Driving Daddy

When we went to the library this week I picked up a book for Sloane called Driving Daddy. I love it. I think that in the short simple book meant for young children the author manages to capture not only imagination and whimsy of small children, but also the way that a relationship with your kids and spending time with them can be more meaningful to them then we realize. It makes me want to make sure that I take time out for the little things.

Kill 'Em All

I've decided to see if I can write about each of Metallica's albums that I own over the next couple of weeks. I'll go in chronological order. Kill 'Em All was probably the third album from metallica that I heard. I was introduced to it by Out of Control Saturday night on WKLQ in Grand Rapids. I heard Seek and Destroy on the radion and asked my friend and the resident Metallica guru of our workplace if it was new. This would have been in the mid-90's and the only Metallica I had heard was "The Black Album/Metallica". While he did his best to stiffle his laughter he explained that the CD had been out for about 10 years. He then put his copy into the CD player while we cleaned.

I fell in love with it instantly and quickly went out and bought it. It is both a seminal thrash record and a fantastic introduction to Metallica. The lyrics are not overly deep and you can definately hear Dave Mustaine's influence on the group (he was kicked out of the band and replaced by Kirk Hammett right before the recording begain, but much of the music is his). The music on this cd still stands up 25 years later. Songs like MotorBreath, Jump in the Fire, Hit the Lights, Seek and Destroy, and Cliff Burton's masterful Bass solo Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) are classics.

I hadn't listened to this CD in quite awhile and I recently put it back into rotation. It has a unique quality of capturing the band with their youthful bravado, naivety, and skill wile giving glimpses of the greatness to come.

Batman is Back

I love comics. One of my early faves was Batman. I'm glad to say that the quality of the batman comics has gone way up lately. The comics are currently in a story arc involving the apparent death of Bruce Wayne and the aftermath it left. It was quickly decided that the world needed Batman but the big question was who would do the job. Candidates included Jean-Paul Valley who had previously stepped into the role, Dick Grayson (the first Robin), Jason Todd (the second robin), Tim Drake (the 3rd Robin), Damian Wayne (Bruce Wayne's son with his wife Talia Al-Ghul who is Ras Al-Ghul's daughter) and others. To catch up on what has been happening check out any of the Batman Reborn titles in the the Batman, Batman & Robin, Red Robin, or Streets of Gotham books.

The End of the Road.

Today was the last day of school. It could not have come at a better time. I'm fighting with a wicked cold. I'm glad to be done with this year. It was by far the toughest one I've had. We fought to get the kids to follow our directions from the first day of school to the last. Even today, the last day of school I was sending kids to the DMC. We also had a number of students decided to try and start a food fight. On the up side I had a 170 kids chanting for me to dance today. I danced for them during an assembly last week and they thought it was hilarious. Apparently if you take equal parts "Carlton" and "Elaine" 5th graders think it is pretty funny.

MXPX

I love this band and they don't get enough credit. When most people think about pop/punk music the first thought is usually Green Day, Blink -182, or Sum 41, I contend that MXPX should be placed in the mix. I think they are hampered by the label of "Christian." They create tremendously catchy songs in the 2:30 to 3:00 minute range. Some personal favorites are Chick Magnet, I'm Ok, Your OK, Teenage Politics, Sugar Coated Poison Apple, and Do Your Feet Hurt. One of the things I like best about this band is their ability to have fun and handle serious issues. They do both equally well and they do it well crafted well written songs.

MMMM!! Pears

All of my life I have been an avowed pear hater. Now when I was younger my mom assured me that as I got older my tastes would change and I would end up liking foods that I couldn't stand. In many cases she was wrong because my hatred was based on texture not taste. She was right about some things foods though and one of them was pears. I grabbed a pear for lunch a few weeks ago because the apples were gone. I loved. Now I can't get enough of them. The only problem is, is that because I eat them both of my girls have started to and they keep snatching them from me. Ophelia in particular can sniff out a pear and start eating it before I have time tell her I was going to eat it. I guess what I'm trying to say is I want my pear darn it. The crazy girls split it and devoured it completely on the way home. Sloane even ate the core. Its a good thing I love them.

Grrrrr.

When my computer died I lost all of my music. Most of it can be reripped but many of my more recent purchases were all through itunes and I didn't make archival copies. Grrrrr.

Sherlock Holmes Part II

I just saw the trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr.. It looks like a good movie but not a good adaptation of a Holmes story. It is as if it was made with the intention of setting in action movie in 19th century London and decided that Holmes was the best way to do that.

Sherlock Holmes

A few years ago my wife bought me a number of classic books from Barnes & Noble. They were in and awesome little pocket-sized hardcover format with attractive dust covers. Among them was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Of all the books that she picked out for me I was the least excited about that one. Even though I am an avid reader and enjoy a good detective story I had no interest in Sherlock Holmes. I finally finished it today, and I have to say my tune has changed. I loved it. I think what makes it so good is the character development. Arthur Conan Doyle does a superb job of developing the two protagonists. He manages to create two characters (Holmes and Watson) who are richly detailed and he does it in bits and pieces. I think it is extremely successful and comfortable because just like with our own friends, we find out about these men a little at a time. Doyle does not simply spend the first part of his story laying out the qualities that make up these two men, rather he lets them unfold throughout numerous stories. You meet these men through the conversations they have and the actions they take. The result is a more rounded picture of who these characters are, flaws and all. Because Doyle crafts characters worth spending time with the stories are very enjoyable and satisfying.

Ten Feet Tall and Bullet Proof

Don't let the title fool you this post isn't about Travis Tritt (maybe someday, just not today).  Nope, its not about him I just ganked his title.  Today I'm talking about Pantera.  Pantera has plenty of Uber-fans, people that know the minutia about the band, members, and music.  I'm not one of those people.  I came to Pantera rather late in the game.  For me Pantera was one of those periphery bands.  I had always heard friends talking about how incredible they were but just never got around to trying them out.  In edition to that I don't ever recall hearing them much on the radio.  I probably could have identified Cemetery Gates as one of their songs but that is about it.   The first time I really remember hearing Pantera still didn't do them justice.  A buddy of mine that I jammed on guitar with played me the intro riff to Cowboys from Hell (CFH) and the main riff to Walk.  Now if you know Pantera these were probably some of your first Pantera riffs too.  I would guess your experience was better then mine.  Played through a 15 watt amp by a high schooler Walk just doesn't have the same power, go figure.  Two things really led me to discovering the band.  The first was that for I while I was playing the guitar regularly (not well mind you, just regularly) I kept hearing about this guy named Dimebag.  You can't really be immersed in guitar culture to any real extent without picking up on the Mount Rushmore statues that Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell held in Rockdom.  As a result I looked a little further into the band.  This led me to find the actual recordings of the few songs I new.  When I heard the real version of CFH I was impressed.  I loved the intro and would try to play it over and over on my guitar.  Still I was only partially sold on them.  After I wore out CFH I decided to look up the other song.  To illustrate how little I knew about the band I commonly called the song Respect Walk (listen to the lyrics you'll know why), instead of Walk.  That is the song that went along way to selling me on these guys.   The first time I actually heard Pantera perform Walk I was floored.  My emotions are easily influenced by music.  Music can easily pick me up, calm me down, clear my head, get me pumped,  or any number of other things.  Music is a major fuel for me.  When I heard Walk that first time it took me to a place I had never been before.  That song is like a sonic cocktail of Adrenaline and Testosterone.  When I heard that song I felt like I was ten feet tall and bullet proof.  I remember thinking this must be what being a super hero would feel like.  I found a copy of that song and wore it out.  Eventually a friend of mine who is a Pantera Uber-fan told me to stop listening to the song and listen to some of there other stuff because he was getting sick of hearing it so often.  I took his advice and picked up their greatest hits cd.  The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboy's Vulgar Hits is a fantastic collection for the casual fan.  It has all of their hits as well as new song or two, comes with a DVD of all their videos and is the perfect way to find out what the band is about.  Some of my favorites are I'm Broken (my current favorite Pantera song), 5 Minutes Alone, Mouth for War, and their cover of Uncle Ted's Cat Scratch Fever.   

Beautiful Brutality

  

If you like hard music and have not listened to Zao before your missing something special.  This band has been around for a good long while now which is pretty amazing considering they've had more line-up changes than just about any band I can think of.  Zao makes some of the best hard music ever.  I've heard them described as Screamo, extreme metal, and metal but whatever you call them they are fantastic.  Bands like Bullet for my Valentine, Underoath, and As I Lay Dying all owe some of their success to Zao.  They broke the mold for what a successful band in the modern music market could sound like.  

Of all the bands I listen to Zao is easily the band that has the biggest impact on my state of mind.  When I have had a rotten day and release some aggression this is the band I turn to.  Their music is so aggressive that it just saps it all out of me.  What I like best about it that even though it is extremely heavy music with mostly shouted/screamed vocals it is still musically fantastic.  These guys craft some absolutely gorgeous songs.  If you want to give them a try their greatest hits album Legendary is a great place to start.  My personal favorite CD they have done is  The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation.  The intro to that CD is among the best intros ever.  It kicks off with the song Times of Separation which is my favorite song from them.  I also really enjoy Liberate ex Inferis (Save Yourself from Hell), The Funeral of God, and The Fear is What Keeps us Here.    To top is all off their artwork is always fantastic.  All in all this is a band you need to check out if you haven't yet.

Pinch Harmonic Pandimonium

I've been listening to Black Label Society's Mafia album lately.  I love this album, but every person who I talk to thats into metal seems to hate it.  It can only be the pinch harmonics.  For those of you how may not know pinch harmonics (if I remember correctly) are when you strike your thumbnail on the guitar string at the exact same time that you strum it.  The result is a high pitched squeal.  To say that Zak Wylde loves them would be an understatement.  His guitar work with Ozzie and his solo stuff is filled with them.  

Zak Wylde is the founding member of BLS but is probably better known as Ozzie Osbourne's main guitarist since Randy Rhodes died and an unlockable character in Guitar Hero: World Tour.  If you haven't heard any BLS discs this is a great place to start.  Wylde's vocals are reminiscent of Ozzie in that they tend to be a little bit on the high side of the spectrum.  We're not talking Michael Sweet high but they are up there.   What I like about them is that even though they are much higher than lots of grunting, shouting vocals that you get a lot of nowadays they are still very aggressive.  

While the vocals are good the music is what really makes this band.  BLS plays great straight up metal.  The band knows how to find a great groove and ride it.  I can definitely see why Wylde and Dimebag Darrell from Pantera/Damage Plan were such good friends, they both love the groove.  Zaks rhythms are generally not as down and dirty as Dime's were but they are still fantastic.  In addition Zak Wylde is not afraid to solo.  So many bands have done away with solos out of inability to adequately play them or out of a desire to follow trends (I'm looking at you St. Anger).  I highly recommend you check this band out.  Some of the highlights on this disc are Fire it Up, Suicide Messiah, In this River (a tribute to Dimebag), Death March, and Dr. Octavia.

Stryper: The One That Started It All

My name is Travix and I'm a music addict.  I love music all styles all kinds.  I just love it.  I play music in my classroom, I go to sleep to music, I shower to music.  I love music.  I'm not particularly musical.  I play the guitar a little bit but not enough to call myself proficient.  Although I am a decent guitar hero player.  My love is more a listening type of thing.  

It probably started when I was a kid my mom encouraged us to listen to music.  It was mostly Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) with the occasional oldies station mixed in.   My earliest music memory is of the Oak Ridge Boys.  I used to lay on my mom's bed and listen to dubbed copies of their music that were made by putting our record next to a simple tape recorder.  I also used to listen to Sandi Patti.  At the time I probably liked it, but now it is a Scarlet Letter I'm forced to wear.   

My journey to new and better music started around 3rd grade (1986ish).  Two Seminal events occured that jump-started a lifetime love of music.   The first was that some friends of our family who lived in Florida began sending us recordings of the radio station Way fm.  I think it was in or near Ft. Myers.  Way fm played what was considered Christian Rock and the song that really got me was by Carmen.  It was called Get Outta My Life.  Looking back it was incredibly tame but by my standards it was like a bomb had gone off and changed my world.    The second thing was that my mom realized I enjoyed music I heard on Way FM and wanted to encourage it.  Since there were no stations like that near Cedar Springs, MI were I grew up she took other steps.

My mom was very strict on some things and very cool on others.  She didn't care what the music sounded like as long as the message was a good one.  To that end she made a rule that we could only listen to Christian music.  Around 4th or 5th grade, with those to things in mind she went to the library and borrowed the cassette that truly changed my life.  My mom brought home Stryper's In God We Trust cassette.  From the very first song I was hooked.  A music lover and more importantly a metal head were born.  If Carmen felt like a bomb blast this felt like the world had turned inside out.  I loved the crunch of the guitars, Michael Sweet's voice and the style of the band.  I learned to draw their logo and doodled it everywhere.  I had Pictures of the band in my folders and spent anytime I could listening to, thinking about, or talking about Stryper.  I was a nut.  I couldn't get enough of metal.  The hunger for more is what started me doing everything I could to find more bands like Stryper.  It broadened my horizens and started the soundtrack of my childhood and for that I'm eternally thankful.

Many people make fun of Stryper but given the time and place of there music they were tremendous.  They still hold up today.  I'm listening to their one of their greatest hits cd's right now and it still makes me feel great.