Last night I was down at the 169 Bar in lower Manhatten to catch one of Tony III's solo gigs (which was GREAT, btw!) and had the pleasure to listen to Ellia Bisker and her ukulele. A very pleasant suprise to say the least! I highly recommend giving her a listen! 
Just recieved this in the mail from Amy Nelson of Folk Uke & thought I should pass it on:
Dear friends,
This is an important letter from my Dad, which has little to do with Folk Uke, except that we support it, and I'm one of the family who is going to Washington on Sept 5th.Thanks for your time.
Amy
1/2 of Folk Uke
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006
20:27:01 EDT
Subject: ***PLEASE CROSS POST FAR AND WIDE***FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Folks, America has a dirty little secret and it's not that little.
Horses have always been an American symbol of freedom. Their loyal, relentless work is what made this country. They are the living legends of American history. So why is it that we are allowing nearly 100,000 horses to be slaughtered annually in America for human consumption in slaughter houses that are foreign owned? It must be because we didn't know.
Even worse, the treatment of horses going to slaughter is most often inhumane. They suffer injuries in overcrowded trailers, abuse by handlers, and they are often conscious during acts of mutilation and slaughter. It's like stepping on the American Flag.
The passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 1915) would put in place a permanent and immediate ban on both the slaughter of horses in the U.S. and the exportation of live horses for slaughter abroad.
Now that you know, make your voice be heard. Join Bo Derek, Ken Wahl, Jennifer Pryor, The Barbi Twins, my family, and a host of others on Capitol Hill on Sept. 5th, 2006 to support the bill that will be introduced and voted on that day. Call or write your representatives today, and tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. Please go to http://www.saplonline.org/horses.htm.
It's time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses.
Sincerely,
Willie Nelson
My good buddy Tony III has his second solo gig coming up at the end of this month in NYC at the 169 Bar (169 E Broadway) on 29 August @ 8pm. Tony plays a unique acoustic country-punk fusion that is downright addictive! He plays covers of songs by Social Distortion, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Motor Head, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and many others. Check out his myspace page for song samples and check out the show!
Over the last couple days I've been looking for the right words to describe my feelings about the recent contraversy over Mel Gibson's drunken Jew-hating (that's antisemitic for those into euphemisms) tirade, but there's not much I could add to Erica's thoughts on the topic. Yasher Koach!
I recently ran across this site, which offers miniature replicas of the Ark of the Covenant. While a little on the expensive side, they appear to be high quality reproductions (they even offer customized engravings on the base). My personal favorite is the Star of David model:
"Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything."
- Frank Dane
