Goodbye, Dio

Today the world lost the greatest voice to ever grace heavy metal: Ronnie James Dio. If this loss was not sad enough, he was claimed by stomach cancer. At 67 years of age, this rock icon remained active with his solo project, and also with Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath renamed). In fact, Heaven and Hell were to do a summer tour this year. I won't go into his life's history or anything like that; that is why we have Wikipedia. However, I did want to pay some tribute to his contributions to rock and metal by presenting three videos.

The first is a song that really made him famous. He was the first front man for the band Rainbow. The songs that get the most airplay (even to this day) are "Since You Been Gone" and this song, "Man on the Silver Mountain". This video is from the mid 70s, so the sound isn't super great, but you get the idea. Oh, and fast forward to the 56 second mark. There is a terribly boring guitar solo leading up to the song (I know, it is weird to hear me say that):



Next is a song from his days with Black Sabbath (Now Heaven and Hell). This is the title track to the first (Dio) Sabbath album, and where they got their new name. This is called "Heaven and Hell". This video was shot in 1980:



Finally, this song is from his solo project, Dio, and I selected this one as opposed to "Rainbow in the Dark" or "Holy Diver" because I thought it would be more appropriate for this occasion. Almost every song he penned (including the last one you heard) was about the struggle of good versus evil. In the end, good always prevailed. In this video, you will also be treated to the handiwork guitar virtuoso Vivian Campbell (now with Def Leppard). This song is called, "Hungry for Heaven":



Rest in peace, RJD. You will be missed.

Resolved

Wow. Has it really been almost three months since my last post? I used to write here a lot. I have been very busy, so I suppose posting on a blog three people read has not been very high on my list. Just like Mike (Bahr, linked at right), I think it gets progressively harder to write blog posts that no one reads - and if they do that no one comments on. I have had time to consider the purpose of even bothering. I have discovered this purpose. I strongly believe in keeping a written record, a journal if you will, of one's life and one's thoughts. Since my handwriting sucks (and I hate writing by hand), this seems just as good a place as anywhere to "jot down" the events of my life. Anyone interested is welcome to read and comment, but I will be just as content writing to myself.

The major news nowadays is that I have finally entered the accounting world. Well, technically, that start on March 29th, but I have arrived. It is not the job I was referring to in my last post, but it is a higher paying gig and will give me experience in accounting. The job is only sweetened by the equal amount of operations-related work, so I will keep my chops up there as well. My resume will look very good in a year. While this is not the highest paying job I will have had (there was a time when sales more than did it for me), it is definitely what I would define as my "breakthrough" job and a bona fide career move. So far, 2010 is working out nicely for me.

My daughter will be born any day now. The timing isn't great due to my new position, but my soon-to-be manager is being very cool about it. Objectively speaking, there is nothing either of us can do if Kristin goes into labor around that time.

In a completely unrelated direction, we move to one of my favorite subjects of conversation: Egyptology. There have been a lot of great discoveries, validations, and theories presented of late. There have also been a lot of concerning issues such as the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) making life harder for foreign archaeologists to do what they need to do. A lot of it stems from national pride, and I support that 100%, however not the way it has been employed (not entirely anyway). That is a subject for a different post. Perhaps I will never post it because I am trying to stay away from political issues since they cause arguments no one wins.

Going back to new discoveries, it was recently confirmed that Tutankhamen was not murdered. For at least a decade, death by other means has been the generally accepted theory, but the murder theory still had a large following. Recently, Dr. Zahi Hawass, the "head' of the SCA made an announcement that malaria was the confirmed killer. Remnants of the malaria breakouts are still visible on the mummy. While malaria has long been held as a strong candidate for the premature death (the king only lived to be about 19 years old), the Egyptian government never allowed the required testing. It turns out that it came down to Dr. Hawass preferring an team of Egyptians to do the tests and he was merely waiting for some to be trained to do this. I have mixed feelings about this and they would be best shared on the aforementioned national pride post if it ever happens.

So with this discovery (more a validation of theory) and others, there are still people trying to prove theories that have already been proven. Did you know there are still people who believe the pyramids were built by slaves? I didn't either. This guy believes the slave theory is alive and well apparently. He has exhausted considerable efforts to disprove something that has already been disproven. In hos defense, he has posted a very articulate essay. Additionally, it is very accurate. For people who want to know more about who or how the pyramids were built (there are a couple accepted theories as to the "how"), his essay is a no-nonsense, easy to read document that I recommend to anyone interested. So far, he has only posted part one of three. Again, it is a good read and my only problem is he is debunking an already debunked theory.

It has been a while since I posted a triumphant music video. And if it is one thing Bill and Ted taught us, it is that you can't have a triumphant music video without Eddie Van Halen (and vice versa). This song is called "Poundcake" and one of my favoritest Van Halen songs ever.

Resolutions

Normally, I think New Year's Resolutions are a crock. In fact, I think the celebration of the New Year is about as ridiculous as celebrating Cinco de Mayo (unless you are a Mexican living in Mexico in which case the latter is relevant). However, 2010 is scheduled with enough milestones that it merits a retrospective of 2009 as well as an anticipative reflection of things to come.

Retrospective:

2009 was not a good year for me financially speaking. My financial situation near suffocated me. In fact, I had to stop my martial arts training and other non-necessary activities for a third of the year. Fortunately, I was able to come up with a plan that worked for the dojo that allowed me to come back and train. Because I promised not to, I won't discuss the details here lest I get a slow, painful beating when I train on Tuesday.

My career did not progress like I thought/hoped it might. I have spoken with HR reps and networked to the controllers' office to no avail. I was finally given some advice that may end up paying off, so we shall see. Since I am 32, I have really focused on career progression within the very broad confines of my employer. I applied for jobs all over the country. Not a single call back. It turns out that my employer is happy to move a guy into a different or more advanced field if all he has is education, but the problem was that since I am still in school they wanted to know what classes I have taken. fair enough - the changes are made. There is now an outstanding application for a higher position, so we will see if I get a call from a recruiter. I should considering the recruiter for this position is the same guy that told me to make the changes I made to the resume.

On the plus side, I am still gainfully employed and I am very thankful for that. Additionally, I have another year of operations under my belt which will come in handy should I use my forthcoming accounting degree to continue working in the equally quantitative world of corporate operations.

In 2009, I rekindled my inner muse and joined a band. It was a short-lived affair due to the drummer flaking out on us. I wasn't really too surprised though. Flakiness comes standard with the purchase of every drummer. However, this unpleasant event brought on a welcome change for me. As lame as this may make me sound, I developed some drumming credibility with Mike (Bahr) by way of the Rock Band video game series. From what I have heard, I was the only on that did the drums justice and pretty much the only one who used his electronic kit. To that end, the end of Flapperwax ushered in a new era for me. I am now playing drums in a new music project with Mike and a mutual friend, Jay. This started right at the end of 2009, so it merits mention in the retrospective section. Mike went out and bought a set of drums and he is playing bass using my equipment. It has been since high school that I have had regular access to some skins, but I haven't lost much of my meter thanks to Rock Band. In fact, I am almost performance ready on a couple tunes which is reassuring I am sure for all involved.

Other pleasant events of 2009 included a trip to Utah to get in some much needed outdoorsman activities, the much anticipated baptism of my oldest child, two visits by my friend Mike (Seppy), and a fantastic family trip to Disneyland. Oh, and I should mention that my quest for mid-section weight loss is working out nicely. I am constantly needing to adjust my belt and the tightest setting is not tight enough. Yay me!

Of course, I expect 2010 will be the same as 2010 in that I will continue to surround myself with a loving family and supportive friends. I want to publicly thank all of you who have helped me turn lemons to lemonade. Even if you don't realize it, sometime your very presence is enough. By simply taking my mind of of what ails me for a couple hours has been therapy I could never put a price on. Ok, so I am in a sappy mood today. Sue me.

Anticipative Reflection

I have three major events coming up this year. In no particular chronological order:

1. Moving into the last phase of my kyu ranks in To-Shin Do. Kyu ranks are the sub-black belt levels. I really need to step up my intensity and confidence. I am getting to the place now that I was when I injured myself back in early 1998. My goal this year is to overcome certain reservations I have with performing/receiving techniques. I sometimes hold back when performing techniques because I am afraid I will go too fast or too strongly and hurt someone. I have, afterall, broken a woman's ribs on the mats as recently as 23 months ago. However, my entire class is at a level where they can receive what I bring without being hurt. My holding back is essentially telling them that I do not trust my fellow students to take the hit/throw/lock well enough to avoid injury. I respect and trust every person in the class, and I will not insult them anymore (whether or not they look into this quite this deeply is another story). Additionally, I plan to work on my fears of receiving techniques with particular emphasis on the one that put me out for nine years. I think this is the real reason why I pull my punches as it were with other students. I need to get my "A" game together because once I enter the brown belt levels, graduations become tests and one never knows when one will move on to the next level.
2. My fourth child will be born this year. While I do not disclose my children's names publicly, I will say it will be a girl. This has obviously made no small impact on my resolve to further every aspect of my life - especially the career side. Maybe this child will actually look like Kristin. Possibly have my darker features with her expressions. That would be beautiful.
3. I will finally get my degree. Yes folks, miracles can happen. Assuming all goes according to plan, I will be done with school by August or early October - depending on whether Grand Canyon University continues to move my classes around. We will see how much my degree means once I get it. Hopefully, I am either already working in accounting or I have moved up in the world of operations. Perhaps I will find a home in project management. It is really hard to say. As I have mentioned, an accounting degree is a quantitative one and doesn't limit a person to the accounting field alone. Obviously, whatever I end up doing after I get my degree will dictate the nature of my masters degree later.

Now I have events to plan my year around. I will continue to do the good things I have been doing and will make adjustments as necessary to make 2010 a fruitful an happy year. I also hope to see all of those important people around me (you all know who you are) do the same for themselves. If for no other reason than my selfish desire to see them prosper.

They think we're stoopid

Who are "they"? They are the people who think they can feed us anything and we'll buy it. The following are three groups or individuals that are the most recent offenders:

1. Columbia pictures and the staff of the forthcoming movie, 2012



Today while I was watching football, a trailer for the upcoming film 2012 was aired. The movie looks like it is chock full of good special effects, and that will be its draw. The preview had lots of printed phrases and that irritating "heartbeat" sound that brings those phrases in to drive home that those words are important. You know the kind of crap I'm talking about. Anyway, one of the phrases said, *thunpthump* "The Mayans told us" *thumpthump* "But we didn't listen".

Just in case you were wondering, *thumpthump* was that heartbeat sound I was talking about.

The next scene is the earth falling to pieces. Here is where they think you are stupid. They want you to think, "Crikey! The signs were there! We should have listened to the Mayans! We are soooo stupid! We had better prepare!"

I hate to poke holes in your logic, Columbia Pictures, but what difference would heeding a warning make if the earth is going to more or less collapse on itself? I am no guru of plate tectonics but near as I can tell, if the earth collapses, we're screwed and there is no amount of preparation that can save us. Then again, there are those that will watch this movie and scream at the characters for not making the kind of decisions that will mitigate the amount of natural disasters befalling the planet.

2. The people who decide who receives the Nobel Peace Prize





I want to start by stating this isn't a slight against our president. He was given an award and he accepted it gracefully. To his credit, he did not keep the unearned prize money and gave it away. It is clear that even he could see this was a pre-mature and undeserved award.

The award was pre-mature simply because other than helping make our bad recession worse, the man simply hasn't done anything yet. All he has done was say that he wants a peaceful end to our wars. So did Bush. Obama is also thinking about stepping up the boots on the ground n Afghanistan while scaling back in Iraq. So was Bush. Stepping up an offensive hardly seems like the "peaceful" thing to do.* For all you idiots that think there is real difference between this administration and the last, the award's for you. Enjoy it in all its irrelevance.

3. Then, there is this jack hole:





Michael Moore is the worst offender of this triad of human underestimation. His latest flick, "Capitalism: a Love Story" is all about how capitalism is the greatest threat to America and Humanity in general. The week of this movie's release, Moore and Keith Olberman were chatting on the latter's editorial on MSNBC going on and on about the evil that is American Capitalism. Michael Moore was also heard to say that capitalism has done nothing for him.

Holy irony, Batman! I know I am not tho only person who caught onto these small tidbits:

• Michael Moore is a millionaire. Why? Because of marketing and merchandising by entities (such as Disney) that are in business to turn a profit. How do they do this? CAPITALISM. A small group of idiots buy into his crap using money they get paid from corporations. That money goes to the corporations sponsoring his farce of a movie. These corporations in turn break him off for his efforts. Capitalism never did anything for you? The fact that you can support your Twinkie habit is a result of capitalism.
• Keith Olberman's interview was conducted in a posh NBC studio. That company makes money from selling advertisements from other companies. Those companies continue to purchase advertising time if their products sell. That advertising revenue goes into the nice facilities used and also into the pocket of Keith Olberman. Not to mention the fact that the interview probably generated more business for the latest movie by our nation's "village idiot".

Unfortunately, there actually are morons out there that believe anything this douche canoe says. The fortunate thing about those people is that they are few in number and are probably viewed as their village's idiot.

So for all you stupid people susceptible enough to believe (or believe in) any of the aforementioned, I present to you our anthem of the next while until I post again: Alice Cooper's "Hey Stoopid".

Rock, Rock, Never Stop

Yesterday began and ended as a day of rock for the A-train. First thing in the morning, I headed off to the storage unit for band practice. The band has finally hit a solid chemical groove. We have readied our initial set and have five other songs in the works. Additionally, I have been blessed with a group of guys who are willing to allow my creativity to run as free as I desirre (the same respect is offered to the other guys as well). To that end, I have changed up the basslines of the pre-Aaron material (only slightly) and have added a progressive element to the playing of the new stuff. Additionally, they have not only accepted, but embrace my desire to lay some keyboards on some of the songs. So far, they love the concepts I have been integrating with this instrument, and it is now a matter of solidifying those parts.

Yesterday at practice, I expressed my gratitude to them for indulging me. They resopnded something to the effect of insisting that since we have a keyboard and a couple people who know how to use it, that it should be a part of the band. Their favorite bands (Dio, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Cinderella, etc) all used the keyboard element often. Indeed, my two favorite bands (Rush and Dream Theater) use the keyboards all the time, and their sound is largely defined by the use of this instrument. So there you have it. My musical life took a drastic turn for the better three weeks ago when I first plugged the keyboard into the PA system. Based on the direction the music is heading in, this may be the project I have long sought, but was never able to find. There is one element missing in my mind, but I lost that battle a couple months ago. All other parties involved disagree with me, and I will leave it at that.

Later in the day, my family met with my uncle Paul, aunt Kristi, and her friend Sandy (or is it Sandi???) at the Cheesecake factory for our pre-concert dinner. The dinner ran a little long, so we ended up missing the first act of the night, Cheap Trick. On one hand, I really wanted to see them, but on the other, I was not very disappointed not to have been able to do so. I am not very sure why that is. Perhaps it is because they are 60 and unlikely to perform the way they once did. I was more curious about whether Robin Zander could still hit the high notes he once did (ala "The Flame"). I guess I won't know that. No biggie.

We ended up arriving just before 8 PM (Which means Cheap Trick had a 30 or so minute set anyway). We were just in time for Poison. Truth be told, I wasn't sure what to think about going to see that particular group. I will admit that they have some songs I like such as "Fallen Angel" and "Nothing But a Good Time" and a few others. Really the only one I don't like is "Unskinny Bop" because it is totally gay. It wasn't gay for them to write since I am sure they were aware of the tail a song like that would get them, but it is gay for a dude to listen to it voluntarily. At any rate, Poison put on a first-rate performance. Even though Brett Michaels has become a bit of a circus act with his "Rock of Love" series, when he is onstage, he becomes the rockstar he was born to be. He is almost as good a frontman as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). He was entertaining, ingenuous, and it was hard not to get into it with him. Add to that the flamboyance of C.C. DeVille (who, by the way, is an amazing guitar player) and the stick twirling between every snare hit by Rikki Rocket (who I have always believed to be one of the better drummers of his era), and you knew for sure you were at an 80's metal concert. There was easily more energy there than what one gets from the cutter bands. It was real, raw energy. There was nothing about Poison's performance that I didn't like. I dare say, I would see them again voluntarily if they were headlining or just playing on their own. I was actually surprised that they didn't play "Talk Dirty to Me" and "I Want Action".

The only member of poison who wasn't there was bassist Bobby Dall. He was "sick" that night. In his stead was Eric Brittingham of Cinderella. If this wasn't pointed out, no one would have known the difference. With the exception of Brittingham's sleeve tattoo, he looks similar to Dall fromo a distance (even the mere 70 feet away from the stage where I was). Usually, when a band has a replacement who already knows the parts he is responsible for, that means the person he is subbing in for is flat-out replaced. On the other hand, this guy may be a pinch hitter for Poison, though the chance is remote. I think only Metallica did that when James Hetfield's arm got burnt, and even then, they had to cancel some shows. Poison had to do no such thing. So we shall see.

Def Leppard put on the performance I had hoped they would. They played every single "hit" you would expect. Of course, they didn't play too much from the very early albums because Joe Elliot simply cannot hit those notes. By the time they got to "Photograph", the fatigue of the evening had already set in. I can only imagine what it would sound like if they played songs like "Wasted". Hysteria monopolized much of the set. Six of the songs came from that album. I'll let you guess which ones.

I can't say anything bad about either performance. The musicianship and showmanship left nothing to be desired. It was a blast from the past. A past that only the music of the era brought me any solace. The '80s were a terrible decade for me. My mother was dying for a couple years, then died, an I subsequently dealt with issues I will not discuss here as a result of said death. The only thing I had to hold onto was the music of the era. The music was relatively positive as well. I mean, Just last night, one band had several songs about having fun, and the other sang at least three about the music itself.

Anyway, Def Leppard said it best:

LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL

Tellin' it like it is

Lately, the frequency dreams of me visiting Egypt have been a not too uncommon occurrence. About a week ago, I have yet another dream where I get there, but don't have time to see anything because I am trying to fight my way through the traffic of Cairo. For those of you not in the know, Cairene traffic is probably among the world's worst, if not the worst. Realistically speaking, I know that the traffic in Cairo will never keep me from getting where I need to go since the hotels I would be staying in are literally across the street from the sites I would want to visit. Moreover, I would never be behind the wheel.

At any rate, I have recently had more pleasant dreams where I have been able to access sites. I think it has a lot to do with this travel journal I have read over the past few days between claims at work. I am always looking at who to use to plan my trip to Egypt (when I can afford it), and I always come back to Museum Tours (linked at right). An Egyptologist contact of mine reccommended them to me a couple years back, but it seemed a little pricey. However, I have decided on this company as the arrangers for my trip in large part to the aforementioned journal I read. While this will be a guided tour, there is a lot of freedom in choosing what one does and does not want to do - or more specifically, how one chooses or does not choose to do something. For example, on the day the Valley of the Kings is visited, guests have an option: either 1. wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning, visit the workmen's village, and hike the ancient trail up the escarpment and into the VOK, or 2. wake up at a reasonable time and take the van into the VOK to meet with the group. The obvious answer is number one, but for the folks who are too old for a hike, the second option works out. In either case, the price of the trip remains constant. As far as I can tell, Museum Tours is the only American tour company to give options like that. For those of you not in the know, opportunities like the one I just presented (and this company offers more like it) are important to those of us who follow the subject on a scholarly level.

Anyway, this journal was inspiring. This guy took maticulous notes while on his trip and presented few spelling and factual mistakes. He did dive into the minutia of the trip (including getting ready for it and his one night stay in NYC before his flight to Cairo took off) giving me the impression that he wrote this almost exclusively for his own retrospective. When he sent the journal to Bill and Nancy Petty (the owners) for whatever reason he sent it to them, they put it up on their website. I imagine they have no better trophies than this 88 page epic full of nothing but praise for the company and the people of Egypt. I have actually known a few Egyptians during sall those years living in our nation's capital, and like I said in a previous post, I have never met an Egyptian I didn't like. Before anyone says anything, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ayman Al-Zawahiri doesn't count because I never met them (and I don't need to because I don't like them and believe they should die in fire...another post for another time). At any rate, I am positive my trip will be everything it can be if I go with these folks.

I am sure the question(s) on everyone's minds is "You're going to Egypt? When?"

I have no idea. It is expensive, and I need to plan it well. I am not going to be a casual visitor to Egypt with little or no background on the subject. That said, I do want to maximize the amount of sites and the amount of time in each one. I also don't want to be fielding questions, but rather engaging in deep discussions on the subject I have endeavored for over 20 years to understand. My endeavors are not over by a long shot since there seems to be a new tidbit of information on an almost daily basis (see the Egyptology blog linked at right). Since I don't want to be fielding questions all day every day, I will likely go this one alone. Read the first couple pages of the travel journal I have linked earlier in this post. This gentleman's reasons for not taking his wife (and especially kid) are the same as my own. The same reasons I have considered for the better part of five years. While my wife is amazing fun to take a vacation with, this one would be too important to me to spend my time not enjoying it the way I want. Of course I wouldn't take my kids. Not so much because I would worry about them - Egypt is statistically safer than downtown Phoenix - but because children are a known ruiner of vacations. Those of you with kids know what I mean.

Anyway, I need to save several thousand dollard for this trip, so it will be no time soon. I suppose the only reason I am posting this information is for the same reason Paul Jacobi wrote his travelogue - for retrospect. I would love to come back to this post and review these thoughts after I take my trip.

Mike Seppy went home today. His 10 day business trip has come to a close, and on Thursday, he is going back to Myrtle Beach for seven weeks on yet another business trip. If I were single, I would be envious of the jobs he has taken. His last job sent him all over the country and this current job - just this summer alone - has sent him to Puerto Rico, Myrtle Beach, Phoenix, and Myrtle Beach again. His is the perfect bachelor job. Once that boy has a family, he won't be so quick to bounce out of town for several months (basically) at a time. It sucked to drop him off at the airport today, but he plans to come back to check out the west coast group of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He has already seen the east coasters, and he is itching to see the version we get. He has also requested that Flapperwax play a show during his visit. I think that can be arranged.

In keeping with the title of this post, the song I am posting today leaves no room for error as to what type of song it is. I give you Testament's "The Ballad"

Redemption

Dream Theater released their new album, "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" this past Tuesday. Of course, I purchased it as soon as Best Buy opened their doors. At 10:01 am, I was a proud owner. I have listened to the songs a few times (all but one of them, actually...read on for details). The base album consisted of six songs. Five were good. The second disc on the special edition (I always buy the SE) had some new covers. One of them was Iron Maiden's "To Tame a Land". As Dan (Flapperwax drummer) said, you can't get a cut any deeper than that. The original is the last song on "Piece of Mind". Dream Theater executed brilliantly, but Iron Maiden's version is the better of the two. Just like no one can make Dream Theater songs sound better, no one can make Iron Maiden songs better. All they can simply do is pay respectable homage and maybe introduce their own flavor. In the case of Dream Theater, I couldn't have asked for more.

There was a third disc. The third disc is the instrumentals of every song on disc one. In other words, no lyrics.

As with Systematic Chaos (DT's last album), I will break down my review of disc one in order of song:

1. "A Nightmare to Remember" - This song is pretty good. It is similar - as Mike (linked right) noticed - to so many other first songs on DT albums. It gives its fans what they want, but it isn't fabulous. I will listen to it a couple more times, but I have the feeling that it will be a song I won't commit much more of my time to.

2. "A Rite of Passage" - The song is fantastic. I guess it is the track sent to the radio stations, and I can see that. Everything about this song is put together well, and it is definitely a tune the general public can embrace.

3. "Whither" - I have mixed feelings here. While it is the best vocal performance of the album, I can't help but feel a little let down that it is about writer's block. I dodn't catch that until Mike pointed it out. It is arranged beautifully on an instrumental side as well. I just have a hard time believing writer's block is all that gut wrenching. The way James LaBrie sings it, you would think his dog dies or something. If I choose to ignore the theme of the song, I can appreciate it for the beautiiful song it is. Maybe I'll do that.

4. "The Shattered Fortress" - This may be my favorite song on the album. This or the next track. Mike (sorry to bring you up so much, but I sincerely hope people read both takes) has noted that it reprises the other four songs from the alchohol saga that have appeared over the last four albums. My opinion on the matter is that they did exactly what they should have done. This song brings closure to the epic. The first of the epic was "My Glass Prison" off of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. How appropriate is this title of the final song of the series. To drive the point home, this song actually ends with the beginning riff from "My Glass Prison". While there is more new additions than there are reprisals, the latter made the song whole, and the series complete. I cannot say enough good things about this song.

5. "The Best of Times" - This is snother song about a band member's dead father. What I love about Dream Theater is that they pay their respects to their loved ones in a way I could only dream of doing. Additionally, this is one of their best songs in a long time. Right now, this song struggles with the last one for #1. The Guitar solo is even more emotive than Whither's...and this song is about a subject that I can emotionally embrace.

6. "The Count of Tuscany" - this is the meh of all mehs. Dream Theater has to stop writing long songs for the sake of having long songs. The length of this tune is all Mike Portnoy, and I hold him largely responsible. For those of you who have heard it, imagine the first 5 1/2 minutes of Octavarium*. Now multiply the length of it by three. That is "The Count of Tuscany" for you. There is nothing memorable about the song. Dream Theater will never top "A Change of Seasons" in this category, so they should stop trying. Of course, I refer to the category of epic songs that are not broken down into separate tracks. SFAM and Six Degrees don't count.

All in all, the album is very good. Still, nothing they have done holds a candle to Images and Words. However, I am glad they don't. If they kept releasing songs like they did back in the day, there would be no progression, and nothing special about I&W. That said, this album was a huge step in the right direction from their last one.

Change of subject...

I haven't posted this yet, but Mike Seppy will be in town on businees in a couple weeks. I am excited about that. He gets a per diem food allowance (and keeps the remainder). He has graciously offered to feed me while he is here. I won't get to see him every day he is in town, but it has been over a year and it is high time we see eachother. His plans for moving here are on a slight defferment. Who knows, maybe the defferment will be permanant once he feels Phoenix in July.

Speaking of Mike, I came a cross some of his old artwork from the late 90's while I was at work the other day. Mike used to draw Manga style quite a bit for a while there. I have no idea whether he still does it, but he is pretty good. One was of me back in my Bujinkan (and long hair) days. I thought I would share it. I am wielding a Shoge if you were wondering:





Looking forward to seeing him again.



Finally, let's get some music up here. I have decided against Dream Theater. Instead, I would like to play a video of one of the songs my band is planning to cover. It is "Wild Child" by W.A.S.P.