Some Light Reading And Shakey Obsession

- Welcome back to another weekly browsing of the local freeps, The Buzzard and Old Mother Hubbard.

- I'm not sure of either papers' deadlines, but I'd have guessed that there would have been a little bit of follow-up on the music fests that rolled through town... some show reviews... musings about the turn-outs. However, the only mention was made in The Local Sniff, where we learn that writer/Pygmalion co-founder Seth Fein was spat in the face by some unruly concert goer during one of Thursday's gigs. That's it? I mean, I don't mind taking the role, but I'd figure that it would have been adequately covered. I also agree that distraction is the great downfall of our age, but I don't know anyone who's immune. That said, as I write this, I'm watching Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps" DVD, checking ESPN for the Red Sox/White Sox score, talking to a pal of mine about the weather, and adding some songs to my iPod. What'd you say?

- The yawn of a sex column continues in The Buzz, as there is evidently someone out there who doesn't know that people can be allergic to latex. And I have never known a woman who has used or would be willing to use the female condom. Come on... there are more salacious subjects than that.

- And while Junior's may make a tasty burger, there are about 10 other restaurants that would make an infinitely more interesting front page article for the Buzzkill. Not a great week, but I love you anyways. Just let Sarah and Seth write every week, along with Coulter, and that'll help.

- The Hub isn't much better this week. I guess after the orgy of activity over the past couple of weeks, they penciled this one in for a lull. The brightest spot of the week belonging to Don Gerard, who takes the title for "writing style most akin to Dave Berry" with his hilarious suggestion of Chief Illiniwek cigarettes as a staple among promotion items for his fictional mayoral run. Senor Sokolski also turns in a decent review for the new Paul McCartney album.

- The Beauty Shop are playing with Triple Whip at The Iron Post this Saturday at 10PM. The Beauty Shop are also playing next Wednesday at The Canopy, opening for The Mountain Goats.

- JigGsaw's new website continues to evolve, and they have a new myspace site, as well. Their debut album, "Zero Generation," is being officially released next January on Playing-Field Records, but you can pick one up on Oct. 16th at 9PM with Terminus Victor as they both celebrate their album releases. The JigGsaw album cover is featured below.




















- There are some other local myspacers, including The Living Blue, Headlights, The Beauty Shop, and Terminus Victor. These are good sites to get a listen to these bands if you're unfamiliar with them.

- The Fighting Illini take on the Hoosiers of Indiana this Saturday. Can Zook bring them back to .500? I'll say yes. Illinois will celebrate a 27-21 win. Any other sports prognosticators out there?

- In case you hadn't noticed, WCIA has a new talking head, Dave Benton.

- And finally, Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder, and Ashlee Simpson are the host and musical guest for this weekend's SNL.

The Champaign Of Beers?

Looks like Chris Knight is gonna head up yet another beer-related business by teaming up with brewer extrordinaire Joshi Fullop. The pair are aiming for a 2007 opening, so temper your taste buds. Read more from the News-Gazette here.

And cheers to N-G for adding us to their weblog.

Pygmalion Fest - Thoughts? Memorable Moments?

Anyone have any memorable performances or moments they'd like to share about the Pygmalion Fest this past weekend? I was lucky enough to partake in a few performances, and the atmosphere was great. Comment away...

Help Raise The Bar(n) For Radio With WRFU

The Noiseboy himself, Doug Hoepker, is leading the charge for low-power FM radio in Urbana with WRFU. In order to get the station moving financially, they're going to throw what Andy Warhol would like to call "a happening." Here are the details straight from the man himself.

I'm putting together a benefit concert for WRFU, Radio Free Urbana, a new low-power community station on the FM dial (104.5) that will be going on the air in mid-November. For more info on the station, see www.wrfu.net. But in short, we'll be similar to WEFT in that we'll be set up to empower the Champaign-Urbana community to step behind the microphone and do their thing. But unlike WEFT, we will not feature any significant daypart programming: we're completely free-form! Our schedule is filling up fast, and features music programming (from rock to hip hop to Latin to electronic), talk shows, community news, and much more. If you interested in getting your own show, we still have spots open. Head to the web site for more info.

Prometheus, a national organziation dedicated to the advancement of low-power stations, is helping with our barnraising, which is from November 11-13. At the event, people from around the midwest will be able to attend and participate in a variety of discussions and demonstrations, from a philosophical, political, or technical standpoint (we'll actually be "building" the station that weekend). By the time the weekend is over, WRFU will be on the air!

But, we still need to raise some funds to be able to pull off this event and build our studio. While we've been blessed to have a good deal of equipment donated, there's a few high-priced items that can't be donated that we need to purchase. Hence, the benefit concert.

I've put together a varied lineup of regional bands, including Shipwreck, who are one of C-U's best up-and-coming bands. Here's the details:

Who: Tractor Kings (headliner; with their brand-spanking new lineup), Shipwreck (atmospheric rock featuring Harman Jordan, formerly of The Buzzards), and The Infinity Room (indie rock from Millikin University in Decatur that will appeal to fans of early Radiohead).
When: Thursday, Oct. 6, 9pm doors/10pm show.
Where: Cowboy Monkey in downtown Champaign.
How much: $6.

Band sites: www.myspace.com/thetractorkings, www.shipwreckband.com, ww.theinfinityroom.com.
Venue site: www.cowboy-monkey.com

We'll be raffling off gift certificates from various local businesses and record labels, so there's a good chance that you might not go home empty handed.

The Best Of Both Worlds

My dilemma of making it to see Daniel Lanois or The Beauty Shop ended up not being a problem at all... I just went and saw them both! The Lanois gig at Krannert got out earlier than expected, and I knew The Beauty Shop wouldn't be on until later. To top it off, a good friend of mine made an impromtu visit up to C-U from St. Louis just to catch both gigs with me... and it ended up to be a sort of college reunion of several of us who live here meeting up together. Good times with good music... and German wheat beer.