By Josh Burke

This was my third time in Austin for Ripplefest Texas, a celebration of desert rock and stoner metal. It bills itself as a “family reunion” and of all the festivals I’ve been to, it really does feel the most like home in a lot of ways. I have made many friends at this festival and it’s great to see a lot of the same faces year after year. It’s also a small festival - while the capacity for the main venue is 2,000 people, I would guess the actual attendance is closer to 500. I don’t know how the financials work with this size of a crowd, but I love the intimacy. You can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be standing next to the bands playing the festival and I love getting the chance to meet and have real conversations with some of my favorite artists.

I've seen exactly two concerts with my older brother, both of which were in the last year. Along with my youngest brother, we saw the BEAT Tour last November (who dropped an excellent live album last Friday!), and last night the three us saw Bruce Dickinson together. My youngest brother and I have seen a bunch of shows together, but our tastes never really aligned with our older brother's taste until he started discovering some hard rock/heavy metal that spoke to him in the last few years. We had a great time together at BEAT last fall, so I couldn't really say no when he suggested that we go see the Iron Maiden singer's solo tour.

Sometimes, when you buy a concert ticket months in advance, your excitement for the show builds and builds. Other times, as it creeps closer, it starts to feel more like a looming obligation rather than an exciting event. And, full disclosure, this is how I was feeling about the Bruce Dickinson show as it approached. 

Sweet Zombie Jesus, it's Friday! I was hoping that the solid stream of quality singles and EPs this week meant there would be some big album drops today. That didn't necessarily happen, but I was still able to find several interesting releases today. New music ahoy!

Last night I put on my $10 Mares of Thrace hoodie and joined some friends at Minneapolis venue Zhora Darling for a show I've been looking forward to for months, Conan and Mares of Thrace. But, let's be honest: I was there for Mares of Thrace. As I wrote in the linked post, I checked out the Canadian sludge duo earlier this year for the first time and was immediately hooked. But does their live experience live up to their recorded works? Read on to find out!

Some weeks, I struggle to find new music to write about for my Friday post. This week has been an unusual one, in that there have been a steady stream of great new music all week. Hopefully, I'm not screwing myself by leaving nothing to write about on Friday, but I had to call out these great tunes. Hopefully this means Friday will be equally stacked!

It's been another hellish week in America as the bullet train rockets towards the last stop, Full Fascism. First Amendment? Fuck you, you're only allowed to talk about how much you love our Dear Leader. For now though, music is still legal. Enjoy these picks while you still can!

I'm pretty well back into my fitness groove - tomorrow will mark the end of four weeks of lifting five days a week, and I've added in several cardio sessions the last couple of days. When I get into my fitness grooves, it makes me want to keep adding more and more into my routine, and the new Athlean-X video has some good tips for exercises that can help fill out the rear end. Now, I'm not at full Hank Hill pancake ass level, but ya know, I could use some more filling out there. The video above has a lot of tips for targeting the Glute Medius, a part of the booty that's a little harder to train than the Glute Maximus. I plan on adding some of these moves into my routine ASAP, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who could benefit from these tips. 

I could have tried to come up with a clever headline, but why be anything other than direct? This post is about music making me happy. 

Last weekend, my wife and I went to see one of our favorite local artists, Charlie Parr, at The Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis. I opted not to do a concert recap, as he's a folk/Americana artist and thus outside the (admittedly very flexible) conceptual framework of this site. He was very good as he always is, and today I bought ticket to see him again in January. Anyway, on the way back to our car I saw this amazing piece of graffiti, and had to take a picture. 

I thought it was funny at the time. This week, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the supremely ugly reaction to his death, it seems more prescient. Is the end near? Some days it feels like it. For me (and likely for you if you bother to read this site), music and workouts remain blessings that help me get through my days. Here are a few things that worked for me this week, to various degrees

Today is the start of week 3 of my current workout plan, Jeff Nippard's Bodybuilding Transformation System. Actually, it's week 3 to the 3rd power, since it will be my third time making it to this point in the program. After the first time reaching this point, I messed up my back by being a big dummy. I made it back to this point again, and once again derailed from a combination of vacation and an especially busy time at work. 

This week, my goal is to make it to the gym all five days, complete week 3, and push on to week 4. Then week 5, week 6, and so on. This is it, the third time's a charm. I'll be making it through the program this time with no further breaks. 

I may have stumbled twice before, but I haven't given up. That's what counts.