And the nominees are...

Say, what do you know? Our own Robertson "Davies" Witmer and John "Hey John" Osebold are nominees for Theatre Puget Sound's 2010 Gregory Awards! They're both up for the Outstanding Music & Sound Design award alongside our pal from Miss Mamie, Brendan Hogan, and "A" sympathizer Matt Starritt.

In the Best Actor category, you'll find our friend and sometimes-narrator/harmonica player Charles "Chuck" Leggitt. West's lighting/video hero L.B. Morse is gunning for the Lighting Design high score, and our former rehearsal space landlord and internet radio booster Scotto Moore is on the list for Outstanding Playwright!

So you see, it really is who you know. Or rather, who we know. But you know us and we know them so okay, it is who you know.

Puzzlingly, West was left off the roster of Outstanding Production nominees this year. I knew we should have called it The Laramie Project...

Good luck Rob & John and also everybody!

Elder Statesmen of nerd-rock

A few highlights from Tuesday's amazing They Might Be Giants show celebrating the 19-years-later platinum status of their major-label debut, Flood:

-Every song on the album. Even the ones they couldn't remember all the lyrics to.
-Cameo by Avatars of They (shabby sock puppets of the Johns mugging for a live-feed camera).
-Lounge-funk update of "The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas" to "The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma" (for science).
-Linnell's effective use of Kaoss Pad and my corresponding feelings of validation.
-A clear demonstration that after 25 years they still entertain each other as much as they entertain us gathered geeks.
-Encore: Fingertips. Fingertips. Fingertips.

It's not often I get to bring my 14 year-old self out for a night of pure delight. Thanks for aging gracefully, TMBG! You still rock, hilariously.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled bloggings of inscrutable imagery.

100% OFF SALE

On JohnO's NEW December album!

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Just kidding, it's not a sale.
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He's giving it away free online.
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As free as the wind blows.
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As free as the nose blows.
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Olé! Olé! Let's all go swimming!
DROWNDROWNDROWNDROWN

"A" Photo of the Day

When we were young and short-haired and wet and there were less of us.

Courtesy of our scientologicianist colleagues at buzzlab via the sexy "Awesome" Flickr photo pool.

Photo call

Why is this man laughing?



Because he's simply delighted that this picture is part of the brand new "Awesome" photo pool on Flickr! Got a photo of us you'd like to share? Funkin' go nuts! We put some up there to get you started, but we know a bunch of you have moremoremore. So do the work for us and throw them in the pool, won't you?
The water's fine and I'm pretty sure Kirk is swimming "commando" again.

In praise of ADT

I'm a sucker for automatic double-tracking. It sounds like it happens a little on John A's vocals in "When it Rains..." and again with Kirk on "Shape song", but I don't know if that's intentional. I probably should know stuff like that.

I do know that bands are using it all the time now for "vocal enhancement" and it's becoming played out a bit, but it's such a simple and satisfying effect when used strategically. Like reverb or delay. I love it.

You know what else I love? Potato skins with bacon and sour cream. 

Stairway To Heaven? Hell, yes.

Pete (aka not Basil) laid this on us last night during a break from mixing some Half Brothers tunes. This seals my vow to never listen to the original again.

People in Japan do this for fun and money

My wife tells me that a friend of ours is one of the black-clad puppeteers. I always knew we had the coolest friends.