I will be starting a new tradition here. Every week I will review of a random 45 that I have purchased at the local record shop. A lot of the 45’s will be newer Indie but you never know as I have found some older 45’s and some purely random things in there as well.
The first ever Random 45 to be reviewed is: The Useless Playboys. I have to admit, my entire basis for buying this 45 was completely cosmetic. This 45 set itself aside from the rest with it’s awesome graphics, bright colors - the usual. The actual picture disc was a treat to discover on the inside.
The Useless Playboys Front Cover
The Actual 45 (front)
The Useless Playboys Back Cover
The Actual 45 (back)
At first glance, I had no idea what to expect the music to be. Once I popped it on - it turned out to be swing! It wasn’t bad at all - at least for me. You can judge for yourself:
Earlier this year I was blessed to catch Flogging Molly when they started the Float tour. It was amazing! They had not one, but two great opening acts with: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band and Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. I will discuss these two fantastic bands in another post.
Yesterday I was able to see Flogging Molly again. I am pleased to say, Flogging Molly is still kicking ass. The tickets were cheap ($5) because they were sponsored by a local radio station. When you get good tickets for that cheap, you can expect to have to jump through some hoops and media whoring. The doors opened at 5:00 p.m. and the first bit of music started at 8:00 p.m. If you were one of the lucky people to have showed up at 4:00 p.m. or earlier had to wait 4+ hours to see any live entertainment. This of course was a ploy to milk beer and merchandise sales! And it did work!
The two opening acts this time around were The Skybombers out of Australia and Local H. The Skybombers weren’t really that bad, but I do think they need some time yet. They reminded me of the Ramones with their sound, however you can tell that they need some time to finish developing their sound. Very animated on stage, maybe to make up for what they lack in their music skills and abilities. Local H was great! This two man band really kicked some ass. Solid, developed sound without the need for all the stage animation.
Finally the time was here and we get to see what we came to see, Flogging Molly! As always, they came out strong and kicked ass. Any potential bands out there - take some advice, come out fucking strong. Find that one person that isn’t getting off, and then get them off! All great bands start out strong and have a good mix, not 4 depressing songs in a row, what a way to down your crowd.
Rock'n Out
This time around was kind of special. About midway through the concert, it was announced that just the week before, Dave King had married Bridget Regan. I just hope the marriage doesn’t mess with the band as it has to so many other bands in the past. Best of luck to Dave King and Bridget Regan.
The concert ended strong with an encore and some more kick ass music. I have to say, best $5 in a while!
So recently I had the pleasure of celebrating my yearly decay. This year, I have to admit, was the best birthday yet! I have been itching to have a new fountain pen and was shocked to have been given this beauty:
This pen has a fine nib and it writes like a dream!!!! But that isn’t all! What came with this fine beauty was some all American ink, Noodler’s Polar Bullet Proof Ink.
Noodler’s is an amazing company. All American! From the glass bottle, label, cap, and ink! If you go to get ink,get Noodlers and help support American businesses [Noodlers Ink Website]. The ink is awesome. Have yet to have an issue with it. It is freeze proof and water proof. Other ‘water proof’ inks are anything but water proof! The ink is nice and smooth, very rich, and doesn’t bleed into the paper like a lot of cheap inks.
From the site:
The waterproof/fraud proof line (currently black only) cannot be altered on a check or envelope by rain or bleach/ammonia. They consist of over 97% water content…and rinse (or simply rub) off lucite/celluloid/acrylic rod stock testing and ebonite testing stock…and if dried in the bottle it can be reconstituted with tap water…but once on cellulose paper they stay on it as a bulldog biting the leg of the enemy despite rain/soaking and the soaps of a check forger.
At a low cost with high quality, I hope everyone who buys ink from Noodlers. Later I’ll post some writing samples and my bottles of ink!
Have you ever seen $114 in quarters? I haven’t either until my buddy was asked to get rid of an old and non working coin operated washer and dryer. The guy had lost the keys but that doesn’t stop one from trying their hardest to get the few quarters out of there. Long and behold… $114 in quarters. I never saw such a beautiful thing! The stack of quarters didn’t look like more than a few bucks, but it definitely was.
Admiring the amount of quarters, I decided I needed to try to find a vending machine and tap this mini gold mine myself! After searching craigslist, ebay, and old shops to try to find one, I was a bit disappointed and discouraged. Almost all of the vending machines were between $500 and $2,000. I didn’t have this kind of money to drop at the moment, but I shouldn’t have expected to be cheap.
And there it was. An advertisement for a combo vending machine! Ha! Snacks and Sodas! Pick up only in a small hell hole in Michigan for $100. That baby is mine.
As always, there was a problem.. I don’t own a truck and everyone with a truck was busy that week. How do I go about getting this machine back home? The deal was almost sealed but he had another bidder.. it was now or never! I got in my small car and drove to Michigan… 3 hours wondering if I would even be coming back with this hell of a deal vending machine. We get there and it looks like a joke. How the hell am I going to fit this 6+ foot vending machine in my car?! What the hell was I thinking?! However, the American spirit of ‘get-r-done’ was alive.. and by God we got the damn thing in the car… well partly. Half a vending machine hanging out of your car driving home can be nerve wrecking but… she now sits proudly, tempting people with her ice cold and refreshing drinks and hunger fighting snacks. Image coming soon…
As the political race appears to be winding down, Obama manages to look worse than President Bush. And does so within the first 10 seconds!
“On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today — our sense of patriotism is particularly strong”. — Obama May 26th, 2008
You can watch and listen to it for yourself here.
The truly scary part is that he can be the democratic presidential nominee! I cannot believe my ears, but I do believe it. The fact is America does not care about intelligence when it comes to presidents, you can look at Bush to see exactly what I mean. If Obama can see dead people, we may need him for experiments — possibly send him to Mars.
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