gene

It's like I fell off the earth

posted Thursday, April 27, 2006 11:22 AM by hepdoggy

Finally I have a moment to write a post. Unfortunately, it's not as much time as I would like. I've made a few changes to the agouti site layout including adding reviews to the home page and an upgrade to Community Server. Tom's standing over my shoulder and I guess that means that I'm done writing for now.

More to come later. Meanwhile, check out ShitOuttaLuck's latest song, Badger.

0 Comments
Attachment(s): Badger.mp3

Minus Vince Rocks My Pants - Mike Park Bikes for Peace

posted Friday, July 08, 2005 12:07 PM by hepdoggy

So Minus Vince has finally announced a release date of August 5th for their “Storytellers EP”. They posted all of the songs to myspace and I've listened to it twice through already. Those fuckers are so good. Dammit. Rumor has it that they're starting to play soon. Marshall and Dave were both recovering from shoulder operations. I can't wait to see them again.

www.purevolume.com/minusvince

Mike Park is releasing a new album titles “North Hangook Falling” on Hopeless Records on August 23, which ought to be good stuff. He's packed Plea for Peace onto his bicycle this year to raise $250,000 in funds to create a youth center in San Jose, CA which is desparately in need of an all ages event center.

Starting September 9th, 2005 a group of musicians/friends will trek down the west coast to raise funds for a new youth center in my hometown of San Jose, California. This year San Jose will surpass the city of Detroit as the 10th largest city in the United States, yet there are ZERO all age venues that provide a place for our youth to see or perform live music. With guitars in tow, we will perform live concerts along the way to celebrate our love of music and to work as different starts/stops on the tour for various riders.

Our goal is to raise over $250,000 to make this dream a reality. This is an open invitation to all musicians, artists, bicycle lovers, and basically anyone who want to participate on this journey. If you feel the desire to take part in any leg or for the entire ride, please get in touch for important information regarding the ride.
Peace always,
Mike Park

www.pleaforpeace.com

3 Comments

SBC is Dumb

posted Wednesday, June 15, 2005 12:43 PM by hepdoggy

Not that anyone didn't already know that. Apparently if you setup automatic payments with them, the process isn't exactly automatic. After a 20 minute conversation with their billing department they told me that even though I'm enrolled in the automatic payment service, it actually takes 1-2 billing cycles to begin working.

The woman I spoke with defended the practice up and down and talked in circles when I asked if it made sense to her that it take so long and that the site I log into shows I'm enrolled but doesn't indicate that I need to make a payment but shows a past due balance, she just kept saying, “It clearly stated when you sign up that it takes 1 to 2 billing cycles to begin automatically billing you” All I wanted to hear was “Yes, maybe that could be more clear. I'll submit a suggestion to the web team”

Instead, I just kept hearing the same thing.... I guess it's more important to defend the system than to look critically at it and make it better. Way to go SBC - another brainwashed koolaid drinker. I wonder how Vonage's support works.

0 Comments

Who likes the jazz?

posted Wednesday, June 08, 2005 10:57 AM by hepdoggy

Just glancing over the collection I have here at work:

Don Byron - Bug Music (a must have)
Buddy Rich - Big Swing Face
Willie Bobo - Spanish Grease & Uno Dos Tres 1-2-3
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - Who is This America
Mingus Amungus - Isms
The Articles - Flip F'real (awesome jazz covers by a ska-jazz combo)
Joe Henderson - Mode for Joe
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Count Basie - One O'Clock Jump (best Laserlight $5 CD I've ever bought)
Stan Kenton - Cuban Fire!
J.J. Johnson - Say When

I also have a weakness for cheezy lounge music (we had a lot of Henry Mancini LP's in my house growing up)

I dig the full big band sound, but prefer the later stuff I think I have nearly every Kenton recording either on LP or CD. Given the choice of Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw, I'd pick Arie, Miles Davis or Gerry Mulligan, I'd pick Gerry, The Duke or the Count, I'd pick the Count. Rippingtons or Bela Fleck, I'd choose to shoot myself

3 Comments

Exhausted and Ill

posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 11:29 AM by hepdoggy

I must have a self destructive streak. Rehearsal was great - we got lots done. I'm really freaking out of shape. We did a little woodshedding on our new material and then ran through our set twice. By the time we were done, the air was ripe and I was sore. Well, that's it I need to get off my ass.

I think my minidisc recorder is done for. It might be impedance because we have been playing louder lately, but it's doing weird things like reading DEFECT and stopping. If it doesn't write a table of contents before it shuts down the disc will look blank. So, I guess it's time to look for another recorder.

This Sony MZ-B10 is looking like a good candidate. I thought about the Tascam PocketStudio, or Edirol R-1 but I haven't read any glowing reviews of these recorders. I generally use my MD recorder to create mp3 from rehearsal and to record roughs for band members to practice to, so something that records to an mp3 format automatically would be a time saver.

So I had to get gas on my way home and was hella thirsty. And since I was in the convenience store, why not pick up that tempting looking bag of Salsitas! I'll tell you why not. I'M STILL SUFFERING THE AFTERTASTE. It kept me up last night because I was afraid I might asphyxiate myself with my own funk breath. Well friends, no more. El Sabroso can kiss my whole ass.

Has anyone bought the new Beck? I'm a huge fan of Beck, but Guero is fuken boring. I can't listen to it all the way through. Maybe it will turn out to be an album I have to set aside for a month or two and go back to before I can appreciate it. There's nothing interesting about it.

The Planet Smashers have a new album, Unstoppable coming out May 17th. I'm stoked. They have a video up on the Union Label Group website. The video is nothing special, but the track makes me think it's gonna be another great album. I plan to pre order it if I can find a place that will take an order.

Currently listening:
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
By Eels
Release date: By 26 April, 2005

184 Comments

Open Letter To Rick Santorum

posted Friday, April 22, 2005 3:15 PM by hepdoggy

April, 22 2005

What is wrong with you? Have you no decency? Are you bought and paid for by AccuWeather? It sure looks like it.

I pay with my tax dollars to fund a the National Weather Service. It's an agency that Americans can be proud of, a massive apparatus of meteorological data collection dedicated to supporting a wide spectum of activities ranging from agriculture to disaster safety to keeping airplanes in the air -- everything under the sun. I pay for it and you want to force me to pay for it again by taking away a resource so that I'd have to pay Accuweather!?!

I guess Joel and Barry Myers are getting what they paid for, you shill. Who are they? Why you should know since you took nearly $2,750 from the President and Vice President of Accuweather and since 1999 you've taken another $5000 from executives there.

You are un-american and you make me sick.

Disgustedly,
Gene Worth

More Information:
Palm Beach Post: Feds' weather information could go dark

BetaNews: Bill Proposes Ending Free Weather Data

Open Secrets: $3800 donated to Santorum by Joel Meyers CEO, AccuWeather

Tell Santorum he's an ass: Email Senator Santorum

338 Comments

What the heck?

posted Monday, April 18, 2005 12:33 PM by hepdoggy

So maybe Dubya was right. There are other Internets out there.

Check out the Poultry Internet

Only in Singapore could a research lab develop a chicken tracking and massage system.

Dig that soundtrack - makes me want to take a nap all snuggled up with my pet rooster.

From Boing Boing

0 Comments

Mitch Hedberg 1968 - 2005

posted Tuesday, April 05, 2005 1:48 PM by hepdoggy

Have you ever seen an artist, beit a comedian, actor or musician that made you say to yourself, “I'd really like to know this person - they must be really interesting” or “Wouldn't he would be a cool friend?” I kind of felt that way about Mitch Hedberg. I'd seen him on Comedy Central and watching him, you just wished you were there so you could go up to him after the show and say “You're so funny! I loved your show! Don't ever get discouraged, you're gonna be a star someday!” You could see him get uncomfortable on stage when the laughs didn't flow for his more subtle jokes. He had a peculiar timing. He wore sunglasses and stared at the floor. Sometimes he'd tell jokes with his eyes closed.

He was hilarious.

Mr. Pibb is a replica of Dr. Pepper, but it's a bullshit replica, 'cuz the dude didn't even get his degree.
I wrote a letter to my dad — I wanted to write, "I really enjoy being here," but I accidentally wrote rarely instead of really. But I still wanted to use it, I didn't want to cross it out, so I wrote, "I rarely... drive steamboats, Dad — there's a lot of shit you don't know about me. Quit trying to act like I'm a steamboat operator." This letter took a harsh turn right away ...
On a traffic light green means go and yellow means yield, but on a banana it's just the opposite. Green means hold on, yellow means go ahead, and red means where the fuck did you get that banana at?
2-in-1 is a bullshit term, because 1 is not big enough to hold 2. That's why 2 was created.

Everything I've read about him and from looking at his website proved to me that this guy was honest, genuine, and deserved more than life was likely to give him. On the latest CD, “Mitch All Together” They included a bonus DVD that included the unedited footage of the show that they pieced together to make his Comedy Central special. He bombed on that show. Hard. It must have been a painful night for him.

I never got to see him live, but I really wanted to. I bought all of his CDs, listened to them over and over, forced my friends and family to listen to them.

Unlike many comics who shy away from their fans' attention, Mitch welcomed it. His official website (www.mitchhedberg.net) encouraged fans to send in pictures of themselves posing with Mitch at his shows. One published anecdote tells of Mitch meeting a group of college students at a recent show in Florida who mentioned the stifling heat of their dorm room. Mitch knocked on their door the next morning with a brand-new air conditioner.

Rest In Peace Mitch.

6 Comments