Freemasonry

I wonder if this guy is gonna be booted out of the lodge. (click image for larger view)

Freemasonry is weird, isn't it. Its origins are shrouded in rumour and arcane mystery. One mooted theory is that the organisation came out of a fraternity consisting of a bunch of stone-masons who were not affiliated with a guild. As you were, if you were a tradesman, at the time.

So that makes them contractors, essentially. The first sub-contractors. Albeit, kinda secretive ones, with their own peculiar set of rituals and symbology.

"Peculiar?" I hear you say. Exactly. Anyone who's ever heard the bunch of tradesmen who regularly assemble down at the Occidental on a Friday afternoon will attest to the bizarre coded language in which they converse.

"Grouting" this... "9/16 locking pipe-wrench" that.

All that remains is for them to do is to bust out the secret handshakes. And anyone who's seen a gasfitter answer his cell-phone while carrying a round of 8, 9, 10 beers to the table knows to look no further.

Go me

My recent CD The Green Morning was made #3 on the Top 10 Albums of 2006 in Portugese music 'zine Trinta de Fevereiro, and also got a really good review here in PopMatters.

More reviews here...

Stumps vs. xNoBBQx and UnAustralians

Nevermind the cricket... here's the Australia vs New Zealand NOISE|ROCK showdown

from Sydney, Australia*:
xNoBBQx
::mindnumbing minimalist comatose urban-blues::

-with-

UnAustralians
::insane outsider weirdo what-the-fuck grind-metal::

go head-to-head in street-style no-holds-barred mind-buggering AURAL BLUDGEON DEATH MATCH

versus

THE STUMPS
::estatic improvised psychedelic noise-doom-groan-rock::

Some sample tunage:

xNoBBQx - Blues 2 (3.30 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

xNoBBQx - Sunshine of Your Love part 3 (3.27 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

xNoBBQx - Sunshine of Your Love part 9 (2.53 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

UnAustralians - 13654 (1.45 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

UnAustralians - 33602 (501 KB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

UnAustralians - 33640 (2.05 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download)

All the usual merchandising will be in effect, including *NEW* Stumps LPs, and t-shirts.

*This event is brought to you as part of the Sun of the Seventh Sister Summer 2007 tour of New Zealand. Some spontaneous SSS action may occur on the night, as it is wont to do. Also look out for this band of merry Australians as they trip around the country late-January / early-February, 2007.

...

Merry xmas and a happy new year to y'all. Forgive the continued quietness here, busy-ness prevails.