December 18, 2010 NPR pulled off a prime bit of character assasination yesterday. In reporting on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, they casually mentioned that he was facing charges in Sweden on having sex with a minor. This is not what he is wanted for questioning about, but it matters not to our "news" media. They just know that they are supposed to report that this guy is a creepy, disgusting form of low-life that would probably eat babys, so really, anything goes. The failings of our news media were never more on display than at this moment. This isn't a conspiracy- these people haven't got the brains to conspire to order a pizza. It's just laziness, and lack of ethical standards. Yes, we are so fucked. December 06, 2010 Beginning today I will no longer be accepting sponsorships via Pay Pal, due to their closing the account of the organization that handles donations to WikiLeaks. Please consider mailing cash for sponsorships to Steam Powered instead. Write me at: steampowered@yahoo.com for the mailing address. There are alternatives to Pay Pal listed here. If you use Pay Pal please consider closing your account and using one of these alternatives. Odd how our Supreme Court upholds free speech in the form of unlimited, untracable political contributions by corporations, and those same corporations can effectively shut down messages they don't happen to like. We are so fucked... (you might also re-think making any purchases through Amazon this Christmas, as they dropped the hosting of the WikiLeaks site earlier.) (you may also consider cutting up your Mastercard. Hard to believe it's a free country, isn't it? In case you're wondering, WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange have done nothing criminal, but have leaked information from whistle-blowers which has been shared with several major news organizations which have seen fit to print it. But you don't see Mastercard blocking payments to the New York Times, do you? The fact that masses of information about a major US bank is due to be leaked at the end of the month may have something to do with the ridiculousness of the official push-back. Are the wheels beginning to come off?)

December 27, 2010 The Stray Birds had a CD release thing last week. I got most of it on video, thanks to some kind folks who let me crash their table! Click the photo for a taste- When I Stop Dreaming. That's Charlie Muench on bass and harmonies. This was the second song of the evening, and it sort of got people's attention. The song is by the Louvin Brothers. I love those lines about teachin'. December 17, 2010 Captain Beefheart made some of the most disturbing music I've ever heard. Not only was the music disjointed and strange, the lyrics are capable of causing the rational mind severe pain. I'm listening to When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy right now, and for all that, the music swings and the images the lyrics evoke are indelibly etched into the brain. His vocalizing- OK, call it singing- has always been in a class by itself. Maybe approached by Tom Waits, but he doesn't have the same ability to paint with it that Don did. I find that some things need to be grown into- Beefheart is like that. The music is amazing. Thanks Bert and Dave! December 02, 2010 There's a new featured song by these birds- it's called The Willow Garden

December 13, 2010 Sorry for the long time between postings. I hope to catch up on a few things around here this week. First off, here's the cover of the Summer Thieves thing. Call it an EP I guess- six songs- called You Can't Lie. We are going to try to make a u-tube for one of the songs on this. I've been scouting up locations (think of bob and judy). We just need a 1960's era car... - I keep having dreams where I've purchased a big old house that ends up needing billions in repairs. Please don't let me do this. - And here's the official cover of the newly renamed Maya and Oliver joint. We remixed one of the songs last Friday and it appears that everything is now headed toward completion. The Stray Birds will be performing at McCleary's Pub on December 23rd, and should have copies of this for sale there. Sponsors of Steam Powered Studio will also be able to download the entire thing around that time. Stay tuned.