A rare offer

Hey all, it is not often I do this... recommend a band. As you better know by now, I am a very serious music guy. I have made only one public recognition like this before, and it was for Norah Jones. Before I had this site, I remember hearing 'Don't know Why' on my local radio outlet and being amazed. I have a well trained jazz ear, especially for vocals... and I knew this old black chick had the skills. I sent out a mass e mail to all my friends saying 'this is your chance to be cool!' and told them to find this Norah Jones character and buy her disc. The next day I bought it myself, and it turned out she was neither old nor black. In fact, she was HOT! Anyhow, I was very very right and she won a zillion grammy's and is about the only artist in history (besides Paul Simon) to win Best New Artist and not disappear soon after.

So I have a new recommendation for you, and it comes ill informed. I don't have a record from these guys, not even a download. However, I saw them recently on SNL and just saw a video of theirs on TV. Lemme tell you, there are about 5 or 6 performances on SNL that cause me to sit down and shut up. Probably the most memorable and impressive was Radiohead a few years ago. Keane did that last weekend. When they played I just sat and watched and listened and was very impressed. I think I am suggesting their album, but I don't even know that they have one. If they don't, they will very soon.

Their image couldn't be better. They have no image, literally. There is no guitar or bass player, and the vocalist is this very talented fat ugly British kid. The music is piano driven and heartfelt. This is a great band, and I have never declared that here of a new band... so it should carry some weight.

Friday Fives

1. How do you calm yourself down after something freaks you right out? Hot baths? Warm milk? Pacing and swearing?

I tend to pace and swear a lot already. So that wouldn't help. I take baths all the time too, and not when I am upset. Screaming helps a lot. Also, I save up a lot of rage through the course of the day and when I get home... I kick the living crap out of my dogs... till they are near death. Then, I find the cat.

2. What's the best free thing you have ever scored?

My wife!

3. Are you a collector? What do you collect?

Music is my great vice in every sense. Ok; music, dog abuse, meth amphedamines, and white slavery... those are my vices. I guess you could say I collect guitars. Between basses, acoustics, and electrics; I have 6 or 7 currently. Also have my eye on the grand daddy of all guitars... the Paul Reed Smith. I have craved one since I started playing about 15 years ago, but never felt I was good enough (talent wise, not sin-wise) to deserve one. Well, I am ready for one and hope to have one by the end of the year. Price tag? $1600, for the lower tier!

4. Ever gone dumpster diving?

Yeah. When I was a kid in elementary school my mom was off of work on Mondays. That meant she cleaned like crazy (you have to with boys). What that meant is that all my cool stuff recently acquired would be in the garbage. Knowing this, I would come home on Mondays from school and check the garbage outside before even announcing I was home. I would set aside the crap she threw out in a hiding place to later return to storage. No big deal right? What if I told you I had a Guitar Player magazine with a personal lesson written in it for me by a young Joe Satriani with a sharpie? Cool huh? Gone! How about a signed copy of the cassette 'Doomsday for the Deceiver' from Flotsam and Jetsam, including a sig from future Metallica bassist James Newsted? Gone! What if I told you I have a polaroid of the look on Dave Mustaine's face when I spoke with him face to face about his drummer (Megadeth) passing out in the middle of the set last time they were in Phoenix... as he signed my Peace Sells cassette? Gone! Which is gone, the signed cassette, or the photo with the incredulous look on Mustaine's face? both!

5. What would be the.worst.Valentine's.day.present.ever.

herpes? Sorry, I am not a romantic. I am kind, giving, and terribly nice... but not romantic. Hey, I can't be everything right? I mean, I bought my wife a fucking horse... that counts for something doesn't it? Why are you guys cornering me?

As always, thanks a million to my very good friend and mentor Roy for this weeks fives. Won't you stop over and visit his blog. Everything here was birthed from his.

Update: the zoloft killings

Last summer I wrote a piece here that was mean spirited and simplistic. What I recommends in these very pages was that instead of drug therapy for troubled teens and kids, they should instead be whupped. Go ahead and re-read the piece now, it is right here. Just today there was a big debate on CNN regarding the virtue of all these mood altering drugs on kids and teenagers. Sadly, a teen killed his grandparents because he was on Zoloft.

Defense attorneys contend Zoloft drove him to shoot the couple, set fire to their home outside Chester, South Carolina, and drive away with his dog.

This just stinks for everyone around, and I take no joy in this news. All of my grandparents have passed on, and I wish they were still here to teach me. Now that I am an adult, I could learn so much from them. However, it is also important also to note that I was correct in my assessment. Children and teens don't need drugs to make them normal. There is no normal when you are a teen. What children and (especially) teens need, is a good smackin'!

The Best Superbowl ever!

Not the game, you dingus. The game was a very predictable dissappointment as New England was simply better. By that I mean they fumbled less. I don't know that I have ever seen that many turn overs in my life - ever! It was like watching pre-season. I guess that is good defense, but I would rather watch good offense. It makes for better TV.

So how exactly was this game the greatest, and what in the world am I talking about? Glad you asked. I didn't go to a party or have anyone over. It was that simple. Normally I go over to a buddies house, and drink myself silly. While doing that I eat myself silly, and somehow still manage to jam at least half a pack of smokes down my face. Of course, in all of this guy cameraderie I miss most of the game and commercials.

Not this time; I sat home by myself making Chili and drinking beer and watching the game. It was awesome! I didn't miss a play, or a commercial. I also didn't smoke a single ciggie, and didn't have to drunk drive home... like the 2/3rds of America that just did.

It was the simplest and best approach to a Superbowl ever, and it may just be an annual event. I'll make the play offs fun, because they are. The Superbowl, though, should stay all mine. It is the last game of the year which makes me sad anyway.