A Tale of Two Watches

Quite simply, a few weeks ago I ordered my dad a Stauer 1779 Skeleton Watch for Father's Day. When it arrived and I checked it out, I was so impressed that I gave the site a good once-over, finally picking for myself a Stainless Steel Noire.

Pixar Has A Heart

Here is one of the most touching news stories I've ever read:

Young Colby Curtin (age 10) had been fighting a loosing battle with vascular cancer since 2005. She wanted to see the new Disney-Pixar movie Up so badly, but was too sick to go out to the movies.

A friend of the family called Pixar, who sent someone to the house with a copy of the movie on DVD, for her very own private screening.

Colby Curtin passed away later that night.

Chickenfoot

Last week I purchased the new Chickenfoot CD.

For starters, I haven't had this much fun shopping since...well, considering that I've got the usual guy tolerance for this activity, I'd have to say a long, long time. To walk into a store and simply ask "Chickenfoot?"...priceless!

Lots of stores were sold out, I finally stuck gold at FYE.

This CD is rock solid. Let's face it, Sammy Hagar on his own is a hit machine, he doesn't have to rely on Van-whatever for backup. Having Michael Anthony on bass gives this CD a great boost. (poor sob, kicked out of Van Halen after all these years just for playing with Sammy! *[see below]) And Chad Smith from the Chilli Peppers is another bonus. Add to all that Joe Satriani on guitar, you have a legendary lineup.

This disc sounds more like a Van Halen record than their last studio effort. Most of the tracks make for great listening, particularly Oh Yeah, Get It Up (my personal fav), and Soap On A Rope. The only track that's meh is Turnin' Left, simply due to the repetitious corus...perhaps because I first heard it while impatiently waiting for a break in traffic to make the aforementioned turn!


* Everyone knows there's been an odd trend in Van Halen, one that's gone back two decades, of kicking people out of the band while claiming that they left on their own. Michael Anthony is the latest and perhaps most tragic example. Eddie Van Halen says that the bassist quit, in response Michael posed the obvious question, "Why would I have quit Van Halen?" MusicRadar.com reported that in exchange for performing on the 2004 tour (the last reunion with Sammy Hagar), Michael not only had to take a pay cut, he also had to sign away his rights to Van Halen.

Words Cannot Describe

Last Sunday I attended my son's high school graduation. It was a great ceremony, complete with the school band (which is actually very good, especially at jazz, though now they will miss their lead sax player, my son's friend Kyle). The Headmaster gave a great speech, as did the visiting alumni, a government financier from Washington (though a bit off topic, very useful advise).

But most of all, my son graduated. He's doing well, very well, and I'm oh-so-proud. He's already demonstrated that he has many talents (writing and guitar among them), as well as a great deal of common sense for someone so young.

Words truly fail me.