Alice Cooper- Taste of Minnesota.UPDATED!!!!!

10:30 PM

The family just returned from a nice little concert in downtown St.Paul.

ALICE COOPER!

I have been promising Steven to take him to a real rock concert...when the right act hit town. The young lad loves theatrics and makeup ( yep,,,,he loves KISS) ....since KISS is on its 65 year "farewell" tour in Japan...I knew ALICE would be the perfect fit!

I was about 12 when I first started listening to him...it was so cool to look at my son...with his Alice shirt and makeup (his idea! Really!) dancing along with his "old" man!

Lots of colorfull characters ( which of course gravitated towards Cherol!) to watch. Cherol did this for Steven and I ....I know this isnt her "cup of tea!"

Alice put on a great show!The straightjacket, the fake decapitation....and of course all of the classic hits! I was able to take some good pics ( love this new camera!)....which I will post a few for everyones enjoyment!!!

ALSO ADDED!!!! A LINK TO A REVIEW OF THE SHOW! http://www.startribune.com/1374/story/527920.html

Satisfaction

Day 4 with the camera and I am taking pics that are waaaay past the quality that I am used to.

This photo is of a day lilly that I bought as a gift to my wife on mothers day. It bloomed this morning and I thought I better get a snap of it for good measure!

I purchased a Uv,polarizer and diffuser filters for the camera....so I am all set for accesories. With a busy summer planned and a couple of great sightseeing trips on the schedule....I cant wait to put this camera through the paces.

In other news. I just finshed a big yardwork project. Removed several bushes and stumps in our front yard. Added a new burning bush and some wood chips.....and pretty much cut back on the amount of foilage in the front. I am going for the minimalist look.....less is more! :-)

I love this time of the year, the colors and the activity makes me feel very good!

I have some other things going on in my life that could really make my world a little brighter. Hopefully in a few days I will be sharing that news! Dont want to jinx it....but....all of your prayers for my job thaaang could be answered. ( yeah I want to blab!)

The camera has returned!!!!

After some stops and starts....the digital camera is back! The process was irritating....I had to make numerous phone calls and be pesky....but. lets just say, after the dust has settled...I made out good in the deal!

I will write more later....the above pic was the first shot I took with the new setup!

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE! :-)

R.I.P. Billy Preston

Sad news in the music world. Billy Preston passed away at age 59 after a long battle with kidney failure.

One of the first Lps I bought was "the kids and me". He was a great keyboardist who played on many classic songs. Was called the 5th Beatle beacause of his work on the "let it be" album.

Oh yeah....he is responsible for the deep rumination "nothin from nothin leaves nuthin"

Chew on that for a while! :-)

back to old school!

Today the Fuji Finepix s-5100 is in a box heading back to Pittsbugh Pa. I should have a replacement back to me sometime next week.

We were like two ships that passed in the night.

I trust that "she" will return. ;-)

The camera has arrived. In typical Mike Young fashion.......issues have
occuured. The "deluxe bag" that was included ....was so tiny you couldnt fit a camera ( any size) if you tried. The usb port to connect the camera to the PC is cracked. I have solved the usb issue for now...( card reader should do the trick while I wait for a replacement) and the bag is being worked on also.

Ahhhhh at least the thing takes very nice pictures. I will trust in good customer service and enjoy the pics !!!!

A New Purchase

Ahh yes....The wonders of Ebay! After owning a "nice" digital camera for the last 3 years, I have decided to "upgrade"to the fuji finepix s-5100!

The upgrade is a modest one. *Caution Geek Technology Rant To Follow!!!!*

I went from a 3x optical zoom to a 10x optical zoom and moved from a 2 megapixel to a 4 megapixel. Also the camera is packed with features that will indulge my inner photo artiste tendencies! Also purchased a 1gb memory card for this camera with will enable me to hold around 900-1000 pics in the camera.

The best thing about this is....The price was extremely reasonable ( hence the thank you to ebay....and some savvy bidding from yours truly) and its a very nice fathers day/birthday gift from my wife.

We are going on a nice summer vacation later in July to Washington DC ( sorry loyal readers....no daily blog entrys from me to get you through your day) hahaha . I cant wait to fill this camera with great shots of the all the stunning landmarks .

In other news....caught a very good concert last week at first avenue ( yeah the place where the little purple guy from Minny did a movie). The headliner was a group called The Drive By Truckers. I was able (since it was a general admission concert) to push my way right up front and center and be about 3 feet from the lead singer/guitarist. Very fun!

Well I made it through a post! Didn't think I had much to write about.....but one never knows what one can accomplish if he tries !

( yeah I stole that from a fortune cookie!)

Mothers Day

To all of the my readers of the female persuasion that have children.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Without Moms, this world would be a much colder place. I am lucky to have a Mom that did a great job. As I grow older, and am faced with different parental situations, I understand clearer what a tough job it is to be a great parent.

You are faced with being selfless in a world that is geared at being selfish. You are trying to raise kids in a world where kids are being treated as adults at age 10. As negative as those statements sound, its important to remember that YOU ARE THE PARENT. You have the power to make a difference in your child's life. I feel its not the goal to be your kids best buddy...but rather his best parent. Its lifes most important job.

Thank you to all of you that are doing your best!

Gotta Love Hardcore Fans!

As you all have read.....

I have been inhabiting the Black Crowes Message Board. Thru that board I have been able to track down a audience recording of the concert that I attended in Oct. of 05.

The Black Crowes encourage fans to bring recording equipment to concerts. Thank goodness......this was a concert that I wont forget. Its interesting to hear it some 6 months later. Since that time, I have become a very hardcore fan of the bands and have collected several shows from the tour. I still think this one was a special show.....lots of jamming and the setlist was packed with my faves. I will attach the setlist and my comments to the end of this post.

The pic to the right is from the show.....

Below is a setlist of the show....I will give some short comments by some of the songs.-Set One-STARE IT COLD -Great song to kick start the night off.STING ME - One of my favorites...great Stones like riffsSOUL SINGING -Cd version is a nice sing along.this live verson takes you to church for 15min.SEEING THINGS -Another deep cut...another fave.GO TELL THE CONGREGATION-Geez another fave....great hammond b-3 organ DARLING OF THE UNDERGROUND PRESS - A rare electric version NEBEKANEZER -A fun little cosmic ditty :-) YOUNG MAN,OLD MAN -Nice percussion.. .LONG LONG LONG - Brother Rich Robinson does a nice verson of the George Harrison song. MY MORNING SONG -One of my favorites VIRTUE & VICE - My favorite!-

Set Two-SONG OF LOVE -Great jamTHORN IN MY PRIDE - Best song of the night....complete with drum solo that wasnt boring!SING ME BACK HOME CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS SOMETIMES SALVATION WISER TIME SHE TALKS TO ANGELS HARD TO HANDLE A CONSPIRACY REMEDY-
Encore-HAPPY- Nice way to end the night...nice cover of Keith Richards Stones classic.

I have another care package on the way to me.....a fellow fan is sending me 10 cds worth of material....

Dont worry...I still listen to other stuff besides the crowes..... :-)

Father and Son master arcade hook game!!!!!!!!!

Come on...admit it...there are times when you pass one of these machines and see something that looks worthy of a try!

My son sees something just about EVERY time we pass a hook game. So I usually watch him ( and give him sage advice) win something that is cool for about 10 minutes.

Yesterday.....that all changed! :-)

I saw this bear. It tugs at your author's heartstrings. Because I was a HUGE Oakland A's fan growing up as a wee little one in Fresno California.

I reached for my pocket. $3. did the math.....50 cents a try....daaaaang should have passed that higher math stuff....ummmm that makes 6 tries! first try....miss, second try won a horrible looking swan ( which was given away to a passer-by...had bigger fish to fry here!) 3rd try I had it hooked and it fell off ( did a angry fist pump on that one) 4th try....missed. 5th try....lifted up and fell off...right by the slot. sixth try....................................................

YES!

41 year old dancing! How sad!

:-)

Tuesday Lunch break

Its time for another blog entry!

Here is a different angle for a post...for me at least....

Current things that are making happy!

1. the ability to go outside and absorb the sun into this somewhat pallid skin.
2. the smell of a barbq cooking and a baseball game on the radio......
3. jumping on my bicycle and riding to the health club for a good workout!
4. Black crowes message board! Lots of nice people that like to share great music over there!
5. Hearing from friends that I havent heard from in ages.

Current things that make me unhappy..
1. gas prices ( sorry...I am not unique!)
2. feeling like I am stuck in a rut

Hey! At least the happy stuff is a longer list then the negative.......certain days the list can change one way or another...... as for the negative stuff...I cant control the gas prices....but I can do something about the rut!

Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a great Easter. !
(worlds shortest post EVER!)

Mike

Steven the bell ringer!

My boy has been chosen the last 2 Sundays ( at random...no cash under the table stuff) to ring the bells at our old country church to greet the congegation.

The bells are heavy and require me to help. Its a very nice moment for a parent to share this little gift with your child. We both had smiles as we rang them nice and loud and went waaaay past the required 12 rings! :-)

I didnt lapse into the Hunchback Of Notre Dame impression I was dying to do. ( just mumbled..."the belllllls....the belllllls" to myself)

Saturday Morning pulse check

Thank goodness I have some readers out there that give me the proverbial kick in the can to update this thing "we" call ......FROM REDLANDS TO MAPLEWOOD!

This morning I am heading over to my moms garage to clean out the crawl space that stores all sorts of mystery 'stuff'. My brother Dave and his wife Lori will be there...as well as my sidekick Cherol. The plan is to weed out this stuff for a garage sale in the near future. Another sign that spring is almost here......The garage sale season!!! Hey single digit readers???? Are garage sales still something you stop at from time to time???? I don't hit em as much as I used to.....I will slow down if I see a cd or so....:-)

Ok....I got through a paragraph of lukewarm material....asked a bland question to the readers....what to write about now????

Baseball has started.....for the first time in ages....I am not into it. Its sad, but I think the steroid thing has really clouded my feelings about the sport. It used to be my love and passion, baseball was everything to me as a kid. I could recite to you baseball stats and history....just like I can blubber about music. When the Mcgwire/Sosa race for 60 happened....it was a nice story for baseball. Energized the fans after the strike fiasco. But now in retrospect....it was all juice related. I now watch the game like I watch slow pitch softball...just wait for the 17 homers a game... and yawn. (well when I am watching another team besides our banjo hitting Minnesota Twinks!) I really hope to recapture the love of the game. I am sure the tide will turn....true love doesn't usually flame out entirely! ( wow...the juices are starting to flow! Check out that illiteration!!!!) :-)

Time to hit the shower and get ready for the new day.....Still hitting the gym 5-6 times a week....have lost around 20 lbs or so.....still making progress!

Have a great weekend!

Thanks Gopman for the friendly push! I should give you a co-writers credit! :-)

I am including some shot from my fave team as a lad. The 70's Oakland A's!

You have to check out this blog!!!

I have found free music Nirvana.....This blog is great for free Mp3's of great music!

Uh....yeah....they have some great Black Crowes stuff .....but yes there is more!!! Check out the cover band FOAMFOOT! :-)


http://aquariumdrunk.blogspot.com/

The Week In Review

With such a serious title....you would think my week was pretty deeeern important!

Work was its typical grind.....I REALLY need to find something else to do for a living. I am a man of many talents and skills. Unfortunatly....focus and career direction has been a problem. Please drop a prayer or 2 in for me to get better in that area.

On a much more uplifting note. This week in music was a big gold star for me. I am getting a bit concerned about how deep I am getting into the Black Crowes. This band just keeps amazing me and holding my interest. I mean....with the tons of music I have around...I usually mix things up very regularly. Maybe its been the sorta up and down emotional thing I have been going through...but the crowes deliver on all of the moods.....so....I will just be happy I have em!! :-)

Back to the gold star stuff. Black Crowes DVD came out this week. The Black Crowes "Freak and roll into the fog". First DVD for these guys and it captures the energy very well. Great sound and shot in Hi-Def. Yes you get to see the Chris Robinson "chicken dance"! ahhh what entertainment!

Picked up a great CD. Govt Mule. Debut-

I have other 'Mule' cds. This one simply blows you away. If you love gritty vocals...and 10 minute songs filled with grab your throat guitar solos. Get it! NOW! Warren Haynes is a great talent that deserves to be heard! Turn it up....clear your head!

Received a very nice email from my good friend Jeff . Its always such a good feeling to hear from him. It makes me miss my hometown. I need to go back there in the near future and see some of the people that I grew up with.

The pic I am including is a shot of Jeff and I when I was very young and tan!

Thanks to the people that read this thing......I do appreciate it!

Cd Review : Donald Fagen- Morph The Cat

For those that are not interested in wordy reviews of music......here is the Readers Digest version. If you love Steely Dan music, BUY THIS CD! If you don't love Steely Dan music....you need to sit down with good ol' Mike and we should talk!

Thanks for continuing on to the 2nd paragraph. Its only March...but this CD is at the top of my top 10 list for 2006. Impeccably produced, smartly written, and a sweet mixture of funk/jazz and smooth rock. Sure, this music is very polished sounding and not "edgy". But like Mr. Fagens group Steely Dan, the mix is addicting.

This is Donald Fagens 3rd solo effort. The first in 12 years. Fans of Steely Dan have always been hooked by the strange and obscure lyrics in some of the "dans" songs. This CD is a little more intimate in its nature. Not autobiographical, but a little less demanding to decipher the intent of the lyric.

Standout tracks:

What I do- A song based on a conversation with Ray Charles. The groove is funky, slow and addicting. This song will stick in your head and in a good way!

The Night Belongs to Mona: Interesting song about post 9/11 fear. Mona comes alive in her apartment when the city goes to sleep. She drops her defenses when there is no threat of human interaction. Once again... the mix of music and lyric is one that sticks in your head.

The entire CD is filled with strong moments. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen. Then put it on again and enjoy it one more time! Repeat as needed! :-)

Spring is not here.....yet!

This time last week.....I was talking about birds and think green...

Well.....its still March...no green for a while.

10 inches of snow today....my daily workout was replaced by snow shoveling..still a good workout!!!!

Still hear the birds though....unfortunatly....they are not singing! Probably yelling at one another for flying into this frozen state waaaaaaaaaaaaay too early!

Scary Pictures of Chris Robinson...new Links!

Ok....I love the Black Crowes (duh...Mike has been on a rant about em since oct.) but frontman Chris.....you snap a scary photo from time to time!

Exhibit #1- The glam bowie...meets raccoon eye makeup thing.....errrr not makin it!

Exhibit#2- My fave...Stoner triangle!!!! Check out the concentration as he launches into yet another 15 minute "angle" solo ( really this band isn't prone to this....TRUST ME!)

Exhibit #3- This shot is from the late 90's By your side era. One of my favorite 'Crowes' Cd's...released when I was going through a rough time.....the cd spoke to me! ( I just got ill re-reading that spoke to me stuff!) anyway......it didn't sell very well, and one of the reasons why was the decision to dress the band like they were in a HERVE VILLECHEZ -TATTOO FROM FANTASY ISLAND TRIBUTE BAND!!!!!!!!

I have added some links to the right-
All music is a great reference for any type of music.....hence the name ( duh pt2)
The black crowes.....great picture and triangle reference :-)
You tube....click on videos....type in any band or musical artist....and you have some great underground videos.......there is a great Prince/Michael Jackson/James Brown jam in there....just type in Michael Jackson....should get you there. Anything else you find in there....I take no responsibility!!!! I aint your Daddy! :-)

Birds

I heard a few the other morning while taking the furry 4 legged one out. Funny how just the sound of them made my day a little better. Spring is around the corner!

Think green!