Hokey-pokey

Clay Jones, the editorial cartoonist at our local paper The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, runs a weekly caption contest in which he supplies a cartoon with an empty word balloon and readers submit caption suggestions. Readers vote on the top four or five entries, and the winner receives the completed original. This was my third winning entry this year.

Incidentally, Clay is also lead guitarist and front man for the local rock/punk/post-grunge/garage band Corporate T-shirt. Their debut album No Thanks To Hancock is available for purchase at the link. It rocks righteously and if you don't get it, you're a Commie. It's rumored that chicks swoon over him, but I've yet to see it for myself.

She Bites Dogs

Dorian (front), Chris, Stefan and Rick (back, left to right)

It occurs to me that (1) I haven't posted anything about local music in a while and (2) I've never posted anything about this local band, which Ms. Pool Bar and I have seen, oh, probably 20 times. She Bites Dogs put on another great show last night at The Tavern at Lee's Hill here in Fredericksburg. They're really one of the best local bands, and I'm not just saying that because I know the guys.

A typical show features mostly original music, with a sprinkling of very well-done covers. Their original style is hard to pin down, but sort of blends edgy pop with hard rock. They mainly play in Virginia and the DC area, but with a little luck they'll get some wider exposure with their soon-to-be-released CD.

Rock on, guys!

Random post-New Year party rambling

So I saw the headline on this Fox News article just now and got confused:

Teacher Fired for Marrying Divorced Man to Sue Catholic School

I read this as some teacher being fired because she married a divorced man in order to sue the school. Hey, gimme a break...I was at a New Year's party, fer cryin' out loud!

Speaking of the New Year's party...entertainment was provided by a band called BPM. They're a three-piece funk kinda band that performs mostly covers with a few originals thrown in. Actually, some of the covers they play sound better than the originals. Mrs. Poolbar and I have seen them a few times, and they rock.

BPM stands for Bearce, Phil and Mills, by the way...not beats per minute. Catch 'em if they happen to play anywhere near you.

Anyway...Happy New Year!

Bucky And The Blues Buckets

Went with Mrs. Pool Bar and saw these guys last night at the Colonial Tavern. It's about the third or fourth time we've seen them, between open mic nights and full-on shows, and they put on a great show every time. The young (20 year old) lead singer Pat has grown into his frontman role nicely, and it's kind of cool to see his dad "Doc" hold up his end on bass. Keith on drums and Scott on lead and rhythm guitar round out Bucky And The Blues Buckets.

Just a word of advice to "Bucky": Get your show dates on your web page!