My parents and friends are without power. I spent most of my life in Houston and I don't remember any hurricane causing this much damage, and Ike wasn't even that severe of a hurricane. If all goes according to plan, I will be in Houston this weekend helping my parents clean up and get things back in order. Thankfully, their house wasn't damaged.

In other news, um, I have no real other news. Except for that the summer is over and it's officially been one year since I started working full-time as a lawyer. It's been a great year. Challenging, but great, and I'm looking forward to the next year. A lot of interesting stuff is happening with copyright law and music law, stuff that no one except copyright law geeks like me care about, but here's one thing that you guys might appreciate: Lars Ulrich Fine with Metallica Album Leak.

The last update was 10/12/07, so a lot of new shows have been added.

I heard about this acoustic rock duo from Mexico called Rodrigo y Gabriela last week and I have totally lost it for this band. What happens when you combine old school thrash metal with classical Spanish guitar? Some damn good music, and some damn good musicianship.

Rodrigo and Gabriela were apparently in a thrash metal band in Mexico and gave it up to start their own duo in Dublin. The result can be seen here.

I remember reading something about this group on V's website, but of course I can't find the link now. I wish I had checked them out then. Rodrigo y Gabriela's music blows me away. I love it. Gabriela's thumps, bangs, strums, plucks, and smacks her guitar to keep the beat and the melody while Rodrigo adds a layer of solos and occasional strumming and banging as well. In basic terms, she's the rhythm section, and he's lead guitar. It's a fantastic idea and they pull it off perfectly.

They also cover an old Metallica song. I was a Metallica fan in my junior high days, and Rodrigo y Gabriela's song Orion sounded vaguely like it was laced with Kirk Hammett guitar lines and classic metal riffing. Lo and behold, Orion is a 1986 Metallica song from Master of Puppets. The rest of Rodrigo y Gabriela's music borrows from metal guitar here and there in melody and sometimes style.

Mostly, what I like about Rodrigo y Gabriela's music is the rhythm. It feels like traditional Spanish guitar music, but with a beat that moves you. I can't wait for them to come to Texas. If they don't come to Dallas, I will do my best to get to wherever they are playing. And you should too.