Dream Theater - "Home" (LIVE)

~ San Antonio 2010, opening for Iron Maiden


Courtesy: Jason Jude

So yeah - that's 8 today after 9 last week. I told you we'd get off to a great start!

U.S. Population 1950-2010

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Christmas 2010 At The Riverwalk

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2010 In Review

And yes, it's interactive! Click around, and enjoy!

2010 Year in Review by Online Schools

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December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse

~ 20 hours in 38 seconds ~



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2010 NFL Parity

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This is pretty incredible. Going clockwise, each team has beaten the team next to it by the score listed.

The 2010 NBA Season Is On

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The Boston Celtics just ruined the Miami Heat's opening night. Yeah it was in Boston, but all we've heard about for 6 months is LeBron this King James that.. Miami's new big-three.. Championship bound.. blah blah blah. Right!

I'd put them at best 3rd.. in the East!

Lakers/Rockets is next for this opening night. Then by tomorrow night most teams will have begun - including my Spurs, who open at home against the Thin-diana Pacers.

Time to take a break - the last thing I want to do is watch these LA Fakers get their rings.

2010 Ryder Cup

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Yeah - let's continue to play in a torrential downpour! That's a true test of golf.

Geeez..

Unemployment Rates By County By Month, Jan. 2007 - May 2010

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Happy Sequential Date Day

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Dream Theater & Iron Maiden - San Antonio, 6/12/2010

Here are some of the best pictures I got from the incredible concert last Saturday night. I went in with expectations too high for DT's (my favorite band) performance. Not that it wasn't good, but it was only 40 minutes long. And if you know anything about Dream Theater, you realize how short that seems for them - it was only 6 songs. They started playing "Pull Me Under" at about 8:10, and I was like, "why are they playing this?" and that became, "why are they playing it NOW?" The answers were obvious in about 8 minutes.

So I stewed for the entire time in between bands - wondering if it was warranted to have paid this much for my $28 ticket (Ticketmaster piles on the charges to a sum of $49, then there was $15 for parking, and the $6.25 16-oz. beer I bought after finding my seat -- That's over $70 for a 40-minute DT show.. you get where I'm going with this.) As always, they were amazing! I've seen them 6 times now. See, I keep track of all this stuff, and my notes said I've seen Iron Maiden twice before. The first one is crystal clear, since that was my 2nd-ever concert back in 1989. (Yeah - that's 21 years ago!) The second one had to be within a few years afterward. Nevertheless, it's been a long, long time. And you know what? These guys can still nail it after all this time!

It only took me about 30 seconds into the Maiden show to realize to make this "worth it" I've gotta get the most out of the rest of it. And that I did!! I was thoroughly impressed that I enjoyed Maiden's 2-hour set, especially since they stuck to their guns and played mostly newer stuff with which I wasn't very familiar. Yet it was still as if I were, you know?

Anyway, here is a selection of the very best of the 119 (doh!) pictures I took: Click images to enlarge!









































The Steve Harris pic is meaningful because my friends and I shook his hand back in 1989. Short little guy with thick, stubby fingers. Bad-ass bassist! Nicko was obviously an idol growing up as I played more Maiden than probably anything besides Rush. Hence the love of Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy.

Here were the set lists:

Dream Theater
1. As I Am
2. A Rite Of Passage
3. Home
4. Constant Motion
5. Panic Attack
6. Pull Me Under

Iron Maiden
1. The Wicker Man
2. Ghost Of The Navigator
3. Wrathchild
4. El Dorado
5. Paschendale
6. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
7. These Colours Don't Run
8. Blood Brothers
9. Wildest Dreams
10. No More Lies
11. Brave New World
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden

~Encore~
14. The Number of the Beast
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Running Free



Here's what I missed. YES, I left at the end of "13. IronMaiden" - I knew I'd miss "Number of the Beast", but not sure what else. And when I found out that they did "Hallowed..", I was upset I left. Because yeah along with the recent live performance of Running Free as I'm now preparing a solid live threesome, I don't know what the hell else I'm doing. Oddly, it was this clip of their version of "Phantom of The Opera" that even led me to finalize this post with this set of video clips. Remember, this is what I missed.


~Encore~
The Number of the Beast


Hallowed Be Thy Name


Running Free


Well then obviously, I had to go find the live version of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which leads to the climax of this post.





Peace!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

...and all the dad's out there.

Here's a pic of my Dad and I today after a nice dinner at my sister's. My wife and I gave him a huge bag of all kinds of different chocolates, and we were also able to watch the U.S. Open finish up together. Fun day!

How To Get Oil Out Of Water

Bring On The Suns

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Nothing HUGE here. I was actually over-confident; I had them winning in 5. Kudos to George Hill, and Antonio McDyess, though. As usual it's not always the "big-three" that get it done for us. Sometimes other guys step up and are the difference.

Ho-hum.. on to Phoenix!

2010 NBA Playoffs

Well, so far so good. Only Miami and one extra Portland win are jeopardizing the NBA bracket I filled out right before it started. By the way, I'll gladly take the bracket loss for Oklahoma City to take out the Fakers. Nonetheless I feel pretty good about my prediction.

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Yes I'm still laughing at all the "experts" who said all along (and even as late as after our game-2 win), "Ahh San Antonio has no chance against the Mavericks."

Colt To Cleveland

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Congratulations to Colt McCoy and his family for waiting way-y-y too long to be drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Watching this draft it was pretty surprising that several other teams, notably the Raiders, Bills, Chiefs, and Seahawks, passed him over time & time again. Denver reached early-early for Tim Tebow, and Carolina did a great job of grabbing Jimmy Clausen when he fell to them.

So many teams, so many players. So many mistakes! But we shall see...

Congrats also to Jordan Shipley, who ironically was drafted one pick before Colt McCoy, to the Bengals. Also to Sergio Kindle, who will now grab a spot on the Ravens defensive front. And Earl Thomas will be the Seahawks' starting FS for a long time. Way to go you guys!

One more thing I wanna say. We shall see if the Rams truly messed up by not following what I said months ago: "Whoever has the #1 overall pick in the draft is an idiot if they don't get:
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Ndamukong Suh!"

So kudos to Detroit for a great draft, and well.. We'll see if Sooner Sam Bradford is worth it.

Fore!!

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March Madness

I will be posting my NCAA picks here. Not now but in a few days.

By the way - Bobby Knight is a basketball genius..

2010 Olympic Hockey Medal Bracket

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Wow that Slovakia/Sweden game was another incredible game. Both very aggressive offensive teams, it came down to the final seconds. Goals scored within seconds of each other 4 times.. Slovakia won 4-3, and have Canada next. Probably the two best teams remaining. We should be able to easily beat Finland, not that they're pushovers. But this gold will be unlikely imho. A bronze medal game has been guaranteed though, but it won't be against any easier an opponent.

Sweden and Russia are certainly the best two teams not in the final 4.

Olympic Hockey Rejuvenated

That USA/Canada hockey game was simply awesome! And I'm not really a hockey "fan". But this game was incredible. And the NHL and all its players have made these Olympics and more specifically this upcoming final round one super tournament for the gold medal.

Ryan Miller is a stud!