New Scam on Musicians

I got an email the other day that was so specifically tailored and semi-believable that I actually responded. Someone (allegedly a priest, currently in England) claimed that they liked my music and wanted to hire me to play an anniversary event at a specific address in Conyers. Very nice, I responded, but since I'm a variety artist, what kind of group did you want, and what size? What did you see of mine that you liked, and I'll play that. The response came back in a totally different writing style from the original letter, using classic teenspeak (all lower case, "u" and "4" as abbreviations for "you" and "for", no real sentence construction, etc.) saying essentially that he didn't remember what he'd heard, on "some talent site". Hmmm, spidey senses tingling. Still wanted a quote.

I sent a quote for a nice party act, four players and a female singer. He responded, in a much more adult writing style this time, that the price was agreeable, and that he'd send me $200 more than I was asking so that I could advance some money to his associate here before his (the "priest") arrival. Whoa, big red flag! Not only not enough money for any caterer or florist that I know of, but I've never heard of the band being involved in money handoffs to others.

So I inquired further about the local phone number and contact name at the venue in question, so I could nail down the load-in times and electrical availability. I declined his generous offer for extra money, and said I'd be happy with just the amount I'd quoted but didn't want to handle his other business for him, that his "associate" should do that. I said that PayPal or certified cashier's check would be just fine, and as soon as my bank was happy with the transfer we could proceed. I never heard from him again.

Since then, I've learned more about this type of scam. A fake check arrives, with orders to redistribute parts of the money to other parties. The bank takes a while to figure out that the check is fake, but the victim has already given out the real money. Beware!

The Top 25 Lies

My well-meaning friends keep sending on all those rubbish hoax emails about a variety of things, from the Invitation torch virus to the Clinton Circle of Death to rants attributed to Andy Rooney, George Carlin and others. One of those stories I got recently was about Australian Santas being ordered to say "Ha ha ha" instead of "Ho ho ho", apparently composed by one of those guys who hates political correctness so much that he actually makes up lies about it. Look, if I wanted to hear crap like this, I'd listen to AM radio. I keep asking my friends to please use Google to check this stuff before remailing it, but noooo...

So, here's the deal. You can stay ahead of the crap curve by reading Snopes.com's Hottest 25 Urban Legends , a daily updated list of the fecal flood you're most likely to be sent. What the heck, make it your browser's start page. If (make that when) someone sends you yet another email about Obama being a radical muslim, or H.Clinton being a baby-eater, you can just direct them to this page for starters, and the specific page pertaining to their spam du jour. Keep yourself even further ahead of the foolish forwarders by reading the very latest reports on the What's New page.

It's like a condom to protect your brain...

My Santa Website is UP!

Last night (this morning, technically) I went to GoDaddy.com and bought the domain name SantaGeorgePrice.com for my new Santa site. I also bought hosting there, and the Website Tonight package, and within a couple hours, had the bare bones of a new website open to the public. Please come check me out at http://www.SantaGeorgePrice.com and let me know what you think. Notice that under Info & Contact, you'll find my calendar of public Santa appearances (private shows aren't listed, of course). I do hope you'll come visit me, bring the young'uns, and let's have some fun.

I have nothing but nice to say about GoDaddy in general, and Dino the support guy in particular. I've owned the domains GeorgePrice.biz and GeorgePriceBand.com via GoDaddy for a couple years now and haven't done anything with them, but my experience last night could change that pretty soon.

Secret Oil-grab Revealed

Here's a little gem from http://www.JimHightower.com revealing a (deliberately) little-known maneuver by our (deservedly) unpopular White House.



PS, some of you may remember me saying in 2003 that Iraq was not "all about oil", any more than it being all about WMDs (which other, more dangerous nations definitely had) or oppressive regime (which other, easier-to-conquer nations also definitely had and have). Of course, the oil and its machinery is of huge interest to Bush's employers (major campaign contributors in the oil and oil equipment industries) and puppetmasters (let's see, who owns a lot of stock in Halliburton?) who apparently still write a lot of our foreign policy, but it's obviously oversimplifying to say the war is "all about oil".

I still believe, and I'm believing it more each day, that Iraq was intended to be a forward base for American military power to keep a thumb on Iran if not invade them directly. That would be an absolutely idiotic and nationally suicidal move that I sincerely pray Dubya will not be persuaded to attempt. But then, it was idiotic and nearly-suicidal to pull troops out of Afghanistan to start a fight in Iraq to begin with, and he doesn't seem to be a fast learner... This could all get much worse, much more easily than getting better.

Santa Transformer

The transformation is complete! As those who've seen me over the last year know, I've been growing hair and beard (at an alarming rate, according to some - maybe because I'm so full of fertilizer) to prepare for a role as Santa Claus. On Nov. 1st I got the final bleach-out, removing the last of my dark hairs. So, diggest thou this poor-quality home snapshot, and imagine how great it really looks (pro photos coming soon). Please mentally add the fat pad and white gloves I forgot to put on.

Now I've got the top-shelf Santa outfit, I've been educated at the intense Santa Claus Academy, I've gotten my shots, and now sport the very best natural hair & beard money can buy. I'm good to go for Christmas, and I'm eager to accept bookings.

Today's Favorite Links

Hi, I know I've been a slacker about updating the blog, but here are a few links to keep you occupied:

How to untangle headphones:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1080956&fr=yvmtf

Much Cooler Online (check out the stars!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GcVnhNjWV0
Check the related videos too.

NOW you tell us!
http://tinyurl.com/2o7ta9

and of course, my beloved BoingBoing:
http://boingboing.net/
New wonderful stuff every day. Check out also their Gadget and TV sub-sites.

JFK Killers Revealed!

I didn't hear about this in the news, did you? CIA man E. Howard Hunt, one of Nixon's Watergate burglars, lays out in a near-deathbed confession the actual people behind JFK's assassination.

"He was the ultimate keeper of secrets, lurking in the shadows of American history. He toppled banana republics, planned the Bay of Pigs invasion and led the Watergate break-in. Now he would reveal what he'd always kept hidden: who killed JFK."

I highly recommend this story as one of the most amazing pieces of writing I've seen in a long time. Go read it!

The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt

A Good Month for Radio

I've had some great guests on my radio show recently - in the last few weeks I've interviewed TGZ guitarists Dan Toler (Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts & Great Southern) and Ed Zinner (Southern Legend); Australian guitarist/singer Geoff Achison; soul singer Al Strozier (Sam Cooke, The Houserockers); and Jeff Carlisi (founding member of .38 Special, founder of Camp Jam music education camps). Whew! More good stuff to come, too. You can download these shows and listen to them on your computer or MP3 player:
http://www.radiosandysprings.com/MusicScene/index.html

Jeff took the extra step of having a follow-up lunch with me two days after the interview, and we had a really enjoyable rapid-fire discussion of all sorts of music industry topics including downloading, crooked management, the family stresses of road life, copyright law issues (keep an eye here for more on "reclaiming" your copyrights), Creative Commons' novel new alternative copyright protections, and Jeff's induction into the Krystal Hall Of Fame (he's even on the side of the Krystal box now!) We hope to start recording our own little podcasts where a few veteran musicians (no more than 4) gather around a table and a few drinks and tell our road stories. Sorta like what I do on the radio, but without commercials or any fear of what the sponsors might say if we speak freely. There are a LOT of great stories that need to be collected, this will be good. One idea that brought a grin - calling the series "Chats With Jack" because we'll be gathered around a bottle of Jack Daniels. Hmm, maybe we could have a sponsor after all...

My thanks to ALL the great guests I've had on my show since it began on Jan. 31, 2006.

Not Quite, thank you

I just saw a video that's really got me tickled. Pull up your support hose, here we go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY
I don't think I'm quite ready for this group, but when I am I bet they're ready for me.

It's All About Geoff

Several coincidences over the last couple weeks have led me to feel like I'm in some wierd version of "Seven Degrees of Geoff Achison". Which is cool, I really admire his music (he has been labeled as Australia's finest blues guitarist, and I don't doubt it), but dang it's creepy how the world seems to suddenly revolve around this one guy!

First, I get a broadcast email from Nancy Lewis-Pegel that Geoff is coming to town. Better than that, he's actually moving here! Great, I'm a fan (see previous review), so I write back that I'm glad he's coming, and by the way, I have a radio show, would he mind stopping by? She makes the arrangements, and he'll be on my show Tuesday April 10th. (go here to listen to that show live, or here to hear it archived after it airs)

Then this week, I went to Baltimore to visit my sister in the hospital. (Get well Leigh! Luv ya!) During her physical therapy, I got to know the very nice folks in the PT gym (shouts to Lauren, Milan, Melissa, & Paula!) and while showing them how to access the thousands of legal, free concerts on the Internet Archive, there's Geoff again with several great sets, his set with Donna Hopkins recorded at Eddie's Attic listed as a Staff Pick. Hey Geoff, you now have repetitive airplay by your new fans in Johns Hopkins.

Later that same day, I was contacted by Andy Shaughnessy at Gophertunes.com, asking me if I'd be interested in writing live music reviews for their website. Andy thinks that my actually being a musician, trained in theory, might give a different slant to my reviews. Sure, when I have time, sounds like fun. When I checked my email tonight during the trip back to Atlanta, my first assignment is to review - take a wild guess - Geoff's set at Fuzzy's this Saturday! (looking around for Rod Serling...)

Anyway, I strongly suggest you get to know Geoff's music at the links above, and if you read his calendar you'll see he's too in-demand to play in Atlanta very often, so you better catch him while you can this weekend at Fuzzy's.

And to you, Geoff, welcome to your new home. Australia has our condolences.

UPDATE: Went there, saw that. Geoff rocked! Keep an eye on Gophertunes.com for my review of the show.

Gig Reminder: Fridays at Little Alley

Did I forget to mention here? I have a weekly Friday show, beginning at 7:30PM, at Little Alley in Roswell. This is a sweet little tapas bar and grill, with a good wine list and full bar. I'm there with my trio (Jon Schwenke and Bill Shirk) and you know those guys are good so come check it out.

Little Alley
690 Holcomb Bridge Rd.
at HBR & Grimes Bridge Rd.
behind Wolf Camera
Roswell, GA 30076
770-992-9198

And speaking of trio gigs, I've been doing some jazz sets with Darren Ginn (piano) and Dr. Jackie Pickett (double bass), Wednesdays at Houston's on Peachtree (near Peidmont Hospital). These two push me to my musical limits just to hang with them - come see me suffer, and hear some really impressive music.

Houston's
2166 Peachtree Rd NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
View Map
(404) 351-2442

Moonie Terrorists

By now everyone's heard about how Boston completely wet themselves over a few Lite Brite renditions of a cartoon character. Here's a funny video depicting exactly what they must've been thinking: (click it)
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1741589

I've been naughty

I know, I should've posted updates long ago. I will do better, I promise, and I will backfill the stuff I should've written about since September. Meanwhile, here's what's up:

I'm still doing my radio show on Radio Sandy Springs, and you can still download the previous two weeks' shows.

Monday, Feb. 5th, I was the *Special Guest* (ooo!) on the Music Pro Show, an extremely well-done podcast by Brian Stephens. He wanted the inside story on being a pro, the good bad & ugly, and I obliged. Some bits of music too. You can download the show from his website, http://www.musicproshow.com

Starting Friday, Feb. 16th, I'll be doing a regular Friday night gig as the George Price Trio at Little Alley in Roswell.

More later...

Random thought: The ferocity of a dog's name is often inversely proportional to the ferocity of the dog. (a trembling chihuahua named Shredder, or a 200 lb. pitbull named Fifi...)