Misawa passed away on June 13th, just a few days shy of his 47th birthday, doing what he loved.  An apparent spinal cord injury from a seemingly basic back suplex is what is being said may have caused his passing.  His family has asked for confidentiality in the actual cause of his death.  Misawa influenced many and entertained many more.  He was the epitome of a pro wrestler in it’s truest form.  He will be missed greatly by the wrestling community but never be forgotten.

June 18, 1962 – June 13, 2009

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

The Tone Matrix is also included in another tool called AudioTool from Hobnox.  Here is that full tool.

http://www.hobnox.com/index.1056.en.html

It’s really cool and have a good time messing with them.

Now the title of this may seem a little odd and honestly it has nothing to do with music but is rather a metaphor that I put together because it was something a teacher of mine in high school said.  Directly across the street from the school use to be a big area covered with trees and in the summer between my sophomore and junior years those were leveled in favor of zero lot line single homes.  My first day of junior year in my history class our teacher just spontaneously (or really well planned) ran out the door of class, looked to the doors down the hall pointing to the former field and yelled “Where did all the trees go?  Where are all the kids going to go to smoke dope?”  Absolutely hilarious at the time and actually still today.  But thinking about what he said it could sort of relate to the number of venues that shut down over the years.  Thinking to myself, “Where did all the venues go?  Where are the kids going to go to play music?”

Through the three bands that I played in and two one time off deals I have played pretty much across Palm Beach County and bits of Broward and Dade.  I even got to play in Fort Myers and Lake Mary each.  That is definitely nothing compared to most bands but it is something I’m proud to be able to say that at least I played out.  I’ve had the honor of playing at some great venues and the dishonor of playing at some horrid ones.  All experiences unique and ones that I can fondly look back on and enjoy or laugh.  I feel great that I have been able to play at one time staples in the county like Spanky’s, Ray’s Downtown Blues, Ovation (or Orbit) and the Kelsey Club.  But alas none of them even exist anymore.

Venue owners or managers were also an odd bunch to deal with at times.  Some would go out of their way to make you feel welcome while others you wouldn’t even meet until the show was over.  Some were so delusional that they were the greatest venue in the world that no one could stop them, not even the town they were in that wanted them shut down.  But here are some stories about a handful of places and my stories about them.

Spanky’s in West Palm Beach was a place that bands always wanted to play at.  On Clematis in downtown West Palm it was just a little sports bar that opened their doors to local bands and late in it’s time to touring acts.  Most shows were inside on a small little stage right by the front door until the patrons started hating all the noise in there.  I can only remember playing one show inside and I don’t even remember it that vividly to be sure that is true.  But I’m about 90% sure.  There was a good sized stage with an area big enough for a few hundred people out back and that eventually became the spot where all shows would happen.

One of the managers that I fondly remember dealing with was Scott.  A nice guy with really no knowledge of local music and that would be a great guy to you or complete dick to you.  It really depended on how you conducted yourself.  I recall a few shows inside seeing Scott jump over the bar to grab kids to throw them out for either trying to start fights or for moshing that he thought was fighting.  After awhile I guess Scott got sick of dealing with the kids and really stopped being the main contact on shows anymore.  He pretty much only handled the money after that.  He then brought in this guy affectionately called Wurm in to do the sound and pretty much handle the shows.

I remember how I actually came to meet Wurm.  We were both active on a local music message board, Florida Local Music for those that may remember it, and I voiced my opinion about not liking a certain band.  I don’t remember their name but I remember they were kind of like Incubus, the stoner/experimental rock stuff and not the mainstream stuff they are known for now.  Wurm walked up to me at a show and asked if I was this person from the board and then asked why I didn’t like them.  I told him and we have been friends ever since.  I honestly thought he was going to deck me or get me jumped by them but I guess he just respected that it was my opinion and not that of anyone else.

Man Wurm could probably tell a crap ton of stories from Spanky’s but some that come to my mind was a show that was What Wishes Can’t Mend’s first hometown show in a long time.  During Target Nevada’s set the singer put is foot up on a monitor and actually broke the speaker on it.  Wurm was not to pleased but I didn’t see him actually flip out or anything over this.  But not to long later was a show where Tyranny of Shaw broke one of the microphones as they were I guess pissed that they had to play on a stage when they wanted to play on the floor.  Wurm was pissed and vowed to never let them play at Spanky’s again.   Wurm’s equipment took some beatings during that period and there was probably more times that I wasn’t even present for.  And as a little note eventually Wurm let Tyranny of Shaw play there again.

I unfortunately did not get to play all too many shows at Spanky’s as it shut down a little into my time with my second band.  I played there while in Visionary and also played there on a one time stint on bass for Travis McLeod.  I can’t really remember if I played there when in Leading the Heroes.  I know we were suppose to open for Glasseater and Hawthorne Heights there at one point but our drummer just up and left town before the show.  That will probably be a story for another installment.  But I did go to that show and it’s funny how huge Hawthorne Heights became after that tour.  I’d say may 50 people max knew who they were at that show.  Most were there to see Glasseater, the home town boys, play.  I saw some great shows with some great bands and great shows with band bands that were just fun to be at.  Just to list off a small bit: Converge, Between the Buried and Me, CKY, Darkest Hour, Cave In, Zao, Evergreen Terrace, MeWithoutYou, What Wishes Can’t Mend, Snapcase and many more.

While Spanky’s was a staple in the West Palm Beach music scene Ray’s Downtown Blues, or just Ray’s for short, was the heart and soul of it.  Ray’s was own by a wonderful man name Ray of course.  A fan of blues and rock that opened his doors to local music and touring music alike.  Giving the kids a place to play whether he was a fan of that style or not.  From the very first time I stepped on stage and shook Ray’s hand he remembered me from that point on.  Anytime I was in there whether it be to play with any of my bands or to see a show he knew me by name.  He even went as far as to at one show tell my parents that I was a great kid when he questioned why they were at the show.  Ray had a bad wrap with some people but usually those people didn’t like him because he kicked them out before for acting like idiots at shows.  Ray deserved respect.  He had been around a lot longer than most of us and he didn’t have to be putting on these shows.  He was helping out the bands.  But what I’m getting at was that Ray was a great venue owner, the best I have ever dealt with.  You treat him with respect and he would do the same back to you.

The place itself was right up my alley.  It was small, dark and felt just like some underground blues bar that you would just accidentally find in some major city while roaming around drunk.  The bathrooms were dirty, the pool tables were stained, the sound equipment had seen better days.  To many you would think the place was shit but oh no.  This was exactly the place that I liked.  It was the way rock and roll was suppose to be, stripped down and just the music.  Ray himself was no where close to punk rock but his bar definitely was.

I had the great honor of playing in Ray’s with all three of my bands multiple times.  I always had a good time playing there even if it was a shitty show as I just thought of it as our home venue.  I even ran a couple shows there that I booked.  Really after those I decided I hated booking and it was way too much stress.  I only ever booked a show of my own again as the CD Release show for And the Sky Went Black and I was stressing out at that one as well.

I shared the stage at Ray’s with such bands as Horse the Band, Heavy Heavy Low Low, The Handshake Murders, One Dead Three Wounded, Mason, Madelyn and the best band that no one truly gave a chance to, the Glasses Otter.  I also got to see countless other bands there that include Darkest Hour, Lucero, Set Your Goals, All Hell Breaks Loose, Against Me, BTBAM, Since By Man, Psyopus and many more.

I remember during Since By Man’s set a fight breaking out and them stopping right where they were.  I loved what the lead singer said because it was short and spot on.  He stated, “This why we never come down to South Florida.”  The scene was becoming notorious for fights at shows and some bands just didn’t want to deal with it.  Not only was South Florida completely out of the way of most tour routes but it was developing a bad rep for fights.

I had great times there during Lucero and Set You Goal’s shows while standing on stage with the band and tons of other people singing along to some of the songs.

Of all the places I have played at or gone and seen a show Ray’s is definitely the one I will miss the most.  The atmosphere and vibe of just the building itself coupled with one of the greatest human beings to ever walk the planet made that place amazing.  The only person who I can say I felt even slightly close to that feeling with is Nunzio at Backbone Music.

That brings me to Backbone Music, the little record store just off of Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach.  The first time I went in there I thought that the place would be perfect for small intimate shows and sure enough I was right.  I became pretty close with the owner Nunzio even buy his old record player off him.  He was extremely down to earth and really easy to talk to.  I would stop in there every couple of weeks to pick up or order some records with Nunzio going above and beyond to check his distributors to see if they had what I was looking for.

I got to play a good number of shows there while in And the Sky Went Black and always enjoyed it there.  Of course the sound wasn’t great but it was just a record store with a little PA for the mics.  But the shows were intimate with the people there right by you.  It was one place I could feel safe playing barefoot as well and did on several occassions.  Our first show there we got to open up for Kayo Dot and I was pretty happy abou that.  We also got to play with bands such as Towers, Peter & Craig, Coffin Dancer and Shitstorm there.

While Backbone is still open they have announced that they will be stopping putting on shows in May.  What the reasoning behind it isn’t really known but they say the shop will continue for the time being.  My guess is rising rent in the downtown Delray area despite these economic times.

It will be a shame if the whole place goes under as it is really the only record shop in Palm Beach county and the next closest one is down in Lauderdale.  Plus it is one of only a few places to play music in the county anymore for all ages, y views on non all ages shows will be for another blog.

Well there is me doing some reminising on some venues that I frequented during my music time.  I’m not to sure what I’m going to do part two on just yet but if you would like to hear about anything in particular please feel free to let me know.

A week ago today I became a homeowner for the first time in my 26 years on this planet.  I consider myself quite lucky that this was a great time for me to do this.  Price and interest rates are down and I was able to find a great place pretty much for a steal.  While the process was a pain at times I’m glad everything is all set now.  I spent all of this past weekend cleaning the place with my family.  Vaccuming, scrubbing, mopping and some painting.  Next is to get the place painted inside and then I will be all set to move in.

MikeLovesBeer.com is sort of taking off.  It’s becoming quite popular in the beer blog community, at least in my eyes.  For the second straight month it has had a record amount of visitors.  I’m really happy with it and am glad that other people are enjoying it as well.

Work has been good.  I continue to do my best at everything there and learn new things pretty much everyday.  I feel really lucky to say that I love my job and really enjoy the people I work with.

I have started to plan my vacation.  As much as I love Philly and the rest of the tri state area and all of my friends and family up there I just want to go somewhere different for a change this year.  So I am going to go out west.  Going to go to Arizona and visit my friend Sara in the Phoenix area.  I’ve always wanted to go out into the desert and see different things there.  Going to go to the Grand Canyon and maybe to Cali if certain things fall into place.  I’m really looking forward to that and am going to start stocking up on my sunscreen.

Okay well that is my catch up on what’s going on in my life.  I promise a new entry later today or tomorrow.  Some people have given me some good ideas to write about.  So be sure to check it out later.

For the the courtesy of those that have not seen the episode or are behind I will place this behind a Read More so don’t to spoil anyone.

So I am just going to lay it out first and then explain why I believe it.  I think that Charles Widmore and Ms. Hawking are Penny and Daniel Faraday’s parents.

We now know that Widmore was previously a member of the Others on the island under Richard Alpert’s command.  We also know that Ms. Hawking’s first name is Eloise.  The little blonde Other that we met last night is named Ellie which would be short for Eloise.  Faraday found her very familiar looking which could point to her being a younger version of his mother.  Also Faraday’s lab rat that he did the tests on was named Eloise.

I believe that Widmore and Ellie leave the island together and have Penny and Daniel but split them up Luke and Leia style with neither of them knowing that the other exists.  Widmore wanting to help his son helps fund Faraday’s research through the years.  We also know that Ms. Hawking is in Los Angeles helping Ben get back to the island and Desmond now knows he must go to LA to find Faraday’s mother.

The only part that I’m a little cloudy on is where I think Widmore and Hawking conceived the children.  Whether it was on the island and then they left or once off the island.  But I like my whole theory there and think it is a good one.  Time will tell whether I am right or not but man this season has started off good.

The constant battle between my heart and…..well the rest of me put me in the situation where I was going to move back up to Philadelphia.  But that girl, whom I try to not say or write her name, just strung me back in.  For years I fought this insanely one sided fight with her and it just all came to a conclusion this year.  Not only was I going to leave because of the girl I love but I stayed for her when she wanted me to stay and then just left me high and dry again.  She didn’t care about me.  She only cared about herself.  Whenever she needed someone to show her affection so she could feel better about herself she knew she could come to me and get that.  Then as quickly as she reappeared in my life she was gone again.  Then the cycle would just happen over and over.

My last remaining grandparent passed away in May and it just struck me exactly that way.  I just couldn’t stop thinking, “I have no remaining grandparents.”  Despite being up in Pennsylvania for that period I don’t like being there for those types of situations.  My mind was absolutely lost.

My dad lost his job in October when the company that he worked for shut down.  He had been with them pretty much from the start.  They were a company with a great idea and great plan but could never get the funding that they needed to truly prove it to the world.  And I can’t help but be angry and bitter that they never got that funding because if they would have proved their idea correct a lot of other jobs would not be as important as they are right now.

These were probably the three biggest things to hit me this year.  Sure there was more but these are the ones that truly effected me in extreme ways.  But luckily I have started working on these things.

My dad is working hard at trying to find a job while also entertaining the thought of starting his own business.  I have been helping him and my mom with paying bills until things can get straightened out.  Here’s hoping that the new year brings some better times for my dad.

I eventually got past the scary reality of not having any more living grandparents.  It just hit hard because of how involved all of my grandparents were in my life.  When growing up we would see them all quite often, not just family functions.  But I know they are not in pain anymore from what ailed each one of them at their time of passing and that in a way makes me feel better.

Then there was the girl.  On November 4th I voted for change in our country when I voted for Barak Obama to be our next President and on the same day I decided it was time for a change to my own life.  I wasn’t going to take the pain that she gave to me anymore.  If she wanted to throw away everything we had then why should I try to stop her any longer.  She wanted to toss out our almost 6 years of friendship, all the things I ever did for her and the relationship that she denied despite it being great.  I just said fine.  I deleted her from my life as she had done to me but by actually saying something.  She always tried to avoid conflict even when it was inevitable and needed her attention.  My heart is still very fragile and it will be.  I still have days where I think of her a lot but I’m glad I haven’t cracked on my decision.

Despite all these things that hurt me earlier in the year and well up until the last couple months I am doing good now.  Since the beginning of November I have just had a better feeling about myself.  Things seem to be looking up going into the new year.  I went to Pennsylvania and visited my family for my first trip up there in the winter in a very long time.  I had a great birthday with my friends, though Chris was missing.  Despite not really having much in the way of a Christmas it was good being around my family.

Now going into the new year I have some good things to look forward to.  I’m looking at buying a house and finally living on my own.  And I am finally feeling a little healed in my heart to go out and maybe try dating someone.  By no means do I feel I am anywhere ready to “fall in love” but I miss the companionship of a relationship.  I want someone that I can have fun with.  Someone to go out with whether by ourselves or with friends or just stay in and hang out.  That’s what I want at this point in my life.  I just haven’t actually dated in such a long time I really don’t remember how to go about doing it.  Most of the people I have dated in my time have been introduced to me or approached me.  I guess I need the 101 on things.

But anyway a pretty shitty year turned into a good couple of months and hopefully that continues when it leads into 2009.  I hope you all have a safe night tonight and a great new year!

The story is of a NJ couple that were turned down by local grocery store Shop-Rite to write out their 3 year old son’s full name on a birthday cake.  But when finding out that the child’s is Adolf Hitler Campbell then I think Shop-Rite management had a really good head on their corporation shoulders.  Even more appalling is that this was not the first time the family had requested this done.  They had been denied the two previous years the same thing but also wished swastikas added to the cake as well. The family eventually found a local Wal-Mart that would accomidate the dunderhead request.

The thing that just gets me about this is that the parents went on record as saying they named the kid as such to be unique because there would be no one else with that name.  Being unique is fine and dandy, I really like the names Rocco and Kenta for my future offspring, but when using a name that is synonymous with such evil acts you deserve to have your children taken away.  Oh yeah I did say children, meaning they have multiple offspring.  Would you like to know their lovely names?  Of course you do.  They are JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell.  So they named their child Adolf Hitler to be unique yet have two other children with Nazi related names?  Oh yeah I forgot to mention I have some beautiful land for sale in Maine.  Anyone interested?

The mother and father go on to say that they were brought up to be hateful but do not wish their children to live that type of life, giving them those names they are well on their way to that.  I have never seen such pure idiocy in my life.  Even if I believed that these people wanted their children to not grow up to be hatemongers why would you just damn them away with those names.  Firstly they will be ridiculed in school relentlessly.  Then that ridicule could very well turn into violence once kids learn about the Holocaust.  Some kids may not take kindly to having kids in their classes named Adolf and Arayan Nation.  You just killed their chances of doing any better than you right at birth.  But then again I really don’t believe a damn word these parents say about them wanting their children to be different from them.

I also must commend Shop-Rite for standing up against these people and not backing down.  They could have very easily said yes to doing it and made their money but they said no.  But Wal-Mart on the other hand….well I guess I’m not surprised by them.  I have always been a huge opposer of Wal-Mart and this just adds to it.  Instead of having some integrity they just cave in.  This “morally upstanding” corporation that won’t carry parental advisory music because they think it is wrong has absolutely no problem with put the name of the leader of one of the world’s most horrific series of events on a birthday cake.  Wal-Mart just continues to shoot itself in the foot time after time.

After this past week being in Pennsylvania I realized a few things about kids.  I spent a good amount of time with my cousin’s daughter and saw how much she admired me.  She liked being around me and liked me helping her with her homework and holding her hand when walking around.  Kids are impressionable, especially at a young age, and if you act a certain way around your kids they are going to want to do it.  These Campbell kids are going to grow up and realize what their names are and see that daddy denies that the Holocaust ever happened.  Sure I would love nothing more to be proved wrong on this and see these kids grow up and denounce their names and become great people, but unfortunately growing up in the household that they do I just don’t see that happening.

Here are some links to stories about this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081217/ap_on_fe_st/odd_hitler_cake
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2008/12/holland_township_family_angry.html
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122923112231930.xml&coll=3