Sorry about the lateness of this post, a post that will probably get lost in the shuffle as I'll be placing my Focus Mastering/Doug Van Sloun story online tomorrow. That said, I see by the Omaha World-Herald (story here) that those Saddle Creek guys gave up on the idea of having a restaurant down at the Slowdown complex. Instead of having a place to get a bite to eat before a show, we will now be able to buy a variety of trendy clothing and under garments from American Apparel.

You can't blame Kulbel and Nansel for taking AA up on their offer. The underwear store, known for its racy advertising and horny CEO Dov Charney, apparently were the only ones interested in that empty 3,800-foot stall. "I think I personally need to get over there not being a restaurant there," Kulbel said in the OWH story. "Every time I walk past it I see a restaurant in there. I don't think it will be weird for other people. It's altered a bit, but I certainly don't think it's altered to the point of it being radically different." He goes on to say other restaurants eventually will locate nearby. If only that were true.

It'll be interesting to see how the addition of an American Apparel store will impact Urban Outfitters, who I have to assume was under the impression that it was going to be the only clothing store on the block. Or how the new AA store will impact Drastic Plastic, who's been one (if not the only) American Apparel outlet in the Omaha area. At least we'll be able to get a good cup of Joe before a show. According to the article, Blue Line still intends to open a "European-style café" in the Slowdown development. No word on when, though…

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Last week, one of the site's more loyal readers posted a link to a new mousetrap myspace (here) on the webboard. The site consolidates all those mousetrap Youtube videos that have been floating around, along with a handful of classic mousetrap tracks, as well as a brief history of the band. Check it out. I wonder what this influx of mousetrap content could possibly mean?

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Again, tomorrow check out the feature on Focus Mastering, which includes an interview with mastering engineer superstar Doug Van Sloun that concludes with this week's column on Thursday.

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