Happy Holidays

I had forgotten we enabled the BS BLOG’s snow machine last year until I logged on today and saw the flakes falling once again! I still think it’s a little cheesy as noted in last year’s post, but I’m still of the mind to leave it on.

This holiday season is going to be a little different. We lost my wife’s father around this time last year, and this year my mom’s health is not so good. We’ve been in and out of the hospital a couple times in recent months, and there’s a very real possibility we’ll either be moving in with her (or having her move in with us) in the not-too-distant future.

A nursing home is not an option for mom. Well, maybe I should say it’s not an option for me. I will not allow it. Mom cared for Dad after his stroke until he passed 6 months later, literally to the detriment of her own health at the time. He was able to pass at home, in the company of his wife; not alone and neglected at the end of some stark, white and stinking-of-urine linoleum hallway. I’ll be damned if I show my thanks by putting her in some rest home. Not happening.

Wow…sorry for the rant. This started out as a pleasant little holiday post but it turned a little dark. My bad.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all.

Fore!

So, my golf hero has feet made of clay.

No matter how much success, how much fame, how much money people attain, money cannot buy love or guarantee happiness and bliss.

Tiger Woods did not suffer facial lacerations from a car accident. They were inflicted by his wife, Elin Nordegren — according to a conversation Woods had Friday after the accident.

TMX.com reports that Tiger said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We’re told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat to his SUV — but according to a source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club (“No, no, please! I can’t take it!)

 As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.

The police report says Woods became “distracted,” thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree. 

Woods had said during a conversation afterwards on Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed” somewhat out of it at the scene.”

The irony is too thick! Can’t breathe! Tiger Woods’ wife takes a golf club to his Escalade!?!

Was it an iron or a wood? Was she “teed-off?” Did she give Woody the wood or did Woody put his ball in the cup where the greens are greener? Did he use a stiff shaft or something with a little more ”give?” 

Really, I’m with Buick. Screw the “other woman” thing. I want to know what the Hell he was doing driving a Cadillac with his multi-million dollar Buick endorsement?

 

 

 

Meiko!

I was listening to the Bob Rivers radio program on the way to work this morning, and heard a singer/songwriter by the name of Meiko. She was a guest on Bob’s show, and performed a few songs live in-studio.

I love female vocalists as you know. I’ve had links to two of my favorites, Duffy Bishop and Cindy Alexander, right here on the BS BLOG for some time.

I’ve just added a third.

I was quite taken by what I heard on the radio, and went to the Bob Rivers Show website as soon as I got to my desk. I was thrilled to find 4 videos of her in-studio performance already uploaded there. Check them out:

Meiko Video #1

Meiko Video #2

Meiko Video #3

Meiko Video #4

Here’s what wiki has on Meiko. You can also see more videos on her myspace page.

I’m interested to learn what you think!

ANVIL ALERT!

Rent this movie!

It’s not a Spinal Tap knock-off. It’s the real-deal documentary on a truly seminal metal band that never quite made it.

Entertaining, thought-provoking, misty-eyed and funny! It’s a sweet, charming and touching story of a very real Canadian metal band that hasn’t put down the drum stick or picks for 30 years. You just want to grab them and give them a big, heart-felt hug through the whole fick.

 

Rent This Movie!

Accidental Remodeler

Stu and I have talked before about our passion and outlet in home remodeling projects. I take on a project about once a year, depending on how much the old whatever is bothering me, available budgets, materials, techniques, etc.

This one sneaked up on me while I was naked, wet and defenseless. No, it wasn’t a drunken swimming party at the Holiday Inn. I was in the shower. I noticed a 30-year old tile that looked odd while rinsing shampoo off my head. I reached down and gave it a thump with my hand, and…it’s like potato chips, once you start…

Yeah, I got dry and dressed first! Then, realizing I’m on a beer budget, threw caution to the wind and got out my Home Depot card and began a two-week sojourn that began with a loose shower tile. Janet reminded me that I was supposed to be looking for gainful employment and a remodeling job was at the bottom of her list. Wasn’t her shower that imploded, so, of course, I just kept right on going. 

Travertine stone tile is my weapon of choice on a number of projects. Soft, easy to shape and cut, durable, random and beautiful. These are 18″ tiles, the largest I’ve ever used. The drain was something else entirely. The old, ugly round drain looked horrible and I wasn’t going to lay new tile in the floor and keep it, so, naturally, I did the hardest thing I could think of, cutting out the old square brass drain pipe collar and installing a square drain cover. My god, I can still smell the carbide cutting wheel and brass.

Before

 

During

Ok, enough with the grizzly details…the pre-grouting  results:

And the re-paint and decor points.

Family heirloom I kept from my Mom’s stuff. Janet doesn’t like it, but when I told her it was made in Italy and is a numbered piece, she warmed up to it a bit. I discovered these details when I took it down to clean it and reinstall after painting. Now, she wants to know what it would bring on Antiques Roadshow. Probably $50. The value for me is that it gives that Gladiator Bathhouse feel…naked, sweaty men wrestling and laughing, passing the olive oil urn, challenging each other to sword fights…

Used a cheap shower curtain  for now, but this thing is begging for a new shower door set-up. Got it picked out at Home Depot (brushed satin nickle) , but had to promise to “get by” until steady paycheck starts again. New flushmount lights, shower head (check out the extension…I don’t have to bend over and duck under the shower head for the first time in my adult life!) Don’t mind that little white patch, there were a lot of tiny-touch ups.

I had remodelded the outer area/countertop a couple of years ago and used Travertine for the counter and a ridicously expensive ($1,800!?!?!?) sink-bowl on a trade for printing work for an art house glass studio in Seattle http://www.seattleglassblowing.com/. I didn’t want the damn thing, but my former boss heard I was remodeling back then and offered it as a bonus.

Glimpses

 

All done! I use it now and I must say, after all is said and done, the next time you’re in the shower and notice something that doesn’t look quite right, Do Not Touch It, turn off the water, grab a towel and run like Hell!

Our Weekend with Joe Bonamassa

 

And a hell of a weekend it was!

Where do I start?……. well I guess at the beginning. Last Thursday, a workmate that I often trade music with approached me with this DVD from a hot “new” unheard of artist. Well, I think many of you probably already know the reaction I had when this hot “new” artist was none other that our own Joe Bonamassa. Boy, did I have some stories to tell.  ;-)

I remember some discussion on this blog shortly after the concert…… in particular, the fact that Joe and Eric Clapton were jamming together on “Further on up the Road”. Well, the DVD has been released as I’m sure most of you are aware of and my first impression was….. nice, historic but it just didn’t rock like “A New Day Yesterday”……. you know, the freebie that came with the CD “So It’s Like That”. BTW; that CD/DVD combo is going for $143.99 used on Amazon…..I’m glad I bought three of em! Anyway, I shelved it until Saturday night when Viv and I went to the cave for some Ping-pong. She saw the DVD sitting there and insisted that we play it while batting the ball back and forth. For some reason, the second time around caught my attention to the point where both of us just had to take our seats and absorb Joe in his “moment”.

This DVD is awesome! It shows a much more polished Joe in what he claims is the venue he had his eyes on since day one. After realizing that Eric Czar and Kenny Kramme were NOT going to magically appear and take me to that place of comfort I’ve experienced for the last seven years, I started to appreciate more and more where and why Joe has taken this turn in his musical career. Let’s digress for a minute……. Vivian and I both love this DVD. Both of us got VERY misty eye’d knowing that this was Joe’s dream and seeing Eric Clapton onstage jamming with him was like watching one of your children succeding at some long term, impossible goal. Joe has truly crossed into the next realm and this DVD is magical to say the least.

The reason I digress is because we went back and watched the previous two live DVDs for the sake of comparison. The Ft Wayne show still gives me goosebumps……. so much raw talent that, at the time was indeed a true “discovery”. Eric and Kenny were definite assets to Joe’s burgeoning career. We then played the “Rockpalast” DVD which is one that I bought around the time of our moving into this house so it was never watched and appreciated for what it is……. an outstanding concert that showed how much the trio had improved over 3 1/2 years. One thing I caught watching that show this weekend was how much Eric and Kenny were becomming a hinderance to any chance that Joe might ascend to the next level. I must say that until today, I kind of had a low simmering grudge against Joe for letting those two go…… but NOT anymore!!! Kenny’s playing was much more lively on this DVD, however, looking at some of his facial expressions, you could detect a sense that he wasn’t terribly happy with the gig any more….. or he was extremely exhausted though his awesome playing didn’t really indicate that as being the situation. Eric had become a stand-out in more ways than one…… he had morphed into a sort of “bad-ass” character, one with lots of mean looking grimaces, a vest suited for a Biker with a tag on the back that was zoomed in on briefly that said “Fuck You, I already have Friends”.  He really had the look of someone who belonged in a metal band and it suddenly became apparent that he just didn’t have the look or presence of a blues band bassist, even though his playing was better than ever. I suddenly had one of those epiphany moments that just said “Joe did what was good for Joe and his career”…….. these two were NOT going to help Joe further advance passed where they had gotten. The Rockpalast DVD is a defining moment for me in seeing Joe’s evolutionary movement towards a higher calling. Musically, the DVD simply ROCKS and I may actually find myself liking that one better than Ft Wayne once I can tear myself away from this new one and watch it a little more.

Bottom line here is that the Royal Albert Hall DVD grows on ya…… BIG TIME!!! ALL the songs stand out in their own right. “The Great Flood” has quickly become my favorite……. just a blistering, yet VERY soulful, slow blues number that says to the world, this is how it’s done! I am at the point where I just can’t get enough and two hours and some odd minutes goes by too fast. It is nice to see that Joe has not only seen his dream come true but actually has some Les Paul models sculpted for him with his name attached. That’s cool! I also noticed that one of the guitars in his arsenal is a Musicman “John Petrucci Model Baritone”….. that too is VERY cool in that he is playing one of my other favorite guitarist’s rig! I think one of the things I love about this show is a feeling of being proud. Why? I don’t know as I really had nothing to do with his success other than supporting him and watching him grow, knowing that he was something special…… a cut above! I think we all knew in the back of our minds that those days of seeing him for free at venues like “The Garage” here in Reno were numbered and believe me, I appreciated the up close and personal aspect of a Bonamassa show as something special. I personally get a good feeling knowing that Joe has finally achieved the respect from his peers and the greatness associated with it, even if it means that we now may have to reserve our seats months in advance if we want any chance of seeing Joe again. 

I guess you could say that he “Just Got Paid” in more ways than one…….. finally!

Shreds!

The “Classic Kiss Performance” post remineded me of the now almost famous “Shredding” videos on youtube. If you’ve never seen them, they are a riot. There are a bunch of them out there, but here’s a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Bad Rudy Website Removed

I’ve posted a few times about my limited investment in a Sports Beverage called Rudy, named after Daniel “Rudy” Ruettinger of Notre Dame fame. For a quick review, here are my previous posts:

Post #1 (8-30-2008)

Post #2 (11-19-2008)

Post #3 (1-26-2009)

Recently I have tried to go to the Bad Rudy Website mentioned in my #3 post above, only to find it no longer exists. Gone, with out a word.

I have tried searching for Bad Rudy with no luck. I can’t seem to find any discussions, bulletin boards or stock-talk type forums with anyone asking questions. In fact, a Google search for Bad Rudy brings up my Post #3 linked above in the #2 position. Enviable results, if I was into online marketing!

I did a Whois search for badrudy.com in hopes of emailing the registrant to find out what was going on, and found equally troubling results:

Domain ID:
Domain Name: badrudy.com
Created On: 17-Nov-2008 00:00:00
Expiration Date: 17-Nov-2009 00:00:00
Sponsoring Registrar: ‘Check Whois’ (GODADDY) (GODADDY)
Status: client_delete_prohibited, client_renew_prohibited, client_transfer_prohibited, client_update_prohibited
Name Server: ns39.domaincontrol.com
Name Server: ns40.domaincontrol.com
Registrant ID: Unknown
Registrant Name: Unknown
Registrant Organization: Unknown
Registrant Street1: Unknown
Registrant Street2: Unknown
Registrant Street3: Unknown
Registrant City: Unknown
Registrant State/Province: Unknown
Registrant Postal Code: Unknown
Registrant Country: Unknown
Registrant Phone: Unknown
Registrant Fax: Unknown
Registrant Email: Unknown
Admin ID: Unknown
Admin Name: Unknown
Admin Organization: Unknown
Admin Street1: Unknown
Admin Street2: Unknown
Admin Street3: Unknown
Admin City: Unknown
Admin State: Unknown
Admin Postal Code: Unknown
Admin Country: Unknown
Admin Phone: Unknown
Admin Fax: Unknown
Admin Email: Unknown

So, in fine BS BLOG tradition I’ve got to say (say it with me, y’all)..WTF?

The Bad Rudy website contained lots of information about legal actions, judgements, updates, copies of emails received from duped investors, paperwork trails, etc. I find it odd that not only was it pulled down, but that I can’t find anyone else talking about it…and the domain info shows that the unknown badrudy.com registrant is prohibited from renewing, transfering or updating the domain.

Behind my wry smile I’m humming that Warren Zevon classic, “…Send lawyers, guns and money ’cause shit has hit the fan…”

I’m sooooo glad I didn’t invest as much as I wanted (and hoped) to. But that refrain still rings in my ears (say it with me AGAIN, y’all)…WTF?

Now, for something completely different…… Introducing Chantel McGregor

After losing my dinner to KISS, (j/k) I went surfing around on you tube….. primarily in the J.B. section and found this little gem of an up and coming(?) guitarist. The difference here is that this is a young woman who absolutely rips Hendrix tunes like they’re her own, brings Robin Trower to life and loves Joe Bonamassa. I’m not gonna get into a lot of discussion, just check this gal out.

Excuse the sound quality but all I could find were Bar gigs. You’ll quickly get the idea. 

 Here’s a killer version of Red House 

I saved the best for last again. Here, she does an absolutely excellent version of Miss You, Hate You. If you look around on you tube, there is a clip of her jamming with Joe.  On her website chantelmcgregor.com, she claims Joe Bonamassa is her hero.

With a little polish, I think we will be hearing from this hot, young guitar lady sometime in the near future. Once again, sorry about the sound.

Classic KISS Performance

You wanted the best, you got the best — KISS!