Hello, I was introduced to guitarist Issac Figgs AKA Alien Prodigy if anyone gets a chance check it out at his myspace. Unfortunately he is no longer with us but at 22 he was one hell of a musician. He was runner up at a Jimmy Hendrix contest. Let me know what yoy think. Travis

Clarky, that was absolutely beautiful.

Keniko, thanks - it means a lot. ((hugs))

Ibanezjoan, best wishes to yer stepdad. I took my mom to see my pop today. Man was he bitchy. Guess I would be to if my insides were just rerouted. I had to set him straight tho and tell him my mom has enough worries and doesn't need him to dump on her. It's the meds. They have him a bit off, but I still didn't like the way he talked to her a few times. She can't wait to get her "old" husband back. I just hope that wish comes true for her. Poor thing. We had her out to dinner last night for her 75th birthday. She had a good time. I tell her she still has a little spring in her chicken (spring chicken is an expression we use to mean young) .

Victoria, so he has more than a few tats then, eh? lol! woo-hoo!! I stopped at 9, but I need at least one more. If I had the money, I'd have a lot more by now. lol! Do you have any? If not...maybe it's time ;-)

Al, congrats - you worked for a day. lmao!! That'll teach ya to be sober. Yer a Mc for a reason! I wanna see vid of the gig right after you make me a samish.

civ, I'm hanging in there. Helping my sisters take care of my mom while my pop is in the hospital. He just had a cancerous tumor removed and a colostomy. I ask him how his hysterectomy is. yeah, I'm funny like that.

Song of the day - Down, Down, Down - Brussels '95

Has anyone used the planetofrock.com backing track cds? Seems pretty good quality to me.. Are they a good group to deal with?

Clarky - That song was beautiful...thanks for sharing it.

That Steve Vai video is pretty cool, even though it is a bit odd to see him playing with himself (ha). I like the second distortion quite a bit...it really reminds me of Eddie Van Halen's tone on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Have you heard of Riverside at all? They're from Poland and they sound a bit like a cross between Dream Theater and Pink Floyd...

I'll stop throwing band names at you though...prog can have such a wide definition and maybe we're into different things...

Michael Phelps to Host SNL

Swimmer Michael Phelps' victory lap on NBC continues, with the Olympian champion booked to make his acting debut on the 34th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live."

Good Morning Satchland......How R U Peeps?

michelle.....No Prob. God Bless all of you. Hugs to you.....

DoTheStu...... No vids or music yet. We're gigging this Sat. After that we're recording a demo for club owners in my studio so we'll have the songs up on my space in a couple of weeks. As for video. We might film our Sept 20th show. I'll let you know. Thanks so much for asking. That was cool of you. Take Care.....

Mikesb and Samsqanch - thanks for the input on the Steinberger. I have never met anyone that has had one before. I actually liked the look of the guitar way back in the 80's when EVH used it on 5150.

It does look like you'd be playing and possibly throw it right off your body. I'm not a real big guy though...185. So It may fit me ok. I really have been looking at them for about 6 months pretty seriously, more becuse of the versatility. I really like all the sounds you can get and the trans trem looks very intriguing. The problem I am having is I can't find a dealer that carries them in stock. So I'm not acutally able to go test one before I drop the money for one.

I have also just recently started playing a 24 fret guitar. I have always played 22 fret guitars. I have to admit, making the transition has been more difficult that I thought it would be. when I'm not looking at the fretboard, I sometimes get to the wrong spot. Need to keep working at it I guess.

Hi Michelle, yes he's covered, full slieve both arms, chest, back, calfs too. Even his neck! I don't have any tattoos at all, and have no plans to!

He's getting some work done today...getting rid of other girls names lol.

He's not going to be easy to introduce to my parents....what with the long hair, motorhead t-shirt, and sooo many tattoos!

What can my parents do though? I'm 34, are they going to ground me?

McKenna...sounds like you had a time of it all right. Sod's law....if it can go wrong it will! I suppose you could always make sure that you have your tracks on two different formats from now on hopefully you'll avoid that predicament again. I'm assuming you always keep back up strings, picks etc so that shouldn't be a problem.

I have a friend (not my new man someone else) who sings and plays lead guitar in his band. In his shows if he loses a string, or goes way out of tune, he makes it part of the performance, cracking jokes and sort of involving them on whether it's in tune or not. I don't know if that would work for everyone I think the fact he's a little cocky about it is what makes it work so well!

hybes - re:Vai

Michelle - sorry to hear about your Pop. Good vibes from me.

Blue moon - times is hard if you didn't have any bread left... did you say your SF flight was 800 euros? I found one for £400 if you're going economy... guess it's business class for you right ; )

Guitarman77897 - that guitar of your sounds like quite a pain. Floating trems are relatively straight forward as long as you don't change string guage

Igneousiceman - so road bikes, BMX, mountain bike, or all? The Trek (last time I looked) was about £1500 : ( and that's the basic model... I just have this worry that having spent all that I'll go over one minor bump in the road and the carbon fibre will go "no thanks".... and I bet that isn't covered in the warranty LOL The european GP sucked... bring on the 2009 regulations

Do The Stu - interesting ref the SBM title request. Was SBM an option someone gave him from the board, or in the end was it Joe/Joe's team that chose that title? As for love, it'll come and find you when the time is right, that's how I like to look at it anyway. I'm hoping Joe will re-record/release TTM at some point (I posted about it a while back). Fingers crossed.

nickguitarmeistro - where did you get yourS(atchurator) might I ask?

Roo - I've signed up. Site looks good. Any response from my other post?

Tuesdayschild - sounds like fun (the romancing the rock star)! Enjoy it if it's that's what you want, cool that romance has sought you out

Slansh - nice vids. someone emailed me the fight showboating one the other day. What a muppet... FAF though

Clarky - that's a seriously nice piece man, very fitting I'm sure, and you can really feel the emotion! A great tribute. Good wishes to ya. Just as an aside, it would fit loads of movies, and reminds me of Blade Runner

LMAO - that Vai vid was cool & funny, good stuff. edit - did he really call himself a w**ker? Too much....

I just learned the beginning of Cryin' such a nice song....

So far my guitar is behaving, I have no idea how long it will stay like that tho....

hybes - If you're just getting into Vai I'd suggest starting with Passion and Warfare. It's by far his most popular album, and some of the fan favorites on it include For The Love Of God, Answers, The Audience Is Listening, and Liberty. Stu Hamm plays bass on it as well, so that'll be something familiar for you as a Satch fan. After that I'd go for either his newest album, Real Illusions: Reflections, or Alien Love Secrets. Then get Alive In An Ultra World, Fire Garden, and The Ultra Zone. Save his other stuff for last...

Fire Garden and The Ultra Zone are probably my favorite SV albums, but it took a few years for them to pass all of his other ones to reach the top...

Is our Webmaster out there somewhere?

I was just wondering how soon before a show are the names drawn for the backstage pass giveaway?