The Apocalypse Has Been Postponed (signs)

Sure, we might get an Apocalypse sometime. We certainly will have earned it, but in the meantime, I've collected some signs that maybe, just maybe, we're amusing enough to the Gods to keep us around a little longer:

1)st and foremost. [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] and I were driving along to yet another meeting the other day and innocently listening to the radio. She'd found a cool station out of Towson and we were recieving it pretty good. They seemed to be in a "Bluegrassy covers of well known tunes" mood and we were amused at how some it worked out. Yes' "Long Distance Runaround" really *does* deserve a banjo part after all. Who'd'a thunk it? But THEN we heard the SIGN: Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" done as full-tilt bluegrass! OMFG! It was AWESOME. I've heard the bluegrass version of "The Wall" and that was just as if they handed out parts to the band straight out of _The Pink Floyd Songbook_ or downloaded tab from Olga. The only thing that made it bluegrass was adapting some parts to banjo and some to mandolin.
Oh, and they sang with a twang/accent. It was still _The Wall_ first, and the bluegrass was almost an afterthought. "War Pigs" had only a little of that element to it. It was first and foremost a bluegrass arrangement, complete with Kickass solos and genuine aesthetic sensibilities to blending the sound and the song. So much of bluegrass is uptempo southern gospel music, so doing Black Sabbath this way turned it into a fire and brimstone sermon, which is also a humorous counterpoint to bluegrass as gospel.
It was amazing, and mind-exploding and just so wrong, but done so right. Apparently the band is called
"Hayseed Dixie" and they specialise in heavy metal bluegrass. Cool.
As long as stuff like this is on the radio, mankind might survive after all.

2) The MDFF planning committee seems to have survived the uproar I caused by my stupid fire joke. At first it was funny, demonstrating how, as long I'm not being paid a million dollars, I can't quite believe that my jokes are going to cause a brushfire. But no, just as it finally settled down and almost everyone was laughing, someone had to poke at it all one more time, and I just went off. I FLAMED. That was recieved even less well. It almost started to break us apart. Gods, all I wanted was the right to make a fucking joke and not have people sqwuak like chickens about it lest I, *I* bring on disaster. Anyway, thanks to the intercession of a kind and dedicated friend, we all managed to make nice and have a good cry and laugh about the whole thing.
People tend to agree when I say that the Washington area really suffers from "The Curse Of Greyface". They laugh as if the statement is a joke directed only at the Congress and the White House. Nope. This area is cursed with a serious attitude problem that really trickles down, even into what we call "our" social scenes. It ain't like this a mere 100 miles to the North. Sure my friends in York squabble and quarrel as well as anyone, but it doesn't have anything like the level of the "can't do attitude" or "fear everything" or "trust no one" vibes that just cling and drip from every surface sometimes. Well anyway, we worked it all out, and my faith in local humanity is somewhat restored and if Klaatu and Gort show up tomorrow, I think I know a handful of people who might be spared. (Myself, I give a 50/50 chance, especially if you ask people around here if I should live. I'm not such a flaming asshole everywhere I go, but the kind of social mind-games, psychocrap and endless endemic over-caution that ossifies nearly everything you try to do around here just gets me SO FUCKING PISSED OFF That I ....- well, if you know me you've heard variations on this rant.)

3) I was hoping that MDFF people would come over last night and we could start making some things ready for the Cheverly Day Parade. Not only did that not happen, but I also didn't finish up my latest round of MDFF contracts, nor did I mow the lawn. Instead I got a cold. How is that a positive sign?
Well, just as I was feeling really guilty for not having the energy (well motivation, really) to do ANYTHING but sit at the couch (I wasn't even online), my new Bouzouki arrived!!! Apparently whomever is watching over me knew that the only way for me to get over this cold quickly was for me to take a day of total rest. So first, sap my motivation, and then- give me a brand new shiny toy to play with.

4) And unlike many of the instruments I've had in my life, this one seems perfect. No fudging the tuning, no rebuilding the bridge (which I even had to do on my Martin), no endless experiments with finding string gauges, no bad spots on the neck where things just don't work right, nada.
And if the neck ever does need adjustment, it's equipped with a TRUSS ROD!!!! Unbelievable.
She's built like a tank, sounds great, and plays awesome. Finally, I've got an instrument that not only keeps up with me, but is also already presenting me with possibilities to develop playing and technique wise that I couldn't do on the "Mandola" that was sold as an "Octave Mandolin" that I've been using in this role lately. (which while imperfect, was an improvement over the guitar hybrid I built)

5) So I convalesced all day with my new instrument, and the rest seems to have done me a whole world of good. The sore throat-sore sinus-runny nose progression is going nearly as fast as it used to when I was young, which bodes well for singing next week. I used to get over colds in three days. It's been up to two weeks lately, and I'll settle nicely for one.

The Bouzouki needs a name now, and I'm coming up with some things, but nothing rings yet.