Wonder No More

I know, right now there is one question burning in the hearts of all of you. "How is Ian doing these days? He has been nearly silent on the blog, and I just wonder how his life is going these days." Well, my adoring fans, wonder no more. I am here to update you.

During the last six months I have not had any serious run-ins with the cops. I have not been convicted of any murders, and I have been able to refrain from doing any drugs. Also, in my last three trips to the doctor's office they have not detected any signs of cancer. I feel quite safe declaring myself cancer free. This semester I'm not flunking any classes, and I have been able to keep a GPA of above 1.267. Although the look machine hasn't been on tour this spring and even though our latest CD release failed to go double platinum, I feel optimistic about the future.

OK, none of these things have ever happened. I'm out of here.

E-MAIL

Jason is always getting these e-mails about the band and putting it up on the blog. that's so cool.
so here's this e-mail that I got today.
That danged blog by rob is cool how there are random links and stuff...

"We would like to extend our invitation to you to beta test BandSpace.com – the
newest and most innovative artist communities on the web. Finally a service that
will put money in your pockets. As an artist, you will receive 70 cents every
time someone download one of your songs. Not only that, but you’ll be able to
sell your cd’s, tshirts and other merchandise you may have, at the prices you
want! About time artists start getting paid, huh? Believe it or not, we’re
starving musicians ourselves.

"So, come see what it is all about at http://www.bandspace.com

"Let us know if you’re running into any problems.

"Cheers,

"[someone and someone]
Bandspace.com"

That's that. I don't know why I put it up here. It doesn't have the best grammar in the world.

Finally!

Well, this is the what you have all been waiting for. I will now officially announce that the Look Machine is going to have a genuine concert. The moment you have been waiting for, at the time you would least want it to happen.

We will be playing to benefit Relay for Life, an organization that is raising money to find a cure for cancer. It's a good cause, come out and support it (and us)

Where: Outside in the parking lot in front of the Field House at the University of Delaware.

When: Sunday, May 8th (mother's day) at 3 A.M.

Why: Because it is time to stick it to the man and find a cure.

Who: Your favorite band of all time (the Look Machine) and many other future rock deities.

The New Pope DOES look like the Emperor from Star Wars

From looking at our statistics the last couple of days, it appears that there are many people out there who are wondering if the new Pope does indeed look like the Emperor from Star Wars. Someone mentioned in our comments that he does, and since then we've had hits on:

pope benedict looks like emperor, pope looks like the emperor, new pope looks like star wars, benedict xvi emperor star wars, pope benedict xvi looks like the devil, benedict look like emperor star wars, star wars emperor looks like new pope

Wow, there is a general curiosity out there that I intend to satisfy.

Let's conduct a little survey here.

I will post a picture of each of them. In the comments, you the reader try your best to tell which is which. (No cheating by doing research, go off the top of your head here).

Picture A:


Picture B:


Once you're finished trying to tell these all powerful Doppelgangers apart, feast your thoughts on this little tidbit. The Emperor's name is Palpatine. An adjective meant to describe all things Pope is Papal. Papaltine and Palpatine! And I bet you they both use Paypal when they buy things off of eBay, too. (Incidentally, if you search for Palpatine on eBay, you get 712 items for sale. If you search for Pope, you get to bid on 7841 items.)

Dang! A blog by Rob.

I just wanted to let all of the faithful blog readers know something very important. SNAKEMAN HAS A BLOG OF HIS OWN!!!!

We discovered this gem while reviewing our webstats and checking out what other sites link to us. Our curiosity peaked, we had to check it out. You will just have to see for yourself how amazingly funny this blog really is. The side splitting humor and cleverness makes his blog... well... Pretty much the (2'nd) best blog ever made.

Communication Between Intelligent Beings

"Dear Son,


    "I'm writing this slow 'cause I know you can't read fast.  We don't live where we did when you left.  Your dad read in the paper that most accidents happen within twenty miles of home, so we moved. Won't be able to send you the address as the last Arkansas family that lived here took the numbers with them for their house, so they wouldn't have to change their address.


    "This place has a washing machine.  The first day I put four shirts in it, pulled the chain and haven't seen 'em since.


    "It only rained twice this week, three days the first time and four days the second time.


    "The coat you wanted me to send to you, Aunt Sue said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with them heavy buttons, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.


    "We got a bill from the funeral home, and it said if we didn't make the final payment on Grandma's funderal bill, up she comes.


    "About your sister, she had a baby this morning.  I haven't found out whether if it is a boy or a girl so don't know if you are an Aunt or Uncle.


    "Your Uncle John fell in the whiskey vat.  Some men tried to get him out, but he fought them off playfully, so he drowned.  We cremated him and he burned for three days.


    "Three of your friends went off the bridge in a pickup.  One was driving and the other two were in the back.  The driver got out.  He rolled down the window and swam to safery.  The other 2 drowned.  They couldn't get the tail gate down.


    "Not much more news this time.  Nothing much happened.  If you don't get this letter, please let me know and I will send another one.


Love, Ma"

(Jokes.com)

Just in case you were wondering the race of the writer and readers of the above letter, they're Rednecks.

Metal and Stuff.

Well, since Jason put a post with his hurt thumb in it, I will put up a painful post too. I hurt my ankle. The doctor said to get it X-rayed. So I did.
Have you ever worn metal underwear? Yesterday when I got X-rayed, they were like "here, put this on, it will protect it." wow.
So I did, it was scary.

My rope swing is awesome. That is how I hurt myself. Ian got a concussion on there (or off of there) one day too. That was a long time ago.

So, in closing, I miss my hair. I wish that it would comment more often, because it cracks me up.

Not such a great day

It all started going bad when I slammed my thumb in Collin's truck door.


He was being nice enough to drive and help me pick up a riding mower, which I had to buy because my lawn is too big for a push mower and it's too expensive to pay a service. (Like $150 a month for 7 months!).

Anyway, Sears on 202 had it in stock, so we drove up there, me with my throbbing thumb. And then they actually DON'T have it in stock. They lied to me. It's at their Tri-State Mall warehouse. Great, another half hour out of our way. And the only thing I know about the Tri-State Mall is that someone got shoot there.

I left my credit card at the Tri-State Mall Sear's Warehouse. Agh!

Then I get the mower back, and I have to go out again, because I forgot to get the free cart attachment that was my special deal. I take the instruction manual with me so I know all the details of the model I bought.

And I leave the manual at Sears. In the shopping cart. AGH!

By now my day is shot. I have to go back to Sears again and search fruitlessly for it. Then - a glimmer of light - I find it!

And I put the lawn tractor together now with my instructions. BUT the seat had the tightest bolt on it that I don't think I could loosen even with a good thumb, but definitely not with this throbbing mass of worthlessness. Finally I get it to loosen by hitting it with a hammer.

That's the end of the bad news. I have to hold my thumb above my heart or else I feel my heartbeat in it. As romantic as that might sound, it's really not. Collin said I should drill a hole in my fingernail to let the blood drain. Collin is insane.

We did have a good practice tonight, and a show on May 8th/9th that I'll let Ian announce. And I got a cool new gadget to record our practices with. I'll post about it later, it deserves to not have to share a post with my hideous thumb.

The New Pope - Benedict XVI

I have to say, at first blush I'm a little disappointed. I was really hoping the next Pope would come from Latin America, Africa or Asia. There is so much growth in Catholicism on those continents, I was thinking the Pope would, or could, represent that new life. But we have a 78 year old German. Not to say that's bad, but I'd love to strip European-ess from the face of the Church for just a little bit so people could see that Christianity does not equal a white man's club.

And it seems like in terms of doctrine, this is a staunch return to traditionalism. NOT that that is bad, necassarily, in fact in some ways it could be very good. Yet there are some issues that really do need re-examination. Why do priests have to celibate, for instance? Can't they just be happily married people. Do they even have to be men? Isn't there a place for women? And there is the molestation crisis as well that really needs to be confronted. Speaking as a non-Catholic, perhaps these questions are too easy for me to ask, but they should at least be asked and discussed and explored. Benedict isn't going to be the one to do this.

I also don't like constantly reading the "Pope is sick," "Pope is recovering," and "Pope is resting and should be getting better" stories. . . I can't help to think that by picking a 78 year old, we'll be reading those headlines again soon. That's just about life expectancy!

OK, and last thing, he just doesn't look like a kind man. That's subjective, no doubt, and probably a little too intuitive of an observation, but the man just kind of makes me nervous. I miss good old John Paul already. Why does the new Pope have to wear all red, like a devil or something? (Again betraying my Catholic ignorance. . . . it's probably tradition. . . )

What we are doing these days.

Last week we played on the Tim Quall's Show. It went pretty well. Unfortunately you couldn't hear Ian's guitar all that well or Shane's hand drum, and my vocals were completely dry. But other than that it went well I guess. It was fun. We were the last thing on the show and the time was running out so they cut our performance to a commercial for a vacuum shop. I thought it would be funny if the vacuum commercial said something like, "New Castle Vacuum Shop, we suck even more than the band that just played." Once we get a DVD of the performance we'll figure out a way to post it here.

We're recording again and it's going very well. Timetable is iffy because Boy Sets Fire is mentoring us through the process and they are going on a european tour soon. We're recording an electric demo and an acoustic demo, so we can get both shows. The eventual goal is to play at least 3 times a month.

Nathan Grey has offered to coach me through the songs, has some ideas and tricks and technique that he has learned that he wants to pass on to me. Said he wants to move me from a good singer to a great singer. The awesomeness of boy sets fire really cannot be written about enough. You know they are no longer on Wind Up? They asked to be let out of their contract, and so now they are looking for another label. I hope the next label understands what they have in that band, and treats them the right way.

Another exciting thing. . . we are all investing in better equipment. Drew got an amazing AMPEG bass amp. Ian got a new Marshall cab. I ordered a PA and a vocal effects box. We're really looking to improve our live sound more and more.

I'm working to organize a benefit show for Justice For Children International, a group who works to stop the international sexual trafficking of children. The thought of using music to earn money to save a life is pretty incredible. Hopefully that will happen in the late summer.

.

I got a haircut.

Trout Fishing

Today the redneck in me rejoiced. It was opening day of trout season in PA. My brother, Nathan, lives right near the white clay creek in Landenberg Pennsylvania, which is a nice little historic town. (Yes that sentence was composed mostly to get more hits on google.) I stayed over at Nathan’s house last night (which was really fun) then got up at the butt crack of dawn today. You know, I think that no self respecting, decent human being should ever get up before 9:30 on a Saturday, but I had to honor tradition. Also, I smelled bacon cooking.

At a few minutes past seven Nathan, my Dad, and I all hiked down to the stream. It used to be more of a whole family activity, but Shane decided to become a geek/genius and go compete in the state level of National History day (he won 2nd place) and Collin, who is in the bondage of slavery, and had to work for his masters all day.

Once I got past the fact that my whole body was shivering, I noticed that it was a very beautiful day! There is nothing quite like fishing in a stream early in the morning when the sun is just starting to crawl over the hills and sparkle on the water. Nothing quite like feeling the first hit, catching your first fish of the year. Nothing quite like the sound of water mixed with song birds claiming their territory. Nothing quite like the sound of dozens of frustrated fishermen trying in vain to mark their territory, tangling up their lines and, and missing their trout. Nothing quite like snagging rocks, filling up water proof boots with mud, and fishing for hours to catch one trout.

After several hours of fishing we each had one. That sucks. Nobody was catching anything anywhere in the creek. We decided that it was time to call it a morning. Feeling like crappy fisherman, Nathan and I did the most humbling thing a fisherman can do. "Let's go to Nottingham and catch sunnies " I proposed, half joking, half testing the waters. "I'll go it you'll go." That was it. We packed up our gear, murdered and buried our pride right then and there, and headed to Nottingham.

You have to realize something. Nottingham is where little kids who can't zip their own flies go to catch fish. We walked up to a pond, plopped down on a bench, pulled out our rods professionally equipped with bobbers and worms, and started fishing Norman Rockwell style. An hour and a half later I had caught one fish, a sunny no longer than an inch and a half.

The redneck in me is humiliated, but I had a fun day.

A hypothetical

If you could go to one place in the world with one person and do one thing, what would it be? You are unhindered by your job, money, or time.

Modern Day Romeo and Juliet!

Check out this article. there was a family feud in Florida.
"Members of neighboring families shot at each other, wounding six people, as part of a long-running feud that victims said peaked when a girl from one family began dating a boy from the other one."

that's flippen' crazy!

TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE @ CNN, CLICK HERE

Awesome Demo

By the way, we are also working on a pretty awesome demo at this time. It's going to work out really well. We have the brilliance of boy sets fire members Josh, Chad and Matt helping us out, which is amazing. Once we have some rough cuts we'll start posting them here and there. (Mostly here).

We're recording As Much, Simpler than it Seems, Re-recording Fanatic and All Our Hands, a song called My Name, and Whipping Boy. It's shaping up to be fantastic.

Playing on TV today.

We'll be playing a new acoustic song, "Whipping Boy," today for the show Positive Promotions.

If you want to watch it, here is the viewing schedule:

The show will run locally (throughout New Castle County DE) on Comcast Cable Channel 28 five times this coming week at the following times:

Wednesday 4/13 @ 10:00 PM
Friday 4/15 @ 6:30 PM
Saturday 4/16 @ 11:00 PM
Sunday 4/17 @ 11:30 PM
Monday 4/18 @ 8:00 AM

It will also run regionally (throughout all of DE, some of NJ & some of PA) on WMCN TV on Saturday, 4/16 @ 11:30 PM.

Opera Singers in Germany love the Look Machine

At least this one does:



We posted ""All Our Hands" on garageband and he gave us this review.

An exceptional musical experience
From the very beginning this one promised something! Very mysterious and intriguing intro that kept building and building and kept getting more and more interesting. This is a superbly composed piece of music with a grand amount of thought behind it. The main vocalist fits the piece perfectly. In all honestly NOT the kind of voice I was expecting! This was good! A unique voice for this unique music. Sometimes I suppose I wouold have liked to have heard the vocals a tad more up front, that, however, could also be the file transcoding. Expressive singing, accurate and appropriate. This band has a sound, Not just a musical sound, but a style. It's immediately obvious and proves itself every second of the song. This band one must remember, and watch out for!


Extra Credit: Male Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Bass, Production, Mood, Originality.

He's an opera singer living in Germany. That's so cool. He's got a great website too.

DC Shoes Eco USA Basketball Amazement

I never knew that skaters were so good at shooting. I really don't know if this is fake, and snopes.com says nothing about it.
You decide.

It's either incredible shooting or incredible special effects.

Very funny credit card related experiment

Maybe it's because I used to work in the credit card industry, but I think this is hilarious.

Meet My Wife

I don't know if you guys have met Linds yet. Here is a picture of her.

Grout Pond Vermont : A Brothers' Tradition

Every Winter, just after Christmas, My Brothers and I pile into a pickup truck and drive up to Vermont. We know of an old cabin in the National Forest way out in the mountains that anyone can use. There is no electricity or water, but there is an old woodstove. We usually go up for a couple of days and just hang out. We ski behind the truck (like waterskiing), we hike, and we do our best to survive the sub-zero temperatures. This is a tradition that I love. Here are some pictures.

A moment of Brotherly love:


Hiking on the frozen lake:


Responsible use of fire:


Shane after a dinner of Baked Beans:


The Palkovitz Brothers 4:

Let's Talk. More.

So. What do people think about the death of Pope John Paul II ?

Rafting the Nile: Jinja Uganda

When I was in Uganda, I had an incredible opportunity to raft the Nile river right near it's source. It was not flat and brown as I always pictured the Nile to be. Rather, it was gorgeous, clean, clear, and surrounded by lush, green vegetation. The rapids were all class 4, 5, and even 6!!! I have never seen anything else so powerful. It was truly amazing. I went with Lindsay and my dad because we thought that it would be a fun way to spend a free day. It turned out to be one of my favorite things I have ever done. It is a memory that will last a lifetime.

We had a really cool guide from New Zeland and 3 really cool "safety assistants" who came along for the day in kayaks (they were local guys with really cool jobs). One of the safty guys had a digital camera with him and took these pictures.

Here they are.




Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of these, but there were plenty of monitor lizards along the river banks. I also saw a green mamba swimming in the water near the raft. Other animals we were instructed to be wary of were Nile Crocodiles and Hippos.

Of Light

We Are Going To Save Toby.

Hello.
Do you remember the whole Save Toby bit? Well, great news.
I won't reveal my master plan, because someone else just might sweep this opportunity out from under us, (The Look Machine). I'll tell you all what the dilly is in a little while when we know the outcome of our negotiations.