I Feel Alright

"Careful what you wish for, friend

'Cause I've been to hell and now I'm back again"

Bright Side

Learning to Fall...Eric Lowen

I've had to run
I've had to crawl
Been rich as a king
Had nothin' at all
Still raising hell
And tearing down walls
I know where I stand
Learning to fall

Me I've tasted true glory
Had a long sweet time on the stage
I laughed til I cried
I lived what I played
Never had to act my age
And it’s beautiful how
New blessings unfold
In ways I could never have known
And I’ve still got some time on my hands

I've had to run
I've had to crawl
Been rich as a king
Had nothin' at all
Still raising hell
And tearing down walls
I know where I stand
Learning to fall

The Easybeats

Since You Went Away (Smithereens)

Maybe God's In on It

"God doesn't give you anything you can't handle...

Unless God is in on it and doesn't like you either."

--Ellen Degeneres

Fell in Love at the Car Show

...With a 1955 Oldsmobile 98 Holiday...

...all original (including paint), all stock...

...owner purchased it when he was 17.

Beautiful...

Duck & Cover!

Suddenly relevant again…

Enjoy!

Sleep Walk

Possibly the coolest song ever written...

Santo & Johnny, 1959.

Van Halen: My Future Brother-in-law?

Yup...

That's my sister, Kim, hanging with Eddie.

She's the VP of marketing for Activision, which will be rolling out the new edition of Guitar Hero featuring Van Halen (Eddie, Alex, David, and Wolfgang).

And now that I take a second look at this photo, I think they'd make a good couple too...

Sorry Pete...

It Wasn't Me...

Dang!

I got company comin' by the blog site today...I'd better clean this place up.

Hmmm....

I know: How about a little flower arrangement to spruce things up?

Then I'll show 'em my poetry...

Why Firefighting is Not a Fee-based Service...

Puppy Haiku

My new puppy experience as rendered in the ancient Japanese art form:

Puppy, oh puppy
My toe is not a chew toy
Sharp teeth in soft feet

Puppy, my puppy
Whines endlessly when crated
Romps forever, freed

Puppy, oh, puppy
Wants to play when I’m sleeping
And sleep when I’m up

Puppy, my puppy
Why do you make me wait so?
It’s three a.m.—Pee!

Puppy, this puppy
If you weren’t so very cute
Loaded gun, I’d shoot




Puppy, my puppy
My first born was easier
What was I thinking?

Mystery Train

Always wanted one of these: An Epiphone ES-295...

Modeled after Scotty Moore's Gibson rig...

I know what you're saying.."It's an Epiphone!" But dig this: Upgrade it with some Kluson tuners, Lollar P-90s, and roller bridge...

"Train I ride...is 16 coaches long..."

Smart Cars, Smart Cops

Spotted an off-duty Sheriff’s deputy cruising around town the other day…






Spotted him again later that day, on the job...







Man, things sure have changed since the 1970s...

Fret Time: Grove Church and Quick Before Sinking

A lot of fret time this past weekend. It started Saturday afternoon with a sound check and rehearsal for the Grove Community Church. We practiced until about 4:30 then rocked the 5:00 p.m. service.

I played my Les Paul Classic Gold Top through a ’65 reissue Fender Deluxe. The LP sounded good; easy to play, tons of sustain. I miss not having a trem bar, though.

Later that night I sat in with Quick Before Sinking in downtown Riverside.

I brought along the Fender Stratocaster, and played it through Adam's Mesa Boogie. QBS is an amazingly talented group of guys, so I have no idea why they asked me to sit in.

Quick Before Sinking is: Adam (The Epic Beat) on guitar and vocals...

Dr. Mark on bass and vocals...

Scott on drums and percussion...

Ian--who is also a great drummer--dialed in the sound for the band, and snapped a few photos...

And I did something I rarely do in public: I sang.

My brother D-Rave says I'm not a vocalist, and I have to admit he's right on this one. But no one ran screaming from the venue, so it's all good. There's a video of it floating around on the web, but I'm pretty embarrased and can't post it here...

Most of these photos I stole off of Jon Risinger's web site. Sorry, Jon. But when you look at the picture below that my daughter snapped during the show, I think you'll understand why...

Then early Sunday morning I was back at the Grove to play two more services.

But my brother Gary is always on my mind, still. That's an Infant of Prague mass card from his funeral, there on the left side of my pedal board...

U2: A Known Line on the Horizon

My last posting and recent Tweets about U2 might have led you to believe that I’m down on these guys. Nothing of the sort.

Although “No Line on the Horizon” may not be their best work, it’s still a very good CD.

As they did back in 2004 with “Vertigo,” the band released as its first single a rather unrepresentative track (in this case, “Get on Your Boots”) which, I suppose, is part of a concerted effort by U2 to continually redefine itself and not be limited by those chime-y, majestic anthems that first made them famous. But I can’t imagine such a choice helped album sales out of the gate; I read somewhere that opening week sales were off compared to “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

No matter—fans seem to have sidestepped “Boots” and instead quickly focused on “Magnificent” (a chime-y, majestic anthem), which probably would have made for a stronger lead-off single. Other standout tracks include “Breathe,” with its more familiar U2 chorus; “Moment of Surrender,” an R&B-tinged bass hook that would have sounded at home on “HTDAB”; and the haunting “Cedars of Lebanon.”

Even the few tracks that do not quite rise up to U2’s best work still feature passages—a pre-chorus here, a line or two of lyrics there—that are simply brilliant. I suspect that “No Line” will continue to reward with repeated listenings.

Some reviews have taken the band to task for repeating itself—as if they, or any other great band for that matter, could ultimately slip its own skin and be something other than the sum total of its very heart and soul.

What’s more, would fans even want that? If they regard songs like “Boots” or “Vertigo” as novel digressions and continue instead to revel in Bono’s earnest lyrical proclamations set to Edge’s echo-laden guitar hooks, why not ride that well-known line into the horizon?

U2 Wants My Money...

…and they’ll get it too. It’s just a question of how much.

I mean, it’s one thing to lay out $9.99 for a new CD—in this case U2’s “No Line in the Horizon." But for only $22.99 (an extra $13.00) I could get the CD, plus a limited edition 36-page color booklet, fold-out poster, and a download of new film by Anton Corbijn featuring the music of U2.

Hmm…

But wait—don’t answer yet!

For $36.99, you get the CD in a special 60-page soft cover magazine-style book, plus the film download.

Or for a mere $64.99, folks, you get a deluxe limited-edition-collectors box set, with the CD in a cardboard folded sleeve, 36-page color booklet, fold out poster, plus a 60-page hard cover book, AND an additional fold-out poster, AND DVD of the new film from Anton Corbijn…

Or, for you audiophiles and vinyl fetishists, $19.99 buys you two LP discs in a folding sleeve with 16-page oversized booklet!

Umm….

The $9.99 CD it is!

Is it any wonder that Larry Mullen always looks vaguely disgusted with Bono?

Weeds

Spent a few minutes weeding the flower bed out front yesterday and it got my mind to thinking. A blog is like your yard; don’t pay attention to it, and after a while it dies.

Lately this site has been looking like a lawn with a bank foreclosure sign sprouting from it. All brown and weeds…

The other day, a fellow blogger knocked on my door. “Hey Cieslak, could you post something new here for chrissake! You’re driving down the values of other websites around the cyber-hood.”

That, or squatters could break in and start posting on their own…

Fine.

I’ll open up the garage, roll out my rickety old gas-powered word processor, spark up the thesaurus, and drag out the rusty editing tools. Cut back some of this undergrowth. Water the imagination. See if I can get a few metaphors to take root and bloom.

Problem is, the next day, my back will be killing me.

Face Palm

"Face Palm: Because expressing how dumb that was in words just doesn't work..."

Sort of Says it All

Dismantle the Sun

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

(“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”—by W. H. Auden)

Angels of St. Mary's

Watching over the funeral mass...

Appears to be a Stratocaster...

Not Even the Angels in Heaven...

It is Friday morning...

Gary continues to defy all prognoses.

Although his various vital signs have become increasingly dire, he has amazed all nurse and doctors, both present and passing through this home.

Above all, however, he has been resting comfortably this entire week.

As we continue to sit vigil by his side, I have been mindful of the words of Jesus:

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven...Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matthew 24:36/42)

From Boise,

brian

Wordless Wednesday

LACo FD, Fire Station 19

You ever notice some people leave their Christmas decorations up way too long?

The Next Tattoo

I'm planning at least one more tattoo...maybe more.

Above is a picture of my favorite cross that I wear. I got it the day of VHL-stock. I was thinking it might make a great tat for the other arm.

I’m also considering something like this:

The serpent entwined around a staff is known as “the rod of Asclepius,” an ancient Greek symbol associated with the healing arts, or medicine. You may have seen it at a hospital or your doctor’s office, depicted as something like this:

There are several theories as to how the symbol came to be.

In Greek mythology, Asclepius was the son of Apollo and practitioner of medicine. The image combines a staff—a symbol of his authority—with a snake which, in shedding its skin, symbolizes rebirth.

But there’s also a biblical connection here, and I’m more interested in that.

When the Israelites were making their exodus, wandering across the vast barren desert, they complained to Mose and to God about their desperate situation: "Why have you brought us...to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water..." (Numbers 21:5).

In anger, God sent fiery serpents to attack the Israelites, and many died. (God’s a pretty irritable dude in the Old Testament, isn’t he?) The Israelites came back to Moses with an appeal to God, repenting for their sin and asking forgiveness. God then told Moses to make a bronze serpent set on a pole, and commanded that anyone bitten by the fiery snakes should look upon the bronze serpent so he or she would be immediately healed.

Any ways, I was thinking about this image for a tattoo as a tribute to my brother Gary.

Para Flotar

Just got back in from Boise...feel like I'm drowning, barely keeping my head above water...