Saturday, April 30, 2016

April 30, 2016

Well, we've sent the cats off to camp and are about to go into exile ourselves for the duration of a much-needed bathroom repair/remodel. For the flooring, we've settled on vinyl:






Thanks to the miracle of the internet, the Square Pig will continue to post from an undisclosed location.

This was one of those weeks where it seemed I'd already written about all the appealing names, but a second pass revealed these gems:

Aeon Fux
I love it when sci-fi meets arcane compositional theory. I imagine this is the cool assassin little sister of Johann Joseph Fux. (This one jumped out at me because for years my brother has been working on an effectively eternal musical project called "Gradus for Fux, Tesla and Milo the Wrestler." In theory, it will go on for eons.)

Last Good Tooth
One of those basic things you don't miss till it's gone.

Moon Darling
Could be the name of an eccentric character in a quirky novel. Could be an affectionate response to the question, "What's that bright thing in the sky?" Or someone just really loves the moon.

Museum Mouth
I often complain that museums make my eyes hurt. I never thought about what they do to my mouth.

Redwing Blackbirds 
The rare example of a bird I can identify both by appearance and call. I include this one for my husband, who once wrote a poem that included the line "redwing blackbird on a bare tree top."

Saturday, April 23, 2016

April 23, 2016

I'm going to toot my own horn a little bit! I've spent the last year or two (with help and encouragement from the good people at Pankhearst) turning a band name into a novel. We're on schedule for a June release. The text is in final proofreading now, and we have a likely cover!


To celebrate, St. Rage released a new song:


But enough with the fictional band! There are plenty of real ones to talk about this week, with these five at the top of the heap:

Blame the Wizards
Maybe that's the explanation for the awfulness so far this year: a wizard did a spell, taking Prince and Bowie, but leaving Trump and Cruz. Damn wizards.

Invisible Hand
Why, exactly, do we want what sounds like a creepy phantom running our markets? How is that a good idea? Great name for a band, though.

Sermons on a Moonless Night
We are gathered here to get through this thing called life.

Sick Sad World
See above, re: those damn wizards. (This one reminds me of a recently published post-electoral dystopian blues, Ted Cruz Smiles and a Baby Dies, in which I have a story about the coming revolution.)

U. S. Bastards 
It's like a theme or something. I like how you can pronounce the initials as "us" or "U. S." and it makes sense either way.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

April 16, 2016

On this day in 1980, I went to my first rock concert: the Who at Seattle Center Coliseum (now known as Key Arena). I still have the shirt.

Now I'm more into small, local shows by bands with names every bit as odd and creative as the Who, if not more so. Here's this week's batch:

Collapsible Rodeo
Broncs and bulls sold separately.

Leeches of Lore
This sounds like a healing item carried by a cleric in a tabletop role-playing game. I like the alliteration, and the grossness of leeches paired with the solemnity of lore.

Moose Light Kingdom
I doubt I have ever passed up a band name with "moose" in it. In this case, I imagine the Man in the Moon has been replaced by Bullwinkle.

Nonchalant Avalanche
Slides down the mountain without a care in the world, elegant in n and ch sounds.

Zen Mother
Leads the most enlightened scouts.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

April 9, 2016

I like when April gives us a foretaste of May, though Thursday's foretaste of July was a bit much. But I won't complain because I know it's only a matter of time before we have a flashback to March. Today was the day for yardwork, but now it's band-name time.

Assistant Chief Seattle
Full disclosure: I've met this group's instigators. I like the overlap of a secondary official with our local eponymous figure.

The Bloodtypes
I just got back from donating blood, so of course I'm picking this one. (I'm A pos., if anyone wants to know.) The word blood features in many metal band names, but this usage is more medical/scientific than horror/ritual, pointing to saving a life rather than taking one. Fun fact: they were on a bill with three past Square Pig honorees: Bottlenose Koffins, Boss Martians, and Tan Sedan.

Sit Kitty Sit
Like that'll get you anywhere. Cats take orders from no one. (Cat sits. Gives a look that says, "I was going to do that, anyway. Nothing to do with you.")

Star Meets Sea
And then along comes this one, the prettiest thing I've seen in the club listings in ages.

Thought Vomit 
Some ideas are better out than in; usually best not to share them with people. But if you're lucky, you'll have someone to hold your hair and help you clean up afterward.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

April 2, 2016

The following band names were taken from a listing published on April Fool's Day, so I suppose there is a slight chance some or all of them are fake, because with band names, how would you know? I'm assuming they're all real.


Civil Discourse
What we could use more of in this horrible trainwreck of an election year.

Don't Move!
An ironic admonition from a jazz band.

Haybaby
Change one vowel to transform a generic greeting into something like a straw man, only smaller and more nutritious.

High on Fire
Two idiomatic usages of the preposition on overlap to create an exhilarating but hazardous trip.

Phantoms of Soul
Implying incorporeal essences have their own incorporeal essences.