After Helmond I went into a slump. Anyone who has played music on a stage knows how variable the sound can be: it is truly a mysterious nearly untamable beast. You never know how to get it right but you certainly know when it is off. And curious thing when the drummer has an off […]

Helmond translates to “hell mouth,” and it is here that we are to play our forth show, which is shaky from the get-go as a couple of days before there is some problem with ticket pre-sales, and opening acts. Whatever, it doesn’t seem to big of a deal when we get there. The excited receptionist […]

Hung out yesterday in Leuven to see the sights. Walked around the markets, had a waffle, pondered the abstact statues, and drank koffie. Hit the road about 3 for Repmond Rock, outdoor tent festival in the quaint village of Repmond. There are castle tower remains on site. We are backstage in the lofty attic of […]

Arriving in Amsterdam via Aer Lingus, I am hungry and hit Vlaamse Frites for a smaak of frites n’ mayonaise. Mmmmm, greasy goodness. I take the shuttle to town and meet up with the crew at Canal View hotel, which is in the Rembrandtplein. Rooms are basic but adequate, right off a canal. We eat […]

Woke early Monday, showered and hit the road as soon as possible after complementary Irish breakfast number 2. It’s nice that this place has their own parking…this will be my hotel in Dublin from now on. Head out for Glendalough and immediately get lost trying to get out of town, but recover without having to […]

Driving the manual transmission car left-handed isn’t nearly as difficult as I thought. Slight fear at the rental moment, mostly due to jet lag, but within minutes I was already cursing inept Irish drivers. Finding my way to Dublin was easy, but finding the hotel wasn’t. Pulled over into a car park and asked the […]

After a couple of busy weeks, including but not limited to, a car window busted out, L5 (one of my bands) calling it quits, and a full on spring pollen beat down (alas, the real-time corporeal counterpart to existential sufferings), I make it to the airport in plenty of time despite having to cab it […]

In a search for the way out of a dead end two party political system, I would like to propose the revival of The Know-Nothings, complete with ironic/Socratic slogan, “I know nothing.” Why? Because we need a third party, they need to be smart and skeptical of the status quo, and have a really […]

Man::Under::Stress is now complete with ironic advertising from Google Adsense. I just love how a post railing against “fair trade” results in ads for fair trade coffee. Revenue to date: 0.00USD. My goal: one dollar per month.