Not all TV newspeople are idiots...

...obviously this one's not because she's the daughter of Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor (well, even though Jimmy made some questionable national security decisions (He gave back the Panama canal! Hey man, we paid for that!)) but she burned on-air the Paris Hilton jail story because it was ahead of real news. Click the link to get the video, but that's pretty cool thing for a television "personality" to do.

Also on that page is a link to an article about the Spice Girls reunion. The only really interesting thing on there is how they all look now, over ten years after the peak of their popularity. Holy shit, does Posh look like a porn star. Remember when Ginger Spice was the slutty looking one? She looks positively virginal next to Mrs. Beckham (I guess when you're married to the most popular soccer player (and philanderer) in the world (which in the US is about as glamorous as being married to the right fielder of the Madison Mallards) you need to keep up appearances but damn, she looks straight out of Good Will Humping.)


Zig-a-zig-ha, indeed.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 56

This one's more of a music video, here's some clips of Sunspot playing Racine Harborfest 6/23/07. Wendy and I filmed an intro yesterday, but my iMovie crashed and I lost it. And it was really a fucking awesome intro too, you guys would have loved it. I mean, it was really something. But now it's gone forever and no data recovery services can do anything to salvage that greatness. Thanks to Kevin Z. for sneaking the camera by the vigilant security guards and enjoy the songs! Can you let me know if I'm looking plump in this one? It's always so hard to tell on video.

My new toy!

My new toy!
Originally uploaded by Wendy Lynn

A replacement for the one I destroyed at Harborfest, may it Rest In Peace!

Photos from Harborfest

Photographer David Siegert has published a bunch of his shots from our performance at Racine Harborfest.

Check out the pics here!

Thanks, Dave!

Cool band

I heard Locksley from here in Madison last night and they're pretty cool. My favorite part was when they invited a kid up to play the guitar with them.

Face Tattoos

Utah's most wanted criminal got pinched today and here's his mugshot.



I don't know about face tattoos (like Queequeg from Moby Dick), man. Maybe because I associate them with the tear drop tattoo or that dude from the Jim Rose Circus that will eat anything. Anyway, at least he looked pretty cool, this guy in Utah just looks like another asshole.

I'm in the face tattoos are not hot camp, but if you can give me a sexy example, I could be persuaded otherwise.

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 6/23/07 @ Harborfest, Racine, WI

On A Sun at Harborfest

On A Sun at Harborfest
Originally uploaded by Wendy Lynn

The view from "backstage" as our friends rock the Pig Stage!

Save Money on Harborfest Tickets

Save 4 bucks per ticket for Harborfest here buy printing them online before Saturday's show!

Click here for some shots of us rocking there in 2005!

This Happened Here

In one of my favorite places on the planet, Austin, an angry mob killed a passenger in a car that hit a kid. The kid's injuries weren't life-threatening and he's doing fine but it sounds like something that you see in one of those "Faces of Death" videos from foreign countries where there's war in the streets. But it happened in Austin. Civilization is a fucking joke.

The Nuge and Macca

Well, it looks like Terrible Ted's moved down to Texas and he's got a column in the Waco newspaper (the home of David Koresh, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and the first place I ever saw a Super Wal-Mart.) I don't dismiss him as an idiot for his beliefs, because he appears about as earnest as you can get in a Pomo world, and I respect that somewhat. I don't dismiss his musical talent because even though "Stranglehold" is way too long and I never loved the Damn Yankees (you'll never sell me on anybody from Styx, sorry), "Fred Bear" is a kickass song, "Wango Tango" is funny, Free For All has Meat Loaf and we used to cover "Cat Scratch Fever", so I have some affection for his music. However, his latest column rages against Paul McCartney for terminating two of his employees for eating meat and his logic isn't connecting the dots.

He talks about being "friendly, tolerant Americans" who have no "desire whatsoever to influence any vegetarian's choice of diet or to force them to eat meat" but you're forcing them to employ people who do not meet their ethical standards. Ted, you're talking a big game for free-market rules (even ending your column with a "Hey, Hugo (Chavez) and Hillary (Clinton), leave me alone") but what about Paul McCartney's right to hire and employ people that share his principles? He's the guy signing the checks. It's his songs in the first place.

Would Ted hire the Dixie Chicks for a tour? No, because he doesn't agree with their political viewpoints and he wouldn't want to pay them or provide a soapbox for them, and that's his right, not to tour with people that don't share his views. Paul McCartney is exercising the same right as an employer. He believes that his employees should share his ethical principles- and since "standing up for individual independence" is so important (in the words of the Motor City Madman, himself) than what could be more so than respecting McCartney's right to do so over his company? "Laissez-faire", Ted.


That's what I call friendly and tolerant.

I Heart NY

A NY court says it's legal for women to walk around topless! Yes, it's a touch ridiculous that the litigant in this matter is named Phoenix Feeley, and I guess this original ruling was passed down in 1992, but I've been to NYC plenty of times in the past fifteen years and have yet to see the results of this landmark decision.

Admittedly, it's a salacious example, but it's another victory for getting the the government out of our lives. And bully for that, yo!

Hard Rock

Hard Rock
Originally uploaded by Wendy Lynn

We heard a lot of celebs hang at the Hard Rock. Still deciding where we're gonna party tonight!

Rat Pack Tribute

Rat Pack Tribute
Originally uploaded by Wendy Lynn

I've always wanted to see Frank Sinatra perform, and this is probably the closest I'll ever get.



What a fun show... I can't imagine how awesome things were back in the day at The Sands.

Jackie Jr. For Real

AJ's real-life celebrity poker game is robbed!

Also, the Oregon horselover has been caught!

Canadian Justice is a Harsh (lack of) Mistress

This progressive Toronto judge orders a guy not to have a girlfriend for three years. The guy in question is a total asshole, no one's arguing that. He should probably get his ass kicked a coupla times and see a therapist. But fuck the state if they think they can control people's personal relationships. Now, I like Canada because they've got beer with extra alcohol in it, and I think it's awesome that their lax with their drug laws, because that's the way it oughta be, but this judge shouldn't be allowed to wear his wig anymore (yes, I know that Canadian judges haven't worn since the Mid-Nineteenth Century.)


But would you let these guys tell you who you could date?

Real World Star Dies in Wisconsin

Frankie Abernathy had Cystic Fibrosis since she was 3 and passed away at her parents home in Shorewood. I was never a massive Real World fan (in fact, I usually despise it), but I did catch some of her season and I always thought she had decent taste in music. Her Wikipedia article says this last winter is what really affected her the most (and it was fucking freezing here this year, so anyone with a lung disease had to have been hurting.) I didn't know much about her, but took a morbid interest today because my sister used to live in Shorewood and there was a kickass gaming store there too. So, RIP.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 55

While Wendy's away, the boys will play. Mike and Ben relaxing in the luxurious Sunspot offices and talking about this weekend's rocking and shows coming up like:

Racine Harborfest
Barn Bash 2007

Squeeze Box

Ya know, I love The Who, but is it just me, or is "Squeeze Box" a really stupid song? It may have been intentional, but c'mon, I've seen more clever double entendres on Benny Hill. Maybe I just don't like songs that are explicit (Your body is a fucking wonderland?), but it's like they didn't even try.

At least, Lil Jon used a word that was kinda funny and most whiteys like me didn't know what it meant. Check this link for more intellectual discourse on that.

Racine Harborfest Video

Hey guys,
Anyone going to Harborfest this year that has a digital camera, we'd love to get some footage for a future video. Soooooooooo... if you've got a video camera and would like to do some taping of what's gonna be a kickass party, then let us know, because we'll supply the tape. Just send an email to sunspotATsunspotmusicDOTcom so that we know how many to bring.

Thanks!

When I'm 64 on the web now for download

I took the "When I'm 64" mp3 off the Myspace so that we could keep our own stuff up there, but I uploaded it to the Sunspot server so it could be downloaded and shared:

http://www.sunspotmusic.com/mp3/sunspot_when_im_64.mp3
Just do a right-click to download.

Revenge of the Panthers!

You've never tasted the sweetest of loves until you've seen these ladies in their eighties!

That's a wrap

And just like that, The Sopranos is over forever. Unlike the ending of The X-Files five years ago (that was already five years ago, Holy Shit) which only made me sad, people actually care about this one and I bet a ton are pissed off today. I won't spoil it, but it certainly has people on the Internet buzzing like those Cicadas yesterday, so it's fulfilling more expectations than I think most realize.


My take: It ended about the way I expected but I thought that the way it was handled was surprising and actually, kinda awesome. The cat and Paulie were great, Tony eating the orange ala The Godfather at Carmela's estate purchase was a nice touch, appropriate gruesomeness where you wanted it, Steve Perry, and a nailbiting ending.

Anyway, I'll definitely miss it. Hey, I spent the last two hours just reading fans' and critics' reactions to the finale and I'm still digesting some of it. You don't get that from the fucking Simple Life. I'm thankful we had it because it was some of my favorite art ever. A show that started when I lived in a shitty place on Marion Street that my friends used to call "The Treehouse" because it was five guys in a dump that the landlords wouldn't even fix (they were letting it go to shit because they were developing an apartment complex there), lasted throughout my difficult time in La Crosse and working for peanuts at a TV station (where I learned the futility of television news, fuck that noise) and extended into my alternating periods of actualization, victimization, corporate whoring, property ownership, etc... each season reflects a different post-college period for me (music doesn't really represent that for me anymore, because pop and even most modern rock isn't my thing and hasn't been since at least 1998 if not a little earlier.) Anyway, so it concludes with a little bit of sadness for me (passage of time, reflecting on the losses I've incurred and the mistakes I've committed during the duration of it), but I like the ending. And since I'm basically a cheesy optimist instead of the cynical prick I like to be sometimes, I'm choosing the lady instead of the the tiger.

Cicada season

Cicada season
Originally uploaded by sunspot_mike

Lake Geneva is buzzing today, literally. You can hear them in the trees through the entire city.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 54

Hanging outside the van on a gorgeous Sunday after practice.
Direct download link: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_54.mp4

I didn't know you could sue...

...for being a pussy. This is the lawsuit from the guy in Borat that ran away like a little bitch when the Krazy Kazakh tried to give him a hug.

Dude, take your lumps like a man. It's okay to be a puss, look at this guy and he's doing the Hippity Dippity with 98 Degrees sloppy-seconds. But you don't have to make a federal case out of it.

Whatever Happened To Mike Seaver?

I know I should be blogging about my predictions about the last episode of The Sopranos on Sunday(do not click that link unless you want to learn MAJOR SPOILERS and you should probably skip to the next paragraph as well), but the thing is, is I don't want to know what happens. I want to be surprised. We got all the shocks we needed this season and now I want to see something that makes sense for the story. I don't even want to predict it, even though I can't help reading about it online. David Chase says that he knew exactly how the show would end when he wrote the first episode. But it also feels like a lot of season five and season six were kind of written at the seat of their pants, so I think what's happening now is what Chase was planning on happening with Johnny Sac instead of Phil(remember how pissed Johnny was when Tony didn't go with him on the Carmine hit?) And did we need Big Gay Vito's storyline to be that long? I mean, it was a good setup, and it's still the best show around, but you know some of this stuff was stretched out because HBO didn't want to lose it's cash cow. Speaking of Big Gay Vito, why hasn't anyone said anything about the funniest line of this entire season- when Phil talks about the Leotardo name being changed from Leonardo on Ellis Island. Phil, the guy who absolutely hates homosexuals and had Vito killed, talking about how Big Gay Leonardo was a "great Italian" and is upset about the name change.

Anyway, I had heard about this before just thought it was interesting that Kirk Cameron, who was such a bad boy on Growing Pains, was now such a hardcore missionary. And I wouldn't besmirch anyone's religious ideas (unless they were intruding on me) because any religion is throwing your belief into something you can't touch or prove (and isn't the idea of an old man in the clouds who's watching you when you touch yourself kinda creepy?) But if it gives you comfort and moral direction, more power to you. However, Kirk kinda made an ass out of himself on Nightline trying to say that he could 100% prove the existence of God... scientifically.

I think Douglas Adams probably said it best:

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. While most leading theologians believe this argument to be a load of dingo's kidneys, that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best-selling book, 'Well That About Wraps It Up For God'.

Sunspot does Sgt. Pepper

Our version of "When I'm 64" for the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper is on the Sunspot Myspace page now. We recorded it with our man, Aquakmunkee, a coupla weeks ago for the Triple M Sgt. Pepper Anniversary weekend and they put it out on the air. That was very cool and now the song can be yours, check it out at our Myspace page and download it there.

More Bratfest pics!

Special thanks to Jacob Ela, for submitting these. They're kickass. You can see more of Jacob's work at Atomic Fork or you can also see more in The Daily Cardinal here at the UW.

New Loch Ness Monster Video

The new footage of Nessie is labeled as "the best ever" by well, whatever authorities there are on sea monsters. I dunno if the old guy from Jaws counts.

This footage is the best ever, arrr.


I do know however, that this image is fucking terrifying. No it's not the new footage, but a 1845 JMW Turner portrait called "Sunrise With Sea Monsters".

Here's the actual stuff:

Everyone Has Bad Days

Stewart Copeland, The Police's drummer, says that they suck. Somehow I doubt that, but it's nice to know that you can still hit a bass drum with a clay foot.

Good Neanderthal Review from Pucknation

Graham Bailey from Pucknation posted a positive review of Neanderthal. His bottom line was : "Catchy music with fun lyrics and good three-part harmonies."

Awesome, thanks Graham!