Hello,

Gearin up for this Giant fall/winter and winding down the summer.

From Kill Rock Stars HQ:

THE SHAKY HANDS Let It Die CD/LP w/ digital download
Let it Die is The Shaky Hand's second album on Kill Rock Stars and the first
featuring new drummer Jake Morris (The Joggers, Pseudosix). Recorded
immediately upon the band's return from seven weeks of supporting The
Thermals' Spring US tour, Let It Die is the sound of a band at the top of their
game. Armed with a solidified line-up and some of the best songs the band has written, they brought their live energy into the studio and captured it perfectly. Jay Pellicci's (Deerhoof, Erase Errata, Subtle) production is solid, immediate, and the songs sound absolutely huge.

Let It Die will be a watershed record for this band on the verge.

**PRE-ORDER** Vinyl orders will come with a FREE vinyl copy of the Break The Spell (previously only available from the band on tour) EP. CD orders will come with a FREE digital download of the Break the Spell EP.

Free Digital Download when your order ships. (08/26/09)

So head on over there (krs.com) and do it up

Also, some JOGGERS news forthcoming. I'll reserve that to it's own post once it's all in place.

And for those in Portland, TANNING will be playing FOUR SHOWS THIS MONTH.

I'm toying with the idea of having a band for a show or two of that run. I'll keep y'allz posted if so. Here goes:

Friday Sept 4, @ Slabtown, PANTHER VIDEO PREMIER

Saturday Sept 5, @ Work/Sound w/Quiet Countries and Hello Lonelieness

Thursday Sept 10 @ Berbati's w/ Sad Horse and NEW RADIANT STORM KING

Friday Sept 18 @ Someday Lounge MFNW w/ Inside Voices, Jared Mees, BOAT and the Shaky Hands

Come see............

Mantra: via Roy Haynes/Buddy Rich/Tony Williams

"I structure pieces like riding a horse," he says. "You pull a rein here, you tighten it up here, you loosen it there. I'm still sitting in the driver's seat, so to speak. I let it loose, I let it go, I see where it's going and what it feels like. Sometimes I take it out, sometimes I'll be polite, nice and let it move and breathe -- always in the pocket and with feeling. So the music is tight but loose."

“I am constantly practicing in my head. In fact, a teacher in school once sent me to the principal, because I was drumming with my hands on the desk in class. My father used to say I was just nervous. I'm always thinking rhythms, drums. When I was very young I used to practice a lot; not any special thing, but just practice playing. Now I'm like a doctor. When he's operating on you, he's practicing. When I go to my gigs, that's my practice. I may play something that I never heard before or maybe that you never heard before. It's all a challenge. I deal with sounds. I'm full of rhythm, man. I feel it. I think summer, winter, fall, spring, hot, cold, fast and slow -- colors. But I don't analyze it. I've been playing professionally over 50 years, and that's the way I do it. I always surprise myself. The worst surprise is when I can't get it to happen. But it usually comes out. I don't play for a long period, and then I'm like an animal, a lion or tiger locked in its cage, and when I get out I try to restrain myself. I don't want to overplay. I like the guys to trade, and I just keep it moving, and spread the rhythm, as Coltrane said. Keep it moving, keep it crisp."
-Roy Haynes
the man who made the Tony Williams' and Jack DeJohnettes who is jammin like hell in his 70's!

And then you have this. Please try to ignore the whiteness of this clip. My grandfather Pop-pop, when told I was becoming a drummer in 5th grade, said "well, you'll never be as good as Buddy Rich, you better start learnin!"
Well, I never forgot those 'words of wisdom(?)' and have been playing a Buddy Rich signature model snare in his (and Buddy's) memory for the last coupla years. He was right by the way:



Key elements:Sweat, and damn do those tubs sound fine, the first rock drummer. Keith and Bonzo died young my friends.You can have them.

Bonus:
And then there's this guy:


What? You haven't had enough?

Love Is Alive

It Is Time...

Dec 2nd 5-12, today 22-13
12 straight at home,17 of 18, Streak, with Nate on the bench, still in tact. Sole possesion of 1st place in the division. A die hard Blazer fan waiting to wake up, yet still, every game the dream intensifies. What is going on here? A new answer every night. It is on, and It Is For Real. And tonight, against the Warriors, what was thought to be a real test, a real gut check for where this team really is ie: " let's not get ahead of ourselves". Then...3 straight dunks (easy baskets, Barkley are you listenin?) and Steve F'n Blake and Nelly's callin a T down 17-4. And it NEVER GOT CLOSE. A scare with B Roy (pronounced wah), and then an actual take out of the sizzling Blakey (24pts in 20 min) wicked chahleehorse! But it was never in doubt.

It's all about trust, will, and love with the blazers this year, and without G.O.
Next year, yes will be fierce...
But do NOT sleep on this year! This road trip will be a test, ...but we've been saying that the last month.

this is the pep talk i give myself every morning when i rise.

-RISE WITH US

One For The Road!

Thank you Travis!

Dark Side of the Rainbow

It's 9/11 Never Forget... how sweet Floyd and Oz go together, just like butterscotch on hot dogs.

.......

Big Time

Undefeated 2007 Champs

Also can't wait for:



Don't forget:

http://weallbelong.net/

I THINK MY LUCK COULD CHANGE...

OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAWD!!!!!!!!!!!!


BLAZERS DEFY THE ODDS AND GET #1 PICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

69 forever (man)

68 too

Smell ya Later.......Forever

buh bye

Call me later, I can't hear you, Dad's in the basement again!

Surprise Show Last Night!

Joggz got the call ,2 hours before doors, to open for old pals Ted Leo and the Pharmacists last night at the Hawthorne Theater. Of course we obliged and as you'll see, we nailed it. Here's some footage shot by a young fan at this all ages show:( thanks to April, Celeste, and Sylvia for making some last minute choreography really pay off!)

Felix Say NO DICE!

King Felix, King Buzzkill. In the hyped up Dice-k vs. Ichiro matchup at Fenway 21 year old Felix Hernandez dominated with a ONE HITTER and stole the show. Big news to the rest of the world but King Felix ,as he's been dubbed up here in the lonesome (not so)crowded and often forgotten Northwest, has been Top Dawg for goin on 3 years after being called up 1/2 way through '05. I have to say I'm not bothered one bit. I'll take a Mariners radio broadcast like this, knowing full well in a few days the M's will be hosting the Royal's (or the like)and Weaver won't be able to find the plate and the gin will be flowing in the booth.

But wait, there's more...

QUADRUPLE OT Can Only mean One thing...Playoff Hawckey! 76 shots on goal per team and gallons of Pedialite later, the Canucks claim victory after playing what equates to over two full games. Even April was impressed by the heart of these dudes. Just wait til tonight:LET"S GO SABRES!

WOWEE ZOWEE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Can't faul ya for tryin...Can't agree on #1, and no mention on 'harness your hopes', but a VALIENT EFFORT nonetheless and some sweet footage of ,arguably, the best band ever.

Thank you 17 dots (see best pavement songs ever @top right)

Beware the Stare

Thank gawd JP is not a starter. My lord, he single handedly SHUT Down the Heart of the lineup with an intensity rarely seen in the first week of the season. Look out any team looking for a come back in the 8th or 9th this year. It's ON! Move over Mariano, it's Papelbon's Time.

Danny, Wear A Helmet

Mini vans HATE guitar players! especially on bikes. He's ok,(not sure about the bike though) but lesson learned... I think this would be nice:


Minivans are much more fond of drummers:

Still Got It: Shame, Hypocricy, Disgust...America!

Required Viewing, 'When the Levees Broke', Spike Lee's doc on Katrina. Just watch it and wonder what the hell went on and what the hell is going on and why we've done NOTHING about this administration. And why America as we know it is NO MORE.

Interview w/ Spike over there------------------------->

OK Found IT.

So, Here is the clip I tried to have for ya before. The show on Friday was slammin, and definately better than their last Portland show @ Dante's. I hAVE NO PHOTO'S, TOO BUSY ROCKIN AND SINGIN ALONG. Had a great time hangin with the fellas afterward. A nicer bunch o' dudes you'll never meet. The new songs from We all belong were, as suspected, just as great as the 'easy beat' material so near and dear to my heart. It is rare to see a band these days 6 times and sill claim STILL GOT IT. Here's is a glimpse at what you have missed so far.

DAY ONE

Note the time, a late start. But the day started as well as it ended.



No Big games early,but I did revel in the complete devastation of Stanford. Take that selection committee! Syracuse would have only lost by 12! All went by according to plan until the sa-weeet VCU upset of Duke!



Call the Wah-mbulance, The Charmin Step Into Softness Tour Stops at Duke this Year.


Feel the heat. The day ended as good as it started, with only one loss(it's ok OLD D) and at the top looking down. It's all downhill from here.

Hump Day Ha Ha

Who Let the Dog Out?

Yes It's Official. Dr. Dog still got it. Pay no attention to my brief moment of doubt, the Dog took Conan by storm last night with a SIZICK version of 'Worst Trip' with the max weinberg7 horns, including a painted on moustached la bamba, backing em up. No one has posted the clip yet so until then: a pretty good version of 'Aint It Strange' from Criminal Records. From personal experience playing In Stores usually sucks but the fellas do not disappoint here. If only I had a video recording device for the millenium instore in which they played acoustic w/piano and a song "they had never played before". oh well



The travesty that is THE SYRACUSE SNUBB is not out of my head yet. At first I blamed Stanford, but after research from my friend chris (a pac 10er, so grab a grain o salt) the culprits should be Illinois and Villanova. To which I also throw out Texas Tech(???) and Indiana.Not to mention Syracuse finished higher in the Big East than BOTH Marquette and Villanova who are IN. What's the F'n DEAL?? I'm trying to cope, but will feel alot better upon first round exits from all the above teams and an NIT championship for the Orange. Until then, No SleepTil THursday!!!!!!!!!!

Still Got Madness

Cuse is In, let the madness begin! Goin for a Big East 3 peat (which I don't want). Let's have a longer Tourney run instead. Not sure bout the new Uni's but we're in good company, as they are also being worn by Ohiostate, and Flahrida. P.S. Boz works again.

Still Got It:Boz!

I just saw this again and couldn't resist. Might help that I finally hooked up speakers too. This is how you do it.

Winter Blahs, could be worse....

u could have this:


I put up a link to David Byrne's journal, always good to check from time to time. If you scroll down there's some pretty interesting takes on the "support the troops" argument. Promise to throw down some more soon.

Too Soon: DJ

So, as requested, a mention of the untimely passing of Dennis Johnson at age 52. The reason for the slight delay was not because of the trade deadline, but because of the reaction I had. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't, nor am I now, a Huge Celts fan. But growing up in upstate and following basketball at that time you couldn't help but know each player by name, as well as the Lakers. But what really struck me was the age at which DJ went down, and I began lingering on my own mortality. Hence my obsession with mid-life crises at the moment. Now I have no reason to believe I won't go on far past my sixties, but a thing like this, for some reason, puts ones life into perspective. Anyway Bill Simmons has the best tribute to DJ which I will try to link. Meanwhile I'll be drifting........

Click the simmons link top right.

"With You Always"

The way things have been goin lately, I just don't know...until I found THESE:




You've Had a long drive my son, let's take a break to enjoy a cold beverage.....

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Travesty

Let's hope my earlier plea in defense of melo will result in an injury so that David Stern can redeem himself for not appointing Z Bo to the All Star team. There are only five players averaging 20 and 10. Only one is not an All Star. Zac. Zac is # 8 in double doubles this season. Memet Okur is 25.And in all other statistical categories it falls the same 8 vs. 26. Absolutely ridiculous and should not be taken sittin down by fans of both the Blazers and the NBA in general. A joke! When D Wade went down tonight, I thought 'If only he was in the West' there would be an open spot for Zac. But then, of course, he returned to single handedly hand it to the Blazers in the 4th.

Still Got It:...dr.dog??

First Impressions are everything, and upon the first muted dry drumfill of dr. dog's 'easy beat', i fell hard for the dog. The jaded hater of all new music had something to crow about in the way all these blowhard youngsters were crowin' bout their clapyourhandssayeahs, and tapes n tapes (boring).

Expectations Level:yellow

CMJ, i get the live dr. dog experience and am totally floored. The mercury lounge hadn't been slammed so beautifully before, not even by me (i tried). They one upped what was my new favorite album in the live setting with the sick presence of co singers scott (lead guitar) and toby (bass). Taking what on a first listen may seem like mellow pop and makin the shit rock to heights not felt since the days of real music see:60's ,70's. I mean you got your harmonies, both vocal and semi hollow axe, the drum sound of the 'wet towel' variety, tasty keys and bass, whats not to love?

Expectation Level Orange:
5 shows, one in-store and one EP later here we are. We All Belong. The new album. Well, like the English Leather Stetson Axe body spray old spice guy said, you never get a second chance at a first impression. Now I've got Ideas, pictures, memories, expectations. Stupid expectations. First listen didn't go so well. I was at work, unfair. I expected the higher fidelity and tried to not let it get in the way. 'Easy beat's 4track like fidelity was one of what i thought were dr. dog's assets. I remember talking to Scott in Austin about his dream of recording then playing it thru a boombox. set a mic up to the boombox and have that be the final mix. We All Belong doesn't sound exactly like that. The songs didn't jump out at me now. Kinda blended together. The horns and strings are cool, and don't intrude but i'm not being blown away here.'Aint it strange' and 'die,die,die' from the recent EP seemed to stand out as the front runners, with 'worst trip' coming next, a song i had also heard before. Not good. I was thinking they should have included 'fuck it', an older seemingly live only song ("sometimes u do, sometimes u don't...fuck it"), just so i could enjoy something else i was familiar with. ech. i was not being fair to anyone involved at this point.

Try again. Get home hit the couch. nothing is changing for me. Trevor Solomon's voice echoing in my head " the new record is awwwwwwesome....it's gonnnnnaaaa beee huuuuge..." I want to beleive you! I go play shuffleboard thinking the sophmore slump (not including 'toothbrush' just because) has struck again. Bummerchusetts.

New Day. try again. Like Rob Dylan said:"the tydes they are a changin'"
"A dog from the past started barkin" Here we go! I'm feelin it and not because I WANT TO. The production is cleaner but not distracting, not Nigel Godrich-y, or Friedmanesque. That ole trebbly bass is there jumpin and divin all around. The strength of 'Old Ways' is revealing itself to me now. It feels good.'Keepin a Friend' is a chuggin taught cousin to Easybeats' "wake up'. Does not supercede but gets the job done. The dog let their hair down by 'Girl', opening it up, and retaining the raw sound in this new environment. This one's gonna slam it live, I can tell.

The strength of We All Belong is definately in its side B. 'Worst Trip' is euphoric with its bursting horns and sah-weet dual guitar lead outro. 'Die die die' showcasing Toby's just soulful enough voice, still shines from it's first appearance on Takers and Leavers. The title track closer brings it back home with a nifty bridge/breakdown showcasing the horns and strings. I predict the live interpretation can possibly take the coda to even new heights with guitars in their place.

We All Belong can't be Easy Beat. I'm sure it never tried to be. That's ok. The expansion of dr. dog, as their publicity team might try to explain it, is not a failure. They could have given the same treatment to the EB songs, with similar results. But in the grand scheme of things the songs are stronger on EB. Thats not to say that We All Belong is weak by any means. It's getting better by the day in fact. Who knows how I'll feel in a few weeks. I'll reserve further judgement for the live experience in the next month or two. Will have a full report then.

To hear for yourself: http://www.weallbelong.net/index.html

MVP

"Let me hear y'all think Rexy aint so sexy, and let me guide you through the purple rain... "

What we learned:
Everyone said the Bears couldn't do it, and were right.

That Bill Cowher still got it. 15 minutes before kickoff said do not kick to Hester!

Beard combovers are funny.

That I was 17 weeks off on Dominick Rhodes having a great game (fantasy bust=XLI MVP fo reals)

Billy Joel should start drinking again.

Phil Simms should be water boy for his son and never call a game again.

CBS shouldn't let Andy Rooney be in charge of Super Bowl stats. It was almost halftime til they revealed, what everyone in the room had assumed, was the first ever opening kick off return for a touchdown in super bowl history.

That 'god the lord etc' is a major buzz kill in any press conference.

And why prince is the MVP:

He made the foo fighters slightly listenable.
Shredded major boards.
Only person to EXCEL in the wet conditions
Once he got everyone talking bout the aunt jemima doo rag, had the presence of mind to toss it away
shredded MAJOR boards.
One upped Janet Jackson in the flowing curtain sequence
SHREDDED MAJOR BOARDS!