Battle of the Bands: Good Rocking Tonight

If you visit my blog sometimes there is some Good Rocking going on. Tonight that is the case.

I'll pick a song and share a video with the original artist or someone who made the song famous. Then I pick two contenders to battle it out to see whose cover is best. Who decides the winner? You do when you vote in the comments.

If you like these battles. Check out the other ones going on. This site has the most up to date list of Battles.

I will confess I had not heard the original version of this song until tonight. It is the song "Good Rocking Tonight" by Roy Brown. Going back to early rock way back from 1947..

The original isn't in the contest. However, the next two will be open for your voting pleasure.

Contestant One: Montrose

Contestant Two: Lemmy Kilmister & Johnny Ramone

There are so many versions of this song. Tonight I wanted to take this song on  rocking ride. I am glad you joined me on the adventure. Vote in the comments and we will see who wins.

My Top Five Guitarists

A friend of mine posted this on facebook. After the first three it gets harder. I like a whole lot more than five. Wow! My list has changed in the last 5 years dramatically. Here are mine with examples.

1) Jimi Hendrix

2) Jeff Beck

3) Buddy Guy

4) Steve Morse

5) Tommy Emmanuel

R.I.P Gene Wilder

   If you re not familiar with Gene Wilder's work, you have certainly scene his picture on memes all over social networks,  He was famous for his role in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

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Here is a clip for you to enjoy..

He won his first Academy Award for his role in "The Producers" in 1968. Here is a clip..

The world lost a fine actor. May he  rest in peace!

Casino Royale: Reading what I blog

Just a few days ago I blogged about Sean Connery. Mr. Connery is famous for portraying James Bond in he movies. When I wrote that post I had no idea I would be reading Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.


Opening credits from the 1967 film..

It was all by chance. Lately I have fallen into my bad reading habits of starting a book and then completely misplacing it. I think I have Gremlins that purposely hide them. Anyway on Friday I was picking my daughter up from dance. The way her schedule and my schedule works out I end up with an hour to kill. I stopped by a local Goodwill store and found a copy of Casino Royale in great condition and decided it would be my companion. Second hand stores are  where I pick up most of my books unless it is something specific then it is searching the world wide web.

Anyway Saturday, I worked and got off work just in time to go shopping with my girls. Time and money ended up vanishing from me on that day.

Today, Sunday was different. My daughter needed to read for school, so I told her I would read with her. That way she got to snuggle with me ad get her work done. Then the day became a rainy day and I ended up finishing the book.

The book was good enough to spurn two movies. The 1967 original and then the 2006 version.

The book was originally published in 1953. I hadn't watched the films in a while so i was able to read the novel with a fresh mind. I enjoyed the read. It had the James Bond action, the exotic car, and a bit of romance to it. It showed a different side of Bond. The book's end also had an interesting twist.

The book knocks off another category in one reading challenge I am doing from another blogger.
Book number 17 for the year. 

Happy Birthday Pee Wee!

Paul Reubens the actor who played Pee Wee Herman turns 64 today. A clip from the 1985 movie that started things,,

Here are some roles that are quite different than Pee Wee. Like this from "Gothem",,

Here he is at the premier of "Blow"...

Were you a fan of Pee Wee? were you a fan of  Paul Reubens in any other films?

I will be back soon with a new post.

Happy 86th Mr. Connery

I celebrated Sean Connery's birthday last year on my blog. You can revisit that post here especially if you want to see some more Connery clips. After all you can't have too much Sean Connery.

Here is a classic clip from "What's My Line"...

Beyond Bond, here is a clip of Sean Connery in The Great Train Robbery..

Of course Bond movies were unique for their car..um..moon buggy chases..

I'l share more another  time. I hope you enjoy and I'll be back soon!

Happy Birthday Kobe Bryant!

Today August 23, 2016 is Kobe Bryant's 38th birthday. Bryant just wrapped his storied NBA career this Spring. A career spanning from 1996 to 2016.


His 60-point effort during his final game...

With the Olympics in Rio just wrapping up, it is interesting to note that Kobe was on two Gold Medal Olympic teams.

He was one five NBA Champion squads. He was named the NBA Finals MVP twice.

Kobe had an award winning career and today is his first birthday in his next chapter.

Battle of the Bands: A Successful Shut Out

Some will say shutouts in the Battle of the Bands contest are bad. Obviously, we all like close match ups. However, even being a shutout my Battle was successful. First off I had a classic rock song performed by two artists in different genres.The comments and votes were up. The pageviews were more than double my last battle.

Nina Simone is a legendary singer. I knew Phil's version was pretty awesome. However, I thought Simone might make it interesting with her vocals and more piano driven sound. I was wrong.

Final Score: Phil Keaggy 12 Nina Simone 0

Well today we celebrate the winner "Shades of Green"

"Changes" from his Glass Harp Days

"Look in the Sky" from the Glass Harp debut...

Solo again with "The Wind and the Wheat"..

"Salvation Army Band"

Well I hope you enjoyed! I'll be back in September with a new battle.

Too High The Price of College Text Books

After work today I helped my stepson out for books at his Junior College. I had to intervene he was talking about dropping a class so he could afford the books. When I got there I thought it would be a bunch of books.


I browsed around the bookstore. Finally he is ready. Looks like one book, some papers, and a cd maybe. I'm thinking this won't be that bad. He tells me he can download the other books free. I'm feeling confident now. Then they  rang it up. $411 and change. Just a little more than one book!


A quick search on the interwebs I found his article. According to the NBC article textbook prices have risen by 73% since 2006. I know I thought books were expensive when I went to school  but these prices are insane.

Students have to get required books.The school charges them an arm and leg. The books are on top of room and board (if you live on campus) and the ever growing tuition. It looks like the college kids are getting taken advantage of.

Though a bit of advice for kids check out ebay, bookstores, or thrift stores.. I mean the book store was selling a used copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird" for $22.  $22 for a used paperback? On ebay I found it less than $4. I guess it is just keeping the poor college kids poor!

Battle of the Bands: Here Comes The sun

On my results post for my last Battle , I had mentioned a related artist Phil Keaggy. Cherdo commented on the post "I'm thinking someone ought to be doing Phil Keaggy (there's never enough Keaggy in the world)."

I read my comments and I'm open to suggestions.

I'll pick a song and share a video with the original artist or someone who made the song famous. Then I pick two contenders to battle it out to see whose cover is best. Who decides the winner? You do when you vote in the comments.

If you like these battles. Check out the other ones going on. This site has the most up to date list of Battles.

It has been really rainy where I live and the sky has been pretty gray. So, I think The Beatles "Here Come the Sun" is quite fitting.

The Song: Well here is George doing the song

George Harrison and The Beatles are not in the competition.

Challenger One: Phil Keaggy

Challenger Two: Nina Simone

I like this Battle. A great song. Two wonderful versions competing against each other. Both done by very respected artists and both are different. Vote please! I'll post the results around the 21st and I will have a new Battle come Saturday.

Happy 66th Mark Knopfler!

Today is Mark Knopfler's 66th birthday. I celebrated his birthday last year and you can revisit that post here. If I am celebrating something more than once you know I am going to change the songs up.



Mark is most famous for his work with Dire Straits..."Telegraph Road"

A solo track called "Piper to the End"..

"Yakety Axe" with Chet Atkins..

Emmylou Harris helping out.."If This Is Goodbye"

Just goodbye for now, I will be back soon!

Happy Birthday to the Hulk

Today August is Hulk Hogan's birthday. The wrestler turned 63 today.

A little Ice Bucket Challenge flashback...

He was everywhere...

Do you have a favorite Hulk Hogan memory? Were you into wrestling? Happy Birthday to the Hulk!

Glenn Kaiser Battle of the Bands Winner!

Glenn Kaiser wins my Battle of the Bands. He won convincingly over Larry Norman 7-3. Norman had the advantage of a studio version against a live version. Still Kaiser being a Christian artist may have had more experience with living in the "Presence of the Lord."

A friend of mine had posted a song from Kaiser's band on Facebook. The band was called Resurrection Band. Here is the song called "Where Roses Grow."

I think I may have discovered his cover of the Blind Faith classic before. Since he had jammed with Phil Keaggy. Another Christian artist and a darn good guitarist regardless of genre. Here they are with "Queen of My Heart."

Here is a Glenn Kaiser song to wrap things up..

I hope you enjoyed my battle. I will be back on August 15 for a new Battle of the Bands. 

Where is my Olympic Flame?

Where is my excitement over the Olympics?  Forget the Olympic flame where is that one spark of interest?  

When I was growing up the Olympics were a big deal. There are constants that remain. Athletes work hard. The Olympics are still the world's best athletes coming together to compete. It isa dream come true for the athletes.

It is also big business. The obvious coaches, training, and medical staff. The award process is business. Sponsorship of the games, athletes, events and venues is huge business. The broadcasting and commercials. 

One explanation for my missing excitement is that I missed the hype. I rarely watch television so obviously I miss the network hype. I work, have a life , have a family so yes I'm a bit busy so things like the Olympics get missed. Also the Olympics are so late in the summer. I have been worrying about the kids enjoying the last of summer before school starts. School starts insanely early like next week. 

Are you excited about the Olympics? Are you watching? If so what events are you excited about? Are you like me and the Olympics on the back burner or forgotten about completely? 

I will be back with a new post soon.

Battle of the Bands August 1: Presence of the Lord

A new month is here! Which also means a new Battle of the Bands. I'll pick a song and share a video with the original artist or someone who made the song famous. Then I pick two contenders to battle it out to see whose cover is best. Who decides the winner? You do when you vote in the comments.

If you like these battles. Check out the other ones going on. This site has the most up to date list of Battles.

The song: Presence of the Lord written by Eric Clapton performed by Blind Faith

Contender One:Larry Norman

Contender Two: Glenn Kaiser

Vote please! I'll post the results around the 7th and I will have a new Battle on the 15th!