Happy happy happy happy happy birthday to Tim, our esteemed WebDude and the brains behind this place.  May your guitars always remain in tune, may your ales always be served properly chilled and in the appropriate glassware, and may your okonomiyaki be bursting with octopus.

xxxooo,

~s

Mark, congrats on the completion of the book projeKct!  I'm so excited to see the finished product, I'm cleaning off my coffee table right now!

~s

Did this get mentioned someplace else and I missed it?  Because I just got an email from TicketBastard that Chicago tickets go on sale tomorrow, and I don't remember even hearing that the band would be touring.

Looks like they're bypassing Philadelphia this time around.  Chicago is lovely in the springtime...

~s

I know, your birthday was last week by now.  I hope it was perfectly lovely!

~s

Happy 4-day weekend all.  As much as Christmas sucks, I feel lucky to have friends like you guys.

xxxooo,

~s

Excellent point.

~s

Oh, thanks a bunch.  Now I have the theme from The A-Team stuck in my head.

~s

I've wished that often, Mark.  And I would hope that if we did, we'd have legendary parties far more often than just once a year!

Presently I'm participating in the 12 Beers Of Christmas at my favorite local bar.  Drink the 12 featured Christmas/Winter seasonals within the month of December, and you get a gift certificate and commemorative t-shirt.  You can see the list of beers at the link.  I have 5 down and 7 to go before New Years.

~s

It IS weird, but the HoB is pretty much THE venue in Chicago for higher-profile metal acts.  (I mean, Slayer and Megadeth are scheduled to play the UIC Pavilion, and small-time local bands play a myriad of hole-in-the-wall bars, but if you're a medium sized national touring metal band like Opeth, Behemoth, Arch Enemy and/or Devin Townsend, it's the place.)  Which definitely causes some cognitive dissonance, as the HoB is pretty much the Disneyland of music venues, all sanitized and corporate and charging $9.50 for beers and whatnot, and the music is neither sanitized nor corporate.

However, as much as I dislike the HoB, it does have one thing going for it: (limited) seats for decrepit old hags like me.  I try to get there super-early to grab a spot.

Sad.

~s

You know what would make it even MORE awesome?  If you came to see them in Chicago, that's what.

(I know, I know...short notice, and you had to buy a bunch of new cars recently, and the dogs don't have very many frequent flier miles...I'm just sayin.')

~s

Cynic with Devin Townsend!  Or perhaps Devin Townsend with Cynic!  Either way, I squeal with excitement!

Fri 01/08/10   Nashville, TN  Rocketown   
Sat 01/09/10   Atlanta, GA  The Masquerade             
Sun 01/10/10   New Orleans, LA  House Of Blues             
Mon 01/11/10   Houston, TX  The Meridian Event Center             
Tue 01/12/10   Dallas, TX  The Prophet Bar   
Wed 01/13/10   San Antonio, TX  White Rabbit   
Fri 01/15/10   Tempe, AZ  The Clubhouse Music Venue   
Sun 01/17/10   West Hollywood, CA  House Of Blues             
Mon 01/18/10   San Francisco, CA  Slim's   
Wed 01/20/10   Denver, CO  Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom             
Fri 01/22/10   Louisville, KY  Headliners Music Hall             
Sat 01/23/10   Detroit, MI  Magic Stick             
Sun 01/24/10   Chicago, IL  House Of Blues             
Mon 01/25/10   Cleveland, OH  Peabody's Downunder             
Tue 01/26/10   Toronto, ON  Opera House Concert Venue   
Wed 01/27/10   Montreal, QC  Club Soda   
Thu 01/28/10   Boston, MA  House Of Blues             
Fri 01/29/10   Clifton Park, NY  Northern Lights             
Sat 01/30/10   New York, NY  Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza             
Sun 01/31/10   Philadelphia, PA  Trocadero Theatre             
Mon 02/01/10   Baltimore, MD  Sonar             
Wed 02/03/10   Saint Petersburg, FL  The State Theatre             
Thu 02/04/10   Charleston, SC  Music Farm   
Fri 02/05/10   Knoxville, TN  Bijou Theatre   
Sat 02/06/10   Charlotte, NC  Fillmore Charlotte 

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

~s

What a shame!  The annual church caroling party was LAST weekend.

~s

Chip,

Very happy to hear the latest good news, and hoping it keeps on coming.

~s

Mark, I am proud. 

Nothing's coming to mind just now, but I'll think on it and see if I can't come up with a couple of suggestions.  There's not a whole lot of strictly instrumental out there.

Whatever you do, DO NOT listen to Dragonforce.

~s

YAY for good test results!

Fingers still crossed.

~s