Well, the phone call didn't work out. Wasn't fun as the lady that answered the phone was very nice, genuinely apologetic, but firm on the company's billing policy. That's the minimum amount they charge and since a nurse took my temperature and blood pressure at sign in, there's no way out of it. She agreed that it was a bullshit policy, but there was nothing she could do about it. My attorney says he can fix it for me, but his bill would be about $300 to do it, so he recommended just paying it. It think I will pay it. Then I'll go over and hang out in the waiting room and watch tv everyday until I feel I've gotten my money's worth. Or something, I don't know. Maybe cause some sort of ignorant disturbance, preaching to the people that come in, telling them to get their check books out, and if at all possible to leave the patient in the car until they have made payment arrangements or something. I'm pouting and mad and just not in a good mood anyway. My MRI got pushed back for the second time today, so now I have to wait until next week to get it done. There is no organization in health organizations. They all suck. I just want to be able to drink beer again. No, it's nice outside, I'd like to sit on the porch and drink a Margarita. With no salt. "I said nooo salt..." Office Space rocks. Think I'll watch it and drink some more water. Dammit. Song of the day: The Pump by Jeff Beck. That's what Jewish Hospital in Louisville is doing to me. Might as well have the appropriate music for it.

UF Dean: You don't suck man, not at all. I read you were considering a GNX3. Great choice, I've had one for almost three years now and it's the best money I've ever spent. I'm looking at the GNX4 because my unit is wearing out, buttons breaking and such. Should have gotten the optional foot controller thingy. Anyway, get one, you won't regret it.

Sorry I haven't been around much folks. I've been reading, but I've been a big ball of negative energy lately and don't want it to infect the board here so I've been quiet. I fell again the other day, no coma this time though, but my head has been ringing. Fell two more times getting up. No place on my head suitable to put on a pillow without pain tends to make you grumpy. Sometimes I wish I didn't have thse pretty hardwood floors all the way through my house. Anyway, enough belly aching. One thing I'd like to bring up is the lack of activity here. Maybe I was getting used to the three million posts a day or something and now it's back to normal but with only a week before Joe's new release I would expect a lot more going on here. I've still managed to not listen to any of the new clips yet, so I can be surprised when the disc shows up. I hope Sony doesn't let me down and ship late or whatever. Fingers crossed. Oh, Artanis I: Biz an teen and Biz an teen e um. What else....Miranda says Hello to all.

Well, I was getting ready to start the whole post over again, but I just can't right now. Anyways, thanks to everyone for the well wishes, you all rock and you know it. I particularly like the afro idea lol. And I'm gonna have Miranda take me to some pawn shop or yard sale or something so I can buy an old microwave and try out Mr. Nick's trick lol. I want to very badly for some reason, but I don't think it'll fly in the house.

Let's see, what can I remember? Oh yeah:

Austin: You didn't realize Mike was CIA? Sure man, that's the real T2J story behind the posts from Wolfie. Wolfie would post in code, Mike would read them here, and then he'd respond in a similar code over on the Winger site. If you see the words, "Yellow dog barks at white, hovering Pontiac" from either of them, seek shelter immediately. Oh, I still haven't gotten an email from Sony yet. I didn't order until the 19th, so maybe that has something to do with it. And, I won't be caving in. I'm strong lol.

GODSGUNSGUITARS: Great news about your wife, now go get some proper rest. Miranda says those cots really suck. I believe her. Take good care of her, I'm sure she takes good care of you.

Someone mentioned about going outside, maybe slanshroom or 962, can't remember. Anyway, we did earlier today and the funniest thing happened. There was this baby squirrel hanging out by the front porch and Miranda was calling to it, trying to get it to come to her. I'm sitting there on the bench, thinking she's as looney as I am, when the little dude just strolls right up to her, and proceeds to climb up her leg! She picks him up and has me go inside to get something for it to munch on. He's not into the salt that's on cashews, but he tore some leftover breadstix up!

There was a ton of other stuff I was going to say, including details of one of my previous kitchen fires, but that's a long story and I don't feel like typing it all over again. Short version: Carrying a pan without a handle full of boiling water across house using what I thought were pot holders. They were actually just for putting hot plates on, so I guess they were about as fireproof as a bunch of paper towells. Anyway, halfway to my destination, one of these "pot holders" bursts into flames. My hand was on fire carrying about two gallons of boiling water across hardwood floors in my recording studio. It was pretty funny after I got to where I needed to go. That wasn't all that short was it? Oh well.

Powerslave214: No, couldn't be me. Not yet. Maybe tomorrow lol.

Part I

Joeman9: I'm doing pretty well. I have good days and bad you know. Sometimes the negativity bug comes along and bites into ya for a bit. It usually starts out innocently enough. The little bug will cruise up, say something like, "Hey Bil, how's it goin man? I haven't been around much lately and thought I'd check on you. You know how much I love to sit around with you and help you bitch and complain about things. We should hang out together for a few days. Just for old times sake. You can tell me about how you hate being unable to do the things you want to. I can assist you in feeling sorry for yourself and encourage you to be a miserable bastard. What do you think?" So you end up hanging out with the negativity bug for a lil bit. It's seems ok for a day or two, but then he starts to wear on you. He becomes that overly excited guy that will not shut up and leave you alone. Always yapping in your ear, polluting your thoughts and making you miserable, just like he promised. So, you have to get up off of the couch, shave off the five day old beard and stomp a mud hole in the little shit's ass. Then you get back to normal and think to yourself, "What the hell was that all about?" It's all part of the process we call life I suppose. Just remember, there is no such thing as a bad day. There are good days, and days that are used to measure good days against. If all days were good, how would you know if it was a good day or not lol?

Lone Wolf: Howdy! Tells us a bit about yourself. This is a big family here, complete with crazy aunts and uncles. Take your coat off and stay a while.

Megaboyd: Cool, I'm not the only one! We will not fall victim to our own desires. We will not drive ourselves crazy with a 30 second clip. We will wait, be patient, and keep our sanity until the album arrives. For we are, umm, we're something. I'm not sure what. I'll have to get back to you on that lol.

Part II

marimariSRV: Thank you very much for saying that. I do know how lucky I am for having someone like her. I never knew anything like this was possible. I went against every instinct, every thing I thought I knew about love and life, and this is where I ended up. I love that quote by the way. Carlin I believe, after the Sept. 11 attacks. Very much true. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find the kind of love you're looking for. You have to just let go completely. Forget about protecting your heart, your pride, your self esteem. When you find that person, the one worth risking everything for, just let it all hang out. Go for broke and don't look back. Stare the gods of fear right into their eyes and tell them to get fucked. It took me four months to talk Miranda into going out with me without it being about friendship. I told her several times I wanted more than that, and she shot me down more times than I care to remember. Everything and everyone told me I was wasting my time, but I knew she was the one, so there was no stopping me. It was quite liberating to drop all of my fears, and let my guard down, make myself look like a complete jackass or whatever to impress upon her that I was very much in love with her. My patience and stubbornness paid off ten fold. I won't ever let my pride get in the way of love again. Like they say, love conquers all. Fear. Pain. Coma. I'm a believer now, more than ever. Jeez, I talk a lot lol.

Austin: Dude, I'm so ready to go buy a microwave tomorrow. There's generally tons of yard sales on fridays, I may just have to take the dog for a walk around the neighborhood, see what I can find. Shit, I'll have to bring it back. Can't carry it that far. Will get in trouble for driving. I'll pay the neighbor's kid to haul it in a wagon or something lol. This is gonna be fun. Oh, and I got an email from Sony! Will miracles ever cease?

Austin: I now have a plan. I'm going to do it at night, outside in the driveway for a few reasons. 1. Gotta see the sparks. 2. Don't want to burn down the house, still not allowed to touch anything in there that plugs in except for the refrigerator. 3. Don't want house to smell funny. 4. Less likely to be busted by Miranda. 5. Another reason for neighbors to think I'm insane. The dog and I found three yard sales going on in the neighborhood and not one of them had a microwave! I'll find one though, don't you worry.

Mikey Vai: I knew it! The elf's oatmeal pours slowly when mixed with automatic transmission fluid on partly cloudy Tuesday afternoons if it's the equinox.

SupaaDave: Thanks man, I do my best, and thanks for the happy 900. Happy belated 700 to you. And congrats on the job man, that's great news. Are any of the candy bars SupaaSized? lol

TASTEY: Well, no one can figure me out, cause I'm me lol. Actually, it's kinda strange. I have a very small tumor in my brain that they've been watching, checking for growth and all that. The guy I went to for a second opinion says that the tumor may or may not have anything to do with what's up. The area that it's in doesn't jive with my symptoms. He also says that when I went thru this four years ago, there was no tumor present in any of the MRI's, so who the hell knows. The first doctor is all about doing radiation treatment, but I'm not so sure about that. That shit will fry your brain, so I've been going with the medication the second doctor gave me. Of course he's the one that gave me the shit that put me in a coma. So I'm kinda between a rock and a hard place. Or a quack and a jackass. The only thing the two agree on is that it isn't cancerous. On a lighter note, the squirrel has been hanging around the front yard all day long. I thought he might come with me on my microwave hunt, but the dog wouldn't have it. Oh well. I think Miranda is up front now, trying to catch him or something. If she brings him inside, there's gonna be trouble lol. I'll tell her your story so that we don't become the wildlife refuge for squirrels. We already feed rabbits and birds, now squirrels.

Powerslave: LOL, yeah that wouldn't be very good at all. I won't be trusting that little dude at all now lol.

IceZer: Nothing at all wrong with that picture. I listened to your clips too, nice stuff, I like it.

Joeman9: Imagination? No, that's what really happened lol!

death cube K: Did I read that right? You said, "some Peavey amps are pretty cool.." I'm shocked man! I've never heard you say anything good about them before lol.

Jazzy Boy: Neither of those teas. Long Island Iced Tea is what you need.

Zinc Master: This is the first time I've ordered from Sony, so I don't know much. From what everyone said about the G3 cds and dvds the shipping schedule was just as funky.

GODSGUNSGUITARS: I saw a show on celebrity pets that had the Nuge on it. The showed him out in his private wildlife refuge running with his buffalo. It was pretty cool.

962: Thanks man, I'm doing all right. The boiling water thing definitely taught me a lesson. If the water heater is broken, then take a shower at a buddies or something lol.

Zenfish: Well said on Fripp. The man is awesome. These youngins are in for a very nice surprise I think.

Quote of the day: "First must give place to last, because last must have his time to come; but last gives place to nothing, for there is not another to succeed." Bunyan

Austin: I think I have talked Miranda into voting on this round if that's cool. She doesn't know all the songs so I'll be letting her listen to all of them so she can make a fair decision. I won't coach her too bad lol.

Zenfish: How could we not? There are so many great artists I think we'd have to like at least some of the same ones lol. I don't mean to pry, but tell us a little about yourself. You never really say much about you, as far as what you like to do, or what kind of work you do and the like.

Mr Nick: It was either the commies or the dragons. I say we blow them both up just incase lol

Austin: Sorry, educating Miranda on the tracks has been sidelined to listen to the new cd. May attempt again tomorrow.

death cube K: I read somewhere that Dave Mustaine threw a fit when Fender bought Jackson. I believe he wanted to buy it himself or something of that nature and that's why he's an ESP endorsee now. Who owned Jackson for the last few years?

michelle: You have no idea how handy one of those phone/cameras can be lol. I'll keep my mouth shut on this one. Lesson learned lol.

GODSGUNSGUITARS: She generally runs and hides whenever I get a new cd that I've been talking about for months lol. She isn't sick of it yet, or at least hasn't mentioned anything, which is really amazing due to all the Satch I made her listen to vote in Austin's tournament. She pretty well reversed everything I voted for lol.

Matt Martinez: That's what I thought. I remember reading an article and he was stomping mad about it.

Austin: I couldn't find anything on the epic site about that single. Do you have a link? And definitely do a song by song review. And if you come back to the cd we expect it to be finished by no later than midnight tonight lol.

PhryDom: I guess that's why they call me, the working man! That's one of the few songs other than my own that I know how to play. I should probably record a version of it. Call it, The Medical Leave Man lol.

Zenfish: That's cool. My story is a long one. And not very interesting. I'm 28, live with my fiancee Miranda, I picked up the guitar about nine years ago but didn't really start playing until the last two years, maybe less. I've been in the motorcycle business for my entire adult life, been riding since I was a fetus. Currently on medical leave due to head trauma caused by more concussions than you can shake a stick at that recently, along with some bad medication put me in a coma for a week. Now, just recovering, trying to figure out what happened to my short term memory and working on The T2J Satchurated Feedback CD Project. I have a few tunes online, nothing fancy. I'm a basics kind of guy that loves the groove and just enjoy playing the stuff I play. You can check it out here. I think that pretty well sums it up.

dragonchild: Cool, glad to hear you had a great birthday.

Mikey Vai: I was reading back thru stuff a from last week and caught what you said to me about Gilbert's solo on Streetlights. That's the kind of solo that make me want to gather up all of my guitars, take them out in the yard and burn them because it's so damn good and I'll never ever sound anything like that at all lol. I don't understand why he isn't bigger here in the US. He has a ton of radio friendly songs with good vocals and catchy hooks. I guess he doesn't suck enough to be famous lol.

Greyfox88: What exactly do you have in mind? One person do one guitar part, another do another, someone else do percussion parts, another do bass, that kind of thing? Sounds interesting.

Sammy Andrews: lmao on Joe yelling at himself, "Self!..."

death cube K: It must suck to have been replaced by a Hammet lol. Don't know what kind of business man Dave is, but I couldn't figure out why he wanted to own them, unless he just wanted to be able to have them build any and everything he ever imagined, which they'd probably do for him anyway.

Jazzy Boy: Hate to hear you're down man. Cheer up. There are literally billions of stupid people on their planet to laugh at.

SupaaDave: Yeah, I think Joe could get some airplay out of Lifestyle, no problem. Joe needs a more aggressive marketing strategy.

mick87: I really like 90125. I remember when it came out, I was at the age of just figuring out what I liked musically. That was probably one of the first ten or twenty albums that I bought. I don't have it anymore and need to buy it. I'm still gonna go with 2112 though, because I'm a Rush junkie. I went thru four cassettes before I finally got it on cd.

90125 - 1 2112 - 3

Clarky: Nothing like giving them a good education lol.

Quote of the day: "Darts will never be a sport, because the whole object of the game is to reach zero, which goes against all sports logic." Carlin

greyfox88: Sounds like a cool idea. I can't record anything at the moment, so I won't be able to participate, but I'd like to hear it if you guys get it figured out.

YaYo: I can "do" the stretch, but I could never use that chord. I can "place" my fingers there and make it sound clean, but my fingers would never just go straight to it, if that makes any sense.

Austin: Thanks for the link, but I can't hear it. Oh well, I'll try again sometime. No microwave yet, been raining too much to go looking at yard sales, but I'll get one soon enough.

death cube K: Yeah, Mustaine always seems to have a chip on his shoulder about something.

mick87: Yep, four cassettes! I have to admit that one was lost when I sold a car and forgot to get it out. I always lose something when I sell a car. Last time I lost Tom Petty's greatest hits.

Mikey Vai: Not to mention that Gilbert has a great sense of humor, which goes a long way for me. His site is awesome for a laugh or two.

GODSGUNSGUITARS: Just not when you listen to it huh? lol, maybe that has something to do with the volume and or the way you act when you hear it lol! Probably true in my case.

jazzy boy: Great interview questions lol.

michelle: Hope you are starting to feel better. And on the phone pics, no comment lol.

tune: Very sorry to hear about your loss.

Zenfish: Thanks for listening and for your kind words. Minimalism is a good word to describe it I guess. I just think that a song doesn't have to be complicated to be good. I love complicated music though, like Dream Theater and Rush, but that isn't what flows thru me.

juju808: You mean the vocal effect on that song? I'm pretty sure that dirty sound is intentional.

migupais: Good to see you man. Come around when you can.

Austin: It's possible that she knows that you are very much into her, or at least were at some time, and that makes her feel good. She may or may not want to pursue anything, but she doesn't want you to stop wanting her. My advice, stay aloof, but quietly pay attention. If you see an opportunity, don't hesitate.

Ethn: Aren't customers great? LOL

slanshroom: Yeah, it's best to watch for the warning signals when it comes to women. They have ways of making us pay lol.

Mikanaro: I fully support your right to say anything you want about the new album. You are entitled to your opinion as much as anyone else here. However, I do not appreciate you saying that people that like this album can't form their own opinions and blindly love all of Joe's work. There is plenty of material by Joe that I do not really care for. I happen to love this album, but I love blues based hard rock. I'm sorry that you don't like it. Return it and get something you will like.

Zinc Master: I ordered on the 19th as well. I think Sony's shipping dept. is just folded. Must be very unorganized down there in Georgia. You should have it wed. or thurs. Mine showed up on Saturday.

Quote of the day: "Fight for your opinions, but don't believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth." Dana

jazzy boy: You didn't have to delete all of it. You make good points, I was just saying that Joeman9 wasn't the only one that did it, so I thought it wrong for him to get the brunt of your post. You are right, they all three said some stupid things.

bluesbloke: Actually, he did say what he didn't like. He said the melodies were too simple, the song compositions were disappointing to him because of the the blues basics foundation. I think the reference to lack of talent, wasn't about Joe's abilities as a player, just the simplicity of the song structures. Maybe for him the more complicated a song is, the better. Not for me, but it's all about opinions anyway. Everyone is entitled to one. On to more relevant matters, I saw you mention scalloped fretboards. Have you or do you play one? I believe they require too light a touch for me to be worth a shit with them. I'd have everything sounding sharp lol.

jazzy boy: I started out playing 11s because I knew that SRV played 13s and I wanted to move my way up so I could be cool like him lol. Then I decided to try a set of EVH Ernie Ball Slinkys (some sort of hybrid, can't remember what all gauges but 1st string was a 9, quit making them when he went to Peavey for guitars) because I wanted to be cool like him lol. At first, I was breaking them left and right, because I was used to the much heavier gauge strings. After about five sets, I became very adjusted to them and loved them very much. That's right about when they quit making them lol. So now I play the pink pack super slinkys because every guitar store in the world stocks them. I have them on every electric I own so that I don't have to stock fifteen different sets of strings. I don't remember the last time I broke one, it's been a very long time. Almost all of my guitars have fixed bridges.

Mr. Nick: That pic of Tokyo is awesome.

Zenfish: Hope you get your keyboard lined out. If all else fails, break it over your knee, you'll feel better, believe me, I've done it lol.

962: The only thing I remember from that movie is, "What are you doing, Dave?" I had a guy named Dave that used to work for me and whenever he'd mess up, I'd do my best Hal impersonation on him. He had never seen the movie and probably still thinks I'm insane lol.

PhryDom: Lost your whammy pedal? What are you doing, Dave? lol

death cube K: It's not really a question for him, but you can tell him that the last time I ate shrooms and listened to Nonkertompf it scared the shit out of me lol.

Delfino Pie: Let your fear become a fuel to empower you to overcome and make a better life for yourself.

Austin: Oh, sure, you get a gold star lol.

Clarky: Man, I wish I had your patience. Hats off to you man.

mick87: Anything to make the deal happen lol.

Is there anyone else in US besides myself that is getting ready to write a big, stupid check on the 15th? I keep telling Miranda that if we start working on having a baby right now, there's a small chance she'll have it at the end of December and we can get the extra deduction for the whole year. She says that's not a very good reason to want to have children. I say bring on twins lol.

iTunes Question: Is iTunes just for Mac or can the rest of us suffering under the tyranny and oppression of Bill Gates get hooked up as well?

TASTEY: Warm Regards is a wonderful song, isn't it? Gets me every time, even after all of these years.

bluebuffalo: Mike and Brian aren't on in my area. Would you happen to know of a net station that broadcasts them?

962: Steve Stevens is awesome! I was hooked on his playing after hearing him on Merry Axemas II. Flamenco a GoGo is really great, and it's an enhanced cd with a video of the live track on there, which is very cool.

Zenfish: You haven't broken that thing yet lol? Hope you get it sorted soon.

rusty dog: I didn't know about the project with Bozzio and Levins, I'll have to order that, thanks. With those players, it's bound to kick a bit.

Delfino Pie: Use rubbing alcohol then polish the neck with a furniture polish to restore the moisture.

noyou: I've heard both ways as far a Joe's live sound. Some people really love it and others just hate it. Seems to vary from venue to venue, so maybe if he plays somewhere else, go see him there and see if it's better. If not, then you'll know you don't like his live sound at all.

Well, today was interesting. Finally went in for my long overdue MRI, and for the first time, got all claustrophobic as soon as they put me in. I've had about five of these things and have never had a problem, but this was a different place and the machine was a little different. Generally, I just shut my eyes as soon as I lay down, before them put the camera unit on my head or anything and never even know I'm back there. Well, as the table was going into the machine, my shoulders brushed up against the sides and it just flipped me out. Couldn't breathe, hitting the panic button before I was even all the way in. Finally got calmed down and made it thru with no problems, once I pulled my arms in a little closer. Then I had fun getting an EEG performed. Hair is still all gooped up from all the electrodes. I assume the little lines on the screen mean I have some sort of brain function lol.

Quote of the day: "I'm going to put this 1,000,000 watt light bulb three inches from your face and it's going to blink 21 times per second while I record your brain waves. Please don't squint." EEG Specialist Lady

Zinc Master: Thanks, I'm gonna check it out. Did you get the cd yet? If not today, you should have it tomorrow.

A whole boatload of posts to go through. A few thoughts on some very old, recurring arguments.

re: Yngwie Yngwie is Yngwie. He's happy doing what he does. His fans are happy. Let him do his thing.

re: Joe playing the same stuff over and over live: I think Joe feels obligated to play those songs. If I go to see the Stones, and they don't play You Can't Always Get What You Want, I'm gonna be pissed. If I go see Ozzy and he doesn't play Crazytrain, I'm gonna pissed. If I go to see Rush and they don't play Closer to the Heart, I'm gonna be pissed. Joe selects his set lists for the silent majority that fills out their requests here, but doesn't necessarily post all the time. The casual fans. The other 84,000 some odd fans on this site.

re: Political Parties: They both suck. They are so afraid of each other, they keep getting further away. The left is way left and the right is way right. Leaves those of us in the middle with nothing. Unfortunately, that's where most of us are. Standing here alone, feeling we aren't being represented. At some point we have to make a choice, and either which way is a mistake.