Here it is a bright new day in a world that didn't end last weekend, and guess what? I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful because a band went out of their way to get me to pay attention to them -- without pissing me off. After reading my plea for bands to do something different, Michael John, a singer/songwriter who also puts out records on his Home Recorded Culture label, called up and asked if he could bring something by the Stranger offices. "Are you bringing me some music?" I asked. "That and a few surprises," he answered. The following Monday afternoon I get an intercom call from Stranger publisher Tim Keck, wanting to know why a band is playing for me in the reception area. The elevator door opens to the sight of John and other musicians playing plugged-in songs off his American Gothic album. Though the sales department asked him to stop after only a few minutes, his plan worked nonetheless. He got himself heard by a deadline-addled music editor and didn't piss her off in the process. As a matter of fact, he charmed me. I'm not saying every band should try this, but it was refreshing for me to encounter new music that didn't arrive in the form of a plastic disc or a sheet of printed paper or some band playing to a roomful of people in a smoky venue late at night when I gotta get up early the next morning. A charming gesture that was wholeheartedly appreciated, even if it did annoy everyone else in the office.

As for the rest of you: I'm not bitching, I'm only saying....