Sad Bastard Sunday Roundup: Tuesday Edition

Hey all... James here.

Haven't blogged in awhile (save for my occasional texted rants to my other blog, though I haven't really sent any of those in awhile either).

Been pretty hard at work prepping the new record (details of which to be released soon), and booking our summer tour dates to promote said record (details of which to ALSO be released soon). For those of you thinking we haven't been playing nearly enough shows of late, believe you me, we feel the same way. One gig or so a month just ain't cutting it for this big-haired geek, to say the least. I need to make an ass out of myself in public at least thrice fortnightly or I start to get weird (how would we know, you ask snarkily... you'd know).

Been also watching a lot of Phillies... well, actually, not WATCHING the Phillies, per se. I don't have cable, and most of the games are on Satan's Sports Net (and for once, I use "Satan" not to refer to the Fox Network). I spend many an evening (too many, one might suggest) staring at MLB.com's Gameday, providing me an almost visually interesting display of pitch by pitch. It's kind of like video game graphics from the mid 80s when the game froze, and all you could do was watch the CPU throw strikes past you whilst your NES began to shake, then to smoke, and lastly to weep, ever so gently, in the corner.

Aaaaanyway... the boys are doing, generally, quite well of late (admittedly, not so much today), though I had an odd weekend last weekend: I don't think I've ever rooted against the Red Sox and FOR the Yankees in the same, well, ever. I know it's trendy to shit on the Sox because of Red Sox Nation (which, in fairness to Bostonians, we here in Philly would be probably just as bad, if we could win more than one championship per generation), but having grown up reading (and re-reading, and re-re-reading) a lot of Stephen King, I can't hate the Red Sox. I can't. Except when they play (and especially beat) the Phils. But AT THE SAME TIME, the Yankees (who I, like all thinking people, despise) were playing the Mets (who I wouldn't have really any too many negative feelings about, except they and the Phillies have this rivalry, see, and therefore must lose at all cost). Up was down, black was white, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

Watching the Wire... halfway through Season 5... wherein everyone loses their damn minds...

Getting ready to go to Warshington and pelt Congress with small stones until they stop being stupid.

That's about all for today. Perhaps I'll get back to blogging more regularly... or maybe not.

Listened to a couple sets of Phish from last week... for those of you who may profit from this information, allow me to say they're playing better than at really any time in the past decade.

That is all.

Loves,

J

I Got Nothin' (Sorta)

For real. I have very little going on that I haven't already talked about.

I'm still in the middle of that show about women, and it's absolutely become a job. I don't want to go, but I need the money. And on rare occasions, it's fun. Recently we started dicking around and trying to add classic movie themes into the middle of songs, whenever possible. Day 1 involved the theme from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The guitar player managed to sneak it in just about everywhere. As the bassist, it's a lot harder for me to include these things. Day 2 was a particular challenge. We were trying to work in any music from Star Wars. Have you every tried playing the Imperial March in the middle of "I Will Survive"? Not entirely possible. However, playing the riff from Peter Gunn during "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" actually works pretty well. If anyone can think of movie themes that are easy to insert (a la Close Encounters), please let me know.

Also, I've been reading an exhaustive history of heavy metal music called Metal: A Definitive Guide by Garry Sharpe-Young. He spent 20 years culling all the information and interviews, and has organized the bands (about 75 of them) by type. It starts with Heavy Metal, such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Budgie, and goes on from there. It includes some of my favorite bands in there, such as 3 Inches Of Blood, Testament, Nevermore, Lamb of God, you name it. It's about 8" by 9", with size 6 font, and 500 freakin' pages, man. It took me 4 days to read about Black Sabbath alone. (On a very smooth side note, Paul Donato, one of the many, many replacements for vocalists Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio [inset], fronted the band Keep under the pseudonym Michael McDonald following his Sabbath career. The band also featured Mark St. John of Deep Purple and KISS drummer Peter Criss.)

And finally, even though it's in the Twitter, Dan took the new EP over to DiscMakers in Camden to get pressed. Should be back very shortly, at which point you will buy it. Not may buy it, WILL buy it. You can't see it, but I'm glowering and shaking my fist at you through the computer.

In summary, apparently I did have some stuff to talk about.

- Josh

Optimistic Monday

Does anyone else religiously follow box office returns for Hollywood films? I've been doing it since I was a kid (when we looked at the news on something called "paper"). As many of you know, I've been particularly interested in the performance of the new Star Trek movie, being a fan of the franchise and of JJ Abrams.

Star Trek has been faring well, posting the lowest declines from week to week of any film this year. While I would imagine the quality of the story, production values, and marketing probably influence a film's box office performance the most, some reviews have attributed Star Trek's success to another factor: optimism.

Star Trek as a franchise has always reflected a rosy view of the future, honoring the wishes of its creator, Gene Roddenberry. This did not change for the latest installment. However, the most successful "reboots" of franchises in the last few years were Casino Royale and Batman Begins, both dark and brooding films. So when I saw Terminator Salvation last week, I wondered why it was performing much worse than anticipated.

Both Terminator and Star Trek have questionable stories, well-known characters, lots of explosions, slick special effects, and young, talented casts. There are many differences, for sure. But the most obvious difference is the setting. Why do more people in 2009 prefer the utopian sheen of Star Trek over the post-apocalyptic gloom of Terminator? Where would you want to spend your two hours?

And hey, The Sobriquets are doing things again! We're playing shows, finalizing EP artwork, and practicing in our new space. We're all very happy about that.

- Nick

Thank the Good Dude, It's Over

Josh here. It's been a while since I blogged, and with good reason. I've spent the past 3 weeks doing my darnedest NOT to fail out of grad school.

Well, to be fair, not to fail one class. But it was a doozy. However, I successfully earned a D+ in said class, so life rolls on. I will miss looking like Macaulay Culkin, though.

I've also been tied up with the closest thing to a real job I've had in 5 years. Since the end of April, I've been performing in RESPECT: A Musical Journey Of Women at the Act II Playhouse in adorable Ambler, PA (adjacent to Norristown, and a short hop from the imposing-sounding BROAD AXE). And let me tell you, if you think men are scum, if you remember the 40s, and if you want to sit in a theater and go "mm-hmm" for 2+ hours, then come on down. Seriously, the show definitely panders to 50-and-up female crowd, but it IS a pretty fun show. All the actresses are really nice, and the pay is good. But you will feel like a dick for having a penis (ba-dum-bum) if you sit through this.

One of the crew pointed out to me that there's only one man in the entire show who doesn't get a bad rap, and it's Dr. Martin Luther motherfucking King. The rest of us didn't have a prayer.

The band is finally working again after an unexpected hiatus (much of which was my fault), and we're looking forward to our upcoming show this Saturday, the 23rd, at Doc Watson's. It just so happens to be our 50th show, as well as James' 29th birthday. It's going to be a time, so come on down! I'll be screeching in around 11:15, minutes before our set, as I have a performance of RESPECT that night as well. Ah, the joys of professional musicianing.

Until next time, keep on tranglin'. (?)

The Punny Side of the Street

Sunday was Sad. So you'd think Monday would be happy here at the Sobriquets blog, right? I'd like to say it is, but it isn't. The rain won't go away! It's dampening my spirits, to say the least. Isn't there a saying about April showers bringing May flowers? I would like to see some of those flowers. Dry flowers.

Well, I'm sure it's the REAL May somewhere, so if anyone is having nice weather, be sure to comment below and rub it in. Describe it well, though. It'll make our visualization easier.

Today would be a good day to listen to some Sobriquets music. I think I'll "pop in" my copy of the soon-to-be-released Sobriquets EP. Since I don't have a physical CD, what do I say? I'll "click it on"? I'll "point to play"? What do you think? The digital revolution is upon us, so I guess we need to invent some new phrases. Are there a lot of phrases that sound dated if taken literally, but still in use in common modern language? Is there a term for THAT? Maybe my friend Nate Green will post something about this on his blog.

Good night everyone.

Sad Monday,
Nick

Sad Bastard Sunday Roundup: Rainy May Edition

Sad Bastard Sunday is right: no Phillies. Lame. Now what am I supposed to do between laundry and dinner?

Anyway... we had our first rehearsal in our new space, high above the street (which is really exciting when one is carrying amps, or drums, or a two ton anvil... this experiment may cause us all to have legs like Popeye's arms). Seemed to go well, though evidently I lack the proper tools to be able to set up much sound baffling (who knew you needed staples in a staple gun?). This is what I get for not being particularly handy. Pics to come soon.

This week, Arlen Specter changed parties (sorta), David Souter announced his retirement, and Nick finished editing the first of what we hope will be many, many video diaries of the Sobriquets. It includes live footage of us playing Boundary Blurring, a song which is, as yet, unavailable. Unless you were following our Download of the Month last year for the week between Christmas and New Years. Or go to our website right now and stream it. So I guess it's kind of available.

Speaking of Downloads of the month... Well, this is embarrassing... it turns out that last month, I was apparently asleep at the switch. April never got a Download of the Month. UNTIL NOW, BABY!!! Due to my egregious laziness/forgetfulness/uselessness, y'all get, in addition to the song I had intended to post, but also a sneak preview of a song from the new, almost-named EP coming out in July! Don't get too used to this generosity... I'm a cruel, cruel man.

Anyway, we're playing the Seaside Music Festival in Seaside Heights, NJ on the 15th, then our 50th SHOW SPECTACULAR WHICH IS ALSO MY BIRTHDAY on May 23rd at Doc Watson's here in Philly... so those oughta be pretty good parties.

Here's some pictures from our recent travels!

And the camera said, "Why is there only one set of footprints?"

And I said, "Because I was carrying you..."

Josh & Dan ponder the ineffable.

Nick & I create a feedback loop.

I try to leam at the James Leaming House.

Yay guitars (and amps and drums buried by guitars)!!

Me

Dan

Josh

Nick

The next two places are on the same block in New Cumberland, PA:

After taking this shot, the camera dies... is it me?

So anyway... gonna go have dinner now... See y'all soon!!

J(ames)

PS: The new Neko Case record is AMAZING.

Happy Un-Monday

If you've ever listened to the podcast I make with my friend Brian O'Rourke, you know that I don't read much. Well actually, I do read, but it's mostly for information. I usually prefer my entertainment to be watchable or listenable. But when Brian recently published his first novel, I had to check it out. I'd like to write a long, intelligent review praising it, but I'm no authority (no pun intended) on literature. I will say that I really enjoyed it, and couldn't wait to finish it, no matter how much I was distracted by TV shows, Phillies radio broadcasts, or news involving the producers and cast of the new Star Trek movie.

In The Unearthed, Brian is able to draw up characters who are easy to care about. The suspense is handled skillfully, and some intriguing plot twists keep you guessing right up to last sentence. His description of the action is vividly detailed, but it doesn't sacrifice the swift pace of the storytelling. Given the subject matter, reading it at 2AM with all the lights off was probably a bad idea. I scare easy.

Whoa, hold on, I think I almost tried to write a review there, even though I said I wouldn't. I'll quit while I'm ahead. Buy Brian's book here and you can tell me what you thought instead.

I think books may be trying to convert me to their teachings. Today I visited Barnes & Noble and a book called to me from the shelf. It literally called to me, yes. Then it made me read the first two chapters of itself before it'd let me leave. The Unthinkable is a non-fiction psychology book that analyzes human behavior during disasters, natural and man-made. It's an in-depth exploration of how and why people make certain decisions under extreme stress, and it's a topic that I've always wondered about. That's probably because I freeze at the grocery store when I'm trying to decide between 7-grain or 12-grain bread. How many grains do I need? I don't know!

What I do know is that I need to read.

If you'd also like to read, I say find some books whose titles start with "The Un". They seem to be a good bet.

Happy Monday (it's over!),

- Nick