It's not really happening. Wait, yes it is.

New Bees Kiss Ice Cream Cheeks

Tolkien Teenager

Long Ago

Super Mario Drums

Super Mario Brothers 2 was a great game, a classic. One of my favorites. An Italian drummer named Andrea Vadrucci apparently likes it too, enough to figure out how to drum to the soundtrack.

Bert and Ernie Go Brutal

Richard Hawley

Tonight The Streets Are Ours.

Jim Risser Sings

Hole in his pocket. Twiddle dee dee.

Genuinely Interesting Dept

Runnin' With the Devil vocal take, isolated.

Bob gets a new computer

"It's got 4K of magnetic core memory!" he says excitedly.

Something new / Something old

Supraluxe has finally finished construction on the new (yet to be named) studio and we're excited about the next batch of songs. In revisiting some of the material that didn't make it on the last release, we re-discovered Sunday's Not So Bad (there were other shiny happy gems that got orphaned too). It will remain unreleased - we've moved on to new material. Sometimes good stuff is elbowed out by better stuff, but everyone has a couple "C" kids. They all come from the same place though and we love 'em.

The web is a baby

As ubiquitous as it is and as reliant as we've become on it, it's easy to forget that it is not that old.

Flashback 1986

Two bands that helped me survive the 80's

Shoes

The saying is you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, but there are better indicators. Ex: How someone plays their instrument speaks to their self image and social skills. How they draw faces - 2D, 3D, perspective, angle - tells you how they process and express ideas. And how they say they feel about these is most telling of all. Of course, how or whether we choose to analyze others says something about us.

Panflute

None of these will be harmed in the making of the new CD

Unless Jim springs for one.

Let's go

OK, Jim, Bill and Bob - I'm getting itchy to get ensconced in the new digs with you guys and start committing things to tape. Time's a wasting.

!!!!!!!

Very Interesting

Michael Tilson Thomas interviews James Brown. A musician interviewing a musician, so it's not the normal "Remember when you were in the Beatles? That was awesome" stuff.

Link to MTT page

Direct link to interview

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To wit

There's nothing unique or original about your self-awareness. Discuss.

Music Lesson

Thelonious Monk's middle name was Sphere.

We Have Liftoff

It's a studio! According to Gob, "It looked so nice, I had to buy a new mixer..." Note the attractive Navab Brothers rug.

How bout a Land of Talk vid

How bout a Land of Talk pic

Target

Went to Target tonight for undershirts, and had a little time to kill so I thought I'd see if they have tobacco pipe supplies and accessories. I was pretty sure they wouldn't and I didn't want to waste my time walking around looking, so I approached a not so clean-cut young man wearing the standard uniform, red shirt and tan pants, and inquired about pipes, filters, cleaners, etc. Oh yeah, and I have my kids with me, standing right there beside me. Mr Young Target Employee says (channeling Spicoli) "Oh dude, we don't carry that stuff here - you're gonna want to go to a head shop, and there aren't any around here. Are you familiar with Uptown? Cause there's like a bunch of head shops in Uptown, like the Fetus....(rattles off list) - so I'd try that." I really didn't know what to say - if I correct him then he will feel dumb x2 because he totally misread what I was asking for AND he had just revealed himself as a total stoner. So I didn't, I figured later that night if he thought about it he'd realize he might have said the wrong thing and it would eat at him, maybe even bug the shit out of him. Or if it was me that's what I'd do. So I just said "OK, thanks for the info." "Hey good luck, man." As we walked away my son says "Hey dad, what's so funny?"

Shared

The Victims

The victims of the 35W bridge collapse were like a representative cross section of Minnesota, and that seems to make the randomness of it more real. It wasn't people I would never meet, and they weren't all from some far off place I don't know anything about. They were us. I think we all share their grief, and I take some comfort in that. I hope they do too.

The Gift

You can't always tell right away when someone has it - sometimes people get lucky and write one great song - but now and then even a monkey will draw something that looks like a face. Anyway today I heard Breaxxbaxx by Land of Talk on the radio and I really liked it so I picked up their LP Applause Cheer Boo Hiss. And they have it, in gold flashing letters with a cherry on top. What's going on with the Canadians? All the cool music is coming from up north right now.

Pics of the kid

I know it's like someone showing you too many pictures of their kids, (here he is in the wagon! and isn't he cute with the pudding on his face!) but the Supraluxe studio is nearing completion, and we're excited, and you're going to look at some more damn pictures.

Supraluxe Recommends

Upturned collars.


Hot Fuzz.

The Collapse

I have crossed this bridge more times than I can count, from back when I was a prep cook at the Ediner at the Pavilion mall til yesterday. I've always hated it, because the guard rails are so short I felt like I could go flying off. And it was a long way down. Every time I've ever crossed a bridge in my life I've felt a pang of fear that it could collapse. Just one of those irrational fears, like the elevator thing. Just before it fell, at 6:02, I was in my car listening to Richard Hell on the Current, a song I've never heard before. Then I stopped to pick up my son at his martial arts class. I was trying to get him to pack his things and get going - he was talking to some other kids about a Pokemon game for his Nintendo. I stared at a bizarre formless tattoo on the arm of a woman there. Right then......boom. Richard Hell. Tattoo. How many people on that bridge were listening to The Current at that moment? Listening to Richard Hell? Or was it Money Mark, the next song? (I don't know exactly when it collapsed) Have you ever worried that you might die in your car while listening to a song you hate? I have. What a horrible thought - imagine that the last song you hear is by 38 Special. But the thing I take away from this - pay attention. Listen to every sound, absorb every sight, breathe in every scent, live in the moment - you never know which moment will be your last. And please, God, when it's my turn, don't make me die listening to 38 Special.

Keep Moving

Keep Moving by Ivy has a lovely, satisfying bass part. Adam Schlesinger's tone, the way he locks in with the kick, the spaces between notes.....perfect. It's not a bass "part", it's simply a song component.

They Shoot Horses

(Don't they?) I suppose the hardest part of growing up is realizing that the much anticipated moment where it all makes sense will never arrive. Dogs, when they get their supper, they're set. I want to be like that.

Goodnight, Tom

The Studio

Progress on the new as-yet-unnamed Supraluxe studio is on the march. This will be our home - practice room, studio, and lounge all in one. Note the soft feminine colors.

It was 18 years ago today.....

Bob was two.

The Hang Ups

There's no better band from our fair burg than The Hang Ups.

Peter Criss has a new solo album

It's even worse than the one Paul Stanley did last year. I wanted to like it, I tried really hard, but when I got to the cover of Send In The Clowns my head exploded.

Famous bands with 3 members named Bob

Flamin' Oh's

Sugarloaf

Now I Know

what kind of beer Dan Murphy drinks. Not that I was wondering. I love my neighborhood - I've lived here forever - one of the guys from Savage Aural Hotbed lives nearby and you see someone from Soul Asylum at the liquor store. And the place is peppered with people from other not as famous but you might have heard of them bands. Then there's me, jumping up and down cause the Current played one of our songs while I'm staining the garage.

Amy Winehouse

Is missing the same tooth as me!

I believe I know this guy

He used to host wake-up-and-get-drunk parties.

It's Friday the 13th

Don't walk under any ladders.