Whoa

You know that the story is gonna be nasty when the headline contains the words "fatal horse-sex case".

Art Paul can sue the D?

As I shuffle through the day, Art Paul's song "One Note" comes on, and I think to myself, "isn't this the exact same thing as 'One note Song' by the mighty Tenacious D but without the ridiculous 'do you think some people are robots' discussion?"

The answer is yes, in theory, at least. I wasn't able to find a date on Art Paul's recording except that it's on The Best of Art Paul Schlosser, which is from just a coupla years ago.

Oh well, who really cares? I just thought it was interesting that a million monkeys typing on a million typewriters will eventually come up with the same thing.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 18

In this episode, we have:

- More fun from the Home of the Octabong
- A little Ass Harvest discussion
- "Cemetery Highway" from our new album, Cynical

I think the sound qualiy isn't the greatest (especially on the album track, I encoded it at like AM-radio quality, sorry!), but there's some fun in there, especially when we're relaxing in the hot tub in the back of the truck!

Get the MP3 right here:
http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_18.mp3

Good News For Quagmire...

When a woman breathes this, it makes her want to do the hippity-dippity. Schweet. I'll probably pick some up when they can put it in filter form for central air conditioning.

This story about a Canadian girl with a penaut allergy who died after kissing a guy who ate a peanut butter sandwich several hours beforehand is unbelievably tragic. It reminds me of the "A kiss can be deadly if you mean it" line from Batman Returns.

Fucking peanuts. Isn't there something we can do for these people?

RIP Pat Morita

Oh no! Pat Morita has passed on.

Man, when I was 8, Mr. Miyagi was all-wise and I watched more than my share of Happy Days. That movie with Jay Leno (I think it was called Collision Course, but I'm too lazy to imdb right now) was awful, but he still was great.

The Great White North Leads The Way On Diplomacy with Extraterrestrials

And they're sending The McKenzie Brothers to greet our new friends.

Okay, not really, but that'd be awesome.

However, this article on a former Canadian minister of defence discussing the serious need for a panel to talk about relations with extraterrestrials certainly piques my interest. The fact that he talks about Roswell like it's a certainty and that the Bush Administration is building a forward base on the moon make the guy sound a little off-his-rocker.

But that's what they want you to believe.

It's nice to see the subject taken seriously, though.

You know what I just said...

...about Europeans? The Brits have just made me rethink it.

Here's a gem from Licensing Minister James Purnell:

"There should be a very clear principle here - that if people are not causing harm to others, government should get out of their personal lives."

God Save The Queen!

Dumb and Dumber

This hot tamale is going to spend three years under house arrest for doing it with her student. Check her out. This kid is going to tattle on that? You know the only reason he told anybody is so that he could sue the school district (either that or she stopped putting out.) Now, her life is ruined. Yeah, I know that she's fucked up to make a judgment call as bad as this when the laws are the way they are and we hold on to the surreality of adolescence, so she's obviously got some problems. She can't get attention from men her own age? And of course she apologizes to the fifteen-year old and his family. Fuck that. He should be apologizing to her. She serves up a hot dish for him and he's gonna get her in trouble for it? They're both idiots. Her, for not choosing me, and also for such poor judgment, and him, for turning her in when he could probably continue to hit that.

Where's Pacey when we need him? And it's not like Katie Holmes is any stranger to May-December love. Why did she get to be the big star? I've yet to see a film that she's been in where she was as good as Dawson was in Varsity Blues. I'm open to suggestions.

Did you see last week's Scientology episode of South Park? Fucking brilliant.

More human stupidity, a Norwegian bartender is going to serve six months in the big house for killing a man with tequila. 19 shots in 90 minutes. Didn't we do that in Wausau in September?

I know that a bartender should know when a guy has his limits, but it's up to the asshole drinking to know, too, isn't it? Does personal responsibility mean anything? Well, they're Europeans. And you know how good they are at cleaning up their own messes...

Anyway, in case I don't get to say it, have a nice Thanksgiving. I don't mean to be so misanthropic today, but I just can't help it. Even with so many dickweeds in the world, there's a lot to be thankful for. Have some Tofurkey for me. :)

Look for me on TV!

I'm at Lambeau with my Dad watching Green Bay whomp upon the poor, sad Minnesota Vikings!

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This weekend

Words cannot express my gratitude to everyone involved in making this weekend a success. Three shows filled with people that I truly like. Thank you for your support. It will certainly lead to great things!

Thanks and.... THANKS AGAIN!

Whoa. Last night was unbelievable! It was even more fun than I had imagined. Thanks so much to everybody who came to the King Club to celebrate...

I really want to thank everyone who helped with the insane amount of preparation for the party, too.

There's no way we would have pulled it off without all of you! :)

I apologize that I was so unhelpful at the end of the night. Everybody who helped pack up my stuff: I owe you big time! Seriously. I guess my lack of dinner and sleep added some punch to ALL OF THOSE SHOTS people bought me! Oops.

By the way... I don't have my phone. It's in my duffle bag which is... uh.... anybody seen my green duffle bag? I think it's in the van. heh.

Cynical Gets Its First Review

I See Sound publishes the first review of Cynical.

Thanks for the kind words!

And my sideburns look totally badass in that picture.

Release Party Tonight!

That's right, the CDs look great and all the Cynical swag does too.

The doors for general admission open at 9 and the cover will be only $5 for the show (we'll have CDs and all the new merch available tonight for general admission too), we still have a couple advance tickets left so you can still make it to the VIP party before the music starts. Let us know as early as possible, though, so we can reserve the materials and order more food for you.

I'm really excited, I finally got to see the finished product yesterday and it's f'in hot!

Advanced Tickets Still Available

The CDs have arrived! F'in sweet.

The party's tomorrow and we still have some advanced tickets available for the Cynical Pre-Party sponsored by the fine people at Capital Brewery.

Advanced tickets get you food, beer, Sunspot pint glass, the new album, and admission to the show all for the same price as the cover charge plus a copy of the CD. Plus, you get to start partying an hour before everyone else!

She Broke Apart Captain!

Looks like the ghost of Scotty couldn't make this rocket fly on schedule. The private company that takes ashes into space needs more time to fix thei rocket that was taking the remains of James Doohan.

You Can't Live In The Past

Night Stalker is cancelled after only six episodes were broadcast. The X-Files were the real successor to the Kolchak series, but it seems the paranormal conspiracy drama is a little tired now (I'm still a sucker for them, but it was a very 90's thing.) We'll need some distance before we can get into it again. I feel bad for Stuart Townshend, he can't get a break. He lost the Aragorn role in Lord of the Rings and now his show got cancelled. Someone get him a cookie. Stat.

Not that supernatural shit isn't in. Everyone I know talks about Lost all the time. I haven't had time to really get into a show. I usually save it for The Sopranos, that's the one I don't miss an episode of. Anyway, as a fan of the old Darren McGavin Night Stalker, I'll probably finally catch this one when they run it on Sci-Fi.

Cynical is on the way!

Good News

#1- The new albums have shipped, they're finished and on their way.

#2- Capital Brewery is officially sponsoring the release party and there's free beer for the advanced ticket holders from 8-9.

#3- Some of the new Sunspot swag has arrived with more on the way, meaning that we'll get all new gear for the new disc's arrival.

Hot shit. That's three great reasons to like Monday this week.

Now I know why we all go to Brothers

Friday night was a shining example of Madison at its lowest. Allison and I went out for our friend Chris's birthday and started out at what I remember as being one of the fun places to hang out downtown--the Vintage. Usually, the jukebox is sweet and the atmosphere is pretty chill. Not the case that evening. Swarmed by frat boys dancing to "Whatcha gon' do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk," I was unable to obtain a drink for about 20 minutes. Overcharged and undermixed, I dropped some of the contents on the gyrating herd of over-cologned Abercrombie mannequins in between me and the table. After like an hour of not being able to hear the birthday girl talk over "This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!" we trotted over to the Lava Lounge. Regrettably. I haven't liked that place since the bartender dateraped our friend. After being overcharged for two martinis, they called last call and immediately started screaming rudely at people to get out. The ladies were unable to finish even half of their drinks. To finish off the experience, an obviously underaged , highly intoxicated, probably-Iowa-cheering boy bumped into Allison and knocked her purse off her shoulder. I politely said, "Hey dude, careful" or something like that. His friend goes, "Wow, make a big deal out of it" and sticks his middle finger right in her face.

Next time, I'm going to Brothers. Mark knows how to treat people and keep the party rollin. Should have gone to Bros.

Totally Sweet!

Cool, we're featured on the front page of Podshow.com!

The Podsafe Music network kicks ass and it's because it allows people to play our music without worrying that we're going to take them to court. The mighty Epitaph Records just signed up some of their artists to the Podsafe Music Network and just goes to show that you don't have to be evil when you're a record label.

Make sure you check out these fine podcasters who've been spinning Sunspot lately when you have a chance (you don't need an iPod, you can listen to these shows right from your computer!)
Pacific Coast Hellway
The Bareft Podcast (Briton's)
Grand Rapids Podcast
Accident Hash
Elmocast
The Scene Zine
Ozzy Mate
UC Radio
I See Sound

and the bunch of others I can't think of right now. Anyway, it's just really cool that the revolution in audio media is happening NOW and we really appreciate the podcasters making us part of it with our music.

We'll have a new episode of Sunspot Road Mania from this weekend up early next week. We're playing in Belleville tomorrow night and we'll be partying at the Home of the Octabong tomorrow for a little pre-game fun.


That's some hot shit right there!

Dammitheads at The Klinic Tonight

Our good friends in The Dammitheads are playing tonight at The Klinic on South Park St.

If you like Spoon, you'll definitely like these guys. I'm listening to their new album, The Heart of the Matador right now and it sounds great.

Before that, I'm gonna check out Bif Naked at Club Majestic. I wrote up an interview with her in this month's Maximum Ink. Anyway, she was fun to talk to and there's a coupla good tracks on her album, so I wanna check it out. She's opening for Default, but I don't know anything really about them except that "Wasting My Time" song which was a little too nu-metal for me.

Plus, I think Oxford and Crimson Vim are at The Annex tonight (that's what Uncle Timmy told me, but I'm too lazy to go to the website now.) Anyway, there's a lotta good shit going on tonight, so I can't wait to go out.

The White Stripes

Ringin on my doorbell?

What the fuck?

Get a fuckin' bassplayer.

Podcast Promos...

Accident Hash played the first Sunspot Road Mania promo today!

One of the coolest things about podcasting is since everything's done in audio files, it makes collaboration easy and you can send stuff back and forth to other podcasters with ease. Anyway, if you're in a band, stop fucking around and put your music on the Podsafe Music Network immediately. It's a great way to get your music directly in the hands of people who aren't into sucking on the RIAA and the burning demonic milk that erupts from their corporate teat.

Advance Tickets for The Release Party Available NOW!

Get your advance tickets to the "Cynical" CD Release Party on Nov. 17th today!

Advance ticketholders get into the pre-party, get a copy of Cynical, and a Sunspot swag bag with a ton of cool surprises!

More People That Will Burn In Hell

These Kansas "therapists" used their mentally ill patients as slaves for labor and sex.

If you stare at humanity too long, it will eventually engulf you in its sadness.

Will MySpace Get Screwed?

In this news story, a high school practically shuts down because four kids made threats on MySpace.

The school district official quoted in the article MySpace.com will be held "accountable".

For what? For not monitoring the content that some asshole teenagers wrote on a website that has over a million members? How are they going to do that? I hope their advertising model is successful, because if MySpace gets sued and goes out of business, thousands of bands across the country are going to lose their sites.

I know that everyone and their brother constantly exaggerates the importance of MySpace (once these friend networks get too massive (as many are already getting), then its usefulness as a networking tool will probably end) but it's the first networking site that everyone in a band knows and uses. And it's cool that you can get the skinny on a band quickly, instead of wafting through pages of Flash intros and splash pages (which makes me want to leave a site quickly instead of explore it.) It's a good concept and it's successful, but I don't know if they're making any money, a well-timed lawsuit might destroy MySpace just as quickly as it ascended.

Grokster was shut down today by some corporate lawyers and their satanic masters at the RIAA. And Grokster didn't have central servers (like dearly departed, Napster did. So now, legally the RIAA can shut not only the act of piracy down, but the vehicle through which that piracy travels. It's like the police shutting down a car dealership because those cars might carry stolen merchandise. We live in interesting times, the RIAA is pulling a Thomas Edison and suing people because it buys them the time they need to put together a new business plan that will work in the Digital Age.

Oh well, I just hope that the geniuses at this school district decide to go after the parents before they go after a website.

EPC

Sweet, The Edgerton's Pen Conspiracy gave us a shout out in the liner notes of their 2005 release. Good band. It's a shame they broke up, but hopefully they'll find what they are looking for with their new projects. For more, check out The Edgerton's Pen Conspiracy site at http://www.epcrocks.com.

Get your hands off my beer!

Once again, the Wisconsin state legislature is sticking its big fucking nose in a place it shouldn't by making laws about who small breweries can sell their beer to, forcing costs up unless they go through distributors.

I realize that they have the right to regulate intrastate commerce, but why? Who does this serve? The consumer, by making prices more expensive? The small brewery, by driving down their profits?

Competition is good. Distributors and breweries can do a lot of great things (i.e., get us more drunk) when they work together, but why does the legislature have to mandate any of this? What do we have to do to get these people off our backs?

Welcome to friendly, liberal Madison, Wisconsin. A town so welcoming that our Mayor threatens martial law.

Let us party in peace. Please.

Sunspot Road Mania - Episode 17

This episode was recorded in the van November 6th, 2005, after weekend shows in Racine and Wausau, WI.

Featured music:

"Goldensun" by Gary Wortham (Racine, WI)
"Chairman of the Bored" by Stall (Milwaukee, WI)

Road Mania comment line:
(206) 666-BAND that's (206) 666-2263

More pics from Racine!

Awesome, here's some more cool shots from Friday night...

Thanks for the great pics, Mike!

Cool pics from Friday in Racine!

Here's some pics from our show at McAuliffe's on Friday!

Thanks to Gareth Glynn Ash for the great shots!

Filthy Divine at The Klinic

If you guys are going out in Madison, definitely stop by The Klinic. Our friends in Filthy Divine will be rocking the house. We were with them in La Crosse last month and we has an excellent time. Their new songs are the best I've heard them sound.

The Klinic has some of the best drink specials in Madison. It's a kickass place to check out new music and to get buck wasted.

Elmocast

Haha, I just had a chance to listen to my subcribed podcasts from this week and Elmocast had a drunken voicemail from me on Saturday night after I walked down State Street on Halloween.

Check out the latest Elmocast here.

McAuliffe's in Racine tonight!

Alright, we're back in lovely Racine tonight for a show at our favorite Irish bar, McAuliffe's Pub, stop down for a cold one. Our first show there was four years ago this week, so come down to our graduation ceremony tonight!

The Sugar at Slipper Club

Enjoying a great Wednesday night rock show!

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Tony Kuehn?

I swear to God, the bass player in Not By Mars looks like our favorite Wolfman, Tony Kuehn. This shit is uncanny!

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Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 16

We're back to the podcast!

Tonight, we finished practice and just talked a little bit about what we've been doing since the last podcast.

Featuring music from The Von Ehrics and a little on-the-scene reporting from the home of the Octabong!

The Sugar at The Slipper

We're going out tonight to see The Sugar at The Slipper tonight. If you're downtown, come say hi!