2:59

I. …And I’m just the devil with a lung to spare, so…

Punknews sent a team of oddly shaped characters to Las Vegas to see how poorly we could do in BYO Records‘ annual Punk Rock Bowling tournament. Stories could be told about the happenings of the weekend and the people we got to hang out with, but I’m not one to rock and tell. Curiously I’m the biggest drinker of the `Org staffers, which is strange since that’s not something I can usually lay claim to in social groups. I suppose that says more about them than it does about me though.

Using this wonderful Internet of ours you can see a few sets of pictures taken by Scott and myself. Of course, I didn’t take the pictures I was in, and credit for those goes out to Tsunami Bomb manager Andie. We didn’t take many photos of the “celebrity” element because it was far more of a peer-situation than a reporter-subject relationship, and quite frankly I value a good conversation and a handshake more than looking like a fanboy.

[Scott's photos] [Adam's photos]

II. Here comes Eddie in a brand new car…

All The Rage at Silver Bullet talked with AiT/Planet Lar head Larry Young about his new book The Black Diamond. Check this concept:

Fifty years from now, an elevated highway spans the nation. Initially, a response to international terrorism, the US government grounds commercial airline flights and builds THE BLACK DIAMOND. The project leader and chief architect is named Jim Maddox and he sacrifices everything to build his dream.

Years pass, Maddox and his daughter Kate, an engineering savant in her own right who is married to Dr. Don McLaughlin, DDS; both are on top of their fields and highly respected. But when the government decides to clean up THE BLACK DIAMOND, and when Kate is kidnapped to be used as a hostage by forces loyal to the road, Dr. McLaughlin has to borrow his brother-in-law’s illegal 1973 Mercury Cougar to get on the highway and rescue his wife 150 feet above and 100 miles an hour faster than anything he’s ever known.

There’s some preview art up at SBCB if you’re so inclined. This is also supposed to be of that hybrid series/OGN that AiT pioneered with Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Demo. I’m not sure why but I’ve got a feeling this will be exceptional.

III. Doctor, oh doctor, I’m begging you please…

Here’s something I observed among the folks commenting under a recent review. The band and review in particular don’t really matter. For their part the band released a fairly uninteresting album that’s notable only because the frontman’s past acts were fairly popular with some segment of the kids (I had never heard anything from him before, but I digress…). So the prevailing opinion among the people discussing the review is that the record is completely unremarkable and fairly mainstream, yet due to the frontman’s years in the “DIY community” the band deserves whatever success this gets them.

Not to insult this band any more than I have, but that attitude is completely and utterly moronic. It essentially says that the actual quality of the music is far less important then “paying your dues.” Thus a boring major label band gets a free pass by the ever fickle punk kids while a good major label band that happens to hit it big on their first record will inevitably be dragged out into the scene and shot (or worse, ignored).

I’m not one to get into a big argument about indie politics, but the very second that we decide that anything, especially “cred”, is more important than the music then we’ve seriously botched our priorities.

IV: Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die…

I tend to waste time on inane projects at those moments when I’ve the got a busy workload of “legitimate” things to do. While discussing how indifferent two ska kids felt while everyone else wept about broken up emo bands, Justin and I decided that the soundtracks of our respective wasted evenings should be chronicled for posterity. Without further ado then, I present to you the “March 10th Hour of Relative Power:”