Back to the Grind

Well break is over. I'm kind of sad yet happy to be going back to class. It's weird I am actually excited about school these days even though I hate Physics.

The trip to Raleigh was great. I didn't get a chance to see Blade but managed to have a couple funny conversations with him. I heard him on the air at 96 Rock and it was cool to hear him back on the air. I heard him and his sidekick discussing the greatest guitarists of all time. We all of course know it's Jimi Hendrix, but his partner on the show wanted to divide it up into sub categories. NO! It doesn't work that way. There is no such thing as a great modern rock guitarist. I am trying to think of who in the hell would be in that category.. ummm no one. Stupid.

Here is my top 5:

5. Randy Rhoads
4. Eddie Van Halen
3. Eric Clapton
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan
1. Jimi Hendrix

I think that is a pretty impressive list. I don't need to divide it up. I would say those guitarist have all been an influence to most that are in the music business.

Flight home read more of the "Slash" book and now up to where they fired Steve Adler. I will say this Slash was one heroin shooting dude. Damn. It's amazing he is still alive and kicking. Here is another clip from the old days of GnR.

There was just something about that band just in your face straight up Rock n Fuckin' Roll.

Raleighwood

I decided to head to Raleigh at the last minute to round out the spring break. Yes I am aware that you should spend spring break where it's warm, but I figured what the hell. Every one I knew was out of town and I didn't feel like sitting on my ass for the last three days of vacation.

I am still reading the book on Slash. It is an awesome book. I am up to the part where they have finally hit the road as an opening act and headliner. Great stories. Not to mention Axl started even back then with not showing up to gigs. Slash speaks of the concert at the RItz in New York which aired on MTV all the time. I remember first getting into this album by watching this concert. He claims he doesn't like the performance but it was GNR and it was kick ass. Watch the clip:

Damn just watching that brings back some great memories. Appetite for Destruction one of the greatest albums of all time. Yes I said of all time. And Axl man what a skinny little bastard.

Yesterday was a trip to Hooters and had lunch with good ol' Rob and Jason. Two great guys from the RDU days. In reality two guys that are to nice to be in radio. Fun biz with lots of perks but you due tend to get shafted way to much. Anyway had a great time with them chatting about days past, school, TV and sports. I even stopped by Smoketree Tower to chat with the E-rock. Hung out with him for a few but I try to make it quick as there are to many people in the building I don't really want to see. Then last night me and my friend Sharen headed out and had some drinks and tied one on. Always fun throwing back a few with her.

I think today will be lunch with Blade. I can't wait to see his new mo-hawk. I'll tell you people that shave their heads get mo-hawks whatever are ballsier than me. I hate even see people get their head shaved it freaks me out. Always has even when I didn't have long hair. Always fun seeing him and catching up. I'm looking forward to hearing how it's going at 96 Rock.

Later hope to see the one and only Teke. Yes that is his real name. I always laughed when people thought that was his radio name. Nope not the case.

Of course tonight the last round of drinking for a while. I have to lay off the beer drinking during the week. I would like to see how long I could actually go with out beer. The longest so far was 17 days. We shall see.

Spring Break..Relax, TV, Reading..

But not necessarily in that order. Here it is Thursday and break is almost over and it has been a nice break. Started out by heading to Ft. Lauderdale then back up the coast on A1A. Stayed an evening on the beach just outside of Cocoa Beach, which was awesome. I am not one to lay out on the beach and get tan, but I love the ocean. Even just walking down the beach or whatever is cool.

I also have been rocking to the hot chicks in Drain S.T.H. lately. These 4 girls from Sweden could kick some serious ass. Enjoy:

Of course what would Spring Break be without some drinking? Nothing. So had to throw back some frosty Budweiser's. Managed to mess around with Photoshop and I love that freaking program. You can do so much with it and to think you can always learn something new about it.

I did some reading today on inventor Nikola Tesla. That guy got SCREWED. Marconi got credit for radio and Edison for electricity. The amount of stuff he invented or patented was incredible. I always knew about the radio and electricity, but some of the other stuff I had no idea such as: X-Rays, Radio, electro-magnetic power, AC electricity, Solar Heating, Vacuum Tubes, Remote Control Vehicles, Torpedoes, Force Fields, Microwave Transmissions, High Voltage Conductors, Wireless Communications, World Wide Broadcasting Systems, Transistors, Phosphorescent Lighting, The Heating Pat, Robots, Liquid Oxygen, Under Ground Power Lines, Cryogenics, Radar, Guided Missiles, and even Automobile Speedometers. He once produced an earth quake in New York City and blew out electric plants in Colorado with his experiments. Not to mention he could speak eight languages. How the hell can someone be so smart? I was pretty involved with reading about Tesla. Who knew the Internet had more than just porn?

Speaking of porn...I bought a new Sony handycam video camera and that thing is cool. Small and easy to use. It will be great for vacations, school projects, or in the words of my friend Todd a new amateur porn operation. That will first take some girls. Just a note... my amateur porn operation can be just girls. It does not have to involve me in any way other than the filming. That's another story but if your interested e-mail me. Kidding of course.. OK no I'm not.

Tomorrow it's off to Raleigh to end the vacation and hang with some friends. I really like NC. I think it's just going to be to cold for me. Even 50's is cold.

What the F**k is Juice?

Here I am in the 3rd week of Phizzicks and boy does it suck. I am shooting for a D in this class. It's amazing that we have gotten real books for every class and have never used any of them except for Algebra and Geometry. The hardest to date is Physics and we do not get a freaking book. Damn I'm pissed. How's a person supposed to study and prepare for a test without a book? Right it's pretty damn hard.

While I am scooting by in Physics I figured I would try and get a good student discount on insurance since I am a Straight "A" student still. My policy is to be renewed at the end of the month so I figured it was the perfect time to call. I make the call and the girl asks "What's my GPA?" I replied 4.0. Friends that's a 4.0 out of 4.0. She puts me on hold and comes back and says I am not eligible. WHAT!? How? She then tells me I am to old! Holy shit I couldn't believe it. In today's day and age and they stop giving good student discounts at the age of 24. Can you believe this shit. I'm in my early 30's and I am to OLD?

I realize that most students are still late teens early 20's, but here I am going back to improve myself and future and the piece of shit insurance companies won't give me a measly discount on my insurance. What the F*ck?

While Physics is a shitty class...I mean do I give a shit that if I throw a ball in the air that it comes down at the same speed I threw it up? Nope. Never have. Never will.

Digital Audio Design is kick ass. Making music and sound effects for movie clips is pretty damn cool. Of course a background in music does help me to enjoy this class even more. Below is an example of what I have done in class so far. I picked the clip from Bad Boys and put all the sound effects to the clip. Check it out:

Pretty cool...I think and really that's all that matters.

Catch Up Time

Lets go back to last Thursday when after Physics me and some friends decided to go grab a well deserved beer or three which turned into a lot. We actually ended up closing the place down. I also witnessed radio ego completely out of hand that evening. Let me start by saying that Orlando's "O-rock" station has flipped formats and let everyone go.

So the radio ego of the FORMER night guy there was completely ridiculous. He was hanging at the bar thinking he was still hot shit when in reality he is nothing anymore. I know this first hand once you have been fired no one gives to shits as to who you are. Yet it still amazed me how he thought he was still the coolest dude. Not to mention that when he would make an announcement it would be all distorted because he was to drunk and stupid to turn down the music that was blaring through the speakers at the same time he was trying to talk. What a fu*king moron. Also just a complete side note that no one gives a shit about radio personalities anymore. The biz sucks and people do not care who you think you are.

OK enough bitching...but it had to be done.

Friday turned into a typical Friday beers after class and then to a friends place to drink more.

Saturday ended up just killing some time for the first half of the day. Ate Chinese at a buffet and I have never had such bad Chinese food ever. Not to mention they didn't even have soft serve ice cream. What the hell is that all about? A Chinese buffet without soft serve ice cream. That would be like walking into a Mexican restaurant and not getting chips and salsa. It's just a given to have soft serve ice cream for dessert at a buffet of any kind.

The rest of Saturday was pretty laid back and relaxing.

Sunday left me doing laundry. My washing machine in this place makes me have to do a shit ton of loads in one day or like 1 load a day for a week. Tomorrow I will have to tell you about the lizard. Trust me it's good.

Fizzicks

Thursday is our first test in Physics. Every other Tuesday we have a quiz. Can you say SUCK! Digital Audio Design is pretty cool. I'm having a great time with this class not to mention the teacher is cool.

I haven't checked out much music lately, but the newest has been the band Airbourne. These guys are like the 2008 version of AC/DC. Pretty much straight up rock and they also happen to hail from Australia. Here is a video from the guys and the song "Runnin' Wild".



Again I love you tube.

I'm telling you even though it's Thursday I really miss Nip Tuck already. That show was so freaking good this year. The finale was awesome. Damn. If you haven't seen the show just skip last season since it really sucked ass. Move on to this one.

Physics

Today is the first day of Physics this should be interesting since I have never had this class and I am not looking forward to it. The teacher does seem like a cool dude though so should be ok.

Digital Audio is going to be awesome as well.

Last night headed to the Friendly Confines the newest local bar that is AWESOME! Cheap drinks great jukebox and good looking girls. Do you need anything more? No.

More later after Physics.

It's a Sad Day in Music

First I will start with the bad news...

TORONTO — Acclaimed jazz and rock guitarist Jeff Healey was remembered Sunday as a musician of rare ability who had a wicked sense of humour and a generous nature as fans and bandmates mourned his death at age 41, following a battle with cancer.

Bandmates of Canadian rock and jazz legend Jeff Healey were among those shocked by the news of his death Sunday.



Healey died Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital surrounded by family and a bandmate, Colin Bray.

Bray, the bass player with Jeff Healey's jazz Wizards and the frontman's long-time friend, said he and many others expected the guitarist to rally from this latest illness.

"I don't think any of us thought this was going to happen," Bray said in a telephone interview. "We just thought he was going to bounce back as he always does."

Healey had battled with cancer since the age of one when a rare form of retinal cancer known as Retinoblastoma claimed his eyesight.

Bray said Healey had been hospitalized for a week and that his advanced lung cancer made his final hours difficult.

Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumours from his lungs and leg.

Bray and fellow bandmate Gary Scriven remembered their frontman as not only a world-class musician but an incredibly strong person with the capacity to motivate those he worked with.

Scriven called Healey inspirational and praised the boundless enthusiasm that allowed him to continue performing live only four weeks before his death.

"He drew his strength from somewhere, I don't know where, but it spread among the band and flowed into the audience," Scriven said.

Healey rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that garnered a Juno award, international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light."

But Bray and Scriven said Healey's true love was jazz, the genre that dominated his last three albums with the Jazz Wizards.

Healey's guitar prowess was characterized by a unique playing-style that saw him lay the instrument across his lap.

It led him to share stages with such rock luminaries as George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King, but Bray said jazz allowed him to exercise his other instrumental talents such as trumpet and drums.

Healey's love of jazz also led him to host radio shows on the CBC and a local Toronto station where he spun long-forgotten numbers from his personal collection of over 30,000 vinyl records.

But Bray said his "best friend" saw himself first and foremost as an entertainer and said Healey seemed to derive therapeutic benefits from playing live shows.

Recalling Healey's weakened condition at his final performance on Feb. 2 in Goderich, Ont., Bray said Healey seemed to draw strength as the set progressed.

"At the end of it, I can't believe how much better he looked. It was like blood to him."

Healey's death came weeks before the release of his first rock album in eight years.

"Mess of Blues" is slated for a North American release on April 22.
Healey is backed on the album by the resident band at Jeff Healey's Roadhouse, the blues club he founded and named after a 1989 Patrick Swayze movie in which he appeared.

The album features two live tracks recorded in the last few months of his life.

The Grammy-nominated musician is survived by his wife Christie and two children; daughter Rachel, 13 and son Derek, 3.

I am glad I got a chance to check out his concert before this tragedy. Jeff Healey was incredible to watch. If you do not have any Jeff Healey music you need to pick it up. It is some amazing music. I am glad to hear there will be one more Jeff Healey CD. It is amazing to listen to him play. Blind and the guy can still rip it up on guitar better than most who can see. Check out some footage here with Stevie Ray Vaughan:




And another clip of him covering George Harrison "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"




And well one more..Angel Eyes..




Now on to some better news...

Yesterday turned out interesting. It was an awesome day outside mid 70's sunshine...So decided to meet up with some friends and play tennis and by play tennis i mean hit the ball around. I love playing tennis. I just cant serve worth shit. After a couple hours of that we got a wild hair and went to the driving range and hit some golf balls. Now I haven't played golf in years. In fact I have a brand new set of clubs still in the box that I bought when I was 18. Ended up using the ranges lefty clubs. It was good to see nothing had changed in years. I was still shanking the ball to the left. I don't know how golfers do it. I hit a bucket of 60 balls and I was beat. 7 bux though. I think that's a good deal.

Today starts a new month of classes. This month Digital Audio Design and Physics. I have never had a Physics class so should be interesting. Class doesn't start today until 5 so it's like a day off but not really.

Updated...Finally

It's just been to long. And for the 5 of you who read this blog there will be more regular posts since it seems this month should be a little slower for projects and such.

Finished up Geometry and parraragrams and I believe I pulled out an A in this class. We shall see. Advanced Computer Graphics was a killer class. I definitely enjoyed that one. It really pushed me in some different creative directions.

So we had a three day weekend and managed to get completely ripped on Saturday night. Started out driving to bike week in Daytona. That was cool. Some very cool bikes I hopefully will be able to make it back next weekend. After that made it back to Winter Park and headed over to what will be the new hangout. The good ol' friendly confines and even though it's a Chicago Cubs bar the deals they have will have me there regardless. After putting away a few pitchers there it was down to Hooters to watch UFC. Personally I don't really give a shit about that.

It had been a while since I really tied one on and this morning I know why. Hangovers just plain suck after you turn 30. Why is that? Whatever it is it's bullshit.

Who knows what today will bring. It's awesome today. Enjoy your Sunday.