Random Internet Stuff

I was looking on iTunes yesterday for some Dio tunes. I have not kept up with Ronnie James' namesake band, so I was shocked to find there were many albums released during the 90s by him. It sort of bummed me out that I had sold Lock Up the Wolves, since it was considered one of the band's better releases. I listened to some samples and thought they sounded pretty good. I was really getting into grunge and alt-country at the time, so I don't believe my head was ready for that album.

When I went to the official Ronnie James Dio site, I found out about all those other albums, but looked at the different bands he's been in, and saw this about his dealings with Black Sabbath:

Issues with post recording processes on the next live release, Live Evil, meant the downfall of the band in this incarnation. Only to reform a decade later to produce a more modern hard hitting album called Dehumanizer. Likewise one of the album tracks was featured on the motion picture Wayne's World, prompting further global success for the band.

This proved short lived when Sabbath reformed under its original vocalist and Ronnie reformed the band DIO.

Wow. So now Ozzy can be known not only as "The Prince of Darkness", but "He Who Cannot Be Named". Way to not give props to Ozzy, RJD!

Also, a random thought. Whenever I see this picture, I always think it's Keifer Sutherland:

I Found the Hellmouth

Ladies and Gentlemen, look no further for the Hellmouth! I have found it wide open at the McDonalds off of I-44 in St. Robert, Missouri.

It's true. We were rambling home from the folks' house yesterday when my youngest declared that she had to pee "REALLY BADLY!" We tend to utilize McDonald's for this task, as their bathrooms are cleaner than your average gas station variety. As I made my way down the frontage road, an Okie in a sedan was impeding my path. He seemed to be trying to go to the McDonald's as well, but couldn't exactly find the correct entrance. He ended up stradling the bike path slowly. I pulled up next to him, looked over, and he waved me around.

I pulled completely around the McDonald's, so as not to have to get out of the car smirking at the Okie. But I did see him inside fixing his coffee with his wife, who had auburn hair and about 4 inches of gray roots. He got his sack of groceries and they were off. I observed this while waiting for my wife and daughter to come out of the bathroom.

Were this the only thing I observed, I could not say it was the Hellmouth. Next, a family of three and a half people (a man and two women, one of which was hugging an infant on her waist) were ordering food AND having a conversation on a push-to-talk phone. I, myself, use one of these where I work. They have replaced the walkie talkie-style radio. However, this person was using it to check in with someone. Stated that he was at the McDonald's in St. Robert getting breakfast. He passed it around to everyone in his party and they all had a conversation and wished the person "Happy Easter" while the counter person talked with them and filled their order.

As my wife and daughter approached, the homeless man whom I noticed as I entered the location tried to get my attention by greeting me with "Excuse me, sir..." I quickly motioned for my son and the rest of my family to walk out the door as he attempted to get my attention a second time. I did not make eye contact.

What could a place such as this offer the average homeless person? It would behoove this individual to start walking south. After a month of walking, one might find himself in the hills of Arkansas, be able to squat in an abandoned trailer, and actually find some work collecting shoe leather or other random materials for cash. At least enough to buy a ham sandwich every now and then.

A moment's confusion sent us the wrong way out of the McDonald's, as it appeared the frontage road once again allowed access to the interstate. However, this appeared to be another Devil's ruse and we turned around in another driveway. As if to attempt a final thwart, an early-90s model LTD loaded with 6 passengers (3 in the front, 3 in the back) stayed in the right line until the very last moment to impede our entrance onto the highway.

We were able to make our way home safely, but I shall mark this spot on my map for future reference.

Finding Ways to Share Rare Music

I used to write with a few other people over at a blog called The Music is the Message. Then we got an offer to start writing for a bigger website called Pajiba, which started with movie reviews. I only read TKs posts over there, because, quite honestly, 1) I don't do a lot of research when it comes to watching movies, because there's hardly any movie I won't watch, and 2) I like reading TK's stuff. I just relate to his style and his humor. I just don't understand why he can't keep from spilling shit on his shirt.

So the whole Pajiba thing started at least a month, if not two months ago, and the creative writing about music completely got blocked for me because I really wanted to write a blog about Mover's Original Recipe album. The only problem was, I couldn't find any cool Youtube videos of Mover to share, and it's not like they got snippets out there on Amazon or iTunes. So it really bummed me out. So much that I didn't feel like writing about music. Not to mention, the holidays were coming, we moved from one house to the other, and I travelled for a week there in November.

So Felicia, another writer for the site(s), asked if anyone had an idea on how to put songs out there. From my friend Tom, who writes Edit Before Posting, I learned that box.net had a widget you could use to post stuff in Blogger. What he has in his latest post is a bit different, I may have to ask for a tutorial.

Anyway, it's pretty easy to use. Here are the basics:

1) Get a box.net account.
2) Upload some files.
3) Go to the Open Box tab and select See All Services.
4) Choose the one for posting to your blog.
5) Go to your files. On the arrow pulldown button, select your blog service. It will ask for your username and password, and then the name of the post you want to slap the song into (it will make a new post, so call it whatever you want. You can copy the html into your actual blog, or start the blog with the file and write around it, like I am doing now).

So there you have it. Here's a sneak peak of a tune from the post that I'm hoping TK can use. If he can't put it on Pajiba, then I might as well throw it out there on TMITM. I'll keep you posted. The band is MOVER, and the song is "Choyce." Enjoy!

Them Smokestacks Reachin' Like the Arms of God

Well my daddy worked the furnaces
Kept 'em hotter than hell
I come home from 'Nam worked my way to scarfer
A job that'd suit the devil as well
Taconite, coke and limestone
Fed my children and made my pay
Them smokestacks reachin' like the arms of god
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny, I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown
- "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen

John Parker Wilson Has Bama Bangs

He does! I'm just sayin'...

Let's go Florida!