blog
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Back in the USA
I made it back to the NJ in one piece and even had time to see Niagara Falls on the way back. It was amazing and I tried to figure out where that guy was able to jump over it and live, even without Superman’s help. I also got to eat buffalo wings in Buffalo,…
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Cigarette Warnings in Ontario
One crazy thing up here in Ontario is that every pack of cigarettes has a giant warning label showing what will happen to you if you keep smoking. So far I’ve seen stained teeth and a bloody human brain after a stroke. I am going to bring back as many of these things as possible.…
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Hello From Toronto
Make sure you come out to the open mic this Wednesday to the Tree House with your host, Roz King. I’m still in Toronto and so far every single Canadian stereotype is completely accurate. I’ve had more hockey conversations in the last 24 hours than in the past 24 years. I didn’t bring my digital…
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Weekend Review
I didn’t do much for Halloween this year. We visited Jeanne’s neices who had a blast trick-or-treating and eating candy. Afterwards we went home and watched Mulholland Drive. What a great freaking movie. I don’t pretend to understand more than 20% of it, but I don’t think you’re supposed to. On Saturday I went to…
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Open Mic Recap @ The Tree House
Happy Halloween! Wednesday was another busy night at the Tree House open mic. A few new performers came out as well. 1. Ben Garvey – I played with a bongo player for the first time in my life. John Shaughnessy brought his bongos and played along to “I Hope I Die on the Moon,” “All…
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Alter Ego? Evil Twin? Shadow Self?
Yesterday someone posted a comment to my bio page. You were born in Illinois. I was born in Illinois. Your birthday is October 26. My birthday is October 28. You are an accoustic musician. I am an accoustic musician. You play Johnny Cash. I play Johnny Cash. Your name is Ben Garvey. My name is…
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Open Mic Tonight!
If you don’t know about the open mic yet every Wednesday at the Tree House coffee shop from 8:00 – 11:00PM, then you should definitely come out tonight. You can sign up in advance here. If you don’t know what a coffee shop is, it’s a place where people go to hang out, hear music,…
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Yes I Buy Plants at 7-11
About a week ago I saw some plants for sale at 7-11 that could grow in artificial light and only need watering 6 times a year. They’re called Cyber Plants. I picked one up for my cubicle at work and so far it’s still alive. A few of the leaves have died and fallen off,…
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Creative Commons License
One decision I’ve been toying with for a while is whether I should free up the content on this site with a license agreement. I decided to go with an extremely open license that allows you to pretty much do whatever you want with this site’s content. You are free:* to copy, distribute, display, and…
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Collingswood Kids Abused in Foster Care
I was about to go to bed when I read this on Google News. Four kids in Collingswood ages 10-19 were found starving in a foster home.COLLINGSWOOD, N.J., Oct. 26 ? The parents of four boys adopted from New Jersey’s troubled foster care system were arrested Friday, two weeks after the police found that the…
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25 Years In the Making
Today was my 25th birthday, which puts me at about 1/3 of the current life expectancy. My 20s are now either half over or half left, and in this case the optimist/pessimist argument seems to agree with itself. The good part is that I’m having a great time these days and I couldn’t be happier.…
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Swarthmore Students Challenge Faulty Election Machines
Swarthmore College is getting a great reputation on the net for defending civil liberties in the Information Age. Recently, an internal Diebold memo floated around the net admitting security problems in their e-voting machines. The Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC) posted the memo to raise awareness that these machines may not be fool…
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Old Flyers
My mom mentioned she found a few of my old high school gig flyers, so I went to their house and scanned them in. Click on the images to enlarge them. This flyer is for a show I had on Saturday, July 5th 1997 at Coffee World in Marlton. Coffee World went out of business…
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Who Wants to Play with (Some of) Jethro Tull in Collingswood?
Thanks to Keith Lewis for sending this in. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is doing something awesome. He wants to be your backing band. Ian Anderson is looking for volunteers to appear as special musical guests on some of the upcoming shows on his USA “Rubbing Elbows” tour. If you are a resident of, or…
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Apocalyptic Sign of the Day
Today’s sign that the end is nigh. Elliot Smith commits suicide and Clay Aiken has the number one album in the country. Feel free to add your own signs in the comments.
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Open Mic Recap @ The Tree House
Wow, I certainly didn’t expect such a great night after two slow weeks. I guess no one cares about baseball anymore. I took a bunch of pictures during the night, too. 1. Ben Garvey – I played “All my Dreams are in Cartoon,” “The Genius of it All,” and Beck’s “Jackass.” 2. The MDs -…
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Great Post From Rodney of the Dead Milkmen
Rodney Anonymous is an insight into the mind of a Dead Milkman. John Shaughnessy introduced me to the site and I’ve been hooked ever since. Today’s “Thoughtless for the Day” is awesome.Some days I just feel like screaming at inanimate objects, or making crank calls, or sticking “I KILL COPS” bumper stickers on the backs…
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Open Mic Tonight!
Come on out to this week’s open mic at the Tree House in Collingswood, NJ. The show starts at 8:00PM and we’ll be hanging out until 11:00PM. You can sign up online here. This week looks like it will be a bit busier than last week as we already have a number of performers signed…
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City Paper Advice for Local Musicians
The Philadelphia City Paper has tons of tips and information for local musicians trying to get their music out.You know the most remarkable thing about Beowulf? It?s not the time he ripped off the arm of Grendel, the shadow stalker, stealthy and swift. Nor was it his underwater battle with Grendel?s mom, the wolf of…