Thanks to Taylor H for the heads up on this great story.
Road signs warn of zombies!
Find more about the band at sunspotmusic.com
Thursday, January 29, 2009
What's the deal with B.O.
I don't get it. I mean, I know I don't always smell like roses, especially after I work out, but at least I do my laundry. Three times in a row now I've gone to the gym and been totally grossed out by somebody's smelly stuff in a locker. Anybody else with me on this one?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 85
Sunspot back at Smart to record the first three of 2009's singles with Eric Katte of www.raw-tracks.com
Sunspotmusic.com is still down so we don't have the full quality MP4 up yet, but here's the YouTube video.
Sunspotmusic.com is still down so we don't have the full quality MP4 up yet, but here's the YouTube video.
Monday, January 19, 2009
More recording fun!
Ben's strumming away alongside engineer Eric, in front of the infamous Smart mixing console!
Time for some guitars!
It's finally time for Ben to do some rocking. He's been waiting all day for his turn, like a good little guitarist!
wendy
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I'm so excited
And I just can't hide it. Tomorrow we go back to Smart Studios to make January, February, and March songs. There is just something about making music at that place that feels right.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Almost Proof That Martians Are Real (But They're Tiny and Harmless)
“Methane is a product of biology. For methane to be in Mars’ atmosphere, there has to be a replenishable source.
“The most obvious source of methane is organisms. So if you find methane in an atmosphere, you can suspect there is life.
“It’s not proof, but it makes it worth a much closer look.”
Just a heads-up for the coolest news on this frigid day.
Until I heard this song, I always thought that Mr. Stefani was making a comment on capitalism with "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow" in "Everything Zen", but no, he was just ripping off Bowie as blatantly as he ripped off Kurt Cobain. Still, "Machinehead" is a pretty badass song.
“The most obvious source of methane is organisms. So if you find methane in an atmosphere, you can suspect there is life.
“It’s not proof, but it makes it worth a much closer look.”
Just a heads-up for the coolest news on this frigid day.
Until I heard this song, I always thought that Mr. Stefani was making a comment on capitalism with "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow" in "Everything Zen", but no, he was just ripping off Bowie as blatantly as he ripped off Kurt Cobain. Still, "Machinehead" is a pretty badass song.
sunspotmusic.com is down
Again? I think we're going to have to have a heart-to-heart with our hosting service.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
RIP Number Six and Khan
Unbelievable, we lost The Prisoner and original Mr. Roarke in the same day! Patrick McGoohan was so cool that Iron Maiden wrote two songs about him (including one with one of the fastest single foot kick drum hits I've ever heard.)
And I was just watching a Lost episode last night that reminded me a lot of The Prisoner, ("The Man Behind The Curtain" finally kind of reveals who The Island's Number One is.) Anyway, I loved that show when I was a kid.
And even with all of its cheesiness and special guest stars, I loved Fantasy Island too. And when I was 6, for some reason, we had free tickets to the drive-in for a summer and I watched Wrath of Khan at least three times that year.
RIP, gentlemen.
And I was just watching a Lost episode last night that reminded me a lot of The Prisoner, ("The Man Behind The Curtain" finally kind of reveals who The Island's Number One is.) Anyway, I loved that show when I was a kid.
And even with all of its cheesiness and special guest stars, I loved Fantasy Island too. And when I was 6, for some reason, we had free tickets to the drive-in for a summer and I watched Wrath of Khan at least three times that year.
RIP, gentlemen.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Headbanging Is Hazardous To Your Health
I guess I'm really living on the edge then. Headbanging puts rockers at risk of brain damage. For real. You have to read the story, the scientists who did the survey even say that "Adult-Oriented Rock" music is more safe!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 84
A little bit of live footage from Ballyhoo's in Merrill, WI and our ride home talking about our tour of the haunted basement!
Download the full MP4 here http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot%20RM%2084.mp4
Download the full MP4 here http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot%20RM%2084.mp4
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 83
On the way back from Minneapolis and Eau Claire, January 4th, 2009.
Click here for the direct download and click here to subscribe to Sunspot Road Mania in iTunes!
Click here for the direct download and click here to subscribe to Sunspot Road Mania in iTunes!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Matt Smith Who?
Alright, since I’ve been asked about this a few times today (as the self-proclaimed biggest Doctor Who fan in Madison. I know a couple people who might try and give me a run for the money but I’ll take all comers) , my first reaction to Matt Smith as the the Eleventh Doctor wasn’t a good one.
Number one, he’s only twenty-six. I’m older than The Doctor, for Christ's sake. That’s weird but it probably has to happen to fan at one time or the other. If you were a kid in 1963 you were probably older than the Doctor by the time Peter Davison rolled around, which was only eighteen years. And I’ve been a fan for around twenty-six.) The Doctor used to be a grandfatherly figure (all right, not just a figure, he was called Grandfather by his first companion, Susan) and now he’s a lot more than that, he was an actual love interest for Rose. The dynamic has changed and even though the character’s getting older, the actors are getting younger and I originally thought that they picked a young actor just to appeal - and this is the real Rorschach Test of what went through my head - to the teenage girls who like fricking Twilight.
Sad vampire from Twilight.
Matt Smith in a promo picture for his casting.
That’s the absolute first thing I thought, but then I looked at another picture of him. And I realized that he's not really a pretty boy. Yeah, the haircut's a little emo and I know a lot of people were rooting for a female or black Doctor (which wouldn’t really matter to me- Mos Def was awesome as Ford Prefect) but the only thing I was worried about was his age. He has to play a character who’s a thousand years old (somewhere around a thousand, there’s the usual conflicts that show up in a 36 years of debated canon) and he has to show that age in his actions. Tennant does a great job of being sad and showing the pain of losing so many people that were important to him. Can this guy do that? That's what counts and that's what he has to pull off. I've never heard of Matt Smith before, but I have heard of Steven Moffat and he hasn't let me down yet. If he sees The Doctor in this dude, then I'm willing to hear him out.
Being young and not very famous also works well because he's not going to be tempted to leave right away. Chris Eccleston stayed for a year, Tennant for barely 4 (really just 3.3), we need someone that'll stay for awhile. I know that being The Doctor is a big job and it's time-consuming, but if they can keep Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly for 5 seasons of Lost, they can keep a Doctor for five seasons too. And I would have been happy to watch David Tennant do it until he was 50. But he decided to leave and if this is Steven Moffat's dream job as he has repeatedly said it is, then he's going to want the time to fully develop "his" Doctor. Just like Russell T. Davies did with the whole Rose storyline and summed up his four seasons by bringing everyone back in "Journey's End" and "The Stolen Earth". Now, David Tennant did an awesome job and they wrote the stories well for him, but if it was the Ninth Doctor that faced off against Davros, it would have been a completely different vibe. The true end of the Time War. Either way, I'm sure that The Moff would like to have that freedom and that dramatic capability. So, if you have to get them young to be able to do that, then okay.
Anyway, I'm going to watch whoever the put up there (c'mon, I made it through the Sylvester McCoy years, I can make it through anything!) and yes, I was unimpressed on the first look. But that doesn't mean anything. I didn't know that David Tennant would be so awesome in the role (I did know it about Christopher Eccleston though, he never lets me down) and I wasn't hoping for a controversial pick (why give the actor who's already got monstrous shoes to fill something extra to prove?) This guy has his work cut out for him already, so I'm gonna cut him some slack and give him a chance. I don't remember him from Season One of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" but I'm okay with going over the episodes again just to see how he did. ;)
The next special, "Planet of the Dead" is four months away, Easter can't come soon enough!
For all of those confused, here's a comic that might help (courtesy of my man, Jase!)
Number one, he’s only twenty-six. I’m older than The Doctor, for Christ's sake. That’s weird but it probably has to happen to fan at one time or the other. If you were a kid in 1963 you were probably older than the Doctor by the time Peter Davison rolled around, which was only eighteen years. And I’ve been a fan for around twenty-six.) The Doctor used to be a grandfatherly figure (all right, not just a figure, he was called Grandfather by his first companion, Susan) and now he’s a lot more than that, he was an actual love interest for Rose. The dynamic has changed and even though the character’s getting older, the actors are getting younger and I originally thought that they picked a young actor just to appeal - and this is the real Rorschach Test of what went through my head - to the teenage girls who like fricking Twilight.
Sad vampire from Twilight.
Matt Smith in a promo picture for his casting.
That’s the absolute first thing I thought, but then I looked at another picture of him. And I realized that he's not really a pretty boy. Yeah, the haircut's a little emo and I know a lot of people were rooting for a female or black Doctor (which wouldn’t really matter to me- Mos Def was awesome as Ford Prefect) but the only thing I was worried about was his age. He has to play a character who’s a thousand years old (somewhere around a thousand, there’s the usual conflicts that show up in a 36 years of debated canon) and he has to show that age in his actions. Tennant does a great job of being sad and showing the pain of losing so many people that were important to him. Can this guy do that? That's what counts and that's what he has to pull off. I've never heard of Matt Smith before, but I have heard of Steven Moffat and he hasn't let me down yet. If he sees The Doctor in this dude, then I'm willing to hear him out.
Being young and not very famous also works well because he's not going to be tempted to leave right away. Chris Eccleston stayed for a year, Tennant for barely 4 (really just 3.3), we need someone that'll stay for awhile. I know that being The Doctor is a big job and it's time-consuming, but if they can keep Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly for 5 seasons of Lost, they can keep a Doctor for five seasons too. And I would have been happy to watch David Tennant do it until he was 50. But he decided to leave and if this is Steven Moffat's dream job as he has repeatedly said it is, then he's going to want the time to fully develop "his" Doctor. Just like Russell T. Davies did with the whole Rose storyline and summed up his four seasons by bringing everyone back in "Journey's End" and "The Stolen Earth". Now, David Tennant did an awesome job and they wrote the stories well for him, but if it was the Ninth Doctor that faced off against Davros, it would have been a completely different vibe. The true end of the Time War. Either way, I'm sure that The Moff would like to have that freedom and that dramatic capability. So, if you have to get them young to be able to do that, then okay.
Anyway, I'm going to watch whoever the put up there (c'mon, I made it through the Sylvester McCoy years, I can make it through anything!) and yes, I was unimpressed on the first look. But that doesn't mean anything. I didn't know that David Tennant would be so awesome in the role (I did know it about Christopher Eccleston though, he never lets me down) and I wasn't hoping for a controversial pick (why give the actor who's already got monstrous shoes to fill something extra to prove?) This guy has his work cut out for him already, so I'm gonna cut him some slack and give him a chance. I don't remember him from Season One of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" but I'm okay with going over the episodes again just to see how he did. ;)
The next special, "Planet of the Dead" is four months away, Easter can't come soon enough!
For all of those confused, here's a comic that might help (courtesy of my man, Jase!)
Friday, January 02, 2009
First shows of 2009!
I am pumped for this weekend! Tonight (Friday 1/2/09) we return to Eau Claire for an unplugged show at The Acoustic Cafe. We haven't played there before, but have heard great things about the place. Allow me to point out some of the fantastic attributes of The Acoustic Cafe:
* FREE show!
* All ages welcome
* Delicious caffeinated beverages
* Tasty eats
* Beer/wine
* LIVE MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, am really looking forward to debuting my new cajon (insert joke about Wendy's Cojones here), as I've been having fun playing with it (another joke opportunity here) and trying out our acoustic songs with a little different format.
Tomorrow (Saturday 1/3/09) we will amp it up electric in the Twin Cities for the Eye Need Help benefit concert for our friend Paul. This night of live music and comedy promises to be a blast, and check out some of the prizes they will be raffling and auctioning a ton of cool prizes. Positive attributes of Saturday's show:
* Benefit for a great guy - Help a brother out!
* 3 bands: Sunspot, Orestus, and Pipe Wrench
* Jeffrey the Comedian
* Raffle prizes up the wazoo
* At Pickle Park, a spectacular venue
We'll take the stage from 7:30 to 8:30 and we'll be there all night for the rest of the fun!
So come on out and start the New Year right with us! Hope to see you there!
* FREE show!
* All ages welcome
* Delicious caffeinated beverages
* Tasty eats
* Beer/wine
* LIVE MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, am really looking forward to debuting my new cajon (insert joke about Wendy's Cojones here), as I've been having fun playing with it (another joke opportunity here) and trying out our acoustic songs with a little different format.
Tomorrow (Saturday 1/3/09) we will amp it up electric in the Twin Cities for the Eye Need Help benefit concert for our friend Paul. This night of live music and comedy promises to be a blast, and check out some of the prizes they will be raffling and auctioning a ton of cool prizes. Positive attributes of Saturday's show:
* Benefit for a great guy - Help a brother out!
* 3 bands: Sunspot, Orestus, and Pipe Wrench
* Jeffrey the Comedian
* Raffle prizes up the wazoo
* At Pickle Park, a spectacular venue
We'll take the stage from 7:30 to 8:30 and we'll be there all night for the rest of the fun!
So come on out and start the New Year right with us! Hope to see you there!
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