Holidays

Here we are again with holiday sales upon us and I am getting ready to do some work to make the money that will go to all those wonderful corporations that market Christmas , Channukkah, Kwanzaa and what ever new day of happy sparkly goodness so well. Its difficult not to lose sight of the fact that these 'holy' days have degraded into Black Friday and Christmas sales where usually at least one walmart greeter will be trampled to death all in the name of getting a flat screen TV at a decent discount --(which is PROBABLY what the REGULAR sales price should be.)


Don't get me wrong, I like family -- I like seeing people I haven't seen as much as I should have over the past year -- it does kind of force you to see people you SHOULD be seeing all year round but you don't have (or make) the time for. I think the true and original meaning of what the holiday IS which is... Christmas, not Channukkah or Kwanzaa -- DECEMBER 25 is Christmas and THAT is why we get all sales crazy  is completely gone from the hearts and minds of the American people.

I might or might not have worked in a Hasidic Jewish community. Those guys were straight from 'the holy land' and they actually believe and keep the old traditions alive -- and MOST of them DO MEAN it. Its not just the pretense -- they are the real deal when it comes to keeping the God and Faith in religion (even if they Do have extremely 'creative accounting' procedures come tax time).

Anyway -- I am including myself when I say that Christmas has lost something ad if Jesus were alive today (and don't go telling me that he IS because if he was he would've given up on us a long time ago and just gone fishing or comic book collecting in some small town in Tibet) he would've at best scolded us for the ways we have justified the use of his name -- first for the crusades, then for the Holiday BS that the purveyors of said TV's, Keurig coffee makers, and salad shooters spew out year after year -- in HIS name.

Lets step back and take a look at what we are about -- and while we go and get those 'killer 'deals lets not lose our humanity in the process. If the greeter is being trampled step OVER him or her to get the TV... try NOT to knock the old woman down while reaching for that new toaster complete with the newest 'bagel technology' built right in.

If you don't get the item you wanted go home and hug your family and know that life is none the worse for any of it... you can always find the useless cheaply made crap all year round, and while it might not be at the SAME discount as now 

-- BIG F'ing DEAL... 

it doesn't matter.

I am a proud american but this phenomenon seems to have its epicenters in OUR cities and suburbs so lets just ease off a smidgen this year and set a GOOD (or at least a decent) example for the world instead of being the punchline for every other country this holiday season, ok ?

Thanks -- thats all for now.

Anniversary of a guy who went semi-postal.

On Dec 7 1995, Disgruntled postal employee John Pitney arrives at his Denver workplace in a dress and is placed on administrative leave.

Pitney returns later that day in the same dress but sporting a strap-on dildo and gorilla mask.

He is arrested.

God bless America and God bless the US Postal Service.

Found this on story on Dailyrotten.com.

End of guitar rig week

It obviously went over like a lead balloon as I had less than a hundred visitors all week -- I should really make a better effort to get the word out there -- but this isn't really my focus as much as it should be -- I am going to pump up traffic in the coming weeks as I am going to have a little bit of free time with the holidays coming -- anyway for those of you who DID get to see it I hope you found something that you can use and if nothing else at least now there's an archive of gear to sift through -- I am going to go back and list some of the different gear so just in case these videos on youtube go bye bye there will still be a record of what the guitar guys were using and it wont just be a dead link.

So as of tomorrow we are back on with the standard fare here of music -- the more 'out there' the better, I am going to add a little funk into the mix since that also holds a special place in my heart (LOVE those guys from Pfunk and Parliament) And of COURSE there be the avante garde orchestral stuff I always have an itch for.

Thanks to everyone for checking the broadcast -- see you all soon. (as in tomorrow)
Peace.

Joe Satriani Rig

This is the sound I wish I had come up with, the epitome of melodic guitar and he has the soulful sound thst I do so deeply dig.

Satch's Guitar tech goes through the gear Joe uses live.

Alex Skolnick -- Remember him ?

Former -- then replaced -- then returned, guitarist for the band "Testament"

Good art - Bad art - Good god man - who blew that fart?

Why is it that people feel the need to compete in artistic matters?

--insert crazy rant here--

Ridiculous.

Technical ability aside -- any art in and of itself can only be as 'good' or 'bad' as the viewer/listener who is taking it in. There will be things that appeal to us in some primordial way, and then there are things that we are unappreciative of. There are things you might like 'the best' but it's entirley subjective and often due to socialized standards that were put onto you from your parents and upbringing. The art itself is something that is neither good nor bad; perceptions and life experiences are what filter all art through our own little prism... whether that is good or bad remains to be seen; as the last man(or woman) alive will be the real final arbiter of what 'fine' art is or was and only they'll be in a position to say who WAS the BEST.

--crazy rant over--

John Petrucci's Guitar Rig

Remember Dream Theater ? This is the guitar muscle from those guys.
Part One


Part Two

The Edge

That guy from U2 is a freaking nut job when it comes to guitar effects, I like some of his tones a lot so here you go, I actually laughed a little to myself when they were about halfway through some of the pedal names... LOTS of toys.



The Edge demonstrating his guitar rig.

Part one


Part two