Oh, it's yet another gays-in-the-military fracas. Where's the news here? Is this not a simple tow of a fairly set-in-stone Bush Administration line? Does the focus on Pace let the rest of this pervertedly homo-focused admin off the hook? Is it just me or is the name Peter Pace totally hysterical? Don't mind me... I still titter at "Joint Chiefs."

There's an interesting tussle at Pen and Sword's blog … the post itself is all over the map (the closer is pretty funny... almost as funny as the phallocentric blog name) but this comment from "Ariadne" airs what should be at the core of this debate:

"There are already harassment laws, ya know. We don't need something that basically comforts straight men with complexes about their (and others') sexuality.

For eons, men have been making unwanted sexual advances toward women and a shower wasn't even necessary! Now a bunch of scared straight boys are afraid a dude will look at their peckers, so we have to have laws and policies in place to make the boys feel safe again."

Seriously, what gives?
# posted by Ariadne : 8:27 AM"

Caught the Moaners from North Carolina at the Continental and Detroit's the Paybacks at the Ale House. Dang. Both sets cranked out new, fucked-up takes on slurpy gutter blues in ways that reflect their home bases. The Moaners are all Flannery O'Conner with lots of pounding and slide electric and the Paybacks are straight up MC5 ... not MC-505, but 5. Period.

You might say they both have the White Stripes in common: The PBs appear on a Jack Black Detroit comp and the Ms are jus' guitar and drummys. Whut? A bit of a stretch, yes, but I am morning blogging. Go look at the pics.

Yes, indeed, this guy knows how to use that mouth. His voice is his instrument: "I have chosen, with my art to only use my voice, just my voice, and these are just the limitations I have put on myself for this project" speaks Kid Beyond of his four-year-old baby, an idea that spouted and haunted him, a step-up from beat-boxing to the illustrious land of live synchronization, the art of live-looping, layering vocal tracks on stage, and then singing and rapping over them (live!) during the performance.

Last night (Thursday) was his official SXSW showcase. Here's what's coming up next:

Today, Fri., Mar. 16, noon Spiros, 611 Red River badges + invite only

This afternoon, Fri., Mar. 16, 4:30pm Firehouse Lounge, 605 Brazos free - open to the public

Tonight, Fri., Mar. 16, 10pm SXSW showcase (...billed as "Beyond") Latitude 30, 512 San Jacinto badges + general public

He's been beat-boxing since I was in diapers, and he says it never gets old. A Buddhist and calm soul (you just can tell), he doesn't rush to talk about his art. He is humble, he is charming. His art is just part of him, his essence ... and he just wants to be taken seriously.

Honeycut. Hmmm as in how they spiral slice ham?

When I gave these dudes a "Sleeper" in last week's Chronicle and compared lead singer Bart Davenport's velvet vocals to Shuggie Otis, I had no idea that the damn band covered "Strawberry Letter 23," I swear. I only knew that anyone with the vocal chops to trigger a Shuggie in my brain was all right by me. Their cover of that Shuggie classic (a big hit for the Brothers Johnson) was crazy. Spot on, but off enough to make it totally their own.

Stumbled upon the 2006-07 Austin Music Award-winning Hudsons last night at B.D. Riley's while awaiting a show next door. Dang. Glad we did. Spry and sprite, this young band full of cutie-pie maestros (seriously, i wanted to pinch all their cheeks, but they were so talented) kicked up quite a jig.

You'll find more thorough coverage of last night's surprise appearance of Pete Townshend at the Austin Music Awards elsewhere, but GP wanted to weigh in with a quick li'l howdy and a "We Were There" and a we are so glad we were.

Well, not my lady as it were, because for one night a year (and the year's worth of days that it takes to pull the damn thing together), this lady belongs to all of Austin.

Call it a blow job; I'll continue to call it a blog – no matter – please indulge me as I wax in honor of a dear friend for one moment. Of course I speak of mentor, soul-sister, and Austin Music Awards maven Margaret Moser.

Nah, we aren't getting up on stage and tho-in' down (though we could) (and don't you wish), but we will be out and about tonight.

Here are our Wednesday recos:

Whooo, you know you been staring at the scan lines a li'l too intently when you get a dispatch from a Hottie McHotterpants andro babe in a parallel universe. We hand this GP blog entry over to our sweet pal, Memory Harker (click above the pic to see more pics!):

Here's a big pixelated "Howdy" to y'all from the interactive online world called Second Life, where Showtime's The L Word has been become (virtual) reality and supports a growing and diverse community of the show's fans from all over the meatspace world. Unlike the barren structures visited upon the Second Life world by most real-life corporate behemoths, the lovely L Word island incorporates a variety of local culture (Barnes' Boutique! Shiny Things!) in its mixed retail/residential plans and has greeters on hand to make you feel right at home among the denizens of this nascent matrix. Feel like chatting, dancing, shopping, or just lounging around the Planet cafe? Come on in, and see for yourself!