OK, it's lame to post a blog for the first time in ages only to complain about this here site. But what's even lamer? Trying to approve all the accumulated friend requests and getting that blasted "Sorry! An unexpected error has occurred" message. Repeatedly.

"We" (well, I) rarely log in very often because the creakiness and decreased functionality are a drag. Is it all the "improvements" slowing the site down? Yeah, you got all the bells & whistles, but where's the goddamn bike?

Guess it's time to actually put some things up on our fledgling Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=054f758984d9da34090aacf1f7b3cf0c&gid=8193075238

If you're looking for news, please join up and start checking there first, because it's become harder to add stuff and friends here. And if your friend request falls off the queue, please don't be offended! Do send again, since Myspace isn't letting us add you at this moment, sorry...

We'll be back whenever the gods of the internet (and one-year-old's naptime) allow.
Love, yer pals 3GT

We’ve been offline and hadn’t logged in to our Myspace for a little while, so if we didn’t get a chance to approve your friend add in the meantime, please do send one our way again! (Especially the cool gal who saw us at DiPiazza’s -- sorry that the request fell off the queue...)

You see, the band’s on a bit of maternity leave at the moment, but we’ll be playing more shows again later in the spring. Check back here or www.thirdgradeteacher.com for updates!

Love, 3GT

Get yer 3GT on with our new track on ye olde profile: "Flower Power"... Live it, love it!

... to vote for us! :) If you please...

We're entered in the Star 98.7 "Rock Star 987" contest, and turns out it's a vote-online thingy with a rapidly approaching deadline -- this Sunday, to be exact. Up for grabs is a pile of money, gear, and recording contract! Hell yeah! We'd love your help:

1. Visit www.star987.com/pages/rockstar and click "vote now" (we're toward the bottom in semi-alphabetical order)

2. Enter your e-mail address to submit your vote.

3. Check your e-mail for the reply to validate your vote.

3 1/2. If you don't see the reply right away in your inbox, please check your spam folder.

4. Vote early and vote often! This round ends this Sunday, 10pm.

For extra credit, they've got the Fantastic Pantsuit video posted online: www.star987.com/pages/rockstar/videos27.html

Heap big thanks 'n' love from 3GT!

We have a new song called "Flower Power" which hasn't been released yet -- until now, rather unofficially: you can hear it in the new Robbins Brothers radio spot! (You know, the engagement ring store.) Heard it in the car coming home tonight and nearly wet m'self.

Listen for the ad with the gal who exclaims her delight over her thoughtful man getting front-row tickets to their favorite band. Right on cue they blare into their set, drowning out her fiancé-to-be's misheard proposal to comical effect. That's us! FLOWER POWER!

(We're assuming she eventually says yes, 'cause we do know at least one lovely couple whose first date was at one of our shows, and now they're married. Commerce imitates life.)

Wouldn't it be great if, like, FTD or ProFlowers needed a theme song? You know where to find us...

Rob is moving. I'm really sad.

Dropping the promo mask and first-person-plural voice for a moment -- hey, it's hard to get "real" on your bandspace:

Happy as I am for Rob and Amy that they'll be moving into a beautiful new home in NorCal, making a fresh start away from L.A. with all its charmed baggage, I'm still sorry beyond words to see them go. Sorry that the most magical and rock-solid incarnation of this band is coming to an end... sorry that one of the best all-around musicians I've had the pleasure of playing with won't be behind us, egging us on... sorry that one of the most fun and funny (yet resilient and balanced... when do you ever hear those words applied to drummers, a notoriously crazed breed?) and favorite-est peeps I know won't be living just 'round the hill from us any longer... *sigh* Selfish of me, I guess.

You don't know how many times I've turned around to watch Rob, jaw dropped in amazement and amusement by his joyful, Keith Moon-meets-Animal (yet ever MUSICAL and totally locked in with the rest of us) playing, and tuned out everything else on stage while thinking: That guy is the most exciting drummer on the planet, and he's in our band!

Acoustic shows with Rob were a treat to play too, because he pretty much can do anything: percussion, vocals, guitar -- e.g., check out the "Dueling Banjos" version of "What's Going On"... Beatboxing on "Straight Outta Compton"? He owns that shit. Best cherry-picked travel CDs too. Golden times, all.

After this, who knows? We may yet get to rock future out-of-town shows with Rob (you hear me, Sacramento?) but for now it's really just starting to sink in -- end of an era, and all that. And that bums me out.

It's said that you can't build your house on sand. A band is like that: you gotta have that solid foundation. Rob is a fucking diamond.

Love ya, Orb! ARRRRRRR!!!
-- Laura


P.S. If any of y'all think it would be a good idea to miss the show @ Mr. T's tomorrow, don't say we didn't warn you of a lifetime tinged with bitter tears of regret.

Click here for your own Grinch name, and do report back in the comments your "true identity" that the Grinch reveals to you... we wanna see it too!
Love, Crabbygrinch Jerkyton

Good old Rankin/Bass Rudolph! Nothing else signals the descent of the holiday spirit upon us like a trip to the Island of Misfit Toys. (The bit where they push the bird who can't fly out of the sleigh at cruising altitude is disturbing, though.) Have a Holly Jolly Christmas... xxoo, 3GT

"Aren't we plural all of a sudden?" (said in best Franklin Pangborn voice)

Sorry for the blue balls, dear readers. Too busy to finish the previous blog until now, what with the all-day shoots for Sabrina's movie and such in the meantime. Thanks for asking.

So, where were we? After some last-minute changes to everyone's set times, 3GT got to rock Key Club Morongo. Suffice to say that a friendly-staffed, good-sounding club inside a casino, all one frontage road away from the dinosaurs overlooking the 10, is surreal in its own way.


With Rob out of town, we were aided and abetted by Bob Lee in his stead, and he played so hard that no one suspected he wasn't our resident drum god. Cheers again to Bob for making the trek, and making us sound massive.


Then we were treated to an excellent show. Joan Jett pretty much is her own template, y'know, so don't take her for granted, kids. She really did do it all first, and seeing her live, playing with so much energy, drove it home.

And she was super nice and gracious when Bob, his lovely wife Elise, and I (switching awkwardly here into the first person, because that's how it went down) talked to her afterward.

Elise also goaded me into posing with Carmen Electra for a backstage pic -- see, she loves rock 'n' roll, too:



The bathrooms in the club were cool, complete with a box of latex gloves mysteriously placed in the ladies'...

We closed out the night après-show with peanut butter pie from the Wheel Inn, and "Love is all Around" (the Mary Tyler Moore theme, not the Troggs) from Joan's set still ringing in my head. A delightful evening in the desert!

-- as inscribed herein by Laura, your Blog Genie (photo-recorded by Elise)