Rain

The following doesn't count as an entry. Someone missed the sign above the entrance. So, there: The Tea Party - Let Me Show You the Door.

Definitely not his best either - definitely a weird phase in his life and career - but... Alice Cooper - Make that Money (Scrooge's Song)

David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing.

Mr. Bungle - The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. From one of my favorite albums of all time.

Currently free on Amazon Prime.Will try to watch it tomorrow.

Sorry Tim, didn't mean to ignore your reply. These are some inspiring observations, indeed, so I started writing and ended up with yet another novel. I figured I'd spare you guys this kind of nonsense. But here's part of it. You are quite correct in your remark about guys with synths. Maybe because I'm not a synth player, it's easier for me to keep a certain innocence. It's always been a lot easier to write on anything but the guitar. Hand me an instrument I've never played and I'll have 5 or 6 song ideas in the next 30 minutes. Partly because I'm not self-conscious about it and partly because things don't work the way I would expect, so there's a sense of adventure. Just as it is a lot easier for me to write in English than it is to write in French. Despite my English vocabulary being a mere fraction of what I have at my disposal in French, and despite the studies in French literature, it's easier for me to say the real things in English - notwithstanding the occasionnal infelicities. Anyway, it would be more accurate to say that I decided to focus on songwriting, and that the music I write doesn’t seem to really require much guitar. And actually, I am not sure that it could be labelled as a specific genre. I refer to it as EBM - for Embalmed Body Music, as a gag because of the underlying theme. And because in most case, there definitely is an element of dance music in it. But I also make constant use of theremins for melodies, and acoustic instruments of all kinds. There is something very organic about it. I believe I think of it as electro in a very broad sense, because I rely on sequencing extensively and make heavy use of instruments traditionally associated with the genre. But stylistically, it’s just a melting pot of things that I love, drawing inspiration from everything from 50's sci-fi movies, to soundtracks by Nino Rota, to Alice Cooper, to Depeche Mode, to Suicide Commando and all that very noisy industrial music. But you could just as easily find references to things like Charlie Parker with Strings in some of those songs... A lot of it has got to do with instrumentation and "packaging" - that's what gives the project it's sense of identity, for a huge part. As for the rest, some people manage to express themselves by performing - and that’s all the better for us who enjoy watching them. I mean, I am a KISS fan - I genuinely love the theatrics and all that stuff. And I used to love being on stage too, and to rip off SRV, and Jimi, and Page, and all those cats I admired. For a while, I thought my personailty would eventually emanate for that weird mixture and that my onstage persona would become something more personal than the sum of my influences. But as I started writing my own music, I began to feel less and less comfortable putting on a show and obeying the stereotypical choreography of a given genre, whether it’s head banging or doing windmills… It’s like wearing someone else’s underwear. So I realized that I am not a performer. And after over 40 years playing the guitar, I am comfortable admiting that I don't really have anything to contribute on that instrument specifically. I've spent the last 10 years pushing boundaries, learning new techniques, trying to play faster. These days, maybe in part as a result of studying Eastern philosophy, I am reverting to a way of playing that's a lot more "zen", trying to use as few notes as I can and making each of them count. Which actually isn't really isn't all that new, as I have always been a fan of David Gilmour. In the end, it's all about being authentic. Even if I'm writing music about an old German necrophiliac although I myself certainly have no penchant for such things - these are just part of the fiction, the shadowplays, neatly tucked into a more or less homogeneous product. Underneath it all, the music still tells of who I am, what I love, the music I grew up listening to and wish to share with the world. And it also bears the marks of my limitations, which are often more telling than anything else, and make the end product more original, even if that's not voluntary.

One of my favorite bands... The Misfits - Violent World.

Chris Cornell - When I'm Down. Darn I miss that guy. What a voice...

The Tea Party - Sun Going Down

Triumph - Follow Your Heart

If you don't use it, it becomes latent.

This is what the girlfriend and I did during the last few months of isolation - got really drunk and did things like pretending we were 1969/Abbey Road era Beatles or something... Stupid Song idea totally ripped off from The Beatles: Krist Guitar - Krist Overdubs - Kyoko Totally Unrehearsed Bass - Kyoko Piano - Krist, under Kyoko's supervision - and heavy quantization (mainly). Keys - Kyoko Drums - Both of us idiots PLUS programming Goofs - Mostly Krist Cuteness: Definitely Kyoko Vocals: We could not get Paul McCartney to take our call so there's no vocal. (Ringo did take our call and agreed to sing, but he sang out of tune, so we threw tomatoes at him until he left). Recording Engineer: Astrid the dog Mix Engineer: What's that? Like, a unicorn? Definitely not mixed. Special thanks to: Clos du Bois red wine.

I spent most of the last decade writing music and making arrangments for my ex. I learned a lot in the process, so there really is no bitterness. Before we got together, I'd not touched a guitar in a year and and barely written anything in almost 18 months. All I listened to was traditional Chinese and Japanese music. And prior to that, my music featured virtually no guitar anyway. I had been working on dark elecro-ish projects for years. So I had to re-immerse myself in guitar music, rock and roll and metal. I truly love all that stuff, and I love playing guitar. But I don't feel I have anything to contribute on that instrument. I can play adequately and that's it. And living here in Vegas, where there's musicians everywhere and people who've played with this and that guy... The environment is so saturated with "classic rock" and "classic metal". I just did not want to be another one of those 50 years old in skinny jeans, with eyeliner, wearing bandanas to hide a receding hairline and playing the same tired old crap everybody else is playing in every bar in town... So I'm kind of back to focusing on the songs and they seem to come out with the same weird hybrid of genres, with the same weird assemblage of instruments as before all of this. At one point in the past, I had started working on a project for which I had a very clear idea, but I ended up piling up ideas on the side for something completely different - more of a fun things. All the songs were about death, corpses, funeral homes, and such - but with a touch of light hearted humor. And ideas kept on piling up and piling up, probably because I wasn't trying - that's just what poured out of me. There was no room for me to be self-conscious. Almost as if the project gave me the instructions and all I did was assemble material for it. Anyway, it seems to be what I naturally reverted to as a main project. Because that's what comes out naturally. But my vocabulary has developed a bit in the last 10 years, so I have more options to voice those ideas. I am also collaborating with a friend on a heavy, dark, gothic metal project, writing original material for an EP. Actually, for once I don't do the writing, I just play guitar and help with the arrangments and the instrumentation since I am the one who operates the DAW and who's fluent with that stuff. It's nice not to be in charge, for once, and the guy is writing some darn good songs, too.

I have this one queued up for this weekend. The man is who he is, but I appreciate the guitarist. .

nevermind

Unlucky Morpheus, Black Pentagram. One of my favorite newer heavy metal bands. I think I am in love with the singer, too...

Beer? This is all you need (to get you started). I LOVE Guinness. Plisner Urquell would be a decent second. Pilsners in general. White beer, too. I used to love Blanche de Chambly by Unibroue back home. I found some down here on occasions. Trader Joe's usually carry some. Unibroue also had one called Raftman that I used to love. According to their site "This singular amber ale, brewed with a touch of smoked malt whisky, offers the delicate taste of fine Belgian yeast and caramelized apples" All I know is that I dug it. That being said, I drink beer once a year, so...

Mentioned I bought a guitar for my birthday. I am on a tight budget but turning 50 and my one week of vacation is this week, so I figured it there ever was any excuse to spoil myself... Well, I discovered an issue with the guitar so I'll have to send it back, and it's a Holiday week so I'll never get a replacement in time, meaning that my only real plans for the week are off. I'm not sure I would have bought the darn thing if I didn't have that week off ahead to beging with. Oh well, I guess at least I have something to look forward to. Monthly payments... I live in Vegas. I should have known better. I'm too old for new guitars, anyway. John Entwistle knew that. Hookers and Blow, my friend... EDIT: Just in case anyone takes the above seriously (in this day and age where some people always manage to find the worst possible interpretation for anything you say and convince themselves that that's what you meant), I was being facetious. If you were offended, please accept this complimentary apology. I am Canadian. I have endless supplies.

A favorite of mine.

I'm not kidding... Now, to try and find another song (not just a version) with the word Manalishi in the title...

Judas Priest: White Heat, Red Hot. (Yeah, I've been listening to Priest a lot again, lately...)

Thanks, Tim. I appreciate. Glad to hear that it all turned out for the better for you too. My green card is valid until 2025. I believe it's easier to renew them it and to get it for the first time, so at the moment, I am thinking that I will likely apply for that. It would make sense to buy the house too if I can. I guess I'll always be Canadian but after 10 years in the US, I'm probably a bit American too by Canadian standards. 10 years in Vegas, 9 in this house - I've not spent as much time in any city in my adult life, and never as much time in any building in my entire life. Of course I miss Quebec, but I would miss Vegas just as much if I were to leave. ’ll never be 100% home anywhere because I have 2 homes. Which is a blessing, as odd as it sounds. Yep, a bearded dragon. Here you see her and Astrid the dog, quite perplexed. I did not expect a bearded dragon to be so aware of her surroundings and to interact as much with me as she did. They are surprsing little creatures.

Judas Priest - Turning Circles.

After years of going from bad job to worse job, in November 20, I finally found the best gig I've had since moving to the US 10 years ago. Not quite as lucrative as my last job in Canada, but adequate. And I work nightshifts, from home. Can't ask for better than that... A month later, my mariage ended (this had been coming for a while). We are on good terms, so we shared the house for the next 10 months, but I've essentially been living here alone since the beginning of 21, and officially since December. So that gig really happened at the right time. Not sure where I would have ended up otherwise. And the subsequent promotion also came in at just the right time, as it allowed me to keep the house alone. It's a big house, too much for my needs, but, after 9 years living here, it provides me with a sense that I have some roots in this city and country. Plus, this neighborhood is the best. The landlord is a friend and considering the market, I get an extraordinary deal. I would have a tough time finding a 2 bedrooms apartment for this price around here. That being said, I am on an extraordinarily tight budget. I know, I know - I just bought a guitar. I'd been working OT and saving for that. And I am aware that I may have to sell one of the others that I don't use as much if things get too tight, too. Also said farewell to my dog, my dragon, and all of my cats but one. But I am good, really.