Thursday, March 29, 2007

In Phoenix Right Now

I arrived in Phoenix this morning. The flight was uneventful expect for the fact I had a head cold and on the decent into Phoenix the pressure in my ears really built up. Not really painful since I was chewing gum like a cow chews chud. Unfortunately the rest of the day I was walking around with my ears stuffed up and having a hard time hearing things. This evening the hotel was really kind enough to have the shuttle van drive me to a Walgreens where I purchased Sudafed. I am going to be taking these EVERY four hours until my head is clear. It has to be unstuffed by Saturday night when I fly back, otherwise it will be painful descending into Oakland. I took the first two Sudafed an hour ago and it does already seem to be clearing things up.

Why am I in Phoenix? On business for the Phoenix Forum. The event is taking place in a hotel right next to the ASU stadium. The event has taken over the entire hotel, which is good considering some of the things that I have already seen. :)

I had a couple meetings already today, but placed calls to a number of people I need to meet with tomorrow. It is so odd where you find new business. On the way over to Walgreens an older gentlemen was in the van and we started talking and he and his daughter run a number of websites that would be ideal for online stores. On another trip in the van we met someone from Costa Rica who has original content they are looking to license.

Anyway, these events are always HUGE parties that last 24 hours. But, if you work them properly you can find real business opportunities.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Party at Avenue G


Tonight my good friend Tony invited me to the grand opening party at Avenue G, a new restaurant at Stockton and Union. The place was packed, with free drinks and food. In addition they had a New Orleans style marching jazz band. Met the owner Frank, nice guy. Was invited back for dinner, which I will do soon.

Check out Avenue G.

Prom Night Dumpster Baby

No words can describe this, it is taking TV to the limits.

Bob Lefsetz, Honest About Music

If you have ANY interest in music, the music industry and what's good or bad... alot of bad lately you need to be aware of Bob Lefsetz. Check out this video interview with Bob. Also visit Bob's blog and subscribe to his newsletter.

Interesting Tech Support Issue

My 14 year-old cat has beaten iBook security. Please help.
Posted: Mar 23, 2007 9:28 AM
Click to reply to this topic Reply email Email

I have this old cat that likes to sleep on my iBook while I'm not using it. I have set the screensaver to require a password in order to prevent her from entering random keystrokes into the documents I leave open while I'm away.

However, I've noticed that while the computer is still in the screensaver when I return, she has somehow managed to circumvent the password and, among other things, rename my hard drive, execute complex keystroke combinations changing my system settings and save over documents which I have minimized.

I mean, I'm not even smart enough to see what she's done without the password. How is this happening?

Any way to lock up my iBook so that the cat can't.. uh.. do this? Can't close the iBook, due to a cracked screen.. which I am dealing with. We all have our crosses to bear, right? I'm not complaining, I just want to stop the cat from trying to rewrite my novel.

Cheers.

Read the entire thread at Apple, very funny.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

The Ultimate Treehouse


I want this!!

Friday, March 16, 2007

Tattoo #3


This is my third tattoo after two hours of work. There is another two of work required to finish it. The next sitting is scheduled for April 6th. All that remains is to add color and some details.

This tattoo hurt like a mother, but is so worth it!

What can you say about this!

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Real, Dangerous, Rock and Roll

Remember this band? What happened to them? This was real, it was dangerous, it was rock and roll. Today it is just safe, a tribute to a once mighty band.

iRack iRaq

Friday, March 9, 2007

Boston Singer BRAD DELP - R.I.P

From Associated Press

ATKINSON, N.H. -- Brad Delp, the lead singer for Boston, a huge rock sensation in the 1970s, was found dead Friday in his home, police said. He was 55.

Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and that there was no indication of foul play. Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.

The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday. Delp fronted the rock band, who rose to fame in the late 1970s and had several hits, including "More than A Feeling." The group sold millions of records.

Can Not

This morning while reviewing blogs and online news at work I came across this amusing blog post by John Bone.

It was a simple request, “Go to the FedEx office and get a small box so I can send some documents to the States tomorrow”, except this is Thailand.
Chuck and Mook jumped onto one of the motor cycles and took off.
about 20 minutes later Chuck called from the FedEx office.
“They won’t sell me a box, they told me to go to the post office”
“No, they give them for free, just ask for a small box”
“They won’t give it to me”
“Why not?”
“Don’t know they just say, ‘can not’”
“You are in the FedEx office?”
“Yes”
“And they won’t give you a box?”
“No. I mean yes”
“OK, ask them if they will ship my documents to America,”
A moment of silence
“Yes”
“OK, ask them what they would like me to put the documents in”
“A box”
“OK, good now ask them for a box”
“Can not”
“What the fuck is going on are they stupid, let me talk to them”
A longer moment of silence
“They won’t talk to you”
“OK, ask them if they won’t give us a box how can they ship my documents”
“They don’t know”
“OK ask them for a box”
“Can not”
I am starting to get a little edgy
“OK ask them if they will not give you a box how can we ship the documents”
“They don’t know”
“Do you see any boxes”
“Hundreds of them”
“OK, ask them what the boxes are for”
“For shipping documents”
“Ask them if you can have one as you wish to ship some documents”
“Can not”
“Ask them how they ship documents if they won’t give you a box to ship the fucking documents in”
“They don’t know”
“Go to DHL”

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

My Next Tattoo


Tonight after work I stopped by Lyle Tuttle's to talk with artist Jeremy Kimzey about an idea for my next tattoo. He is the artist who did the cross on my left shoulder. I am going to have him draw something original around love for rock and roll. It is going to go on my left upper chest. My appointment is for March 15th and he estimates it should take 3-4 hours. Some of the ideas we discussed as part of the tattoo include a guitar, roses, a 45 rpm adapter. But, I am giving him freedom to use his artistic skills come up with something cool. More later!

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Off The Rails by Rudy Sarzo



If you were a rock fan during the heyday of 80's metal you definitely know who Randy Rhoads is and his impact on rock and roll. Unfortunately Randy's life ended much too early in a tragic plane crash while he was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne. Rudy Sarzo was the bass player in Ozzy's band at the time and also was a member of Quiet Riot when Randy was also a member. Off The Rails is Rudy's account of living and working with Randy. He does an amazing job bringing you out on the road for the Ozzy tours, in the tour bus, in the hotel, backstage and on stage. Rudy says he is always asked, "What was Randy like?" Off The Rails is his answer to that question. I didn't put the book down until it was finished and it was a blast to read. Lots of fun and funny rock stories involving Ozzy. But, Rudy accomplished his goal; I got to learn more about Randy Rhoads the person. Randy is looked upon as a "guitar god", but he was really far from being that. He was a genuine and real person who wanted teach more than perform live with Ozzy. He loved to pass along his knowledge for the guitar.

If you a guitar player or just a music fan, Off The Rails is a book for you. You will not be disappointed.

USA Today, Exclusives aim to pull music fans into stores

Back on January 21st I posted a blog entry, "It's Not Cheap to be a Fan", that discussed the many exclusives versions of new albums being released these days. Recently USA Today posted a story on this topic, "Exclusives aim to pull music fans into stores".

The world of music distribution faces turbulent times. Tower Records is gone. Hard-copy music sales continue to drop year to year, and double-digit hikes in digital sales haven't offset the losses. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers search for new ways to lure music-buying customers, particularly adults, who still buy CDs but no longer have the time or the inclination to go to music stores — assuming they can find one.

As national music chains dwindle, big-box retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart are taking cues from Starbucks and iTunes by adding more exclusive music to their shelves. Target's new Spotlight Music Series offers 15 discs, including new adult-contemporary music, genre compilations and mixes handpicked by Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews and others.

"We know our guests don't have a lot of time to browse for their favorite music," says Target's Paula Thornton-Greear. "So the Spotlight Music Series makes it easy to discover, or rediscover, their favorite music."

"People are buying music differently, especially adults," says Jim Brandmeier of 180 Music, which developed the series with Target. "They're likely to buy music while looking for something else."

Retailers typically take a couple of approaches for exclusives. First, they work with labels or individual artists to create special packages. That could be as simple as Josh Groban's Valentine's Day compilation, With You, for Hallmark, which included two new songs. Or it could be as massive as Wal-Mart's exclusive deals with Garth Brooks (a multiyear pact) and The Eagles: The group's upcoming Long Road Out of Eden album will be available only at the chain for the first year.

Second, retailers extract exclusive content from labels. Buyers of John Mellencamp's Freedom's Road, for instance, had several bonus options, including a four-song CD at Best Buy, a DVD at Wal-Mart, downloads at Walmart.com and Circuit City, and a video and two rough mixes at iTunes. The permutations amounted to eight tracks and five videos. Jerry Lee Lewis' Last Man Standing album gave digital exclusives to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, CMT.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Urge and Napster.

READ the REST

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Crank County Daredevils



The Crank County Daredevils are the latest band getting airplay on my ipod. They describe themselves as Kings of Sleaze Rock. AMP Magazine describes them as, "a righteous heavy blast of heavy rock! Described as the most sleaziest, raunchiest and most rockin' hollywood-style street-metal band from Asheville, North Carolina. Their songs are raw enough for the Punk Rock n Rollers to get into and well crafted enough for fans of heavy street rock to love as well. Lots of fun for the leather and denim crowd that wants a fast-living and hard-rocking band to crank up the High Energy Rock n Roll to drink beer by. They are starting to get lots of great press, half cause of their killer Rock n Roll looks and half cause of their killer Rock n Roll music. Their website says they are "Dressed in Nikki Sixx hand-me-downs and drooling with a demonic appetite for sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, the loud-and-lewd Crank County Daredevils owe their filthy souls to the gutter-glam sounds of Motley Crue, Guns 'N Roses, W.A.S.P. and Backyard Babies." Sounds great to me!"

If you like punk, sleaze, loud hard rock, guitars... I promise you will like the Crank County Daredevils!

Help Innocent Victims



You can help, visit Myaspca.org and donate.

A Clown Looking for Fun

From Misc


I saw this while waiting for the cable car and just had to take a picture. I am not sure if this is a bored clown, a clown looking for fun, or clown who is just having a tough day on the job.

Geeks As Far As The Eye Can See

I spent a couple hours this afternoon at Wondercon 2007, the annual comic book convention in San Francisco. Today was about being a geek. Lots and lots of comic books and lots and lots of geeks. A few even came in full costume, see my pics on Picasa. A number of celebrities were signing autographs... I spent a few minutes chatting with Richard Hatch who played Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica series. Also meeting fans were; Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Herbert Jefferson Jr (Boomer Battlestar Galactica), Jon Provost (Timmy from Lassie), Noel Neill (the original Lois Lane), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Ray Park (Darth Maul).

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Goodbye MySpace Blog

MySpace you suck! I can't say it any other way than that. You are soooo slow, and when you do load a page it is often an error page. I wanted to use your blog, I tried for almost a year. But, the pain of trying to post a new blog was impossible to deal with. So hello Blogger! I just spent the morning cutting and pasting all my blog posts from MySpace into my Blogger blog since MySpace is no nice to not provide any means of exporting MY content. I will still keep my MySpace page, I like using it to find new bands. This is my new blog home, bookmark it!

Wake Me When It's Over and a Modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah

This Van Halen drama is just stupid. It's only rock and roll people it's not like living in a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, I should know about that.

The tour is still off or on-hold depending on what you read and who you believe. Earlier this week the VH brothers were reported to NOT be attending their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, but all other VH members were. Now today it is reported the VH brothers will attend, but they will not perform, even though the entire band will be attending. Come on grow up you damn childish rock stars.

Somebody just tap me on the shoulder when they finally announce that the tour is happening, until then there are more important things in this world, like San Francisco declaring February 23rd Colt Studio Day, in honor of the gay studio's 40th anninversary. Oh you didn't hear about that, it doesn't mean damn thing to you? Let me be very clear, I think it's great Colt Studio's was honored and I have no problem with it. Really, what is the big deal, does it change anything in our lives? Well according to Bill O'Reilly, " the proclamation reinforced San Francisco's reputation as the nation's "Sodom and Gomorrah". He went on to add, "There is not another city in the country that has ever had a 'gay porn day,' '' he said. "And you wonder why San Francisco values is mocked and your city is mocked and it's looked upon as a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah." Bill, WHO CARES! This was just an easy topic for you to attack, something that you could use to get the blood pressure up with your viewers. I bet that if you stop anyone on any street and ask them how do they look upon San Francisco, they will NOT say a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. Be honest Bill, how does this proclamation impact our lives? Tell me? Am I all of a sudden a evil and dishonest person because of this since I live in San Francisco? On February 22nd I went to bed in a city that embraces different cultures and lifestyles, has worldclass food and entertainment, has natural and manmade wonders that people will travel the world to see, February 23rd I woke in Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh my god help me! Forget about the horrors and BS occuring in Iraq, San Francisco honored a gay studio! Send in the National Guard! Bill you are smarter than this, next time pick a topic that is truly deserving, that impacts our lives. If you want to read more about this visit, click.