juju808, cool, thanks lots for checkin out News In Brief! Al and I just want want to get loads of people to hear it really! And yeah, that's TASTEY you're hearing on each of those 4 newscasts - now go tell her she did an ace job! hehe

Yeah I wish our votes could help change things for you guys - I feel that sometimes we get a more realistic report from the media, on what is really going on than you guys do in your own country, cause the Bush administration has such a tight grasp on what it wants you to all believe, and so on. That really ties with what Jazzzzzzy was saying too, about biased and unbiased media, sensationalism etc.

DamnIMissNamm, for your info, neither you, nor you grandparents, saved anyone from Hitler. They obviously didn't teach you this bit in school, but a late education is free for the first 6 months - Hitler shot himself in the face. He went absolutely f*ck*ng nuts, and shot himself.

And in case you forget, you are british deep down. You're all sorts of European. You are descended from the european sons-of-bitches who invaded the americas and shot everything that moved. And you might not give a shit what the rest of the world thinks of your policies, but I know a massive number of american people who do give a shit. Capiche?

Nobody has asked the US to defend them either. The US government has decided it will 'defend people'. And those of us in the free world understand that those statements, those promises, are all just a front for a dark hidden agenda.

And Jazzzzzzy is absolutely right. You do need to be concerned what the rest of the world thinks. America is a part of the world as a whole. America does not stand alone, unaffected and unaffecting from the world around it. The actions taken and decisions made by US government, and massive US international corporations like Coca-Cola, McDonalds and GM, have huge consequences on the rest of the globe.

To say "who gives a shit what everyone else thinks" clearly indicates that you think your country and your political actions as a part of that country, won't affect the rest of us.

WRONG.

This is what I was on about a while back when I said that Bush is going to get us all killed.

Oh, and on a ligher note, first 2000 orders will recieve a print of Steve's handwritten score? What a con!

Jazzzzy, ironic is definitely the word dude! hehe. And thanks for the recommendation, i'll check 'em out, cause I sometimes get i the mood for that kind of thing, but only have Dream Theater and Liquid Tension to cover it, which gets tricky cause it starts to get boring! I know.....figure that one out! hehe

And how come the US didn't help us out when we were being invaded by the Romans? ;-)

Yes it's up to the US to vote on it's leader, but the world is free to have an opinion on the outcome. And i'm saying that, when voting for that leader, perhaps the people of the US should spare just a few percent of their voting criteria, to consider the effects on the rest of the world from the election of the next president. The Global effects of voting Kerry in are different, and much much safer, than voting in Bush again. The ideal for the rest of us would be to have someone like Clinton in office, but I guess someone like Clinton is a little too free-thinking, just like Princess Diana was to the royal family - that's why they had to knock her off.

By the way, what war on terrorism are you referring to? Do you honestly think there is, or there has been, a war on terrorism? Saddam wasn't a terrorist, he was a dictator. They never caught Osama, so that was just swept under the carpet. Somehow, the US government used the media to cinvince the people (not just americans) that there was a threat, and that Weapons OF Mass Distruction came under the umbrella of the war on terrorism. There were no WMD's. Iraq probably sold them all to India and Pakistan. Then again, an Australian SAS squad found a couple of MIG 21's (i think 21's, but maybe 27's or 29's) buried under the sand in the desert, and they only found them by accident. They couldn't see them from the air.

So if the Iraqi's can bury planes the size of small houses under the sand, they sure as hell can hide a bomb the size of a suitcase.

Yeah I hear what you're saying about countries only ever going to war because there's something in it for them, but there's a few that don't quite tie up. Like the US Liberation of Panama in the early 80's.....what the hell was that for? And yes, I agree that we only got involved in this latest middle-eastern skirmish cause Tony wanted a piece of the economical prize, but the issue for me, is that it wasn't Tony who started the damn war in the first place.

And I also agree on Russia - they inadvertantly did a massive amount to make it come out good for western Europe. Much like the Mongols inadvertantly saved our ass when the Romans tried to take over.

Just got Andy Timmons' Ear X-Tacy 2 and Pawn Kings through the mail. YIPPEEEEEE!!!!

And you're mistaken - "my focus is my reality"? I'm not focused - ie. I don't have a narrow mind or a shallow point of view. I take all aspects into consideration to form my opinion, which is why I'm not narrow minded and unopen to ideas like you apparently are!

I think you meant "realistic" or "objective" not "narcasistic"?!

And you should care a little about who gets voted in as PM. cause if we vote in someone like the UK Independence Party, who are zenophobic and racist, your country will have all ties cut off from the UK, it's foothold in Europe. You need us to vote in someone who is going to be an ally to your next president, whoever he may be. American airbases need to be kept open in the UK - shutting those alone would cause a much bigger problem than you think.

I personally think Joe should try a solo show in the Royal Albert Hall some time, or maybe a G3 show in Earl's Court - Earl's court is a massive venue, where they put on Motor Shows and so on.

You know how many Iraqi's have been arrested in the last 12 months? 43,000. That's a whole f*ck*n lot of innocent people behind bars. They didn't do anything! There is nothing innocent about George W, and I'm not really bothered if Mike isn't sharing the small collection of facts that are a good result from the campaign - the cons far outweigh the pros.

Look at footage of daily life in Iraq 6 months before the bombs started dropping, and look at it now. The whole thing could have been done neatly using a covert operation to capture saddam, and some heavily indegrated intelligence gathering. But that's not the approach Bush would take - he would rather flex his military muscle and bomb the f*ck*rs.

DamnIMissNamm, you were a guided missile technician? awesome! I'm guessing you know the processes they go through to make those guided missiles hit civilian targets then?

Me get a grip? Well im not gonna get a grip of the same wad of crap that you've got a grip of. I mean really.....you're obviously completely for the war in Iraq. Tell me, in your mind, what was the justification for bombing Iraq for the last 12 years?

Also I want to know, what do you think it was about the war on afghanistan that made it all worthwhile?

And finally, the most important question I'd like to hear your answer to - what was it that linked 9/11 and the decimation of Afghanistan, to WMD's and the invasion of Iraq?

By the way, I thoroughly recommend the Toto 25th Anniversary Live In Amsterdam DVD, if you like that kinda thing. It's a great show, as was G3 '96, but you may already have that on VHS!

So maybe Mike did make a dishonest, biased documentary, but he was doing something unfavorable in the face of a bigger moral issue. He was doing it with the aim of showing up the massive injustice that the world's most powerful leader has caused.

Fretslayer, yeah Africa is on that DVD! That song should give a good representation of the Toto sound, it's a kinda big sound, and the DVD is littered with awesome solos from all of the band. Luke's playing is fantatsic - if you really like his playing then it's probably worth getting the DVD just to see! But hey, if you like Africa then you can't go wrong!

I don't know why Virgil left the Vai band.....I'm personally not into Jeremy much. I mean he's ok, full of energy, but I met him pre-G3 earlier this year and he seemed a little full of himself too, like he was trying to act cool cause he's in the Vai band.

Jeff on the other hand, is an absolute gentleman, he's 1st class!

Jazzy, you don't like Tony Mac? I personally think he's great, but I'm not a huge Colson fan. However, he's got a hot cousin? exxxcellent. hehe

You know, it's really refreshing to see someone my age in the US understanding a more realistic point of view on the middle eastern crisis! I don't mean for that to sound at all patronising by the way. hehe. Anyway yeah, I agree on the complete lack of exit strategy for iraq. I guess there was the general assumption that we/they wouldn't need one, cause by the time the 'allies' had 'liberated' Iraq, they'd have an open ended pass to come and go as they please, because they would be seen as gods among men. What a load of crap.

Also, I hate how the whole thing has been arranged on western political terms, ie. "if we do this, they will do this because they couldn't morally do anything other than that" which is completely misguided, when you're dealing with a foreign culture. All the planning should have been under the guidance of somebody who understands the culture and faith on which the middle east is built.

If you see at 30 frames per second, you want to watch at more than that to maximise the chance that your brain will register every frame, giving a smooth transition in sequences of movement. If you see at 30fps and are watching a projection of 30fps, there is a higher chance that the projection and reception will get out of sync, and the transitions will look jerky.

This is why sound is commonly recorded and played at twice the maximum wavelength the human ear can communicate. It's a mechanism to ensure that your ears will recieve all frequencies (tones, sounds, wavelenghts) and not miss anything out.

I hope that makes some kinda sense...

Hope you have an excellent time in South America with Robert!

I just heard that the local newspaper of George W's home-town in Texas, voted for John Kerry. In response, George W is trying to get said newspaper shut down.

Austin, yeah that bit of news broke about 10 minutes before I posted it. It was fairly near the top of the BBC News at 10, and the british media is more accustomed to broadcasting things like that than the US Media is, becuase they're not bothered about the consequences.

On Tony Mac, people might think you're silly for not liking him, but that would be very narrow-minded. We're all entitled to our own opinion! I've heard a little of his stuff with Planet X and it was ok, but I could mix it up with Dream Theater and not be able to tell the difference.

I think Tony is good and suits the Vai stage but I can understand not liking him - kinda like my feelings on Petrucci. The man is a monster, but he only hits a couple of my buttons!

You're on a range and you got one minute, and only 30 rounds, and you have to hit 30 targets. There are only thrity targets, which requires a hit accuracy of exactly 100%.

If you are suddenly given 60 targets and you have to hit 30, that doubles the chance that all your 30 rounds will hit a target.

So, by projecting an image at double the frame-rate we can see, there is double the chance that your eyes will register a visual frame every time they recieve a signal, and thus reduces the chance that you will see a moving image as a jerky, stop-frame progression!

Any better?! hehe

Clarky, yeah I got the "bush getting me killed" thing.

And yeah the mongols and the romans met. Rome invested a quarter of it's enitre army in Britain, and had to keep all those troops here in their attempt to overthrow the barbarians (the Britons). Keeping all those troops here for years at a time became very expensive.

While this was going on, small handfulls of Mongols were entering the Roman empire from the east. On occasion, there would be a brief skirmish, but word quickly spread to rome that the Mongols were viscous, horrifying warriors with great strength and bravery, so the Romans paid them to leave Rome alone.

This was cool with the mongols cause they didn't really give a shit about the land - they realised they could rinse the romans for a whole lot of hard cash in gold, so they'd come visit every couple of months and the Romans, right on cue, would pay them to go back to Mongolia.

The cost of paying off the Mongols actually became so high that Rome had to start to withdraw legions of troops from Britannia, and as this happened, it was enough of a shift in our favour that we were able to beat them into submission, which is when they gave up and ran screaming back to Rome.

Also, I said "I wouldn't be overly surprised if...". I didn't say "you are...", and if you can't tell the difference between the two then you need to go back to school man! At no point have I actually said that I reckon you're racist and homophobic, because you have said nothing that indicates these traits - I'm just saying that, judging by your attitude, and the way you deal with people who, god forbid, have a different opinion to yours, that you're the sort of simple person who feels hostility to anybody whose skin is a funny colour, or who looks at men like a rural loner might look at their dog.

Fornicate off and decease? god that's low. I mean pathetic. This is the only time that I won't be ignoring you - I don't pay much attention to bullshitters.

Masterop, as far as we know, Joe doesn't teach any more, although he probably teaches his son from time to time!

With the guitar, I'd suggest using the neck pickup with the tone wound right on, for a cool, smooth slightly watery sound a-la Hill Groove, or the bridge pickup for something hotter like A Train Of Angels or any time you need some crunch like the beginning of Time.

I take it you don't have a Wah pedal? I would suggest getting one next time you have the spare ca$h. I would also thoroughly recommend the Morley Bad Horsie....I know Joe uses the Dunlop Crybaby a lot, but I've found the Bad Horsie very straightforward and 100% reliable, and I personally prefer it's tone!

I hope that helps in some way! hehe

Yeah George W and the Bush Administration (ie. his cronies) tried to get it shut down.

And it wasn't that which I was referring to with regard to sharing an opinion. I was referring to the fact that I just shared my opinion on the whole America/Bush/The American Colony of The Middle East thing but the concept of me sgaring an opinion was, to some, unacceptable.

It seems that that is unacceptable to you too. Well, neither Joe nor webmaster John have threatened to banish me for it, so I suggest that if you don't like what I have to say, you keep quiet and ignore me, rather than just trying to lay down this "I AM The Law" shit.

"I think you need to buy an Enya album and reflect on your life as a misguided missile engineer. " but that one was better. 10 points for the man in the jazzy corner, that cracked me up.

Jazzzzy, hehe, sorry man I missed your "join chat room"! Besides, that was this morning when I was posting round the time you were, and when I'm on in the morning I try to make it quick cause it's on peak rate, whereas in the evening, ie. now, it's free!

By the way, the Dutch often have beer and mushrooms.....dunno if that helps?! hehe

I teach guitar, but had a call from a kid last night who wants to learn bass and kind find anyone else in the area who could teach him, so I said i'd give it a shot! Any suggestions or bass knowledge would be very helpful indeed!

Stu clone, thanks very much for your input, I really appreciate it. I haven't actually had a lesson with him yet - he's coming over fr his first tomorrow evening, so I'll be finding out then what he's into, what he wants to learn, and so on. If he decides to stick with it and progresses to a level where he needs to start checking out the more intensive learning from books, i'll definitely check out ed friedland! And the Hal Leonard books too ~ in my experience, Hal's guitar books have been excellent so i'm sure the bass one's are equally useable!

Thanks again dude!

Regards the misunderstanding or whatever, you seem to be suggesting that I made up the story of George W and crew getting the Crawford local paper shut down etc etc? hehe, dude, I would not make up a story like that! In fact I wouldn't make up any story.....that's pretty much what pissed me off - you were implying i'd made it up just because you didn't find internet backup for the story. You could see if you can look into the BBC's archive of recent news boradcasts, and try to find the article, but i think you'll find it a lot more cost-effective time-wise, just to trust that I did indeed see that report on the news!

However, that report could have been misled, but if that's the case I'd rather read "dude, I haven't found anything about that story anywhere else.....maybe there was a mistake", than read "you're lying". Before you say it, no you never said "you're lying" but it was quite clear that that was what you meant.

austin, hehe, don't worry about it. I probably misinterpreted what you meant, and thought you were digging at me too, cause I was in the frame of mind of having people yell at me. yeah we beat it to death. I definitely heard the article right, but it's possible that their news sources fucked up - maybe Bush and his cronies commented on it, and the reporters used a little too juch artistic license when relaying the story?! I dunno, either way, it's funny that the Crawford local Journal are siding with Kerry.

I'd use a pen, not a sharpie....it'll be easier for joe! Also, you can gloss over it but take advice on what kinda lacquer to use.....i'm not sure myself.

Delfino, haha, funny thing - I just spent 2 hours teaching my mum how to play chess! I haven't played it in years, was fun.

Dude, I wanted to check out 3DS max a few weeks ago....I wanna model my house for a tango hunt on Rogue Spear.....and found it's 2,500 dollars! Crap! hey if anybody ever gives you a copy (wink wink), let me know!

Zinc Master, my personal feeling is BUY ALL OF KENNY-WAYNE'S RECORDS RIGHT NOW! he's only made 4 albums so it won't cost much, and I love his music, it really rocks.

Kenny has been going since the late 90's, and was 19 years old when he recorded his phenomenal debut "Ledbetter Heights".

Zinc Master, no kenny-Wayne's music is very much vocal, but he does have a couple of instrumental tracks on each record.

Even if you prefer instrumental, the vocal tracks still rock cause the integration of guitar fills into the lyrics is excellent, and then he's let loose into what is usualy the ideal solo for that tune!

I reckon Ledbetter Heights and Live On will give a slihtly better indicator of how varied he is, as Trouble Is... is more focused, but it's the first album of his that I got, and it's polished without taking away the natural essence of the music.

If you can find a bracnch of borders, they'l let you listen to a whole album before you buy it! That's if you can find one with any Kenny-Wayne in stock, but you should find that they have his new album, The Place You're In and either Trouble Is... or Live On.

I'm pleased to hear you liked hero....it's the first review i've heard of it. It came and went in the cinema like a passing tide.....it just got ignored and forgotten about, so I gotta wait for it on DVD now and I really want to see it! It looks and sounds awesome tho!

Clarky, excellent, that's the way it should be when you're dropped the task of having to make an arrogant, self-absorbed wanker look stupid, and realise that they aren't the best thing on the planet.

If it had of been sophisticated, the untrained ear and eye would have seen you both as equals and would have thought you'd put on a jolly good show! That's not the way it's meant to be when you're showing someone up for the complete twat they really are.

guitarcrazy505, EJ uses mostly pentatonic scales, but while he's doing it he's using pentatonic substitution.

He also states that for his lead playing, he uses "mostly a pentatonic scale with an added 2nd and an added 4th, which probably makes it another scale I don't know the name of"

EJ is the best, his music is incredible. Enjoy working on Cliffs Of Dover!

eamon, you posted that just to get a reaction? Why? Isn't that kinda juvenile.

Suzie, you got the G3 96 DVD with EJ? My work here is done! hehe. I hope you enjoyed the DVD, I personally think EJ's set is the best one on there, and that's mostly because of Intro Song. What an amazing way to kick off. I also loved his parts on the Jam.

In general though, the whole DVD is fantastic. I thought Steve's set was great and his tone was sweet, Joe's set rocked even if it was the three big classics...it was nice to see him having so much fun with the band!

Hope you enjoyed Live In SanFran too.....I watched it again today, it's awesome!

Delfino, Nuno Bettencourt is probably the best I can think of, with regards to exemplary material for arpeggios. He uses them to their best in a lot of Extreme solos, and they sound really cool.

If you can find some string-skipping examples learn them cause they sound awesome.....if not, let me know and I'll see if I can help out with tabbing some or something.

Arpeggios are something I need to work on too, but you should find them endlessly exploitable for all sorts of things. Apart from being the basis of sweeping, you can also slow them down drasticaly to write decent melodies which don't just sound like scales! For example, Love Thing uses bits of arpeggios, carefully structured to make that divine melody.

Delfino, with regards to Nuno's TAB's....check out things like He Man, Woman hater and Get The Funk Out, and probably Warheads too.

Then again, if you find that people have tabbed them badly (i usually find that people who can play something can't tab it for shit) give me a shout and I'll shovel some coal into the scanner and see if I can get some copies from a cool book I've got!

Yeah the Love Thing melody is a beauty....I may be wrong on it, but I play it as fragmented arpeggios, cause it helps get the right tone for each note!

OCPS470, dude I just downloaded the Stone Groove MP3. nice man, I can't wait to hear it with a beat behind it. What is the new pedal you're using? The tone is nice, really creamy, and it reacts really nicely to the Wah!

Let me know when youve got more of the track down, it's gonna rock! The lead is going to sound great.....I reckon some tight delay would make it sound massive!