metal gods defined....

yes I am...

As many of my regular readers (LOL) know, I've been rebuilding a guitar recently. With one ofthe boys being a rather accomplished guitarist, I thought it would be a great idea to rebuild it with him. I decided to do one part a day with him so he wasn't overwhelmed and it didn't get boring with an all day event and too much information. At first he was a bit aprehensive because let's face it, when your a teenager you ALWAYS have something better to do then to spend time with your dad. NOTE to teens everywhere - get over that reasoning and spend time with your dad -he will appreciate it way more than you understand... So each day we've had our 15 minute class, and as it's progressed I've noticed more and more interest in doing it with me :) Just the other day while we were working, something came up about guitar builders (Luthiers) and he told me I AM a luthier... Funny, even though I took a building class a couple years ago and know how to set up electric guitars and all the details that go along with it, I never considered myself (until he mentioned it) a guitar builder. so personal discovery thanks to my boy - YES I AM....

The guitar is coming along beautifully and I plan on finishing it this weekend. Just in time for vacation :)

I finished the tour!

Well with my eyes... This past year we FINALLY took the plunge and ordered cable TV. Funny story, back in the 90s we would subscribe to cable TV in late June, watch the
Tour de France coverage, and cancel the service in the fall. Crazy... So this year the coverage on the Versus network was plentiful. One thing led to another and I managed to watch a majority of EVERY stage. Before it started, I picked Andy Schleck as my favorite to win. Not far off... Great racing this year. Even though I may not be the biggest Armstrong fan, there is no doubt that his comeback to the sport, and ultimate 3rd place podium finish are nothing short of incredible.He even rode diplomatically on the team never being the agressor if Contador was part of the equation. And Contador? ALLEZ Alberto! When he flexed his muscle ONLY Andy Schleck could respond. Great racing!

whatever it takes. 50 good ones!

I did NOT want to go to work yesterday. I was off Monday which basically delayed the "Monday blues" by one day. So while having breakfast I decided to ride to and from work on the single speed road bike. I have to admit it did make a difference, and on the way home the frazzled stress level I was feeling melted away as the ride continued. So since this week is a somewhat busy one, I decided to make the ride time worth while. I added another 20 miles by heading out toward the Palos area. I actually decided to hit the horse trails for a few miles. Climbing the up and down sections of loose rock, dirt and gravel on a single speed road bike made for a way cool ride. Thank God for "coping with life thru riding"
Allez!

Priest! Priest! Priest! Priest!

I don't listen to much "metal" music anymore. However, Sunday night I went with jr. to see the one band I will always love regardless how soft my musical tastes become - JUDAS PRIEST 3rd row. I've never been disappointed by this band. From the minute they take the stage and Halford appears I'm thrown back into a time long ago when it was all about leather and loud music. TRUE I have very little patience for the steroetypical metal head ESPECIALLY in a beer drunken concert frenzy environment. But seeing Rob command the stage always delivers, and I wouldn't miss it for anything. They did a 30th anniversary British Steel tour, and it seemed like an odd anniversary year to promote an album but the cool thing about that is they played some great tunes off that album that I never seen played live before. It KICKED! Jr dug it as well. As an added bonus we finally seen Whitesnake, and seeing David Coverdale was excellent. That guy is definitly rock and roll royalty. GREAT show. Hope jr dug it as much as I did. ESPECIALLY the fact that I shared my passion for a band with him that has been ongoing for the last 30 years or so! I'm big into stuff like that - memories last forever!!

Defend the Faith!

beautiful chocolate strat ingredients

It's coming out beautifully! The guitar I'm rebuilding's finish (so far) is a work of art. I've took the time to carefully look it over after each clear coat application and there is nothing wrong with it anywhere. It's time to let the nitrocellulose cure for about a week, then comes final sanding and buffing. The most important ingredient has been PATIENCE. You can't rush a work of art... The color is a brownish chocolate with blackened grain and subtle hints of purple. It's unique, and it's great looking. I've taken a couple pictures but they don't do the guitar justice so I will wait until the finished product before I share it with all you regular readers (LOL)I'm going to set it up with a Seymour Duncan Custom-Custom pickup. It closely resembles the tone of the mighty Van Halen's 5150, and some 10s for strings. The strings will be a change from the typical extra lights I've used, but my guess is will provide a slightly beefier tone with more sustain. PATIENCE...

WTF? - baby riders

I must be old or the riders of the modern day tour are too young and spoiled. Yesterday I tuned into the tour coverage only to see the peloton rolling along at a pace that I could have kept up with. All because they were not allowed to use race radios. F'n babies.... So the teams had to send domestiques back to the team cars for on the road strategy, and the lead groups had to look at the motorbike with the chalkboard to see the gap. NEWSFLASH - That's how it was done before, and it made for great racing. Rominger, Fignon, Chiappuci, Museuww, Pantani, Bugno...Didn't need anything more than a chalkboard, and amphetimines LOL. I turned the coverage off in my own form of protest. I'm not saying that the radios don't help the race situations nowadays, but come on....
On a separate note, yesterday was the first time I found myself out on a run by myself in a while. I've been helping my long time personal manager train for some of her goal races, and also been accompanied by one of the little guys on his bike for most of my runs. Yesterday I was all alone and found it a bit weird! I did turn it into a really good tempo run in which my legs felt good at a quick pace.
Allez!