History of the Botch: An Essay

botch /bach/ (verb): to foul up hopelessly.

Botch. A term first coined by Johanne Grieg, assasin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose death sparked WWI. Grieg was later heard saying, "Wow, I was totally aiming for the driver of that car, he owed me money. I'm a terrible shot; what a botch." The word made its way into the English lexicon after words like debacle and disaster failed to characterize the Nixon administration, Vietnam, and the 80's.

While it is not a "household" term, the word carries a number of uses for various occasions, elegantly summarizing missteps and mistakes. Take a gander:

• Joe Garafalo is one big, walking botch.
• Southern Rap is a rather significant botchful art form, which has boiled down to terrible songs about "moving dem buttcheeeeks", "shaking dat laffy taffy", and "juggling dat rump roast" (I made that last one up, but admit it, you thought it was a real song).
• I once woke Joe up by throwing a 2 foot skeleton toy that dances and plays halloween music in bed with him and turned it on. That may have been a botch. He was pissed.
• In an attempt to capture a rabbit on my bike, i ran through some rough country and ended up taking a spill. Botch.
• My RA put up a bunch of posters about STDs on our hallway walls, and in the middle of them was a blurb on black history month. She botched. (Side note: She also put up some posters about rape on our door. Another botch.)
• Bocce Ball, nuff said.

So in conclusion of this very short essay, which i am going to turn in for my english comp class, the word botch is singularly the most potent and concise way to descibe a terrible action, situation, or person.

Word to your mother,

Scantrooon

P.S. Feel free to post other botches that you have seen or know about, or even times when you botched (there's no need to be ashamed, everyone botches sometimes). Holla!!!

Random Concert Pics

The Elected
Cellist from Jump Little Children
Sam Bush with Yonder Mountain String Band
Kick drum for the Magic Numbers

Welcome the Best and Greatest Blog in the World...tribute

Booyakasha! For the first post on this site, i would like to introduce myself and my cohorts. My name is Keith(left) and i am a music student at UM. My roomate Kevin(middle) is a biochem major and a big fan of music as well. My flatmate Jeaux (pronounced Joe) is a big fan of class and is a seriously dedicated engineering major. Seriously Jeaux, take it easy once in a while, try sleeping in, im really concerned. So, i like many types of music, and do my best to get out and see as many shows as i can, take pictures, illegal audio clips and the like. For some reason, it seems like good bands don't like touring our nation's capital, so when one comes around it's a big deal. So, in no particular order, for entertainment value, here are the top 5 shows I've seen this year:

1. The Decemberistists at the 930 club

2. Bright Eyes w/ Feist and The Magic Numbers at Constitution Hall

3. Jump Little Children at the Funkbox (8x10) in Baltimore

4. Railroad Earth at the Funkbox

5. Feist w/ Jason Collett at the Black Cat

Honorable mention goes out to Mates of State for a highly energetic, extremely tight show, and to the Elected. I wonder if i can post mp3s here without a license or something. That would be nice.