Thursday, February 26, 2009

The stars have aligned.....


My three favorite rock guitarists of ALL time are together in one action-packed show...this is so huge for a guy like me, that I am actually going to fly to Hollywood this weekend just to see it?!? George Lynch, Paul Gilbert, and Richie Kotzen- my favorite three,in that order respectively, have NEVER shared a stage before, and may never do it again (even though they claim that this is a tour),so I am going to watch musical history. Here is George RIPPING it outside his desert studio in Arizona...

Richie ripping it live... very few guitar gods who can sing as well as they play.



And Maestro Paul Gilbert doing a little Haydn...

Friday, February 20, 2009



It's about time someone said it!! There already has been 50 years of government handouts and what do we have to show for it besides $11,000,000,000,000 of debt. Those that play by all the rules once again get the wrong end of the stick. The correct day for the tea party should be July 4 to remind everyone why this country was formed. The Obama administration is brushing this off as the rantings of an idiot (being compared to Castro has to sting), but the polls supporting this man are running at about 92%.

Join the rest of the country and take the Chicago Tea Party Poll here

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My favorite enigma FINALLY releases his new album


Morrisey-
Years of Refusal
I own every album that Morrisey has every put out, including his late, great band, The Smiths. One thing that is obvious about every album, is that he writes his lyrics to provoke DEEP thinking. He doesn't want you to listen once, and then forget. You can't listen to one song one time, and immediately figure out what he is talking about- thats what makes him so different. Imagine a beat poet singing for a rock band, much like a Jim Morrison-type, and you will begin to understand his draw. Morrissey has developed a following that see him more as a religious leader than a rock star (myself EXcluded ,however).
This album definately has a harder edge to it, and has immediately gone to the top of my Morrisey list of favorite albums. See a live version of his opening song here.
and the video for the first single Throwing My Arms Around Paris.
Good to see the man back in action with his voice stronger than ever- its always good to have a creative genius stick around as long as he has (35 years) and not burn out or overdose.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Milton Unleashed

One of my historic heros takes apart an American Big-government icon

The Demon Steed of Denver


When is the last time you have been to DIA? The glowing red eyes of this Demonic stallion will follow you as you approach and pass it...more reminiscent of the mustang the Headless Horseman terrorized Sleepy Hollow with than a noble wild stallion of the western plains, this work of "art", which claimed the life of its creator, has become something of a controversy in the Front Range. The legendary nightmare has reached as far as the Wallstreet Journal's top stories page.
Alternate names to the Mustang have been “Bluecifer,” “Devil's Steed” and “Blue Devil Horse.” Sculptor Luis Jimenez died during the creation of the “Mustang” sculpture when it fell on him in his NM studio and completed by his two sons, prior to the 2008 unveiling.
I had a hard time believing the hype, until I drove past it one gloomy afternoon on a business trip to California. This thing is horrible, and I don't say that lightly. The eyes glowed red and seemed to follow me until I was well past it, almost to the terminal. My question to the people who approved it's placement there is....what the hell were you thinking? Have you guys been drug tested lately? You would have to be whacked out on meth in order to think that this should be the first and last thing that visitors see when in Denver.
I would encourage anyone who has seen (and been startled by) this atrocity to get involved in some organization to get rid of it. After all, New Jersey doesn't have a Devil (hockey team) greeting people who arrive at their airport, nor does New York City have a model of the Statue of Liberty with glowing eyes greeting people at La Guardia. This thing is ridiculous, and this should not be something that is allowed to exist merely because it is art. I'm sure that the ACLU will get involved if it does become an issue, but come on...don't let them destroy the concept of good taste either.

The way things were!


To prove my guitar shredding/hairband credentials, I had an old friend send me a picture circa 1990...man I was COOL...love the leather jacket!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Why I think the way I do....


I am not a progressive...
I am not a conservative..
I am a pragmatist...

The picture to the left links you to an incredible article from the Wall Street journal, which goes into depth about the vision of the Philosopher/Author, Ayn Rand and how it relates to the economic turmoil that we are facing today. The skinny on the matter is, half a century ago when it was published, Atlas Shrugged gave a somewhat tongue in cheek portrait of society, what could be...and unfortunately today, IS. It is not a political book, but rather a history book, that was written BEFORE the events in the book actually unfolded...I believe we are at the stage of society where Ms. Rand STARTED the book - where people were looking around at the economic turmoil around them, wondering how they got there, and were beginning to ask the question, "who is John Galt"..(the very question I have had posted at the top of my blog since the day I started it.If you want to know what it means, read the book- it can be a life-changing experience.) According to many polls taken in the last 30 years, "Atlas Shrugged" is second only to the Bible in its importance to society...and now, staring at the economic tragedy in front of us- society needs to pay attention....Ayn Rand has been SPOT ON about how life would be in the future..so far.If we don't want to end up like the end of her book (if you haven't read it, its not good), maybe we should take her warnings to heart and pay attention? She was a wise woman who studied the USSR and how it came to be- and wrote a warning to the Western World in the form of a novel. Just some food for thought for all you fellow thinkers out there....

Thursday, February 5, 2009

what happens to aging rockers once life brings them back to reality?

"Dizzy" Dean Davidson of Britny Fox has taken a different path...as far away from "Girlschool" as possible...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Stimulate THIS


Say it isn't so?!?The stimulus bill that is being pushed upon us is shaping up to be the biggest handout in American history.Just how outrageous is this shameful $819 billion stimulus?

For starters — and this will shock you — both the House and the Senate programs have a loophole that even gives illegal aliens cash payouts.

Here’s how The Associated Press explained it: “Undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for a Social Security number can file tax returns with an alternative number. A House-passed version of the economic recovery bill, and one making its way through the Senate, would allow anyone with such a number, called an individual taxpayer identification number (TIN), to qualify for the tax credits.”

In case you didn’t know it, any illegal can get a TIN number from Social Security, no questions asked.

This means illegals who broke the law to get here will be eligible immediately for federal cash — up to $1,000!

It gets worse. Let me detail for you some facts from the “stimulus”:

  • More than $4 billion is earmarked for "neighborhood stabilization activities" — money that will go to groups like ACORN, which worked closely with the Obama campaign, the same group accused of massive voter fraud.
  • Almost half of the proposed spending will directly benefit the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions, or other Democratic-controlled unions, according to writer Ben Stein.
  • $600 million goes for news cars for top government bureaucrats.
  • Obama promised major infrastructure projects — yet only 5 percent of all the money goes for this.
  • $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.
  • $75 million to fund anti-smoking programs.
  • $650 million for the switch from analog television to digital.
  • $335 million to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
  • $600 million for “climate change” research programs.

This is just a small part of the long laundry list of trivial, weird, and simply outrageous programs being funded in the Obama stimulus bill, which goes on for 680 pages — so long no one in the House was believed to have read it before voting for it!

Just to show you the tremendous waste, there is so much money appropriated in this bill you could give every unemployed person in the nation a check for $75,000 for the amount being spent.

This will stimulate NOTHING but the economic situations of the Unions and PAC's that supported the president in the election...please Mr President, don't start off this way...you seem to be an exeptional person, why would you reward mediocrity, laziness and just plain weirdness using other people's money? GOD, I hate being right all the time....

Monday, February 2, 2009

Buckethead/Paul Gilbert - one and the same?

As a fairly accomplished guitar player, I am not easily impressed by very many of the "new" generation of guitarists. I came across this backyard video from the infamous guitarist for Guns 'n' Roses..Buckethead..see if you can figure out why he is called that. After watching over and over and over, and pulling my hair out, I noticed that Senor Head looks an awful lot like the legendary Mr. Big guitarist, Paul Gilbert- especially with the way he cross-picks instead of sweeps on the fast runs. This is just a theory on my part, but it would be pretty ingenious of Mr. Gilbert to masquerade like this to play anything he wants, unnoticed. As a creative genius, I wouldn't put it past him....the first part of this solo is alot of noise, but suddenly at around 1:45 it becomes mind-blowing...how someone can play this well and make it look so boring- completely improvised, and completely AMAZING- I'd have to say one of the best guitarists of the last 15 years...