Upcoming Gigs

There's a gig coming up tomorrow in Mykonos but there are no details on time yet.  Mostly what I've been doing has been enjoying being back the virtual world but I've been talking about setting up gigs and will move on that as I tune up the set some more to what I really want to do.

There's been nothing the last few days on the Silas Galactic Podcast either and for the same reasons.

Everything's very good except relatively little news out of Cincinnati and that's always a worry.  Just have to wait and see.

There's been some thinking of going up to the Chicago Jam in June but it wouldn't be practical for a variety of reasons.  Anek Fuchs is running it and I've no doubt at all that he has security covered but it would still be too difficult to get up there just now.  He said it's not likely he'll be able to do it again but it's still more important to get established as performing regularly in Second Life rather than to start, dash off again, and then re-appear weeks later.  It'd be cool as hell to meet Anek, tho.

On Skype, I'm trying to get in the habit of leaving it running all the time so it serves as the Texas Rockhouse phone.  If I'm in the house, I'll be in the studio so I'll almost certainly hear it ring.  It doesn't create an exposure as you approve all contacts before they can call you.  No spam!

There's surprisingly little interest in reefer these days as it just causes a lot of coughing and screw that!  Much more it's a matter of not having time but that's a different story for another time and quite a nice story it is!

Skype is Now Set Up on the iMac

My Skype contact name is Silas Scarborough.  I don't have it running all the time but I'll run it more if you all are interested in talking that way.  The software is a free download from Skype and there is no charge for computer-to-computer calls.  Where they make their money is in computer-to-telephone calls as that is a pay service.  Simple:  don't use that part!

How it works:  after you download Skype and set up an account (it won't ask for a credit card), you can make a 'contact' of Silas Scarborough.  Skype will let me know you want to make me a contact and I'll approve it the next time I use it.  After that, you push the green button to initiate a call and if Skype is running then my 'phone' will ring.

I know you all have as much enthusiasm for more gin-soaked software on your computers as maybe listening to political speeches but Skype is a pretty cool thing ... and it's free!

Mostly this is for the Mystery Lady but it will work for anyone.  If you've got a phone, calling Donika's number will work and there's Skype if you don't.

Second Life is Back Up to Full Bore

I've advised everyone down here if I ever try to do "It's My Life" solo again that someone should murder me!  The song wasn't about trying to be Frankie, tho, but rather it's Independence Day.  This is my life and it damn sure does not belong to Facebook.  Of course I don't have to tell them that as they know all the facts whether they know them or not (laughs).

Not to worry as there's been no retaliation.  However, the living well part is going quite nicely, albeit without large helpings of caviar or test-driving Ferraris.  One thing I like a lot about it is that the people in Second Life have zero use for Facebook.  Oh yeah, a social network with no music or dancing ... sign me up for that!  (laughs)

I didn't play yesterday and that was decrepitude from Saturday but I will be running up the schedule as fast as I can.  It's no exaggeration at all that this is more fun than I've had in years.  Pay gig / non-pay gig, I'm goin'!

Silas Playing "Necromancer" Live at Mykonos in Greece

That Mykonos is in Greece in the virtual world of Second Life doesn't change anything about the people coming to the show being in Greece.

I've got one simple rule:  if I don't understand the language, I'm probably in a different country!

It's wild doing a gig when the people have no idea what you're saying and you have no idea what they're writing!  In a Second Life gig, people type stuff and communicate that way while the audio comes from the performer.  So they have no idea what I'm saying and I have no idea what they're writing (i.e. I'm in Greece!).

So that's today's 'cast on the Silas Galactic Podcast.  This is as Silas as you get with screwing up and recovering.  I listened to it multiple times in deciding whether to let it fly so you can hear the decision and make up your own mind if it was the right one (laughs).

This kind of fireball playing where you deliberately play at or past the top of your ability knowing you'll make mistakes is a) total bullshit b) SOP for Silas.

(Ed:  not all of the above?)

Yer killin' me, dude!

I really would like to slow down, get better control, just like I was saying in admiring Alex Philo's style, but it's so damn exciting!  I do love the risk!  To me, it's exactly the same as riding motorcycles only faster than I ever could on bikes plus the convenience of no more bones smashed beyond all recognition!  (Lotho was always the best rider, by far.)

Alex Philo Singin' Them Blues (video)

Alex Philo is my friend who staged the show today.  He didn't perform but check out his moves.  He's got a killer voice and great moves with tasty restraint on the guitar.

So what I do is sell the truck and go over to Sydney to jam with him.  Yep, that's a good plan, right!

We've been friends for a long time and he's invited me to visit in the past but after a while the question might come up, "Um, don't you have someplace to go, mate?"  (laughs)

Talk to him in Second Life and take a look at the places he's built.  It's flippin' amazing!!  I spent the whole day in-world and never left his builds the entire time.  That's starting about 11:00 in the morning and went until after midnight!

So, yah, this is the cat who was staging the shows today!  Tell me the man can't play and he sings those blues right!

He thinks I'm a pretty swell guitar player which is all the more unusual to me now after listening carefully to his moves.  I admire the restraint and control he shows and the regulars know I'm playing on the edge of over the edge of going out of control every second.  The stuff he has in abundance, I've hardly got at all!  It's cool as don't read any competition.  It's all about style.  Same as ridin' a Harley: if you have to ask why, just sit on down (laughs).

Another example is Anek Fuchs as he can smoke me for speed without even breaking any tiny kind of a sweat but still it's a different style.  This isn't self-rationalizing crap to say his speed is meaningless because what I do is better.  I know people think stuff like that so I mention it.  I'm sure he understands as well as I that no-one is going to play what you play any better than you play it ... or it wouldn't sound like you.  For better or worse, whatever it is, you are unique in your style.

So, nah, no competition.  This is just very long-winded admiration for Alex Philo's restraint in his guitar playing plus he totally kicks ass singing.

Yep, sell the truck and go to Sydney.  That's the answer.

Best Gig in Years at Mykonos Today!

Alex Philo is a friend from way back and he wanted me to open / close the show today.  That was pretty cool all by itself but what I didn't realize was that Mykonos would be packed the whole time!  There were close to sixty or more at the show almost from start to finish.  Alex Philo throws one damn good party!

Lisa Brune is a French lady who came on after my set and she has tremendous power but wields it with great finesse.  I had never heard her before and was hugely impressed.  Anek Fuchs is prob'ly the fastest guitarist in Second Life and he came on after her.  Alderon was singing Greek music after that and it was charming as it wasn't something that was L.A. processed.  He really is Greek and he really was singing Greek songs.  Cool as hell!  After him I came out again and did one more to close it.

Alex Philo kicked off Mykonos in one big, big way!  It was one hell of a good time!!!!

Silas at Mt Sim at 10:00 AM Second Life Time

I'll be playing two shows for my friend, Alex Philo, today.  One is to open the show and the other is to close it.  I've never done a show that way before but, wtf, it's Second Life, do them any way you like!

The songs on the Silas Galactic Podcast are killing Reverend Sasquatch so apparently bad Silas does a whole lot better than good Silas!

Must get cracking as the show is at noon Central time so that gives a couple of hours to get ready.

On with the show.  Yahoo!

It's an Unusual Situation with this Scarborough

Silas is now a sequel to himself!  The stuff I was playing last night was almost all old Silas as I didn't do any of the Boudika stuff.  I didn't even do the "Ice Cream Blues!"

The object was to come out hard and I did.  "Necromancer" was first and then "Empire."  That stuff was hitting it pretty good so I kept on with it.

What I'd like to get done between now and playing tomorrow is to go through the looper to make sure it's set with tunes that'll push it out more.  I never imagined I'd be in a situation in which people are expecting my old stuff and I've got new stuff they haven't even heard yet.  It's a cool thing and very much appreciated so all the more reason to finesse any shift to new stuff.

It'll take a bit of shifting but that's cool and the objective is to get to, ok, kick back on this one.  It's going to build from the bass up so give it twenty minutes or so.  It's risky in its way as you don't want to bore people who can teleport to someplace cooler than this in half a microsecond or so.  Still, that's Galactic Touring so we'll see how it goes.

One sure thing is the laptop is close to useless.  There are so many vertical lines in the display that it's tough to find the progress bar when a song is playing!  I know it's a video card / controller causing it but hopefully it can be eliminated from the set before it fails altogether.  That doesn't mean throw it away but rather shelve it until something can be done.

Something that may change things a lot is that currently I'm running audio directly off the mixer into an interface into the iMac to stream / record it.  However, that signal is bone dry.  What might be cool is to mike the speakers.  The interface can handle 1/4-inch or XLR in the same plug and it can supply phantom power so I could even use the studio mikes.  The reason is that the sound I hear in the room is fatter than what I'm hearing in the recording.  It's a dinky P.A. so what you hear changes a lot depending on where you stand and miking it could have some quite strange effects!

Silas Playing "Empire" Live at Sunshine Daydream (audio podcast)

Many will be crushed, no doubt, that we can't present the extraordinary wit of the good Reverend Sasquatch today but we'll have to forego that estimable pleasure in favor of some jams from Silas.

It was outrageously cool going back to Sunshine Daydream last night and I couldn't believe how many people were there!

So that's the latest on the Silas Galactic Podcast!

Big Fun at Sunshine Daydream Tonight!

The number of people who showed up was a big surprise.  Dunno about this Second Life music is dead stuff as it sure hasn't been dead anyplace I've visited and it sure wasn't playing at Sunshine Daydream tonight.

The guitar was kind of sloppy and out of control but not so much that I want to slash my wrists, it just means play more.

Circe was there!  I didn't know it as I can't see the screen from where I play but I did get to talk to her after.  Every gig is better when it's followed by a hug from Circe!

So it's started again!  More gigs this week-end.  Yahoo!

Silas Scarborough at Sunshine Daydream Tonight at 10:00 PM SL Time

This is the first time live in Second Life in quite a long time and it's very exciting getting ready for it.  The show at Sunshine Daydream tonight will start at 8:00 pm with Ictus Belford, 9:00 pm with Grateful Stryker, and 10:00 pm with Silas Scarborough.

Ictus Belford wrote "Make My Day" and we got to jam together for real on it a few years back.  Grateful Stryker is my dear friend from way back and we've done back-to-back shows many times.

For sure you'll be hearing it on the podcast as the tunes always do better than Sasquatch.  That's cool for me as Sasquatch always used to kick Silas.  Ha!

I don't know if good Silas or bad Silas will show up but that was part of it as no-one ever did!

I did talk to Donika about doing some old stuff and I will.  The laptop is so pitiful but it'll work for a few tunes and then I can bag it for the rest of the show.  "Necromancer" would be fun and that may well be the intro.

Yahoo!  Here we go again!

Reverend Sasquatch on Gun Control Anywhere Near Him

After hearing four rounds fired fairly close to where the good Reverend was sitting, he then decided that spending the next portion of the evening under the bed would be a prudent use of his time and this is where he composed his thoughts on gun control.

The good Reverend is so liberal that he makes modern liberals look like the Rush Babes (yes, there really is such a group).  However, his views on gun control may not be quite what you expect.

So, on this morning's Silas Galactic Podcast we have news from the 'hood but having spent so much time hiding under the bed, I don't know for sure if anyone actually got shot.

Reverend Sasquatch on Genetically-Modified Marijuana-Eating Rabbits (audio podcast)

The original went out as a video on YouTube so it's never been released on the Silas Galactic Podcast.  This important news about a DEA experiment gone awry is crucial to the economy of Kentucky and quite possibly the entire country.

The video is still on YouTube.  The podcast is the audio track.

Be careful out there and catch some rabbits!

GEICO - Poisonous Lizards to the End

A letter from GEICO just came in and said my policy is canceled ... but ... I owe them $103.13.  Apparently they're not familiar with the pissing up a rope concept.

Even after I told them to cancel it, they extended it anyway and now they're sending a bill for that.

Note:  this is no tragic deal.  I got coverage with a reputable insurance company (i.e. one that assured me it has no dealings with GEICO or the crooked swine or the weeping boils in Miami) and the letter from GEICO is meaningless crap.  After all we've seen from Miami, we're accustomed to meaningless crap from them, tho.

I sent an email to GEICO about a month ago to cancel the coverage but, as we've seen, they don't provide coverage like other insurance companies.  In fact, they don't provide it at all.  They aren't slow to bill for it, tho.  At least one department in that second-rate crapshoot works.

They never got quite Lincoln's message, "Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than to send around lawyers with a Cease & Desist order to prove it."

Fuckin' lizards.

Reverend Sasquatch on Dog+ the Latest Social Network Revolution (audio podcast)

The good Reverend can only watch and wonder as the revolution in social networking for dogs.  Yesterday we scooped the entire news community in telling you about Dogbook and we're doing it again today with the announcement of Dog+.  There's only one place you can hear it:  the Silas Galactic Podcast, where there still ain't no money it but we have fun doing it.

(Ed:  Who is we?)

Me, Tutefaht, Silas, Maxwell Snort ... you know, we!

I need more names for CDs, tho.  There's no way they'll fit even on two CDs now and you can't release a CD with, say, a hundred tunes on it even if you just do a digital release.

So far I've got:

"Hell as a Tourist Destination"

This one's for the richies who like to go to Antarctica to screw with penguins and wreck the habitat for their own amusement.  We figure this one will be a hit with them.

"Exorcisms Performed Cheap"

Now who doesn't need an inexpensive exorcism once in a while.  We figure this one will go straight to the top of the Billboard chart for Pseudo-Religious Crap That Doesn't Mean Anything.

"Wine-Making Instructions"

Yep, this one could work.