Here's my second post from Jubal Modine & the Love Handles' MySpace blog:
Well, the 4th weekly Tri-City Jam Session went down last night and the Love Handles were in fine form, playing tighter than they ever have before. The audience was kind of thin at the start but by the time the night was over it had swelled to a respectable number. More importantly, just about everyone in attendance was extremely supportive, with much applause and compliments when it was all said and done.
For some reason the jammers mostly stayed home (perhaps it was the drizzle outside)...the only one who joined us was a man named Yoda who sang a few songs and exuded a style and confidence that would have made Elvis Presley proud..
Without the jammers we were obliged to play the whole night, so we decided to break it up in the middle and each member of the band played a few solo acoustic guitar numbers, starting with our bass player James, who did an original, "The Ladder", the Beatles' song "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City". Keyboardist Jeff then performed a couple of his originals ("Beat Me With Your Hair Brush" and one I don't recall the name of). Guitarist Roger did "I Don't Want to Talk About It" and Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane". Finally Charles wielded the Ovation and delivered a striking rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Stolen Car". It was something a little different and a lot of fun for the band and the audience alike.
Jubal missed the jam...we got a call halfway into the second set and he told us "I'm in Tijuana drinking beer and chasing lizards. I intend to come home with a new pair of iguana skin boots. Sorry I couldn't make it". I've become privy to some more information concerning Jubal's absence...as it turned out the trip to Tijuana was the grand prize in a contest sponsored by the Macomb County Toad Handlers and Frog Breeders Guild. Jubal had been excited about it for some time and was in the process of working on a green tree frog that was roughly the size and shape of an armadillo. Well, naturally this behemoth amphibian won the contest and next thing you know Jubal's on a plane to old Mexico with a smile on his face and frog goo on his hands. He should be back in the states no later than tomorrow evening and we'll try to set up an interview with him for our little blog here.
Come, check out our MySpace page. Surely you have nothing better to do.
3.13.2007
Jubal Modine Blog: Our First Blog Post...Catching Up
Recently my creativity has been fired up somewhat, having been asked by the members of my band to write for the group's MySpace blog. I decided I'd cut-and-paste the posts into this blog, seeing as how I can't seem to muster the inspiration to do anything else with it. And besides, I'm pretty happy with how the MySpace blog is turning out.
The band's name, as you already know if you read the last post here, is Jubal Modine & the Love Handles. Jubal Modine is a fictitious entity, and the running joke is that he's always off somewhere else doing something else when we have a show. When we get t-shirts made they are going to be emblazoned with only two words: "Where's Jubal?"... The fun part is that I, being in charge of the blog, get to make up the particulars of Jubal's whereabouts and shenanigans.
So without further hesitation, here is the first blog post at MySpace from Jubal Modine & the Love Handles:
Welcome to Jubal Modine & the Love Handles MySpace blog. Sorry it's taken us so long to get around to it but there has been a whirlwind of activity ever since we first got together last month. With Jubal's permission (forced from him via the use of some particularly spicy Louisiana Hot Sauce) we've decided to use this first blog post to let you know what's gone on in the first 5 weeks of our existence.
FEB. 3.....Everyone had been called and all agreed that we wanted to play in a band together again, so on the third we congregated for our first rehearsal. Jubal, our guiding light, had stated beforehand that he might not make it, but that he would be deeply offended if we didn't go on with the rehearsal. As it turned out, indeed he did not make it, as he had to officiate the semi-finals of the International Hamster Races in Little Italy, NY. We were not deterred, however, and our first practice session was exceedingly fruitful. We threw together almost 20 songs and our confidence level was high that we were ready to begin performing after we listed at least 20 more that we could do without rehearsing.
FEB. 7/FEB. 8.....Our first gig, a Wednesday/Thursday night affair at Dietrich's Club in Shawnee, Oklahoma (known worldwide as the hottest party spot in the entire Tri-City area). The first night went off very well, we had a great time and the crowd was supportive. The second night we were joined by ex-Barrelhouse singer Eddie Harding, who sat in for the whole show and sang some of his signature songs. It was a lot of fun, and it's just too bad that Jubal didn't make it...he had decided to spend both days revelling at the Tulsa County Nudist Association's 44th Annual Prickly Heat Convention.
FEB. 18.....A few days after the first gig Jubal called us from his hospital bed where he was sorely paying the price for his 2 days at the Prickly Heat Convention. He said he had a "grand idea"..."Why don't you guys talk to the management at Dietrich's and see if you can work out some kind of weekly Sunday afternoon Jam Session? It would be great rehearsal for you and who knows but that their business might experience an upswing as a result?" Well, it seemed like a reasonable idea, so we made it happen, and on the 18th of February a tradition was born. We played a couple of sets and we had a few musicians come up and add their flavour to the brew. By this time Jubal had been discharged from the hospital, but he had taken a fancy for one of the nurses so he cracked his head with a beer bottle just so he could be admitted again. Crazy Jubal. He did, however, get that nurse's phone number. Too bad he missed the jam.
FEB. 25.....The second jam session, practically overrun by the members of EZ Street, a local band, who wound up playing almost two sets worth of their show (new rules: 4-5 song MAXIMUM). A couple of other musicians jammed as well and all in all it wasn't too bad. Jubal missed again, as he and his new nurse girlfriend had hopped on a plane and flown to Miami, covering their bodies with fake tattoos, pretending to be bikers and sticking their tongues out at everyone on the sidewalk.
MARCH 3......We played a one night stand at the Watering Hole, just north of Shawnee on Hwy 18. Jubal had expressed excitement about playing "the Hole", as he had heard that it was a hoppin' lesbian bar. Alas, he was unable to attend once again...in his on words he told us, "I'm goin' to Barlow to pick flowers and eat the wild honeycomb...tell the lesbians I said 'Howdy'"...Well, as it turned out the Watering Hole was NOT a lesbian bar...at least it sure didn't give that impression to us as we played (maybe one or two possibly lesbian couples who stayed for a little while...the rest were yer typical pool-playing beer-swilling heteros). That was the only disappointment, though, as the evening proved to be quite enjoyable for band and audience alike.
MARCH 4.....The third jam session. Our bassist James couldn't make it out because he was still battling some serious congestion, but we made it happen anyway. Mutual friend Lynn brought his bass rig and played a few, and EZ Street showed up again. A little more scaled down than the first couple of jams, but a lot of fun anyhow. Jubal called in and said he couldn't make it because he'd just gotten a part as an extra in a movie about "The Domestication of Sasquatch" and his part was being filmed that day, so surely we'd understand...the man was on his way to Hollywood stardom. "But Jubal", we asked him, "won't that interfere with your role in the band?" "Oh, no", he said, "you know that the band is my first love, my highest priority, the dream I most want to come true...see you next Saturday..."...and of course we have a gig on FRIDAY.
That Jubal.
The band's name, as you already know if you read the last post here, is Jubal Modine & the Love Handles. Jubal Modine is a fictitious entity, and the running joke is that he's always off somewhere else doing something else when we have a show. When we get t-shirts made they are going to be emblazoned with only two words: "Where's Jubal?"... The fun part is that I, being in charge of the blog, get to make up the particulars of Jubal's whereabouts and shenanigans.
So without further hesitation, here is the first blog post at MySpace from Jubal Modine & the Love Handles:
Welcome to Jubal Modine & the Love Handles MySpace blog. Sorry it's taken us so long to get around to it but there has been a whirlwind of activity ever since we first got together last month. With Jubal's permission (forced from him via the use of some particularly spicy Louisiana Hot Sauce) we've decided to use this first blog post to let you know what's gone on in the first 5 weeks of our existence.
FEB. 3.....Everyone had been called and all agreed that we wanted to play in a band together again, so on the third we congregated for our first rehearsal. Jubal, our guiding light, had stated beforehand that he might not make it, but that he would be deeply offended if we didn't go on with the rehearsal. As it turned out, indeed he did not make it, as he had to officiate the semi-finals of the International Hamster Races in Little Italy, NY. We were not deterred, however, and our first practice session was exceedingly fruitful. We threw together almost 20 songs and our confidence level was high that we were ready to begin performing after we listed at least 20 more that we could do without rehearsing.
FEB. 7/FEB. 8.....Our first gig, a Wednesday/Thursday night affair at Dietrich's Club in Shawnee, Oklahoma (known worldwide as the hottest party spot in the entire Tri-City area). The first night went off very well, we had a great time and the crowd was supportive. The second night we were joined by ex-Barrelhouse singer Eddie Harding, who sat in for the whole show and sang some of his signature songs. It was a lot of fun, and it's just too bad that Jubal didn't make it...he had decided to spend both days revelling at the Tulsa County Nudist Association's 44th Annual Prickly Heat Convention.
FEB. 18.....A few days after the first gig Jubal called us from his hospital bed where he was sorely paying the price for his 2 days at the Prickly Heat Convention. He said he had a "grand idea"..."Why don't you guys talk to the management at Dietrich's and see if you can work out some kind of weekly Sunday afternoon Jam Session? It would be great rehearsal for you and who knows but that their business might experience an upswing as a result?" Well, it seemed like a reasonable idea, so we made it happen, and on the 18th of February a tradition was born. We played a couple of sets and we had a few musicians come up and add their flavour to the brew. By this time Jubal had been discharged from the hospital, but he had taken a fancy for one of the nurses so he cracked his head with a beer bottle just so he could be admitted again. Crazy Jubal. He did, however, get that nurse's phone number. Too bad he missed the jam.
FEB. 25.....The second jam session, practically overrun by the members of EZ Street, a local band, who wound up playing almost two sets worth of their show (new rules: 4-5 song MAXIMUM). A couple of other musicians jammed as well and all in all it wasn't too bad. Jubal missed again, as he and his new nurse girlfriend had hopped on a plane and flown to Miami, covering their bodies with fake tattoos, pretending to be bikers and sticking their tongues out at everyone on the sidewalk.
MARCH 3......We played a one night stand at the Watering Hole, just north of Shawnee on Hwy 18. Jubal had expressed excitement about playing "the Hole", as he had heard that it was a hoppin' lesbian bar. Alas, he was unable to attend once again...in his on words he told us, "I'm goin' to Barlow to pick flowers and eat the wild honeycomb...tell the lesbians I said 'Howdy'"...Well, as it turned out the Watering Hole was NOT a lesbian bar...at least it sure didn't give that impression to us as we played (maybe one or two possibly lesbian couples who stayed for a little while...the rest were yer typical pool-playing beer-swilling heteros). That was the only disappointment, though, as the evening proved to be quite enjoyable for band and audience alike.
MARCH 4.....The third jam session. Our bassist James couldn't make it out because he was still battling some serious congestion, but we made it happen anyway. Mutual friend Lynn brought his bass rig and played a few, and EZ Street showed up again. A little more scaled down than the first couple of jams, but a lot of fun anyhow. Jubal called in and said he couldn't make it because he'd just gotten a part as an extra in a movie about "The Domestication of Sasquatch" and his part was being filmed that day, so surely we'd understand...the man was on his way to Hollywood stardom. "But Jubal", we asked him, "won't that interfere with your role in the band?" "Oh, no", he said, "you know that the band is my first love, my highest priority, the dream I most want to come true...see you next Saturday..."...and of course we have a gig on FRIDAY.
That Jubal.
3.03.2007
Jubal Modine & the Love Handles
Most of my blogging the last few weeks has been done on my MySpace blog. Don't ask me why, it just has. Mainly because I know who reads it and therefore can communicate with those people through it. Also because I've wanted to avoid the more "personal" stuff here, and that's what I've felt like blogging lately.
I know that after I left Mad Laugh I said I was retiring, that I did not even want to play in another band. And I truly did feel that way.
But it's been a couple of years and I miss being on the stage, so a friend of mine and I put together a band with my brother (a very talented drummer) and a mutual friend who also happens to be very talented, though his talent is for the guitar.
My brother's band, Barrelhouse, had a meltdown about a week into our existence (this was to be a side project for him) and we had originally hoped that Eddie, Barrelhouse's singer, would join up with us. That seemed like the logical outcome.
But as of yet he has kept his distance and hey, that's fine by me. We have come together so fast and play so well together that I'm more than happy to be a 4-piece.
It all came together, as I think I have already said, very fast...it was less than a week from our first rehearsal and we were playing our first gig (a Wednesday-Thursday slot at Dietrich's Club). Less than 3 weeks later we were sponsoring a jam session at the same establishment. Tonight we're playing at a dive bar known as The Watering Hole (sheesh...no doubt there are 1000's of bars using that name across the country). The rumour has it that this place has morphed into a lesbian bar over the span of it's existence. Wow. It'll be the first lesbian bar I've ever had the privilege of playing.
As for the band's name...it's Jubal Modine and the Love Handles. Jubal is a Biblical character out of Genesis 4 (he's the father of all who play the lute and harp, or something like that). Modine was the CB handle of a local figure from the place where I grew up. As for the Love Handles...it was an entry in a contest we held at Dietrich's to "Name The Band". Apparently a lot of the girls liked it, at least that's what I'm told. So we combined "Jubal Modine" (which was all mine) with "the Love Handles" and it all comes together and seems to make some crazy kind of sense.
I'm not sure if we're doing a 3rd Jam Session. We had planned not to, taking this Saturday night gig, but I got the impression that some people are wanting us to do it and that we just might have to.
I kinda hope not, cuz I'm gonna be worn out after it's all done tonight and tomorrow needs to be for rest and recuperation.
I know that after I left Mad Laugh I said I was retiring, that I did not even want to play in another band. And I truly did feel that way.
But it's been a couple of years and I miss being on the stage, so a friend of mine and I put together a band with my brother (a very talented drummer) and a mutual friend who also happens to be very talented, though his talent is for the guitar.
My brother's band, Barrelhouse, had a meltdown about a week into our existence (this was to be a side project for him) and we had originally hoped that Eddie, Barrelhouse's singer, would join up with us. That seemed like the logical outcome.
But as of yet he has kept his distance and hey, that's fine by me. We have come together so fast and play so well together that I'm more than happy to be a 4-piece.
It all came together, as I think I have already said, very fast...it was less than a week from our first rehearsal and we were playing our first gig (a Wednesday-Thursday slot at Dietrich's Club). Less than 3 weeks later we were sponsoring a jam session at the same establishment. Tonight we're playing at a dive bar known as The Watering Hole (sheesh...no doubt there are 1000's of bars using that name across the country). The rumour has it that this place has morphed into a lesbian bar over the span of it's existence. Wow. It'll be the first lesbian bar I've ever had the privilege of playing.
As for the band's name...it's Jubal Modine and the Love Handles. Jubal is a Biblical character out of Genesis 4 (he's the father of all who play the lute and harp, or something like that). Modine was the CB handle of a local figure from the place where I grew up. As for the Love Handles...it was an entry in a contest we held at Dietrich's to "Name The Band". Apparently a lot of the girls liked it, at least that's what I'm told. So we combined "Jubal Modine" (which was all mine) with "the Love Handles" and it all comes together and seems to make some crazy kind of sense.
I'm not sure if we're doing a 3rd Jam Session. We had planned not to, taking this Saturday night gig, but I got the impression that some people are wanting us to do it and that we just might have to.
I kinda hope not, cuz I'm gonna be worn out after it's all done tonight and tomorrow needs to be for rest and recuperation.
1.27.2007
1.23.2007
Deal or No Deal Bozo
I just have to post an entry here and say that the lady who was on tonight's Deal or No Deal (CNBC) was very likely the most annoying, obnoxious, retarded person they've ever had on. Man, was I hoping she'd lose big time, but she took a deal of a little over $150,000 and made out better than anyone expected.
I've only recently begun watching the show with any degree of regularity and they've had a few hyperactive, crazed bozos as contestants, but this dingbat took the cake.
I've only recently begun watching the show with any degree of regularity and they've had a few hyperactive, crazed bozos as contestants, but this dingbat took the cake.
1.06.2007
1.04.2007
A Meaningless List and a Funny Photo (Not in that order...)
Nuns with guns...I find that concept to be quite humorous, don't you?
Nothing to do and no inspiration to write I thought I'd up my post count by presenting this meaningless list of all the books that currently occupy the top level of the bookshelf that stands next to my computer desk.
~~~"Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials" by Douglas Wayne Barlowe
~~~"Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy" by Douglas Wayne Barlowe
~~~"Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever, 1997" (10 years old now, I should dispose of it, as outdated as it is...alas, it takes up space)
~~~"Selected Poetry" by John Keats
~~~"A Basic Guide to the Prado" by Jose Rogelio Buendia
~~~"Kitsch: The World of Bad Taste" by Gillo Dorfles
~~~"The Norton Scores, Volumes 1 & 2" edited by Roger Kamien
~~~"The Wordsworth Dictionary of Musical Quotations" compiled by Derek Watson
~~~"Springsteen: Point Blank" by Christopher Sandford
~~~"From Metal to Mozart: The Rock and Roll Guide to Classical Music" by Craig Heller
~~~"Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties" by Ian MacDonald
~~~"Alternative Rock" by Dave Thompson
~~~"The Enjoyment of Music" by Joseph Machlis
~~~"The World of Twentieth Century Music" by David Ewen
~~~"Music Hound: Rock (the Essential Album Guide" edited by Gary Graff (this one's as outdated as the Video Hound guide...why do I KEEP these???)
~~~"Milton Cross' Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music Volume 2" by Milton Cross and David Ewen (No, I do not own volume 1...:(...)
~~~"Music of the Twentieth Century" by William R. Martin and Julius Drossin
~~~"Backstreets...Springsteen: The Man and His Music" by Charles R. Cross
~~~"The Waiting Father: Sermons on the Parables of Jesus" by Helmut Thielicke
~~~"City on the Palm of Silence" by S. D. Carpenter (a collection of poems by a friend of mine that he had published)
And remember, it's KILLING time, NOT wasting it.
:)
12.22.2006
The Year's Over, Here's My Plan
I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that I'd given up blogging...the last few entries have been short and very infrequent. This is the only post I've made all month, which might as well be over, as close to the end as it is.
The main reason I have for it is that I've been recuperating from the events of last June...in case you missed it (and who could blame you for missing, as it was only hinted at in a meme) I had some "mental problems" last June that knocked me off course on a lot of things. I'm still not at 100% and since I decided (this time) to go ahead and initiate medication, I don't know when (or if) that 100% will ever be realized.
I suffer from depression that makes me question the point of blogging. The part of me that's NOT depressed tells me there doesn't have to be a "point" to blogging, it's just a fun way to kill time. And that's how I should usually look at it...but the depression tells me I don't have anything worthwhile to say, that my opinions are rarely grounded in anything more than what I do and don't enjoy. At any rate, why would anyone want to read them?
So, it's all about beating down the depression demon.
I have hope that the new year will find me victorious over depression, that I will find enjoyment in blogging (maybe even find the time to do some work on the template), all in all to make 07 a very good year (easy enough to say "a better year", cuz that wouldn't take much).
Something else I may do is start a new blog under an "anonymous" pseudonym so that I can be completely, 100% free to speak my mind, to say what I wouldn't say here (or anywhere else for that matter)...I think I should do this as an experiment in discovering "who I am", the good and the bad.
That's probably going to happen and hopefully it won't take too much from what I've been doing here, which has always been more or less about the things in life that entertain and enlighten me (mainly music).
Now I'm going to enlighten myself and when it's all over I can only hope that something like what happened last June will never occur again.
Thanks for checking me out here, and I hope you will return soon.
Merry Christmas, one and all, and a Happy New Year!
JACkory
The main reason I have for it is that I've been recuperating from the events of last June...in case you missed it (and who could blame you for missing, as it was only hinted at in a meme) I had some "mental problems" last June that knocked me off course on a lot of things. I'm still not at 100% and since I decided (this time) to go ahead and initiate medication, I don't know when (or if) that 100% will ever be realized.
I suffer from depression that makes me question the point of blogging. The part of me that's NOT depressed tells me there doesn't have to be a "point" to blogging, it's just a fun way to kill time. And that's how I should usually look at it...but the depression tells me I don't have anything worthwhile to say, that my opinions are rarely grounded in anything more than what I do and don't enjoy. At any rate, why would anyone want to read them?
So, it's all about beating down the depression demon.
I have hope that the new year will find me victorious over depression, that I will find enjoyment in blogging (maybe even find the time to do some work on the template), all in all to make 07 a very good year (easy enough to say "a better year", cuz that wouldn't take much).
Something else I may do is start a new blog under an "anonymous" pseudonym so that I can be completely, 100% free to speak my mind, to say what I wouldn't say here (or anywhere else for that matter)...I think I should do this as an experiment in discovering "who I am", the good and the bad.
That's probably going to happen and hopefully it won't take too much from what I've been doing here, which has always been more or less about the things in life that entertain and enlighten me (mainly music).
Now I'm going to enlighten myself and when it's all over I can only hope that something like what happened last June will never occur again.
Thanks for checking me out here, and I hope you will return soon.
Merry Christmas, one and all, and a Happy New Year!
JACkory
11.08.2006
XM MEMORY LIST
It's been a long time since I've done one of these, but here's the premise: Whenever I hear a song that I really like, something that I may have bever heard before, I press the Memory button on my XM and save the title, to be compiled on these 10 song wish lists. Easy enough.
I have no idea when I began this particular list, and there were a few that got bumped off by the time I compiled it, but here are the last ten that made the cut,
1. Thomas O'Hearn - "A Quiet Moment"
2. Hello Damascus - "Randy"
3. Death Cab For Cutie - "Transatlanticism"
4. Nickel Creek - "Seven Wonders"
5. Lamb of God - "What I've Become"
6. Ulu - "EMB"
7. Fort Minor - "Where'd You Go"
8. Oppenheimer - "Nine Words"
9. Michael Stearns - "Microtonal Vibrations"
10. The Blood Lines - "Modern Science"
I have no idea when I began this particular list, and there were a few that got bumped off by the time I compiled it, but here are the last ten that made the cut,
1. Thomas O'Hearn - "A Quiet Moment"
2. Hello Damascus - "Randy"
3. Death Cab For Cutie - "Transatlanticism"
4. Nickel Creek - "Seven Wonders"
5. Lamb of God - "What I've Become"
6. Ulu - "EMB"
7. Fort Minor - "Where'd You Go"
8. Oppenheimer - "Nine Words"
9. Michael Stearns - "Microtonal Vibrations"
10. The Blood Lines - "Modern Science"
11.06.2006
Stones Outtakes
Check out a whole slew of outtakes from the Rolling Stones seminal album Exile on Main Street plus a whole lotta other cool stuff at An Aquarium Drunkard.
It's like digging up buried treasure!
It's like digging up buried treasure!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)