectively looks better and much more time was put into its creation. It ought to be much more challenging and enjoyable, IMHO.

It’s called You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes. Thanks to @brain.d.37 on Threads for suggesting the title!

This book a collection of a bunch more larger mazes, and a few small ones that I have been drawing since late 2023. There’s no common theme other than most of the mazes have a silly vibe. A few have no vibe at all. There’s aliens, rodents, yard work, holiday stuff, rock n’ roll, a treasure map, food, retail aversion, gross stuff, & more.

You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes (Front Cover)
You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes (Front Cover)

I hope you consider picking up a copy for yourself, & maybe even one for a friend? If not, just sharing the link to someone who you think may enjoy it, or just sharing it in general would be awesome.

The link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9Y7SFXS and I’d love if you could share it, review it, favorite it or save it to a list… anything to help even if you’re not interested in a purchase. You could give me a good (or terrible) review or add it to your list on GoodReads too, if that’s your thing.

I had fun making a collage with punk ‘zine vibes for the cover. I busted out the mixed media, printed on weird paper, got two cutting, ripping, & coffee staining… and unearthed the leopard & cheetah print tape.

All of the mazes were hand-drawn, scanned in, edited (& “solved”) in paint.NET, & put together with Open Office. I haven’t stepped into the world of digital drawing yet, and I like my free programs. Someday, I’ll probably dive into GIMP a little more.

You Can See Yourself Out: A Collection of Fun, Irreverent, Festive, & Wild Hand-Drawn Mazes (Full Front & Back Cover)

I love drawing the mazes, and it’s a great creative outlet like blogging or making music or playing out live. I’m sitting on a pile of old ones that I can convert into a book… but I need to make sure they’re all solvable and do the solutions.

Find the tone! Guitar amp stack maze collage.

Some are too big to fit on my scanner, and scanning with my phone has less than desirable results… so I’m gonna have to go somewhere like a FedEx Office store and hope they can help before they all disappear. I have a problem picking up any notebook that catches my eye and is the right price, regardless of size & paper type. I like the feel & the calming of pen on paper.

Some of the ones that I have posted here in writing goofy emails/letters to companies probably can’t be included because of copyrights or trademarks when I include their products. (Unless La Choy/Conagra, Pizza Hut, Sheetz, Dollar Shave Club, Pepperidge Farm, Disney/Lucasfilm & more sign off on it, or it falls under fair use? I guess I could have included this one or these two.)

I guess I did figure this whole thing out.

Because I have been excited about this, and I made a small collage with leftover bits, I popped up some new merch designs in my TeePublic & RedBubble stores with that new collage & the book cover images. I do have some older designs there with a few of the mazes that are featured in this book too. If you have an account & follow me on either of those sites, it may help my stuff get seen a bit more. I’d appreciate any form of liking/sharing/tagging if you’re so inclined!

TeePublic "You Can See Yourself Out" merch by AIXeLsyD13
RedBubble "You Can See Yourself Out" merch by AIXeLsyD13

In fact, check out all these designs from or inspired by the book, you can get them on all kinds of merch at each store! (I ordered a sticker, a magnet, a coffee cup, & a hoodie so I’m already in the hole.)

Cover & Collage Designs:

Mazes featured in the book:

So, what do you think? Any of it catch your idea? Any ideas for maze merch? Think you’ll pick up a copy?

If you happen to get something, post a photo or video of yourself with it, & tag me on social media! I’m @AiXeLsyD13 pretty much everywhere.

I wish I had a pedal-mobile.

Posted on by Standard Reply

I don’t have a pedal-mobile like the savagely sardonic Pat Finnerty, but I do have some weird mostly cheap pedals. You’ve seen my guitars, you may have heard some of my musical output, but I need to set up a spot to rock again after letting chaos accumulate in my jam space.

A bunch of guitar pedals on the dirty concrete floor.
Pedals-Schmeadals

I posited the following to social media, and AI:

How would you hook up the following components to maximize use/effectiveness of the given equipment for a guitar rig?

The Amps:

  • Gorilla TC-35 (Combo)
  • Fender Blues Jr. (Combo)
  • Positive Grid Spark (Combo)
  • Lil’ Smokey (Combo)
  • Orange Micro Terror (Head)
  • Laney 2×12 (Cab)
  • Yamaha MSR 100 (PA)

The Pedals:

  • D’Addario/Planet Waves PW-CT-04 Tuner
  • Ernie Ball 6185 Wah
  • Quinnamp Dirt & Ernie (Distortion/Boost)
  • The Spamp+ (Amp / Preamp)
  • Ammoon Pock Loop (Looper)
  • LiveWire Solutions ABY1 ABY Box
  • Joyo BAATSIN (Overdrive/Distortion)
  • Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium (Overdrive)
  • Mooer E7 Synth
  • DigiTech Trio Band Creator + FS3X Footswitch

Is there a good order to the pedals? Typically I have the Trio going out to the Yamaha PA, and the ABY going into the Micro Terror/Laney and the Blues Jr. Ignoring the Spark & (sadly) the TC-35. I’m not sure which way to order the pedals, though.

Also, do I split the signal early & put different effects to each amp? I have done that with the wah and it sounds neat.

I get that it’s all subjective, but I love to over-think things… so help me do that.

I did ask Perplexity, ChatGPT, & Gemini for advice, and they seem to provide pretty standard stuff that you may see in guitar forums.

From Perplexity:

๐ŸŽธ

To set up your guitar rig effectively, the goal is to optimize signal flow for tonal clarity while integrating the ABY box and DigiTech Trio Band Creator with your PA system. Here’s a structured approach:

Pedal Order Recommendations

  1. Tuner (D’Addario PW-CT-04):
    Place first to ensure a clean signal for accurate tuning136.
  2. Wah (Ernie Ball 6185):
    Follows the tuner, as wah pedals interact best with an unaltered guitar signal135.
  3. Distortion/Boost (Quinnamp Dirt & Ernie):
    Early gain staging preserves dynamic response. Stack with subsequent drives145.
  4. Overdrives (Joyo BAATSIN, Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium):
    Order these based on preference (e.g., lower-gain first into higher-gain)146.
  5. Preamp (The Spamp+):
    Acts as a tone-shaping buffer. Place after drives to avoid coloring their response34.
  6. Synth (Mooer E7):
    Position after drives for consistent tracking. Synths can behave unpredictably with distorted signals45.
  7. DigiTech Trio Band Creator:
    Place here to analyze your processed guitar signal. Route its output to the Yamaha PA for bass/drum separation24.
  8. Looper (Ammoon Pock Loop):
    Last in the chain to capture the entire signal, including the Trioโ€™s guitar input. This ensures loops include all effects34.
  9. ABY Box (LiveWire ABY1):
    Split the final signal to your Orange Micro Terror/Laney 2×12 and Fender Blues Jr.2.
    • Enable ground lift/isolation if using both amps simultaneously to avoid hum2.

Amplifier Configuration

  • Orange Micro Terror: Connect to the Laney 2×12 cab (ensure impedance matching).
  • Fender Blues Jr.: Use as a standalone combo.
  • Yamaha PA: Dedicated to the Trioโ€™s band mix for a full stereo/backing track experience24.

Key Considerations

  • Experiment with Drive Order: Test the Joyo BAATSIN and Unobtanium in different sequences (e.g., BAATSIN as a mid-boost into the Unobtaniumโ€™s higher gain)14.
  • Synth Placement: If tracking issues arise, try moving the Mooer E7 earlier (post-wah)5.
  • ABY Ground Noise: Use the LiveWire ABY1โ€™s ground-lift feature if humming occurs2.

This setup balances conventional signal-chain logic with your specific gear, ensuring the Trioโ€™s band tracks and dual-amp rig work cohesively. Always test and tweak to suit your playing style!

Citations:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/w23bgj/my_first_pedals_in_what_order_do_i_put_them/
  2. https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/18q86t2/aby_with_pedal_boards_and_2_amps/
  3. https://spartanmusic.co.uk/blogs/smblog/12314153-the-essentials-of-setting-up-ordering-your-guitar-pedals
  4. https://www.strymon.net/setting-up-your-effect-signal-chain/
  5. https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/blog-posts/aarons-bass-hole-get-in-line-pedal-order-101
  6. https://articles.boss.info/is-there-a-perfect-pedal-order/
  7. https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-the-best-pedal-order/
  8. https://catalinbread.com/pages/pedal-order-101
  9. https://www.laney.co.uk/blog/an-easy-guide-to-ampless-guitar-rigs-explained/
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSEigSiXXY
  11. https://articles.boss.info/the-ultimate-guide-to-guitar-effects-pedal-order-and-signal-chain/
  12. https://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.php?t=22000
  13. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/141962/
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH9FO1EMIPQ
  15. https://www.radialeng.com/blog/understanding-aby-switchers
  16. https://thejhsshow.com/articles/understanding-pedal-order
  17. https://www.reddit.com/r/GuitarAmps/comments/lqs3c2/trading_orange_micro_terror_and_cab_for_a_blues/
  18. https://www.musiciansfriend.com/effects-pedals
  19. https://www.reddit.com/r/GuitarAmps/comments/11gnatf/how_do_people_setup_multiple_amps/
  20. https://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.php?t=20110

Answer from Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-would-you-hook-up-the-foll-tU6VWW5dR1eQrF1her2o1g?utm_source=copy_output

๐ŸŽธ

Perplexity would not generate a schematic, but ChatGPT & Gemini did… or they tried. They look cool upon first glance, then get real weird when you zoom in… and they don’t even follow the advice of the chain setup. Clearly there is a disparity between the text generation & the image generation. Some of the pedal representations are really cool though, especially with GhatGPT. I can’t help but wonder where it is stolen from. Guitar mag/website rig rundowns?

Gemini generated pedal schematic.

I dunno when Fender started using orange tolex & separate heads… but the pedals look fancy.

ChatGPT generated pedal schematic.

It clearly used the Dirt & Ernie art for the Unobtanium, but it stole that gorgeous Micro Terror from somewhere… and WTF is a Crazy Tauloc? Sounds like an extra on Star Trek.

Granted, I am generally a plug-in, crank the gain, and keep the volume low kind of player. I don’t so effects much. I would like to monkey around with that I have.

Here is where I solicit your advice in the comments and on social media. ๐Ÿค˜

James Gunn’s Creature Commandos Playlist

Posted on by Standard Reply

I’ve been digging Gunn’s painstakingly curated Creature Commandos Spotify Playlist… But, I just noticed he has been deleting as well as adding content since the first episode. I have been maintaining a copy on Amazon Music because we have that, I refuse to pay for Spotify, & I’m not listening to a 2:1 song to commercial ratio.

There’s also something that calls itself Creature Commandos Sountrack Max DC that touts music “from and inspired by” the show. Well, which is from and which inspired by, Warner Bros.?

I did find this Screen Rant article listing all the songs, because… of course.

Are you watching Creature Commandos? You should be. I thought Peacemaker was perfect & it had a banger of a soundtrack too. This one is Gogol Bordello heavy where that had a sleaze metal vibe. I remember seeing Gogol Bordello at least once live. Maybe opening for Flogging Molly?

Also, obviously music was huge for The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, but who remembers the Tromeo & Juliet soundtrack? (Someone made a playlist for that, too.)

Thumbnails from various Creature Commandos playlists, and the Spotify & Amazon Music logos.
Creature Commandos Music