Days of Lore

Hella rad, brah!
I was feeling a bit nostalgic the other night and going through some old CDs when I stumbled upon Metallica’s Garage Days Revisited. I put it on, went straight to song two—a cover of Holocaust’s “The Small Hours”—and opened the CD booklet to read the liner notes. (Remember those, kids?)

And there it was: “After coming off the ‘Puppets’ tour in Feb. ’87, we needed a place to jam and ended up in a fancy, so-called ‘real’ rehearsal studio. IT HELLA SUCKED!”

Hella. It’s a word I’ve never actually used; an adjective that dots more sentences in Chico State classrooms, frat houses and crowded bars than actual punctuation. I’ve always made fun of people when they’ve said it. Turns out the word has been around for at least two decades!

I did a little research, and many think “hella” originated in San Francisco, where Metallica is from. For you etymologists out there, it’s also said to be a popular woman’s name in Scandinavia and Germany. (Guess we’ll never really know.)

One blogger summed up his experience best:

“I said it, briefly, when I lived in SF … when I moved back to Seattle, it was beaten out of me by angry friends whose ears started bleeding whenever they heard the word.”

Take heed!

This may come as a shock …
Gene Simmons has a sex tape. I finally watched it and I almost lost my lunch, which that day included a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and a banana. End.

Their lips aren’t sealed
I’ve always had female friends who’re passionate about women’s issues. That’s a good thing. I’ve seen The Vagina Monologues twice. I’ve read Eve Ensler’s book. At times the production borders on over-indulgence for the sake of art, but the core meaning is there: getting women to feel comfortable talking about topics that are considered taboo, while touching on more serious issues of rape and genital mutilation.

The Vagina Monologues is now in its 10th year at Chico State, and there are shows Friday and Saturday (Feb. 29 and March 1) at 7:30 p.m. (See 15 Minutes, p. 51, for an interview with the director.) I think everyone should watch it at least once.

God knows sex and vaginas and penises and breasts in this country are looked at as dirty no matter who’s talking about ’em, let alone a woman. Cue Salt ’n’ Pepa song … now.

Monoton-excess
Can we consider Monotonix a Chico band yet? The Tel Aviv three-piece is reaching Floater-like status for the number of shows they play in town. They’ve ripped through the 1078 Gallery, they’ve nearly lit fire to Monstros Pizza—next stop, The Crux! Not to alarm anyone, but The Crux space is about one-third the size of 1078 and at least half the size of Monstros. Umm … I’ll be there!

Monotonix has made some news of late with a soon-to-be-released six-song EP on Drag City Records. Sort of a big deal. The Chicago indie label, of course, has put out records by everyone from Pavement to Neil Hamburger to Silver Jews, the latter with whom Monotonix has toured. Body Language was produced by the Fucking Champs’ Tim Green and will be released April 22 after the band’s mammoth American tour.

You might want to get in on this performance: tonight (Feb. 28) with locals The Shimmies and Red Giant. Bring your body armor.

Pizza face-to-face
The CN&R is hosting a get-together tonight (Feb. 28) at Woodstock’s Pizza for CAMMIES bands and anyone else who wants to get involved. Things start at 7 p.m. Come on down and show your pretty faces, have a slice and get some info on this CAMMIES deal. The CN&R also will be providing resources to bands for promoting the upcoming showcases starting March 20.

Check out the nominees at www.newsreview.com/cammies and CommonPath.org (we’re on MySpace, too). Even bands that weren’t nominated can set up profiles on both local sites—it takes no time at all, and it gets your name out there through hometown outlets. Yeah, we keep it real.