For any of you short fiction fans, I’ve got a story in the current (August 07) issue of Realms of Fantasy Magazine. The title is “Time Tells All.” Though I’m far from unbiased, I highly recommend it. The issue is on stands now, and should remain up through August 6.
A buddy of mine’s band is competing in a battle of the bands. Tonight they’ll be playing at Town Tavern. Here’s more info:
The Romito Brothers Band formed in the fall of 2004 while Dante and Michael were both students at the University of Pittsburgh. The brothers jammed in a band together, along with bassist Tom Smith . The three spent the next two years writing songs and learning covers, but were still in need of a drummer. Recently Rich Bono joined the band on drums, completing the band’s lineup. Influences of the Romito Brothers include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Barenaked Ladies, and many more. The brothers are currently working on CD, and hope to release it in the summer of 2007.
The Town Tavern and 105.9 The X are hosting our first annual Battle of the Cover Bands! The X is looking for any bands that are interested in playing the music that inspired them to form a band. They also want to hear some of the bands original music! This is the first time the Town Tavern is doing anything with live music.
The contest is arranged as follows: each band in the preliminary rounds will play a 25 minute set. Fifteen of those minutes are required to be covers of popular songs. The ten minutes remaining are left to the discretion of the bands. One winner from each night will go on to compete in the finals
They are judging this competition through three factors. Crowd noise is going to play a huge part in winning each night. They want to hear the band’s fans cheering and try to get the other band’s fans into it as well. They want to hear everyone in the building singing along to all the songs. They will be counting which fan is showing up for what band. Lastly, the X’s dj the Whipping Boy will be serving as a judge.
A while back somebody posted a request for book recommendations. At the time I couldn’t think of a good non-fiction one. I can think of several good non-fiction books, but most of them are too specialized for the general public to read. The DSM-IV, for example. It’s a great read, and an absolute must for some, but for the average person? Not so much with the useful.
But I was looking over my shelves today, and I saw the perfect book to recommend:
FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual
This is a great book. It’s chock full of information on interesting and useful topics like finding food, building shelter, basic medical and sanitary practices in the field, signaling for help, and plenty more besides. The prose is straightforward, practical, yet confident and authoritative. One of the best parts about this book is its effort to familiarize the reader with the rudiments of survival in nearly any situation, including what to do if your plane crashes into an oil fire at sea. There are sections for jungle, arctic, mountain, and desert survival techniques. What more can you ask for? There are a few sections that seem glossed over, such as evading enemy patrols (this subject is given very light treatment), but overall great book. Highly recommended.
I’m a gangster, I’m a straight up G.
The gangster life is the life for me!
Shooting people by day, selling drugs by night.
Being a gangster is hella tight.– “I’m a Gangster” by Rappy McRapperson
Nerdcore rap cracks me up in general, but the above parody of gangster rap is one of my favorites. It’s also a nice companion piece to this Michelle Malkin op-ed. It’s too bad I don’t have a fresh quote from Bill Cosby to complete the hat trick. 😉
The Culture of ‘Bitches, Hos, and Niggas’
Let’s stipulate: I have no love for Don Imus, Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. A pox on all their race-baiting houses.
Let’s also stipulate: The Rutgers women’s basketball team didn’t deserve to be disrespected as “nappy-headed hos.” No woman deserves that.
I agree with the athletes that Imus’s misogynist mockery was “deplorable, despicable and unconscionable.” And as I noted on Fox News’s “O’Reilly Factor” this week, I believe top public officials and journalists who have appeared on Imus’s show should take responsibility for enabling Imus — and should disavow his longstanding invective.
But let’s take a breath now and look around. Is the Sharpton & Jackson Circus truly committed to cleaning up cultural pollution that demeans women and perpetuates racial epithets? Have you seen the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart this week?
[While going through old posts, I found a comment that I felt deserved a post of its own. Since the author is a relative of mine and a guest blogger here, I took the liberty of editing the text and publishing it here. Funky]
Violent music, aggressive thoughts linked
“Violent lyrics in songs increase aggression-related thoughts and emotions and could indirectly create a more hostile social environment, according to a U.S. a study released yesterday.”
Quite some time ago, Funky off-handedly related this article to gangster rap. Indeed, gangster rap music feeds the need to feel empowered, to feel righteous in the fact that anyone who crosses you shall be an ant to be squashed. You feel less frightened, but you continue to support the environment that you fear. Everything is a fight for life.
“DESTROY THE THREAT! ASK NO QUESTIONS! DO NOT HESITATE!!!”
You have to romanticize your screwed up social environs. Otherwise, you won’t feel good behaving in such an inhumane, psychotic manner. So, yes, it induces aggressive thoughts. It helps to have these when everyone else is about to pounce on you and destroy your life! Or so you think.
That’s the real problem, though. People often behave stupidly when they perceive a threat. Take reactions to 9/11 , for instance. One day I hope they make a study about American foreign policy showing that it can “increase aggression-related thoughts and emotions and could indirectly create a more hostile social environment.”
