Well well well !!! Guess it's about time to get back to sayin' howdy to all our friends. The time for hibernating is just about coming to a close and the time for getting back in the saddle of running around this crazy ole' world is quickly sneakin' up on us. Somehow the the more years I put behind me the more I understand the longing and desire of the bear population to hole up during natures joyous time of TOE FREEZIN" • ICE SCRAPIN" & 6 FOOT LONG ICICLE'S blocking my view.I guess in a way winter is good for the soul, kind of a yin and yang thing, the ole'" have to experience the bad to really appreciate the good". When the band was based in California sure enough after a few years we did kinda missed the seasons, you know the day after day of 70 to 85 degree weather, sun shining most of the time, a wardrobe of only fair weather clothes HOW BORING !! Plus as we all know the winter kills off many of the bugs, causes the leaves and fauna to die off so they can properly rot to feed the next years growth (that we have to trim, mow, then rake) and we finally, get to dig out all those comfy, overstuffed, sleeping bag looking clothes we get to wear so attractively. We all know there is no such thing as a good looking winter outfit it's just the lesser of crappy looking choicest has nothing to do with style it's all about "protection" and with that said when you need protection it doesn't bring up thoughts of frivolous, easy going, care free living. How in the heck do we loose that one glove with such regularity anyway.

For myself, things have been a lesson in wrestling with the digital world and the now all too common MANUALS.Since I have been learning the new recording gear it has been hitting the books and getting my hands & mindwrapped around the wonderful world of technology. Think I have a handle on it now so let the games(new song writing and recording) BEGIN !! Hmmm, hope there is something left up here in the ole' brain hat will turn out to be worth sending out to the world, we'll see. The mystery of songwriting is under way.

Starting the process of booking shows at this juncture, most folks don't know that most festivals and outdoor events start booking 7 to 8 months in advance so it all starts right after Jan 1st.  Then it is a mad house for a couple of months, band & agents fighting and scrappin' for shows at every turn.  We just have to get that Lima Bean Festival before anyone else or that "Taste of Every Town" that has nothing good to eat in the whole darn place anyway.  Has any one else noticed that the so called "tastes of" have just about the same selection as each other, hot dogs, corn dogs, some mysterious oriental rice mound, elephant ears, burnt corn on the cob, pickles on a stick, skimpy Italian Beefs and fried fried fried fried everything else.

SOAP BOX      SOAP BOX      SOAP BOX      SOAP BOX

STOP STOP STOP WITH THEOVER THE TOP DAZZLING GIGANTIC MIND BLOWING SPECIAL EFFECTS ALREADY !!!!

OK here we go and this has hit me big time. This winter I came across Block Busters movie freedom pass, love it, 25 bucks per month you get all the movies you can rent, 2 out at a time, no return day or time, no late fees GREAT!! So I have been catching up on one of my favorite pass times MOVIES, good movies, movies with a story, interesting characters you care about, suspense, good jokes, a good couple of hours of entertainment. So I have been watching one late at night just about every night and thought this is great, I have missed so many I'll catch up. Well lo' and behold I find that GOOD MOVIES with all of the above are more rare than a European woman with shaved armpits or a major corporate CEO with scruple's and integrity!!!! What is all this crap they are trying to feed us, I thought it was only the record companies that were trying to convince us that we are as stupid as they think we are, that we only have the taste of 12 year old kids or mindless robots that can only follow a Hollywood Formula storyline. You know the one's probably 70 % of the movies where you know exactly who's gonna get the girl, who's gonna get killed, who's gonna win, who's gonna lay who, and how it will end up. How can they think we will be entertained when they follow a 30 year old formula, just plug in new faces, change the exact circumstances a tad, throw in a bunch of long chase scenes, getting it on scenes, driving around scenes, dance club scenes etc. etc. If you take those out they only have twenty minutes of writing to do.

But to me far worse than all that is the overused, gratuitous, way over done SPECIAL EFFECTS. They have just become a cope out for good interesting writing.

Now don't get me wrong big epic outer space or adventure flicks are just perfect for these grandiose treatments as long as they are mixed in with good story telling but way way way too many movies rely on them to fill the hour and a half with carnival scams !!! Flashing lights, swirling colors,100 hundred cars crashed, Mega explosions, the close up on the traveling bullet in slo-mo, monsters eating folks, exploding flesh from gun shots, axes, knives, chain saws and the new look, extreme sports special effects. Can't we just get it with a bullet sound and a feller just falling over dead, do we have to see the flight of the bullet, the entrance into the flesh, mega blood gushing, bones crunching loudly and splattering bits of flesh everywhere, I personally know that when you get shot bad most folks die.

Or do we really need those long long soft porn sex scenes, the grinding music, the wrapping legs and bait shots, deep tongue action, the moaning grimacing faces and the phony humping and oral sex .If I want that I'll rent real porn for the real thing, don't waste 10 minutes of the movie with stuff I'd rather do myself !!!! I know how it's done no need for an instructional video. Shit I'm getting horny !!!!!!!!!!How many times do we need to see a car chase that lasts 10 minutes or a 15 minute shoot out that has all the bad guys as the worst every imaginable shots, so bad they can't hit the good guy with 12 machine guns blaring away in a 15 X 15 foot room as he slyly jumps behind a couch for cover. I don't know about IOUs but my couch might have trouble holding off a good pellet gun much less an armor piercing 45 magnum. Then we have to sit through this 15 min. with everything being destroyed by the barrage of flying bullets, walls, bottles, windows,mirrors, all of it. Wow that's new haven't seen that 1000 times.One of my least favorite time wasters is the long long Disco or Rave party looking for the suspect scenes. Half naked folks dancing like animals in heat, blarring bad bad house music, a light show like from a really bad acid trip and the headphone, baggy pants wearin' oblivious to it all DJ just cranking out the tunes dancing away 'til the bullets start flying. All this for 15 minutes of the good guy or guys looking for the slick looking evil guys or guys and the chase begins with the bullets flying hot and heavy. I guess every terrorist, bank robber, master criminal, drug dealer, crooked politician, cross dresser all the bad guys just love these disco's or rave parties, heck where have I been !!!!!

Or here is another one, the good guy finally pushed far enough and pissed off enough, usually re-couperating from being almost killed, then we get the 15 minute getting back in shape and into fighting mode, running, skipping rope, doing push ups & chin ups, with a trainer buddy or some guru along with some grandiose dramatic music that's supposed to be inspiring. YUCK !!!! We saw that in the 1st Rocky 30 years ago enough already. The martial arts action dudes are the worst offenders of this (Segal, Norris, Van Damme, etc.) but they use this in a lot of cop dramas too.Too many movies use the big special effects that have no right to, here's a tip for the Hollywood dudes first get a good story, write a good script and make it believable, then dress it up with some effects if you really have to BUT get off your lazy asses and get creative again.

Another thing I have noticed is the amount of what I think are lame genre's, we have way way way too many movies about:Drug Dealers, Coming of Age, Lame Comedies, Romantic Comedies, Serial Killers, Slice Chop and Slash Horrors, Life on The Mean Streets, ang Life, Men & Women in prison fighting, Hot Sex gone to killing.

Then to my absolute horror is the new altered English curtsy jump on the band wagon WHAT IS WRONG WITH R"s or S's titles like, Betta Daz, No Moh Dayz, Killa Buhttz, Streetz of Killa'z, Bahd Timz, Streetz of Gunz, Boyz from Da Hood etc. enough already.Anyway there are so shining stars on the racks but most of them haven't gotten one bit of push from the big film companies you have to find them. Seems like the majorityof the films that get the promotion and push are the worst movies out there. Once in a while they push a good one but just like the record companies the big corporations seem to think we Americans want a diet of silly, bloody,sex crazed, trendy mush to quench our tastes and entertainment desires. Lord have mercy thank god for indie movies and record labels they are our friends. Keep all your Adam Sandler like films and give me more Whale Rider, Seabiscuit and Open Country !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember these entertainment giants are the one's who give us Gili, the Brittany/Madonna Kiss, the informative and entertaining MTV and Janet's Boob in the middle of one of the great Super Bowl games. What a half time show that was such Great music and once again SPECIAL EFFECTS GALORE !!! I thought the farting horse was betta than the whole damn half time show !!!!! Thanks for your time, Keep On Smilin' YEE HAW !!!!! selection selection