iPhone Pic Of The Week

I decided I am going to post a picture taken with my iPhone (and sometimes 'post processed' with various iPhone apps) here on my blog.

I am finding that it is very fun to do photography with my iPhone, and I always have it with me. The new camera on the new iPhone 4 is actually really nice and capable of some cool stuff!

July 19, 2010
"Salt & Pepper" - taken on the table at Smokey Bones in West Chester, OH

Tune Of The Week - 7/18/10

This week's Tune Of The Week is:

"Give A Little Bit" by Supertramp.

You occasionally catch this one in a movie or a commercial, but that doesn't change the fact that it has a great hook and some catchy acoustic guitar work.

So, whatdya think?!?

More Of My Random Thoughts...

I tend to break stuff...just this morning I destroyed one of those little Ipod-ready radios...it was going on the fritz - going from medium volume TO FRICKING LOUD AS HELL and then to a whisper with a nice little buzzing sound...so after throwing it on the floor rather hard, it quit doing that. It also quit doing everything else, but I feel better and now I have an excuse to get a nicer one. Take that crappy radio...you won't piss me off again.
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Some of the best movies I have seen are when I go to Blockbuster for their 3 for $20 or 4 for $20 deal and I am one DVD short so I pick something up at random...I just got "Bottle Shock" that way and really enjoyed it.
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I really don't enjoy work and would rather not have to do it, but I haven't found a way to make the same amount of money yet by playing golf or staying at home, so until then...
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Why is it the people that annoy you the most are the ones that come into your office all the time?!?
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Putting new strings on a guitar used to fire me up to jam for the rest of the night. Now I can barely get the last string on before I'm ready to put the thing back in it's case.
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I love the "Trailer Park Boys" show...Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles are great..."Mr. Lahey used to be a nice guy - we turned him into a fuckin' crazy, drunk lunatic."
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I have 4 pairs of hockey skates and only 2 feet...doesn't make sense.
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The digital age has ruined listening to music. No digital file will ever sound as good as a nicely maintained vinyl album and a nice turntable with a top-notch cartridge. I listened to "Bring The Family" by John Hiatt on the Mobile Fidelity issued album over the weekend and was reminded of two things...that's one of the finest albums ever recorded and vinyl sounds better!
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After typing the above statement, I must admit I will go nowhere with out one of my Ipods...how else can I take 25 days worth of music with me in a pocket?!?
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I NEVER thought I'd ever have an iPhone. Now I never want to NOT have an iPhone.
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I am hooked on HBO's "Deadwood" even though it ended a year or so ago! I bought all 3 seasons on DVD and have been watching them alot. Al Swearegen's rants are television writing at it's best!
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I like the smell of the acoustic guitar room at Guitar Center and the cigar room at the Tinderbox. (Do they even have Tinderbox stores anymore? I haven't been in an actual mall in over 5 years!)
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Why is it that the mere sound of some people's voices can make your stomach turn?
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I didn't like Michael Jackson when he was alive, and I'm really starting to hate him now that he's dead...24 hour coverage of his passing is obnoxious.
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Whatever happened to good old horror movies? These modern "re-imaginings" of the classics suck. The remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was actually pretty good, but it's success signaled this wave of remakes and they have ranged from mediocre to just plain bad.
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I am also absolutely hooked on HBO's "True Blood" series..."Sookie's mine!"
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I love going to Canada for many reasons...tops on that list could very well be that you can order fries with gravy and a ginger ale with lime without the waiter or waitress looking at you strange. They have Philthy McNasty's too - and that is my kind of food joint!
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I went to great lengths to set up my home theater with 7.1 surround instead of the more common 5.1 surround...and hardly any movies are being released in 7.1 yet! C'mon movie studios...get going on the 7.1 tracks.
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I like big boobs.

My other Top Fives...

Ok, here's my other Top 5 MUSIC lists to go with the top 5 guitar solos in the below post.

Ok, here we go...

MY Top 5 Drummers:
5. Doane Perry
4. Dave Weckl
3. Gregg Bissonette
2. Mike Portnoy - Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment
1. Neil Peart - Rush

Like Neil wouldn't top my drummer list! Portnoy is a monster. Bissonette has unbelievable chops and if you think all he could do was what he did in David Lee Roth's band, you're nuts. Weckl's a freak on the skins, and Doane Perry gained most of his fame from Jethro Tull, but he is a WAY better drummer than ever shown from their material. I would have put John Bonham on here - he might not have invented ghost strokes, but he sure as hell made people aware of them, (it took me longer to learn to play "Fool In The Rain" than it did to learn "The Spirit Of Radio"!) but he actually isn't one of my favorites.
RUNNER UP: Rod Morgenstein - Dixie Dregs

MY Top 5 Singers:
5. Michael Kiske - Helloween
4. Mike Howe - Metal Church
3. Michael Sweet - Stryper
2. Alan Doyle - Great Big Sea
1. Freddie Mercury - Queen

Note that I'm not picking front men, cuz then Roth would have been in there somewhere. What is it with being named Mike and being a good singer?!? Kiske and Howe are very similiar actually...Howe's singing on "Blessing In Disguise" and "The Human Factor" by Metal Church is great. Sweet always rocked with Stryper and his solo work. Freddie is (was) Freddie.
RUNNER UP: Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden

MY Top 5 Guitarists:
5. Alex Lifeson - Rush
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. Zakk Wylde
2. Steve Vai
1. Ace Frehley - Kiss

Anyone who knows me knows better to say anything bad about the Spaceman. I dare say that he very well may have been second only to Eddie Van Halen in making kids want to play guitar...he definitely was the one who made me want to be a guitarist. Vai can school any rock guitar player including Mr. VH. Zakk is a BEAST. SRV was fantastic, and Alex is always class.
RUNNER UP: Joe Satriani or Lindsey Buckingham...I can't decide dammit!

MY Top 5 Bassists:
5. Matt Bissonette
4. John Entwistle - The Who
3. Dave LaRue - Dixie Dregs/Chastain
2. Steve Harris - Iron Maiden
1. Geddy Lee - Rush

Matt is as good on bass as his brother is on drums. Entwistle was known as a killer bassist. LaRue and Harris are great metal bassists, and Lee is the king of the bass. But then again, bassists are usually guys who aren't good enough to be guitarists so they play bass - I almost put Derek Smalls on here! :-)
RUNNER UP: Billy Sheehan

MY Top 5 Songs:
5. "Wasted Years" - Iron Maiden / Somewhere In Time
4. "Limelight" - Rush / Moving Pictures
3. "Anyway You Want It" - Journey /Departure
2. "When I Am King" - Great Big Sea / Something Beautiful
1. "Rip It Out" - Ace Frehley / Kiss-Ace Frehley

"Years" is simply a perfect song. "Limelight" has fantastic guitar, bass, and drums. "AYWI" is another perfect song. "King" could only be second to "Rip It Out".
RUNNER UP: "She" - Kiss / Dressed To Kill

MY Top 5 Albums:
5. "Images And Words" - Dream Theater
4. "Ride The Lightning" - Metallica
3. "Love Gun" - Kiss
2. "Something Beautiful" - Great Big Sea
1. "Moving Pictures" - Rush

"Images & Words" introduced me to Dream Theater...a band who is musically second to only Rush. "Lightning" opened up the world of "metal" for me and was in my car's cd player for pretty much my entire junior year of high school. "Love Gun" is basically my favorite Kiss album, but you could pretty much interchange this with "Destroyer", "Dressed To Kill", and "Alive II". "S.B." is one of those rare albums that is perfect from the first song to the last. "Moving Pictures" was the first album to ever be perfect from start to finish!
RUNNER UP: "Perfectly Good Guitar" - John Hiatt


Ok, actually looking at this now...disregard it! I forgot about REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, The Ramones, Saigon Kick, Eric Johnson, The Push Stars, Tenacious D, Warren Zevon, Foo Fighters, Monte Montgomery, Bowling For Soup, Queensryche, Vito Bratta, Cheap Trick, Randy Rhodes, Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, Skid Row, Poison, The Bee Gees, and a few others.

It's impossible to make a good Top 5 List because there are way too many good bands, songs, albums, etc. out there - you CAN'T NARROW IT DOWN! FORGET EVERYTHING I SAID!!!!!

5/12/09 - Random Thoughts...

REMEMBER...these are MY thoughts so don't be offended if I say something you don't agree with...which I more than likely will...


"Abacab" by Genesis is a frickin' awesome song that FORCES you to "desk drum" along with it. This was when Phil Collins was cool...before he sold his soul to Disney.
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"Big Trouble In Little China" is coming to Blu Ray in August...all will be right with the world then.
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Green Day's image is all an act...3 guys that can write songs as catchy and good as those 3 knuckleheads can't be dumb punks.
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Whoever in Hollywood keeps greenlighting Adam Sandler's movies needs to find alternative employment.
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"Flying High Again" by Ozzy and "Mystery" by Dio always make me think of waking up for school.
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After all these years of success, record sales, sold out concerts, etc. - why do I still have to defend Kiss?!? Yeah, I guess I'M the only one buying the albums and tickets. BTW, can anyone deny that Gene Simmons is a marketing genius?!?
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I love vampire movies and vampire lore...I can even tolerate the "Twilight" movie!
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"Mother Popcorn" from "Live Bootleg" by Aerosmith could possibly be the finest live recording ever.
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I'm a cell phone whore...I'm on my 4th cell phone in 6 months.
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Iron Maiden is like a fine wine...the older their music gets, the better I think it is...and oh yeah, while I'm thinking about it - "Wasted Years" has the best guitar solo of all time.
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While I'm on the subject, here are MY top 5 guitar solos of all time:
5. "Stars" - Hear 'N Aid (too many guitarists to list)
4. "Limelight" - Rush (Alex Lifeson)
3. "Anyway You Want It" - Journey (Neal Schon)
2. "Shock Me" - Kiss (Ace Frehley)
1. "Wasted Years" - Iron Maiden (Adrian Murray)

- I know, I know - no Eddie Van Halen? Well there's no Steve Vai or Joe Satriani or John Petrucci or Stevie Ray Vaughan or Eric Clapton either and I consider them all better than EVH so there...I said MY top 5 anyway, didn't I?!? I'm not saying that the above are better guitarists than anybody else, just that those SOLOS are my faves.
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I've been in two bands named from something in Blazing Saddles. (Taggart's Riddle and Waco Kid). Both sucked.
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If you listen to "Standing Alone" by Tyketto after either getting dumped or losing a pet or loved one, you will weep uncontrollably for 5:18.
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The 70's ruled for cheesy songs that you CAN'T not sing along with...case in point: "You Are The Woman" by Firefall, "Lady" by Little River Band, "These Eyes" by Three Dog Night.
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I can tell who you the bass player was in Black -n- Blue (Patrick Young), but couldn't tell you anybody in Obama's cabinet...and that doesn't bother me in the least.
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Denise Milani's body...'nuf said. (google her!)
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I miss "Seinfeld".
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Harvey Korman should be celebrated at least once a month.
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I share a birthday with golfer Arnold Palmer and guitarist Joe Perry.
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Cheap Trick is awesome.
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David Letterman still makes me laugh.
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After playing guitar for over 25 years and drums for over 15, Guitar Hero can make me feel retarded. There really should be a warning: "If you are a real musician, don't play this game."
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I believe Queensryche's "Operation: Mindcrime" to be the best concept album ever.
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I've lost interest in photography yet again...with work, hockey, golf, girls, and softball - I just don't have time.
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"If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack takes me back to being a kid and listening to the 8-track on saturdays...it's almost an anti-aging elixr!
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Brian Regan is my favorite stand-up comic.
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My favorite song lyric is "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." from "Freewill" by Rush...but it is subject change because other Rush lyrics are friggin' good too.
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Alice Cooper is as underrated as Coldplay is overrated.
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I'd rather watch "Don't Mess With The Zohan" while being "water-boarded" than watch the nightly news or read the newspaper. I don't do either and I always seem to be happy. Coincidence? I think not.
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I'm wondering why U2 hasn't done anything good since "The Joshua Tree"?

Oh yeah, now I remember...they stink. They're basically Madonna, only irish. And male.
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Movie critics must be idiots because "There Will Be Blood" sucks and was nominated for everything at the oscars.
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I can remember where I was the day Def Leppard's "Pyromania" came out, where I was when Stevie Ray Vaughan died, remember the lyrics to any song I like, but when I recently ran into a girl I used to go out with she had to tell me who whe was and I still didn't remember her. So am I getting old, or do those other things just mean more to me than she did?!?
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More later!