Big thanks to everyone who came out to hear Thom’s class lay down the fat rhymes in a wicked collection of poetry reading. This is definitely something I think should be added on a much more regular basis down at the Blue Moon. Tonight proved evidently that the power of geek is high in Hastings; a power that should be extended through the hills and valleys of this land as sure as the shadow of a solar eclipse. The tools are starting to form together to make that happen.

Me and Alex Houchin (sp?) are having an ongoing conversation about the selection of the triforce as the symbol for Arturo Got The Shaft. He thought it was dumb that I was copping an existing logo and just changing the color to use to promote the band. I, naturally, disagreed and think that the background on that decision might be good to put here:

“A little more thought went into the selection of the triforce for the band’s symbol. The black triforce with a shadow represents a specific song, “A Link to the Past,” that was essentially the way I first started getting shows for Arturo Got The Shaft. Give a listen to it and I think you’ll see what I mean. The whole idea that what we left behind is what keeps us geek inside; our worldviews were shaped by the games we played. It is the past but it is still a part of us.

It provides the general thesis for what I’m trying to accomplish in this particular musical project. This “geek rock” idea is spoken only half-jokingly. The ultimate purpose is to give a certain group of people who are generally outsiders feel a part of something special. The triforce is obscure enough (though what little obscurity remains will likely be destroyed by the next Zelda game) that it is easily recognizable by most all different types of geeks our age but still just three triangles to the guys who were busy playing football and shit. It demonstrates where the intellectual ante is in this particular discourse; these songs are specifically for the nerdly set.

I don’t think the triforce as a symbol is dumb at all… In fact, I think it is the only logo appropriate for Arturo Got The Shaft. Kinda like Dinosaur Jr’s use of the Klingon symbol from the old Star Trek series, it gives geeks something immediately to identify with and a reason to pay attention.

A little more thought went into it than might be immediately obvious, but either way I like it and I have no intention of getting rid of it.”

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