I want to ride my bicycle...

I recently pulled out my old mountain bike I purchased many years ago in Austin. It had been close to 7 years since I had rode the bike. Not once did I ride it in Atlanta, but after seeing all of the bikes on the road in Santa Monica, and having a great beach within minutes I decided it was time to give the bike a ride. About 8 weeks ago I took my first ride.

On that first ride I simply made it to Ocean Park overlooking the PCH to the beach. I was exhausted and did the best I could to return home. Little did I know the ride down to the beach was all downhill and coming home it would be all up.

After a few more weekends of riding I've been able to get a respectable routine down with a ride between 10-11 miles.

I now have a couple of routes, the first down to Venice beach and the second over to the Pacific Palisades area. It usually takes me about 30 minutes to get down to Venice. The reward of course is the people watching, from the skaters, to the dancing roller bladers, to the people playing basketball. And of course on a sunny Saturday you'll have large crowds of locals and tourists. The crowds sometimes make this a tough route to ride due to so many people walking, riding, skating, and shopping. So I've begun heading to the Palisades when the crowds are out.

The second route heads North of Santa Monica to the Pacific Palisades area. I've only made this ride a couple of times and the last ride drained me. The elevation changes on the bike route are much more dramatic than the route to Venice. Once outside of the shopping district of the Pier there aren't many people on this path. Roller bladers and people on bicycles dominate this path. You can click the maps to see the path in detail.

I've also include a few pictures I took with my Helio while riding these last few weekends. One of the pictures being a self portrait while riding back from the Pacific Palisades. :-)

Bob Schneider at the Keyclub

This past Saturday we had another family outing to the Keyclub. This time to see Bob Schneider. In order to avoid Ticketmaster charges we purchased tickets at the door, this ended up saving us nearly $9 bucks a ticket, and at 3 tickets it was worth the chance. Bob hadn't sold out last time Jacki and I saw him at the Roxy and since this place was slightly larger I didn't see it as much of a risk.

We arrived right as doors opened at 7pm in order to get our tickets. We got our three tickets and headed out for a bite to eat. We went to the Rainbow Bar and Grill, which has become a family favorite on the Sunset Strip. The food is pretty good and you never know what rock star you might see on any given night. We didn't have reservations but the host and the owner graciously sat us at a reserved table. The reservation was for 8:30 so we had about an hour and a half to eat. The great spot about the this table is we could see everyone that walked through the door as they went to sit at a table or as they headed to the bar.

The Rainbow didn't disappoint with celebrities. Rex Brown from Pantera came in, and Jacki and Darian said I was a little star struck. He was with Kirk Windstein from Crowbar. We saw a few more people that looked familiar although we couldn't place them. Then towards the end of our night we saw Sarah Ramirez from Grey's Anatomy.

After dinner we headed back to the Keyclub to see Bob. Walking in we caught the tail end of the open band Elliot Morris, who with his shaggy hair looked remarkably like Bob from a distance. I went downstairs and purchased the web only release of Bob Schneider Greatest Hits Live, and Frunk - the live recording of the evening's show, available immediately after the concert. One of the LA promoters had a booth set up in the merch area that had some shirts I thought Darian would like, so I brought her over and she got a Support Local Bands shirt. As a benefit they gave us comp tickets to the Viper Room, of course in the spirit of supporting local bands.

We timed it right. By the time we got settled into the Keyclub, Bob was only minutes away from coming on stage. They came out and the first thing we noticed is Bob has short hair now. No mistaking it was him, but this is quite a change from the shaggy, bearded look of the last several years. The other thing to notice was the band were all wearing the same clothes, white dress shirt with a tie. They weren't dressed up by any means, but they all looked similar up on stage.

The show opened with Piggyback, which was quite appropriate since this was the song Darian had probably heard the most. Strangely enough I had never seen him perform this live, mainly due to a recorded loop used on the studio recording. The same loop with samples was being played behind the vocals as he started the show, and the full band kicked in on the second half of the song.

The set consisted of the typical fan favorites including Big Blue Sea, Metal & Steel, Assknocker and Tarantula. The band even took a fan request for Psychocaniac. The interesting thing about this set is since he was set up with loops and sample he explored more of his experimental and rap side. Playing a few new songs including Ready Let's Roll, and Cheaper.

They ended the night with Mudhouse, a favorite off the new album, Sons Of Ralph, arrrhhh..., and closed the set with the Gary Numan classic Cars.

After the show we got the setlist, although it was only liberally followed, and scored a couple of Bob guitar pics. I went downstairs to get the Frunk disc while Jacki and Darian waited for Bob to come out. Darian got the Frunk cd signed and we got a picture with Jacki, Darian and Bob.

Another fun outing to the Keyclub. I think at this point the Keyclub ranks as my favorite venue to see bands in LA.

Click below for more pictures.

Bob Schneider Feb 17 2007

D and the Les Paul

It all started a week ago Saturday. The family was in Hollywood on the way home from Amoeba. We had bought a few cds, a couple of posters and a magazine and were just going to take our time in Guitar Center, pick up some guitar pics and head home.

Once we got in I headed to the upstairs area with the drums and Darian and Jacki remained downstairs with the guitars. After playing the electronic kits for about 30 minutes I headed back down to check on Darian and Jacki. By this point Darian had fallen in love with an Ebony Gibson Les Paul Studio. It looked great, it sounded great, and Darian (along with the sales guy) were determined to make her the proud new owner of this guitar.

Usually I can point at the price, or distract her with other guitars and she'll let whatever she is playing go. But this time it was different. This guitar was used, and was several hundred dollars cheaper than a comparable Les Paul. Although the guitar was used it looked brand new, and sounded better than some of the other Les Paul's Darian tried out that day that were new. Instead of making any decisions we asked Guitar Center to hold the guitar till Monday and then we'll give them an answer on if we will get it or not.

Once we got home I told Darian she must trade in one of her other guitars, use it as collateral to hold the guitar, and then sell her guitar to Guitar Center in order to bring the cost of the Les Paul down. I wasn't positive she would go through with it and wanted to see how serious she was about getting this new guitar.

I ended up working late Monday so Jacki took Darian and her Billy Martin PRS SE guitar to Guitar Center. Darian was not happy, but knew this was a sacrifice she would be forced to make if she was going to get the Les Paul. Of course I can't keep from spoiling Darian so although I was making her go through the motions of giving up the guitar I had no intention of letting her old guitar get away. I think of it as a growing experience, and one she won't ever forget.

Thursday was the day we agreed Darian could get the guitar. Once again Jacki took Darian and they picked up the new Les Paul. Once they picked up some strings, a case and paid for everything the Guitar Center guy brought back out the PRS. Darian said, you are going to make me say goodbye to it again! And at that point, Darian realized she was going to be able to take that guitar back home too.

I got home late Thursday evening and snapped these pictures of Darian with her new guitar. Jamming away and happy as can be.

Who ripped who off?

I took these two pictures last week while I was in Seoul Korea. These were taken on my Helio Drift on the way to the SK Telecom offices after a quick Korean breakfast at Krispy Kreme.





My co-worker Taeho mentioned that the Korean writing means 3 circles.

Now take a look at the Bonnaroo logo from 2004 that Jacki and I went to. Looks very similar...

Animation of Neil Peart

Nothing like a little late night distraction. This is a great rendering of Neil Peart of Rush playing YYZ. As a drummer I can attest that this is not one of Rush's most difficult songs on drums, however it is one of the funnest to play.

Enjoy.

The next DVD

Last weekend I picked up the new HD DVD Player add on to the XBOX 360. It comes with the player, a USB 2.0 cable, and the HD DVD of King Kong.

The set up was a breeze. Within minutes of opening the box I had the unit up and running. Since my display will support 1080p I purchased the Xbox 360 HD VGA cable that will output 1080p. If you are thinking about doing this, don't bother. I was extremely disappointed with the quality of the VGA display coming from the XBOX 360. Many of the reviews I read about the cable indidcated it would be hit or miss, and for me it was definitely a miss.

I also purchased U2's Rattle and Hum and V for Vendetta. The first being a music video, which is what I watch the most of at home, and the second being a recent movie I enjoyed through Netflix.

I first threw in the U2 HD DVD and when the HD DVD introduction for Paramount began I could instantly see the huge difference between your average DVD and HD DVD. The best way I can describe it is it's as if someone finally corrected the focus knob. Things just look much cripser and clearer. I watched King Kong all the way through and in the long shots over New York or even on Skull Island the subject up front of course was clear, but so is everything else in the background. Jacki even commented on how it looked better than DVD.

The other nice thing about this new HD format is the menus for navigating the features of a movie will show while the movie is playing. I never thought of this as something that was necessary but after doing it once you see how convenient it can be.

I've been known to be an early adopter when it comes to these types of things. I purchased my first DVD player the month they came out, and it was so early on they were selling DVDs in only 7 cities, and my city at the time, Austin, was not one of them. Fortunately that early adoption worked for the best. I also bought into the Super Audio CD (SACD) format. Although the titles sound amazing the format never took off and only a handful of titles trickle out every few months. SACD was the victim of a format war with DVD Audio, which also failed.

Now for the High Def DVD format war, HD DVD and Blu Ray, this is just like VHS and Betamax all over again. No telling who will win, but with the $199 price for the HD DVD add on I couldn't resist getting the full potential out of my TV. Sony didn't win the Betamax war, but only time will tell if Blu Ray will suffer the same fate.

A Blog Facelift

The Dave Blog finally gets a facelift. I figured after 4 years of having the same layout it was time for an upgrade. The difference is dramatic, but I hope everyone will agree it is for the better. Here is a before and after of the blog.










This template came from Blogger and is titled Dots Dark. In order to take advantage of some of the new dynamic widget features (recent tracks, archive with the arrows to expand and collapse) I had to move my blog pages to Google's hosting service Blog*Spot. Everyone can still goto www.thedaveblog.com to get to the site, the only difference is the server that stores the pages are different.

For you RSS users, the RSS URL has also changed. You can get the new feed here

Please leave a comment if you like the change.

Helio

I get to rarely write about the company I work for, in fear of sharing information I shouldn't, but I wanted to share some of the accomplishments that we released to the press yesterday. I'm very proud of what we have achieved, and it is clear we've quickly come into the life and minds of many people in the US and all of this within our first 9 months of launching the company.

If you don't know, I work for Helio, a new mobile carrier focused on delivering a wireless experience that is geared for the data centric web generation. Although I'm sure my marketing people wouldn't approve that description. I run the Platform Engineering team and have touched nearly every aspect of every service Helio has brought to market. As Jacki and Darian can attest we live and breathe Helio, I work long hours, Jacki gets tattoos :-), and Darian is our "man on the street" peddling the goods to the kids in school. And of course I get to write this as I'm on the other side of the globe working at one our parent companies, SK Telecom, in Korea.

Here are highlights from our most recent press release.

Helio's Subscribers

• Launched 3 devices (Hero, Kickflip, Drift)
  
• Expect to surpass 100,000 subscribers in early Q2
• Average mobile bill is over $100 a month

Multiple Industry Firsts

• Myspace Mobile
• GPS-enabled Google Maps
• Buddy Beacon
• Gifting and Begging

Subscriber Statistics

• 25% of ARPU (average revenue per user) from data services. This is approximately $25, and is 2-3 times the industry average
• MySpace Mobile is used by over 70% of subscribers
• WAP usage by over 85% of our users (this is the mobile web for those of you that don't know what WAP is)
  
• Over 80% of our subscribers with GPS enabled devices have downloaded Google Maps
• Approximately 70% of our subscribers with GPS enabled devices have downloaded Buddy Beacon
• And the typical Helio subscriber sends over 400 SMS messages a month

So what does all of that mean? It means the stuff we have been working on is getting used by our subscribers more than we could have ever imagined. We are setting industry records and exceeding all statistics the industry had come to accept. It shows that the people who are Helio's customers are consuming every aspect of our service in every way possible. This is what we had hoped for but we didn't expect this level of enthusiasm so early into our company's existence. Whatever we are doing is resonating with our customers.

This is only the beginning and our future looks very promising. Of course I know what we have coming in the future and all I can say is you have no idea how cool the next 9 months are going to be.

At this point I must give thanks to Jacki and Darian for supporting me on this crazy ride out here in LA. I couldn't have done this without you.

Great White and the Harp Seals

Last night I saw a reunited Great White performing with their "classic" lineup with the core band from the 80s and 90s. It was what was touted as the first show of the reunion tour. I've seen this band a number of times and other than the disaster tour of 2003 that ended with the Rhode Island tragedy they always put on a great show.

The setlist was a standard Great White set with a couple of surprises thrown in.

Great White
Keyclub
Hollywood, CA
January 27, 2007

Can't Shake It
Lady Red Light
Wooden Jesus
Face The Day
Mista Bone
On Your Knees -> Achilles Last Stand -> On Your Knees
House Of Broken Love
Save Your Love
Paradise
Little Red Rooster (w/ Mark Kendall on vocals)
Rolling Stoned
Rock Me

Encore
The Angel Song
All Over Now
Once Bitten...Twice Shy
---
Jumping Jack Flash (w/ Don Dokken)


Jack looked great and admitted to a recent face lift and proudly telling the crowd. He also mentioned he had been sober for 18 months. Although the band were all a little thicker than they were back in the day they all looked good and healthy, clearly being away from the rock and roll lifestyle these past few years has been a good thing for this band. Most importantly the band was tight, and Jack's voice was in better shape then it had been in recent years. The only performance misstep of the evening was Wooden Jesus.

A dedication was made to the Rhode Island victims at the start of The Angel Song during the encore. For the close of the show the band invited a couple of friends to the stage to help on vocals. Don Dokken was one of those special guests. Don also jumped onstage to sing one line of Little Red Rooster during the main set.

Although for me this was about seeing Great White, the event was a charity event for the Harp Seals. The charity's mission was to provide awareness about the killing of baby seals off of Canada's eastern coast. The baby seals are killed for their furs. Last year alone 300,000+ of these baby seals were killed, all within days of being born. Some of the video shown was very disturbing. To learn more about the plight of the seals check out the Harp Seals website http://www.harpseals.org/

The event raised money for the charity and I even won a silent auction of a framed autographed picture of Bruce Kulick from KISS. Other acts at the event were Bob Gentry and Jak Paris.

Comedian Hal Sparks MC'd the show.

More pictures from the show are available here.

A Little Texas Vacation

Our Christmas started in Santa Monica this year a day early. Since we were headed to see friends and family on Christmas day we opened our gifts at home on Christmas eve. This was a day that was truly about Darian. She was able to get some practical things (sewing machine, book on how to make custom t-shirts) to some fun things that she wasn't expecting (ragady anne vinyl, and tiger army picture disc)

You can see from her expression in the picture how truly excited she was :-)

Our journey started bright and early in euro taxi based in Santa Monica. What is a euro taxi you ask? Well it is a crappy mercedes disguised as a taxi. Still nicer than your typical taxi, but they are stretching in saying you will ride in the luxury of a mercedes.

We got to the airport around 6am with plenty of time to spare for our boarding time around 7am. This was probably the last family trip where we get to use the Delta Crown Room, since next year they are imposing a fee even for platinum travelers.

We arrived at Bush Intercontinental shortly after noon and immediately found Pappa's Bar-B-Q in the terminal. Instead of taking a chance of finding food on the road we decided to eat at the airport. After plates of brisket, sausage, ribs, and a meaty potato we headed down to see Jacki's family in Port Lavaca.

The road trip down to Port Lavaca was uneventful, other than us picking up vanilla cokes from Sonic for the road. It has been close to a year since I have had a non-diet coke so this was a sadly a great treat.

We were at Jacki's family from Monday evening through midday on Friday. Lots of food, lots of visiting with family and a great time to spend with everyone. And Gary was even nice enough to get me some Shiner Bock which I hadn't had in over a year. Jacki and I went to the YMCA in order to offset the holiday comfort food that was at every meal. I think I alone consumed 2/3rds of a chocolate cake on my own.

The interesting comment about this trip is I now work at a company that everyone can understand what we are trying to do. This was probably my first trip to see family where people really understood what my company does and what I do at that company.

On Friday we headed to see my family in Houston. We were able to see most everyone on Friday night. Jeff and Lisa came to mom's and mom and Marvin were there as well. A few pictures around the tree, some more wine and shiner and the opening of Christmas presents.

Saturday we made it to my favorite restaurant, Pappasito's, that is also part of the Pappa's chain. Afterwards Jacki, Darian and I went to see our good friend Dean. He has been in Houston for the majority of December due to his mom's health. It was good to see him back in our "hometown" even though both of us live in the LA area now. We met at Starbucks of all places and had a great visit with him.

Sunday was our last full day in Texas. Being both New Year's eve, and our anniversary it was an occasion to celebrate. I treated the three of us to a fantastic dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Houston. Jacki and I went for her birthday this past August in Beverly Hills and had such a great time. I thought since Darian is usually left out of the nice dinners that it would be good to let her get a nice night out. The food was excellent as was the service.

On our way home we took a chance and dropped by my Dad's new house. We hadn't been able to get a hold of him all weekend. I knew I'd regret not making the effort to see him and fortunately he and Rose were home. It turns out he hadn't forwarded his old phone number to his new house. We had a late night New Year's Eve visit and got a tour of his new home. It was great to see it finished. The first time we saw it being built was on our christmas trip in 2005.

On the way home midnight hit and the New Year's fireworks were shooting from all the suburban neighborhoods. Driving on the freeway we had a great view over Jersey Village, and Copperfield. We watched fireworks outside briefly at my Mom's. In the backyard I heard something hit the ground and we ended up finding a used firework on her deck. At that point we knew it was time to call it a night.

Monday we spent flying back to LA, going from what we grew up calling home to our new home. Another Christmas vacation that will be saved in our memories.

You can see more pictures from our Christmas at
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhoward/ChristmasInTexas
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhoward/ChristmasInSantaMonica2006

My Top Music Of 2006

It has been too long since my last post so I thought I would accelerate the publishing of my yearly music list. This past year was a fun year for music and had us taking full advantage of the concerts in the Los Angeles area. The only disappointment is the big shows are very difficult to get good seats to, and if you wait too long for that club show it will probably sell out. Lessons learned the hard way. And for all of those asking why haven't I posted, unfortunately I don't have a good answer but you are in store for a long read this time out!

Feel free to comment on music or concert finds you had this year.

Top CD Purchases
Jack's Mannequin - Everything In Transit
I bought this after many ads in LA Weekly prompted me to check it out at a Tower (RIP) listening station. I did not know the back story, the circumstances, or who even played on the CD, but it was good catchy pop music with a heavy piano focus. As a bonus when I was reading the liner notes I found out Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) played drums on the majority of the album. Jacki and I got to see the band in Anaheim this past year and this has been in heavy rotation since my purchase from nearly a year ago.

Whitesnake - Live In The Still Of The Night
This could be labeled the dirty little pleasure of 2006. Not only did this come with a beautifully shot DVD of the concert but it also included highlights of the show. If you like hard rock, and can deal with watching an aging David Coverdale then this is highly recommended.

Buckcherry - Fifteen
Like many I had written these guys off after their Time Bomb album. Not only did they come back with the best disc of their career they did this independently. Being a fan of the disc I also picked up the Japan issue that includes a couple of bonus tracks. One of those bonus tracks as an Elvis Costello song called "Pump It Up". That song is almost worth the price of the Japanese import alone. Right before the Crazy Bitch single took off I saw these guys at the Whisky on the Sunset Strip in front of a packed crowd. They left for their nationwide tour the next day and went from being written off as a one hit wonder has been with "Lit Up" to now having a gold record accomplished entirely on their own. The must own hard rock record of the year!

Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
I still believe has their greatest album still left in them. Pearl Jam is a step back in the right direction with some killer tracks. Although the album does mellow out at points this is a return to form.

Mike Keneally Band - Guitar Therapy Live
One of the highlights of living in LA has been the chance to see Mike Keneally play on multiple occasions. This cd included a DVD shot at the Baked Potato in Studio City. Although Jacki and I didn't live out here and did not see that particular performance, we did get to see the very lineup on this disc perform at the Baked Potato several times. I'll be the first to admit that listening to Mike Keneally is not for everybody, but if you ever have the chance to see him live in a small venue you will be mesmerized.

Bob Schneider - The Californian
Bob is one of the few artists I listen to that with each new release, I never want to go back and listen to his old recordings. This disc is no exception. One of the pluses for me is it is a straight ahead rock record and much less singer/songwriter oriented. The band on this disc is great. One of the musicians I still hold onto from our days in Austin.

The Black Crowes - Lost Crowes (Band)
This two disc set includes the best Crowes album that never was. The disc has been titled the Band sessions. For me this went from a poor quality bootleg to being the Crowes album of choice I'll pick up when I want to hear them.

John Mayer - Continuum
John Mayer has now stepped into his own. First with the rockin' John Mayer Trio live album from last year, and now with this disc of soft-rock fare. Although I do lose interest listening to this album in one sitting due to its light nature, there are a couple of standout songs. The lead of single "Waiting On The World To Change" never gets old, and "Stop This Train" has probably become my favorite John Mayer song. I was hoping to get a new studio album from the blues inspired John Mayer Trio but this disc with full band was a nice consolation.

Def Leppard - Yeah!
A covers album done right. Def Leppard took on some great 70's tracks from mostly british acts for the Yeah! sessions. This is another band that many have written off, and although their own song writing has had its ups and downs since Hysteria, they still show they can still make a fun rock album. The stripped down nature of the production is also welcomed over their typical over produced recordings.

Paul Stanley - Live To Win
Thanks to my "industry friend" I was able to get a copy of the advance about 5 weeks before its release. In the absence of KISS releasing new material this is the next best thing. If you enjoy Paul Stanley's KISS material of the 80s then be sure to pick this one up. Has modern production with the hard rock / pop songwriting Paul has been known for.

Top Concerts (ordered chronilogically)
The concerts of 2006 have been better than I could have imagined. Not only did I get to see KISS in a small club with full on pyro, but I got to see Pearl Jam give what seemed like the performance of their career.

March 10, 2006 - Dream Theater - Pantages Theater, Los Angeles
My brother in law Terry flew in for a weekend of Dream Theater. We saw them the night before in Anaheim, and this was one of those occasions when a night can make a huge difference. This was my first experience at Pantages and Dream Theater gave a great performance. One of the highlights was their performance of Sheep, by Pink Floyd.

May 25, 2006 - VH1 Rock Honors Taping - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
The night that became one of a lifetime. Less than a week before this taping KISS posted a link for free tickets on their website. On a whim I went and sent my information and was quickly emailed that I had received a pass to the taping. Jacki and Darian were off to Texas and I took a day off from work to head to Vegas.

In order to stay out of the casinos I went to the venue 5 hours prior to the taping. Once we got inside I was able to get a spot against the stage in front of where Gene Simmons mic would end up being.

Acts included Foo Fighters, Queen, Godsmack, Judas Priest, All American Rejects, Def Leppard, a tribute band featuring Rob Zombie, Ace Frehley, Slash, Gilby Clarke, Tommy Lee, and Scott Ian, and KISS. The show was broadcast a week later on Vh1 and I was even able to get a copy of the KISS peformance in HD on a DVD. I can be seen on the front row throughout the broadcast.

July 10 - Pearl Jam - Forum, Los Angeles
This was the third time I saw Pearl Jam, and although I was hoping for a good show I had no idea what was in store. Jacki was with me and all I kept hoping was that the show would be good enough for her to enjoy. Not only was it good enough, it ended up being nearly too good to be true. Hit after hit, and even the b-sides pulled from their catalog were great. The band carried the energy of the 2+ hour show the entire time and the Forum ended up becoming an intimate venue with 17,000 of your closest friends.

July 26 - KISS - Chumash Casino - Santa Ynez
KISS returned from a tour of Japan and played two shows at the Chumash Casino upon their return. Jacki and I caught the first night of those performances. KISS advertised these performances as being stripped down with no pyro and that the attraction would be getting to see them in a small venue. The venue held about 1200 people and our seats were about 10 rows from the stage. As the first big chords of the show hit we had pyro. Everyone was completely shocked. And then KISS performed "Kissin' Time", their first US performance of the song since 1974. To top it off I even got a couple of Tommy Thayer guitar pics at the end of the night.

September 9 - Supagroup - Keyclub - Los Angeles
This ended up being a family outing. After some convincing I guaranteed they would have a good time. We all ended up having a great time. The opening acts were good, and we even discovered a new act called Vayden. After the show we got to talk with Supagroup, Darian got a picture and we capped off the night at Mel's. On the way home we drove back by the Keyclub and even got to yell at the Giraffe's guy. One of the funnest nights we had as a family all year.

November 4 - The Who - Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
Accept no substitutes. The Who returned and put on one of the best concerts I've seen in years. The Hollywood Bowl even redeemed itself to me as being a viable venue, after being disappointed earlier in the summer at a different concert. They played a number of songs off of their Endless Wire release including a min-set of the Wire & Glass rock-opera. Highlights included Eminence Front and a beautiful closing with Tea & Theater. This also marked the first time I've been at a show where they will sell you a DVD of that performance. I received the DVD 1 month later in a beautifully shot anamorphic widescreen presentation.

Other Events
Other key events included the launch of my company, Helio, and of course my mom's wedding. Helio launched in May and to we now are offering three handsets in the market. The Kickflip, Hero and most recently Drift.

My mom married in July, and it was great occasion to be a part of. Of course the only odd part is for the first time in my life she now has a different last name than mine.

Now it's time to look forward to see what 2007 has in store.

Catching up on concerts

The past three weeks I've seen some great shows.

On October 20th I saw Bob Dylan and Kings Of Leon at the LA Forum. This was my second time to the venue, and although the place is outdated it does make for a great concert venue. And my 5th row ticket helped as well.

I was mainly there for Kings Of Leon, but seeing Bob Dylan perform a full set was a nice bonus. Kings played a nice set of hits from their first two albums and they also played some new tunes that I can only guess will be on their next album. This was my third time to see Kings, and my second to see Bob. Highlights of Kings set for me included The Bucket, and Molly's Chambers. We had a nice little crowd of about 20-30 Kings Of Leon fans up front for their set.

Bob was interesting in the aspect that he barely acknowledged the crowd. He played keyboards the entire night looking across the stage as opposed to looking into the crowd. And he has a guitar on a guitar stand center stage next to microphone. That guitar went un-played the entire night and the microphone was also unused. Highlights of the set included the tracks off the new album Thunder on The Mountain, and Nettie Moore and hits during his encore including Like A Rolling Stone.

Bob Dylan
October 20, 2006
Los Angeles, CA
The Forum

Maggie's Farm
Just Like Tom Tumb's Blues
High Water (For Charley Patton)
When The Deal Goes Down
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
Tangled Up In Blue
To Romona
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Rollin' And Tumblin'
John Brown
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Summer Days

Encore
Thunder On The Mountain
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower


This past Thursday I got a call from Dean asking if I wanted to see Robert Randolph at the House Of Blues. I took him up on the offer, the ticket was free, and we met for dinner at the Rainbow and then headed down to HOB. This was my 3rd time seeing Robert Randolph's band play, and I had seen Robert a couple of other times guesting with Dave Matthews Band on Louisiana Bayou. Considering the two other times I saw him is 45 minute set had its high and low points. The headlining set was full of the same. We stayed for about 75 minutes into his set and left as he went off for the encore. Taylor Hicks got up on stage with him just like I had seen this past summer. Taylor did a great job on the harmonica.

The funny moment of the night was when Robert invited a number of girls on stage during Shake Your Hips. For the most part the girls stayed out of the way of the band but there were these two girls that kept trying to dance on Robert and kiss on Robert. It was obvious he was not comfortable when these girls were right on him. As they leaned in he'd lean away and would have that nervous, awkward, get away from me smile. He was clearly being violated.

Highlights were Diane and and Deliver Me.

Robert Randolph And The Family Band
November 2, 2006
W. Hollywood, CA
House Of Blues

Intro
Ain't Nothin Wrong With That
I Don't Know What You Come To Do
Blessed
Jesus Is Just Alright (CSN&Y cover)
Shake Your Hips
Diane
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson cover)
Blessed Reprise -> I Got Joy (w/ Ryan Shawn on vocals, and Taylor Hicks on harmonica)
Deliver Me

Encore
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - this is where Dean and I left
Devil Went Down To Georgia

And then last night Jacki and I saw the return of The Who. Their first show of the second leg of the North America tour. It is difficult to describe how great they were. This was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Yes, it was that good. Our seats were in the Terrace Boxes about 6 rows behind the soundboard, and my seat was the dead center seat in the venue. Perfect view, even though we weren't close.

They played a large portion of their new album Endless Wire, and of course had a great selection of hits including some of my favorites including Eminence Front, and The Seeker. The final close Tea & Theatre with Roger and Pete by themselves was a perfect show closer.

The band sounded great, Pete and Roger looked to having a good time and this show also marked the first performance of this specific line up. Pete mentioned Rabbit's, their keyboard player, wife was seeking cancer treatment so he was with her. In the meantime Rabbit's tech was playing instead.

If you've never seen The Who, and can afford the ticket, go! You will not be disappointed. Great visuals, great songs, and a crowd that loves the music.

This also gave me hope that the Hollywood Bowl can be a good place for a concert.

The opening act was Rose Hill Drive. Jacki and I saw them a year or so back opening for The Black Crowes. A strong power trio in the vein of Wolfmother, although without the keyboards. They quoted a little of Dazed And Confused from Led Zeppelin during their last song.

The Who
November 4, 2006
Hollywood, California
Hollywood Bowl

I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Fragments
Behind Blue Eyes
Wire And Glass (mini opera)
- Sound Round
- Pick Up The Peace
- Endless Wire
- We Got A Hit
- They Make My Dreams Come True
- Mirror Door
Baba O'Riley
Eminence Front
A Man In A Purple Dress
Black Widow's Eyes
Mike Post Theme
You Better You Bet
My Generation -> Cry If You Want -> Old Red Wine
Won't Get Fooled Again

Encore
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
Sparks
See Me, Feel Me
Listening To You
Tea & Theatre

Note that I didn't take The Who pictures. Some great pictures I found of the performance last night on their website.

Korea

I'm at Incheon airport just outside of Seoul and getting ready to head back to the States. The timing of this trip made for an interesting week. North Korea tested, or at least claimed to have tested, a Nuclear bomb while I was in the air on my way to South Korea. I wasn't too worried but it was odd reading about this situation as I was in the air over the Pacific.

The day I landed there was quite a bit of discussion but no one seemed too distressed by the news. The papers and local press were going crazy and the international press based in Asia issued numerous editorials about who to blame and where accountability should be held. Needless to say opinions ranged from North Korea being a country that continually tests the limits of what other nations will tolerate to this being a direct failure of the Bush administration.

One of the days at lunch I started to ask the locals what they thought of the news. I was quite surprised to hear that they unaniomously said the US should talk directly to North Korea. They said the 6 party talks won't work, because North Korea won't let them, and that the US is the only country that is in a position too give North Korea the audience they want. When I asked them what do they want, they suggested that all they want is the ability to a respected worldwide power. And until they feel they have the respect of the world they will continue to put out these challenges.

I equated this to North Korea being a 2 year old throwing a temper tantrum. Surprisngly they all agreed and they added the key is to figure out what the 2 year old really wants. A very interesting conversation. To be in a country when world history is being recorded and to get local insight was quite an opportunity. They all said they don't see any threat to South Korea from North Korea and that all North Korea wants is attention. However the table of people were not in agreement on how South Korea's government should respond regarding sanctions, or suspension of the "Sunshine Policy". They just wanted the US to come in and lead the diplomacy.

The rest of the week quickly returned to business as usual and by Friday there was hardly a mention of the crisis on TV or in the papers.

Tower Records

Driving through Sunset Strip we saw signs that Tower Records was having a clearance sell, everything must go, store closing. A very sad day for music. We went by the store and the sign said something to the extent of "It is the end of the world as we know it."

They already had a for lease sign on front of the video annex store. Looks like the last great music chain has died.

From an article I found online it looks like the Sunset property will be sold for approximately $12M. The property is definitely worth more than the business.

Here is a link to the article

On a positive note this wifi on a plane thing is pretty cool. I'm posting this from halfway over the Pacific on my way to Korea.

Queensrÿche

I just got back from the Queensrÿche show at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal. I've seen Queensrÿche many times dating back to their first tour opening for KISS in 1985. The show tonight consisted of the band playing Operation:Mindcrime and Operation:Mindcrime II back to back.

I saw them perform Operation:Mindcrime live in its entireity back in 1991 on the Empire tour. That was a great tour, a huge arena show, they had just finally captured the hearts of the mainstream and even had a hit single with Silent Lucidity. It was a full on rock show, no gimicks, just a band on stage performing.

Tonight's performance was not a rock show and was instead a theatrical performance. The entire band dressed in black and had virtually no interaction with the crowd or each other. Geoff Tate was fron and center and performed the show with actors on stage to help create the scenes of the story. A very ambitious effort and you must respect them for trying to pull this off but I wanted a rock show and I didn't get one.

Mindcrime II came off as much more inspired than the original Mindcrime. The band looked to be going through the motions on Mindcrime 1 but appeared enthused about the new material. Mike Stone their new guitar player looked to appreciate the new material the most.

The highlight of the show is Ronnie James Dio performed "The Chase" with the band. He looked great and sounded even better. It left you wishing he was involved with more of the material. Pamela Moore who sang the parts of Sister Mary was also a primary performer throughout the show and allowed the band to authentically recreate the material live.

I'm glad I went to see the experience but I think they need to stick to putting on a rock concert. For the final encore they played "Walk In The Shadows" and closed the show with "Jet City Woman". Fortunately we got a mini concert at the end of the show where the band interacted with the crowd and moved around. Geoff Tate looked more comfortable as a frontman than he ever has and it was good to close the show this way.

Before the show I ate at the Saddle Ranch and met a guy that worked at NBC named Mitch. We were both sitting at the bar and begin talking. He also was going to the show and had an extra backstage pass that he gave me. This meant you got to hangout in a VIP area and get free beer and snacks. After the show the band was supposed to come out but after 30 minutes of waiting I decided to leave. Although I was able to get a picture with Rudy Sarzo. He was hanging out like everyone else. If I can figure out how to get the pictures off my Helio I'll post them.

Juke Kartel

Last Friday Jacki and I made it out to the Viper Room to see Juke Kartel. The band features Toby Rand from Rock Star:Supernova fame. Jacki really enjoyed him on Rock Star so I knew she'd like to see him live. My expectations were set extremely low, but his band was really good.

I almost think that if he had performed more in the vain of Juke Kartel on Rock Star I would have liked him much better on the show. This will defintely be a band to watch for in the next year. Toby mentioned they are currently in the studio recording and album.

On the way out Jacki dropped her Helio and the door man made a comment about losing her Helio. We laughed and as we walked out I walked back and asked how he knew about Helio and he pulls out his Kickflip. First time I saw someone that didn't work at Helio with a Helio. Jacki showed him her Helio tattoo and by the end of the conversation we had made a new friend. Its always good to know the door man at a Hollywood club.

Paul Stanley

I just got my tickets to the Paul Stanley concert at the House Of Blues in W. Hollywood. His backing band is the Rock Star band from Rock Star: Supernova.

The show is still a couple of months off, and his new cd still has a month before it comes out but thanks to an "industry" friend I've been able to hear the new disc.

Its been a pretty good KISS related year so far.

Enter gapless playback

Hats off to Apple for getting gapless playback support in both iTunes and the iPod. I skimmed the list of changes to the new iTunes and saw gapless playback called as a feature and was pleasantly surprised to hear it in action. No all of those live albums don't have the annoying break when you go from one song to the next and cds such as Dark Side Of The Moon now play seamlessly without interruption.

On a side note, Jacki, Darian and I saw Hollywoodland this past weekend. A good movie, but as expected no real ending. I think Darian wondered what's the point.

Supagroup at the Keyclub

We had a family outing to see Supagroup last night at the Keyclub in W. Hollywood. Jacki had gotten her hair done earlier in the day and what better place to show it off than Hollywood. In our traditional fashion of not planning we decided around 8pm to goto a show with a 7pm start time. We saw 4 bands on the bill: Vayden, Prima Donna, The Giraffes, and Supagroup.

First off I must say the Keyclub is an awesome venue. Great sound, clean, nice interiors, and the video screens are a nice touch. Vayden, the first band, even commented on how they don't have clubs that nice from where they are from.

Vayden was the surprise of the evening. A metal band with a modern production value. Their drummer was amazing and it was great to hear a metal singer that could actually sing. We picked up their cd afterwards. Many of the progressive metal drumming aspects, songs were fairly simple in structure, and many had the modern rhythms of say the Killers crossed with Disturbed. Sounds weird but came off great. They had by far the largest crowd of the evening.

Second up was Prima Donna. Think Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls. A young group of guys glammed out and playing songs with a very 70s sound. They played a glammed version of an Eddie Cochran song Led Zeppelin covered called Somethin' Else. Nice to hear an obscure cover. Darian really liked this so we ended up getting both their cd and Vayden's.

Next was The Giraffes. Although the singer was entertaining I am going to have to stick with if you can't say anything nice then you shouldn't say anything at all. I definitely didn't get it. And then to top it off towards the end of their set their guitar player drops his pants for all the world to see and proceeds to play. About 2 minutes security came up and looked as though they were going to kick him out. He pulled his pants back up and they finished with no incident.

Last but not least was Supagroup. Jacki and Darian weren't sure they wanted to go but I promised them they'd have a good time and Supagroup delivered. Playing to the small crowd as if were an arena of 10,000 their band name did not disappoint. They played a little over an hour and we got to talk to the band after the set. Chris Lee made a comment from the stage that they knew nearly everyone in the audience, so we told him afterwards we didn't know him. He laughed and then asked very seriously, so why are you here? I explained I had been a fan for a few years and saw them about 2 years ago in Atlanta. We got the setlist, a drum stick, guitar pick and Darian even got a picture with Benji Lee their lead guitarist.

If you haven't heard of this band, go and check them out. They have two great cds and put on a fun live show. You will not be disappointed.

We wrapped the night at Mel's for a late night breakfast. Driving back home on Sunset we drove back by the club and saw the singer and drummer from The Giraffes walking through the cross walk. Jacki unrolled her window and yelled, "Hey Giraffe guy", and they ran over and hi-fived her. Very fun, and made us from going "boo giraffes" just moments before to having them cap off a great night.

More pics can found on my picasaweb site.