Days of Future Past

My friend Gary and I used to spend countless hours in the original Jawdy's Basement on Country Club Drive in Cherry Hill, NJ jumping around playing air guitar to our favorite Judas Priest and Def Leppard songs in the early 1980's. When I say hours...I mean HOURS. Between those jam sessions and playing Intellivision and Strat-O-Matic, there was little time for anything else. All I can think of now is....THANK GOD THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS GUITAR HERO BACK THEN....

If you have been in a cave for the last few years, this is what I am talking about. Deb bought it for me this week and I knew as soon as I strapped that guitar to my body that I was in for something spiritual. Since I got the game on Tuesday I have not stopped playing it. I've been transformed into a guitar god and am finally realizing my dream of stepping on the stage and making 23 year old girls throw their bras at me. Plus my kids think I am totally cool.

Gary has the game as well. He got it last month. We both play it on the Nintendo Wii and that means we can hook up via the net to play with eachother in career mode. When that happens, all of the memories of the jam sessions in Jawdy's Basement will return.

So is it bad for a 40 year old father of three to spend time jumping around his living room with a toy guitar strapped to his back screaming, "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!!!!"??? The answer is simple. NOT if his kids are screaming back at him, "GO DADDY!!! YOU RAWK!!!!!!!"

I am just worried that I may stuff my slacks with a few pair of those tube socks I never threw away....

Anyway - on the subject of music. Most of you know my passion for most anything that rocks. I don't discuss music here in the Basement much because people always expect stories about the kids and such. However, there is so much fantastic music coming out these days and I am in heaven. My commute to work is so short so my listening times are at night when the kids are in bed and the headphones are strapped to my head (like now!). Anyway - my tastes are quite progressive these days and have been for a few years. If you want to hear GREAT music that rocks but is not the shite that's all over modern radio - check out some of the following albums - all released in the last twelve months...

The Dear Hunter - The Meaning of & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third
The Pineapple Thief - What We Have Sown
Ayreon - 01011001
Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement
Sieges Even - Paramount
Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & Grace
Fish - 13th Star
Sixx A.M. - The Heroin Diaries
Kim Mitchell - Aint Life Amazing
Threshold - Dead Reckoning
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

OK - there's the music section that most everyone will skip. LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC!!!!

Oh - one more thing. That trip to Alaska that I wrote about? The defendant is GUILTY as charged! Guess I did my job! See the story here.

OK!! Back to shredding my toy guitar to Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me!!"