News from 2/22/05

First show of the year coming soon, stay tuned for details. And Math Lab is progressing nicely. Our drummer just got a day job, so now we're looking for a new time slot for practice. Then the path is again clear for the rock to be brought by us. Awww yeah. Also, I just found out I was nominated under "Best Acoustic Band" in Payne County Line's 2004 local music awards. I'd ask you to go vote but I didn't find out until voting had already ended. I didn't win, but it's always nice to be nominated for that kind of thing.

Lots of great music around these parts lately. If you haven't seen Modest Mouse live, you should really look into it. One thing you can't accuse Isaac Brock of doing is putting on a half-assed show. The guy really puts everything he's got into the show, and you can't help but get pulled in by that. Doesn't hurt that the music's top-notch to boot. Last time I saw them was a few years ago in Oklahoma City, you can read about that here.

Last night's Modest Mouse show was at the legendary Cain's Ballroom. Chad Rodgers bought the 80-year-old historic venue a couple years ago, and has done nothing but improve it ever since. They raised the ceiling (it was way too low), put in air conditioning (it was always unbearably humid), and put in new bathrooms (don't even ask about the old ones). Chad also annexed the building next door and turned it into a second stage (it's also the smoking section on big nights), where he books local acts on the nights he doesn't have touring acts in the main ballroom. The small room is called Bob's, after western swing legend Bob Wills, who made the Cain's what it was all those decades ago. (We used Bob's for the 'Gimme the Mike' show last summer.) Chad's now begun building a reputation for booking the indie and smaller national acts that used to only play OKC or skip Oklahoma altogether, even working as his own promoter a lot of the time. Here's hoping he keeps things rolling this way for a long time, but even if he sold the place tomorrow, he'd still get the credit for doing what all the owners before him never seemed to be able to do: bring the national scene back to Tulsa, and make Cain's a great place to see a show. Or play one.

The latest game of Ben Garvey's Odd Man In is rolling along. I'm dead already. Last game I got to the final four players but died before the final round. I died a lot earlier this time. It happens. I'm rooting for Mr. Rust now. The next game's already open for sign-up if you're interested, then it'll start a few days after the current one ends. For a small peek inside the game and how it tends to work, check out my play-by-play journal from my first time out, in the Holiday Shootout edition of the game, right here.

Guess that's enough for today. Seeya.

-- R

News from 1/25/05

Belated thanks to all those who came out to the shows back in December. Hope you had as much fun as I did! Looks like the site is finally back online continuously now, though I probably just jinxed it by saying that. So you're probably wondering what's been up. I'll try to summarize.

I've spent the last three months working with some friends on becoming a band. We line up like this:

me - guitar, vocals
Dennis Pagano - drums, vocals
Michael Irion - guitar
Jarrod Oakes - bass

You might know Dennis from the Free Beer Band, or Michael from Special Purpose, or Jarrod from his stint with The Best Friends. I've known all of these guys for a while, but other than working with Dennis in the Three Headed Monster, I'd never really played with any of them. We're writing and rehearsing and having a lot of fun, and with a little luck you might get a chance to hear us pretty soon. In fact, if you were at the Free Beer Band reunion show at the Buckaneer on New Year's Eve around midnight, you already did hear us, playing our hit single "No Time Like the Past." We didn't have a name that night, but now we're calling ourselves Math Lab, and we rock. If I do say so myself. More news as it develops.

Another thing I've been immmersed in is a little game called Odd Man In. It's a last-man-standing strategy game, created by Ben Garvey, a musical acquaintance of mine in New Jersey, and it's sort of a cross between Reservoir Dogs and Survivor. You're assigned a random color -- you're Mr. Black or Mr. Yellow or Mr. Aquamarine -- and you get points for shooting other players. Getting shot an even number of times means you're dead -- an odd number of shots and you stay alive -- so teamwork is pretty crucial. It's completely anonymous as well, so you have no idea who the other players are, even the ones you've worked with in previous games, which adds to the challenge. I've played two games so far and have become pretty solidly addicted. Your daily time commitment can be pretty low, meaning you can just kind of sit back and do your own thing, or you can be a schemer coordinating all sorts of teams of shooters and spend the whole day planning. There's all kinds of strategies, and I'm still working on developing some of my own. I'll let you know if I ever manage to win a game.

Next week my good friends namelessnumberheadman celebrate their 100th gig. Should be an excellent show. Gloria & I are very much hoping to be there.

And do you remember that "Gimme the Mike" show I spent my whole summer on last year? It's coming back soon too. I'll start gearing up for the grumpiness and insomnia right away.

-- R