Hunter Morrison's Blog

Watch it with an open mind, not with controlled fear.

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Undermine the Common and Zimri at Renovare Cafe
I have to admit, most bands I go see are at a bar or a venue house that serves alcohol. It seems like music and alcohol are a married couple. So when I went to Renovare Café in downtown Dover to see Undermine the Common and Zimri I was a little apprehensive. After a few minutes though I was pleasantly surprised. Renovare Café is a multi church and community ran operation that has taken an old motorcycle dealership building at 206 West Third Street and turned it into a comfortable coffee shop. Established in 2005, Renovare Café hosts local and national acts and also hosts local writers and artists events and meetings. There are two stages, one in the main dining room with nicely placed built in P.A. system. The other stage is in the basement with wide open space for young heavy bands so there is plenty of room for moshing and skanking.
The employees are all volunteers. The bands also donate their time but can sell merchandise to recoup the fuel bill. At times the band who generates the largest crowd will receive some payment as well. You feel welcomed as you enter the large dining area furnished with couches, small and large tables, and even a chess table. There are computers for internet access and the volunteers are of all ages giving off a family atmosphere. The goal is to give teens and young adults a safe place to enjoy the arts and gather socially.
Undermine the Common was the first band I saw. They are a young Rock Alternative band from Imperial, Pennsylvania. This is a three piece band with brothers Jarid Yankus on vocals and lead guitar and Josh Yankus on percussions. Filling in the rhythm on bass is Mike Lucente. The band is high energy, which reaches out and grabs your attention. The songs are all originals which start you off easy and builds to a climatic breakdown of instrumental passion reminiscence of a young Mettalica without the hate. Jarid, sporting the dreads, will change guitars as frequent as the tempo changes, which keeps the crowd on their feet and in the pit.
Undermine the Common has played with national acts Edison Glass and Blindside. They are an overall entertaining group of young artists who are worth the cost at the door. Even though they are unsigned, they do tour quite extensively and are always looking for new venues. They can be contacted through their web sight at www.utcrocks.com or contact manager Dodie Putoff at 412-216-6645.
The last band of the night was a scream metal powerhouse who calls themselves Zimri. This young five piece from Stratton, Ohio absolutely rocked the house. Vocalist Front Man Josh Booth captivated the crowd with his wide range in vocals and high energy stage performance. He looks like a short haired Kid Rock. Josh worked the crowd like a veteran rocker, bringing the mosh pit to a frenzy. I am not usually a huge fan of scream metal but Zimri has a well balanced tightness that keeps your attention until the end. Then you want more!! This band is unsigned but I feel not for long.
Zimri will be touring Ohio and Pennsylvania all Summer. You can find them at www.myspace.com/zimri777 and for bookings e-mail Josh at zimri@gotmc.net
For those of you who are afraid of faith based bands, don’t be. These young acts are breathing fresh sounds into a stale music world. I see a lot of bands locally and nationally and these two bands are stepping up to challenge. Renovare Café has opened the door to some great talent for the Valley youth to experience.

"WHERE ARE ALL THE WHITE WOMEN"

HERE ARE SOME NEW BANDS THAT HAVE BEEN MAKING A NEW SOUND OUT OF OLD SCHOOL SOUNDS:

MUDLOW- www.myspace.com/mudlow

THE BONNEVILLES- www.myspace.com/thebonevilles  (yes one "n")

THE BLACK KEYS- www.myspace.com/theblackkeys  (this band is from Akron Ohio)

REVEREND PEYTONS BIG DAMN BAND- www.revpeytonsbigdamnband.com

BILLY GOAT GRUFF- www.myspace.com/billygoatgruff

YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THESE CHARACTERS AS WELL AS 140 OTHER GREAT ACTS AT THE DEEP BLUES FESTIVAL JUNE 20-23 IN MINNEAPOLIS. WORTH THE JOURNEY.

From the Irish Times Newspaper

US car dealer offers gun to buyers

A US car dealer has seen sales soar at his car and truck business since launching a promotion this week that promises buyers a free handgun or a $250 petrol card with every purchase.

Details of the deal are available on the Max Motors website

Max Motors, a small Missouri dealership has sold more than 30 cars and trucks in the last three days, far more than its normal volume. And owner Mark Muller credits his decision to start offering buyers their choice of a $250 petrol card or a $250 credit at a gun shop.

"This thing has taken off. Sales have quadrupled," said Muller. The store sells both used and new vehicles including General Motors and Ford products.

Every buyer so far "except one guy from Canada and one old guy" has elected to take the gun, Muller said. Muller recommends his customers select a Kel-Tec .380 pistol.

"It's a nice little handgun that fits in your pocket," he said.

Muller said the promotion was inspired by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is vying with Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee for the presidential election in November.

"We did it because of Barack Obama. He said all those people in the Midwest, you've got to have compassion for them because they're clinging to their guns and their Bibles. I found that quite offensive."

"We all go to church on Sunday and we all carry guns," said Muller. "I've got a gun in my pocket right now. I have a rifle in my truck. We've got to shoot the coyotes out here, they're attacking our cows, our chickens. We're not clinging to nothing. We're just damn glad to live in a free country where you can have a gun if you want. This is the way it ought to be."

Just another reason to be "PAGAN".

Flogging Molly and the Dublin Irish Festival

 

 

  It was one of those days where you hope for blue skies and warm temps, but when instead it was a two hour drive that turned into three and a half hours with rain falling so hard you could not see the car in front of you in bumper-to-bumper traffic. There was a truck jack-knifed at Zanesville and then ten miles later a horse trailer half on it’s side with police tying the horses to a guardrail. People who seem to have x-ray vision passing at eighty miles an hour only to see them five miles wrapped around a marker sign.

 

  When we pulled into Dublin, Ohio the rain seemed to give respect for the reason we were there and subsided. The festival was easy to find and parking was close to the gates. There are several gates. This is a twenty seven acre event with seven stages, 1200 volunteer, 93,000 guests raising $1,324,577 in revenues and $5.6 million for the community. The festival contributes $85,000 back to the community in donation and scholarships. $40,000 raised in V.I.P. memberships with $7,800 coming from the Celtic Rock Club which is a private box area for up to twenty persons to have a close-up view of the shows.

 

 

 

   The festival has broken a new Guinness World Record with ten thousand thirty six dancers doing an Irish jig at the same time. Irish author Cathal Liam book signing, a whiskey tasting, language seminars, Irish music museum, kids zones, beer tents, merchants, food concessions, history seminars, genealogy  and so-so much more, there is plenty for the whole family. My only complaint was that the beer sponsor was not a Guinness distributor and prohibited the sale of Guinness, Sethwicks, or Harp which is a main part of any Irish or Celtic festival.   

 

  So as I said there are seven stages. The music entertainment consisted of over fifty bands and dance groups. Flogging Molly was the Head-liner and shared the spotlight with bands like Black 47, Mickey Finns, Gaelic Storm, Scythian, Irish Tenors, Bridget’s Cross, and Whiskey Asylum. This is a line up for all Celtic music lovers. Flogging Molly played a Saturday night show and then a Sunday afternoon show. The crowds were huge for both.

 

 

 

  Flogging Molly consists of seven musicians. Front Man Dave King hails from Dublin, Ireland in the Beggars Bush neighborhood. He immigrated to America and played with Fast Eddie of Motorhead in the band Fastway.  After the dissolve of Fastway, Epic records wanted Dave to sing for The Jeff Beck Band, but Dave declined and began working on the Irish sound which has became the success of Flogging Molly. With the addition of Bridget Regan on fiddle, Dennis Casey on guitar, Matt Hensley on accordion, Nathan Maxwell on bass, Robert Schmidt on mandolin, and George Schwindt on drums in the late 90’s the band was formed.

 

  With Epic not liking the idea of a rock band with fiddles and accordions, Epic would not support Flogging Molly. A smaller label, Side One Dummy Records picked them up after hearing them one time at L.A.’s Molly Malone’s (which is the contribution to the band’s name).   Soon after the albums started coming out with much success rising to the top twenty on the Billboard and #1 on the Indies. Touring on The Warped Tour is a constant which leaves not much time for smaller engagements. The discography consists of Alive Behind Green Doors ’97, Swagger ’00, Drunken Lullabies 02, Within a Mile of Home ’04 and Whiskey on a Sunday ’06 which is a DVD/CD.

 

 

 

  With a crowd of young and old, some wearing kilts and sporrans, the rain held off ‘till the end. Energy is the main word I come up with when Molly begins to play. A mix of punk, rock, folk and traditional Irish. Mosh pits erupts through-out the crowd. Plaids and tweeds. Crowd participation on nearly every song, with chants and “HEY” at the pause points. Never could an old time rocker or punker imagine the power a band with accordions, banjos, and acoustic guitars could generate from a multi-aged crowd. With influences of Dropkick Murphys and The Pogues, you did not have to be Irish to let go and “swing and skank”. 

 

 

 

 

  After a two and a half hour session the crowd was soaked with sweat and beer and just like clockwork the rains came back to wash us all off. The band hung out for an extra hour at the stage to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans. This is to me always a good sign of appreciation to the fans who are the ones who make it all possible. Traffic moved steady after the show due to the festival still churning.   

 

  Next year the Dublin Irish Festival will be August 1,2,3, but you must get your hotel reservations in early if you plan to spend the whole weekend. The website for more info is www.dublinirishfestval.org. If you are Irish or Irish at heart this is a must for the calendar. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support your local Stripper/Preacher?

 

 A strip club owner filed a federal lawsuit against members of a church that has kept a vigil outside the club for more than a year, accusing them of harassing customers and violating his constitutional rights. Thomas George, who owns the Foxhole near Nellie, about 55 miles northeast of Columbus, also accuses Coshocton County Sheriff Tim Rogers of refusing to arrest the protesters.

 

 

 Members of New Beginning Ministries in nearby Warsaw have videotaped people going in and out of the club and have taken photographs of patrons’ license plates and posted the images online. They are accused of being involved in a conspiracy to violate the club’s “First Amendment rights of free speech through dance,” according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

 

 

 George is seeking a court order ending trespassing, picketing and surveillance. He also asks for more than $150,000 in damages. Thomas Condit, a Cincinnati lawyer representing the church, denies that his clients have violated the club’s rights.

 

 

 Church members lawfully have exercised their rights to speech, religion and assembly “by advising people not to patronize a business they think is unhealthy and immoral,” Condit said. The ministry has filed a counter claim seeking damages from the Foxhole. Rogers said the church members assemble on the public right of way and are monitored by off-duty sheriff’s deputies hired by the church to provide security. His deputies are doing nothing wrong, he said. “We’re simply there to observe and protect the peace,” Rogers said.

 

 

 So is it time for the non-Christian groups to start rallying together and forming pickets and demonstrations outside churches and Christian events? I for one am angered every Sunday morning with the noise and blocking of my drive that I have to endure. Church bells at eight o’clock, loud disruptive singing of hymns (windows open when the weather is nice) and then through out the morning. Then the traffic at one o’clock. Only to have shiny mislead people walking through my yard and knocking on my door trying to spread THE WORD. Leaving pamphlets and flyers in my mailbox,(talk about junk mail and tree killings) and pushing their transformed Pagan holidays on me. I sound a little crazy, right? Exactly, this is how I feel about church groups and Christians every time I hear about their self righteous marches and protests against something they don’t approve of. We have to see them on the city squares with sandwich boards reading “HE IS ALIVE” or “ARE YOU GOING TO HELL” or my most loathed “GOD HATES……… GAYS/SOLDIERS/MUSLIMS/HINDUS or ant other non “them” group.

Are you kidding me? The fact that someone would have the audacity to go outside of their own self centered mind to radically push a cause against any group of Americans is outrageous, but the fact that they are protected by the law is the worst part. If a group was to carry signs against Blacks, Whites, Christians, etc it would be considered a hate crime or be protested against to the point of a riot by the Christian groups.

 

  Like watching T.V., if you don’t like what is on, turn the channel. We non-Christians do this (it is called common sense) and if we don’t agree with your beliefs we tend to leave you alone and let you believe what you want to believe. But the Christians will shove their WAY down your throat whether you want to hear them or not, and if you don’t like it they will set up protests and riots and wars and……

 

  Is it time for we non-Christians to knock on doors with our pamphlets, stage protests against Christian events and assemblies, stand on the Square with signs, build temples to the other gods or non-gods on every block, and turn it into a multi-billion dollar industry which will fleece old and uneducated people of every penny? I don’t see it happening because most non-Christians mind our own business and gather in homes, groves, covenants and other non-public places. I have been to many religious and spiritual events and gatherings while I was studying religions for personal gain and when I asked Wiccans and other Pagan groups why they don’t gather in public, I was shocked to hear them say they did not want to offend other people who do not understand them. Not of fear of persecution.

 

  We are all Americans and in America I believe we are allowed to assemble and worship/celebrate which ever God(s) we want. Or no God(s) at all, that is our constitutional right. Also to protest and gather, so whether you want to tip a stripper or your preacher is your own business-so mind your own business and leave the” non-your definition of right and wrong” alone. If this was to happen we would stop three quarter of the wars and tensions in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blues Travelers Review

 

  Pulling into Downtown Cleveland on Monday November 12th and finding my way through the maze of construction just to get to The House of Blues was the only disappointment of the night. Not even the driving rain that fell from a warm southern weather pattern could slow this night down. My tickets were not the best ( I hate brokers but that is another story ) so as usual when attending a show at The House of Blues I always go to the restaurant and grab a bite and a wash down so I can get in a little early through the back door. This allows me to get a seat at the cocktail tables and then it is like being at my favorite local pub except we are watching world class acts.

  The House of Blues is one of my favorite venues in Cleveland. It is always jumping and it does not feel like an auditorium. The employees are actually happy to be there and it rubs off on the guests. The restaurant had some good specials with good prices. Of course the beer was over $5.00, but that is expected at a venue of this caliber. The bartender was a tattooed girl named Molly and was as welcoming out of the rain as one could ask for. If you are in the area, stop by, get a beer, and tip well.

  Ok let’s get to the reason we are here, The Blues Travelers. This is a fun loving band that found its roots in the New York area in the early 80’s. The band called The    Establishment was the first venture with Cleveland native and front man John Popper and London born drummer Brendan Hill. In 1987 the band name was changed to The Blues Travelers with the joining of guitar-man Chad Kinchla from Canada, Ben Wilson behind the keyboard and in 1999 the Brown University graduate and bassist Thaddeus Arwood Kinchla (call him Tad). In 1994 the album Four came out with much MTV play and put The Blues Travelers on the “A” list of American music.

 

  From the opening song “The One” to the encore of The Steve Miller Band’s “Joker” joined by opening act Lisa Bouchelle, and  fellow mouth harpists Will Freed the crowd was in a frenzy. Each song led straight into another with only a few breaks to catch your breath. A rendition of Charlie Daniel’s “Devil went Down to Georgia” with Popper doing all the fiddle parts on his Hohner Special 20’s harmonica with lightning speed. It was like hearing it for the first time. Several older songs which were expected to be heard such as “Hook” and “The Mountain Wins Again” have been changed to slower tempos, but the crowd seemed to accept it as a new song on the play-list.

   A total of nineteen songs and some good jam sessions with solos took the night into a three hour session. This enough made the show well worth the price of the tickets. After the show Popper and Chan Kinchla came out to the lobby and had a meet and greet signing for the public. Most of the bands I have seen, you have to pay extra for this benefit. The T-shirts and other merchandise were at a working mans price which is why they ran out of larger sizes early.

  After the soliciting of pan-handlers and the walk of doom down Euclid Ave. to get back to the parking lot, the parking turned out to be only $5.00. So over all, a great night at a great price.

 

Where Were You When the Fun Stopped?

These are excerpts from ESPN.com writer Hunter Thompson.

 

 

 

September 12, 2001

….Even ESPN was broadcasting war news. It was the worst disaster in the history of the United States, including Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco earthquake, and the Battle of Antietam in 1862, when 23,000 were slaughtered in one day.

  The Battle of The World Trade Center lasted 99 minutes and cost over 5000 deaths in two hours…. … Anything that kills three hundred firefighters in two hours is a world class disaster.

  …The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the U.S or any country. Make no mistakes about it: We are At War now-with somebody- and we will stay at war with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.  

  It will be a religious war, a sort of Christian Jihad, fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics on both sides. It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy. Osama bin Laden may be a primitive “figurehead” or even dead, for all we know- but whoever put those All American jet planes with All American fuel into the Twin Towers and The Pentagon did it with chilling precision and accuracy. The second one was a dead on bull’s-eye. Straight into the middle of the skyscraper.

  Nothing, not even George Busch’s $350 billion Star Wars missile defense system could have prevented Tuesday’s attack, and it cost next to nothing to pull off. Fewer than twenty unarmed suicide soldiers from some apparently primitive country from the other side of the world took out The World Trade Centers and The Pentagon three quick and costless strikes on one day. The efficiency of it is terrifying. 

  We are going to punish someone for this attack, maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan or Iraq, or all three at once. This is going to be an expensive war, and victory is not guaranteed- for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Busch. All he know is his father started the war along time ago, and that he the goofy child-president, has been chosen by Fate and The Global Oil Industry to finish it NOW. He will declare a National Emergency and clamp down hard on everybody, no matter where they live or why. If the guilty won’t hold up their hands and confess, He and the Generals will ferret them out.

  Good luck. He is in for a profoundly difficult job-armed as he is with no credible Military Intelligence, no witnesses, and only the ghost of bin Laden to blame for the tragedy .The only news on TV. comes from weeping victims and ignorant speculators.

 

 

 

September19, 2001

 

 

 

  In times like these, when the War drums roll and the bugles howl for blood, I think of Vince Lombardi, and I wonder how he would handle it…Good ole Vince. He was a zealot for victory at all costs, and his hunger for it was pure-or that’s what he said and his legend tells us, but it is worth noting that he is not even in the top twenty in career victories.

  We are at war now, according to President Busch, and I take him at his word. He also says this war might last a very long time. Generals and war scholars will tell you eight to ten year is actually not a long time in the span of human history-which is no doubt true-but history also tells us that ten years of martial law and a wartime economy are going to feel a lifetime to people in their twenties today. The poor ba**ards will be the first generation of Americans to who will grow up with a lower standard of living than their parents enjoyed.

  Winston Churchill said, “In wartime, Truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

  That Wisdom will not be much comfort to babies born last week. The first news they get in this world will be News subjected to Military Censorship. That is given in wartime, along with massive campaigns of deliberately planted “DIS-INFORMATION.” That is routine behavior in wartime-for all countries and all combatants-and it makes difficult for who value real news. Count on it. That is what Churchill meant when he talked about Truth being the first casualty of war.

  In this case however, the next casualty was football. All games were cancelled that week. And that has never happened to the NFL. NEVER!! That gives us the magnitude of this war. Terrorists do not wear uniforms, and they play by inscrutable rules-The Rules of WWIII, which has already begun.   –Hunter Thompson

 

 

 

  Here we are six years later, still in a censored war with more countries getting involved, the U.S. looking at Iran to add to this equation, and no real end in sight. We have presidential candidates who won’t even do the pledge of allegiants or wear a flag. Open borders, religious tensions, race tensions, Money mongers running the country, and the loss of any credibility to the rest of the world. Read your history, it sounds like The Fall of Rome, but in two hundred years instead of eight. The more politically correct this country tries to become the father apart we as a whole are being torn apart –Hunter Morrison.      

 

 

  Grenada was a trial run for Panama and Afghanistan….springboard for Iraq and North Korea. See the New World Order in action. Why not? Hitler had Spain We have Korea. I believe the government has not only a right but an obligation to lie to the people. Yesterday’s weirdness is tomorrows reason –Hunter Thompson, 1983