One last movie from Moline

At the 6:40 mark, James is standing about 12 feet away from me. I was standing at a 2:00 from where he was singing.

Road trips........

It looks like I will be spending some time hanging out with Dave and Jamie or Karen and John a lot this year. This looks so awesome.

Attack of the beach balls

Worth the drive

I took a small pilgrimage to Moline, IL. Was it to get as far away from Ohio State football as I can since the team was playing an hour away at Northwestern? No, but it didn't hurt.
I drove the 3 hours to have a relaxing, mellow evening with the soft sounds of




They didn't disappoint. They played 5 of the new songs from new release and even adopted a laser light show ala Pink Floyd. I held my spot in the third row of the general admission crowd through the first two opening bands and about half of the Metallica show before getting tired of boxing people out who tried to get closer. I caught a guitar pick from Kirk at the end of the show and tried but failed to catch a black beach ball with the Metallica logo on it for my nephews.

Now, I have the desire to see them play again when they come back to Chicago, but am worried that they could play almost the entire setlist I just saw. They are only changing 8-9 songs out of the 18 song set. I will probably wait until the end of next summer when they should be going on tour again. Maybe, just maybe with Alice in Chains when they release their new album. Anyway, I will hopefully be seeing both bands next year either way. Enjoy the video, it is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Song suggestion again

Alright, I just spent over $100 for a Metallica ticket which will allow me to see them play, get a copy of the concert I will see via download online (one of the best thing bands have done in the past 5 years), received a free copy of the new Metallica album (which I already bought because I was not going to wait a few weeks for it to come in the mail - it is going to Dave) and of course the customary one free song on iTunes.
Now, what to get with that one song. I need suggestions. Currently I have 6924 songs in my library after downloading the entire Izzy Stradlin catalog. (Before you laugh, it is pretty good. He wrote a majority of the GNR songs).

Let me hear the suggestions.

100 years...... and still going

Wow. After 100 years, you would think it could happen once. Just once. The Yankees have won 27 championships since the Cubs won in 1908.

SNL did a funny joke with Bill Murray concerning the Cubs. Click HERE to see the funnies (depending on how you are looking at it).

Eddie Vedder said it would happen someday, just not in the calender year of 2008.

The week that was

It is official, the Cubs have made the playoffs by winning their division today. The Tampa Rays will probably clinch a playoff spot tonight also or at least by the weekend. How sad would it be if the Cubs met the Rays in the World Series and beat the Cubs when they have only existed for 11 years? Nevermind, we cannot think that way.

Eddie Vedder put out a song called "All The Way" which is a song about our beloved Cubs.



I received my ticket to see Metallica in Moline, IL in November. I have a floor seat which means I can get as close as I want to the stage. I would like to apologize for all the small folks who will be standing behind me in advance.

In other music news, Rick Wright, keyboardist and founding memeber of Pink Floud back when they were called the Pink Floyd Sound, passed away on Monday from cancer. He was at one point forced to quit Pink Floyd by Roger Waters before the release of The Wall. He was hired to play with the band, but was on a contract and did not receive a percentage from The Wall tour. He continued to play with Pink after Roger left, but legally was not allowed to be part of any decisions of the band which was enforced by Waters and all his suits he had against the band in the 80's. So, I would have to say, Live 8 could be the last time the name Pink Floyd will not be used again by Gilmour or Waters on a tour. Wright continued to play with Gilmour on his solo albums and the last tour.

Now, I need to figure out a system of sleeping which will allow me to stay awake for the playoffs but not cause me to be too tired for work at 4 in the morning. This could be a long October.

Happy belated gift from Karen

The Metallica album finally arrived yesterday and it sounds good. It is better than any of the other cds they put out in the past 15 years. I think subtracting Bob Rock as producer and adding Rick Rueben (produced Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys albums) was needed.
They are playing fast again and they added guitar solos to the songs. And, an instrumental is also played. Finally, some old Metallica influences added into this record.
It is good enough for me to buy a $100 ticket to see them play in Moline, IL in 2 months. The promos for their tour are pretty pathetic. James and Lars were recorded talking about coming out on tour and when they are to name the city and the venue, a voice over is put in saying what city they are playing in. It is sad and funny. Like a bad Japanese movie without the picture.

I also went out and bought a new book called Watch you Bleed which is about the Guns N Roses history, breakup, and the new record Chinese Democracy which has been in production for only 12 short years. But nothing has been released. I guess one song was put online and the guy was arrested for doing it and another song will be on Rock Band.

Check out some of the new Metallica songs

The new Metallica album is coming out in 6 short days. Tickets go on sale beginning on Monday (somehow, not sure if I can get them then or not). The album sounds like old Met. It is fast, full of multiple riffs in each song, and fast solos. And James decided to actually sing songs during speed parts of the songs instead of slowing them down to sing.
I am excited to hear it and see them play live again. It has been a long 5 years since I was bored listening to them, but I think this year will be different. This will be 11th show live.

Football Season is here and with it.......

I have to deal with these guys more and more. And I have had to watch these guys talk football from the end of the Super Bowl all the way through until the season opener. Maybe not all together, but why is ESPN thinking we need to know about fantasy football players in March and who is going to win the Super Bowl in April? Seriously. Baseball season is not even a month into the seaon and they run a half hour show where they talk about the NFL and another half hour show to talk about college football. Everyday of the week during the day. Why not carry a baseball game?
It is not wonder no one is watching baseball anymore.
And, ESPN puts the baseball Hall of Fame speeches and presentations on ESPN Classic. But, the NFL gets theirs on a Saturday night or Sunday on ESPN.
I used to watch ESPN for hours when in high school and in college. But these days, I can watch PTI and maybe Around the Horn and then I have to watch something else. And I only watch these because if they are going to talk about football, I can see how long they will talk about it since they put a stop watch in the corner.

At this point I have probably made Dave angry with my commentary and Dave could be explaining to Neil how his Uncle Chris is wrong and doesn't know what he is talking about. I can see Neil telling his dad when I walk into the house, "That's your big brother, the crazy one!"

Just a thought. GO CUBS!! Baseball season is not over until the end of October, but as far as ESPN is concerned, it might as well be Spring Training at this point.

It died......

Ivan Drago was right (Rocky IV for those scoring at home), it died. I cannot believe it, Swanson said it was a piece of cake to move it and he accidentally took one nail out, and everything fell down. I was getting everyone a bottle of water at the time and come back to this.
Crazy.

As far as the fridge is concerned, I had a small gathering of people to discuss probabilities and odds of which card would be dealt next at my house on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. We had 13 people total come over and it was a good time. At the end of it, we finished off about 20 beers, a half case of Diet and regular Coke, and 18 bottles of water plus 9 pizzas and a couple bags of chips total. At least now I have room to go to the grocery store and fill it back up with things to eat instead of drink.

Before I forget, anyone need any wood or used nails??

If the playhouse, dies..........

It dies.
My buddy came over two days ago to try to move my playhouse out of my backyard with a forklift owned by his father in law. We had the trailer, part of the fence removed, strapping, and plywood so we could keep screwing up the lawn to a minimum.
After trying for a little over an hour, the only way it seemed it would move is if we dragged along the lawn and possibly risk tearing up the lawn.
The forks were just too short (only 4 feet long) while the house was 13 feet long. It could not get the leverage needed to remove it. We were able to rotate the playhouse 45 degrees from where it sat before. Today is the day it will go bye bye, at least being torn apart. Still need to figure out where to go with all the scrap afterwards. I figure I could always throw a little away every week until it is finally gone.

Ready for MTV to come over

I am ready for my Cribs episode to be taped since every time I remember flipping past it, they always show what is in the fridge.
Good thing they drank most everything that was inside or else I would not have anywhere to put food if no one was thirsty.

The Day that Never Comes

So far, I have listened to four - 10 seconds of snipets of the new Metallica album. The parts they have been playing have sounded pretty good, but you could pick 10 seconds out of almost any song and it would sound good. Hence the reason, iTunes only lets you get 30 seconds.

Well, today they released one song online to listen to. If you have windows media player, check it out. It is called The Day that Never Comes. It is alright. It reminds me a little of a couple songs from ...And Justice for All. There are multiple riffs going on which is more like the old stuff. The drums sound as if they are playing the same song which is nice compared to St Anger.

If you go the Myspace page, you can listen to a live version of a song called Cyanide. I listened to it, and do not worry they do not cuss so kids can listen and become fans. Then eventually I will be taking Neil, James and maybe even Sammy to see Met play. Of course, by then it will only cost $400 for four tickets and I would would need to take an advance on my salary.

Could be a good year for Rock fans

Not only is Metallica coming out with a new album this year (9/12), but it was also reported that Alice in Chains will be coming out with a new record before the year is over.
Somehow, I feel more confident that Alice's album will be the better of the two. Maybe Met can prove me wrong for the first time in since 1992.
That also means Alice will probably be on tour again this year. I hope it will be a small venue type place again. And I know Dave will be going again if it can fall on a weekend. I would like it to be in Milwaukee again because I think I could get their autographs there compared to Chicago.

Most responses ever

The happy birthday post brought back the most responses ever in the history of the story of the importer/exporter.

And to celebrate this feat, here is the song which will make everyone sing.

Happy Birthday Little Sister

Today is Karen's birthday. Today she is............... 29 years old. On behalf of all the guys, we got you this.

It's a sweater.

Sorry, Just saw 3 Amigos.

Here's a riddle.......

What do you get when you add Led Zeppelin





Plus, Pink Floyd





Plus, Pearl Jam?





Answer is:




I just got this new poster and deciding if I should try to use it to trade for another poster. There are a couple I like that have nothing to do with music. I traded for this poster for my Hartford show poster. So I got one that is worth $70 for one that cost me only $25. Not bad.

It is about time for a new album and hopefully this one will not suck.
And for all those wondering, we get to hear the third chapter of the Unforgiven. Why can't there be a third version of Master or Sanitarium. Just a thought.

The release is going to coincide with the release of an all Metallica Guitar Hero. So there you go John.

Been a busy few weeks......

I guess I should catch up on this.
Since the last post, I have been to Vegas and back, had my sister, brother in law, and nephew stay at my place for a few days as soon as I got back from there and played Wii with my nephew Neil and James a few times (apparently Neils grandparents do not know how to turn on the game so it will be on tv so Neil gets excited to see me. When I pulled on Thursday night, Neil was yelling "Uncle Chris is here. Now we can play Wii!) I also saw Shinedown play last night with Stone Cold Cherry and Theory of a Madman. Theory was pretty good last night as was Shinedown. The singer for Theory looked like Ben Afleck from Phantoms which he was the bomb. (A little Jay and Silent Bob reference.)

The singer for Shinedown was a little too serious throughout the show. He had all these messages and stories about each song. Personally I would rather sit through some of Eddie Vedder ramblings about politics, but the show was good. He looked a lot like Ozzy with his hair pulled back in a pony tail and with the eye liner he was wearing with the body weight of Meatloaf. Just my impression.




While in Vegas I was able to break even gambling. Not the goal, but always is better than losing everything while there. I finished 8th of 84 in a Caesar's poker game making me late to see Aries Spears do stand up at Harrah's. One coin flip race at the tourney, and I could have gone deeper in the tournament and felt confident I could have won it all. It is the best I played poker in close to two years. Here is the first night at a Japanese restaurant paid for by the guy on the right, Craig Daniel, who won big and decided to treat us well. Tim is on the left and Steve on the right.



Also, if anyone goes to Vegas, go to Freemont Street. They have a light show every night which we could see from the car while looking for a parking garage, but missed the whole thing. But, there is also an artist who does art using only spray paint on like a 16x20 canvas in about 10 minutes. I saw him do a total of 4 and they looked awesome. Here is a link to see some of the cool things they can do in a few minutes.

Check out some of the other things he could do. This was a different artist than I saw, but the talent is the same. I am trying to see if they would be able to do something with a Pink Floyd theme with Dark Side of the Moon in the picture. I got the idea after he did some work with the some casinos in Vegas including the Luxor.
He thinks he could do a painting of the guy sitting in the field with the TV from the movie The Wall, but I already have a framed print of that. What do you think, would it be cooler to have someone do it with spray paint and maybe include the tree from the half life (looks like the profile of a person's head) with maybe the prism and the rainbow and stream of light coming out each side? Need opinions people. Come on now.

No more concerts for awhile on the schedule. Although my neighbor did ask me today if I would like to see Jimmy Buffet tonight in Chicago. I am not a huge fan and I have seen him, so I passed. He also came over to ask me to stop watering my yard since I had two sprinklers going at the same time. But, my grass is a nice brown and needs some water to catch up with the neighbors who have a sprinkler system.

This is funny, but looks like it might hurt

If you are going to watch with youngsters, turn the volume down because the kids do cuss. But this is funny.

Two more days until Vegas.

Re: All Metallica post

Does anyone really need to request an "All Metallica" post? I thought it was implied that everyone would be interested. Could I be wrong?

Does anyone want thses?

Or know of anyone who might like to have these?
The are wood cut outs and are in pretty good condition. If not, they can always make there way to a trash can or dad's fire pit. Let me know.

If only my yearly salary was this much....

Neil's future Jeep has reached a milestone.




Only 50,000 more miles until John owes me a dinner while not replacing the engine or transmission. Karen joked that Neil is going to ask me not to drive the Jeep so much so it has at least a month's amount of life. We will see if I will be able to part with it in 13 short years.

All Metallica Post

I have heard the requests and I will give you what you want: An all Metallica themed update.

Metallica is to be releasing their latest album in September and the way this year is flying by, it will feel like it will only be a couple weeks away. And good news, Kirk plays guitar solos again. Check it out to see some video updates.

Also, there is a rumor for the Guitar Hero enthusiasts (ie John) that a all Metallica Guitar Hero disc will be released possibly. Probably closer to Christmas if it happens.

And here is the Metallica Guitar cabinet in my house. The guitar is held away from the wood and glass with strings, but you can really not see them unless you are looking for them and know where to look. It is awesome. Thanks to dad and mom for a early birthday gift.

Impressive baseball player

Check out this website to see an amazing catcher.

This is the winner

And the winner is.......

I am going to use the backdrop of "Killing Justice while Mastering the Lightning of Black".
Everything is about complete. I might add a couple of flying M's around the side of the guitar. They look like this:



It is going to be a heavy display, so it might be placed on the ground or on ledge along the walls of trilevel.

Final pictures will be posted as soon as it is done.

Guitar options??

I need some opinions people. Which kind of background should I use behind the Metallica guitar cabinet that is being made? There are three options. Either the two pictures I have here or just a solid one color with nothing on it. Let me know which way you think the guitar should be displayed.

The Office

I have had some people question how great the Office is. One thing I know is that you cannot judge this show by only one episode( or your second episode after a year away).

Last night's episode was not the greatest episodes ever, but it was still good. The only thing that was bad was that they did not have a lot of work stuff going on. One of the best episodes was when Dwight took on the online ordering option through the company's website and Jim and Pam mess with him by instant messaging him and acting like they are the computer website. Too funny.

The Office is back tonight!!

That's all I got.
Remember, the eyes are the groin of the head.

Interesting tidbit of information

Eric Clapton has a house in the Columbus, OH area.
His autobiography was nothing spectacular or ground breaking. It took me a while just to read the last 50 pages because it was nothing really interesting. He talks about getting older, more and more tired, more chances of getting sick and the inability to be able to tour for a long period of time. But, I think I could have figured that out. The guys is 64 years old. Even dad doesn't tour all the oil refineries anymore. However, I don't think people would pay him millions of dollars to work for 2 hours a night for a few months either.
If so, I think dad would change his mind quickly.

I stand corrected

Karen has brought it to my attention that I have traveled farther than to Kentucky to see a concert.
Last year, I went to see Karen, John and James while Alice in Chains were in town. Karen was nice enough to go see the show with me and then stand in the rain for 2 hours while the band drove past us while I was trying to get my Alice poster signed. We did get to see a firework show put on by the band which lasted 2.5 minutes (Chesterton style).

Also, it is safe for anyone to come by and visit. There is little work that needs to be done with the house. There is only one room to be painted and I can handle that. The only other work is going to be yard work and possibly the removal of a playhouse. Not sure what is going to happen to that. Also debating if I should extend the porch on the back, but that could be saved for some other summer. I know Neil knows how to hold a screwdriver, so he could always help.

I met one of my neighbors today. I have seen him a couple of times, but either the weather was bad or I was on my way somewhere and did not have time to stop. He told me that his wife is looking to buy a new house but she has not told him when they are moving. Also, the family across the street both work in Chicago and are considering moving closer to Chicago. So, I guess I am destroying the neighborhood.

Sorry for the card, Karen. After I sent it, I thought I should have chosen something else. Especially since it was South Park related.

Not really news....

Just a update on what is going on.

I haven't done much to the house since the last post. I need to get fertilizer for the lawn soon since it getting somewhat nicer and less chance of more snow. But, it is northwest Indiana.

I bought a new poker table which should get a lot of use out of others since I do not last long in tournaments lately. The backroom is still empty, but need to pick up the couch and chair I agreed to buy, but have not had a chance to pick up.

I now having a desire to buy a Wii so I can play baseball on it. The new MLB2K8 looks real good. I just need to watch from hurting my arm again.

Dave and I will be heading to Connecticut while visiting family in New York so we can see Pearl Jam play a concert. This will be the longest I have traveled to see a show. The longest before was Lexington, KY so I could see Metallica play from the front row on the side of the stage. I got the bootleg and was able to see myself headbanging along James Hetfield during Sad But True. They were awesome that night and it was cool to see them play so effortlessly. It is funny to see them smiling while they are playing heavy metal music with such dark stories.

On another concert note, Clapton is coming to Indy along with one of my favorite opening bands ever, Robert Randolph and the Family Band. If you get a chance to see them, do it. Robert Randolph is a great steel slide guitar player. And they sound even better in concert- lots of energy. Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5CALmf7ziQ

I was asked to do a reading at a wedding for a friend who used to work for me during my Jewel days. That went fine, however, while standing at the podium, I felt a little taller than usual. I felt like my feet were even with the shoulders of the bride's maids. The wedding was nice with lots of good food to choose from an a open bar. It was funny to see the younger adults and how much they drink. It was like "Dave fall down, get on stage with a cover band, walk a bike trail in the middle of the night" drunk.

Other than that, not much new. I will be sending an email out with my new address since I have forgot to send that out before. Have a good one all.

Priceless......

Gas to get to Purdue - $40
Tickets to see the Purdue basketball game - $20
2 drinks and a pretzel - $9
Speeding ticket after the game on 231 - $150.
Not being able to use my credit card to pay bill means the card is priceless. For everything else you need to write a check.

Month of Firsts

It has been a month of first times:

Bought my first house;
Inherited my first mortgage;
Received my first utility bill (when I rented it was always in Karen's name as she was able to get a better credit rating while I paid the bills;
Went to my first college basketball game over the weekend since Brett Buscher played there (went to Chesterton);
And what the heck, got my first speeding ticket in the past 10 years trying to get away from Purdue.

You would think that they would have cut me a break since it was the first time I was pulled over in the past 10 years, but no luck. I got it on RT 231 heading back to I65. And I was pulled over by a state cop. I am not sure why I was so lucky to have her driving this country road, but I will get to find out how much the ticket is on Monday when I call the court house. I am going to close my poker online account to pay this bill. Hopefully, it covers it. At the very least, I think I should have 90% of it covered.

Pics of the New house

People have been asking, and like Pearl Jam in a big rock show, I will not disappoint.

Here are some pictures of the new place. The one room that is green (living room) still needs to be painted and will probably be done this weekend (knock on wood). The sunroom doesn't have heat (yet), but I am looking at getting some furniture for that room in the near future. Only question is, do I get a TV to go in there? If I do, I don't see myself being in the family room that often. Discuss.

Also, I have a spot in the family room that is completely wide open and kind of apart from the area where the TV sits. What to do with that space? I am thinking of getting big poker table and place it against the wall. Any other ideas?

Here is the link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24243222@N03/?saved=1