The Den of Ubiquity

You know, I'm getting sick and tired of Benson's behaviour recently. The latest is how, after missing three straight weeks of band practices, each time with a decreasingly plausible excuse, he's half an hour late for our first real gig, opening for Frequency Button. I know he's been David and Roxene's friend for longer than I've known them, and he's a really good drummer when he does show up, but his attitude is more appropriate for someone who's just getting together with friends for a lark. For someone who could, quite frankly, use another source of income, his behaviour is inexplicable. But then, I gather he's not much better at his day job, either. So if anyone knows of a good drummer(they don't have to be a big Paranoia fan, but it helps), let me know.

Some people have asked, and while we do have a couple of Paranoia covers in our set, we try to do mostly original songs, though I wouldn't deny that there's some stylistic similarities. Not that we're anywhere near as good, yet, and we're not going to be like that cover band, Persecution Mania.

Oh, yeah, I suppose I should mention that we've finally settled on a name; that'll help you find us. Roxene was a big fan of "Dry, Flyaway Hair", David liked "Dances With Sheep", I liked "The Bootblacks" or "The Shreds"(except that David thought that one was already taken), and Benson wanted "Partyball", in the end we decided on "Area 52". That one's already used for some Star Trek fan site, but we emailed them and they're cool with it. We're still working on our own web site, a responsibility that seems to have devolved onto me. Roxene would probably do a better job, but she's busy at work right now; she'll try to do up some artwork. We're also hoping to get a CD together this year, or at least record a few MP3s. If we can ever get a reliable drummer.

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Of course I bought the new Delphina Nunn album the first day it came out. Me and fifty thousand other people, all lined up at Oracle Sounds. You'd've thought Delphina herself was there. I did mention that I met her once, after seeing the band on the "Exorcism" tour? It...well, it helped me clear my head of a few things. It was an incredible honour to meet the band, of course, but I wish it had come under better circumstances. I've even sent Delphina a couple of my songs, and she's been very nice about it, but hasn't recorded any of them or anything. Still, she says I show promise, which is something. Some of you may have heard some of the demos of my song "Surfacing"...well, I wrote the first version of that under the influence of "Exorcism Under The Stars", and it still shows however much I've tried to distance it.

Anyway, the new Delphina album, "Leather Watch"(which I gather was based on one of the rejected titles for "Exorcism..."), is great. She's not just sticking to the old Radiohead-meets-Shriekback Paranoia sound--she's thrown in a lot of electronic and beats, but it works great with her new songs. Ellwood Ruggels drums on a few tracks, and that's great. No Hyacinth Atchison, unfortunately, but I gather she's getting into acting or something. Don't believe those rumours of a bitter, acrimonious breakup...though I don't believe that Paranoia will ever be getting back together for more than a benefit concert. Trust me.