Just a note regarding the interview with Roscoe...thanks to Leo Daley for the idea!
Hep!
Dave

np Mary Lee's Corvette: "A Good Look At You"

Today, singer/songwriter/producer/guitar player extraordinaire Eric "Roscoe" Ambel took time from his busy schedule to chat with me about current events in his life.

Dave: Hi, Roscoe. Are you currently touring or recording with Steve Earle and the Dukes?

Roscoe: We recorded the new Earle record titled "The Revolution Starts.....Now" late this spring. Record comes out Aug 24. I'm pretty excited about it. You can hear 3 tunes at www.steveearle.com
We start touring Oct 13th in Nashville.

Dave: You're a busy man, having played in the Dukes for several years now, continued to produce records, you're touring both solo acoustic and with The Roscoe Trio, the latter two on the heals of the release of your terrific new "Knucklehead" record with guests the Bottle Rockets, Martin's Folly, Yahoos, and Steve Earle. Just how do you do it all?

Roscoe: With VOLUME of course. It's been a blast to play so much of my own music this summer with Chip Robinson and a bunch of different guys playing bass and drums. I've been working on some very cool records. The new Chris Harford record "Time Warp Deck" comes out real soon. You can check out some tunes at www.chrisharford.com

I've also finished records by Kasey Anderson, Mark McKay and Joe Flood.

We've also got a new Yayhoos record about 85% finished. Its called "Put the Hammer Down" and we hope to release it early in 2005

Dave: I LOVE Chris Harford's music, as you know. And Joe Flood...fantastic!

I was thrilled to learn that your new label, Lakeside Lounge Records, reissued your first two solo records (which I have on vinyl, baby!). 1988's "Roscoe's Gang" was performed with the core band of Springfield, Missouri's Morells, with Syd Straw and Peter Holsapple as guests. Your second, 1994's "Loud & Lonesome" features songs written with Kevin Salem, Dan Zanes, Dan Baird, and Terry Anderson, with Andy York playing. Rolling Stone magazine called "Roscoe's Gang" "The record Keith Richards should have made." So why did it take you so long to release a new record?

Roscoe: My first 2 solo records have been unavailable almost since they came out. I had the rights to "Loud & Lonesome" but it was very difficult to track down the rights to "Roscoe's Gang". After I finally got the rights I got both records re-mastered. Mastering has come a long way since '88. And I also worked hard on the packaging, tracking down pictures and writing liner notes.

It took me a while to realize that I needed to put out this stuff that I had hanging around. Let it be its own record. I figured if I put it out it would clean the slate so I could work fresh on some new stuff.

Dave: I was in New England recently, and on Cape Cod and throughout Massachusetts could not find a long john. Having come from Wisconsin I know you know what one is, so what's up with that in New England? No long johns?

Roscoe: You have to savor your Long Johns when you have the chance. Now that you have traveled outside of the greater Long John axis you'll probably never look at them the same!

Dave: Do you prefer Dum-Dums or Tootsie Roll Pops?

Roscoe: Whoppers actually, but I'm off the stuff.

Dave: You kick-started your career playing in Joan Jett's Blackhearts. Did Joan ever make a move on you? I mean, if I was a girl...nevermind.

Roscoe: We played on the same team Dave.

Dave: Switching many gears, your wife, the gorgeous and fabulous Mary Lee Kortes, has a stellar band of her own, Mary Lee's Corvette. Her debut remains one of my favorite records. I was thrilled to learn that she got the nod from Joe Jackson to tour with his band overseas last year. What an honor! I understand that she's recently recorded a song with Jay Bennett. Did you produce that one? And does the band have a new record in the works that you're producing and playing on?

Roscoe: Glad you liked Mary Lee's debut. The song that Mary Lee recorded w Jay Bennet is a live track. Mary Lee is writing new songs this summer and she's been playing at the 11th street bar.

Dave: Both you and Mary Lee are from the Midwest, and your hometown is part of the beautiful tri-city area of the Illinois Fox River Valley where I now live (St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia). What do you miss most about Illinois and Wisconsin (God's country)?

Roscoe: I miss bratwurst and I miss those potato rolls too. This summer when visiting Lake Geneva/Fontana Wisconsin for my sister's wedding I realized that my home up there was situated in one of the most fabulous road cycling areas in the USA! Fantastic rolling hills, deserted stretches of brand new blacktop crossing through the cornfields... I may have to return! Now the Tri-Cities is a different story... Its real nice but it seems like its been almost annexed into Chicago compared to the small town Batavia I grew up in.... but they do have some nice bike trails there too.

Dave: Have any famous people recently bellied up to the bar at your Lakeside Lounge in Manhattan's East Village, home to the world's best jukebox?

Roscoe: Happens all the time, but in NYC everybody's famous. We did host Cameron Diaz's birthday party recently and Ryan Adams brought his pretty girlfriend Parker Posey to my gig a few weeks ago.

Dave: What are you doing this weekend?

Roscoe: Riding my bike and also heading up to Boston for a gig with the Roscoe Trio at TT The Bears.

Dave: Hey, thanks, 'Scoe! You are a real nice guy...

Roscoe: Ditto Dave

The End.

np Eric Ambel & Roscoe's Gang: "Frozen Head St. Park Song"

Howdy do, howdy do, howdy do??? My Grandpa Herrmann (my mom's dad) used to greet everyone with that greeting. He's been gone for about 15 years now but that memory will live on forever.

So, I'm not quite living up to my expectations in keeping up Jeff's blog. Just been too busy at the office. So it goes...

One thing I have to mention, thanks to Jeff, is that I just purchased a 40GB iPod and I couldn't be more excited!!! Thing is, my lovely wife purchased me a 20GB iPod for my 40th birthday on July 5. I've been so busy the past month, including every weekend, that I never got around to opening the box containing the new iPod. Then this past weekend Jeff informed me that iPod had just reduced the price of their units, and the 40GB now costs less than the 20GB did just a week ago. Today I returned by 20GB unit and got the 40GB unit for trade, plus $60 back!!! The 40GB unit holds up to 10,000 songs and I'm going to start loading it next week. It'll be quite the challenge to actually fill up 40GB worth of music but I'll do it. Heck, just with my CD library of Dylan, Van Morrison, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Lou Reed, and Johnny Cash will take care of at least 1500 songs since I have over 100 CDs of those artists' music alone!

Hey, hey! The Cubs won today at Milwaukee! Now they're only 1 1/2 games behind San Francisco for the wild card in the NL. At the end of every day though it's just not enough to keep me a content fan. I had such high hopes this year for the Cubs taking their division but St. Louis is just too good. And they're a far better team...they play the fundamentals of baseball...picking players off, throwing runners out from the outfield, stealing bases and more, and doing so consistently. And it's a shame that Sammy Sosa has to start because of his paycheck and the "fans." There's a better player sitting the bench but even Dusty Baker gives in to the politics of the club's administration, playing Sosa every day. Incidentally, my son Joe calls him Sammy Soso, which I think is a compliment.

Speaking of my son, he just gave me a Dum-Dum. Root beer flavor...delicious!

Tomorrow my family are leaving for the Michigan dunes just across the Indiana border on Lake Michigan. It's a beautiful part of the Midwest and I can't wait to get there and relax.

Whelp, if I can get my son to stop watching videos (now playing: Horton Hears A Who!, a classic) I'm going to take in the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Kerry speaks tonight, and it's the most important speech of his life. Speeches...Clinton's earlier this week was perhaps the best he's ever delivered. And our -- Illinois' -- Barack Obama addressed the Convention Tuesday night as the keynote speaker, and he was brilliant! He also has a blog.

Good night...
Dave

np The Sleepy Jackson "Fill Me With Apples"

Hi. This is Dave, Jeff's friend and former love of his life. Last weekend my wife and I had the honor of attending to Jeff's marriage to Stephanie Bing in Bolton, Mass. I returned to work on Monday to find myself in management meetings all week, while the week before I'd told Jeff I'd carry on his blog during his honeymoon this week.

Long story short, and I hope to have pictures to follow, the wedding ceremony in the Bing's back yard was the most beautiful one I've ever witnessed. It was as true as true can be, and it was a blessing to see two people together at last, so deeply in love.

The event has touched me in a way that most never will in my lifetime (yes, I'm a sentimental fool) and I'll cherish the memory of that day throughout my married life.

God bless!
David J. Klug

Well, today is the day I get married. So far there's been nearly no nervousness. Talk to me again at 5pm, though. Who knows. One wedding-related story before we get to Item Five, though.

I am getting married at my fiance's parents house, a 200-plus year old New England colonial house, a beautiful house with unbelieveable gardens in the back. Two days ago, a white dove landed on the roof next door and has made it's home there. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. Very strange!

Today's Item Five features singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Tim Easton. The Columbus, Ohio based Easton got his start during the great roots rock scare of the mid-'90s by fronting a band called The Haynes Boys. Since then, he's released a couple of fairly stunning solo records, which are a combination of the rootsty Haynes Boys sound and Easton's own brand of Dylan-esque rock. Think somewhere between "Highway 61" and "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." Easton's growth as a songwriter over the last few years has been nothing short of sensational. Even Bruce Springsteen has mentioned Easton as a talented up-and-comer.

Easton's most recent album is called Break Your Mother's Heart, and it's out on New West records now. Here we go:

1. You and I have a connection. A woman I went to college with did the photography for the first Rosavelt CD. Do you care? You can be honest. [note: Rosavelt is another Ohio based band Tim has worked with]

THE SMARTASS ANSWER WOULD BE "NOT REALLY" BUT THE WORLD IS JUST TOO SMALL TO BE A SMARTASS ALL THE TIME. HOWEVER, THE DEGREES OF SEPARATION ARE A BIT LARGE TO SAY THAT YOU AND I HAVE A "CONNECTION!"

2. I understand that you've been touring Ohio with a grassroots voter registration group which you started. What made you get involved in such endeavors?

THE PRESIDENT MADE ME DO IT. HE HAS MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT SHOWING HIM THE DOOR. ACTUALLY, I HAVE WORKED ON VOTER REGISTRATION BEFORE- WHEN CLINTON FIRST RAN. I BELIEVE THAT THE LEVEL OF APATHY IN OUR COUNTRY IS DISGUSTING. PEOPLE - AWAKE FROM YOUR SLUMBER!

3. Did you see Farenheit 9-11?

YES, I DID.

4. Is it true that I don't have to break my mother's heart? Did you mean that?

IT'S STRANGE- BUT IN A POLITICAL SENSE YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE TO BREAK YOUR MAMA'S HEART TO CHANGE THE WORLD. IF YOU DO, THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY A FACIST. IN AN ARTISTIC SENSE, SOMETIMES YOU DO HAVE TO BREAK YOUR MAMA'S HEART TO CHANGE THE WORLD. IF YOU DO THAT, THEN YOU ARE INNOVATIVE.

5. Do you ever play the old Haynes Boys song "Jackie?" I really love that one, don't you?

JUST PLAYED IT - WITH THE HAYNES BOYS - LAST WEEK. EVERY YEAR IN JUNE THERE IS A GREAT COMMUNITY FESTIVAL IN COLUMBUS, OHIO AND MANY TIMES THERE ARE REUNIONS WITH OLD FRIENDS THEN. WE HAD A BLAST.

6. Do you think it's weird that Columbus has a pro hockey team?

NOTHING WEIRD ABOUT IT- THE CITY HAS GROWN A LOT. I, MYSELF, HAVE NOT BEEN TO ONE OF THESE GAMES- BUT IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME SINCE I PLAYED THE SPORT MYSELF GROWING UP. EVEN PLAYED INTRAMURAL LEAGUE AT OHIO STATE.

7. Who is the most underrated band of all time?

PROBABLY "TELEVISION" OR MAYBE "HALF JAPANESE."

8. Who was the first band you were obsessed with and how old were you?

THAT IS UNFORTUNETELY THE BAND "KISS" WHO I WISH WOULD JUST FUCKING GO AWAY ALREADY. I WAS IN THE SECOND GRADE.

9. What was the last thing you really laughed hard at?

PROBABLY MY BANDMATES IN THE VAN OR ON STAGE. ALSO DAVID CROSS.

10. Would you rather be Vladimir Putin, Bobcat Goldthwait or Nick Lowe?

I FEEL SORRY FOR PUTIN - VERY TOUGH JOB FOR THAT GUY. I WOULD HAVE TO SAY NICK LOWE FOR MANY REASONS- ONE BEING HE WAS AT ONE TIME PART OF THE CASH FAMILY. LUCKY BRIT.

Many thanks to Tim. Keep spittin' out great songs!

Song now playing: Merle Haggard - "Hungry Eyes"

I mentioned some time ago that I had begun reading the book "Middlesex." 500-plus pages later, I have finished, and I cannot stress enough how superb this book was. It was so good that I don't even want to go into too much of what happens - just read it. I will say this, though: author Jeffrey Euginides is fast becoming one of the most talented writers of our generation. He's now written two absolute monster books - "Middlesex" and "The Virgin Suicides." His writing style is truly unlike any other author I've read - it just sucks you right into some odd trance-like state. It makes you want to actually slow down the progress you're making in the book just so you can have a few extra days with it, to savor the story, the style, the utter elegance of, it seems, each word. It leaves you wanting way more.

After that, I jumped right into the new Wilco biography written by Chicago rock critic Greg Kot. Learning How To Die is as melodramatic a title for a book as the band itself. If you saw the movie documentary about Wilco last year, you know what I mean. The book is largely comprised of Kot slobbering shamelessly all over Jeff Tweedy and his revolving-door bandmates. I read this large-print, 250 page paperback in just two days. However, assuming you can get beyond the pom-pom's, the book does have some tasty passages about the Uncle Tupelo days and various parts of Wilco's existence. I will offer kudos to Kot for his ability to interview just about every major player involved in all the drama thorugh the years, incluidng ex-Tupelo bandmate Jay Farrar, whose much celebrated verbosity slightly exceeds that of a mime. Was very interesting to hear his views on a lot of things and also to hear from other musicians, past and present, about how they saw things. The book is a guilty pleasure - as long as you're not expecting anything terribly deep.

By no stretch am I slamming Wilco. In fact, while I think all of their albums have been largely uneven, I strongly applaud them and support them in their endeavor to not just make the suits happy. They challenge their audience and their listeners, which is more than 99.5% of bands out there can say at this time. They also have a great batting average - their albums may be uneven as mentioned, but for every song that I sit back and wonder just what the hell they're thinking, there's another song that just crushes it out of the park. They may not be the best band out there, but at least they're one of the most interesting.

Finally, I just picked up this link from a SlashDot post. NASA has posted some high-res, digitized images of the Apollo space mission. They are, in a word, amazing.

Song now playing: The Kinks - "A Well Respected Man"

Almost every morning I eat cereal. Maybe once a week I'll have waffles, but who cares. I have a real problem with Kellogg these days, or maybe it's Shaw's, the local supermarket. You see, they took Honey Crunch Corn Flakes off the damn shelves, and I feel as though I should induce rioting. They replaced them with Banana Corn Flakes or some such shit, and it is just wrong. If someone wants Banana in their cereal, they buy bananas. Screw that. Give me my Honey Crunch back.

That said, here are my top 4 cereals of late:

1. Grape Nuts O's
2. All-Natural Granola
3. Honey Combs
4. Brown Sugar Total

Feel free to post yours, if you can figure out the stupid comments section. A word about the comments section: it should be thrown out and stomped on, much like the idea of Banana Corn Flakes. The comments section WILL be changing here when I have time to make the changes. For now, I've got too much going on - like my wedding. This Friday. Yeah.

I will be posting an Item Five interview this Friday, on my wedding day, but after that I will be gone until August 3 and believe me, there will be no computer in sight. Fear not, however. I will be bringing in a pinch-hitter-Robot to handle duties while I'm gone. He's been here before and you all know him as Dave Klug. He'll leave a light on for you.

Song now playing: Grant Lee Buffalo - "Testimony"

Well, you can't let yourself get caught up in always having to have the newest, latest, greatest thing. But my timing last week was impeccable. Impeccably bad, that is. Today, Apple announced a new line of Ipod's and dropped the price by 100 bucks. So last week I paid $399 for the 20GB. This week: it's $299. And the 40GB - double the capacity - drops to $399. Oh, and the battery life goes from 8 to 12 hours.
 
Luckily, I still have one day to return mine if I really want to, but do I? I could easily just sell mine on EBay or to a friend at a slight discount if it meant me getting the upgrade. But I'm not even sure I want to. It depends on how frivilous and/or materialistic I'm feeling. We'll see. I'm still in the process of digitizing most of my collection and I'm only up to the latter F.

Oh - the Item Five link is now working in the nav bar at the top.
 
Song now playing: Earlimart - "We Drink On The Job"

In case you hadn't noticed, there is now a navigation table at the top of each page on RustedRobot which can direct you to certain areas of the site. The "contact" tab is a email form if you want to contact me, but at this time it doesn't work and I can't figure out why, so it may never work. But it will always be there, to make it look like I know what I am doing. Of course, if the urge to email me hits you and you become increasingly desperate to contact me, you can also email me by clicking on the link in the table to the right - you know, the one that says "email." Yeah.
 
Anyway, there's five tabs in this navigation bar and as you can plainly see, one is labeled "Item Five." It is labeled "Item Five" simply because it's nothing. If you click it right now, nothing happens because I didn't know what to do with the fifth tab. Of course, I could have easily removed it, but that's way too logical. I mean, come on. So today I am officially changing the name of my new (hopefully) weekly feature called "Ask the Musician" to "Item Five." There is no clear reason for this. Just accept it. At some point soon, the "Item Five" tab will take you to a new page with an index for each musician interview. For now, the tab continues to do nothing. Enough verbosity on this for now.
 
Today's installment of Item Five features the fiesty Jim Chavez, the lead singer for a great Kentucky-based band called My Morning Jacket. Jim also has a lot of hair. 
 

Actually, I cannot confirm nor deny that this is Jim Chavez. It might be me. Or Robert Plant. Or your mother.
 
It is my opinion that My Morning Jacket are a bit like the Grateful Dead with balls and electric guitars. Or maybe they're the modern day Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Yeah, that might be a slighly better description.  One way or another, they're a great young band of which I am sure are going to be very popular, if they're not already, in hippie college towns like Athens, Ohio and Northampton, Mass. Their latest record, which came out in September of last year on the RCA record label, is called It Still Moves and I would recommend you buy it.
 
Now let's watch as Jim types in CAPS and takes me to task for not liking the "St. Pepper's.." album:
 
1. I think The Beatles "St.Pepper" album was way overrated. Do you?
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING??? NO WAY, IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME THAT FOREVER CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT MAKING RECORDS, FROM THE RECORDING PROCESS TO THE FUCKING AMAZING SONGS, RIGHT DOWN TO THE CONCEPT OF WHAT ALBUM ARTWORK COULD BE. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ALBUM COULD NOT BE OVERSTATED IN MY MIND. IM NOT A FAN OF HYPE AND STUFF LIKE THAT BUT THIS RECORD DESERVES ALL IT GETS.
 
2. What was the last thing you laughed really hard at?
A CASKET FALLING SIX FEET AND GOING "THUD"
 
3. You have a relatively new band member named Bo. Does he like to outrun the cops, slide across the hood of a car, or do spin outs like Bo Luke used to do on The Dukes Of Hazzard? NO, HE LIKES TO HIT HOME RUNS, PLAY FOOTBALL AND BE ON BASEBALL CARDS.
 
4. Did you see Farenheit 9-11? If so, what did you think?
I HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET, BUT I'VE READ HIS BOOKS AND REVIEWS OF THE FILM AND ALTHOUGH I THINK HE CAN BE A LITTLE SENSATIONAL AT TIMES, I AGREE WITH MOST OF HIS VIEWPOINTS.
 
5. Would you rather work with someone you're not crazy about on a really good project or work with people you really really like on a so-so project?
I THINK IF YOU WORKED WITH SOMEONE YOU'RE NOT CRAZY ABOUT, IT WOULDNT BE THAT GOOD OF A PROJECT. I'D JUST WANT IT TO BE GOOD.
 
6. What can you tell me about My Morning Jacket's next album?
NOTHING.
 
7. Why don't you ask me a question?
HAVE YOU EVER DANCED WITH THE DEVIL IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT?
 
Jeff Answer: If, by "the devil" you mean a wizard in long robes and if by "the pale moonlight" you mean Winnipeg, Canada, then yes. I have. Don't ask me another question.
 
8. Do you feel like the internet has helped or hurt the band in terms of sales, word of mouth, etc?
BOTH. I FEEL IT HELPS BY LETTING PEOPLE FIND OUT INFO ON BANDS BUT IT HURTS BECUASE WHEN PEOPLE DON'T PAY FOR A RECORD THE ARTIST SUFFERS.
 
9. Do you like the 70s band called Sweet? I just listened to a song called "Wig Wam Bam" and it was pretty damn good.
I 'HEARD THEIR MUSIC BUT I'VE HEARD I'D LIKE THEM. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD NOLAN STRONG AND THE DIABLOS?
 
Jeff answer: No, sir. I have not.
 
10. Would you rather be Elton John, The Queen of England or Alf? (I realize #1 and #2 could be the same thing...)
SOME ASSHOLES USED TO CALL ME ALF IN HIGHSCHOOL, SO I GUESS I'D BE ELTON JOHN IN THE 70'S, HE FUCKING ROCKED BACK THEN.
 
I'd like to thank Jim Chavez for taking a few minutes to answer my ridiculous questions. He's a good sport. For the record, I need to clarify something about "St. Peppers.." I agree with Jim that this album changed the music world in many ways - recording processes, packaging, etc, but I just don't think the songs are that good, really. I'll take Revolver or Rubber Soul any day.
 
Song now playing: Camper Van Beethoven - "Oh, Death"

Sweet! Irresponsible lesbian swans! Other news:

- Graduation rate: Zero percent.
- Always blame the cicadas. Always.
- Finally, I have no idea what to say about this. No idea.

Song now playing: Electric Light Orchestra - "Livin' Thing"

Uh, I'm not even sure I want to see the menu.......



I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but every day here in New England we often get two full pages in the Boston Globe sports section dedicated to the Red Sox. In case you hadn't heard, the area is nearly obsessive-compulsive about our baseball team. So anyway, I've been following baseball very closely for about ten years now and marginally close before that. Our new manager, Terry Francona, often describes giving a player a day off as "he needed a blow." I have never in my life heard this term used to describe a day off for a baseball player. Has anyone else heard this? It's one of those little things that bug me for some reason.

This is the movie Alien, re-enacted by animated bunnies. Of course, I love it. And so should you. Thanks Mike.

Song now playing: Wilco - "At Least That's What You Said"

Well, I finally did it. I am now a woman. Oh wait - wrong blog. Sorry about that. I finally got myself an Ipod. At first I thought I was undoubtedly going to go for the 40GB, which holds 10,000 songs, but when I did some quick and dirty math I thought the 20GB would suffice at 5,000 songs, so that's what I got. I have about 1,200 cd's at my house, and if you figure, on average, four good songs per disc, that's 4800 tunes and I'm thinking four good songs per disc might be a liberal assessment. We'll see. Got the car adapter, too.

Anyway, getting the music from the computer onto the IPod is lightning quick with Firewire. Getting the music onto the computer, though, now that's going to take some time. I'm only up to the "Be..." section of my collection right now. I just added a whole slew of Beatles songs (in this case, the 4 good songs per disc average is conservative, although I still believe that "Sgt. Peppers..." is a horrifically overrated album. Only 3 songs from that record made it onto the IPod.

The thing about the IPod, and I know I'm late to the game, is that you really do rediscover your music collection. I had forgotten how good those two Alice In Chains acoustic EP's are. I had forgotten how good Dan Baird's solo records are. I have not forgotten how brilliant The Autumn Defense is, though.

Was on my way to play hockey last night, driving along a fairly busy road. It wasn't completely pitch black out just yet - the daylight was breathing it's very last breaths, though. So I'm driving along, listening to Graham Lindsey's "Famous Anonymous Wilderness" when I see something in the road and as I drive closer I notice it's a full-grown deer. Just standing there in the middle of the road as if to be thinking "what the hell am I standing on and what the hell do I do?" Since it was on the other side of the road, I drove by and beeped to try and get it to run, but it was frozen and another car was coming in the other direction. I flicked my lights and continued to beep, but the deer just stood there. I was hoping and praying the person coming in the other direction would notice the deer and they apparantly did - at the last second. I watched as the deer took off and ran in the woods.....

Song now playing: Dan Baird - "Cumberland River"

I'm proud to introduce a new feature on RustedRobot today called Ask The Musician. I hope to be able to do one of these every other Friday, but I suppose it's all dependant on who I can get and how long it takes them to get back to me. My first victim, er, guest is none other than Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. I've always liked the Drive-By Truckers until their last album, called "Decoration Day." Now I love them. I would protect them like I would protect my own family. Maybe. Actually, I wouldn't. But damn, they are one hell of a band.

The Truckers are a throwback to pull-tab beer cans and 1976 El Caminos driving through a run-down Georgia town. They proudly wear the southern rock badge on their sleeves, much like Lynyrd Skynyrd did, but the Truckers write more intelligent songs. I really believe that. They can rock with reckless abandon or lay down a sweet gentle tune. Some miserable bands write and sing songs about suicide. Pow. Gone. The Truckers are the kind of band that write a song about how suicide affects the ones left behind, emotionally, physically, everything-ly. They are real. They are good. They are real good.

Patterson is one of the lead singers of the band (you all know how much I love bands with multiple lead singers) and I want to thank him for a) naming the Kinks as the most underrated band of all time and b)answering the following questions:

1. You're playing in Boston during the Democratic National Convention this year. What do you think would happen if the Drive-By Trucker's get on stage at the FleetCenter and play in front of 17,000 dems?

Massive pandemonium and a red terror alert - oops, sorry, wrong party and city, that would be NYC for the Repubs. The Democrats like to party and we'd ROCK the house. Either way, I'm sure we'd all get fined for all the smoking that occurs.

2. Stock music interview question: Tell me more about the new album and when it will be released?

It's called The Dirty South and it's bigger and meaner than all the others. My fave so far. It's coming out August 24th, followed by massive year long tour.

3. Can you think of the best show you feel you ever played?

Last saturday night in Chicago.

4. Does it feel weird to hear yourself on the radio?

When was I on the radio? It's weirder NOT hearing us (or any of my other favorite bands) on the radio. Radio used to play ROCK, now they play SHIT.

5. What are the advantages of having a beard?

Covering up as much ugly as possible, and less razor rash.

6. Did you see Farenheit 9-11? If so, what did you think?

Saw it in NYC the first week it was out there. Loved it as a film. Made me physically sick though to see all the shit that moron has done to the country though. My theory is it got the R rating because of all the sex, since it's essentially 2 hours of watching GWB fornicating all of us.

6a. If not, did you see "E.T.?" Do you think it's a documentary?

I did see E.T. in 1982 and again fairly recently. No it's a two and a half hour commercial for Reeses Pieces. A masterfully done one though.

7. Who is the most underrated band of all time?

The Kinks 1st, Big Star 2nd, Todd Rundgren is up there too. Of modern bands, why is Centro-Matic not selling millions of records? Hell, us for that matter?

8. Who was the first band you were obsessed with and how old were you?

Elton John when I was 8 (1973), followed soon after by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I was a really big Springsteen fan from 78-84 too.

9. What was the last thing you really laughed hard at?

Between the folks I play with, the girl I married, and my friends, all of whom are fairly hilarious, I laugh a LOT. Hell, our crew is funnier than most comedians and way funnier than most movies. I used to laugh at our president, but it's just not funny anymore. Bill Clinton, that was a President who could deliver the laughs.

10. Would you rather be Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin or Alex Chilton?

Aretha Franklin by miles (although I'll bet Plant made more money and got more pussy). Who the hell'd want to be Alex Chilton? I'd rather listen to him than be him, but that applies to all three.

Bonus question: I saw the DBT's at a place in Cambridge, MA called The Plough & The Stars like 7 years ago. Do you remember this show?

Vividly. People had to walk through the stage(?) to get to the bathroom. The crowd seemed evenly divided between folks who liked us and hated us. The next night we played in Richmond VA, which is a long fucking drive. END

Note: I did walk across the stage once to get to the bathroom. Sorry dude. Great show, though.

Song now playing: Otis Redding - "Just One More Day"

Robert Scoble is an employee of Microsoft who also happens to be a frequent blogger. His intentions are not to sing the praises of Microsoft, nor are they one of a disgruntled employee, which is why I like his site so much. While sometimes it's a little too Channel 9-ish for me, now and then he'll post his thoughts on what it's like working for Microsoft and it's always interesting to read the perspectives of a person who's there and living it. Microsoft has taken their lumps this century for sure and Scoble is never hesitant to point out his frustrations from time to time. But we should never discount what companies like Microsoft have done to empower and add value to the workplace. It's also a sociological marvel. Yes, their heavy-handedness and tendencies to "ignore now, unmercifully kill later" can be hard to stomach sometimes (see: the search engine business, 2005) and some of their products clearly have better alternatives. However, many of us are simply creatures of habit and don't have time or simply aren't aware of the alternatives. But it could be worse, right? What if they didn't let him speak his mind?

Michael Moore just launched his weblog.

Song now playing: Nick Lowe - "Heart of the City"

Some of this is a little dry, but it's a very interesting insight into the future of cable television.

The folks at Comcast, Adelphia, Cox, Time-Warner, etc aren't just dropping by and setting up cable boxes anymore. Very soon, if not already in some locations, your cable service will be enabled to handle DVR functionality (a real threat to Tivo) and your cable modem will also serve to provide you with voice-over-internet service, which basically means you make all your calls using the same bandwidth that provides your high-speed internet connection. Traditional "phone lines" will most likely be a thing of the past very soon. Personally, I'm looking forward to having all this added functionality and I see a day, maybe sooner than later, when there's one single device in your house that has the pipe to handle it all - music, television, phone, internet access, etc.

It's not a crazy vision or anything, it's a reality. In fact, back in 1998 or thereabouts, we were looking for people to fund our record label and ended up in Camden, Maine, talking to an old-school record business honcho who was absoloutely loaded. Lived right on the ocean, but still had an indoor pool. Anyway, even back then, he was talking about the single-device technology and had claimed to have already seen it in some labs.

So anyway, at one point in the coming years, you'll have a single device in your pad with a main screen and you'll just choose which form of media you want to use - then off to the races. Meet the Jetsons.......

In much more important news, especially for you people of Portland, Oregon, it is more than safe to take a crap, perhaps the safest place in the nation, or maybe the world. They really ought to work this into their Chamber of Commerce brochures somehow, wouldn't you think:

"Portland - Come Take A Crap!"
"No Shit - We're The Cleanest!"
"You Could Drink Our Sewage!"

Okay, that's enough.....

Song now playing: The Who - "Young Man Blues"

So, what did I do over the long weekend? Well, for starters, I "built" myself a new garage. It's certainly not your typical garage, but it's fun getting in and out and it didn't take long to build at all. Very easy to do: get in your car, hit the gas. I took a picture:



Hmmmmm....what else? Oh, we went and saw Fahrenheit 9-11. Where do I start? It's already been examined and written about far more eloquently than I can promise, but the short of it is this - it's a compelling, fascinating viewpoint on the Bush presidency. Oh yeah, as long as you expect the slant when you walk into the theatre, it's a hell of an entertaining and at times laughable ride. I'm pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to politics. I keep tabs and read news, but not as in depth as some other people I know. That said, there were a few moments in the film where it was obvious Moore wasn't including things he probably should have, specifically the part of the film where he's trying to point out that the coalition of countries fighting with the U.S. in Iraq is a mish-mash joke of small, militarily ineffective countries in the coalition. He's clearly having fun with it and it's undoubtedly an amusing moment - but he leaves out England and Spain, making it seem like it's the U.S. and a bunch of hacks. He didn't need to omit that - it wouldn't have made the point or the film any less compelling and anyone who's paying a smidge of attention knows that England and Spain were fighting alongside.

For me, the most ironic and incredibly sad part of the film is Al Gore presiding over the Senate gathering just after the 2000 election where he repeatedly is turning away and shutting out African-American residents of Florida, who are begging and pleading with the Senate to hear them regarding how their votes were not counted. It really makes one realize just how helpless American citizens can be in regards to government - black, white, whomever. Welcome, my friend, to the machine. Of course, Gore must have just been beside himself with frustration, maybe even rage if Gore is even capable of that kind of emotion. Gore was there doing that because he had to be. As VP, it was his job. It's such a final, sad kick in the face after what must have been a gut-wrenching few weeks for the guy who actually won the presidency.

There were too many other parts of the movie to mention here, really. It is a must see. Not because it's factually perfect or anything - see here for a very interesting viewpoint from "the other side," but because we see footage in Iraq - real footage - that American TV networks will never have the guts to show again (or did they ever?) because they're more or less on the take, too. The movie itself was well worth the time, clearly slanted but the overall point is this and I think many will agree or made the realization long before I did: American citizens are largely powerless to what goes on and many of us are prone to believe weak media spin. I left the theatre thoroughly entertained and rather sad at the same time.

The surprise movie of the weekend, though, was American Splendor. An authorized biography of sorts, this film documents the life of Harvey Pekar, a mostly miserable file clerk from Cleveland whose comic book depicted his own (and probably many others) "real life." Pekar is played by the very underrated Paul Giamatti, who does a kick-ass job in his role - the facial expressions, the speech and the mannerisms are a damn fine piece of acting and to me, worthy of award. What made this movie so good was that Pekar appeared as himself in parts of the film, mostly in the form of small intermissions, saying things like, "I'm not sure this guy (Giamatti) really looks like me, but whatever." There's also animation here and there, but not enough where it gets overwhelming. The film - content and production - was just so interesting and well-made.

Song now playing: Bruce Springsteen - "Prove It All Night"

Sometimes you just have a premonition that you need to keep watching. I really started paying attention in the fifth inning of last night's Red Sox-Yankees game and was so utterly transfixed for the rest of the night as the two teams engaged in one of the finest, most exciting, perplexing and terrific baseball games I've ever seen.

In the end, as usual, the Yankees found a way to beat the Red Sox in thirteen innings. But getting there was one hell of a wild ride, especially the period from the 9th through the 13th inning where, among other things:

- Derek Jeter made a simply unbelievable catch, running full bore towards the line in shallow left field. He made the catch and his momentum took him - face-first - into the third row. He emerged, ball in hand, with a bloody forehead and chin, as if he'd been mugged, which is actually a 42% possibility in the Bronx. Still, an amazing play.

- The Yankees end up with a leadoff triple in the 12th inning and an obvious rally. Boston first baseman David McCarty has to exchange his glove five times in the inning because of various infield switches. At one point, McCarty, who throws left handed, was playing second base. When was the last time you saw any left-hander play second base? I couldn't help but laugh after each at bat as McCarty would run to the dugout for a glove-switch, Kevin Millar was running all over the field (see below) and the Red Sox were using two outfielders for two-thirds of the inning.

- The same rally saw Kevin Millar play 1st base, 3rd base and right field for Boston. In the same inning.

- The Red Sox had the bases loaded with nobody out in the 11th inning and couldn't manage a run. Couldn't bunt the guy in from third. Couldn't hit a sac fly. Couldn't score a run. In another one of the most comical moments of the game, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was convinced he had a triple play during this inning, but didn't realize he was counting an out on Manny Ramirez twice. Huh? He quieted down quickly when told.

- The Red Sox finally take the lead in the top of the 13th on a Manny Ramirez home run to left center, his second HR of the game. It finally appears that the Red Sox will take this one when Sox pitcher Curtis Leskanic gets the first two out uneventfully and reaches two strikes on Ruben Sierra. But come on - this is the Red Sox. Three consecutive hits later - ballgame. Yankees win 5-4.

All that said, still one of the best games I've seen in my life. Those highlights were just the extra innings! Let's not forget the Sox were down 3-0 and came back. Or Sheffield and Pedro jawing at each other. Sheffield ended up being hit by pitches twice in the game. Or a Yankees rookie pitcher who looked like he was 14 years old more or less mowing down one of the best lineups in the game. This is why we love baseball.

In other news, I really need to know what the big deal is with a flower that smells like rotting flesh. Seriously, why are we so fascinated with something that will make people throw up? Or something that would make security guards not able to finish their shifts because of the smell? Ah....to each their own, I suppose. I can always go downstairs and take a whiff of my hockey equipment, which I actually place on my body twice a week. Probably not much different....

As we head into the long July 4th weekend, I leave you with another MVP Baseball screenshot of Ken Griffey Jr breaking up the double play in Cincinnati....you can click on the picture to get the large picture.



Have a nice long weekend, eh?

Song now playing: Sebadoh - "On Fire"

It appears that Microsoft has fired their first guns as they enter the search engine fracas. A temporary beta site has been launched which showcases Microsoft's new search technology. While it's still embryonic in nature, this is a pivotal moment in the search industry. It's the kick-off to what's been looming over the business for well over a year now: the ten-thousand pound gorilla is out of the cage.

All that said, times have changed since Microsoft essentially rubbed out Netscape and this foray (in my opinion) won't be nearly as easy for crew in Redmond, WA. They're not just bumping up against another competitive company here, they're bumping up against a movement, or even more specifically, a verb. So strap yourself in - Google's going public, Microsoft is joining up, Yahoo keeps on keepin' on and Ask Jeeves, well, we're still concentrating on great, intuitive search results.

More coverage:
John Batelle
ResourceShelf
Robert Scoble (MSN employee, check out the comments)
Search Engine Lowdown
Traffick
Search Engine Watch Forums
Webmaster World

It's a good thing I only heard the end of the Red Sox-Yankees game last night, because if I had seen it, I might have thrown up. That's the kind of loss that can really send your team into a skid (what movie was it when the sports phychologist kept repeating "losing is a disease....."). Anyway, there's still a bevy of games left, but these two losses more or less put the Red Sox into the wild card race and nothing more.

Poor dude. This guy saves up one million pennies on a bet with his brother and now nobody will cash them in. Imagine how much space one million pennies would take up? Sheesh.

Song now playing: Palace Brothers - "More Brother Rides"