Rush signs with Roadrunner Records!

Rush has satisfied the contract agreement with Atlantic Records 1991-2011 and has just signed with Roadrunner Records.  There will be a Time Machine Tour release coming very soon off that tour (loved it at Red Rocks btw).  This is significant because Moving Pictures was played in its entirety, so a complete LIVE version of Moving Pictures will be available non-bootleg, though, of course, I already have all of these songs live from various tours.

On a different note, I have acquired more Invader pickups for my guitars, though I could probably install them myself, I'll scope the horizon for master lutiers to perform the soldering.  I also have acquired a neck-adapter for my Steinberger Spirit such that I can escape the double-ball string setup to use normal strings for my Steinberger.  There's only 2 companies that still make double-ball strings, La Bella and Steinberger (which was bought-out by Gibson a few years back, which resulted in a price-hike).  Anyone who's used La Bella or Gibson strings know how they suck.  It'll be nice to be able to use Dean Markley Blue Steels on it.  With 2 Seymour Duncan pickups it should be a formidable guitar!

This leaves me with an additional Invader humbucker, which is going into my home-made strat-clone.  Should be done by Christmas.

Unholy alliance

Exxon made a deal with Rosneft (America's and Russia's #1 oil companies) to drill in the Russian region of the arctic with one platform.  Putin (who really is a nobody but actually is a Russian mob-boss.  Sort of like if Al Capone was alive today running a puppet-president's doings).  Obviously, if either Don King or Putin is involved, I don't like it.

Deal is that Exxon builds the platform and does all the work and Rosneft gets 66% of the spoils, plus gets stock options with Exxon's southern drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  Sounds like crap to me.  Obama high-five'd it. 

Does anybody else see a problem with this?  Think it out.

Run to You is up.

http://youtu.be/2vEUbv-1xiA?hd=1

I think..

I think I might start collecting shrunken heads.

McDonald's and Jack Elam

McDonald's draconian Breakfast Laws are irksome in a 24-hour town like C.Springs.  At 3:59am you can only get breakfast items.  Frak breakfast!  3:59am is my afternoon when I work mids!  Everyone knows how I love a burger.  Can't get one in Fountain late night now that BK closes during the weekdays.  There is Jack de la Boite though.  Oui!

I'm enjoying MST3K's The Girl in Lover's Lane starring Jack Elam as the sleezy love-intrest!  Go JACK!

Mom's Country Kitchen is closed

Beck and I ran by Mom's this morning and it had been gutted-out!  Granted, we hadn't been in about 2 or 3 weeks.  A lonely, hand-written, notebook-paper sign, taped from the inside read, "Closed, Thanks =)" (the emoticon vertical).  I wonder what happened?  They were getting very good business.  Coke's Diner across the street is packed of course, getting all of Mom's patrons as there's no where else for breakfast in a 10 mile radius besides McDonald's about 6 miles away up on the Mesa.

I don't really get it.  Granted, I didn't eat there every day.  Maybe once every few weeks.  Always pretty busy.  They had just introduced a new menu and had expanded a bit.  Family-run and very good with a 75-year-old recipe for biscuits-and-gravy which was fantastic, and they served Pepsi counter to Coke's Coke.  Coke's Diner is inedible, by the way.  Worst food dining-out I've had ever.  I tried to like it, too.  Maybe a hunk of their apple-pie and a coffee?  I think they use Yuba coffee, won't even spring for bottom-of-the-barrel Folger's.  I'd rather have Nescafe Instant with flavor crystals (tm).

Mom's was run by herself and her husband.  Her two daughters would help-out as waitresses.  I can only guess a tragedy.  "Dad" was in Vietnam, which would make him probably mid-60s by now.  Something happened, and I doubt it was bad business.  Probably something personal.  The phone numbers don't work either.  Well, there's no phone attached to the wall in there but there's no forwarding number.  It was probably Obama, since he hates small businesses, and Pepsi.  Curse you OBAMA!

Still, if anyone knows what was up, please drop me a line.

For Dave Drasheff (who still doesn't have a Google+ account like the rest of Earth)

The Thing Prequel trailer (narration by Randall)

Blown-up spacecraft (again)...

SL-4 Russian Progress M-124 standard-type-automated supply space vessel blew-up this afternoon on a resupply mission to the ISS.  Since we surrendered space-explorations to the Russians (thanks to Obama), Russia is the only country capable of getting supplies to our astronauts.  (Note*  There could be other countries capable with a great deal of effort and assistance).

The explosion happened during a failure of the 3rd stage Proton rocket.  I promise I had nothing to do with that.

I should normally be dancing around with glee (as I did with other Russian recent failures) but this time I'm just sad.  We can't do anything to help (again, thanks to Obama because he simply stopped NASA funding, handing over space-dominance to the Soviets which REALLY pisses me off to no-end).  I'm also sad because Americans can't have tasty treats in space.

Luckily, there's 3 space-vehicles docked with the International Space Station right now which have supplies that will last easily into March.  Russia plans on attaching the last of several modules (the last being a Russian LaBORatory for probably making Space Zombie Cosmonauts [as it is written in Revelations 3:18 and also the TV-Guide 1967 October] Amen.)

One of my favorite photos.

Anyway, I'm sure a Russian scientist will be.. "disiplined" (and probably his family) into a pit of sharks with lasers attatched to their heads.

Sometimes it pains me to watch these things live. 

Urban Dead

Those playing Urban Dead text-based completely free MMORPG, please do NOT combat-revive zombies!  They'll become human but walk amongst us as zombie SPIES and destroy the generator at Fort Creedy!  Revive at the holy-ground cemetary only!

Those not playing Urban Dead, the same applies.

                                         Zombie Ronald McDonald Lich Deluxe.

Nice.

Seems like a nice day today.  That's it.  Nice.  Like.

It's pretty obvious..

It's pretty obvious that God is mad at Obama.  He sent earthquakes at him, now He's sending a hurricane up to Martha's Vineyard, and the Washington Monument is damaged.  Yeah.  God's mad, because he's so far the worst president ever for the US.  Still better than any Russian president or leader, but still.. Obama's ruining America from the core.  (see Detroit).

No one comments so..

I like how no one comments (well, rarely, so the limit of x approaches zero so close that it might as well BE zero) so I'm going to get a lot more radical and edgy this week on my postings.  Things like Casey Anthony is America's Sweetheart Coming to a Witness Protection Neighborhood Near You Dot Gov.  You've been warned.

Ugh..

One more 12-hour mid-shift.  Ugh.. I can do it.  Some people call 'em Graveyard shift.  I get jealous at people other than what I do that can browse their phone or look at the Internetses at work, or go to lunch, or get a break.  Guess I get one when I retire.  Keep thinking Dodge Viper... ;)  Ciao.

What I learned at Methuen High School.

This poet wrote and animated this.  The version I originally saw was in a book, so in my mind the tune sung by the cat was a bit more up-beat.  The author, who reserves in my opinion to select the proper tune, has chosen a delta-blues version.  Slack-jawed, my friend Darren who laughed until he cried when I showed the illustration and poem him at the end of that fateful school library aisle made me realize that life is not all roses, and we're in for a wild ride.  I learned this at age 14.. and yes, it's been a wild ride.

http://www.eatmousies.com/intro.html
If you analyze this (as I always do) with Spock, it gets darker and darker.  I think the real Joker from Batman became insane after understanding it to it's fullest (aka Grok it).

And then there's this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt4zvJNXbdI



If you were interested in the lyrics:

Cat, I'm a Kitty Cat.
Cat, I'm a kitty cat, and I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance (x6)

PURR-OVOCOTIVE POSING!
PURR-OVOCOTIVE POSING!

Cat, Im a titty tat, and I ,meow meow meow, and I meow meow meow
Cat, Im a kitty cat, and I ,meow meow meow, and I meow meow meow
Cat, I'm a kitty cat, and I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance (x2)

I say sexy things to myself while i'm... Daaancing!
I say sexy things to myself while I'm... Daaancing!

PURR-OVOCOTIVE POSING!
PURR-OVOCOTIVE POSING!

Cat, im a pitty pat, and I boop boop boop beedee beep bop bop
Cat, Im a kitty cat, and I ,meow meow meow, and I meow meow meow
Cat, I'm a kitty cat, and I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance
Cat, Im a kitty cat, and I ,meow meow meow, and I meow meow meow
Cat, I'm a kitty cat, and I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance

Government control

Not a fan of that the government is more than suggesting we switch to environmentally friendly (questionable) things, like light bulbs and toilets.  Encouraged I can understand.  Mandated?   Communist.  Stocks crashed again.  Guess "we won", huh?  Dopes that voted for social issues instead of real government issues like economy, thinking voting "gay friendly" is gonna be a good economic idea.  That's on a local level, kids, not a international EXECUTIVE branch level choice.  Dopes.  Electric cars simply use electricity which is created miles away at that giant coal-burning plant that creates acid rain for your plants.  Choose that instead of a near-zero-emissions Honda Civic?  Ugh.  Main source of lithium for those Li batteries?  China.  Nice.  Fools!

On a lighter note, the new Jalapeno-relished McDouble is freakin' DELICIOUIS.  Sir Shakes a Lot from Burger King better hold on to his socks!  A+ goodness.

Oh, and I posted Run to You by Bryan Adams sans keyboards and vocals (I added bass goodness).

Bryan Adams' "Run To You"

Worked a rough draft of Bryan Adams' Run to You from his 1984 album "Reckless".  There's no vocals yet so it sounds quite karaoke, and the bass and drums are MIDI so they sound Nintendo'esque, but it's a good start.  There's actually quite a bit of keyboards I need to add as well that you don't hear obviously, so here it is, a beginning start.

Rush on Rock Band

While I work on both YYZ by Rush, and Run To You (by Bryan Adams), here's Neil Peart on the game Rock Band playing Tom Sawyer with Alex and Geddy.

The Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special

Here's a nice link of the abbreviated Holiday Special that aired in 1978 minus a majority of the singing, commercials, stupid goofy looks from Chewbacca's kid, and sans-Boba Fett cartoon (oddly placed and unrelated to the story, though a bit cool and gave-way to the later-cartoon Droids which aired later).

If anyone wants the FULL version and can endure it, including Carrie Fischer's coked-out Life Day rendition in its entirety, let me know and I'll send you a copy.  Anyway, this version's worth a watch.  Imagine it with 92 more minutes of singing and tomfoolery!  92 freakin' MORE MINUTES!

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/fk4

Bryan Adams

A request was made to work on Bryan Adams' song, Run to You.  No problem on that, but I need the drum track.  If anyone has it, please send it to me, thanks.  Should take me a few days.  The song is about another "woman" though he's married.  The "woman" is actually his guitar, which makes it no longer evil.  Whew.

What's your allignment?

I think it's pretty important to know your alignment.  Everyone I meet, I determine immediately what alignment they are (as should you) to know how to square them up and do dealings with them.

I found this test to be somewhat accurate but limited so the values are skewed due to so few questions:
When you take it, make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off.
http://easydamus.com/alignmenttest.html

Though this one is more cohesive and modernized (3-parts).  Asks for your zip code, DOB and initials for demographics.  I find it's not data-mining, but if you're paranoid, give fake info, it still works:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/~aaronson/alitest/aintro.html

Gygax, inventor of D&D made this test (you cannot have duplicate answers for each.. sort of a 1 thru 4 test):
http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/javalign.html

This is probably the best test and gets a feel for your own personal disposition.  It borrows from the other 3 a bit but is more down-to-earth:
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/the-alignment-test1

How'd you do?

1982 Tron Holiday Special

For those of you that still hum the theme of Bea Arthur's "Goodnight Friend (But Not Goodbye)" from the Star Wars Holiday Special (never released on media, only aired once in 1978, which I saw all 3 hours of it, 97 minutes of show, the rest commercials from Kenner toys thinking they'd make a bundle on it). 

I GIVE YOU.. The Tron 1.0 Holiday Special!!!

http://tron.popapostle.com/html/Tron-Holiday-Special.htm

Annoyed with UFO hunters

There's a lot of crappy "footage" out there for UFOs.  All of it I see is simply debris: rocket-bodies, MIR (older footage) and ISS "trash" they dump out the side which burns-up since they're at very low Earth orbit.  A lot of the UFO sites get angry with NASA that they're withholding data, etc.  NASA is not in the business of this.  NASA helps companies launch satellites and probes.  That's it.  They're just a contractor company like any other.  The only classified information they might have is some innovative rocket propulsion technologies being tried-out by other companies or organizations, such as USAF, etc.  NASA borrows a lot of it's data, to include satellite catalog data from AF SpaceCommand where I work because it's far too expensive to build their own catalog or data or radar sites.  AF Intel also donates data to them as well.  Sigh.  Everyone's barkin' up the wrong trees and aging astronauts are "spilling the beans" on whimsical dreams, trying to re-spark their 15 hours of fame from their space-walk 50 years ago on their death-beds.  They never achieved higher.  Went to schools to talk to kids about their now-hazy experience on trying not to vomit too many times or piss all over themselves going to the moon.  "Ooo, I was privy to UFO secret alien life data."  Yeah, right old-man, all smug with a sudden re-interest in you.  Blah.
STS flights would comment on UFOs.  Well, sure.  When you don't know what it IS yet then it's a UFO until you look it up in the catalog.  Some objects are too small to have been cataloged.  STS (now defunct, sadly) and ISS are so low-earth that a lot of these objects will burn-up in a few days.  Lots of small debris at low-orbit occur.  THEY don't have a satellite catalog telling them what's up.  They resort to mission-control for that.  They've got enough to do to worry about that, though a visual can be a concern, sometimes space "junk" seems spooky when it skips off the atmosphere in weird angles (as it does often) heating up and cooling off, then back at a new ecliptic.  Simple space science but uneducated folks think it's UFOs, or djin, or magic, or more stupid still, angels and demons.  Ugh.  It's a freakin' flat piece of titanium from a 1971 rocket-body.  I promise it's not Gabriel or Ifrit or 9-pound baby Jesus (Ioshua for those that know His real name btw.)
In Afghanistan, a friend of man was relaying a story about how he asked a local what he thought about moving lights in the sky (as satellites are clearly visable with minimal light-pollution, indeed, I saw the ISS myself last week plain as anything).  The local said it was djin on magic carpets.  He was 35.  Any wonder why we're not all exterminated by each other is a miracle.  Don't get me started on New Life Church.  Fockers.

Lunacy

I'm no stranger to the effects of the moon.  I myself was born under a new moon and despite astrological pseudo-science, lunar pull has impact on society.  Case-in-point (albeit conveniently for my case here) is these London riots (queue UFO's Lights Out for London)...

..great performance.  Anyway, I wouldn't say the moon's phase is directly responsible for the London riots, but it's definitely a force-multiplier.  Males are insanely affected by lunar phase, it reaching it's peak today.  I'd say the riots will wane with the moon and be squashed within the week. 
  Still, this stuff is crazy.  At work yesterday, I heard of people speaking of killing home intruders in detailed violence and glee like madmen, wild-eyed, even foregoing their home arsenal to hand-to-hand mauling.  Pretty maddening stuff for some seemingly so passive and compassionately good-natured.  Still, I couldn't help but rib people on jokingly, perhaps alerting them to their own insanity.  Truly, would you want a blood-bath in your living room?  Do people really think they own anything of value enough to have half the city block seize upon their house to rape and pillage their wife and kids?  Certainly those with huge arsenals are either avid hobbyists or live in constant fear.  I'm not against firearms, but I know I don't need them.. because I'm not psychologically paranoid.  Usually one fears from other's actions is deeply based secretly on one's OWN desires and actions within.  The Enemy Within (Part I of Fear) - Rush 1984...

It's because of this I find some people react with gut and less head these days.  Merlin told King Arthur to remember to THINK.  Perhaps good advise for us all in these trying times.
 
  There's an interest in the stock market these days as well.  People jumping off buildings far more frequently than after the latest Twilight trailer.  Too much heart, not enough head.  It's merely an opportunity to purchase.  It's a buyer's market.  Comes once in a while.  No need to over-panic, but makes it opportunistic for folks like myself that can put a few bucks down on Pepsi stock.  (The choice of a New Generation by the way.. queue Jordy LaForge enjoying a Back to the Future II  Pepsi-Free).  It's amazing folks DUMP their stocks out of panic.  Again, the moon is culprit a bit.  A force multiplier. 

  I too am victim to Luna's influence, but I keep it in-check (mostly) like an in-denial Vulcan (this time).  Call it the moon, Dionysus' dance, or merely Bedlam.  We all need to take a breath-in and just look around us for a second and just settle down.  Everything's gonna be okay (except maybe for that X-Type solar flare that will hit us tomorrow, or all the passing near-Earth asteroids NASA doesn't tell us about.. quite a few actually).

  Solution?  Well, besides grabbing your handy Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and turning it on to those friendly words, "Don't Panic!", we could blow up the moon I guess.  Might help.  Dunno.  Maybe Earth would have a pretty ring and some wonderful meteor showers.  Well, maybe we can't do that.  I recommend some soothing music and some Haggen Daaz chocolate chip ice cream.  Can't hurt... unless you're a diabetic.

Good luck and be safe, folks.

Odyssey2 prototype discovered

Several Odyssey 2 prototypes have been discovered over the last few months which is exiting news for the ancient gamer as myself.  One such title is Catburgler which is a Crazy Climber clone.

For Dave Drasheff: JoyRide

Things get sour quick, with Candy Cane and Rusty Nail.  Ordered the Special Edition Widescreen DVD (BluRay not released).  Should be in this week.  Enjoy the teaser...

Almost in homage to 80s horror films, a simple prank goes horribly, horribly wrong.  Rusty Nail wants his CANDY CANE to the point of obscessiveness, and things get dark quickly.

Mrs. Beasley

Sometimes I get really creeped out about Family Affair's, Mrs. Beasley.  Mr. French can only protect for so long!



General Zod for President

http://www.zod2008.com/america-ask-the-general.htm

Wonder Woman Pilot

For anyone wanting to see the failed Wonder Woman pilot 2011, you can find it round-a-bout through this link here: http://superheroshows.blogspot.com/

It's interesting that the seamed "panties" were deleted for the actual movie.  I haven't seen it yet (tomorrow night at the latest) but it should be interesting.  I'm glad they went with the pants.  The original boots were blue and dumb-looking, so there were several costume adjustments before the pilot came out.  Interestingly, still, there's a 1968 WonderWoman pilot that failed, as well as one in 1972 where she was blonde!

106 inches, that's what -she- said!

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Doesn't seem right somehow.. Where's Julie Newmar?

Burned-out

One of the hardest things of working Space Command isn't always the complexity itself, but the hours. 

Generally, any operations mission will be a 24-hour affair, and to make things "fair for everyone", a rotating schedule is put in-place.  Now, I've worked a few places were you'd stay on a particular schedule, sometimes of 8-hour shifts, so you can get your life in order, but more often than not it's a rotating one, and sometimes 12-hour rotations.

Now luckily, where I work there's not a lot of change-up.  We'll work days for a month or so, then switch to mids.  I won't give out specific hours for "Elements of Essential Friendly Information" issues so as to confound "bad guys".  Unfortunately, my schedule the last few weeks has been a lot more dynamic because for some reason in the summer, people take vacation.  You'd think a lot of it has to do with kids' school vacation and the timing but in this case it's more of a paradigm with those working with me, so it makes for a bad soup.  Though I haven't had to take up many extra hours, my schedule is topsy-turvy so I'm just feeling flipped-around.

Because of my reversal of shifts, I feel ethereal, speaking but looking out from behind myself like some viewer or a ghost.  Makes it hard to think cleverly sometimes.  I wonder if my Russian evil-Mike counterpart suffers as well?   I'd like to think so.

Rain finally

So it finally rains in Colorado Springs, and the Egyptian goddess Apshai releases her children from long slumber it seems.  The mosquito population covers the outside of my house, no doubt in revenge of my slaying of Apshai's children in North Dakota, covering the front of my Trans Am Firehawk every day.  They seem so hungry.. hungry.. FOR BLOOD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihneu571t0k

Google Blogger Comment infinite loop

There's an error with Google Blogger where when you try to log in to comment, it goes into an infinite loop.  The current "trick" is to NOT check-box "Stay Logged In" (aka "Remember Me") when it asks you to log in via Google Account, AIM, etc.  Works.  Google has been notified an a lot of people have commented on it as a bug that has been affecting the site for the last week.  Give it a try.

Corn Syrup! For breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Ever look at your food ingredients?  Everything's got corn syrup in it!  I was a fan of Mrs. Butterworth.  You'd think it'd be maple syrup, right?  Nope.  Corn syrup with carmel flavoring.  It's in everything from ice cream to beer.  Anything with sugar supposedly in it has corn syrup instead.  Very few things have actual sugar.  Still doesn't save us from the Colorado democrat's Sugar Tax that's dominated the state over the last year.  I went out and had to scour the shelves for some actual Maple Syrup from a maple tree.  Of the 3 varieties that said 100% maple syrup, only 1 was from a maple tree, the other two were 1% maple, 99% corn syrup!  I'm eating buttermilk pancakes (homemade) with the stuff now.  Pretty excellent.
Corn is in everything now, like kudzu in the south, or taxes.  Married with no kids pays 41% income taxes you know.  You only pay 28% with kids.  Lovely.  Corn's in our gas too.  Mandate of 10% corn-based ethanol in our fuel causing a 10% decrease in gas mileage, and quicker car-rot.  Definitely a golden time for corn farm growers.  Corn syrup, particularly the high-fructose variety makes us violently fat as it's hard to break down in our bodies.  Coke's got it.  Happened as a ploy when New Coke (aka Coke II) came out 1985 and went back to "Original recipe".  Original my arse.  Just a trick to introduce HFCS into the drink, reformulated carefully so we didn't notice, and so happy our old, beloved Coke was back.  Bullshit.  It wasn't.
So, friends, if you can find Throwback items, such as Throwback Pepsi, Mt.Dew, Sierra Mist and other offerings like Mexi-Coke (tall bottles in the Goya section of WalMart) then do so, your body will thank you for it.  Don't get me started on the formaldehyde production in diet drinks!

Happy.

Boy Cars Girl Cars

Ever notice some cars seem made "Just for Girls" and some are totally "Guy Cars", whereas even some are "Logo Friendly" if you will, such as the Subaru Forester which is almost solely owned by lesbians.  Here's a short list of cars that are definitely girl or boy cars.  Feel free to add to the list:

Typical Guy Cars

• Pontiac TransAm
• Chevrolet Chevelle
• Chevrolet Corvette (except for the Malibu Barbie Edition)
• Ford F350 SuperDuty
• AMC AMX
• Bentley Continental Flying Spur
• Dodge Ram RT10
• Plymouth Fury
• Hummer H1
• DeLorean DMC
• Ford Pantera
• Lamborghini Murcielago
• Ferrari Enzo
• Chrysler Cordoba
• Plymouth Duster 360
• Plymouth Barracuda HemiCuda

Typical Girl Cars

• Volkswagon Beetle
• Subaru Forester
• Lexus anything (girls are ga-ga for these for some reason)
• Toyota RAV4
• any SUV (there must be something in the KoolAid)
• Honda Accord
• Mercury Cougar (modern)
• Dodge Neon and Mazda Miata (there are some male enthusiasts however)
• Saturn (a few male die-hard tuners such as myself [checking down pants to be sure.. yep])
• Nissan Sentra
• Buick Century
• Subaru Outback (despite Paul Hogan)
• Subaru Tribeca

This list is not all-inclusive and there's arguments for each.  What say you?