New Volbeat - Hard Rock/Metal have a gunfight with Spaghetti Westerns



Denmark's Volbeat are currently my favorite hard rock/metal group going right now (sidenote: when the legendary original Black Sabbath (minus Bill Ward - still pissed over that) return with their new album on June 11th, all the current whipper-snappers of hard rock/metal will "kneel before Zod"!...just saying).  What I like about Volbeat is that they're not your run-of-the-mill rock band...they take some of their favorite genres of old music and give it a new, metallic, twist.  They're sometimes referred to as "Elvis Metal" - not sure I agree with that (I hear more Johnny Cash at times), but then again, I'm a super (duper!) Elvis nerd so I refuse any dilution or twisting of The King.  Anyway, Volbeat's entire catalog is great, though I must admit each of their previous albums are a bit uneven - there will be a few really kickass numbers, then a few "fillers", then a few more kickass numbers. 

However, their latest Spaghetti Western-inspired album is fantastic from the opening track to the finale!  Perhaps their inspiration for this album is why I like it so much:
A.  I'm a big fan of Spaghetti Westerns
B.  I'm a

Feeling warm on a cold day...

This morning on the local news, they had a report that was pretty damn cool.  It was about a blind dog who had his own guide dog...I had never heard of that before!  Was this common?  Had I been living under some sort of ignorant rock?  Apparently, I had been, to some degree.  I got on YouTube to see if there were any other videos like this and - yep, there were more examples of heartwarming tales like the one I saw this morning.

Besides the ones featuring one dog leading another dog around, there were even examples of a cat leading a blind dog around.  But the one that really got me was the story below (looks to have originally aired about a year ago):

Awkward Family Photos...so hilariously good!

Ok, I know this site has been around awhile - but, better late than never, I gotta say it - Awkward Family Photos is the best!  It's one of my favorite sites right now - never fails to make me laugh...and not just a little "ha-ha" giggle either; rather, more often than not, a full-blown, "Oh shit! I can't catch my breath and I'm about to stroke out!" tear-filled, thunderous guffaw!

Those pictures...Jesus.  Then the captions/stories underneath...so good. 

An "Alien Grey" head in new Mars photo?

Ok, so I'm checking out the new hi-res photo from the Mars Curiosity rover over at NASA's JPL site.  I'm scanning around, taking in all the little rocks and surface features - marveling at it all (yeah, I'm a nerd, I know), half expecting to see R2-D2 and C-3PO walking around out there - it looks a bit Tatooine-ish after all.  Well, anyway, I'm scanning the picture and I have to do a double-take.  I can't believe what I'm seeing as I burst out in laughter (wasn't drinking anything so it was a dry laugh - monitor and keyboard stayed liquid-free).

Curiosity begins (and continues) on Mars!

Yes!  Success!  The Mars Curiosity rover is on the ground!  A few black and white pics have already come back and I can't wait for all the pics and info. sure to come.  Congrats to all the incredibly bright men and women involved with this project - y'all are amazing!

Man, that was exciting!

Ok - now - let's continue the Mars exploration and (someday) colonization of the red planet.  But also - let's get a big-ass drill sent to Jupiter's moon, Europa, so we can peer underneath its vast sheets of ice and see what kind of ocean is lurking beneath.

Reminiscing about my favorite girl…

Sometimes people come into our life and have such a profound impact in such a short time with just their “being”, that – even though we may not get to spend as much time with them as we would like or even get to know as much about them as we would like – at some point, we just have to sit back, accept, and appreciate that somehow, for some reason, we were deemed special enough to be blessed by someone truly special – even if just for a moment that is quite fleeting in the whole scheme of things.

In the Fall of 1980, when I started 1^st grade, just such a special person came into my life only to exit far too soon when I moved away in the Summer of 1983 after the end of 3^rd grade.  She had long brown hair; big brown eyes; a beaming smile that could light the darkest of Grinch souls; and an angelic niceness tempered with a heaping helping of sass and cleverness to keep one in line (which I needed at times).  Her name…Melissa VanOsdol.  Such a powerful, unbridled joy I felt with her that I’ve never felt since – oh, I’ve searched for that same feeling…through many avenues – but, 30-plus years later, it’s remained elusive.

She was the first girl to tell me I was “cute” (hello, ego boost!).  She was the first girl to say the words “I love you” to me who wasn’t my mom or grandma.  Obviously, the expression/meaning of those words when you’re the age of a 1^st grader are comprised of a far lesser complexity than when you’re an adult – but – it still evokes a special feeling just the same.  Along these lines, she made this birthday card for me in class which I’ve kept in a safe place after all these years:

Outside of card

Inside of card

I do regret, as innocent as those three words were at the time, that I never said them back (to be fair, I’ve never said those three words as an adult either – they’re powerful words, more valuable than gold, so I keep them locked in a box labeled: “Open only in case of an extraordinary woman who is cool with my nerdiness”).

Anyway, that 1^st grade year was pretty calm.  I don’t recall doing anything stupid, thus, I don’t recall Melissa and I ever being mad at each other – it was just a really special friendship…but always a bit different from the norm (I’ll explain later).  A lot of my memories of that year have faded away, but there are two that still stand out quite vividly. 

In the latter half of that grade (early 1981), Melissa was talking and giggling a bit too much for the teacher’s taste.  Well, back then, teachers still took us out in the hall and paddled us for misbehaving (I was never paddled…thank you).  She was taken out to the hall; our class got silent; and soon we heard the SMACK of the wooden paddle.  A few moments later, she came back in with tears in those big brown eyes…it devastated me.  I wanted to run across the room and give her a comforting hug and kiss right then and there.

The second memory happened after the school year was over and we were on Summer break – I’m pretty sure anyway – the event timing is fuzzy now, but the details are forever (I hope) engrained into my brain.  Well, I received an invitation to her birthday party (I was the only boy invited).  I wasn’t able to go on the day it was being held, so my mom drove me over to her house a couple days before the party to give her a birthday card.  When she answered the door, she was eating little powdered sugar doughnuts and had powdered sugar all over her face – sporting her patented beaming smile the whole time.  It was so funny!  I never mentioned to her that she had powdered sugar all over her face – I just gave her the card, shyly blurted out a quick “Happy Birthday!”, and just as quickly, turned and went back to the car.  I heard her say “Thank you!” as I walked away and the door shut soon after.  To this day, when I see those little powdered sugar doughnuts in stores, I think of that moment and get the biggest smile on my face.  That memory is one of my most prized possessions.

1^st grade class photo

UPDATE 3-18-2015:  Out of respect for the privacy of my old grade school classmates, whom I've always cherished (even the ones I didn't always get along with way back then - haha), I have removed my old classroom photo.  If I knew for sure that people would be respectful, then I would keep it up - but for now, it will stay down.

2^nd grade: 1981- 1982

2^nd grade began the series of “tug-of-wars” in our relationship. 

We've lost a visionary genius...

Ralph McQuarrie has died at the age of 82. 

More than anyone - yes, perhaps even more than George Lucas himself - Ralph McQuarrie was responsible for bringing "Star Wars" to life and changing millions of lives around the world...mine included.  "Star Wars" sparked my creative fire back in 1977 as a 3-year old, and from that point for many years to follow, I spent many an hour drawing pictures and conjuring up stories of all kinds - not just "Star Wars"-related.  So, to find out many years later as a teenager that this grand cinematic vision really sprang from a technical artist from Boeing was a bit of a surprise.  I bought every "Art of Star Wars"-related book I could find just so I could take in every detail of McQuarrie's works of art.  There were many times I wished that a version of "Star Wars" could have been made that looked identical to the style of the paintings he created.  My personal favorite is his depiction of Luke scanning the far-off Mos Eisley spaceport atop a high cliff - I can sit and stare at that painting and just get lost in it...you can almost feel the heat from the twin suns and hear a desolate wind blowing through.

What an amazing talent Mr. McQuarrie was - he may be best known for his "Star Wars"-related work, but it's really just one piece of an incredible portfolio.  Check out his website and be amazed.

Next stop - Mars!

The Mars Curiosity rover began it's journey to Mars this morning and I couldn't be happier...well, actually, I guess if it's propulsion system instead utilized a combination of light/solar sail and plasma rockets to cut it's 8 1/2 month journey to 8 1/2 weeks or less, I'd be absolutely ecstatic.  Some day...some day.

Here's hoping that it lands safely and begins the next phase of Mars discovery - thus paving the way for man's next foothold in the solar system (of course, there's that little hurdle of protecting astronauts from extreme radiation - but - we'll get there).

Be sure to check in on the official Mars Curiosity Twitter feed (which I've also added to the bottom of my blog).

As an aside, it's my humble/un-researched opinion that if we made colonization of Mars the top goal of our country, we could easily cut unemployment in half in the near-term; and eliminate it, not just for our country but for all countries on Earth, in the long-term.  Not to mention the technologies surely created for such a goal could also be used to clean up our own planet and make it a better place to live.  But - *sarcasm alert* why attempt such a revolutionary evolution for our species when it's soooo much easier to spend our time destroying things, stabbing each other in the back for material possessions, and policing others' morality here on our tiny blue marble.  *Here's where I kick the dirt and do my best grumpy old man "Bah-humbug!" spat*

Keep looking up.

Nice shootin' SEALS!

With a well placed shot to the head and chest, the words "Bad Mother Fucker" will be replaced on wallets all across America with "SEAL Team Six". A ballsy mission pulled off with spectacular gusto. OBL sleeps with the fishes.

Way to go fellas! I hope you all get a "Drink Free for Life" card good in every bar & pub across the nation.

I also hope this will speed the process of bringing our brave military men and women back home to their family and friends.

I know the death of one piece of hairy feces won't completely shut the door on ancient ignorance, but perhaps now we can truly begin to move forward and make the 21st Century that giant leap for mankind we envisioned it could be in the 20th: advanced space travel technology; colonization of Mars and moons; wide-scale renewable clean energies; cheap & efficient de-salinization of water for all; new farming techniques and philosophies so that all will have healthy food in abundance; but most of all - widespread acceptance and appreciation for each other and this gift of life we've all been given.

Oh, and hover cars! We were supposed to have hover cars by now, dammit!...but I digress.

We've spent way too much time and money taking out the trash - let's get back to creating/improving/inspiring.

The Candy Bar Adventures available as an ebook!

Well, looks like it's time for a little shameless self-promotion - *shame-filled sigh*- so, here we go...

The first two books in my "The Candy Bar Adventures" series are available in ebook format for the Amazon Kindle; Barnes&Noble Nook; iBooks app/store for iPad (and other Apple products); and you can even go to Lulu.com (the self-publishing site I use) and get them for various other devices. With the exception of Amazon, the ebooks are in the epub file format. Now, here's the exciting part - each book is available for just $2.99! Yes, you just read that right - $2.99! That's less than $3!!! (no, really, it is - I did the math and everything).

How 'bout some helpful links to facilitate that purchase, hmmmm? No pressure or anything...(for the love of God, just buy a couple copies!!! *uncontrollable sobbing begins...followed by holding of breath*)

The Candy Bar Adventures books at Amazon.com

The Candy Bar Adventures books at Barnes&Noble

The Candy Bar Adventures books at Lulu.com

The Candy Bar Adventures books at iBookstore...well, ok, I don't have a link for this one - you gotta have an Apple device that can download and run the iBooks app...I think you can download the app through iTunes too.


Anyway, still working on the third book in The Candy Bar Adventures series (3 years and counting now - I'm a little embarrassed) but it'll be completed eventually.

Enjoy!