So This Is The New Year... And It's Going To Kick Your Ass

Every year, on the eve of December 31, hundreds of thousands of people gather in New York City's Times Square in the hopes that they might see a free OK Go concert. It's an awesome spectacle: a vast throng gathered in giddy anticipation, men women and children bound together by their single collective wish.

This year, for the first time ever, OK Go will grant the people that wish. At 11:16, the foursome will take stage on the roof of the Times Square Olive Garden to play a trio of songs for the assembled mob four stories below. There will be pyrotechnics, tv screens the size of football fields, and (I am not lying) two nu-metal bands playing earlier in the night, POD and Puddle Of Mudd.

The event will be televised, and covered by several networks. ESPN plans to air at least one OK Go song, to be shown sometime between 10:00pm and 2:00am, and ABC, MSN, and Jimmy Kimmel Live will all be taping, though none
of them have released their schedules, yet.

So if you are in NYC, come see OK Go's 10 minutes of glory, and if you are not, get your TIVO running now.

Happy new year. Peace and prosperity to all. We'll see you in 2006.
Love,

OK Go

Buy Buy Baby

Only a tiny percentage of people wake up at the crack of dawn on the day after Thanksgiving to get into fistfights with strangers in the name of Christmas. The rest of us wait, because we know laziness pays off.

Here's proof: For the first time ever, OK Go invites you to buy someone you love an OK Go Gift Certificate. You can choose the amount, and print it for in-person gifting or have it automatically emailed on the date you set. With no expiration date, they also make great gifts for a christening or bris.

We've added a bunch of new merch in the store, to tempt you further, with more coming soon, though we're sorry to report that the OK Go Segway is on indefinite hiatus. Hit up okgo.net to see the offerings, and click below to buy a gift certificate.

Our One Request: That You Make Many.

Don't have anything to do for the next thirty seconds? If you're in listening range of one of these radio stations, call them and request OK Go. And if you've heard "A Million Ways" or another song from Oh No on a station that's not listed, add it to the comments and we'll add it to the list.

WFNX 101.7 -- Boston, MA.
Call: 877.369.7234 or 781.595.9369 email request

WEQX 102.7 -- Albany, NY.
Call: 802.362.1027 request online

WHRL 103.1 -- Albany, NY.
Call: 518.218.1031

WKQX-Q101 -- Chicago, IL.
Call: 312.591.8300

WLUM 102.1 -- Milwaukee, WI.
Call: 414.799.1021 request online

WMAD-Mad Radio 96.3 -- Madison, WI.
Call: 608.321.0963

CIMX-89X 88.7 -- Detroit/Windsor .
Call: 313.298.7XXX or 519.792.5000

WAQZ-New Rock 97.3 -- Cincinnati, OH.
Call: 513.749.7973 email request

WWCD-CD101 -- Columbus, OH.
Call: 614.221.1011 email request

WRWK-The Zone 106.5 -- Toledo, OH.
Call: 419.861.1065

WWBN-Banana 101.5 -- Flint, MI.
Call: 810.251.5101 or 866.251.5101 request online

WAVF-96Wave -- Charleston, SC.
Call: 843.972.9283.

WHTG-GRock 106.3 -- Monmouth, NJ.
Call: 1.866.76G.ROCK request online

KDLD-Indie103 -- Los Angeles, CA.
Call: 877.900.1031 email request

KRCL 90.9 -- SLC, UT.
Call: 801.359.9191 or 800.359.9191 Email (Mon PM), (Wed AM) or anyone else.

WBUZ-The Buzz 102.9 -- Nashville, TN.
Call: 615.737.1029 email request or online requests

WARQ 93.5 -- Columbia, SC.
Call: 803.695.9935

WTZR-ZRock 99.3 -- Tri Cities, TN.
Call: 866.770.ROCK email request or online requests

WXFX-The Fox 95.1 -- Montgomery, AL.
Call: 334.240.9274 email Rick Hendrick (afternoons)

KDHX 88.1 -- St. Louis, MO.
Call: 314.664.3688 email (Thurs-6am), (Late Sat.-12am), (Sat. 6pm)

The Odds Are Good, The Goods Are Great.

We've thrown some new stuff in the OK Go store. We're missing a couple of sizes in some items (don't let it fool you--we're out of those black hoodies in adult medium), but missing merch will be restocked in January, after the "holiday cheer" wears off. In the meantime, go take a peek at the store.

Tim on Tour: Love for Columbus & Albany - fixed

Tim maybe slow, but at least he's charming. Sorry to Columbus folk for posting too late, and sorry to Albany folk for posting so late.

Alone in Albany Mp3

Confused in Columbus Mp3

Chapter Fifty-Five: Stapp Infection

Can we take a break from nerd school for a second? I know that everyone loves arguing about the word "utilize," and once in a while we all need to show off our New York Times Op-Ed pieces, but enough z'nuff. Let's get back to talking about hot dogs. Or, better yet, let's talk about my favorite subject: good-ol'-fashioned scrappin'!

As I'm sure many of you newshounds are aware, two of modern music's greatest musical forces collided over the weekend. Yes, Scott Stapp and 311 got into an honest-to-goodness brawl:

Stapp...came into the Harbor Court Hotel bar while [311 drummer] Sexton and band mates SA Martinez and P-Nut were watching basketball on television. He stepped in front of the screen and said, "311, I am ready to fight," according to Sexton.

Sexton said the band tried to defuse the situation, and Stapp went to the bar to drink. Later, he made "inappropriate" comments to Martinez's wife, and was confrontational with Sexton.

"All of a sudden, he clocked me in the left side of my face," Sexton said. "Then a huge fight broke out."


Holy Shit! I don't know which is more ridiculous, the deadpan expression "311, I am ready to fight," or Stapp's outfit in this picture:



The open shirt, leather jacket, flower necklace, actual necklace and shit-eating grin just explode inside my mind.

Anyway, back to the facts, or 311's version of them. According to them, ultra-prick Scott Stapp walks into a bar, acts like a complete asshole and picks a fight with an entire band. I certainly don't care to award Scott Stapp any smart points at all, but something about this story smells a little fishy. I mean, WWJD?

Alas, it seems 311's account of the evening may be a little blurry (and knowing 311—which I don’t—possibly hallucinogenated, munchy-driven, and, one suspects, "dude, that Stapp guy is a total loser...let's kick his ass"-filled):

But Jonathan Jordan, director of security at the hotel, said the incident was captured on security cameras. He said Stapp was "attacked" by several members of 311 and that it took two security guards to break up the fight.

"It was definitely started by 311," Jordan said.

Uh oh. Seems there's a problem with 311's 411. That's bad news, gentlemen. Not only did you think it'd be cool to beat up modern rock's lamest icon, but you got caught on tape doing it. And then you lied about who started the fight.

After a close reading of some of 311's work, this clash of the demigods starts to make sense. I'll leave you with a verse from their intellectual, art-rock commentary on relationships in these difficult times, a modern classic called "Fuck the Bullshit."

Just fuck the bullshit, and get with it
Its time to throw down, so I said it
Words of wisdom, thatll keep yall guessing
Cause Im tired of playing and Im tired of messin around
With all yall suckers, and stupid mother fuckers
Who put down what I do
I stand alone with a groove thats new
Now that you know that the rhymes that I say
Are mine alone and I sure you dont play
I kick in your teeth, the condescending frown
Fuck the bullshit, its time to throw down

Words to live by, yes indeed.

Love,
Rusty

DJK ON DRM

Big news: this morning, the New York Times ran an article by Damian about Digital Rights Management, a topic that seems boring right up to the moment your computer explodes while you're listening to The Coral. Damian's article is called "Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat." Read it, then use the email-this-article link to send it around, so Maureen Dowd's cruel reign atop the 'most emailed articles list' can finally end.

Damian first tackled DRM as guest blogger at Coolfer. His bloggage lives here.

Free Show In LA. Unfree Shows In Columbus & Albany

OK Go is playing three shows in the very near future, one in the west, one in the middle west, and one in the east. The deets:

Columbus, OH, 12/9:
OK Go plays with Spoon. OK Go is very excited. The show is sponsored by CD101. Request OK Go at 614.221.1011 or by sending an email to dj@cd101.com.

Albany, NY, 12/10, 16+:
EQX Non Conformal Ball. Revolution Hall, Troy NY. Get Tickets. To request OK Go, call (802) 362-1027 or click here.

Los Angeles, 12/14, 21+:
Free concert at The Roxy in Hollywood. To get in, you need to register for VIP Passes at flashrewards.com or by texting "Go" to 4INLA.