Our Town

Things have been slowing down for the year round these parts...and we're all gearing up for the upcoming holiday shows. If you're anywhere near Thomasville, GA on Dec. 12, 19, or 23...Come on by The Submarine. Guaranteed good music to be heard.

I'm still trying to figure out what where 2009's gonna take us all...lot's of possibilities. More on that later.

For now, we just have this song:

Wait...did you know it's already November?

I grew my hair out.


Not a lot to say this week...so I make a list...

Things that have made the last 7 days nice:

1. A great film called Amelie.

2. Bonfires made of stolen firewood, a gas-filled pumpkin, and piles of grass mulch.

3. My new hair.

4. A new drummer.

5. Having 10,000 volts on stage inches from my guitar headstock...really makes the new hair stand on end.

6. http://home.att.net/~tom.brodhead/wonka.htm


That's all I got.

At the corner of awake and dreaming

Can I just say that I'm finally getting excited about the holidays?

I've got an exciting possibility for a headliner for our Victorian Christmas show...not gonna say much more till it's confirmed...but...man...I'm excited.

We're playing a cool show this weekend...and as usual it's a birthday show. Now, I have to get the world's best cheesecake.

A few other things that are making me happy this week:

1. Remembering that there's a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Tallahassee that I've never seen. Know what I'm doing Sunday.

2. Getting to see VOL on November 20.

3. Playing Simulacra on Saturday nite.

4. The possibility of Moss going to FSU.

5. The fact that I have 5 different kinds of cereal on top of my fridge to choose from.


Speaking of VOL...here's your VOL lyric of the day:

I can make you promises, but don't expect too much. I can run the distance...if you'll please excuse my crutch.

Still looking for a costume idea...would like to go as David Byrne...but...where am I gonna get a big suit?

AND YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF...

Simulacrarockstarssomethingsomethingsomethingrightaway

Seth and I will be playing an experimental noise-rock/techno show this weekend...and I'm actually excited...cause we're playing Simulacra...and I forgot how much fun that song is to play. I consider it somewhat of an accomplishment that I learned Moss's solo (mostly)...cause he's a way better guitarist than myself.

I have to come up with a costume idea before Saturday...old standby of course is a member of the band Europe (Example), but...I'm afraid the leather pants don't fit so well these days. Any other ideas?

In other news...I've got this new obsession with trying to see the inside of every building in downtown Thomasville. If you think about it...you've probably maybe been in like a third of them. If you didn't know about it, you would never know that The Sub exsisted...to 99.9% of the people in town, it's just another empty storefront with blacked out windows. There's plenty of those downtown...so...what's in them? How many other "Subs" are there downtown? I'm gonna find out. I've started walking a few laps around downtown every evening after dinner. You'd be surprised at how many doors are left unlocked...and how many buildings have something going on inside them...even though they appear closed. I'll start reporting on my findings soon.

Since I have a tendency to put pics in my blog...here's your moment of zen...





Anyone wanna goto Norway?

Weekend Travels

So, after a great Friday nite containing the following:

Laura Fletcher
The Corduroy Road
Bill Mallonee
Pita Pit
The Star Spangled Banner

I started my Saturday with IHOP...and took the long way home.

This particular long way involved an accidental trip to Juliette, GA.

If you've never heard of Juliette...they made a film called "Fried Green Tomatoes" there. I just happened upon the little town in the middle of their annual Green Tomato Festival. Got a few pics:



















After a nice, long drive home, I made it just in time to carve up some pumpkins. As you can see, we had a political pumpkin this year.


















There will be Halloween music at The Sub this coming Saturday nite starring Patrick Morales, Seth Golden, myself, and a possible special guest.

An addition to the post below about giving up:

So, if sweat pants are the signs of giving up...what about scrubs? Is that the same thing? At least scrubs have pockets...Grady Ann and I were discussing this and decided that at least with scrubs, you can look official while giving up.

That's all I got.

Come on feel the noises...

I've been in a noise-making mood lately...



Icarus is gonna play a noise show on Nov. 1


I've been messing around with making some pre-recorded loops on my computer...







The main problem right now is that this chair is empty...




Anyone?




We're making music that sounds like this:






Who wouldn't wanna give that a shot?



I'm headed to Athens Friday for what is sure to be the hilite of my month...John Cable and Tim Helms band's CD release party...THEN...Saturday nite is Pumpkinfest. Here's some pics of last year:









Ain't that gonna be some fun?


Well, I'm gonna try and get to sleep earlier than 4am tonite...we'll see how that works out.

That's my message.

-chall

Life on the Road...

I have been traveling more in the last two months than I have all year. Of course there are many stories...but likely if you're reading this you already know me and have probably heard them at least 6 times.

Instead I'm gonna talk about a few things I've been thinking about recently.

1st off...St. Paul, MN. This place just feels like home for me. Of course, I've never been there in January...and if you know me...you know how I feel about cold weather...not sure how that would work out...but I guess you adapt. St. Paul is a really small town...for being a big city. There's a feeling of community there that you don't even see so much in small cities these days. This city has many of the things that are important to me in choosing a place to live...good record stores, a great 24 hour Diner, nice parks to walk in, lakes and rivers, good Public Radio, history, Jazz, and a fairly low cost of living on top of everything. Of course, the downside being that it's 60 below for 4 months out of the year. Don't be surprised if I just up and move there one day...cause I just might.

2nd...People worrying about what they're gonna do. This intrigues me...probably because I skipped over that stage in life. Ya know...the whole...OK, I'm out of college (or high school)...I don't really have enough experience to get a job doing what I went to school for...or maybe it turns out I don't really like doing what I went to school for...or maybe I didn't goto school...and I've got to figure out what I'm doing with the rest of my life...right now...or I'm not complete. I think that's rubbish...what you do doesn't define who you are. I heard someone say earlier that they weren't interested in a relationship right now...because they hadn't figured out what they're gonna do with their life. That's a scary place to be I think...letting what you do define who you are. While I'm sure that's not exactly what the person meant...it got my wheels turning. Relationships are hard to come by...at least in my experience. To paraphrase The Normals...it's a lonely world...and you gotta grab what you can get...but at the same time...don't settle for less than love. I guess I come from a different perspective...since I was 16 I've always had a job...doing something I enjoy...whether it's photography, engineering, music, whatever...so I have a hard time relating. It's just that I think people shouldn't get quite so uptite about thinking their life hasn't started because they don't have a "career" or a job in the field they're supposed to be in. Relax...if you're supposed to be in that particular field...your time will come. If not, then maybe you were meant to do something else. In the mean time, don't put your entire life on hold because you don't think it has even started yet...your life is RIGHT NOW. Enjoy.

Lastly, I have a correction to make. For a year and a half now, I've been saying that I gave up on April 10, 2007. Let me elaborate. I read the following story in the news one morning:

Not many people can top David Brown's tale of how he met his wife.

Five years ago, the British man dreamed of a cell-phone number, the U.K. Daily Mail reports. He decided to text it, thinking it might have belonged to someone he met the night before.

It didn't. Instead Brown's message reached Michelle Kitson, a 17-year-old whom he had never met.

"It was really weird but I was absolutely hooked," Kitson told the paper. "My mum and dad kept saying, 'But he could be an axe murderer', but I knew there was something special about it. I hadn't had a boyfriend before. Those first text messages were a real adrenaline rush."

The pair exchanged phone calls and letters and Brown eventually moved 60 miles to be closer to his dream lover.

"She really is the girl of my dreams," said Brown, now 24, from Harefield, North-West London.

Kitson felt the same way about Brown. The happy couple just returned from their honeymoon.

So...I couldn't get a date if the lives of all of Canada depended on it...and this guy...he dreams a daggum cell number...texts it...and GETS MARRIED!!! BTW...I did try that...texting a random number...it came back..."message undeliverable...reason: number does not exsist". How's that for irony?

Anyways...I've been saying for years that I gave up...but it was pointed out to me tonite that I in fact have not given up...since I was not wearing sweat pants. Apparently, that's the true sign.

So, I guess for now...I'm back in the game. If anyone sees me in sweat pants...they'll know I'm truely finished.

Enough Jibber Jabber...here's some photos.

Downtown St. Paul at nite from across the river. Ever seen anything finer?




Mickey's Diner...probably my favorite restaurant ever.





Garrison Keillor assuring me that I've come to the right place.

That's about all I've got at the moment. I have a feeling that it's gonna be a good week. Maybe it's just because I had such a good day today...slept late (haven't done that in a long time), played some music with my friends, had some good Waffle House with some more friends, watched the Wilco film, hung out with Lakin types, etc. Not too bad for a Saturday.

One last thing...I'm thinking of shaving...would like to take a poll. For or Against?

-chall

I've been saying this for a while...

Lately, I have felt like I'm living in a real, live David Lynch film.

I feel like I've been floating through my days...with nothing really sticking. Everything has been kind of a bizzaro version of itself, and I've having trouble figuring out what I've done with all my time. I keep having these memories that I'm sure I've made up...and some of the conversations I've had...I have no explanation for. I dunno...I probably just need to sleep...or take a year off from sleeping...I really can't tell. These crazy dreams I've been having have made their way into my entire days...and sometimes I think I'm still in them.

The best advice I've gotten all year is from Justine Spinoza: "don't let your dreams drive you crazy, just try to enjoy them and incorporate them into your life"...she's an old soul.

Here's the things that I have found happiness in lately:

1. Owning all of the original-cast Star Trek films on Laserdisc
2. "The Three Ep's" by The Beta Band
3. "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac
4. Getting to know Amanda Lakin
5. Rediscovering the Piano
6. Watching Presidential Debates on the Big Screen
7. Lunch with the gang
8. Blueberry Juice
9. Playing Old Rock and Roll covers with Kealon, Seth, and Patrick


Headed to Minnesota for the weekend...I really think that's gonna help.

I'll let you know.

-chall