Hyggelig å treffe deg...
to all my new Norwegian friends! Thank you for visiting!

happy new year...to all my Wiccan friends,

and a very happy Hallowe'en to all.
Blessed be.

every once in a while...
a little musical gem surfaces and it’s gleam far outshines all others in your mind’s ear. Such it is with Bright Eyes, an ever-evolving entity that revolves around an incredible young talent, Conor Oberst. I was introduced to this talented and insightful twenty-four year old singer/songwriter by my daughter the other night and he’s been haunting me ever since. Not since someone sat me down so many years ago and made me listen to Leonard Cohen for the first time have I been so emotionally thrashed about by simple tunes and simple lyrics that belie the depths of the message they convey. We listened to a broad sampling of his work, but by far the CD that really grabbed me by the gut is "Fevers and Mirrors", which is available on the Saddle Creek label, as are his other astounding efforts. Like Jason Molina’s SONGS: Ohia, Bright Eyes is an ever evolving entity, pulling in talent to orbit around Conor’s creative sun long enough to refine and record, then it dissolves, only to re-form again, a new collection of talent starting the process over. I don’t mean to gush over this young man, but he is really worth seeking out and having a listen to. Please purchase some of his music.
(Equally as talented but in a slightly different direction is another Saddle Creek band, "Sorry about Dresden", of which Conor’s brother Matt is a member, so check them out as well).
Blessed be.

new shit, old shit and some weird shit...
so, last night we tripped to the city of brotherly love, philadelphia, to see marilyn manson...
we got there about an hour early, so we went to the 69th street food court and supped royally on a chicken cheese steak and some pizza cheese fries at benjamin's, the hippest food place around. then we walked back up the street to the tower theatre, where the creatures of the night were congragating for the show; hard core goths, the usual posers and hallowe'en costumes everywhere you looked, it was quite interesting to say the least. of course, you have to get frisked these days and the fellow who was checking me over said, "it's really great to see old guys coming to see manson..." EXCUSE ME?!?!?! i was banging heads with the best of them when most of the people at the place were still being potty trained.. old indeed...
anyway, we made our way inside and hooked up with the bloodhound and mickey and settled in to watch the show, both on and off stage.
we suffered through the opening act, a really suck ass band named S.T.U.N., who might be better described by adding a final "K"... they blew. the lead screecher (i reserve the term "singer" for those who actually do) proceeded to growl and mumble through their set, the only word that i could understand was "fuck", which he took the effort to enunciate clearly and loudly every ten seconds or so. from what little i could make out, he seemed to be trying to get some sort of political statement across, but i have to admit that i was distracted by his constant flailing the mike stand round and round, much to the peril of his band mates. he also trucked around a piece of plywood or, perhaps it was an ironing board, i really couldn't tell, while assailing the audience with a cheap flashlight... all very curious. the highlight of their performance was the end of the last number, when he felt it necessary to throw a full force body block on his drummer, the both of them tumbling to the stage. not a very auspicious start to the evening.
when manson finally came on, the crowd was ready to rock and they really got into every number with full enthusiasm. he did the new shit and he did the old shit, i really don't remember what songs he did in what order, but they were all great, the band was tight and he was his usual rowdy and rancid form. if you've seen him on stage, you know what i mean... it's a wonder the local vice squad hasn't busted him. there were two low points, however... first, the stage smoke was layed on so heavy that you couldn't see too much of anything at times, which is a shame as the sets and antics of his dancers are something not to be missed. the second low point was when some drunken asshole threw a bottle at him and clocked him in the eye. he called for the band to stop playing and threatened not to play another note until the person came up on stage and faced him. seeing that it was not going to happen, he called on the audience to point him out and beat the shit out of him... luckily for the idiot the security people and police ushered him out before he got pounded, even though that would have been too good for him. i'll never understand why jerks like that spend the money to go to a show and pull their shit, usually they just bother the people around them, but this asshole could have caused manson or anyone else on stage serious injury... i hope manson sues him and he spends some time in jail getting fucked up the ass so he learns a lesson...
anyway, that kind of took the edge off the evening and i think manson was pissed enough to call it quits after the last number and didn't come out for an encore, and i don't blame him...
so, that's that...