...it'd be WAR!
Because an entire frakkin' FAMILY of groundhogs (woodchucks, whistle pigs - whatever you wanna call 'em - we're talkin' chubby Punxatawny Phil/Staten Island Chuck, a/k/a Charles G. Hogg, style burrowing critter here) has moved into my formerly awesome vegetable garden (presumably while I was on tour getting ticks at Bonnaroo - see this from June 16th, 10:13 AM) and DECIMATED it. Does anyone have any recommendations for humane groundhog removal? The thing is - I'm happy to share, but THEY'RE the ones who seem more than a little unclear on the concept, and I've put a lot of work into making this tiny patch of earth kinda nice this year, so... Anyone?
This is just the latest in the explosion of animals repopulating urban areas over the last few years. I grew up seeing nothing but squirrels, seagulls, and pigeons. Now there are rabbits, raccoons, black bears comin' down from the mountains, giant cats in crazy cat lady apartments, all kinds of amazing wetlands egrets and whatnot, and now groundhogs. What gives? Don't get me wrong - it's kinda awesome - I'm just wondering if any of you fancy-schmancy grad students (I realize that's often oxymoronic, like myself) out there has maybe been doing some research into this phenomenon, and if so, can I check out your work?

Yo! "New" demo in the MEDIA section of the site - it's the one in bold, called "Where Was my Brain?" I say "new," in quotes, because the song's actually more than a few months old, but as I said in the description posted with the song, it's been a while since there was anything new recorded and we're still writing and figuring out what we're going to do with all that, so it's gonna be a little bit more time yet before a new album arrives, and I figured I'd just put this out there for anyone who's interested! We recorded it at the one practice last fall that I actually remembered to bring and set up all my stuff to record with. Using lots of microphones and doing some mixing worked. For a glimpse of what approach failed, see this version of NEW new song, "The Stick."
Happy doughnut day.

I just realized that isn't clear in the "tour dates" feed. I hope this doesn't cause anyone too much disappointment, but this show was always meant to be a wee little solo event amid a big bad hardcore fest. The only problem about that for me is that, apparently, I'll be playing Emo's inside against the Cro Mags at Emo's outside. And I would have liked to see the Cro Mags one more time. It's been literally 20 years since I last saw them at The Anthrax in Norwalk, Ct., and that was with Harley singing. I think it's probably been since 1986 or 87 that I've seen them with John Joseph. Hmph. Other disappointments about my slot at this fest? I can't stay in Austin for the whole thing, so I'll miss both Cocksparrer AND Amebix! Grrrr.
Anyway, the point is, my set is just ME, solo, which is still fun and much looser, so I hope you'll come anyway!
Also, the Real Housewives of New York reunion specials were quite revealing. Who'd have thought the Countess could have come off looking like a half-way decent person... or maybe that's just relative to how utterly miserable and delusional Kelly Bensimon continued to prove herself to be. Amirite?