Nothing is an Excuse

It has been a quiet couple of days and I have wanted to post a new blog, but I had nothing to post. Just not a lot going on up here in Valhalla. It has been awhile since I have seen any bands or shows sadly, and I have not seen a whole lot of news or or articles that I could share.

So I had nothing. What choice did I have, I had to get my ass out of the house and check out some bands somewhere. So I actually checked the FeastofNoise calendar, Who is Playing Where, but I did not have anything listed for Saturday the 27th. Well I did but it was an all ages show right around the corner. I should have wandered over and checked it out.

No, I really wanted to wander down to the city. I did want something new but somewhere where I could indulge my rum and cokes. So I proceeded to check out some of the venues that were listed on the venue page. Feastofnoise is really one stop shopping for bands in the city and around the NY metro area-well we are working on it.

Enough of the self-promotion. I did go through the list of venues, checking their calendars and listing of acts, and I ended up at Arlene's Grocery, which I have been to too many times and seen some pretty good acts. Saw the Sex Slaves there fresh from their Japan tour with Tor playing rhythm with them. I have seen the Statues of Liberty there too many times. It was at a Katrina fundraiser at Arlene's that I first saw Mad Juana and the New Professionals.

Last night was about such acts and just looking for something different, something new. So I somehow I went back and checked out three acts that I knew little about. Ended up checking out Supergravity, Sweet Fix, and the Ghosts of Eden. I think it was Supergravity that persuaded me that it was Arlene's that I would head to. Supergravity, and the fact that I might want a crepe fro the Creperie around the block.

Why Supergravity? Simply because they listed Pink Floyd and Muse on their friends list on Myspace. I ended up catching only two songs of theirs, the first was pretty cool-appropriate hard driving rocker from a power trio act. The second was a cover-a poppy tune from the sixties I think. It might have been a Paul Simon tune. Anyway, they were a power trio, good guitar, some solid drumming, and alright vocals. Will have to catch them again, hopefully their full set.

The next act up was Sweet Fix. They were alright, They had their moments. The singer seemed to have a thing for Billy Idol. He had the hair, the gloves. Guitarist had a nice presence and sound with his SG. The drummer and bass player did the job. As a band, I was not sure. They did one song that got my attention, but in general I felt I had seen and heard them before. I could go back and see them again. They did have some presence and their tunes did work. There was something. Maybe I was just not ready for another Billy Idol.

The third act was Ghosts of Eden, a four piece with little of that stage presence that Sweet Fix had-they were not in it for the visual. Their songs though had a lot of heart, some nice arrangements. And they were a band - they were playing together as a band.

All of these acts had something going on. All of them were worth checking out. I might have an issue here and there, but perhaps a result of too many trips to Arlene's and places like it.

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One Sign In Philadelphia

"WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 AL QAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN SOLDIER!"
This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia .

You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement!!
However, we are a society that holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty.
And after all, it is just a sign.
You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign.

Answer:
A Funeral Home
(Who said morticians have no sense of humor?)

Sent to me by my dad, source unknown.

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I Do Love Google. . .

This post has been haunting me for awhile but it is true. I love Google. And it is very much in relation to this site. The Feastofnoise just would not be the site it is without Google.

This Blog is published using Google's Blogger site. It is an easy way to to write the longer updates, and it can be done from anywhere. I just need to have access to a computer and the web. And yes it is a computer for me. It is not happening with a cell phone or iTouch as of yet.

The calendar I use is Google Calendar for the listing of shows (Who is Playing Where) on the left side of the site. Blog on the right and calendar on the left. I know there are tons of calendars out there, but still Google is the one I arrived at. And I have to say I was impressed with the email it sends out weekly highlighting upcoming shows. An email I did not initiate. I post the gigs and once or week or show it will send out an email. Anything that is automated and works - I like.

Now there are multiple ways to get the Blog and the Calendar on the site. In my case I again turn to Google to publish Who is Playing Where and the Western Front Blog published on the FeastOfNoise.com, I get them up using Google's Feedburner.com, which basically provides a publishable RSS feeds and the associated HTML code for websites. I probably could do this myself with Dreamweaver, but Feedburner is nice in that it allows people to post the content other places. You like what I write here and you can share it on your blog, put it up on your Facebook page, or send it over to Digg. Again, like the automated emails for the calendar, it is the little things like this that impress me!

Not only do I take my content, and post it on the site, but as you hopeully know, I have a few other live updates from other rock news sites on FeastOfNoise. Again customized with Feedburner, and Feedburn is Google.

I know Myspace offers blogs and calendar but my take is that they are just for Myspace. The same is true of Facebook. Both are parts of the web, large parts but still just parts. For me Google offers the the potential of the web as opposed to just a gated community, granted big ones but still gated.

And the amazing thing is that it is all for free. Here is Google, an amazingly profitable company, which makes its money via to its web and search ads, and it has all these various pieces which I have adopted and latched onto, and they offer them for free. Of course, part of it is that they are in the process facilitating more sites, more content, and more places to post their ads. Regardless, some pretty neat stuff.

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Poker, Bond, & Gaga among other things. . .

Poker has always intrigued us. You had Kenny Rogers in the Gambler, always knowing when to hold and when fold them. You had the Sting with Redford and Newman, where they initially worked the mark in that game on the train. Plus numerous westerns, many in black and white, all with a poker game going on in the saloon.

Poker is part of who we are, but today it seems to be even more so. At least from a quick glance at the culture. Today we got Poker tournaments on miscellaneous cable channels. We got poker online. A good chunk of Casino Royale is Bond in a poker game. And let us not forget Lady Gaga's Poker Face. Poker is hot.

Gambling in general is hot these days or it was. Look at the financial debacle that we put ourselves in. A lot of gambling was going on there. It is interesting that AIG, an insurance company, was the biggest loser. One of those moments where you realize that the insurance business is just a variation on gambling. Both making predictions on what will happen. Granted insurance is not as much fun as poker or even Lady Gaga, but definitely AIG was betting the farm. And today, no bets are being made - well at least fewer and smaller.

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