Let's just say this week was filled to the gills with storm and stress. The good news, however, is that I've got a good run-down of the most recent, tasty stuff going on. Look below for flight instructions.

Jam Master Jay Slain: On Halloween, music fans - especially "old school" hip hop fans - were stunned to hear of the shooting death Jam Master Jay (born Jason Mizell), the cheerful turntablist of the legendary, Adidas-wearing '80s rap trio Run-DMC. Jay, 37, was shot in the head in a Queens recording studio on Wednesday evening, October 30. According to police, two gunmen were buzzed in to the building, went up to the second-floor studio and shot Jay once at close range. An investigation continues as of press time. [BL]

It Ain't Just the Name of a Hog: After a sweaty run with the Donnas/Bratmobile tour in Spring 2001, The Mooney Suzuki makes a stop in Athens at the 40 Watt Club on November 9 with The Forty Fives and Vendetta Red opening the bill. Touring in support of its second record Electric Sweat (recorded by Jim Diamond of Ghetto Recordings in Detroit - the studio responsible for The White Stripes), the Moonies, according to their publicist Erica Tooker with New York's So What Media, are "getting play on MTV2's 120 minutes and are real close to signing a deal." So, as difficult as it is to understand, this may be the last time you can see them in Athens for a paltry fee. Fame is a tricky bastard for the funds-challenged music lover. [Sarah Lee]

Don't Mindz If I Do: I can't figure out who's in charge of the thing, but the Hip Hop Collectives Dreaded Mindz and The Rhino 5 Interdependent will be rockin' Tasty World on Wednesday, November 6 with an

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all out "Hip Hop and Blessed Soul" showcase. Featured artists include ORI, The Mars Project, Jason Blackwell Band, Elomental, The Dreaded Mindz Family and Q-Swon. Dreaded Mindz has been bustin' a hump under the radar for a long time so if you're interested in what's going on in the Athens/Atlanta hip hop scene this should be a good taste.

This One Is Really For The Kids: The great folks over at Nuçi's Space will be hosting a benefit for Athens women's shelter Project Safe. The show takes place on Saturday, November 9 and will feature Claire Campbell & Winslow Willard, Julie Powell & Friends and Ultrababyfat. Project Safe is in most need of "Diapers, light bulbs, garbage bags, paper goods, towels, etc." Basically anything one would need to run a 24-hour shelter that accommodates women and young children in crisis. You can take your donations to the show.

Silence Is Golden: According to CNN, British unclassical composer Mike Batt, who conjured a "piece" that's a solid minute of complete silence, recently tendered a copyright settlement to the estate of PoMo artiste John Cage, the man behind "4:33," which is, as y'all Sonic Youth fans may know, four minutes and thirty-three seconds of complete silence. Bear this in mind next time you take a quiet moment to reflect on the absurdity of litigious dystopia in which we now live. [Emerson Dameron]

If Your Tastes Lean Toward The Halloweenie Goofballs In Slipknot... : The great vast state of Iowa may not seem like fertile ground for actual working musicians at first glance, but that's quite a misconception given it is the stomping ground of singer/songwriter/pianist David Zollo, who'll be making an appearance at Tasty World on Nov. 11. With only two solo albums under foot, 1998's Uneasy Street and last year's mighty

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impressive The Big Night (both on David's self-made imprint Trailer Records), Zollo's already on an amazing roll of his own. The Big Night combines many of the ingredients - namely the input of an asskickingly confident barroom band combined with frontman Zollo's fierce barrelhouse piano and carefully mapped out lyrics - that make the best work of everyone from Leon Russell to Randy Newman to even John Mellencamp still worth its salts. Such comparisons are flattering no doubt, but it would truly be an injustice to simply brand Zollo as a "clever roots rocker" or "rock revivalist." He's sweating it out for the right reasons and what good's a thousand dollar hat if it's sitting atop an unjustly swollen head anyway? [Michael Andrews]

Sorry Tom: I have been informed that former Kilkenny Cats singer Tom Cheek is not, as I stated, a student at Tulane University. He is a "Webmaster/Instructional Technology Specialist" which sounds a whole lot more lucrative than "student." Apologies, Tom.

On The Road Again: Athens punk rockers and good guys Guff are out on tour again. This time they will hit the Northeast and South, so hopefully they'll play at least once in the Athens vicinity. I have also gotten word that Guff has a song on the new video called "Revenge of the Khan." The video is described as an "extreme 4X4 video" which sounds absolutely horrible. Hopefully they got some bucks for this one.

The First Rule Of Touring Is To Remember The Instruments: Orange Twin recording artists The Instruments will be heading out on tour with labelmates Circulatory System and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. Things kick off November 13 in Newport, KY and all three bands will travel around and do their thing until the roads brings them back to Atlanta's Earl on December 3. Have fun guys.

The SEC Made a Man Of Me: The Fairburn Royals have a new record coming out on November 12 on Atlanta's Two Sheds Music. They're also doing a mini-tour around the Southeast hitting college towns and then Atlanta. Appropriately, they're dubbing the six-date jaunt "SEC College Towns + Atlanta" tour. You can catch them November 8 at the Caledonia Lounge. Check out fairburnroyals.com for all other propaganda.

On My Way To Finding All About You: Indie-record pioneer and multi-talented dude Calvin Johnson, of Beat Happening/K-Records/Dub Narcotic Sound System fame, will be performing with Little Wings Thursday November 7 at Flicker. Both bands will be at Atlanta's Eyedrum the night before. If you've never had the experience of seeing Mr. Johnson live I can't recommend it enough. He has charisma to rival Tom Jones and boyishness to rival Davy Jones. Just trust me and go.

Collector Nerds Unite: England's David Bowie has just released a hits package simply called Best Of. If you're at all even mildly familiar with David Bowie, the songs are familiar hits with a few oddballs thrown in for good measure. Why anyone thought the world needed yet another Bowie hits package is beyond me, but get this: the album is being released in 22(!) different versions worldwide. You can bet that someone, somewhere is sweating off how he's gonna get the Libyan-remix of "Oh, You Pretty Things." And I bet that someone else is laughing all the way to the bank.

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Crazy, Crazy World: R.E.M. singer and Athenian homeboy Michael Stipe will appear on the new album by veteran hip hop master Kool G. Rap. Other collaborators include the Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Capone-n-Noreaga. Rawkus Records will release the album, entitled The Giancana Story, on November 12. Having not heard the recording yet I absolutely refuse to comment even though I really, really want to.

If You Download For Free Then You're Letting The Terrorists Win: The ever vigilant and paternal Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) has taken its fight against downloading music and media for free by sending out notices to publicly-owned companies urging them to prevent their employees from using high-speed Internet access and certain software used to download files. Said the RIAA, "Using technology to steal music and movies is no different from walking into a store and shoplifting a CD or DVD." Except that it is very, very different. In more apocalyptic RIAA news, "evidence" is currently being reviewed by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in order for him to decide whether or not ISPs can be ordered to turn over the Internet records of "suspected copyright infringers." Some lawmakers have commented that they would like to pursue fines and jail time(!) over mere "cease-and desist" letters. Ugh.

All right, enough for now. Keep all your news coming in to me via voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post at PO Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb