So, in the almost 10 years that we have been doing this, we have received countless emails. And we have read pretty much every single one of them. 

Its everywhere! 

Man oh man oh man oh man!

Hey everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your summer/avoiding getting cooked like lobsters.

A couple of reasons for you to go to the iTunes store right now and download "How He Loves," the first single from our new record:

Song reviews by Walter, the world's youngest fine arts critic (age: 2 weeks), as interpreted by M. Hogan.

What is your favorite sno-cone flavor?

 

It’s a simple question, really. Until you really start thinking about it, at which point it has the potential to become a real head-scratcher. For instance, when I was growing up, the choice was pretty simple – red. It didn’t matter so much whether “red” meant strawberry, cherry, tiger’s blood (a flavor which brings to the surface so many questions that I cant possibly begin to go into them here), or tutti frutti (again, too many questions…). So long as it was red and stained my teeth I was a happy camper. I would even go so far as to mix them, the “reds,” because ultimately, they always just tasted the same by the time you got to the bottom. 

 

I had a friend who swore up and down about the power of “Blue Bubble Gum,” but I could never bring myself to do it. For one thing, I was leery of anything with a gum flavor that didn’t have a gum texture (I learned this the hard way when a friend of mine [different friend] let me try his Hubba Bubba Soda, a snack he had every day after school along with a bag of Funyuns [[sub question – have you ever tried to chew a liquid?]]), and I suspected that the only true reason he always ordered the “Blue Bubble Gum” was that he had discovered that the day after eating the cone his, ahem, bathroom leavings would be colored blue, a fact that brought him great joy. But then again I suspect that every 8-year-old boy is infatuated by bathroom humor, so the flavor is still up for debate. Needless to say, it scared me.

 

Anyhow, I grew older as did my palette. I grew to enjoy other types of sno-cones (your Pina Coladas, your Silver Fox’s, your lime–infused varieties…). But I never mixed colors… it just wasn’t right. And I always stayed away from “Blue.”

 

As of a couple of days ago, it’s officially HOT in Texas. Whenever it gets HOT, a little trailer appears down the road from my house, painted a bright yellow, and with a sign spelling out the name of stand, “Penguin Pete’s Sno-Cones.” The sign also claims that its wares are in the “authentic New Orleans” style, but I don’t know what that means. So I stopped by today, and I almost fell into my old habits of ordering something “red,” but at the last minute decided against it. Instead, I went for something I never would have done as a kid, which was “Rainbow.” I don’t know, I just saw it, and without thinking I pulled the trigger. And you know what? It was awesome, even though it had “Green” AND “Blue” flavors.

 

Probably because by the time I got the bottom, it all ended up tasting like “red” anyways, proving that I knew the game even as a little kid. We’ll see what happens with that “Blue”, though… (Note – there WILL NOT be an update.)

 

But the whole thing left me wondering, now that summer is here…

 

What is you favorite flavor of sno-cone?

 

-Hogan

These are heady days within the DC*B.

I think it is safe to honestly say that we are pushing the envelope in every given direction, in every conceivable way. Though it is rainy in Central Texas (big time – we have not seen the sun in days, weeks even; our lawns rejoice while we humans hide inside and anticipate the imminent uprising of the weed revolution [with their extensive root systems and meaty, angry trunks, they are a force to be reckoned with for sure {read: these things are like flippin’ trees}]), our hearts are brimming over with the bubbly goodness of possibility!

“What are you talking about?” you say. Let me give you some examples:

1)   Crowder killed it on his most recent blog. If you don’t keep up with his xanga, you should. Whether he’s pontificating on unicorns (I hear that they cry jelly beans!) or the Baldwin brothers, it’s always a good read. (Check it) Unlike this blog, which is often hit or miss. (Sometimes my brain feels like pudding, and nobody benefits from that…) He has also been obsessed with Pythagoras lately. Just saying…

2)   Mark’s greatest achievement of his still young life is “Bwack be Creepin,” which is burning up the charts! (Meaning, it’s burning up the charts inside my head, the only charts that really matter. Number 2 with a bullet! If he could only out do that darn Perry Gripp…) Hopefully his rap career will continue to defy gravity. Good things are in his future as an MC.

3)   Mike D grows corn.

4)   With the recent rise in rain and humidity, Jack’s hair is curlier than ever!

5)   The Wacker, concerned about the weed revolution, has shifted his allegiance to the also inevitable robot uprising in the hope that he will be able to contribute in a positive way to the mechanical/lawn pest apocalypse that will go down sometime in the next few months. If it all goes well, he then plans on building a robotic drummer to take his place in the band. Genius, or Lazy? You make the call!

6)   Me? Well, I built a stereo that doesn’t work. I also found this:

 

Oh yeah, and we finished tracking the new album. Start getting excited….. NOW!

Time for lunch. OM NOM NOM NOM

-Hogan

Even though Easter has passed, the joy still lingers. But along with that joy comes a lingering bit of confusion. Now surely I know that all of you are still contemplating this (I know I am, which is why I did a little research), so I present to you a short history:


“The Easter Bunny (or Easter Hare) is a mythical character depicted as an anthropomorphic rabbit. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The Easter Bunny will either put the baskets in a designated place or hide them somewhere in the house for the children to find when they wake up in the morning.
The Easter Bunny is very similar in trait to its Christmas holiday counterpart, Santa Claus, as they both bring gifts to good children on the night before their respective holiday. Its origin mentioned in print as early as 1620.

The Easter Bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Alsace and southwestern Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1600s. The first edible Easter Bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s and were made of pastry and sugar.
The Easter Bunny was introduced to America by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.[3] The arrival of the "O_ster Haws_e" (a phonetic transcription of a dialectal pronunciation of the German Osterhase) was considered one of "childhood's greatest pleasures," similar to the arrival of Kriist Kindle (from the German Christkindl) on Christmas Eve.
According to the tradition, children would build brightly colored nests, often out of caps and bonnets, in secluded areas of their homes. The "O_ster Haws_e" would, if the children had been good, lay brightly colored eggs in the nest. As the tradition spread, the nest has become the manufactured, modern Easter basket, and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.[4]
Parents of young children around the world fill children's Easter Baskets with presents, candy and the most famous chocolate bunny. Parents will wait until the children are asleep and then hide the baskets filled with candy and presents. When the children wake up they begin to look for their baskets.”*



Hmmmm. I get it, but I still don’t get it, you know?


But hey: Leftover chocolate rabbits for everybody! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hogan



* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Easter_Bunny - Like it would come from anywhere else...