Come check out the debut of a band soon-to-not-be-called The Varine/Lawson Project!

Soooo the club owner was pressing us for a band name so he could get his fliers together, aaaaand the best that we could come up with was The Varine/Lawson Project. Rest assured, it won't be that for long. HOWEVA, you should still come check out our debut gig, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. at The Hideout, 45 Bates St., in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood (it's right off the Bates Street exit on the Parkway West).

Right now we're working on originals and covering everything from Bill Withers to Howlin' Wolf to the Dead, Dylan, Traffic and more!

Tonight's Setlist: 12/7/11, Sphinx Café & Hookah Lounge, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Difficulties with the UStream.tv feed? Yes.

Is it cool to be able to critique myself on video? Definitely.

May the gods curse the sh*tty audio cable I used for my guitar tonight. I couldn't find the regular cable I usually use, and had to go with the backup, which proved itself to be thoroughly unworthy. There was also another unfortunate instance of me blasting "Down in the Flood" with a thermonuclear warhead, this time in the form of an E string that mysteriously cranked itself down a half-step MIDSONG. I gave it a much more successful go mid-set.

Otherwise, good time, cool crowd, GREAT venue:

You Can Keep It*

Brown Eyed Women (Dead)

I Like It*

Mother's Meth-Head Blues* >

Dire Wolf (Dead)

Goin' to Acapulco (Dylan) >

She Wore a Wreath of Roses (Trad., orig. arr.)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (Dry Branch Fire Squad)

Down in the Flood (Dylan)

Row Jimmy (Dead) >

Quite a Night* >

Henry (New Riders of the Purple Sage) >

Wharf Rat (Dead) >

Me & My Uncle (Dead) >

Jam* >

Shakedown Street (Dead) >

Wharf Rat (Dead) >

Jam* >

Dark Star (Dead) >

Jam* >

Dark Star >

Jam* >

Mighty High (J. Ligon)

*Original

Click here to stream/download at Archive.org.

Steelers vs. Browns: The End of the Season is Nigh...

The proper words fail me...

So much for any chance of a Steelers Super Bowl repeat.

I started getting that sinking feeling last week with the Oakland loss. It was a slight tickle in the back of my brain when we dropped one to Kansas City, but I wrote that off as a fluke, even though really it was yet another case of Defense - Polamalu = FUBAR. And you could even rationalize The Big Gradkowski's win, what with the CBS commentators yapping on and on about Oakland being a real scrapper of a team.

But a loss to the always-hated-but-more-recently-not-even-so-much-of-a-rival-anymore Cleveland Browns, in which Roethlisberger was sacked five times in the first half? In which the Steelers put up a pathetic six points against the worst team in the NFL?

Unacceptable. To be perfectly honest, I can't even give an intelligent account of why I think they lost the game. I was too busy watching the Penguins come back twice against Montreal. And I gotta say, with the Steelers season basically over at this point barring at least three miracles, including a Lost-style plane crash involving the entire Baltimore Ravens team and David Garrard lapsing into a spontaneous sleep-induced coma, it's nice to have hockey. I haven't watched it since I was probably 15, and got back into it during the Stanley Cup runs.

As for the Steelers, I'm not sure what to say. It will be great to have Polamalu back next season, but he's getting older, and with two knee injuries in one season, I hate to say it, but I don't know how much longer he can be freewheeling around like a maniac. They have to get better players for the secondary. Bryant McFadden was a great corner during the Super Bowl run, and unfortunately, Ike Taylor's star-turn year in 2008 looks to have been a high-water mark. Tyrone Carter has done his best to try and fill Polamalu's shoes, but he's a second-stringer at best. William Gay? That's a gots-to-go situation. He fell apart trying to step up with Troy out.

On offense - and makes me weep to say it - I think Fast Willie Pee is probably moving on in one way or another. I love him, and he made me scream like a little girl in Super Bowl XL, but since the broken leg, he's just not the same. Mendenhall stepped up just the way we all hoped he would, and I'd love to see Colbert pick up a big bruiser-style back to set up Mendenhall and Moore. The receiving game is solid. I don't know if Hines is going to retire or not, but Mike Wallace and Santonio have the potential to be the best wideout combo in the league, between their shared speed and skill.

What I'd hope for in the off-season:

• At least one solid O-lineman to shore things up. Get Willie Colon outta there.

• A bigass running back, like Lendale White or Brandon Jacobs (and not ONE of them, one LIKE them)

• Help in the secondary

I've come to the unfortunate realization that the Steelers' special teams is just fucked. No matter what. They just can't get it done. I have no possible solution.

With the injuries, it's hard to call this a "hangover" season. The Steelers are just a mediocre team in a year when there are a lot of better-than-average teams, particularly in the AFC.

GO PENS!!!