And to think I laughed at that lyric when I read it the first time.

Owen's in the hospital tonight following intestinal surgery. I haven't heard from him yet so I know as much as you do (if you read the preceeding sentence). I have no idea when he'll be back singing, it could be a while. Or it could be all of two weeks, how the hell am I supposed to know?

To keep you entertained, go here to look at half-naked pictures of Owen's gay crush. That was the last thing in his email to me last night, so I know that's what he would've wanted. ++raises bottle++ As for my two cents (three Canadian), my favorite band, FenixTx, has kind of resurfaced as a new band called Denver Harbor. They have a three-song player located right here.

And finally, I'm so glad Owen was too zombied up from his surgery to watch the State of the Union. It was more like a eulogy of intelligent progressive society than anything else. I hope everyone played the State of the Union Address Drinking Game (SOTUADG for short) with the light stuff.

Mark

Why hello there.

In case you hadn't noticed, things look a little... different.

My sorry ass has been plugging away all week, trying to get various non-GeoShitties-friendly design code scripts to work. It's been a long haul, but here we are, and just in time. For what, I don't know, but it's in time for something at least.

Enjoy.

Have a look around. See how it all fits together. Little minute details that you may notice. Color variations that you don't like. Colors that you'd like to see. The important feedback that I'd like to get, however, back here in this thread, relate to content. There are way more options available to you now than the eight you see on the current index page. Those are now located in the upper left menu. There is a schedule of live events below. Below that, the song of the week (this week's is 'BYOB', because really, fuck Bush), with the according picture linking to that song's page.

Ooooooooon the other side, we have the picture of the week, which links back to the media page. Below that, we have a true Mark Hudson innovation! The last site updates will be listed there, so it'll be easy to keep track of what's new on the Braintree site. Below that, local band logos that link back to their sites. We only have three so far because that's all we could find. If you know of more, then let us have 'em.

Below that is the monstrosity that I've been wrestling with for the past three days. How to block Yahoo! pop-up ads that even integrated browser-based pop-up blockers can't block? I noticed that by running ad scripts from competitor's websites cancelled out the Yahoo! pop-up, so at that point it was just a simple matter of confusing the shit out of the ad script, enough so that it showed up but didn't advertise anything. It's there, you just can't see it. It's a fairly lame final product in terms of the finesse of a script, but at least there are no ads and no tables where they should be. Let's just say that at the very least I earned my $10 for this month by pulling that rabbit out of my hat.

Right now, I'm going to thank you all for your time, and bring the rest of the site up to speed. This shit looks mint and I'm going to switch it all over.

Mark

Owen has postponed tomorrow night's performance on SNHU radio, due to "a complete lack of any semblance of a singing voice" he explains. "It's just not there. It happens a lot because I really project, and this has been the third time since Christmas. I guess this is what happens when you have severe acid reflux and can't afford to treat it. When I sing for any more than five minutes, I get all kinds of delicious-tasting stomach acid coming up. I could go the Ashlee Simpson route and just lip synch my way through it, but a)none of my songs are recorded, and b)it's radio. I apologize to the three people that carried a casual interest, and to Ian for the let down."

No word as yet on a make-up date.

Mark

Of the two of us that know web design code, I know more than the equivalent of spelling my name, so I guess I'm to blame for the fact that everything looks the same as Owen's old Mantra site. I had to rush to get this one out, and since then have been beefing up the content and the look here and there, but nothing more than daily tinkering. We've gotten more than a few emails saying, in short, great for Owen for trying to get things going again, but bad for me for having exactly no fucking originality.

Gee, thanks for your concern.

Well that's all about to change, kids. I'm working on a template for a new site with quicker and easier navigation, more interaction, and that same great new website smell. It's fully-well my intention to keep this site updated on a routine basis to keep everyone coming back hopefully every day, and hopefully the new look will aid that cause.

Many of you have asked, 'Who is Mark Hudson?' To tell you the truth, I don't know either, but I can tell you this: I'm a 22 year-old student at Harvard's KSG school (shut up), earning my Public Administration/International Development degree, which affords me little to no time to see my beautiful girlfr- ...oh shit, nevermind. Owen and I met at a Dream Theater concert at the Orpheum last year, where I congratulated him on his recent success in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. To which he called me various things not fit for polite society (which this site isn't, but still). The long and the short of it is, I felt pity on how bad his music was and decided to take an interest in his work, much as a superstar athlete visits helmet-wearing retards in the hospital: it's just the right thing to do.

Great, now that we all know one another, expect the new site to be up with the next week or so. If not, then I've probably spent the last week in a whiskey-induced haze, lamenting over taped copies of Bush's first legitimate inauguration.

On second thought, it might take a lot longer than that. GeoCities doesn't support any of my code scripts.

How about that.

Mark

Your humble reporters here at the Braintree site, i.e. myself and Owen, have some exciting news to announce. That's not actually true, but it's at least news. Owen will be performing on SNHU radio on January 29th (that's a week from now, Saturday) at 9pm. So set your clocks, write it on another post-it note to clutter the plastic frame around your computer monitor, and by all means go get slightly below-average tattoos! SATURDAY, JANUARY 29th AT 9PM!!! Linkage is right here.

In other news, broader and bigger attempts atSATURDAY, JANUARY 29th AT 9PM!!! ...right, sorry. *ahem* In other news, broader and bigger attempts at finding the right guys or gals to fill the somewhat newly-vacant bass and drums are currently being made, but we (actually, just Owen) need(s) you to ask around on your own accord. Spread this page around like it's the newest 'in' thing in STDs! Mention it in passing in crowded public restrooms. Beat people senseless and then spray paint our URL on their car and home. And if they live in their car, then do it twice on the car, in different colors. Just to prove a point. Why do we ask this of you? Because we're horrible, rotten people at this website, but more importantly, Owen needs people to play music with. And such.

For more news when it breaks, don't pay attention to here, because we don't really do 'news'. Nor should you pay attention to the right wing freaks at Fox News, but that's beside the point. For all the Braintree (band) news that's fit to print (which isn't much), keep coming back, because I'm paid relatively well, considering what I have to do, and I'd like to keep the $10 paychecks coming.

Mark

Today the think tank otherwise known as Braintree have announced that the only person giving announcements is pretty much just Owen. But as your humble and amazingly good-looking reporter/paid web designer, I'm bound by the money in my wallet to type up and elaborate on things that Owen sends to my inbox. So here goes!

Current and sole member of Braintree, Owen Burns, will be performing a solo show on January 29th at Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett! The show will be recorded for future airing on the university's radio station, 1620 AM (shut up we know it's AM, or better yet why don't you click here), per the mighty Big Red Ian, who not only is well-endowed with a big talent, but also reportedly smells really nice. Not to mention his mad volleyball skills. But I digress.

Plans are that Burns will perform an electric set AND an acoustic set, with no word as of yet to as which songs will be in which sets. Among a handfull of covers, originals will include the already-heard (and yet, strangely unreleased) 'Happy Pill' and 'Away Tonight', and the brand-spankin-new 'The First Day of the Rest of My Life', 'Advertising the Apocalypse', 'Green Bananas', and the new version of 'Music Box'. "Expect the unexpected with the new material" Burns says. "It's still me and sounds like something I'd write, but it has a few spots here and there where I throw in a progressive element."

Also to be performed will be the first songs Owen ever wrote, 'My Angel' and 'Be the Same', none of which will be featured on subsequent recordings. "They're shit" the singer laughs, "absolute shit. Schmaltzy, simple little songs about girls, because that's what pretty much everyone starts writing about. But I figure, the third song and beyond were all on the Mantra album, so why not get these songs out of the way so that everyone can hear everything I've done and hear where I came from? I won't be throwing a lot of time at those songs, but you'll get to hear the basic gist of them. It's my night so I'll just do a few things that aren't normally done." And as for the final bit of info on the new songs to be played, "there might be another one silly song that I'm writing" Owen says. I for one really don't care (do I still get my money now?).

We will be the first (yeah, yeah, yeah... and the only ones... *grumblegrumble*) to let you know of the details of specifically where, when, and how you can hear the performance if you want to see it live (email braintreerock@gmail.com for questions), as well as the details on the airing of the show. No definitive word on whether or not the show will be released on CD or mp3, but Owen tells me "it's been thought about, and I'm working with Ian on getting it so that it CAN be released if it's any good. Knowing it's me however, there's a very strong chance I'll hate the shit out of it and want it to disappear."

In other news, Natalie won a Golden Globe! Best Supporting Actress, for her role as a stripper in Closer. This has nothing to do with the web site, but everyone should know this nonetheless. Also, if you want to know what the better two-thirds of Mantra are up to, mosey on over to Passenger 37's site and have a look-see at the wholesome goodness of a website under construction, starring Shake n' Jake Stevens on guitar!

Mark

Braintree is looking for a few good men. Or women. Or anal-raping squirrels, for that fucking matter, just as long as you can play bass or drums. Head on over to the band section to see the two openings, in addition to seeing what's gotten up this Owen character's skinny white ass on his page, or click on the above links for a specific instrument to find out how you can join the suck fest otherwise known as Braintree.

Mark

From the ashes of Mantra rises... nothing. Because Mantra was one band. They came, they saw, and they sucked. Lots and lots of ass. But former Mantra frontman and gourmet chef Owen Burns has a new band that will inevitably be compared to Mantra, so why not get the comparisons out of the way in the beginning, he asks.

"Braintree" he starts, "will be what I wanted to make of Mantra but could never get out of it. It'll be the heaviest band to come out of the area, the most aggressive, and conversely, the most melodic. The things that I'm writing these days are far and away the best I've ever done, and it's obvious from the first 15 seconds of the first song that I'm not just full of shit on that one. I had two kick-ass guys for about 30 seconds, and the sounds we were making on the new material were beyond what we could imagine back in the Mantra days. It all still sucks hardcore in the grand scheme of things, but at least I'm a hell of a lot more efficient at it."

Burns truly seems enthusiastic about this project, however, even in the face of two false starts with the act. "I had one line-up that I really liked that kind of fell through. Then I had an interesting phone call with Diana Meltzer of Wind-Up and ended up throwing together a makeshift band of Berklee friends for a showcase for her after Christmas. It all went really well, but it was left at, 'get a permanent band and we'll talk'. So now I'm just puting out an APB for talented guys and gals that want to have some fun playing some over-the-top rock and fucking roll with a schmuck like me."

A few of you will recall the ill-fated 'Repiphanies' solo project Burns announced eight months ago and take the Braintree announcement with a grain of salt. "And rightly fucking so" Burns heatedly agrees. "I've had some bad fucking luck with people just not getting it done, with 'it' ranging from practicing simple-assed cello parts I sent them, to just plain showing up for rehearsals. You name whatever I've tried since I folded Mantra - Almost, the last Mantra show, my solo album, the first two takes of Braintree - and it all ended in complete fucking failure because no-one could get their act together." But that all changes today with the launch of the Braintree site. Conceived in boredom and dedicated to the proposition that there are, well, dedicated musicians in the world, "the site will be run as a de facto musicians wanted ad" the singer explains. "It provides anyone with what I'm all about, what I've created and how it sounds, and also what I'm looking for in a bandmate, and how to contact me about jamming." Interested parties should visit the above links to get started on the 'What the fuck is this shit?' process.

"All in all, this isn't really so much a formal announcement of a band, or of any future live dates, or of releases of any recordings" Burns cautions. "If you're among the people asking me 'When do I get to hear Happy Pill, you fucking asshole?', I absolutely thank you from the bottom of my heart, both for the interest in the "art" I've created, and for calling me a 'fucking asshole', but ultimately it's not up to me. Yeah I can play drums and bass, but there's no point in recording anything unless I have a band to play it live, so until I have two people dedicated to making great fucking music, then there's nothing I can do. So my answer to 'When do I get to hear Happy Pill' is this: When two people out there come across this website, email me, and we all end up clicking." We here at The Official and Entirely Unprofessional Braintree Site (which as of right now consists of Frodo and yours truly, Mark), on that note, ask that you as the reader pass this site along. Pass the link along to any drummer or bassist out there in the area about the two newly-vacant positions in Braintree. Pass it on to everyone you know like the newest designer STD, and do YOUR part to aid those dying of starvation in Sudan.

Actually, no, that won't help anyone in Sudan, but it'll definitely help fill out the band again. Thanks for your interest, thanks for your time, and thanks for spreading the word.

Mark