First off, ENOUGH with Greta Van what's her name in Aruba.  Every single night "Hi, I'm Greta and tonight we'll spend an entire hour discussion some suspicious algae that washed up on shore...does it have anything to do with the disappearance of Natalie Holloway?"  I mean, I don't mean to sound cold-hearted because it's a shame it happened, but let us know when they find something out...otherwise can we move on a little bit please?

And now on to other things...my gig!  First off, the place we played isn't known as a fine rock establishment here in music city...more of a jazz club.  When I got there about 8:30 (showtime was at about 9:15) there was some free-form jazz band finishing and I HATE that stuff.  Oh I know, they're all so talented and it's so soulful and blah blah blah but it bores the crap out of me.  They got done and people were leaving, which was good because we had our own crew there.  We got setup and were ready to go around 9:45...those dudes in the jazz band were taking their sweet time getting their stuff off the stage and we had to move a piano and stuff too.  Actually I thought it would have been funny to keep the piano up there for looks.  So the sound guy starts hooking everything up and sets the mic stands wrong.  He had mine right in the middle and Don's off to one side.  I told him "hey dude, mine goes on this side, nothing in the center...just like Motorhead".  He was cool though.  We got everything setup and then my favorite part - soundcheck.  So I go to test my mic with the people in their waiting and I just yell out "HEYYY!!!!!" which seemed to get some attention...hahahaha.  But anyway, we go through all that and then it's time.  As soon as we started into the first song that stupid crap that happens to me every single time hit - "oh man, what's the first note?" except this time it was "oh man, what's the first line?" because outside of my normal bass playing responsibility I had to do lead vocals as I explained last week.  Yep, first time ever in front of a crowd doing lead vocals.  Now I was prepared though...I had a fake monitor on stage that wasn't working where I had some cheat sheets taped to that only I could see with some words on them.  If I could hit the first line of a verse it was no problem after that, pretty smooth huh?  So we go through the intro of the first tune "Ignite" and then it's time to hit the mic.  This was going to be the roughest tune because it was the one with the hardest words to remember...but I did it.  Yep, everything was going awesome until towards the end of the song I realized something, I had barely been breathing.  I guess the adrenaline rush was going or whatever, but I noticed I was getting a little tunnel vision and a ringing was hitting my ears.  I seriously thought I was about to pass out and I had to get through one more chorus before I could step back...so I blurted it out...the song ended and Don starts the next one.  I stepped back and took like 5 deep breaths and was perfect after that for the rest of the night.  I really don't get nervous...just a little anxious right before we ever go on...so it wasn't like stagefright or anything or I probably wouldn't have even made it through that song.  I guess just the excitement of it all...who knows.  But lesson learned...make sure to breathe in between lines...hahahaha.  I gotta say though, I don't think I've ever had that much fun before playing a show.  Now I've played guitar years ago at gigs, and of course here recently bass...but the one band I was messing around with years ago where I did vocals we never got a gig...someone always quit or something got messed up every time before we would try to go play somewhere.  We recorded a bunch of crap where I did vocals but I had never done them live outside of yelling background stuff.  By the time we were three or four songs into the thing and I was comfortable and all that...I had a blast beyond belief.  I honestly can't believe I pulled it off...and even got compliments!  And the fact that my bro Jason didn't make fun of any of it afterwards really told me we did pretty good.  It was different, that's for sure.  As a bass player I was always kind of in the background but now I was front and center...well actually off to the left hand side...hahahaha.  And I also never thought I could play bass and do the vocals at the same time either...but I pulled it off.  Now it was a fun time, but this weekend is a big one.  Yep, Saturday at The Muse in Nashville we'll be playing a benefit show to raise money for the West Memphis Three - the three guys in jail for a murder that it kinda doesn't look like they did.  There's a documentary called "Paradise Lost" that was on HBO years ago about it all...and the whole case stinks a little bit.  Anyway, people are going to be raising money to help their appeal and we'll see what happens.  So yeah, this gig will be a lot bigger.  Plus, the guys that made "Paradise Lost" are also the same two guys who did the Metallica documentary "Some Kind of Monster".  They're making a follow up documentary about the case and want footage of bands playing these benefits to use in the new documentary, so there's going to be some cameras and stuff at this thing to film.  Now that would rock beyond belief...getting the band in a documentary like that.  I can't wait to play Saturday...I'm kinda digging this vocal gig.  We'll have some video up on www.noisecult.com soon.

And what else is Saturday?  Oh man, it's finally here - "The Devil's Rejects"!!!!  The follow up to the classic "House of 1,000 Corpses" and I can't wait.  Since I went to that horror convention last March, I have been counting the days down to this thing.  Yeah sure, the new Star Wars came out this summer, The Fantastic Four, Land of the Dead...but this one will be it...I can feel it.  Now my favorite movie of the summer thus far is "Batman Begins" which rocks on so many levels I can't do it justice here...but I have this feeling that "The Devil's Rejects" will be one of the coolest things to ever appear on a movie screen...I kid you not.  Saturday will be a day for the ages - the movie in the afternoon followed by this gig that night...life doesn't get much better then that.

I saw this week some 14 year old in Tennessee got arrested for burning an American Flag.  Here in this state it's a misdemeanor which means no more than a year in jail and a fine for the punishment.  Who knows what the sentence will be...but that's not what I find weird about it all.  This kid's dad came out and said that he was drunk and doesn't hate America and just did it because he was drunk and stuff.  Well, my question would be this - why didn't this dad kick his son's ass for getting drunk???  Seriously, at the age of 14 if I had been drunk and burned an American flag I would have been in more trouble then I care to think about...and would have deserved every bit of it for being a moron.  I don't know if the kid's dad was there or not, but the fact he's like "oh he was just drunk, it's ok" is quite a lame defense.  HE'S FOURTEEN!!!!  But personally I hope they make flag burning a felony...there's no reason to burn a flag.  If you hate the country that much that you want to burn a flag then just get the hell out.  I do like the idea my bud Jason had about it.  He said they could keep flag burning legal to keep the ACLU off everyone's back and not tie up the courts, but make a law stating that any repercussions of burning a flag can't be prosecuted.  Basically if you want to burn a flag then go right ahead, but if a bunch of dudes decide to beat you to a bloody pulp because you're an idiot then there isn't a thing you can do about it.  I think that's an awesome idea actually.  Let's see what little stupid hippie protesters have the guts to do it then.  See, the thing I hate about protesters is that they think they're really fighting the system and standing up to "the man" whoever that is.  They want to act like what they're doing is so dangerous and blah blah blah when they really have ZERO to lose.  For speaking out they aren't going to get thrown in a gulag or death camp or whatever, they cop this attitude like they're having to stay off the radar so "the man" can't get them.  Real protest is like when that dude stood in front of the tank in Tieneman Square in China...that's real protest.  This bs of burning a flag and carrying a sign isn't being rebellious or anything at all...it just gives stuff for the people like me to sit back and laugh at because you're acting like a bunch of idiots....the ol' "rebel without a clue".

So what's happening on the Senate race front?  Glad you asked.  Basically I'm not gonna do much until the Fall hits.  Reason being, people are on vacations and stuff now and nothing is going to heat up until after the first of the year anyway.  Right now I'm letting all these Johnny Politician guys get out there and basically tell people they have no spine and stand for nothing so when I come out my message will be honest and refreshing.  The only dude I have to worry about is this guy named Ed Bryant.  He's a former Representative and helped prosecute Bill Clinton in the impeachment trial.  Well, he quit the House of Representatives to run for Senate in 2002 and lost.  He said he ran for Senate to be a voice in Washington and blah blah blah but basically he did it as a career move.  Seriously, the guy is already a Representative and yes, one might have more of a voice in the Senate, but if he really cared he should have finished his term and THEN ran for Senate when it was time instead of being a quitter.  To show you what kind of candidate he is, he's got three new articles on his website.  Now when I post something on mine at www.boforsenate.com it's something involving current events or to expand on an opinion I have or something that actually has a little substance to it.  What does he have?  One article is about him leading in the polls...yippee.  Another is the fact that he's raised over $700,000 for his campaign so far.  Yeah, that really gives me hope that he has my interests at heart.  Now the other is his own personal message.  Does he talk about the bombings in London?  The lack of border security?  The upcoming Supreme Court nominees?  Heck no...he wants to recap how much money he's made and how he stands in the polls.  This guy is a hack, and I pray I have the chance to debate him one day...I really do.  I'll say this, anyone I debate my goal is to get them so mad and frustrated they almost want to cry.  Serious, that's my goal.  Just by stating EXACTLY where I stand while they're doing their bs party line rhetoric should do just that.  With each passing day I lose a little more faith in the spineless cowards we have in government with the exception of VERY few.  In fact, there's a story that came out last week saying that terrorists have suitcase nukes in this country poised in several major cities ready for a "national day of Islam" where they will set them all off.  And you know what?  I listen to Michael Savage on the radio and he has an idea I would follow through on without a doubt if I was in Washington.  That idea is this - state that if nukes go off in America...or heck ANY terrorist activity...then Mecca will be flattened.  These bastards don't give a crap about losing their lives, so let's hit something that DOES mean something to them.  Serious...I wonder if that was the policy what would happen.  Those jackasses are so concerned with praying towards Mecca 5 times a day...what if it was to be wiped out?  Would that mean something to these savages?  It's time to take the gloves off or this "war on terror" will never end.  It's time to issue ultimatums to these animals.  Oh wait, Saudi Arabia would be affected...oh well...screw them.  I can say this with a level of certainty though - if anything goes down here in the United States again, I do believe that people will take it upon themselves to seek retribution.  I think if anything else happens that people here will begin to attack mosques and not take too kindly to muslims.  It's happening in England and I think it would happen on a much bigger scale here.  Ok, before I get carried away, that's it for now.

Remember, if you're in Nashville come out to the Muse Saturday night...should be a killer show.