Ok, so, not to distract you from more important news (like Britney Spears' porno tape and OJ's book/ tv special) but did anyone notice this thing about a Russian Cosmonaut hitting a golf ball off the International Space Station the other day? I saw a blurb about it, said, "Hey, it's been done before" and moved on with my life. Well, when I saw the headline today that said that he shanked the shot, I was intrigued. Was the ball going to crash into a satellite and take out my MTV? Will it hit the Space Shuttle and cause it to burn up on reentry again? Not according to NASA. What I did get from the article, however, is that they spent FIVE MILLION DOLLARS to hit ONE GOLF BALL. Wait, let me say that again: FIVE MILLION DOLLARS to hit ONE F'N GOLF BALL. WTF, America? Apparently the stunt was paid for by a Canadian golf manufacturer called Element 21. Their whole deal is that they make golf clubs using "space age technology." So they gave the Russian Space Agency $5 million to stage this little stunt.

You may be wondering why I'm making such a big deal out of this, and I'll tell you. $5 million is almost 5 times the total donations given to Project Renewal in the past year. YEAR. Project Renewal is an organization that helps give food, clothing, shelter, and medical care to New York's homeless. They give people a second chance. They could use the money.

America's Second Harvest, the largest hunger relief organization in the country, could always use an extra $5 million. Or perhaps Canada's Second Harvest would have been a better choice. There's always Amnesty International, an organization that works to guarantee basic human rights around the world, if you're not into the whole "feeding other people" thing.

I guess my point is that I could think of better things to do with $5 million than to shoot a specially engineered golf ball into the planet's atmosphere using a gold plated golf club. It just seems to me that this was not just a publicity stunt, but a big 'ol F U in the faces of some of the less fortunate. You know, kind of a "Let them eat cake". So, yeah. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving, and now you know what to do with the leftovers.

"The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value."

Charles Dudley Warner (1829 - 1900)

What's up, turkeys?

That's about all I got. Except for happy Thanksgiving and be safe and all that other stuff. Ok bye.

"You know, there really aren't any Thanksgiving songs, are there?"

-Amanda DelGiudice

Here you are, kids, as promised, a link to the Guster Road Journal entry showing the last day of the tour. Notice the awesome lighting in the stage shots. If you ask me, Josh looks a little too happy to be going through this in public, but hey, it's his head, not mine. And for $200, I'd probably smile too.

SO I was in the supermarket today and noticed a sign at the end of the dairy aisle. It said "Natural Foods." And I thought to myself, "So, what does that make the rest of this crap? Unnatural food? I don't want to eat THAT." Just a good rule of thumb: if you can't pronounce more than 2 items on the ingredients list, you're probably holding hair spray, and therefore shouldn't eat it. Unless it's a Twinkie. Then it's ok.

"She said "“You ain't ugly, you can kiss me if you like""

- Belle and Sebastian, White Collar Boy

So, Guster Week has come and gone, and I must say it was enjoyable. Show #1 in Trenton was rough, very very rough. But the kid bounced back for show #2 in Geneva NY, and despite not having 6 of his moving lights, put on a good, if not sensational, show. It was probably a B show. Orono ME was also a good show, maybe a B+. Could have been better. But still enjoyable. It kind of sucks because I was just starting to find the groove, and get a little comfortable, and it's all over. So far, reactions have been good, and I'm hoping that February will find me on another Guster tour bus. The whole crew was awesome, just great guys to be with. Josh, the monitor engineer, got his head shaved on stage by a fan while Seth, the tour manager, took pictures. I'll get you some links as soon as they're posted. The deal was that the band and crew paid Josh to go the entire tour without shaving his head, since no one had seen him with hair. The funny thing was that after the fan was done with him, he still had some puffs of hair here and there. He looked kind of like a tennis ball. You can read more about it here. And I'm not going to say any more, lest Brian get mad at me for stealing the thunder (pun TOTALLY intended) from his road journal and takes more of my money at cards.

In other news, Republican leaders in Congress have voted Congressman Boehner as their new leader. And I'm not making that up. Now, he may pronounce it Bay-ner, but we all know how it's really said. And this one, here, well, alls I can say is too little, too late. Oh, yeah, and told ya so.

One last thing: I think I know why Ed McMahon hasn't sent me a check yet, despite your avalanche of emails and letters. It's because he's jealous. Awww yeah.

"The journey of a thousand leagues begins from beneath your feet."
Lao-Tzu (604 BC - 531 BC)

Well, Guster day 1 has come and gone. I can't say I'm entirely happy with the result, but I feel confident about today. Yesterday's rig was only a fraction of the gear I wanted on the show, and the lights I did have I wound up WAY over using to try to compensate. Let's just say that it could have looked better. I just hope that today's show doesn't reveal me for the talentless hack that I am. I'll definitely be more relaxed. After all, it's day 2, and I can't make it look any worse than day 1, right? Well, off to work...

Something about seeing a door with this sign on it propped open makes me chuckle.

"Order is the shape upon which beauty depends."

Pearl Buck (1892 - 1973)

Well, kids, it's time you all find out just what you've been missing:


That's right: The Radio Galaxy at the Crossroads, last Saturday night. What an awesome show. They keep getting better, and I can't get anyone to come see them! Ah well, maybe my week with Guster (which begins tomorrow, btw) will help. Well, back to programming. And get your butts out to a Galaxy show sometime soon, or else!

Coming Soon! The story of Don Omar and the Garden of Hell!

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Breaking News! Big Headlines! O.M.F.G!!!!!! Britney and K-Fed are BREAKING UP!!!! OMG! What will Brit do now that she's become official white trash! How will she cope, being a millionaire single mom? When will her new reality TV show come on the air? Will K-Fed sell anymore albums, now that he's not Mr. Spears? How long until they get back together? And what about the children? Doesn't anyone think about the CHILDREN?!? Ohhh, the humanity of it all.

Oh, yeah, and the Democrats won back some seats in the Congress. Not that you'd care about that. Or the fact that gay marriage is now banned in over half the states in the country. And what about the fact that your vote may not have counted at all? No, that doesn't matter. Because Brit is on her own now, and K-Fed is officially a has been. At least, until they make up and get married again.

The news media makes me sick.

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half."

Gore Vidal (1925 - )

So, Albany, NY for Duran Duran. Yeah, Hungry Like the Wolf and Girls on Film Duran Duran. Not a bad show, but WAY too much little stupid stuff like scrollers and strobe lights... took us almost all day just to get everything working. Then the house opened and 2 moving lights, a scroller, and 2 PAR cans decided to stop working. Such is life, I guess. All in all, a long, tedious day, but not half as bad as Don Omar, who loads into the Theatre at Madison Square Garden this Friday. Oh man, I can't wait! More later, Mouseketeers!

I had to share this pic. It's too funny. It was on the wall at the Palace Theatre in Albany. Birlliant!

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph."

Shirley Temple (1928 - )

I know, I know, I thought she was dead too!

Ok, so, I don't know how many of you have been keeping up on this Ted Haggard thing, but this link here is the latest. Apparently, this Haggard dude is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and a pastor, husband, and father. He's a proponent of Amendment 43, a Colorado law banning same-sex marriage. Oh, yeah, he's also a client of male prostitutes and a meth user. But hey, nobody's perfect, right? So I'd just like all of you out there in bloggy blog land to put your hands together for the continued hypocrisy of the Christian right! Yeah! Let's hear it! OK! Oh, wait: he's not a meth user, he just bought some "out of curiosity" and he "threw it away." Sure. And Clinton didn't inhale. Oh, and the prostitute: well, he was just getting a massage. Oh. Well, that's ok. Wait, what? Show me a straight man who wants to get massaged by another man, and I'll show you a guy who lives in a river in Egypt.

"Vincent: Have you ever given a foot massage?
Jules: [scoffs] Don't be tellin' me about foot massages. I'm the foot fuckin' master.
Vincent: Given a lot of 'em?
Jules: Shit yeah. I got my technique down and everything, I don't be ticklin' or nothin'.
Vincent: Would you give a guy a foot massage?"

-Pulp Fiction

This is fantastic... squirrels at Woodstock... if Abbot and Costello were hippies...



"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth."

Evan Esar (1899 - 1995)

Still think MySpace is great? Well, check this out: Linky McLinkerson. That's right. If you try to upload copyrighted music to your MySpace acct, no more MySpace acct. So what happens if it's my copyright? If I want to put my music on my MySpace? And did you see the thing about how MySpace is now going to start marketing unsigned bands? How long is it until your email box is clogged up with shit you don't like or want because NewsCorp's computer algorithm thinks you'll like it based on your "favorite music" selections. Boycott now.