Random Acts of Journalism

- The best Fathers Day gift I received was just being with my children for more than a few minutes...although the salami gift was right in there.

- I am convinced I will always miss my father. Fathers day brings that home to me every year. Those of you out there that still have beloved parents or any of your love ones...I want you to know how lucky you are and hope that you don't squander your time with them. This is not intended as a personal plug but if it has that effect it's ok with me.

- I love summer in the Midwest but only as opposed to winter in the Midwest. I actually love summer all year long but if you are in the Midwest you have to leave to find summer for a good part of the year. I hope I continue to get the opportunity to leave.

- I am learning that the police department is not very communicative about the status of their investigation into my stolen guitars. They know who did it. Why can't they just get it done and let me know that my guitars are coming back to me? Arrest him already.

- Who is your favorite poetic songwriter? I can think of a bunch but there was a time when Jackson Browne wrote some beautiful poetry put to music. Neil Young? Bob Dylan? Ben Folds? James Taylor? Joni Mitchell? Bruce Springstein? Ted Nugent? (Just kidding on Ted)

That's all for now...just needed to check in

Something good

Life is full of surprises...some good...some not so good

Surprise!!! Five of your guitars were stolen.
Surprise!!! The punks who stole the guitars were the ones you identified as prime suspects
Surprise!!! That microwaved chicken recipe was awesome.
Surprise!!! The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox are trying to "out stink" each other this season. It's neck and neck...
Surprise!!! The local police have still not recovered my guitars even though they apprehended one of the thieves.
Surprise!!! Oil companies are making record profits
Surprise!!! G.W. Bush is an oilman.
Surprise!!! Has anyone heard from my son? I know he calls people because I pay for his cell phone.
Surprise!!! I am really learning to love the game of golf.

Here is the coolest of my surprises today...I purchased a new guitar to replace one that was taken. It is a Fender "Eric Clapton" signature "Blackie". WOW!!! Do I love It! I didn't have this particular model and I find it to be near perfect. Great feel. Great sustain and it's beautifully made. So...being burglarized led me, albeit in a non preferred way, to something that I might have otherwise missed. Amazing.

Life is whacked. That's no surprise...

No News

I was hoping that I would hear something from the good guys this weekend. Nothing...

I put a call in to the detective this morning and he is out until Wednesday. I don't know that he would tell me anything anyway.

I still remain hopeful that my stuff will be returned...

Thank you Tommy B

There is someone in custody. To my knowledge they have not located the guitars yet. The person that they arrested was not at the ill fated party but it is someone I identified as an accomplice based on information I gathered from some of the kids at the party. This person was known to the kids as someone that the prime suspect might call to help him with this kind of robbery. Why is he in custody?

The police went to question him on another matter and the kid took off. They caught him and noticed that he was wearing an unusual watch. I didn't know the watch was missing until the police asked me if I was missing a watch. I checked my most valuable watches and other jewelry and nothing was missing. I don't think they ever entered the rooms where this stuff is kept because the dogs were locked in that room. What I failed to think about is that I left a Tommy Bahama watch in the kitchen in a little chest that I use to put loose change and other miscellaneous things. The watch turns out to be distinctive because it has an inscription on the back. It was a gift at an industry golf outing. I described the watch to the police including the inscription and, bingo, the kid was wearing my watch. I have to go ID the watch tomorrow. This is an unbelievable twist...my "inscribed" watch on the wrist of someone that, to the best of my knowledge, was not ever in my kitchen. I know and the police know that this kid knows who took the stuff and hopefully they will get him to tell them who gave him the watch and where the rest of my stuff is located. I am 99% certain who that other person is and the good news is I think the police know it too.

I spoke to the mystery suspect myself a couple of days after the event. He categorically denied knowing anything about it. But, of all the kids I talked to, he was the only one that I caught in a lie. If you are indeed innocent of a serious crime why is lying necessary? If you are not innocent, lying comes easy.

I gave these kids every opportunity to bring back the stuff, no questions asked. Amnesty. Nope, these punks thought they were smart. Well, it looks as though they are not so smart; they are stupid beyond reason. Chances are good that they will now pay the price for their actions and I believe they begged for that to happen.

Stolen Xbox - $499
Stolen Guitars - $10,000+
Stolen Tommy Bahama Watch - $250
The police finding your stolen Tommy Bahama watch on some idiots wrist - Priceless

I think we got em!

I will provide details as they become available but it looks like the thieves are cornered. The only question now is whether they still have the guitars or not. My detective skills were good but not as good as a professional. The police are now involved and it looks as if they are going to be able to solve the crime.

C'mon law and order...

I have me

I am becoming resigned to the fact that my guitars are gone for good. Man this has been a lot harder than I ever could have imagined.

I have replaced one of the guitars I thought I might have trouble finding. It's the one in the picture. Its the 50th Anniversary Fender Stratocaster. It's coming Monday and I am going to play the frets off it when it arrives.

For all you guitarists, keep all your paperwork for your babies together, take their picture and most of all, safeguard them.

To the jerk that stole my guitars...you are scum. You will always be scum. You took my stuff but I have integrity, pride and the respect of those who know me. You are trash. You are worthless. Civilization marches forward despite you. I lost stuff. Somewhere along the line you lost you. I win.

Be on the Lookout for Walking Guitars!

Well it's official. My guitars were not stolen. They apparently ran away from home. All these 19 and 20 year olds that always seem to know everything don't know a thing about what happened Friday night. Selective stupidity is kind of convenient.

We know who stole the guitars

I'm pretty sure we know who took them. Now we have to get our stuff back. The suspected kid is nothing but trouble. If we can't convince him to give them back without consequences we are going to have to do whatever it takes. We may have to contact the authorities and deal with the issues that come along with that. Or we may have to get more convincing with this idiot and hope that this kid can see the light before it's too late for him. If the authorities get their hands on him he's going away for a long long time.

Did a lot of talking to a lot of the kids that were at the house. It was an ugly scene. And the loss of our stuff was just what was needed to have it leave an indelible mark on us.

We are not a happy campers. We obviously suck at being victims. And all of those involved are victims...thanks to the sleazebag(s) that did this. We need to do a 180 on who gets to be the victim here.

That is not my actual Gibson 335 up there. Mine is left handed and had gold hardware...

I can't believe this

Hello out there...sorry I've been away so long but my life has been speeding by but the travels are over for a while. Phew...

Here's whats going on in our little house today. I am totally stunned.

My wife and I were in Florida for the weekend catching some sun with some friends and closing up our house there. We had a wonderful time. We came home late last night. I am really bummed.

What Happened

We come home to find out that 19 year old daughter decided that a party Friday night would be a good idea. 21 year old son left town to see a buddy so he was gone. We have told the kids over and over (i think a million times is a conservative estimate) that there is no underage drinking at our home and no parties while we are gone. The consequences are too severe and we don't want any part of it. We were not ambiguous on this point. You guessed it...a million reminders is not enough...there was a party and apparently some drinking. We lock up our booze but the kids obviously brought their own.

We found this out because 19 year old daughter came clean today because there was an altercation with one of our neighbors. It seems one of the party attendees attempted to get in his front door at 4:00 A.M. and left peacefully after being told to get the fuck out of there by our neighbor. Another neighbor had CD's and DVD's stolen out of his car on the driveway. Daughter figured we would hear about this. She was right. I am really freaked out.

19 year old daughter is a little freaked out herself...I think her desire to host parties is gone. Hard way to see what it was your parental units were trying to lay out for you...Her mother has grounded her for an eternity I think.

Why I am freaked out

I came home from work today to find that 5 of my guitars had been stolen. You heard me 5 of my guitars. I am numb. They left 3 guitars...Nice of the bastards.

They stole my Melancon custom which was one of my favorites and the one in the picture, the Gibson 335 custom that I got for my 50th birthday, my Fender 50th Anniversary Strat, my other Fender Custom Strat and my Les Paul Custom. Fuck you whoever you are. I will find you and you will not be happy about that. You stole my music...these were my instruments...I cherished them.

Whose kids are these that steal from people they know? What kind of garbage did you foist on us?

Why not call the police?

We can't call the police because we will get cited for the underage drinking party that was happening at our house while we were away. Well, isn't that special? We get robbed and if we report it we go from victim to victimized. There is there something wrong with that.

We will have to try to find the worms ourselves and get our stuff back.

I am heartbroken...just this side of devastated. I am angry. I am disappointed.

I just want em back...

Note to G Dub

Mr. Bush, I believe Ben was trying to tell you something all those years ago...



"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

To My Fellow Ticketless Fans...What the Fo

I'm still pissed off about what happened with the Crossroads Guitar Festival Fan Club presale. I have never had a problem getting my Eric Clapton fan club tickets before and, in fact, have had great success in getting tickets to see EC. I have never gotten my tickets and sold them to a broker. Apparently the "secret" code for fan club members hit the internet in advance of the sale. Hence, all tickets were gone immediately. Gee, I wonder if any brokers got them? The more appropriate question is, I wonder how many fans got them? All the fan club members I know had the same story. Basically locked out...immediately. I don't think this is what Eric Clapton had in mind for his fans. Maybe he has nothing to do with it but I'd like to think he appreciates those who appreciate him...

Tickets for the festival are likely to cost me a fortune. Having been fortunate enough to attend the original Crossroads festival, I was really hoping to share the experience of this with some of the other music fanatics in my life. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ouch! Man I hate that concerts have gotten out of reach for most people...

General admission tickets are going for around $300...I don't think I am young enough to do the general admission thing in a venue this large. I might get crushed and if it's hot enough on the field I might beg someone to crush me to save me from slow roasting in the inevitable sea of drunken fools.

If you want to sit in a seat it will cost you form $500 to $1000 per. WTF! Let's see, if I need 6...thats a minimum of $3,000...maybe I should wait until the DVD comes out. I could buy 6 of them, a new HD TV and a new HD DVD player for the cost of the tickets. Ridiculous...just frickin' ridiculous.

Home at last

Well I am back in the good old USA. It is really nice to be home again. I am not going to complain a lot about being in Italy for about 3 of the last 6 weeks but it is harder than it might seem. The 7 hour time difference is tough to recover from.

My trusty iPod served me well on the flights to and fro...I don't think I could have made it without the music.

I will post a few stories from my travels in the coming weeks but I am a little brain dead right now. Well...a little more than usual anyway.

Two musical moments from the trip...I went in to get a piece of pizza in a little slice shop in Siena and the sweet sound of Grand Funk Railroad was coming from the ceiling...the song was Inside Looking Out. The pizza was good; the song; food for the soul.

We were walking through a piazza in Florence when I spotted a very ratty looking dude...obviously homeless. Coming out of his clump of belongings was the sound of Led Zeppelin. Nothing like a little Whole Lotta Love to help you connect with an Italian street person. It sounded really good to me.

I missed you all and I missed being in the US. As wonderful as Italy is, there is no place like home...

We humans aren't very nice to each other

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Police identified a 23-year-old South Korean student Tuesday as the gunman who killed more than 30 people in a rampage at Virginia Tech. They said at least one of his handguns was also used to kill two people in a dorm room across campus the same morning.

The killing of 32 people Monday at this placid university in southwestern Virginia was the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history.


BAGHDAD, April 18 -- Four car bombs killed 131 people and wounded 164 others across Baghdad Wednesday, the U.S. military said, as bloodshed spiked two months into a U.S.-led crackdown meant to pacify the Iraqi capital.

Some news accounts suggested the death toll may be higher. The Reuters news agency, quoting local officials, said as many as 170 people had been killed, and the Associated Press said at least 183 had been killed.

These above are small parts of news articles just taken from news websites.

Does one of these stories make you feel worse than the other?
One lunatic shooting innocents
Groups of lunatics blowing up innocents
Are we callous enough to think that because those dying in Iraq are mostly Iraqis, it's ok?
Why does our media go crazy with coverage, outrage and emotional broadcasts for one of these events and not the other?
Is it because Iraq is a political issue?
The story above demonstrates clearly that it's a humanitarian issue.

They are both horrible circumstances. I can't imagine how devastated I would be if I lost a loved one in either one of these two horrific events. But I also can't isolate my feelings for the victims just because of where the innocents were slain. Murder is murder. People are people. Children are children.

Where is our leadership? Where is our media? Where is our outrage?

I was really hoping to laugh

I finally watched Borat last night. What a disappointment. The movie and concept just didn't live up to all the talk and hype. Funny? Maybe if I was in fifth grade...Hell, I think Taladega Nights had more laughs...

Very basic scatological humor, political incorrectness, cheap sexual humor, antisemitism, naked men wrestling around, using unsuspecting people to further his whacked humor....Not very creative, not very original and not very funny. If this movie is considered a good movie, I am missing something. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I giggled a few times. I was uncomfortable more than I was amused.

I'm glad I didn't go to the theater and waste $6.00 on this. So that is my rating, NW6 (not worth $6.00). In fact I will go NW.05.

It's my opinion and my sense of humor and I failed to sense much at all.

Correre via alla bocca

I've been on the road quite a bit and have been remiss in writing. I feel a little guilty about that for some reason. So, I am here to relieve some of the guilt. I think I will just ramble.

Things I'm tired of....

Don Imus is an idiot. I make a point of not listening or heeding what idiots have to say whenever I can. I have exercised my right to my opinion by not tuning into his show and I'm glad MSNBC has taken him out. Now, I wish he would get out of the "news". The guy is nobody to me. I'm sick of hearing about it. Where's Paris Hilton when you need to hear about annoying nobody's. I really can't believe I want to hear about Paris Hilton...OK, I don't.

I really believe that if I look up hypocrite in the Dictionary they will use Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as examples. Well...I looked. They don't, but they should.

Politics, the War in Iraq, GWB, Republicans, Democrats, my digestive system, snow in April, reality tv, ticket brokers, ticketmaster, the trials and tribulations of aging, mean people, dishonest people. Did I say politics? Lot of recurring irritations found in this paragraph.

Things I never get tired of...

Música, musique, Musik, музыка, De muziek, musikk, 音樂

l'amore per i miei bambini

l'amore della mia vita

cibo delizioso

golf giocando

ridere con i miei amici ed il mio ones amato

la mia collezione di chitarra

OK...so after going multilingual I lost it and settled into Italian. What a beautiful language it is! I can wait to butcher it again sometime soon in Italia!

Does anyone know how to work a date book?

Where do I begin today? I have lots to write about but I will start with the concert I went to Tuesday (4/3) night in Moline Illinois.

Moline is part of the Quad Cities and is located about 2 and half hours from where I live. Eric Clapton was booked to play the Quad Cities! Rather than get back on the road after the show, we had made a hotel reservation and were planning on spending the night in lovely Davenport Iowa.

For some reason we had put the concert on the calendar for Wednesday (04/4) night. This is where the fun begins! About 3:30 P.M. on Tuesday I decide to go up to EC Access, Clapton's fanclub site to see if anyone had thoughts on the fan club Crossroads festival presale debacle that left most members ticketless, including me. I happened to see a message posted regarding "going to Moline". I clicked on it and the writer was talking about how he was "about to leave for the concert in Moline tonight". I thought, "Wow, they must have added a show" but thought I should look at my tickets. I looked and they said "Tuesday April 3 at 7:30 P.M.". OMG!!! I walked around the corner to my wife's office and said "the Clapton concert is tonight!" She literally shouted "WHAT?" and then "Can we make it?" I said "yes, I think we can but we have no time to spare." She was on her way home to pack a few things within milliseconds. Rather than get back on the road after the show, we had made a hotel reservation and were planning on spending the night in lovely Davenport Iowa, thus there was minor packing to do. I'm not sure I have seen her move at that pace ever! I printed the tickets and was right behind her. We were on the road to Moline at 4:15.

While on the road, we left a voice mail for our "dog sitter" figuring if she was unable to help we might have to call in backup sitter, my son J. Fortunately, she called us back fairly quickly and said there was no problem. It was at this point that I think my blood pressure was beginning to get under control.

We made it to the Quad cities by 6:30 P.M.. Alright it is possible that I exceeded the 65 mph speed limit from time to time but I can't be sure of that (your honor). We checked into the hotel, wolfed down a very mediocre dinner and made it to the show about 10 minutes late. We missed a couple of Robert Cray's opening numbers.

The concert...Robert Cray was very good. The size of this gentleman makes his Stratocaster look like a ukulele. Big man, great style.

I was really looking forward to seeing this leg of the Clapton tour since I had seen one of the earlier stops on the US leg of this tour last September. I thought the band was not quite "smokin" the first time around. They were good...they just weren't killer.

Well, no Derek Trucks this time around. He's apparently off doing an Allman Bros. reunion, so the apples to apples comparison went out the window. I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to watch this kid play again.

Overall, the band was better. EC and Doyle Bramhall had some outstanding guitar duet moments and Doyle had a couple of great solos this time around. Hell, the band is made up of a bunch of all stars...Steve Jordan on drums and Willie Weeks on bass. Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon on keyboards.

EC is EC. He's a virtuoso at any age. At age 62, he's still amazing. He makes it look effortless and that's genius. He pisses me off. He obviously hogged up all the guitar talent because I can't seem to get much. Awesome EC, just awesome.

"Got to Get Better in a Little While" was rockin'. "Cocaine" was the worst rendition of that song that I have ever heard. They were going through the motions. Robert Cray joined the band for a go at "Crossroads" and it was killer.

Summary...nice venue, nice crowd, excellent show, EC is a gift.

Dreamland Concert Series

This summer is shaping up with some good concerts coming to town. It started with the news that Pearl Jam is going to headline Lollapalooza. Nice....hope it happens and I hope it's not a logistical nightmare...could be though...

Roger Waters is bringing his Dark Side of the Moon show back through town. OK...that should be fun. Got tickets for this one already but there is a conflict brewing. Hmmm...
He's playing the United Center.

The Police are playing Wrigley Field this summer. Maybe Sting can pitch or hit or do anything like a baseball player? God knows the Cubs can always use some help. Got tickets for this one too.

Then, the best news, Eric Clapton is organizing another Crossroads Guitar Festival and its gonna be in Chicago at Toyota Park on July 28th. I attended the first one in Dallas and it was guitar heaven. I will do everything in my power to witness this again. I've never been to Toyota Park but it's outdoors and it can't be worse than the Cotton Bowl. What a day of fun this will be...

Ok...now it's your turn to put together a music festival...include any band or performer. You can only include 7 bands and you must consider the order in which they play.

1. Lynyrd Skynryd with Ronnie VZ...this will get the crowd going!
2. Allman Brothers Band..more great "Southern" rock n blues
3. Eric Clapton...Duane Allman joins in for some Derek tunes!
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan...I'll need a smoke after the first four here...
5. Jimi Hendrix...SRV would have loved "opening" for Jimi
6. Led Zeppelin...are you kidding me? This band could rock...
7. Ladies and gentleman...The Beatles!

What a nice fantasy...I think I'll make this into an Ipod playlist somehow...

Italy One

Italy is coming...the prelim

Update

Nothing But Nets Update! So Far...So Good. We're up to $10,150 or 1015 nets. Thanks go out to all that joined us in saving lives. We continue to make a difference. C'mon squeeze out a few bucks and take a chance on saving someones life. Tell your friends. Post it on your blog. E-mail everyone you know. Thanks!

Your Quit Date is: 02/21/2007 12:00:00 PM

Time Smoke-Free: 26 days, 23 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds

Cigarettes NOT Smoked: 405

Lifetime saved: 3 days, 2 hours

Money Saved: $70.88

Houdogini

Well, I was right about Ani (rat baby)...she is an unbelievable little beast.

We bought these special doggy travel cases...the number one rated cases. See the picture...no those are not our pets; it's a stock photo that I took from the website in the corner. I thought since I borrowed their photo, they should get some free advertising.

She escaped from the case, not once, but twice. I was traversing the zigzag at security when one of the guards said, "Excuse me sir, your dog is out." I looked down and there she was dashing around in circles. I grabbed her quickly and put her back in her top rated case. She had opened one of the zippered entrances, or in Ani's case I believe they should be called exits. They were all closed tightly...she just figured out how to open them.

Later as we were in the Jetway just about to step on to the plane...she's out again. This time I feared she might panic and fall onto the tarmac. I was able to catch her quickly but we were struggling to get her back in the case and we were causing our own little doggie induced Jetway delay. So, my wife just took here under her arm while wheeling in the other escape challenged dog behind her. I was left wheeling the empty case. At least the case was quiet...

Well...we struggled a bit getting her back in the top rated escapable case but we finally succeeded. There were no further escapes...but I kept a close eye on all the zippers. We survived and it was interesting, embarrassing at times, but interesting...kinda like coca cola going through your nose interesting...