Miss Lia bloggin’ atcha DIRECT from the merch table in Nashville, TN. The boys have obviously been playing with the fog machine again, because it already looks like height-of-set in here, minus the people packed like undulating sardines and the handbills vibrating off the table.

Let’s call it the calm before the storm. I just have to give a serious shoutout to my cab driver today, who warns us all to stay away from the white powders, that Jimmi Hendrix is worth any effort you have to exert to see him (dying??) and that someday you, too, will wake up and be 60. And that we should all dive in headfirst and make those memories while we can.

Memories are on the menu tonight, I’m so proud of all these people to be here and hyped on a Wednesday night. Viva Nashville.

UNITED MOUNTAIN DEFENSE

And, as if it couldn’t get any sweeter, we have a righteous crew from United Mountain Defense here with us tonight to teach about the appalling effects of mountaintop removal and how we can stop it. Clean coal isn’t an oxymoron, it’s a moronic verbal cover-up of a technology that will never be clean. So, shame on coal and all that jazz.

Here to put the positivity back into the equation is United Mountain Defense, an regional organization that partners with local efforts to create energy and ideas that are truly clean and sustainable.

Already sold? Check out their website at http://www.unitedmountaindefense.org/ When you get involved, you can learn about direct action, how to test water, community organizing, legislative campaigns, and experience the synergy that this organization creates by uniting small organizations under the banner of common cause.

Send a letter to your representative to support the Clean Water Protection Act and, while you’re at it, support the Appalacian Restoration Act (it even rhymes.)

EARTH MATTERS

Ever meet a kid who really needs to get his hands dirty? How about a kid who really wants to wiggle her toes in nature? Ever see a neglected community space (or your vacant front yard) and dream of a garden?

Look no further than The Earth Matters Network, an organization dedicated to making an impact on how we relate to nature, both physically and in our minds. With Earth Matters, all aspects of environmental awareness are key, and education coupled with their incredibly positive attitudes is the most powerful weapon they could have, short of a insta-soil-tilling ray gun that for an extra 9.95 comes with a politician mind control function. Wait… I think that the masses being educated is stronger yet…

Learn about a small portion of Earth Matters’ amazing community food park program in this video…

20 minutes till the set. Time to rage.

Don’t forget to exercise your minds.