Over the last several weeks I've received a lot of email from readers of the site. People send me all kinds of neat Rush-related links and info and I don't always get a chance to post them. They often get trumped by bigger news (such as, say... a new Rush album and tour) or just lost in my inbox. So I recently went through all my recent emails and compiled everything into one big post. So here are all the many recent contributions from the readers of Rush is a Band.

Wim from the Netherlands sent me this link to a bunch of quality pics he took of the band in Oberhousen, Germany on September 17th.

Reader Tim L pointed me to this 1/10 post at Eddie Trunk's blog regarding the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie says the following:

... Until artists like Kiss, Deep Purple, Rush, Alice Cooper, Yes, Judas Priest, and others that were true pioneers and legends finally get in, it remains the R&R Hall of Shame to me!

Also dealing with the Rock Hall, Tim A pointed me to this post in the USA Today Life section's music blog from 1/8 which dealt with the recent inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are several posts in support of Rush. I've posted about the Rock Hall and their knack for excluding Rush in the past. You can check out the most recent post here.

cpb sent me this link to a little story that Steve Morse posted to his website back in September. It has an amusing Rush reference in it:

... I was doing a guitar seminar for Ernie Ball during our SMB tour with Rush. It was afternoon, and the show was that evening. People were asking me questions in a music store. They were seated facing me, I was on a little stage that faced them and the big storefront window on the main street. One guy asked what Neil Peart was like, (the drummer from Rush). I recalled how he rode his bicycle from Chicago to Milwaukee just the other day on this tour instead of riding the tour bus. And I continued, "And there he goes right now, riding down the main street". Everybody laughed, but it was true. Neil had just ridden by on his bike, putting on a few miles before the show. As hard as I tried to convince them that it was true, the more they laughed. I gave up and then played another music example ...

Reader Justin noticed that the videos section of Neil Peart's website has been updated with 2 clips from his Anatomy of a Drum Solo DVD to add to the 3 clips from his A Work in Progress DVD that were already up. There are several other clips from both these DVDs floating around the net which you can view in the Rush TV section of this site.

James B directed me to Canadian musician Derek Fairbridge's website where he's peddling his 2nd album Eleven-Legged Race which contains a very interesting cover of Tom Sawyer. Apparently he's been performing the song live for several years now and finally decided to lay it down. You can listen to a sample here.

Reader Grant has written and published online a full-length novel based on the Rush song Red Barchetta. He's well aware that the original song was inspired by the short story A Nice Morning Drive too - but thought he'd put his own take on the story... and make a novel out of it! The story is called The Red Barchetta. Details and order information are available at lulu.com here. Here's the synopsis:

Based on the 1980's hit song from the Canadian group Rush, The Red Barchetta takes place in the future where the internal combustion engine has been illegalized. Technology has made mind control possible and some in the government want to capitalize on this form of power. Matt Cummins is an average citizen who becomes the only one who can stop those who want to use the mind control technology, with the help of his uncle and a 1949 Ferrari.

Musician David Heydon alerted me that he has put up a MySpace page for his "Project Rush" - which basically is his band DH Deluxe doing a bunch of Rush covers. He currently has mixes of 2112, La Villa Strangiato and Anthem up - with more to come in the future.

One reader (not sure who- lost the email) sent me this Rush reference from the world of pro wrestling. In a recent story talking about an upcoming show where the top 25 ECW superstars of 2006 (the "P25") are counted down, host Matt Striker explained how the list was determined:

... Striker declined to give much insight on the formula behind the P25, only stating, "E=MC squared. A squared plus B squared over C squared over the symbol for Van Halen minus by the pentagram for the band Rush and then the abstract polynomial symbol for the table of elements for Ginger Baker. ...

And, in closing, Kenny sends this amusing video link to the Story of Tom Sawyer.

Thanks for all the feedback. Keep the emails coming - I try and reply to all of them (eventually).

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