It's been a while since I've written.. way too long to be exact but i need to start it up again. School was going well this semester, grades wise it was the best grades I have ever received in school period. I did exceedingly well even though I was pretty much stressed all the time. Funny part was that I wasn't stressing about school. Semester is over and I'm still stressed, having trouble sleeping here and there, but things will get better.
I'm going to Mexico this summer which is so exciting. I'm studying at a school called la Universidad de las Americas Puebla. It's in Cholula, Mexico. It's a small world because I actually met someone on a rosetta stone application that was trying to learn english, and i'm learning spanish and we have been talking for about half a year now and it turns out that she is from Cholula, the same place I will be studying and living for 6 weeks. It's crazy because I was planning on going to Spain or Argentina, and it ended up that Mexico was the right fit, and only after I told her that I was going to Mexico did we find out that she lives in the same small town. Bizarre. We talked a lot last night and she helped me out with a few things and restored my feeling to at ease for the moment. It's great to practice my spanish with her, it helps a ton.

Music-wise nothing has changed. I'm still playing the same ol stuff. I've been trying to get into jazz guitar recently. That's why I recommend the Listener Supported version of Warehouse. It has a jazzy feel to it, and next song I pick will be a real jazzy one :)

The Man with the Red Briefcase

So I was on Church Street the other day. A very happening place. I was visiting my friend who was playing guitar there, who actually made like $50 which was sick. Anyways a couple of us are hanging out and a man walks by handcuffed to a red Suitcase.
What the Hell.
I was going to ask him why he was handcuffed to a suitcase but I didn't feel like getting stabbed.

Like a Stone

So the year is going well here in VT. My classes are good and I'm doing dandy. My grades are awesome so far, I just need to keep it up. I'm learning Japanese which is pretty friggen sweet. And I'm playing so much more guitar than I did in the summer.
Lately I have been listening to Audioslave which is what I am talking about today. Like a stone, one of my favorite songs. The thing about Audioslave is I like every song they have ever come out with which - it is very hard to find a band in which you love every song they have. The only other two bands that have ever done that for me have been Led Zeppelin and Dave Matthews.

Like a Stone

Road Trip in a Burning Room

So tomorrow after classes I'm jumping in my car and traveling to Babson, about 4 hours away to see my girlfriend. Long trip but obviously well worth it. Luckily I got my itrip in time so I can listen to some music on the way, in the middle of NH, where all I can hear is white noise or country (sorry country fans- no hard feelings I hope).

John Mayer - a fantastic entertainer and musician. The song I want to recognize is also a song I am re-learning which is Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. Listen to it! It's got great lyrics but an even better beat.

Company is blooming, Yes!

So I'm pretty excited because I'm still becoming sponsored by more and more companies. I received in the mail today five awesome canteens from Klean Kanteen. Check em out, awesome water bottle company. It's important to buy waterbottles that are BPA free for environmental reasons as well as health safety reasons.

GSI Outdoors, awesome company that makes outdoor camping products. They have a lot of kitchenware for camping and hiking.


ULU boots sent me some really nice women's boots. Retailed at $150. Sweet!
Found at: www.uluboot.com


So completely unrelated, I would like to direct this one-sided converstation to music, the purpose of this blog. One song that I really was drawn to which is pretty rad, I saw it in concert and I learned it on guitar also is the song Yes by Coldplay. It's a very good song, I really only love the beginning and not the second part of the song after like 4 minutes is over. But it's great. Coldplay is a great band. Check it out!

Malaysian Prison

So things are going pretty well here in Burlington VT. It's a happening place. My tuning company is going pretty well, i'm still receiving products from sponsors and stuff i'm going to raffle off which is pretty awesome. I have roughly a little under $2000 in merchandise that i'm going to simply just give away at the end of the semester. I'm super excited. Hopefully it will be a good business learning experience. Not to mention that I'm going to be getting a supreme co-op with this company called Olukai. Awesome company, not only for the reason that they are working with me but because their product and mission kicks ass. It reminds me of Jack Johnson, mainly because it is based out of hawaii and it's a high quality sandal company. Very surf-like. I like that.

Well today in the mail I recieved "Stack Footy" the progressive snowboarding DVD from Think Thank productions. stolked about that. I also received a nice sweatshirt from Crankbrothers, a cycling company. They produce road bike parts and accessories which is also very cool because i'm big into biking.

So that leads me into something completely non-related. Malaysian prisons. Now I saw this for the first time last night and it might be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. A coreographed dance, thriller, by Michael Jackson, in a prison. Not only that- I believe that they hold the largest coreographed dance session world record. Now despite what you may think, this is not a gag or gimmick, this is totally legitimate...
Check it out-

Off to school

Sad but true. I am leaving in the morning to venture to the tundra lands of VT to move into school. I'm very anxious, and nervous about it all. I'm also really torn up about having to say goodbye to Jen in the morning. As much as I don't show it- it's eating me up inside. But let's stop talking about that because my heart is already hurting. Let's not do further damage to it.

In other news, I've started my company again, which everyone around me has probably heard enough about, and probably want to kill me for talking about it so much. I'm excited though because it's like my brainchild. So- I apparently have 6 boxes of stuff waiting for me at school from sponsors which is awesome.

The first company I'll note here is Klean Kanteen. a very cool water bottle company. Check them out...

www.kleankanteen.com

Minarets

I know I know, It's been a while.

So summer is coming to a halt which scares the shit out of me- frankly. It was a good summer and I don't want it to end. I'm becoming increasingly more and more worried about going back to school, seeing everyone again and starting up classes- the huge load that I have. I have bearly had enough time to pick up the guitar let alone write, which sucks again.

On one cool note, I have a pen pal from Mexico(I think Mexico), so that's pretty cool, and it's helping my spanish which I need to improve if I want to become fluent. I'm also still trying to learn Japanese which is たのしい.

I'm starting up the ski and snowboard tuning company this fall/winter and trying to get as many companies on my side as I can. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of advertising done, for me and others.

The song that has been stuck in my head for a few days now is Minarets by Dave Matthews. (I know I need to lay off DMB and go in another direction, give me a couple weeks). It's fun to listen to and even more fun to play on guitar because it has a middle-eastern sound to it which is pretty fun. So check it out! Minarets.

Red Sox Tonight!!

Excited? Well I am. I get to go to the Red Sox tonight with the girlfriend, which is going to be soo much fun. Tonight is against the twins and it should be quite a show. Its currently really hot out and my pool is sounding really invited. the water temp is 84 so I might be submerged in a minute.

Also really excited about the fact that I found a picture of this old cathedral that I drew two years ago, which was really exciting(But sounds really boring). But unfortunately I gave away the drawing, which I shouldn't have because it was the best thing I ever did. But now I found the picture so I get another chance to draw it. Hopefully when I'm done, ill put it up on this blog, in a few months.

You might die trying

So interesting day. Horrible day at work (as usual). Then we go out to dinner as a family with my brother and his fiancee, before they move to New York, or New Jersey actually. Turns out that the restaurant we went to- The Flatbread Company... Best Pizza I have every tasted ...was closed but they were having a function that was on the house for everyone, and they let us stay and eat. So open bar for everyone over 21, and free pizza and drinks for everyone as well. So pretty good eats for tonight.

Touching upon another Dave Matthews song that I love, besides every other song, is the song You Might Die Trying. This song is actually from the album Stand Up which is known as the least favored album produced by the Dave Matthews Band. This song, interestingly enough, even though I really enjoy it, has either never been played in concert or it has only been played once. I can't seem to find it live at all, but there is the chance that it was played at an unrecorded concert out there. Who knows. I enjoyed it because it veers in a slightly different direction than the normal Dave Matthews. It has an enjoyable flowing beat. Check it out some time- Stand Up.

Skipping Flutists?

Two Words: Ian Anderson.

Well, actually its a name- be cause name's aren't words. Ian Anderson is the jazz flutist from the band Jethro Tull. Currently celebrating their 40th anniversary, Jethro Tull is a band that raged from the late 60's all the way to 2008.

Ever seen Anchorman? The comedy with Will Ferrel- Where he is an anchorman for a news team? Well if you have- then you might recall a scene where he breaks out his flute and starts dancing on the tables at a jazz bar, going crazy, stepping on glasses and all around just frantic and chaotic. Well this was an impression of Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. And if anyone noticed- at the end of the song, he belts out "Hey Aqualung!". Aqualung being one of the most famous songs by Jethro Tull. (+ Ian Anderson is known to hop and dance crazily while playing the flute during concert shows).

Anyways- From crazy dancing to jazz flute, Ian Anderson is basically the man. So if you're a 7th grade boy who plays the flute and you're getting periodically shoved into your locker for it... this is a great card to play. Just mention that Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull pretty much invented cool. And even if you're electric guitar and Jimi Hendrix is your hero- give Ian a try, his flute might just be able to swipe you off your feet.

Some of his most Popular songs(which I love! and would recommend), are...

Aqualung (Original Masters)
Bungle in the Jungle (Original Masters)
Thick as a Brick (Thick as a Brick) (Original Masters)

The song I would recommend that is more or less hidden gold would be

Crossword

Boreddd

A little Bored today. Woke up late. Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow and wed-fri. But I do have an exciting week coming up. Exciting and sad though. Tomorrow I'm going out to dinner with my family- parents and brother. (everyone -the dog) He's not allowed in that restaurant after what happened last time...
So dinner tomorrow, then on tuesday my older brother is leaving to move to New York with his fiancee, because he is going to start work in New York in a couple of weeks. He just graduated from BU. So he will be gone, which is sad. Because I will miss him. And then I am going to UBurger(in Boston) which is so freakin good. I was hungry thinking about it like a week ago when the plans were made. And after UBurger, going to the redsox game with the dear. SO that will be a fun night.


Played guitar for an hour or two this morning, I need to keep up with it or I'll forget all the songs I have already learned in the past. :(

I've been trying to keep up with my drawing lately but I haven't been sketching as much as I would like. Here are some of the recent sketches this summer...

Tap Guitar

Tap Guitar: Ever heard of it??
Now I have been playing guitar for over 4 years now and it was only a few months ago that I heard another kid from my school play tap guitar at a musicians open mic club. To be honest: blew me off my feet. It is some of the most incomprehensible stuff I have ever heard. And it can best be described as another instrument alltogether. It is incredible and I encourage that anyone who enjoys listening to guitar, and instrumental music to listen to tap guitar.

Not very famous, well obviously. If many people haven't heard of it, then how can it be?? There aren't too many big names under the "tap guitar" genre. The first that I heard of that I am recommending was suggested to me.

Now if you are not familiar with this style of guitar, it is called tap because it deals with mostly slides, hammer/pull offs, and taping the body of the guitar to make a hollow tap sound.
-Whats so complicated about slides, hammer ons and pull offs?? Well try sliding with two hands simultaneously using more than one finger sliding at each time. Just watch you'll be amazed.

Justin King.

playing the fret board like no other. Enjoy it.

This one's called (ironically) Knock on Wood.

One Robot's Dream

Joe Satriani, although a bit underground due to the fact that his music is lyric-less, is in my opinion one of top ten guitarists of all time. As quarky, and just plain weird as he may seem, there is no denying the fact that his talent is beyond this world. Which seems to be the theme of most of his songs, oddly enough. Not sure how you come up with your song names, whether or not he was just doped off of his mind when he made it, or whether or not he really is waiting for alien life to contact us- his music is unparalleled to many others of our time.

If you ever get the chance to see him in concert, please try because it is more than worth it. If you are an avid guitar player, you make appreciate music more after listening to him play just a few songs.

My recommendation is to listen to One Robot's Dream by Joe Satriani, listed on the album Super Colossal.

Betrayal

Tim Reynolds- an inspirational guitarist who formed some of his own original music around other famous musicians of our time including Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana. Now he is currently playing with various bands and in the anticipated return of TR3. He has toured and is still joining in various shows with Dave Matthews.


Betrayal, by Tim Reynolds

Only instrumental (without Lyrics).

Tribute to the Dave Matthews Band

As you can already see, Music is my outlet. Like everyone else, it is important to have those things that you are passionate about, the things that allow you to escape to another world and make you feel as though you are filled with purpose. And as I'm sure, many people have found themselves in music. Whether listening to it, or creating it, it is a gift from God, surely.


My dad bought a used Martin guitar a while back, maybe 6 or 7 years ago - planning on learning the guitar. Unfortunately, he never had the time. However- I had just stopped playing the saxophone because of my god-awful teacher made me lose all taste for music, but I had an interest in the guitar. So I started taking lessons. Eventually I became a huge Led Zeppelin fan and started learning all of their songs, along with other mainstream Classic Rock like Jimi Hendrix. But anyways... Fast forward to today and I am still spoiled with the same Martin acoustic guitar and I have progressed to listening intently and obsessively to the Dave Matthews Band. I began learning their music around two years ago.



The first song I want to touch upon is Break Free.

Break Free by Dave Matthews Band is a rare occurrence and mostly only avid Dave listeners have heard of it, not because its not popular or because people who aren't obsessed with the band don't listen enough, just because he has only played it twice in concert before and its not found on any original CD. Sadly to say. I recommend it as a great song though!

You can Watch it on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgMNH62CpG4