hey picker's and pick-ettes, yer ol' pal fran is here with the latest news...really sorry if i have not been in cyberspace as i have been renovating my house and recording since we got back from europe...BRICK RAIN, the cd i played bass on with ULTRA VIOLENCE is doing pretty good from what i hear and UV just recorded 4 songs for a euro comp coming out towards the end of the year...the mighty BOX OF CRAYONS were just in a documentary about freddy's in brooklyn (me and brian get interviewed and i get a really prime spot or two in the film) also we did a video for the libertarian political show "HARD-FIRE"...came out ok but gary from the show was kind enough to give me the master takes so expect a new BOC video soon (that i am going to edit) for "over the side"...we have a ton of shows coming up but the main fun is our new cd GENERAL ACOUSTIC that is being fomented at this moment...a whole bunch of new songs that YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD plus some oldies i swear had been banished from our set list for about 12 years...now i like them again...a couple irish ditties, some kinda rock pieces, some love songs (not really, maybe MY version of a loov song)- might wind up to almost 20 songs...we are recording at cadaver studios by phil cadaver of the blame more well known for hard-core/metal recordings but we are gonna turn that place on it's EAR! we might be playing mandolins and acoustics but this album will probably be our most punk cd so far...you'll see- we will finally be in honda commercials and we are looking forward to selling out as quickly as possible...see you at sotheby's and nobu soon...'till then, cheers and beers, fran