With the last week being the holidays, many of the cocktail writers have been doing more research than writing, so expect some great posts in the coming week!  However, the ones that did write provide some glorious ways to ring in the new year as well as recaps of their year at the bar, distillery, or other.

• Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice wishes us a happy new year and offers up a seasonal spiced rum Champagne cocktail, the Poinsettia, to celebrate. She also reviews Master of Malt’s Curaçao Bitters and makes a few drinks with it including one temptingly called the Naughty Gentleman.
• Alcademic’s Camper English meets the new year by summing up the old. He provides impressive summaries of everywhere he was published and traveled this year; and yes, he needed extra pages for his passport sewn in. One of his upcoming honors will be to judge Speed Rack this Sunday the 8th in San Francisco; buy tickets and help charity! Camper has not forgotten his ice freezing project and discusses how lakes freeze up in the winter in comparison to ice cube trays. Speaking of places Camper has published, he writes about Aleko Lilly’s All the Gin Joints in FineCooking. Finally, he displays Honor Bar’s cocktail menu in Emeryville including sherry and acid phosphate-containing drinks.
• Frederic Yarm of Cocktail Virgin/Slut gives an overview of some of the better moments of his drinking year including a 19th century bar crawl, and reflects back on the best drinks he had in 2011 out at bars in Boston and in his travels as well as at home from modern and vintage drink books. While out on the town, Fred drinks and tells about Hawthorne’s Manhattan-like Buckminster, Trina’s Starlite Lounge’s beer cocktail, the KillDevil, and Eastern Standard’s chocolate-strawberry whiskey drink, the Augusta. At home, he makes an intriguing gin drink, the Silk Road Sour, that reminds him of a Pegu Club, and an 1870s libation, the Fifth Avenue Hotel Ice Punch.
• Whiskey Forge’s Matt Rowley reflects on his dad’s Onion Rye Bread and offers up the recipe for it along with a warning that there might not be a crumb of it left a day later. Ever strip out the hot white veins and seeds from chili peppers for a dish and not know what to do with them? Matt suggests a great use for them, so save them. Patricia Quintana’s Toluca Valley-style Salsa de Venas from Mulli: el libro de los moles is perfect for a waste not want not kitchen.

• Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Stomp presents the Gin Fix and discusses how the Bramble is a modern modification of it. He also continues on with his tales of service industry insight.
• The Pegu Blog’s Doug laments the passing of Christopher Hitchens and includes many of his boozy words of wisdom like “Cheap booze is a false economy” and “It’s not true that you shouldn’t drink alone: these can be the happiest glasses you ever drain.” Doug also wishes us a happy holiday season and shares links to his favorite Egg Nog recipes from around the blogosphere.
• SeanMike, one half of Scofflaw’s Den, gives a year end wrap up including announcing his co-blogger Marshall’s engagement, a summary of the Drink.Write event earlier this month, and expresses concerns about the proposed SOPA act.
• The RumDood Matt Robold interviews Dave Stolte about his new book Home Bar Basics. The book can be summed up as an “authentic, practical, no bullshit” approach to home drink making and a valuable resource for the home bar.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge relates a boozy game called Snapdragon where the goal is to extract raisins from a puddle of flaming spirits; having played this before, I can vouch for its entertainment value! Matt also describes the curious citrus fruit, the Paw Paw, including intriguing aromatic details about the tree itself.
• The Cocktail Virgin/Slut, Fred Yarm, writes about his trip to Misty Kalkofen’s new bar, Brick & Mortar, including the nonwaterized grappa and Campari Bullet for Fredo and the Cardamaro and Old Tom Gin Teardrop. He also shares a mezcal drink from Deep Ellum called the Wayback. For drinks that he had in, Fred relates the tropical Rye Manhattan called the Martinique, a tequila and absinthe Mule called El Burro, and a 19th century Brandy Nog called the Requiem.
• Camper English of Alcademics had a few articles published this week including one on instant infusions in Tasting Panel magazine, and two drinks in FineCooking including the Genever and spice Tackler and the cachaca and ginger Fifth Season. On his own blog, he reviews the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook by by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin, presents the new winter drink menu at Los Angeles’ 1886, and describes the molassesy Mexican mascabado sugar.
• A Jigger of Blog’s Matt Hamlin expounds on the range of holiday libations before focusing in on Glogg and providing a delicious recipe for it from Dan Searing’s The Punch Bowl.
• Finally, Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters offers up another Cocktails 101 lecture on SeriousEats on Christmas Drinking Traditions including Wassail (and a recipe for it).

• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters continues his scholarly Cocktail 101 lectures on SeriousEats with one on how to batch cocktails. It is important lesson to learn so that you are not stuck behind the bar at your party for hours making drinks.  Batched cocktails are also great to show up with at other people’s parties too instead of a bottle of wine or 6 pack of beer.
• A Mountain of Crushed Ice’s Tiare reviews a rum I have been eagerly awaiting, Plantation Dark Overproof. Weighing in at 146 proof, this Trinidad & Tobago rum packs a lot of flavor punch for a decent price. Tiare then went on to use it in a variety of Martin Cate’s tasty Tiki recipes.
• Camper English of Alcademic’s has another busy week. He publishes an article about the variety of Fernet liqueurs that are not Branca in the SF Chronicle, one on craft beer in Silverkris Magazine, and 4 recipes in Every Day with Rachel Ray. Camper also shares the new cocktail menus for the Vanguard in Las Vegas, Moonraker in Pacifica, and Maven in San Francisco.
• Cocktail Virgin’s Fred Yarm offers the recipes for a few drinks he had out including Island Creek Oyster Bar’s white port and yellow Chartreuse 1638, Craigie on Main’s tequila and Cynar Libretto, and Deep Ellum’s Hot Old Fashioned. For drinks he had in, Fred describes the brandy and Swedish Punsch Rocket, the apricot-rinsed wine-floated Bell-Ringer Sour, and the Red Hook-Fancy Free-like Buffalo.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge spends the week discussing the classic egg nog-like bottled spirit Advocaat including how it can sooth lawyers’ throats. In case you cannot find it being sold on your local shelves or that you know that you can do better, Matt provides an easy but elegant recipe to craft your own.
• Sloshed’s Marleigh suggests some of her past favorite holiday drink recipes.
• Pegu Doug honors the marketing genius of Johnnie Walker by putting Christina Hendricks next to their bottle. Doug also discusses the ramifications of the liquor situation on Washington State.
• Savoy Stomp’s Erik Ellestad reveals a few of the secrets he has learned in the service industry.
* Darcy O’Neil from Art of Drink has a great graphical explanation of the 100 point wine scale from bum wine to epicurean delights.

• Erik Ellestad gives a preview of what’s to come for winter 2011 with the Savoy Stomp including the last series of Fixes, Juleps, and Cups, and he ponders what he should do after the epic cocktail tome is done, cover to cover.
• Pegu Doug talks about two spirits this week. The first is Ohio’s Watershed Gin finally being distributed outside of the state. The second is Sobieski Vodka and their ad campaign with Bruce Willis; overall, Doug portrays it as a great potato vodka at an amazing price. Lastly, he and his sock puppet also poke fun at liquor websites’ age verification systems and their futility.
• Cocktail Chronicle’s Paul Clarke regrets the limitations of print magazines and expands on his Imbibe Magazine Seattle bar article by writing about Vito’s. Included inside is a tasty sounding recipe from Vito’s for a smoky version of Remember the Maine called To Hell With Spain.
• Matt Robold, the RumDood, shares his Christmas spirit with the recipe for the Santa’s Whiskers, a glorious Nog-like rum Fizz!
• Whiskey Forge’s Matt Rowley expresses concern over Initiative 1183 in Washington State and what that could mean to craft distillers.
• Scott Spolverino of In With Bacchus dons the professor’s robe and teaches us about the science of wood maturation of spirits!
• Frederic Yarm the Cocktail Virgin/Slut writes about drinks that he had out at 3 bars in Boston. These included Citizen’s West Fens, a Manhattan-like tribute to the bar’s neighborhood, No. 9 Park’s Fever Tea with linden-infused rye along with apple notes in a refreshing highball, and Hawthorne’s (Jackson Cannon’s newest bar) Fino Swizzle, a great use of the left over syrup in Luxardo Maraschino cherry jars. For drinks he had in, there were the Flowing Bowl’s Old Tom Gin-laden Angelus, the 1903-1933 Scotch-based Williams similar to the 3-2-1, and the Firecracker from the new book on pisco.
• Alcademic’s Camper English presents Phil Duff’s LLB, a highball made with limoncello, and shares his findings from a 2 day boozy bar crawl through Los Angeles. Speaking of bars, Camper gives the lowdown on two winter cocktail menus, San Francisco’s Moss Room and Albany’s Hotsy Totsy Club. Finally, Camper got a story about Japanese bartending in Caviar Magazine.
• Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice reviews Rumbullion, a spiced rum made with vanilla, orange rind, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Since the spice mix reminded Tiare of Christmas, she created a delightful hot coffee drink with it.
• A Jigger of Blog’s Matt Hamlin introduces us to a lesser known drink from Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream called Green Isaacs Special. With gin, coconut water, lime, and Angostura bitters, it seems like a great way to channel this Caribbean locale any time, any where.
• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters continues his Cocktail 101 classes on Serious Eats with 5 essential sparkling wine cocktails for winter. Of the list, the Campari-laden Negroni Sbagliato is my pick of the litter.

• A Dash of Bitters’ Michael Dietsch gives some great holiday gift ideas in SeriousEats. From books to bitters, these are 10 things to consider for that cocktailian in your life (or for you to leave hints for other people).
• Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice reviews Tiki Lovers Rums from the Bitter Truth guys; she then uses these blended rums to make a few drinks. Tiare also raises a glass in honor of the repeal of Prohibition’s anniversary.
• Camper English of Alcademics reveals his new column on ShakeStir focusing on new boozes hitting the market. Camper posts the new cocktail menu at Detroit’s Sugar House, gives a glimmer of his celebrity lifestyle as he appears in GQ this month, and shares some of the interesting cocktail coasters in his collection.
• Frederic Yarm, the Cocktail Virgin/Slut, provides the recipes for some drinks he had out on the town in Boston including Stoddard’s Newton’s Downfall replete with figgy flavors, and two from the Independent: the Maurin Quina and tequila This, That, the Other, and the Applejack Old Fashioned-like Autumn Sweater. For drinks he had in, there was the Slope-like drink from the early part of the 20th century called the Champ Clark, Beta Cocktails’ Felonious Monk, and PDT Cocktail Book’s Daiquiri-like Girl From Jerez.
• The Gumbo Pages’ Chuck Taggart presents the history of the aperitif wine Dubonnet and has it in a 1937 recipe, Dubonnet Royal, at the Anvil Bar in Houston.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge makes a batch of pumpkin and ginger donuts from a recipe he found in Allegra McEvedy’s recent book Bought, Borrowed & Stolen. Matt also finds the sheet music for the old ditty The Moon Shines on Moonshine and provides a Youtube link for your auditory pleasures.
• Pegu Doug warns about the dangers of drinking, photography, and Facebook and shares some nifty technology to protect yourself. In his side blog of links, he posts an article by Wondrich about what your drink says about you and a video of a drunk walking home in epic fashion.
• Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Stomp introduces us to the concept of Omakase, a Japanese tradition of bestowing trust in the chef to create a multi-course dinner for you, and discusses how this can factor into bartending to make the guests’ experience more rewarding.

• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters alerts us that he, Paul Clarke, Rumdood, and others have contributed drink recipes to the new Gojee site. And because Thanksgiving means family and family means drinking, Mike’s Cocktails 101 column on SmartEats is on Thanksgiving cocktails to bring to the feast.
• A Jigger of Blog’s Matt Hamlin writes about a strange drink he spotted on Twitter, namely a cross between a Knickebein (a layered drink containing an unbroken egg yolk) and a Negroni. Strangely, I was the one who created this for a TDN a week ago.
• Don’t screw around with Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice’s Mai Tai. Her rant includes things that shouldn’t be in there and advice on what should. Although the atrocity with the sparkler does look festive!
• Camper English has been listening to the Vapors too much on Alcademics, or perhaps he is just unleashing all of the great parts of his Japan trip! This includes garnish and glass porn in a tour of Japan’s cocktail bars, the stylish ways they serve spirits in their whiskey bars, and tours of Yamazaki and Hakushu Distilleries. Camper also got an article into the San Francisco Chronicle about the trend of bartenders infusing liqueurs with additional flavors.
• Art of Drink’s Darcy O’Neil shares his commentary on an article that appeared in the Toronto Star called “When the Drink Comes Calling” that discusses women and drinking.
• Frederic Yarm the Cocktail Virgin/Slut reveals the recipes for a few drinks he had out including Craigie on Main’s food-friendly tribute to artistAlphonse Mucha, Eastern Standard’s Chappaquiddick tiki drink, and Russell House Tavern’s Journey through the Night. For recipes he made at home, there was Paul McGee’s bittered Bishop, the No Contest, the Melville-inspired room temperature drink from The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, the Pequod Sour, and a Mixology Monday entry for the Pink Squirrel using homemade noyau as well as packaged drink mix from the 1970s.
• Gumbo Pages’ Chuck Taggart reminds us of the wonders of speed infusion using nitrous whipped cream making systems and utilizes it to make watermelon-infused blanc vermouth for Alex Day’s Head’s Up.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge offers up a delicious recipe for hot pepper jelly that he found in Craig Claiborne’s Southern Cooking. He also alerts us that the American Distilling Institute has a call for papers for its annual spirits conference.
• Matt Robold, the Rumdood, reviews Santa Teresa’s Claro which surprisingly is not clear. While not a sipper, this rum offers up “very pleasant notes of toasted coconut, banana, and raw cane.” Matt leaves out the fact that DrinkUpNY sells this spirit for under $15 which is a great price for a mixing rum!
• Cocktail Chronicles’ Paul Clarke participated in Mixology Monday this month as well and ties into Chuck’s post about speedy nitrous infusions. Paul puts a dignified spin on the Appletini by infusing a 2:1 Martini with Granny Smith apples!
• Pegu Doug provides an epic tome on why deep frying your turkey is amazing but balances it with sobering words about safety and how to do this feat without harming your skin or your property. His sideblog offers up tips on what to buy the cocktailian who has everything, Tuaca liqueur giving a tattoo grand prize, and links to Science of Cocktails posts that include even more information about speed infusions and the like.
• Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Stomp relates his tale of checking out a vegetable oil-powered car and his love of Spätzle especially for the umlaut. If you’re in the San Francisco area on Sunday night, Erik will be hosting the 3rd annual {!} monthly Savoy Cocktail Book Night at the Alembic Bar. He also reveals some solid drinks to order (or try from the book yourself) and why certain strange ones like the Green Dragon keep getting ordered.

• Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Stomp continues on with his tales of Italy with a photo safari focusing on drink menus and trends.
• Go comment on Matt Rowley’s post on the Whiskey Forge blog to get a chance to win a recipe card set from Tales of the Cocktail 2008! Matt also makes candied peels from the ever strange but aromatic Buddha’s Hand Citron.
• In With Bacchus’ Scott Spolverino quite enjoyed tasting Sweet Leaf Lemon Iced Tea although he’s not quite sure about the can’s artwork.
• Chuck Taggart of the Gumbo Pages shares his excitement about 11/11/11.
• Cocktail Virgin/Slut’s Frederic Yarm provides a summary of Harold McGee and Dave Arnold’s Science of Cocktails seminar at Harvard and a review of the Greater Boston Beverage Society’s Shakin’ It Up event which is a precursor to their Boston Cocktail Week in October 2012 (includes gossip about the new Fee’s bitters flavor for 2012). He also previews four Boston bars that will be opening soon including where Misty Kalkofen will be working, and he gives tasting notes of No. 3 Gin that he tried at a Boston release event at Eastern Standard.
• Darcy O’Neil of Art of Drink recreates the classic sodahouse Chocolate Phosphate drink with both acid phosphate and lactart.
• Alcademic’s Camper English relates stories, recipes, and photos from the Suntory cocktail competition in Japan — I am still blown away by one of the garnishes. Also part of his visit was a tour of Japanese whisky distilleries. Back at home in San Francisco, Camper reviews the new Azucar Lounge and previews Oakland’s Plum Bar. Finally, he makes some garnish-worthy pickled grapes from Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It And Other Kitchen Projects and writes about it on FineCooking.
• Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice reviews a great rum she was introduced to at the UK Rumfest, namely St Nicholas Abbey 12 Year Rum from Barbados. With this “rich and fruity with a touch of spices, wood and caramel” rum, she mixes up one delicious Daiquiri.
• A Jigger of Blog’s Matt Hamlin tinkers around with the Bittermens Commonwealth Tonic Cordial. Instead of a soda or a sweet syrup, this alcohol-laden cordial provides a lot more options for cocktail making.
• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters passes on some helpful tips on how to host holiday parties in his Cocktails 101 series on Serious Eats. He also shares some cute photos of his home bar’s barback.

• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters gives a review of Johnnie Walker’s newest offering, Double Black, a smokier version of the regular JW Black. He also continues his “5 Essential Cocktails” series in SeriousEats — this time with brandy drinks including applejack and pisco besides the standard Cognac ones.
• A Mountain of Crushed Ice’s Tiare showcases her creation for the last Thursday Drink Night called the Nuku Hiva Warrior replete with an Navy Grog ice cone and fire!
• Camper English of Alcademics utilizes his liqueur drying methods learned in his Solid Liquids Project to make a molecular mixology Aviation using a creme de violette rim so drinkers can determine how much of the sharp floral notes they want in their sip. He also reports on an interesting new trend in drinks, namely bottle fermented cocktails using champagne yeast for carbonation, and he provides the list of sherries that were tasted at the class he led.
• Art of Drink’s Darcy O’Neil writes part two of the cyanide risks in fruit pits.
• Frederic Yarm, the Cocktail Virgin/Slut, offers up history in the glass — the Juan Bautista he was served at Craigie on Main in Boston. He delves into the PDT Cocktail book with the rum-marmalade Paddington and into Boothby’s 1934 World Drinks And How To Mix Them with the limey Between the Sheets-like Embassy Club. And for extremes, he proffers the Angostura-laden Tom & Jerry he calls the Tobago & Jerry for a load of winter spice!
• Scott from In With Bacchus got published in Whisky Magazine! He shares an excerpt of his article on distillation.
• Whiskey Forge’s Matt Rowley has tempted me to do some baking with the recipe for Rootbeer Cake he found in Andrew Carmellini’s American Flavor. Matt also relates his drinking project in anticipation for the move to his new house.
• Rumdood created a drink for an article on The Rum Diary movie that just came out. I can vouch for the movie being enjoyable since I saw it on Saturday, and I can’t wait to be able to say the same for this recipe!
• Paul Clarke in The Cocktail Chronicles gives his thoughts on the PDT Cocktail Book and shares a few of his favorite Jim Meehan recipes. He also reminds us of the Swig Well class he is helping to teach on the 19th at the Rob Roy in Seattle and discusses the apple brandy section of the talk.
• Two at the Most’s Stevi Deter reviews Woodinville Whiskey’s Age Your Own Whiskey Kit. In three months using a small barrel, she went from white dog to tasty whiskey.
• Erik Ellestad of the Savoy Stomp just got back from visiting Italy. He regales us with tales of the food, the dining culture, and the drinks. He also provides an excellent explanation to a question on how to parse apricot brandy in recipes as to whether they mean a dry eau de vie or a sweet apricot liqueur.

• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters continues on with his Five Essential Cocktails series by covering rum. While many of these drinks like the Daiquiri and Hurricane have had their name stolen for syrupy horrors, the originals as Michael presents them are exquisite drinks!
• Speaking of rum, A Mountain of Crushed Ice’s Tiare travels over to London for the UK Rumfest. She presents recipes from Beachbum Berry’s “Don’t fear the blender” seminar, the award recipients, and lots of great photos of the event.
• Camper English of Alcademics wishes a happy 60th birthday to the Galliano Alexander, otherwise known as the Golden Cadillac. He also covers the menu changes SF’s Jasper’s Corner Tap and the Starlight Room and Manresa and the drinks at the new Wo Hing General Store, Monterey’s 1833, and NY’s Le Bernardin. His reviews of some of these bars were published in Class Magazine.
• The Cocktail Virgin/Slut, Frederic Yarm, writes about a few drinks he had out including Misty Kalkofen’s mezcal-laden Beneficio de Cafe and Eastern Standard’s Bourbon Derby Flip. He also has a pair of Rogue Cocktails drinks, one in — the Racketeer, and one out — 2 Cups of Blood. Other drinks he had at home were Robert Hess’ Black Feather and Brian Block’s chocolate-infused Negroni variation, the Portolono.
• Matt Rowley of the Whiskey Forge offers up a hangover-helping recipe for bacon dumplings and pontificates over one of the more famous drunkard authors, Charles Bukowski.
• The RumDood, Matt Robold, reviews Novo Fogo Cachaça with aromas of “grassy… honey, citrus, and green apple” and makes a lighter style Caipirinha with it to let this spirit shine in the glass.
• Marleigh of Sloshed presents two Halloween-themed drinks in time for the season: the Devil’s Own, Jason Schiffer’s rum and Fernet concoction, and the Diamondback, a dual spirit plus Chartreuse wonder from Bottom’s Up.
• Cocktail Chronicles’ Paul Clarke offers up his Mixology Monday breakfast-themed drink, the Black Velvet. His theory is that if you are truly hungover, complex mixology and ice banging around in a shaker should be left to other people.
• Doug of the Pegu Blog shares a link to the gin flavor wheel that helps to provide flavor and aroma suggestions for tasting new gins.
• The stomp through the Savoy Cocktail Book continues as Erik Ellestad provides the diverse history and interpretation of the Whisky Daisy and to a lesser extent the Santa Cruz Rum Daisy. His beer of the week is Ovila Abbey Saison which contains some delicious earthy, spicy, and citrus flavors.

• Michael Dietsch of A Dash of Bitters writes in Serious Eats another edition of his Five Essential Cocktails series by covering vodka. Everything from the classics to newer favorites like the Cosmo!
• Alcademic’s Camper English makes some headway in his Solid Liquids project by producing a list of what liqueurs crystallize and which turn into squishy sludge, by discussing the problems with honey-based liqueurs, and by utilizing tapioca maltodextrin to powderize liqueurs. Camper also shares anecdotes about his trip to Copenhagen including bar reviews and Cherry Heering drink recipes as well as noticing a trend in eucalyptus flavors in drinks. Finally, Camper wraps up his Italy trip with a post about Rome.
• The Cocktail Virgin/Slut Fred Yarm covers the Kentuckian, a drink rimmed with bee pollen at Stoddard’s, and two drinks he had at Eastern Standard at one point or other — the Campari and Jamaican rum-laden Bitter Maita’i and Chuck Taggart’s neo-classic, the Hoskins. He also presents a beautifully floral tequila drink, Phil Ward’s Amore Morado, a rather Tiki-ish Bourbon drink from the 1930s, Bluebeard’s Passion, and an over the top flavor bomb of Tiki, the Bikini Atoll.
• Dr. Bamboo discusses the Cowboy & Western movie genre with of course a discussion of whiskey cocktails and a recipe tribute to the great Ennio Morricone.
• Marshall, one half of Scofflaw’s Den, writes about his love of Fall cocktail ingredients including the cherry, almond, and quinine Maurin Quina. He also describes how to make cider syrup (probably very similar to Harry Johnson’s orchard syrup) and uses it in the smokey Orchard Bonfire cocktail.
• Marleigh of Sloshed warns us that the onslaught of Halloween cocktail recipes is coming and provides us a link to a list of previous years’ spooky libations.
• Get this — Pegu Doug talks about Pegu Cocktails! This time, he focuses on the Gin Is In blog’s analysis of the drink.
• Finally, Erik Ellestad regales us with tales of his Savoy Cocktail Book travels with the Gin Daisy. He also reveals what’s in his bartender bag and shares his pick for wine of the week — Wild Hog Pinot Noir from Sonoma. In music news, Erik alerted me that the Mekons are still alive and performing!