Wednesday Grind

Some newer Metallica for ya today. From Mexico City in 2008, from the '08's Death Magnetic album.

Happy Hump Day.


edit: Is there anything better than watching hot latin women rockin' the fuck out to some 'Tallica?

The day the music died

This ran in our local rag on Saturday, although I couldn't find it on the website.

Good read, and I do agree. Even though I've been doin' the digital music thing for as long as it's been around, I still remember when I was just a kid, goin' to the store to pick up the newest cassette or CD that I wanted. The first thing I'd do once I got the tape or disc in the player would be to check out the artwork and go through the notes. I was always disappointed when there was nothin' to read. Every now and again I'll still buy a CD just for the album art.

Even better would be the hours I'd spend by the ol' family stereo, lookin' through Mom and Dad's old stacks of vinyl albums. I loved the artwork in particular (except for the one Twisted Sister album that about made me yonk). I'd sit there for hours, playin' the old albums and readin' the notes.

Good times are not forgotten.

Whoops

Well, it finally happened. When I was 16 I self-taught myself how to change the oil in the ol' Bronco I was runnin' at the time, and I've been changin' it myself ever since.

Yesterday, 12 years later, I forgot to put the drain plug back up in dual sport before I started dumpin' oil. First time I've ever done that.

Reckon it was bound to happen sooner or later. Oh well... dumped $10 worth of good synthetic bike oil down the drain, but had just barely enough left to fill the bike. It's all good.

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This just in.... Monday's suck.

PC Sprials out of control, yet again.....

On the political scene, we're engagin' in kinetic military action. Apparently, war is only for us uncivilized heathen Republicans. Leave it to the left to invent a new language that's harder to understand than Klingon. For those of you that don't know what I'm talkin' about, check out George Carlin's thoughts on "Shell Shock". Best quote (and there's plenty to choose from outta this clip): "Smug, greedy well-fed white people have invented a language to conceal their sins."

And then we have these idiots on the sports scene.

My buddy Dave, a former marine who ain't shy about sharin' his opinion, puts it best:

Wow... who takes kids to an AHL game and get appalled by a few fights?? That's like paying to see a comedian and get offended by their act.... It's HOCKEY, morons. Hell, I grew up in the golden era of hockey enforcers and it taught me to always be accountable for your actions.... friggin PC soccer moms, get back in your Honda Odysseys and leave hockey alone!! 

I guarantee you this dumb twat's a liberal Dimocrat piece of shit. Don't fault the players or the game. Use it as a teachin' tool, like a normal parent would do.

Bobcat

I occasionally get e-mails from Ron concerning the exploits of his buddy Wade and his merry band of coyote hunters. This is prolly the coolest one I've gotten to date...

We went out in the fresh snow Thursday found some coyote and cat tracks. Put the hounds on the coyote track and they come out with this. Once it treed the hounds didn’t know what to do but to keep searching. While Bruce and I where admiring the cat we heard Rocky coming hard and looked over and there went a coyote by with Rocky on it. He and Cozy run the one while Breeze ran the other Coyote. So with in 10 minutes we saw a cat and a coyote and have a split chase. We didn’t get either coyote but Life is Good!!

How nifty would that be to see... and to be able to snap a few pictures like this. Wow!

36 Days

36 days from now, I'll be sittin' right where I'm at now, as I type this. Only difference is, the truck (or bike) will already be packed to the gills with guns, calls and camo, ready to run upstate as soon as I git outta work. I'll be workin' hard on keepin' the chain held tight 'till it's time to git the hell outta here. Then, all hell might break loose.

37 days from now, we'll be just startin' to trickle back into camp after our first glorious day in the turkey woods. We'll git the grill fired up and start swappin' the mornin's stories. The months of practicin' on the calls and patternin' our guns will come to a head, and hopefully we'll have a few on the ground to show for our efforts.

I ain't sure that I can make it another five weeks, especially when they're killin' 'em in Mississippi and most of the south already.


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Illegal Download of the Post

Back to Hellyeah for one of my favorite "git ready for the weekend" tunes. Awesome video too. Adios, piggy piggy!

Song: Hell of a Time
Artist: Hellyeah
Album: Stampede (2010)


Y'all take care, now.

Life of a Philly Fan

Apparently, that bitchly rag GQ had some colorful remarks to make about Philly sports fans. Not to be outdone, our fearless former Governor fired right back at them. I wasn't and still ain't a huge fan of Fast Eddie or his policies, but ya gotta admire his loyalty to his hometown boys.

I've been an Eagles fan for as long as I remember, and although I generally root for the Baltimorons for baseball, the Phillies have always been my closet NL team. Now, I ain't what some people would call a hard-core fan. I can count on my fingers how many baseball games I've been to, and I've only been to one Eagles game. My walls ain't littered with memorabilia, but I got a few trinkets layin' around. I ain't gonna lose sleep if either league has a lockout. There's way too much goin' on in my life to get that wrapped up in how my teams are doin'.

But I will cheer their successes and mourn their losses, casually follow 'em in the papers and on the 'net, and continue to argue 'till I'm blue in the face to them goddamned Yankees and Cowboys fans. I have no problem explorin' the beauty of the games and lettin' them take me to another place for a small period of time. After all, that's what sports are all about.

On a semi-related note... if you're a Phillies fan or just a baseball fan in general, my good friend The Southpaw is worth a daily read as well.

Wednesday Grind

Some of the hardest blues-rock you'll ever hear from one of the most meatheaded bands out there. I didn't know it was possible to shred on a harmonica 'till I heard this song. From 2007's From Beale Street to Oblivion.

If this don't git ya motivated on a Wednesday, nothin' will.

Redneck Tendencies

Now, I know I ain't the biggest, baddest redneck out there, but after cuttin' up a roadkill while listenin' to bluegrass over the weekend, I sure as hell felt like it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't go scavengin'. But my little bro came across a deer that had just been hit, put 'er down and called me. Since the freezer took a shit and I lost all my deer meat a few weeks ago, seemed to be a good idea.

And in case you were wonderin' it was a tasty little bastard too.

Overall a good weekend. Turkey huntin' seminar was short, but good. Got to meet some good folks and talk about turkey huntin', which I could do for hours. Yesterday I got the bikes cleaned up and prepped for some springtime maintenance. 'Bout that time of year. Lookin' forward to bein' able to jump on a bike and go without havin' to throw on piles of rags to stay warm.


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Illegal Download of the Post

I'm stickin' with the Texas music for this post. This group paved the way for country music as we know it.

Song: Steel Guitar Rag
Artist: Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Album: Recorded as a single in 1936.


Y'all take care, now.

77°

It's official.... the first nice day of the year is here. 77° and not a cloud in the sky. Just took a walk around the block over lunch, which was a bad idea because I'm sweatin' my nuts off now.

I gotta git my damn bikes fixed, pronto!

I was finally gonna buck up and git myself a case of Guinness, but after walkin' around outside I'm purty much in the mood for some Sunshine Pils.

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Tomorrow night, Jess and I are headin' up to Lewisberry for a Turkey Huntin' seminar... as if I need to throw anymore gas on the fire. Lookin' forward to a great time with some good folks, and we might pick up a trick or two to throw at them wily bastards.

And, if all goes accordin' to plan, I'll have a few hours this weekend to head out to the shop and pick away at some turkey calls. Really lookin' forward to gettin' some more built.


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Illegal Download of the Post

There's a lotta good folks makin' music in Texas... Jerry Jeff is prolly my favorite. And he's been doin' it a long, long time so he's purty good at it. This is just one of many great songs he's written.

Song: Pickup Truck Song
Artist: Jerry Jeff Walker
Album: Live at Gruene Hall (1989)


Y'all take care, now.

Oh, the Irony...

'Tis the day we celebrate all things Irish, green, and alcoholic in celebration of good ol' St. Patrick.

Who, ironically enough, wasn't even Irish.

That's right. He was actually British.

He lived in Ireland for six years after bein' heisted by some ol' timey gangstas, eventually escaped, and later went back to the island as an evangelist. Apparently one of his teachin' tools was a clover, used to demonstrate the holy trinity.

So how that wound up evolving from a Christian holiday celebrating the patron Saint of Ireland to a over-commercialized holiday with copious amounts of morons drinking copious amounts of cheap-ass Coors Light horse piss with green food coloring is beyond me.

But that ain't gonna stop me from takin' my quarter-Irish ass to the beer store and gettin' a case of Smithwick's or Guinness and enjoyin' it the next week or two. There's a shitload of work to be done on bikes and in the woodshop, two tasks that go much better with good beer in hand.



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Illegal Download of the Post

One good thing about this time of year is some great music comes outta the woodwork. Here's a twofer for ya today... One group's an Amercian band singin' traditional Irish music.... the other's a group from Dublin with a great rock sound that reminds me a lot of Iron Maiden. Both are excellent.

Song: Cooley's Reel/The Star of the Munster/Sporting Paddy
Artist: Craig Duncan and the Smokey Mountain Boys
Album: Irish Dance (2009)


Song: Resurrection
Artist: Celtic Legacy
Album: Resurrection (2003)

Y'all take care, now.

Wednesday Grind

An older track from Dio's heyday. This is a live show in Munich from '77.

I know I used this as an IDotP a few weeks ago, but this live track was too good to pass up.

Happy hump day.

Up The Irons

In honor of the Ides of March....

Horns Up!   \m/       \m/

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I don't know about y'all, but I've been suckin' down coffee like a crazy bastard. This time change is still kickin' my ass.

Hope my body gets over it soon.

Farting Astronauts

It's a nice day out for once, and we're lookin' at a nice weekend. Gonna ride on Grandpa's firetruck tomorrow for the York St. Paddy's Day Parade, and prolly make calls all day Sunday after milkin'. I picked up some cedar and maple today, so I wanna experiment with different wood combinations.

Overall lookin' like a good, relaxing coupla days ahead.

On that note, it's off the the J-Ro archives to propel us into the weekend....

Wednesday Grind - R.I.P. Mike Starr

Since I posted Alice in Chains yesterday for my IDotP, here's a video of Mike jumpin' up on stage with Steel Panther last November. Not sure if it was staged or if they actually goaded him up on stage, but it's pretty awesome either way.

Rest in peace big fella.

"Why can't we just kill the rednecks?"

One of the things I enjoy about having a blog is being able to see the search phrases that people are using when they find me. The aforementioned is my favorite so far.

Apparently, someone wants to kill us. Why can't they? Because they'd starve to death and they'd never have a functioning automobile, among other things we're good for. Sorry, city slicker.

In other news, I tried my hand at a few more calls last night... made a normal-sized one and a little bastard I've already nicknamed "Skeeter". Didn't finish buildin 'em till almost 11, so I couldn't run 'em once I got in the house where the chalk is. Hopin' to get the few pieces of hardware that I need and get 'em somewhat funtional this evenin'. I didn't put a finish on 'em this time around... if I get one that sounds good, I might try to decorate it a bit. I'll let ya know how it goes. I also got Dad's buck mounted up to the plaque, so that's done as well.

Gettin' the soundboards glued in.

The finished calls, with the one I did over the weekend.

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Illegal Download of the Post

MTV ain't good for much... never has been (in my lifetime), and prolly never will be. But some of their Unplugged shows back in the day were just phenomenal. The AIC show is definitely one of my favorites, so after ya watch this one, watch the rests of 'em.

Song: Rooster
Artist: Alice In Chains
Album: MTV Unplugged (1996)


Y'all take care, now.

Weekend Projects

So in case you couldn't tell by my lack of posts, it's a slow time of year. With gas prices the way they are, the best thing to do is lay low, try not to go anywhere and work on the project list around the house.

So, Saturday, I milked in the mornin', and we saw Oklahoma! at Gettysburg High School that night. Sunday was devoted to projects.

First off, I wanted to get Dad's buck finished up. I set it to simmer and put together the plaque outta old barn wood. The bone cleaned up purty nice overall. Note the nose was broken... looks like it was an old wound judgin' from the growth around the break. He was definitely a fighter, judgin' from the broken nose, busted eyeguard and the scars that were on his face.

Since I normally simmer the skulls for three or four hours, and the plaque didn't take that long, I decided to try my hand at a box call. Turned out purty nice, but I think I made it too big. It struggles to make a good yelp and cluck, and the tone is really, really low, even after an hour of tunin'. The sound quality overall might woo the right bird, but it ain't where I want it. This'nll be a good one for the shelf.

I plan to try a few more designs until I get a sound that I like. My goal is to make one and at least strike up, and hopefully harvest a bird with it this spring.

I made the call out of old American Chestnut that came from my great grandma's farm. I'm told the wood I used was from the old barn floorboards at Fort Roberdeau in Altoona, which dates it around 300 years. I'm pretty excited to get a functioning call outta it.


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Illegal Download of the Post

There ain't much new country worth listenin' to, and the stuff that is sure as hell don't wind up on the radio. That's why, even when I'm flat broke, I'll still find a way to pay for Sirius. That was I can catch gems like this...

Song: What Would Willie Do
Artist: Bruce Robinson
Album: Country Sunshine (2001)


Y'all take care, now.

Wednesday Grind

Not really a grinder today, but I've had a powerful thirst all week so this fits the bill. From Psychostick's 2003 album, We Couldn't Think of a Title.