Ionrock Dot Org

So, my IST 412 class is going to be working with Ruby on Rails this semester. I am pretty torn at the moment regarding this. On the one hand, it is a good opportunity to learn a very hot technology that seems pretty interesting. Ruby, I have heard, is a great language much like Python (in its greatness, not in its similarities), so that is encouraging. I also have wanted to have a better web development tool than PHP because of its lack of object orientation and the like. My first choice for this would have been Python or C# of course. On the downside of this, I am yet again doing web development. This is not all a bad thing but I am pretty tired of making web pages and things. I was really hoping this semester I would get a chance to do more gtk# work. I might email the professor to see what he thinks. Either way, I hope this will be a good last semester.

I am back in State College and I want to take a good long break from driving. Driving is a very peaceful and reflective pastime and all but after going over 15,000 in one summer, I am bit tired of sitting behind the wheel. With that said, tour was again a great experience. We are quickly becoming very effcient with being on the road and dealing with the general difficulties of touring. Because of this, we really had no crazy tour stories or scenarios to add to our conversations upon return. But that doesn't mean it wasn't an exciting time!

Some highlights...

Austin, TX - We played with some local Austin bands and with everyone thinking we are from Houston (which is partially right after all), we consistently received comments such as, "Whoa, I didn't Houston could have a decent band! You guys rock!" As rude as this may seem, it is actually the sound of the tide turning between the lack of respect between Austin and Houston. A silly rivalry has gone on for a long time and I am proud to do my part in helping it fall by the wayside... After the show we went to a party and met more wonderful people and generally had a really great time. Oneida hung out and we enjoyed living it up as rock stars for an evening.

Minneapolis, MN - It always sparks ones curiosity when one of the bands you are playing with has their own comic book. This was the case with the Amish Armada. They began their show with an Amish man (he wasn't _really_ Amish btw) talking about giving his son all "this," which we assumed meant some sort of metaphor for punk and the like. What followed was zombie Amish guys coming out and doing some killing and other gross things to aggressive music that could be compared Dead Kennedy's mixed with Descendents, sans political or youth messages. Some of it was pretty gross and in pretty bad taste but I have to admit that I did get a chuckle when they smashed a computer and a printer. To top it off we stayed we a really great gal with three wonderful dogs. A good night.

Cleveland, OH - We played with Parts and Labor who we loosely knew through friends and a Brooklyn show. What was funny about that night was that we got a writeup in the paper. It was relatively positive but most just a lame comparison to Sonic Youth that went completely out of control. One of the guys in Parts and Labor is actually an editor for CMJ (College Music Journal, the Billboard magazine for underground music). He had quite a chuckle reading the article and letting us know just how silly it was. Our own insights were not too far from his as well. Not really a big deal but it was just kind of a funny thing.

Overall the tour was really great. We played 5 dates with Oneida who are amazing guys. They let us in on some truly great secrets on how to become the largest rock band alive that we really appreciated and extended us a warm welcome whenever possible. So, thanks Oneida and all the bands we played with for a great time and we hope to see everyone very soon. Cheers.