Ovation1, haha, yeah I was talkin about the name of the DVD too.....we were just talking about different DVD's! hehe. At least I didn't have the ignorance to say "what does joe Walsh have to do with Britney Spears?" hehehe. I definitely want to get Alligator Farm. I'll have to get it twice though 'cause I notice it's available on DVD Audio as well as normal CD! Yesss!

I go largely for an Andy Timmons tone from it which it does beautifully, but it's also great for a decent Satriani or Vai tone if that's what you're after. If you want something heavier for some decent 7-string riffing, you'll probably find it lacking. VHT seems to be the way to go for 7-string madness, but as a lead head the VL100 is excellent.

Regarding the Berkeley thing...

I just wish I was 15 years younger... creepin up awful fast to 34 years old... but what do you do... I know college is for anyone of all ages, but I've chosen a particular career path that's weening me away from music, It's more a hobby than a profession at this stage of my life... don't get me wrong, I play everyday but it's after I've already worked a 10 hour day... a couple of hours later I have to pack it in to go to bed...

for all of you young bucks out there that have true ability, dig in and grab your goals and hang on tight... you'll regret it years later if you didn't, and wish you did... that's just a bit of advice...

peace...

My post just went blank :(

Cheese- have a look at this link

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/newsbexley/

and look at the heading "I wish for some pals." I just hope it all sorts out for them!

Wow, thanks everyone for your help OK this is my list - see if you think its good.

1 Eric Johnson - Venus Isle

2 John Petrucci - Suspended Animation

3 Andy Timmons - that was then, This is now

4 Yngwie - Rising Force? (could do with a bit more advise on which of his albums to go for)

Guitarmeister - thanks for the Yngwie info, but I'm confused now...too much input...brain does not compute......

Ovation1 - Very scientific indeed - but it trancended time and space to my inner being and there it ....oh, who am I kidding, you can tell I'm a person of very few words, don't know how I got through school, it was a great and truly heartfelt explanation, but I prefer the pidgeon theory - hehehe - Thanks for the reminder I haven't watched the film Crossroads in ages - will have to dig that one out.

Blue Moon - Encore - great stuff - I blinked and nearly missed D major H though, but your right it is very happy, Amins different, rest great, but I LOVED baroque so much I nearly cried, it has a lot of feeling in it. Now I'm sorry if you got caught up in my technical speech and can't quite get what I mean, but if your confused I will be happy to try to explain a bit simpler for you? OK (snigger, snigger)

public announcement - for those who may have felt I was insinuating that blue moon was simple - LIGHTEN UP --I was joking :)

where was I

Keniko - Chocolate Martini - huh - you want to try a Pangalactic Gargle Blaster!!!!!

Cheese101- Hey...I don't think I've had the pleasure of a post from you before, thanks sweety.

Blue Moon - Have a good nights sleep with your guitar and maybe you try a gurning competition?

Lucy - Thanks for your input too - you are one blessed gal!! I don't think any of the places on the tickets are near my mum, she is between Malaga and Gibraltar right down the bottom of Spain. (here I go with my technical talk again!) Thanks for the face explanation too, I can't believe someone asked Steve to his face - did he laugh or cry 8=}

and finally.....

Thanks for all your get well messages - they worked - I am nearly betta now.

Hugs Satriella xx

Plum Loco Thanks for the advice...I was the one asking about Berklee, my last year of high school, so trying to decide on where to go, definitly sticking with music. Your advice is almost exactly what all the older (not really old-old, but older than I am) people that have heard me play gave told me pretty much the same thing you said. I'd like music to be my future, I've been playing for a very long time, since I was about 4 or 5...I'll try as hard as I can, it isn't gonna be an easy road at first, but I've put all these years and hours into playing guitar, I hope all my work (and more hard work) will all pay off into being a recognized musician like guys like Satch, Vai, Petrucci...and so many others, the list could go on.

Guitarmeister - Stop it, your not helping, your still rambling (ooooooo look who is talking!!!) ONE album?

HEY!! woohoo havent been here in like a month, i still love you guys though!

hi everyone, i changed my nick if noone noticed...it used to be TheBob. should i keep this nick or change it back?

chromenewt - makes you sound slimy, from a pond and shiny at the same time, but it still includes slimy and from a pond! TheBob - sophisticated and cool - you choose :)

Satriella I thought so. It's too hard to just pick one Yngwie CD. You can get one and not like it, but then years later get another one and really like it...which is what happened to me. I 1st got Collection, didn't really like most of it, didn't listen to Yngwie for a while, then I got another one out of nowhere and was a huge Yngwie fan since that. It's hard to just pick one, but like I said, go with any of the ones I mentioned.

Hey, angels don't do that!

OTTAWA (Reuters) - One of Canada's leading cinema chains has stopped handing out Christmas wrapping paper to its patrons after parents complained it featured angels fondling each other suggestively, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Famous Players acted after the wrapping paper -- a promotion for the Virgin Mobile phone service -- was handed out to young children.

The paper features a male angel grasping the breast of his female partner, while she has hold of his genitals, as they kiss. Both are fully clothed in white angel attire.

Court: Disabled Can't Escape Student Loans (AP) - America's seniors and disabled cannot escape debts from old student loans, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, freeing the government to pursue Social Security benefits as part of an effort to collect billions in delinquent loans.

The Bush administration had argued that the ability to withhold Social Security benefits is an important tool in the pursuit of $5.7 billion in student loan debt that is over 10 years old. Overall, outstanding loans total about $33 billion.

Government lawyers said there is a limit on how much can be taken from benefit checks, 15 percent, and that the Education Department can forgive debts in some hardship cases.

The unanimous decision went against a disabled 67-year-old Seattle man who lives in public housing and had sued claiming he needed all of his $874 monthly check to pay for food and medicine.

James Lockhart's benefits had been cut by 15 percent to cover debts he incurred for college in the 1980s. He has about $77,000 in unpaid loans.

The court's decision applies to loans that date back more than 10 years, and covers both disability and retirement benefits under the Social Security program.

Senior citizens groups did not know how many elderly or disabled people could lose some of their monthly checks if the government decides to go after them.

"It means that you can take the Social Security benefits of someone who is 90 years old and living on a small amount of money," said Brian Wolfman, director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group and the lawyer for Lockhart. "The losers are clearly older Social Security beneficiaries."

Lockhart lost earlier at the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that Congress, in laws passed in 1991 and 1996, eliminated a 10-year time limit on the government's right to seek repayment on defaulted student loans by seizing Social Security. The justices affirmed that decision.

Other lower courts, however, have ruled in favor of Social Security recipients, and Wolfman said that Congress could reconsider the issue.

The Supreme Court was called on to clarify federal laws that sent conflicting messages about the collection of old loans. The government first began withholding the money from Social Security benefits in 2001 and has defended its authority to do so in court.

The ruling, written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will probably be one of her last. She is retiring after 24 years.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said that Congress "unambiguously authorized, without exception, the collection of 10-year-old student loan debt. ... In doing so, it flatly contracted and thereby effectively repealed part of the Social Security Act."

Groups such as the AARP and the National Consumer Law Center had urged the court to safeguard Social Security benefits in the Lockhart case. The benefits, the organizations said, "are critical in preserving a measure of financial independence for older and disabled workers."

Also Wednesday, new Chief Justice John Roberts announced his first ruling, in a case involving legal fees. The 9-0 decision backed insurance companies, which argued that they should not have to pay legal fees of a New Mexico couple in a case that was shuffled from state court to federal court, then back to state court.

The student loan case is Lockhart v. U.S., 04-881, and the lawyer fees case is Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp., 04-1140.

Joe: man i was thinking... when you first started playing guitar, did you ever pick up your guitar and start playing and just thought to your self... man i suck i am never goin to be any body special and just then said you where goin to quit but then your thinking no... i want to be some one special. I mean this question is for like the first year of your playing. Did you ever think that? I really must know. Please give an answer. I really need to know.

Why? because i did today... I picked up my guitar and tryed playing and i got mad at my self cause i cant play and i dont know any thing... like scales and modes. But then i put your Anthology cd in and listen to Time Machine and thought to my self "i cant stop... i must keep going."

Thank you for your time... please, i need a response...

Thank you Joe

OCPS470: lol, thanks for the skinny on Matt, it's good to hear your in touch with him, and tell him we said Yo!.... Also, I believe Do The Stu said a while back that Matt was in L.A. and he was going to meet up with him.... L.A. is the place to be for Matt IMO.... He'll get noticed there....

....BTW, I hear ya on the ultra-competitive deal..Thats not my bag either, but as in music, so is the nature of our society.... It's sad that some of the teachers there are big-headed ego monsters, but I would go there and hang onto Dave Martone like stink on sh*t, if you know what I mean, lol!.... If you want something bad enough (in this case learn and be around professionals), you gotta go and get it....

Guitarmiester: Here is Matt King's link.... I think that the best thing you could do is to check it out first so you can get a vibe of the place.... Good luck and keep us posted....

BTW, if you miss a link, there is a menu selection in the middle bracket at the top of the screen to view old posts: View messages from the last 1 hour

gotta have joe: hehe, lol, I can imagine those JS's hanging all over the tree and they actually have little batteries in them to make the whammy bar scream, lol! ;-)

Keniko: Let's not forget the Trans Siberian Orchestra!!....

962 / Satriella: Damn guys, lol, I should have mentioned Eric Clapton in the Crossroads title, haha!.... When I first posted about it (for seeing Joe Walsh), I added the link for the Crossroads Festival, but I guess no one saw it, lol....

Ga60: Yo Gabe, Happy Holidays!.... Hope you and the fam are well....

Cheese 101 & Michelle:......Hope you are safe...... Take care & be good...............

gotta have joe...im kinda goin through the same thing right now,,alot of depression ,,,life,,etc,,2 months ago I used to play 2-3 hours a day,,now i hardly pick it up..& when I do I feel I SUCK,,

For me I think just a phase..DONT GIVE UP!! Just decide & KNOW,,that the more you practice,,the better you get,,THATS THE BOTTOM LINE!!...I wish you the best.