Five Finger Death Punch - "The Pride"

Best heavy band in the last 5 years - no doubt about it.

Here's a little Satriani Set

Always With Me, Always With You (Surfing with the Alien - 1987)

Source

Hill of the Skull & Circles (Surfing with the Alien - 1987)



Midnight & Echo (Surfing with the Alien - 1987)



Flying in a Blue Dream (Title track 1989)

Source (HotS --> FiaBD)

And the best for last...

Cryin' (The Extremist - 1992)

Source

A Kitten's Nightmare

Thanks Steph!

Tiger Woods' New Personal Practice Facility

Immage Source

There are new pics of Tiger's new practice facility in Florida. Yahoo states that they found this news and these pictures from his blog, but the only article at his blog that I can find regarding the new practice facility was published March 7th. So Yahoo and I both are 4 months behind, I guess.

Says he: "I'm light years ahead of where I was at the end of last summer. The biggest thing is understanding what shot to hit and how to adjust my ball flight. Thanks to Sean Foley, I have a much deeper understanding of how to do this than ever before.

When will I win again? Whenever it happens, it happens. I'm just going to keep trying to progress.

Pretty soon, I'll be moving into my new home in Jupiter, Fla. I'm excited about that and even more excited about my new practice facility. It's phenomenal. Working with my team, I designed the short-game facility and oversaw its construction. It features four greens, six bunkers with different depths and kinds of sand, a video center and a putting studio. If no wind is blowing, the longest club I can hit is a 7-iron. It's also set up so I can hit shots out of my second-story studio." (Tiger's Blog)

Nevertheless, here is Yahoo's article with a bunch more images of every man's dream backyard.

The Original Dream Team

Via - (NSFW)

I always wondered why the hell Christian Laettner was on that team.

Dream Theater Minus Portnoy

I am sickened.

The greatest drummer who has ever lived has just made the stupid decision to leave my favorite of all-time band. No, Neil Peart didn't leave Rush. But that's the only analogy I can think of, other than Michael Jordan Leaving the Bulls in 1993 to go play for the Lakers. Or maybe Jerry Seinfeld leaving his own show around season #5 or #6 and choosing to go start his own cooking show.

I am thoroughly sickened that someone would let go of their dream. I don't honestly know if it is Mike Portnoy's dream to be a major factor in Dream Theater for 25 years.. or much longer. It would be mine!

As I posted a few hours ago, Mike Portnoy has decided to leave Dream Theater. I have no idea what he's thinking. Perhaps he's drunk? Or smoking crack. A heroin binge? What a stupid thing to do. Avenged Sevenfold is who he's recently been touring with - filling in for them due to the death of their drummer. Avenged Sevenfold is 1/100th of what Dream Theater is! And the other side projects Portnoy is involved in are probably even less than that in the eyes of most of his fans. DT is MP (and John Petrucci), but more importantly MP is DT!

I honestly don't think I would be as upset and pissed at the same time had the guy been killed in a horrible accident or something! At least that would leave lasting memories of his legacy, legend, and future. As it is now, Dream Theater will certainly struggle to maintain what popularity they did have. In my opinion it was never as high as it should have been. A ton of the millions of DT fans would say that a lot of what DT did have - was in fact mostly because of Mike Portnoy.

I know the other guys are extremely talented, and I sincerely wish John Petrucci the best.. because it's gonna be even harder now. Holy cow..

C'mon Mike - please change your mind. Tons of us will never go to another DT concert without you there. Yeah you got that right.

Breaking News: Mike Portnoy's Leaving Dream Theater

Drummer Mike Portnoy, who has been working with Avenged Sevenfold since the death of drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan, has now issued the following announcement about parting ways with Dream Theater:

"I am about to write something I never imagined I'd ever write: After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater....the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century. To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision...it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so....

"After having had such amazing experiences playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater... Please don't misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them...it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break...

"Dream Theater was always my baby...and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985...24/7, 365...never taking time off from DT's never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was 'off' between cycles)...working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band...

"But I've come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out...and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired.

"We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves.'

"Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather...I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be...

"While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way...so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes....

"Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about 'always following your heart and being true to yourself'...sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater...and I would simply be 'going through the motions,' and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed.

"I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come...I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played....

"I'm sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world...I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work...I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)...but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within....

"You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me....(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!)

"Sadly... Your fearless ex-leader and drummer, MP"

Source - Via Vernon, thanks bud!

Here is Dream Theater's statement.

This truly breaks my heart.. More on this once I collect my thoughts and grieve a little lot.

Drumming Legends - A Megapost

Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain - Live At Guitar Center's Drum-Off


This man-legend is now 56 years old! Still one of the very best ever to pound the skins..

Neil Peart - And the Masters - At Work


There might not ever be anyone better.

3:03-3:09 OMG!

Neil Peart is now 57, and still rockin'.. My one idol growing up. Certainly one of the dozen men I would give anything to meet in my lifetime. His influence will linger for decades... Simply amazing!



Now there is.. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater


Currently the best drummer in the world. No doubt about it. Just go listen to some Dream Theater.

Old, and long 80's hair, but an incredible demonstration:



Iron Maiden

Rush

Dream Theater

Peace

Here It Is

This is a SIX song revelation.

Track 4 needs to be track 1:

The rest of the order is perfect.

1. The Shattered Fortress
2. A Nightmare to Remember
3. A Rite of Passage
4. Wither
5. The Best of Times
6. The Count of Tuscany

You'll hear it right here soon...

A bunch of you are getting it in the mail tomorrow - or the next day.

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!

Popeye Once Had a Dream

...and it went something like this:

Via

Masters Sunday

Magnolia Lane. Every one of us would love to drive down it, and follow that up by playing on the course, or at worst, getting onto the property to look around. For 99% of us, it ain't gonna happen!

What a spectacular Saturday at Augusta! Phil came within a few inches of eagling 3 straight holes - something no one's ever done. Freddie eagled on a chip-in at 15, and even Kenny Perry provided some late-round heroics.

Now it's all Westwood, Phil, Freddie, and of course Tiger.

Five or six other guys could make history by posting a very low number, too, but I believe your winner will come from those four. Gotta love Freddie & Phil!

Together This Summer!

Image Credits

New York, NY:
Prog rock/metal institution DREAM THEATER will spend their summer supporting Iron Maiden on the band's month-long tour of major US and Canadian markets. The tour launches on June 9 and runs through July 20, and includes a stop at the storied Madison Square Garden in NYC, marking the first time in a lengthy and respected career that Dream Theater have played the world's most famous arena.

This tour will mark another milestone in Dream Theater's history, which continues to expand and evolve twenty-five years deep.

Of touring with Iron Maiden in North America, drummer Mike Portnoy said, "It is a bit of a dream come true for us. After 25 years together, at this stage in our career, there's honestly only three bands Dream Theater would consider opening for and Maiden is one of them. It is an absolute honor. Through the years, we've done many one-off shows with Maiden and they've almost all been overseas. It is very exciting to finally be doing a full tour with them and on our side of the pond no less. These are gonna be amazing shows that the fans won't want to miss. Up the f***ing irons!"

Playing MSG for the first time is also a huge accomplishment for the band and they are thrilled about the prospect. "Dream Theater has achieved so many dreams through the years, from playing the Budokan in Tokyo to Wembley Arena in London to Radio City Music Hall in NYC," Portnoy recalled. "But the one remaining dream that has eluded us through all of these years was to play at Madison Square Garden. Well, on July 12, along with Iron Maiden, that dream will finally be fulfilled."

Guitarist John Petrucci was equally stoked about the MSG play, saying, "I am unbelievably excited to be finally playing Madison Square Garden, and with the almighty Maiden to boot! They have been heroes to the band since the beginning and are iconic in our eyes. There is nothing like achieving success and recognition in your own country, in your own city. It's going to be an incredible night for sure."

Portnoy has proof of this career-long dream, saying, "About a month ago my family and I were watching a video of my first band Intruder from back in 1983, and in the video before the show, I was interviewed and asked what my dream goal was. I responded 'to play the Garden.' It took almost 30 years, but it's surreal that I will now be able to check it off the list."

Dream Theater's Black Clouds & Silver Linings was released in 2009 and debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Sales chart.

Source

Click here for dates.. I know what I'll be doing Saturday, June 12th!!

Helping The Economy One Job At A Time

Via

Mike Portnoy - The Count of Tuscany

From Dream Theater's Black Clouds and Silver Linings



My Christmas gift to you!

13 Interesting Facts about Dreams

Image Source

Dreaming is one of the most mysterious experiences in our lives. During the Roman Era, some dreams were submitted to the Roman Senate for analysis and dream interpretation. They were thought to be messages from the gods. Dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into battles and campaigns! In addition we know, that many artists have received their creative ideas from their dreams. But what do we know about dreams? Here are 13 interesting facts.