What's the world coming to?

Pictures of Kate Moss doing cocaine on the front cover of a magazine...gas at $2.83 per gallon...Michael Vartan leaving Alias? I can deal with the first two but no, no, it can't be. Please tell me it's not true. He's was barely in the Monster-in-Law movie...he was kind of an after thought. What will we do now? There is no one hotter on non-cable TV. I guess we'll find out for certain tonite during the season premier.

Cincinnati's real problem

While I was downtown this weekend for MPMF, I was told that the city of Cincinnati is spending 40 Million to revitalize downtown...what!!!!! This is hearsay, but I was told that they are taking out the skywalk and bringing things back to ground level so that people will start going downtown more...um I don't really think the Skywalk is keeping people away.

My frustration for the weekend was having to deal with stuff that the city should have handled well before anyone made their way downtown. Things like handicap parking, aggressive pan handlers, and Main St. not being blocked so that festival go-ers could easily get from one club to another.

Why is there no handicap parking? I guess they don't want to encourage handicap folks to go downtown? I spent $18 on parking on Friday to attend the conference and go to the entertainment district. I spent more than most because I needed to be close by. I didn't have the energy to walk 7 blocks and there are limited choices in parking near the CAC. This is the thing, I've spent $19 to park in Chicago for several hours, but you know what? There was great pizza involved. Unfortunately, Cincinnati doesn't have anything so cool.

My friends from NYC were appalled by the number of folks asking for money and couldn't believe their tactics. Personally, I'm sick and sickened by it (photographer Dale Johnson told me of a situation where an elderly lady asked him if he takes nude photos, and wouldn't leave him alone.) There's a guy this year who was going around doing a spoken word kind of thing and at the end would ask for cash. I gave him the thumbs up for originality, but explained that I didn't' have any money and he wouldn't leave. Again, I explained, and he started with a new rhyme. Maybe the problem was exacerbated by the fact that the normal drunken YP Cincy crowd wasn't down there handing over cash. The musician's and music lovers in the streets this year didn't seem willing to part with even pennies.

Or maybe it has to do with the contact buzz I got from all the losers standing around smoking weed on my walk from the parking garage to the CAC. I'm a musician, but I'm not that kind of musician. I really didn't need to smell like that to go meet new folks.

I realize that the Cincinnati Police have some PR problems, but they need to get over it and start doing their job (which, by the way, does not include shooting people). There is no reason that a few officers couldn't have been downtown to block off Main Street so that folks could get from one club to another. Many times I got stuck walking in the road because there were so many folks blocking the sidewalks trying to get into clubs. The cops didn't show up until after 1a and then just made the traffic situation worse by blocking off 12th. Is the idea to force us to drive into the really scary part of town to see how everyone else lives? Well, it worked. It's dirtier than China town in NY. I was really frustrated and wish I new how to fix it. I highly doubt that folks want to live in the filth. At least, I hope not. Maybe we should get some HazMat suits and spend a Saturday picking up trash. Anyone in?

MPMF wrap-up

So, I really wanted to do a piece on Midpoint Fashion since I saw Stephanie's Id first thing on Thursday night and am always amazed at what she puts together. So, obviously, there's Fluttr Effect, but other than Dana from Fairmount Girls, I didn't really see much. I was struggling with the crutches this year and didn't get to even see a lot of acts. But go to www.i-see-sound.com to see what the photographers captured.

For me, I had a great time, Alan Light, Greg Dulli, and Sean Agnew were all a treat on the conference side of things. All amazing and inspiring. Musicially, yeah, Stephanie's Id was soooo good (looking forward to our show with them at Holy Grail in December). Then there was Ellery, Entheos, Katie Trotta, Micah Dalton, Dishwater Blonde, Sunspot, NYC Smoke, On-a-Son, and Gito Gito Hustler. I only caught seconds of everyone else.

Rhonda on Ratt and Ryan Cabrera

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter--I'm giving my opinion. If you are one of the few who haven't checked out www.i-see-sound.com a new online zine which includes some show reviews I've written, go check it out.

This is the next big thing--the site, I hear, is getting 5,000 plus hits a day from all over the world. Read what I have to say about Ratt and Ryan Cabrera.

Midpoint wrap-up tomorrow. Today, I'm recovering...

Cable? What cable?

I personally haven't had cable for eons and recommend that you just cancel your cable if you don't like what the cable companies are doing, but My friend Andy over at www.commonsensetv.org has some other recommendations just in case you can't imagine living without your MTV. Just keeping you informed in case you want to get involved.

Cable companies are already too big, too greedy and too focused on their bottom lines to care whether theAmerican public gets the diversity of programming and information it needs to participate in public life. We need to send a strong message to the FCC today and let them know that they should not allow cable companies to get any larger. We need the FCC to uphold the current rules that ensure a cable company cannot own more than 30 percent of the nationwide marketshare. Email the FCC today by clicking on the following link:http://www.commoncause.org/ShakeuptheFCC We need to contact the FCC and urge them to maintain the current regulationon giant cable companies for two important reasons. First, cable companies have been abusing their monopoly status(http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_telecom_and_utilities/000853.html)by raising rates at three times the rate of inflation. They have beenraking in billions by forcing customers to pay for channels they do notwant, and by controlling what viewers see, discriminating againstindependent programmers and new networks. Second, the FCC also needs toreign in these giant cable companies to make sure cable executives are notsuppressing a particular political point of view, or that they are nottargeting all of their programming to just one demographic, catering toadvertisers' demands. These types of abuses often take place because cablecompanies are permitted to own both the program content and the sole meansof distribution in the market areas they dominate. They essentially act as gatekeepers in terms of what programs get on the air.

Contact the FCC today and encourage everyone you know to join us in urging the FCC to keep their leash on the cable giants:http://www.commoncause.org/ForwardFCCAction

Jikes!

So, we, drummer Chris Beiting and I were on Jikes! Top Secret TV last night. Patrice got lost and made it just in time to see us perform. Chris is working to get the performance on the website in the next few days. Fun time. Jeff and the Mikes were surprised that I guessed their day jobs. It was my first couch interview--I felt like I was on Leno with everyone in suits. Anyway, check it out if you can.

You can watch it on Channel 21 in Northern Kentucky. Go to www.tbnk.org to check the schedule.

23 Shades (the single) Released!

So, here's the poem that 23 Shades came from. You can hear the song on our website (MEDIA) and download it for just .99 from our home page.

"Secrets" Feb '04
by Ray Bigelow

Silent bells
Angles trapped in stone
Private hells
Unnoticed, all alone
The boards creak
And weighting shifts
The gifts of time are weak
The fire's left to cinders
And tears are left to speak

Everyone
Has secrets caught in
The undertow
Of lies we tell between
What we know
And just ourselves
And all we fought not to lose
Why can I?
And I
Forgot that I could choose

Falling sleep,
Faces come to me
Back to keep
Grief's loss in memory
Flowers fade
Sunk in the stream
Whither Spring?
Madness wades
Beneath the surface for
Forgiveness we mislaid

the line "love and mystery" was taken from his poem "Imagining" which I received at the same time as "Secrets." I added the "Victims of our own volition, a witness of the indecision."

Random ?: What does 23 Shades mean?
Rhonda: Well, I couldn't call the song "Secrets" because we already have "Little Secrets" on the Hologram disc. Originally, it was 23 Shades of Green--I don't know where that came from, it just was the first thing I thought of. Then I decided it would be 23 Shades of True (you know, the lies and what not.) But then I decided that was dumb and I shortened it.

Bath and Body Works--a firm winner!

So, it isn't very often that a product actually does what it says it's going to do, especially in the "younger looking skin" category. Personally, I think it's just an excuse for companies to make something that doesn't work and charge exorbitantly. However, I tried this firming lotion from Bath and Body Works when I stayed at my Aunt's house a few months back. I was surprised at how soft my skin was but didn't want to spend $14 for soft skin. However, since nothing else could give me that "baby-bottem smooth" feeling, I finally went out last night and spent the cash.

I searched high and low in the store and couldn't even find it. I thought maybe it was discontinued. But after asking someone, realized that there was one last bottle in a "not-too-hateful" scent. Apparently, there were only two bottles left in the store. That made me feel slightly better, but still a little silly for spending money that I needed to save to pay off some bills on something so dumb.

Before bed, I slathered it on, not everywhere because then I would be wasting it and would also be overcome by the scent of Sweet Pea. (I'm going to email them and request an unscented version.) Anyway, when I woke this morning, I was in shock. Did this work or did I burn that many calories walking around the mall? I don't know for sure, but I saw a remarkable difference in my body. I'll try it on some other test subjects to find out for sure, but so far, this product gets a thumbs up!

Proprietary music files

So, I'm going to whine. I spent all day searching the internet to find a website where you can just go and purchase the songs you want without having to download some other software. I already have Music Match but for some reason, it won't allow me to go to the Store function--I don't know if I have to upgrade to Plus first? Anyway, had it worked, that would have been the easiest. I also have iTunes installed but it's completely useless unless you have an iPod and aren't wanting to burn the files to disc--I haven't mastered the whole mp4 to mp3 conversion. So, I checked out Yahoo, Virgin Digital, and others and the all required additional software. Finally, I happened on Buy.com. It says that the songs are mp3s, but they are really wma's. Fortunately, I have Windows Media Player, but I never use it (it's a pain).

Why can't everyone just use the same freaking thing? Is the whole object that we'll just get frustrated and go buy the silly compact disc?

Rhonda's Movie Reviews

I've recently moved this to the Message Boards portion of the Communicato Page on my website. This month, reviews of The Upside of Anger, some Ashton Kutcher films and more.

www.palebeneaththeblue.com

A box in your kitchen that keeps things cold?

So, I bought and moved into a condo just 13 short months ago. Shortly (very shortly) after moving in, we discovered that the refrigerator that we purchased along with the house was not actually working. Fortunately, we brought an old one with us, not very pretty so we had the movers leave it in the garage. For 13 months, we've been going into the garage to get food out of the refrigerator--granted, it was just a matter of opening the door next to the non-working refrigerator, but it was still a pain. You have no idea how many times I nearly fell trying to get up two steps and back in the house with food while on crutches. I actually have gotten used to not really looking for food in the fridge or having ice in my drinks. It was too much work. But no more! Finally today, everything changed. There's cold stuff right in my kitchen. Now I just need to get the ice maker hooked up...we've been buying ice for it for 6 years at least!

Need new threads?

This was sent to me by Matt Parmenter of Medic, a band we played with at Holy Grail recently. Cool site, lots of interesting Tees. And for those of you with some talent, you can even submit your own T-shirt designs. Check it out. http://www.threadless.com/submission/52995/A_Busted_But

Oh, and if you haven't done it yet, check out our latest Podcast on the About Us page of www.palebeneaththeblue.com This week I preview a song I've been working on based on the poem you heard last week.

Rhonda

Alternative Fuel

So, I've been saying for a while that folks need to get out of their cars and start using Human Fuel (potato chips, beer, cookies, last week's chicken) to get around on. It's really sad that it has taken gas prices jumping .80 to get folks motivated. However, I'm glad that it's happening. Yesterday, I saw a guy walking home from Luxottica (short hike), a big mob looking guy in his Addidas windsuit and gold chains drinking Gatorade on his bike, some girls walking through the grass in heels to get to Kroger and some teenage kid (imagine this) walking home from school. I live in the suburbs, that stuff doesn't happen around here. Nearly everyone has an SUV or two and only walks when they need exercise. I don't understand why they can't see that if you walk or ride a bike to get places, you don't have to exercise. Oh, the lessons the Europeans could teach us if only we weren't too busy making fun of them and their fries.

FYI, do not try to answer your cell phone on your bike. I saw some guy do this the other day and he ended up in my yard and barely missed a pine tree.

Katrina Evacuees Dis the 'Nati

Wow, how sad is that? These folks have been through a horrible experience and have been left with nothing. Yet, when given the opportunity to come to Cincinnati to start over, even temporarily, they were disinterested. (I don't really want to live here either, but it could be worse.) Meanwhile, the Governors of Kentucky and Indiana are begging for aid from the government to help them house all the evacuees they have.

So how did Cincinnati get such a bad wrap? Hmmm. Maybe it was the Bob Huggins/Nancy Zimpfer mess (it's so sad that it took a natural disaster of this proportion to get folks to shut up about those two.) Or maybe they all heard that Jerry Springer used to be our leader...

Read the full story

This is worse than swimsuit shopping...

So, I moved a little over a year ago and I still don't have any doctors except for my wonderful Ortho Surgeon who is over 2 hours away. I've spent all day searching online for doctors, I've tried to call my last doctor to see if they could refer me to someone else but they were closed. I even called the Insurance Company and waded through all the voice prompts to see if they could help instead of just giving me a list of names, but no. Whether they cannot legally give information, or if they just don't bother to ever ask for it, I don't know, but they are zero help. How am I supposed to know from looking at a list of names and schools they attended whether or not a doctor is in it for the golf or they really like thier work? Will I feel comfortable having them poke around and stare at me when I'm half naked?

I'm two seconds away from tears. I guess I might as well go to Victoria's Secret or get a bikini wax while I'm already depressed.

Rhonda

I love to surf!

Not talking about being on the internet. I just spent the last two days at the local waterpark, "surfing" or bodyboarding on a man-made wave. I do love this thing and I hate that yesterday was our last day of the season. James got plenty of video of everyone so I asked him to put together a video to "Kon Tiki Girl" and we'll post it on www.palebeneathththeblue.com

Maybe I should just go write a new surf song...

I write the songs in the BMV

First off, a big thanks to those who came out to Borders on Friday. It was just me playing solo, so extra special thanks to Mike and Sabrina Kilbourne who unloaded and set everything up. Also thanks to Betty and her family for loading everything back in the van for me--I'd still be there if it weren't for you guys. Oh, and singer/songwriter, Persephone, sang some songs to me after the show. I think that you'll see her at the Gogirls Fest in October.

So, on my drive home, I was humming my new tune, Mirrors (still needs some fine tuning), and I started writing another song at the end of it. It starts a new chord progression, so it's kind of like starting a new song. I also wrote a pop song from Lue's poem, Quicksand, while I was at work the other day and started working on a story song that my co-writer, Alycia, has been bugging me to put music to. Oh, and then there's the song I wrote while waiting at the BMV the other day for no good reason. No good reason to be waiting, not writing. So, I think that's the max--5 that I'm working on at a time. I'll try to post some of it on the podcast this week. Stay tuned.