For those of you following the continuing saga of “Dicks Doing Things Other Than Blogging,” we thought we’d hit you with a quick update:

James: Our own Diamond Jim is hot on the trail of Peruvian arms smugglers, currently tracking a band of guerrillas through the South American veldt.  He’s posing as a minor member of the Kenyan royal family and will be making contact with the gang’s leader in the next few days.  On Friday, I’m imagining he’ll have both hot tracks in the Hodge Podge and a crate of AK-47s to sell to the loyal readership.

Kevin: Kevin’s AP English conference is going exceptionally well.  Turns out Queequeg was, in fact, a homosexual and John Cheever was a drunk (and a homosexual).  Given these and other radical revelations about the nature of English and its instruction, our man Kevin will be well prepared to mold young minds in the fall.  Sadly, his brain is mush if you’re not talking about some new-fangled diacritical methodology, so he’s unlikely to review a new record anytime soon.  Look for his piece on overt gender bias in the work of middle period Russian playwrights on Thursday!  (He really gives it to Chekhov.)

Brian: That meeting with my doctoral advisor went well.  I have a signed prospectus indicating that I’ll graduate (assuming no wrinkles in the timeline) in December of 2010.  Two more courses, comprehensive exams and a dissertation are all that separate me from a terminal degree.  Shit yeah.

We’re back to regular content tomorrow, with a review of a stellar new EP (we’re not going to tell you the name of the artist to keep some mystery in our relationship) and tonight’s Crocodiles show at the Beachland (I’ll be in attendance and ready for a round if you’re there.)  In the meantime, we’ve got a sweet track from King Charles and a quick video that’s going to blow your mind.  (Hopefully these things will tide you over.  We don’t want you going into Dick withdrawal.  This is the second day in a row that we’re under 1000 words.  Apologies.)

I don’t know a ton about King Charles, past that he’s a solo artist on London’s Mi7 records and the A-side of his debut single is absolutely bitching.  I will give you five dollars if you can get the chorus on this thing out of your head.  (Whoo!)  If and when more information on this cat comes into our hands, we’ll shoot it along.  It’s possible, however, that King Charles is going to be best enjoyed as a single song that you spin 500 times and then forget about for a year or two, rediscovering the track when you’re making a playlist for a barbeque.  Either way, it’s a good tune.

“Time of Eternity” – King Charles

Closing out our last day of flux is video of The Beastie Boys performing a new track with Nas at Bonnaroo.  I don’t think that I’ve talked about my love of the Beasties in this forum, but they shaped my view of the world as a youth and every record from Paul’s Boutique through Hello Nasty absolutely stands the test of time.  (Is there a better rap song than “Get it Together?”  Maybe.  Maybe not.)  The best line from this new track comes from MCA: “I’ve been in the game since before you was born/I might still be MCing even after you gone.” (Rivaled in the category of “boasts about one’s advancing age,” only by, of course : “I’ve got more rhymes than I’ve got gray hairs/and that’s a lot because I’ve got my share.”)  I’ll be in line to buy Hot Sauce Committe and I’m almost certain to regale you with 3000 words on its greatness.  Until then, let’s work together for a free Tibet.