The Year So Far

I could sum it all up in one word. Cold. But that’s not very interesting, so I’ll think of a few other words to add to it.

The year started off with a bang! Well more accurately, last year ended with a bang. Fortunately, (after a 2nd trip to the body shop) the damage has been repaired and my truck has been restored to it’s former glory. I had my truck repaired at Riverdale Body Shop in Schererville. According to their website, their repair process involves disassembling the affected area and determining if there is any “hidden damage.” Well, they didn’t do that. When I picked it up the first time, I got about 100 yards down route 41 before I noticed that the alignment was still off. Hmmm…. the impact tore out the fender liner and obviously hit the front wheel. Why on earth would they have thought to check the alignment? I called them right away, but was told that they’d have to call me back to schedule the alignment. I was disappointed to say the least that they would have missed something so obvious. At least the cosmetic work was done well.


Training for the Chicago Marathon continues Continue reading

Long Overdue Update

Ironic, isn’t it? The more things happen and the more things I should be posting on here, the less time I have to do it. So what’s happened since the ringing in of the new year? I’m sure I’ll forget something but here goes anyway:
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Lots of Rockin’

Screamin' at Miso'sLast weekend was pretty busy for me. Not because of the holiday stuff. If Jenn would let me, I’d probably just pretend Christmas didn’t exist. No, last weekend was busy because I played a gig on Friday the 21st with my band Six Five Nine. Then on Saturday, Six Five Nine had another gig opening for a local band named Gone Shootin’. Oh, and did I mention that I also play in Gone Shootin’? And on top of playing guitar, I also provide the PA system, so a simple 4 hour gig is actually 8 hours of loading equipment, transporting equipment, unloading equipment, setting up equipment, playing for 4 hours, tearing down equipment, loading equipment, transporting equipment, and finally unloading equipment at home. If I didn’t love playing so much, the extraneous work wouldn’t be worth what we get paid for it.

But I do love playing!

Here’s a video of us playing on the 21st. This is our first time playing out as a band as well as Jessica and Bill’s first time playing out period.

More videos are available on our band’s website.

What a Difference a Vocalist Makes!

So Tim and Bill and I have been jamming together for thousands of years. We play about half of every song because we get lost or one of us (usually me) doesn’t know the rest of the song, or we get bored because songs that are meant to have vocals sound pretty repetitive without vocals.

Now I’ve known for years that my wife’s friend Jessica has a magnificent voice. She sang at our wedding, as a matter of fact. I’ve been saying for years that I need to get her to come out and sing with us. It was one of those, “we should do this sometime” kinda things that just never seemed to happen. Well, this past Friday I changed that. I called Jess up and invited her to come out and jam with us.

Then, something magical happened! We actually played a song all the way through to the end! It was amazing! Not to mention that her voice just sounds awesome! I’ve always loved the sound of a powerful female vocalist with a hard rock / heavy metal band behind her. Despite her being nervous as hell, she did great and things just started to click.

So without further ado, here’s a taste of awesomeness.

Over the Hills and Far Away

Crazy Train

You Ought to Know

Playing out for the first time in years

Our first gig poster!

I’ve been playing guitar with my neighbor Ken and his friend Chuck since I moved in across the street 5 years ago. Within the past few months, we finally decided that we need to step up our efforts and go play some live shows. I convinced Tim Parish, an old friend of mine from high school, to come and play bass with us. Ken and Chuck got their friend Don to come and belt out some vocals. And voila! We had a 5 piece.

We’ve been playing every weekend for months now and our first bar gig is rapidly approaching. We’re opening up for another local band called Skurvy Dogs. Chuck was their former guitar player, and Don is their drummer presently. They’ve agreed to let us play a short set before they take the stage this Saturday night. Our name, for this gig anyway, is “Gone Shootin’.” It was chosen by Don at Random without really consulting us, so it’ll likely change by the next time we play out.

If you can make it out, we’ll be taking the stage (and I use that term loosely) at 10:00pm on Saturday night at a place called Crow Bar at 4001 East 106th Street in Chicago. (It’s on the far east side just over the border from Whiting, Indiana) I’m really looking forward to the show, as this is the first time that I’ve played out in a public place since I was in high school!

Hope to see you there!