I love to cook. My style is "northern soul" (basic meat and potatoes). My signature dish is either my ribs, or my egg noodles. Either in excess will propel you directly into the nearest cardiac unit.
My only non-musical hobbie right now is working on my car. I have a small black Nissan with a very large engine. I've been doing some modifications, lately. Nothing drastic, just a little bit of tuning and some very subtle bling.
Looking for Fairview High School students (Dayton, Ohio). I was in the last graduated class.
North Riverdale Little League.
Dayton River Festival.
I dig live music.
Music
I'm not much for commercial music.
Most of the radio rock bands start to sound the same to me. I'm very tired of guitarists playing chords without a solo. I'm tired of bands with cheap hooks. The hook should be a melody. Not a full rest with a spoken/screamed/cookie-monster vocal line.
The Foo Fighters interest me. I haven't purchased any of their albums for myself, but they bring a fresh flavor to an old genre.
I like Bowling for Soup, as well. They're like a big pile of cotton candy to my ear. And I like the idea of having a 300lb, bald guitarist on MTV.
I was really impressed by a touring band last year. My friends and I went to their show just because of their name, and we were blown away. Dont laugh: Alabama Thunderpussy. Holy crap, they were great. I hate to try and pigeonhole a band, but theyre kind of a cross between Black Sabbath and The Allman Brothers. They are truly impressive players with a great sound.
I really like going out to see my friends play, locally. My band's been working pretty hard lately, so I really like being on the other side of the proscenium for a change.
Locally, I like: Scott Avery, The Nucklebusters, The Dillengers, The Neto Funk Allstars, Cutback Surf Band, The Shack Daddys, The Too Easy Band, Breeze, Hot Brass Monkey and The Groove Thangs (whenever they show up to town).
Oh, and the greatest band on the planet: The Funkabilly Playboys. http://www.funkabillyplayboys.com
And I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Rooster Head. I miss Pete Moss and Michael Kennedy.
(Added to be preachy 9/4/2007)
With anything new in our lives, we recognize or try to recognize the same in others. We gravitate most toward people most like us. If you're on vacation, and you see someone with a familiar t-shirt (Hog's Breath, Ron Jon, Spoon Benders, etc.), you're more likely to strike up a conversation with that person than the guy with the "I'm with stupid!" shirt.
With my leukemia, at first, I tried to recognize anyone with my same disease, but I couldn't. CLL is usually an "old man's" disease. I rarely hits guys my age. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society even had a hard time just finding someone to talk with me on the phone as a one-on-one support group. (They have a GREAT local support group, but not for CLL guys in my age bracket.)
The funny thing is, while searching through the LLS website, I discovered not one but TWO celebrities rumored to have CLL. They were Ed Bradley (from 60 Minutes) and late night talk show host Tom Snyder.
The unfortunate part is that while each put out a press release about their disease, neither was willing to pick up a torch and light the way for anyone else. They each sequestered themselves away during their treatments and shunned the idea of being an identity for this disease.
This is where Mike Peters comes in.
Mike is the lead singer of a mid-80's (and beyond) rock band from Wales named The Alarm. You'll see them more often in my top friends list.
Mike is now 47-48 and just completed his first treatment for CLL. He is, so far, not only the sole fortysomething guy I know with CLL, he's leading the charge to raise money for research and to help defray the costs of treatment for patients in countries without universal health care.
Mike actually shot a documentary on his "Road to Recovery" and I'm trying to find a copy.
Below is a short clip about his fund raising organization called "Faith, Hope, Love". The words are plucked from an Alarm song, and I think they work well. Some of the video below is from the documentary and other clips promote the events put on by the organization to climb mountains around the world with some of Mike's rock star friends. Enjoy.
Movies
Streets Of Fire. Simply the best movie EVER!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088194/
If you have about 6.5 minutes, you can see lots of stuff in this intro. Rick Moranis swears, then gets thrown across the stage (head first), Bill Paxton gets knocked out by Lee Ving of the band Fear, and take a look at Diane Lane when she was 21. Did I mention Willem Dafoe?
We haven't even gotten to the butterfly knife scene, or Ed Begley, Jr. as a homeless guy!
Did I tell you Robert Townsend is in this, too?
Oh, and the music is supplied by Ry Cooder and Jim Steinman.
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Television
Mostly Discovery/History/TLC/Speed/Travel.
I hate what MTV has become. Were they afraid of going out of business, so they thought they'd air the crappiest shows on television?
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Such a waste of airtime. Remember when Music Television used to televise music?
I really feel sorry for Kurt Loder. He must really need the health insurance.
Books
Most of my reading is tech manuals.
When I have to read something else, I read Carl Hiaasen. I think his books are good for the soul.
Heroes
I'm not much for heroes. My self-esteem doesn't allow it.
I am trying not to block your ads!!!
I SUCK at HTML.
I play music in the greatest band on earth. No, not "The Stones", The Funkabilly Playboys! Google us, while I wait here.
OH, and I almost forgot.
I like kitties and puppies and long walks on the beach. Ignore my blogs. THIS part of my page is the REAL me.
Oh, and I have leukemia. CLL to be exact. I've been blogging about it and the journey to recovery. (I know, that sounds like it should be inspirational, but if you know me, it just sounds cheesy.)
Trust me, the blogs are good, and you may need some of that info, for you or a friend. READ UP!
Who I'd like to meet: Ringo. He seems like a cool guy. I'd love to have come by the house for dinner one night. Maybe we'd go into town later and see a couple of bands.
I try to bring you only the best in videos on THIS side of my profile.
First is "Meet Pete Harris".
One of his friends put this together for him as an added bonus for a promo pack. (That's me playing on the backing track from a few years ago.) Great shots of Pete in his backyard in Micco, FL. Pete and I played together almost every week for several years in the Boca-Delray area. my favorite gigs were at The Acapulco Grill and Bimini Bob's. Our most famous gig was opening up for Bob Dylan in West Palm, back in 1993. We played so many songs together, I can hardly listen to the radio without thinking of him. He passed away in April of last year from a brain tumor.
Last on the list are two videos from my actual band The Funkabilly Playboys. The top video is us at O'Hara's in Fort Lauderdale. This was the end of the night on Saint Patrick's Day (hence the green and white balloons as decorations and us donning kilts). This was the second or third time we played War Pigs. Word got out that we played a Sabbath song at the end of our previous show. A fan (and fellow musician) showed up on SPD and dared us to do it again. It still makes me laugh thinking about someone daring us to play War Pigs in the most famous Jazz club in Fort Lauderdale. Seriously, we'd been drinking for 5 hours. What were the chances we'd say "no"?
The lower video is from a show we did at The Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, Florida with The Spoon Benders. It was August 25th, 2007. This was one week after my first chemo treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. We had just flown back into town from Texas a few days earlier. I was pretty beat up, but we made it through the night. I'm pretty sure both these videos were shot by Judy Blem!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Our 7th Issue is due out on 1/25/10. Find out where to get it at www.PickUpWeMerge.com. We are more than a magazine. We are a rapidly expanding movement, a community of local artists, musicians, and businesses. We invite you to join us in our efforts to further promote and enhance the scene and the culture here in South Florida. If you want to get more involved with us, please send an email to editor@wemergetalent.com. Check out our videos here: http://tinyurl.com/yc8pofl and read online versions of all of our six previous issues at www.WeMergeTalent.com.
BOOOOOOOOOONGOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I am sorry I missed you today I was in Lessons ALL DAY!!!!! I am SOOOO glad you got everything and are happy with your head (that sounded funny!!!) We did get the new SKYNDEEP model in now!!! When you are ready to change heads again, THESE ARE the replacements for the mondos! NO MORE MONDO!!! They are discontinued!!! Since you love the mondo, you will LOVE the skyndeep! Stay in touch, my brother!! :)
dude, it's funny I was gonna call you last night and I left my headset at home.
Nah, I never heard of that guy, although going out to his website it sounds like I'd like him. He didn't have any gigs in Texas, so I doubt I'll catch him anytime soon.
Have a great trip and send my love to Mrs and Baby Bongo!!!
Hey Bongo Man, so glad I got to catch you all at Smith and Jones, had a great time...You Guys are The Best...but I am sure ya'll have heard that a million times....Your showmen personalities and your tunes really draw in the people, glad I was one of them!!
DEADHEADS GET READY TO PARTY HEARTY WITH FAMILY GROOVE COMPANY~ROOTSTAND~IFDAKAR,AND MORE! Hey now! The 3Gs ('aka Grateful Garcia Gathering), is returning back to the Camp NCN Venue in beautiful Black River Falls Wisconsin July 30th though August 2nd 2009 where it all began over 6 years ago! A grateful place where Garcia fans will be gathering! It also marks the celebration of Jerry Garcia's 67th Birthday, plus the 14th Anniversary of Jerry's untimely passing. We have leased the campground venue for July 30th though August 3rd 2009 for our 6th annual music festival.
Other great music festivals have hosted at this venue such as Weedstock, Farmapalooza, Big Wu Family Reunion, Campout Roots Festival,just to name a few!
Artists included: Family Groove Company, Rootstand, Ifdakar, Boney Fingers, Baghdad SCUBA Review, Fungus Garden Reverb, Jam and the Playground Kids, In the Dark, MMC Trio, Elf Lettuce, Vinny Weible & Soul Logic, Groovitational Pull, The Reggie, Grateful Beth and the Volunteers, The Bar Tab Band, John Statz, Mr. Cab Driver, Brok'n Arrow, Greyleaf, and more Jambands to be added soon!
Our friends at Mystix Toyz will be on board at the 3G's for tons of family fun with juggling demonstrations, including juggling workshops, face painting, kids parades, plus drum circles and fire dance jams every night
Yes it is.... Dr.said that he can't see anynithing any more and i just finish my chemo this past thursday and I'm just having nausea but i making it!!!! Now I just have in 4 weeks a PET scan to make sure and then in the biginning of july I have my surgery to remove the port.
Kinky Friedman has moved to a new myspace address. One that will be more representative of the 2010 Governor's Campaign here in Texas. The "Kinkster" could sure use your support. So take a moment to add Kinky again at www.myspace.com/texansforkinky
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