I'm Alive & To Prove It I'm Here!

2009-01-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Obama-Rama... Something very interesting is happening here in America. We have a new President about to take over power. There seems to be this 'buzz' that this man will 'change' things somehow.

I hope he is an effective leader-who takes bold steps-in the best interest of our nation & world.

Personally I think it's wonderful that an African-American is going to be our 44th President. Our 3rd President [Thomas Jeffereson] actually owned black slaves! We've come a long way since those most cruel & oppressive times.

Someone had a dream... He told the masses: "I might not get there with you"

Martin Luther King would be proud!

2009-01-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

My awesome girlfriend Linda!

'The Decade Without a Name" has just begun it's final year. Remember back in 1999 when everyone thought the world would end-once the hit counter-hit 2000? "The Y2K Bug" I believe it was called. Computers fritzin' out, panic, planes dropping from the sky, etc...

10 years have gone by since then. I'm amazed at how quickly time passes.

Blogging has taken a back seat to Love the most of 2008. I've posted a picture of my most amazing girlfriend. Her name is Linda & I love her dearly.

Now I have a whole year to reflect back upon. I have returned to once again inflict you with my smug opinions.

2008-07-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Blogging Again... I'm back to the wonderful world of Blogging! My only problem [at the moment] is I don't really have anything to say.

I'm sure I'll post something that will 'change the world' soon.

What I will say is.... Hello!

2008-03-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Presidential Prognosis Negative... I've been somewhat 'alarmed' at the way the U.S. Presidential primaries are going. I make no apologies in saying that I'm a Democrat with 'amendments.' That does not mean that I'm a 'left-wing, liberal nut' like a person such as *Ann Coulter might perceive.

*For those who don't know... Ann Coulter is a 'right-wing, conservative nut.

I'm actually quite frightened at the moment. George W. Bush sucks as President. You ever notice this guy always sort of smiles & laughs no matter what questions are put forth to him? Does Bush even have a clue?

In any case George "Lame Duck" Bush is out of office next year. However what the hell is going to happen afterwards? Obama, Hillary & McCain all scare me out of my wits!

Will the terrorists [test the new President] as they have done with Bill Clinton in 1993 & "W" in 2001? I believe so. They were intent on taking down the World Trade Center & they succeeded. What is the next 'target' of intent?

Maybe I'm just being paranoid? According to the Mayan Calander [the world as we know it] ceases to exist after 2012. Other ancient calenders, prophecies, etc... point to the year 2012 also.

It's 2008 so whoever becomes President will more than likely be President in 2012.

That's what scares me! I'm scared of everything. I scared of myself.

Even God scares me...

2008-03-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

Jeff Healey... I am very saddened to hear of the great guitarist, Jeff Healey's passing at the young age of 41. He was an inspiritaion who did not allow his blindness & life-long battle with cancer discourage him from realizing his aspirations.

I had only seen him perform once [as the opening act] for the Allman Brothers some years ago. Jeff was a brilliant player who played with his guitar on his lap. It was amazing how he was able to twist those blues licks & bend those 6 strings so effortlessly!

>When I met Pete Townshend a couple of years ago he had told me he became interested in Fender's 'Vibro King' guitar amplifiers after seeing Jeff Healey use them.

I'm sure everyone who ever saw Jeff perform was inspired by his tenacity & bravery in the face of adversity.

God Bless Jeff Healey!

2008-02-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

A Beautiful Flower Emerged from the Rubble...

I like the way that sounds! Think I'll use it in something.

2008-01-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

Twenty 'O Eight...

Hey! Now that this decade is approaching it's end.... what are we going to call it-when referring to it-in years to come?

The O's? or maybe the Twenty 'Naughts?

>More importantly, why does stupid stuff like this bother me?

Actually I'm quite happy to be here in 2008 & have a major year planned.

This is the fucking year... The good stuff takes time & that time is now at hand for me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BLOGGY BUDDIES & To All....A Good Life!

2007-12-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Zen & Now... or is it Now & Zen? I'm in 'self-relection' mode at the moment. Good things are about to happen!

I can feel it. What about you?

2007-10-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hyppocratic Oath My Ass... Earlier this week I drove my Dad to the Veteran's Administration Hospital for a routine check up by an optomologist. His eyes get blurry due to the sedating eye-drops they administer. This is why I drive him there & back.

As I waited for him in the waiting room I overheard a guy sitting next to me say "Yeah, the doctor said why bother getting your teeth fixed since you're going to die?" to another man sitting opposite him.

I could not believe my ears! So I said to him; "don't mean to eavesdrop but what do you mean, you're going to die?"

The man replied to me "I have lung cancer & my doctor said I have 6 months to live. He told me that 7 months ago & I'm still here!" The guy looked fine & actually a bit overweight as well. You wouldn't think he was that ill with cancer as he didn't have that "look."

"So I'm getting my teeth fixed, new glasses & whatever else I need" the guy added.

Good for him!!! I told him to keep that positive attitude & fuck that low-life Doctor who has a stone for a heart. What the hell kind of thing is that to say to a Veteran of this country's armed services? I pray this man throws it back in this doctor's face & lives indefinitely! He's already up 1 month.

This country sucks as far as medical treatment & health care. It's all about fucking money...

Don't get me wrong. Many doctors are good, ethical people. My personal doctor is a saint! However there is something very wrong with this country's stance on health care for it's citizens.

Other than that, I'm doing ok. Hope you all are too!

***Mark thanks everyone who commented positively on his psychedelic shed!

2007-10-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Psychedelic Shed... my friend & musical cohort Mark just finished painting his shed. Not your typical paint job as this is a work of art!

The picture you see here was taken by me during the mid-afternoon of a bright, sunny day.

That 'sun-ray' prism effect' was completely accidental & unplanned! Happy accidents always make me.....

Happy!

2007-09-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

8 Random Facts About Myself... (This is a bit late as I was tagged by Val P. & Sully about a month ago)

1) My education began at St. Paul's School in Clifton, NJ. This 'parochial' enviorment was foisted upon me by my parents. They were afraid that I would get 'corrupted' if I went to public school. Little did they know...

2) I consider myself a 'spiritual' & philosophical person, yet not religious. Having gone through 9 years of Catholic dogma at school, I decided that attending church was counter-productive. I'd rather spend my time helping others.

To me, it's very clear that there is a 'Higher Force' in our Universe. It's incredibly difficult for me to believe that everything that exists just 'popped out' of nothingness. I'm not one of those people who "spread the word" so it's cool if your beliefs don't line-up with mine.

3) Sports & me are worlds apart. I was absolutely dreadful at all sports & was almost always the last kid to be picked for any teams. This was the beginning of my self-doubt & when I began living primarily inside my head.

4) Fortunately I was a 'natural' at all my subjects at school. English & grammer in particular. In 2nd grade I joined a book club & read over 125 books by the end of the school year! Albeit they were short stories but 125 books is something I was quite proud of! I even got a certificate for my achievements.

5) In the 3rd grade I discovered Oreo cookies & milk . This marked the beginning of my 'fat' period which made me more of an outcast. My weight reached 228 lbs. when I decided to do something about it. After a long, hard struggle I now weigh in at 157 lbs. I've maintained this weight for several years now.

6) My parents wanted me to attend Catholic high school. I absolutely refused to enroll. They gave up & I entered junior high school in 9th grade. This is where I began my experimental phase of life. Sex, Drugs & Rock n' Roll.
I fell in love with pot right off & smoked joints constantly throughout my school years.

I also tried a few other drugs during this period. Fortunately I got out of this phase before any addiction issues surfaced. Just say no! It works for me...

This is also when I really got into music, in particular the electric guitar. My friend John T. sold me a red 1972 Fender Bronco guitar. Then I bought a 1962 - 200 watt Marshall Major tube amplifier. This was the same amp that Jimi Hendrix used so I had absolutely had to have it.

I drove everyone nuts with my high-volume noodlings. Unfortunately I sold it to some heavy metal cat a few years later for $350.00 and bought a Peavy solid-state amp. I was on a tight budget & the Marshall required maintainance which I simply could not afford. I still have the red Fender Bronco & it plays better than ever!

7) I always seemed to just miss the current musical 'trends' & always yearned for the 1960's free spirit way of doing things. Now in 2007 there are no real 'trends' so I'm actually fashionable these days! Imagine that...

8) I hate using the word "I" since it makes me seem self-absorbed. In truth I appear much more confident than I really am. This is actually a good thing since too much self-confidence can lead to serious disappointments. This I learned the hard way as many of us do in life.

Oh... did I mention that I'm into animals?

>This is just what it's supposed to be. Just 8 random facts about myself.

One day I plan on writing a book containing some of the more interesting things that I've experienced thus far in my life. Short stories or maybe a play?

It's all in my head...

2007-09-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Snap, Crackle, Pop... Today is the first day in about a week that I can talk again. Last week I developed a really wicked case of laryngitis. Now... I'm a 'natural born' talker. I love the art of converstion & not being able to speak was really problematic!

All is well now & I'm back blowing people's ears out on the phone with my loud & long-winded voice of reason!

I think I blew my voice out while singing in the car. While driving, I often sing along to my favorite tunes. I've got to lay blame on Elton John. It was his version of 'Pinball Wizard' where at the end he holds out that long note.

"...my pinball crown to him, to him, to himmmmmmm (voice goes) .....snap, crackle & pop." Yikes!

I must remember those [singing techniques] we were taught back when I was in the church boy's choir!

Other than that I'm feeling much better mentally & bodily. I'm going to stick to singing easy, mellower songs for a little while. I need my voice & don't want to put my vocal chords at risk.

"Strangers In The Night" or "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" (Frank Sinatra style) are contenders.

Croon tunes? Oh my... What next?

2007-09-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Just Rockin Out a Bit.... Hope ya' don't mind!

2007-09-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

Summer From Hell.... Never in my entire life have I endured such misery as during the Summer of 2007. Besides the terrible tragedy of finding one of my friend's dead in his basement I also have been severely depressed. My sinusitis decided to 're-engage' itself as to further add more pain to my life. I also had to put my cat of 14 years 'Brandon' to sleep recently.

My business suffered since I was so 'fucked up' mentally. I'm self-employed. I didn't record music as much as I wanted to since I had temporarily lost my passion for life. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is what I think happened to me.

Enough self-pity!

Now I'm slowly snapping out of my depression & I'm feeling somewhat better. I also completely re-organized the recording studio as well. This was quite 'therapeutic' for my spirits & inspired some new music as well.

*And.... The Mickey Scott Band (my best friends in the world) & myself recently played a live show together. *Note: I play bass guitar in The Mickey Scott Band.

We were 'in the zone' that night & the crowd fed off this energy making all of us very happy! We did a rousing version of The Who's "Substitute" plus "Live With Me" by The Rolling Stones. Lot's of fun playing these tunes. It's looking up!

Finally...Thank you Val P, Anne Marie & all the good people who whose kind words helped me more than you can imagine. Many people have been extremely kind to me & I thank all of you very much!

Hope all is well with everyone out there!

*Check back for pics of the recent Mickey Scott band show.

2007-08-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Good Bye My Friend... Something terrible happened recently. I found my friend Ray dead in his basement. What a terrible shock it was for me! Ray was only 53 years old.

I had been teaching Ray how to do certain things on his computer. The last thing we were working on was his 'all in one' scanner, printer & fax machine.

Ray's passing was so sudden & unexpected that it really didn't hit me until a few days afterwards. One of the most difficult things for me was having to tell his 85 year old mother that her son was dead.

Thank God that I found Ray & not his Mother. I think if she had discovered Ray dead she would have died on the spot-next to her only son.

This is the 2nd time I found a friend dead. For some reason it seems like I've been chosen to be these friend's 'envoy' to eternity.

Some people have said to me that "You're cursed or something" or "Wow, what bad luck you have had" etc...

However I don't feel this way at all. In fact, I feel blessed that I was able to be there & spare my fallen comrades families the terrible sight of finding their loved ones dead.

I'm getting over the shock & am even more determined than ever to realize my hopes & dreams.

Life is fragile. I know this all too well at this point in my life.

Live every day as though it is your last... For it may very well be.

God Bless You Ray! We'll meet again on the other side.

2007-07-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Riddle Me This... I found this picture in a book about the 'campy' Batman TV series from the 60's.

Batman looks a bit apprehensive while The Riddler looks like he's ready to unleash.

>Check out Alfred at ring-side. Good ole' Alfred! Always there to help out 'the caped crusader' after he gets his ass kicked!

2007-05-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Just A Memory... I've decided to 'close-down' my (Imprint Memories) Blog. For some reason it started out strong-yet kind of lost it's momentum. In truth, I neglected to keep up with it proper. I'm very consumed with finishing-up "Ghetto of Eden" before I turn 100 years old.

At some point in the future I would like to start it up again as 'Imprint Memories' is an interesting subject to explore. Right now it's more important for me to concentrate on 'Dream Secret' the band I hold near & dear to my heart.

Some of you may wonder if 'Dream Secret' is indeed a real band. My firm answer is YES. During the recording stages it is mostly Mark & I playing all the instruments ourselves. I will say this much.... We can & will play our original music in a live context. Extremely well to be blunt.

Everyday I stretch-out, exercise & keep fit. Mark is a live-wire also! What I'm saying is that on stage we want to create excitement, escape & entertainment. We don't plan on just standing on stage like statues if you know what I mean.

We have people who have been very enthusiastic about what we are planning on doing. Consequently there are detractors as well. We're cool with that.

This is an interesting time in the music-business. Major labels are in panic-mode since they can't sell CDs like 10-15 years ago. Peer to peer file-swapping has squashed that element. There aren't any A & R guys who really care about music. They'll sign an act they hate just to save their cushy little jobs. Music will continue to thrive without them.

Currently we are on IAC which is good-yet very limited-as far as gaining a wider audience. Unless one is an established artist there is very little money to be made there. Money has to be made to finance our recordings, live shows, etc...

I don't mind giving away MP3's online. However if people want to see Mark & Bonfire do the watusi under hot-lights, there's going to be a small fee.

We're fortunate in that we have the ability to record music in our own studio. My audio-engineering skills have grown immensely over the past few years. That in itself is worth a million dollars!

Producers... we have a stable of highly talented 'ears' that have helped us produce some of our stuff. Most of it we produce ourselves. However it's crucial to get honest feedback from others. Sometimes our heads are so far up our asses we can't see things clearly.

Note: John Molloy (a very good friend of the band) has been very helpful in this area. This guy is the real deal having worked in countless musical stage productions, bands, etc... Al Cutro (an extremely talented jazz drummer) has been a major proponent of our music as well. They are a tremendous asset to us & we are lucky to have them on our team! I'd also like to mention Mickey Scott & Bobby Kerns as they've both been very helpful to us in this regard.

Our business-model is a simple one:
1) Record, produce & release our music independently
2) Do as much self-promotion as we can
3) Play live shows as much as possible
4) Exploit every avenue available to us on the Internet
5) Think outside of the box & look for innovative ways to do our thing

Are we in it for the money? Yes & No. We've got to finance our art so money is part of the deal. At the end of the day though... it's all about the music.

2007-05-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

AAAAAAACCCHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Sorry about that. My allergies have been acting up very badly the past couple of weeks. I hate taking allergy meds like Benadryl, etc... These meds make me either comatose or jittery which is worse [than the actual condition] sometimes. I'm recording guitar-parts for Dream Secret's long over-due CD. I took a bit of time & analyzed my guitar playing. This usually leads me in new directions - in that I'll seek out inspiration - conciously or unconciously. For example, if I'm a bit jaded with my blues-playing I'll go & listen to Clapton or any of the great blues-player's records. Maybe I'll feel that my chord-work may need some new life breathed into it. When that occurs I'll listen to old jazz standards for the chord changes. Beatle's songs too! I'm always finding new little things in Beatle's songs that I overlooked before. Sometimes just hanging out with older, wiser musicians helps me as well. Even if it's just conversations about arrangments, rythmns, etc... I'm tuning in to the Universe also. There's quite a few undiscovered 'bits' of music riding the ripples of time & space. I am receptive....

2007-04-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

Virginia Tech... My heart goes out to those killed & injured at Virginia Tech and their families. I can't even begin to fathom what they are enduring at this difficult time. What possessed this individual to carry out such a senseless act of violence & insanity? This new century has certainly been very strange & unexpectedly violent thus far. Very different than I had hoped for as a kid. That's for sure!

2007-04-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Bob, Harry Potter & Mickey Scott

Mark Kerns playing piano>

Dina & Mickey

For some reason, alot of the younger kids tell me that I look like an 'adult' Harry Potter. Little do they know that I really am Harry Potter & have great magical powers! So be nice kiddies or I'll turn you into a frog or something!

>Check out my weapons of mass destruction also

2007-03-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Toxic People & the Art of Cutting Dead Branches... A fellow blogger inspired me to write this little rant, blant, etc... It's all about people who come into our lives & bring negativity into them. We've all had 'toxic' friends & most likely will continue to encounter these types. Why do these people come into our lives? More importantly, how do we get rid of them? We must first put toxic people into perspective. They are what we judge ourselves against. These individuals are what we are not. Secondly, we must pity these sad souls & realize that they are the ones that will ultimately bring upon their own demise. Once we have reconciled all this within ourselves, then it's time to cut the 'dead' branch from your 'life's-tree' swiftly. Do it as quickly as possible. Don't look back either or you'll turn to stone! (Just kidding) > Seriously though, as I've gotten older I've become quite adept at 'excommunicating' unproductive people from my life. I have to. After all.... there just isn't enough time!

2007-02-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Reunions are like Onions... 'Rock & Roll is 1/2 musicianship & 1/2 P.T. Barnum.' That's a line I heard or read somwhere a long time ago. Indeed, a band like The Rolling Stones (in concert) put on a very 'circus-like' show. Stone's shows have an almost 'carnival-like' atmosphere to them. (Incidently The 'Freak Show' are actually the fans.) Which leads me to... Sting has decided to reuite The Police - the band that put him on the map. I read an article on MSNBC that said "the only way Sting can be cool again is to reunite The Police." That made me laugh out loud 'cause it's so true! To boot, Van Halen is going back out on the road with David Lee Roth (circus ring-master supreme) after 20 years. That should be quite entertaining to watch unfold. Reunions are like onions 'cause the more layers you peel, the more tears you'll shed. P.T. Barnum is looking down (or quite possibly up) with a smile on his face....

2007-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

Google, Froogle... Hello Everyone! I've switched to the new Google version of Blogger. Some of the previous comments have changed into 'anonymous' by default. Not too happy that this occurred so please don't be offended. My guess is that they want everyone to switch-over to Google's Blogger? Thanks to everyone who left comments about my friend! We haven't heard back from him yet. I'm supposed to see another mutual-friend who allegedly has a phone number that may allow us to make contact with our buddy. I'll do an 'update' when I know more. Working on getting more 'Dream Secret' music up for IAC. We're also over-hauling our MySpace page. This will allow us more exposure. IAC is very cool. However, the more [outlets] we have to get our music out there the better. Hope everyone is doing well & keeping warm!

2007-01-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello, Goodbye.... My heart is a bit heavy. I just found out that my friend had to rush back to his native country Uzbekistan. His father passed away a few weeks back & he was extremely saddened. My friend came to America hoping to make some 'real' money & go back to help his family. This was not to be unfortunately. He struggled to find work as his English wasn't so good. I would teach him a little, explaining certain aspects of the language. For example he was confused about words containing 'ough' in them. I would explain to him that English has many exceptions to the rules. What was very cool is that he showed me the Russian alphabet & explained the sounds, etc... Russian has 33 letters as opposed to English which has 26 letters. I have it all written down & find it intriguing. The past month he was alone & very sad. Homesick for his family he left without saying goodbye. I think he was so sad & lonely for his family that he feared his American friends would talk him out of going back home. This is understandable & I don't hold it against him. I hope to see my friend again. He was & is a good person.

2007-01-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION MUSIC LOVERS... Dream Secret has a new song on IAC for 2007. Our new offering is called "Mamma'a Girl" and is a good song we have been told! Please check it out & let us know what you think. Thanks! http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?id=30181

2007-01-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

007...Stirred, not Shaken.... well 2006 is history & quite frankly I'm relieved. A great year in many regards - yet also a year fraught with pain & loss. It wasn't all bad. I have my health & I did get to meet Pete Townshend & his lovely partner Rachel Fuller in 2006. That's a good memory I'll always have. Also, I've written & recorded a good amount of music the past year. Lots of plans, delusions & dreams for the new year. Ahhh... yes... I survived another year! It's all good! Delusions & all.... HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bonfire Jones

2006-12-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

Don't Let The Trap-Door Hit you on the way out ass-hole..... I'm in the middle when it come to the death penalty. I'm not sure if it's always the best way to punish criminals. However, Saddam Hussein is a different matter entirely. This piece of shit killed, tortured & destroyed his own people with impunity. Hanging was too good for this wretched animal. I would have boiled him alive while he watched films of all the atrocities he committed. If there is a Hell, I hope he's there smoldering amongst the flames. Later Saddam.... much later......

2006-12-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

10 Things I’ll Never Do...
1) I’ll never stop playing guitar. If I live to be 110 years old, I’ll still be clutching a guitar in my hands.
2) I’ll never stop loving The Beatles.
3) I’ll never stop being nice to people even if I’m in a bad mood or feeling under the weather.
4) I’ll never stop loving animals.
5) I’ll never forgive those who put African-Americans in chains & enslaved them.
6) I’ll never accept defeat or failure.
7) I’ll never stop searching for God & the meaning of life.
8) I’ll never generalize people because of their race, religion or political views.
9) I’ll never stop collecting vintage toys, musical instruments & anything that I feel is worth preserving.
10) I’ll never stop believing that one day humanity will ‘get it together’ and live in harmony.
*11) I’ll never forget that scene from ‘Spinal Tap’ where the guitar amps’ volume knob goes to ‘11'

2006-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Niagra on Ice... back in April of 1997 I was in Rochester, NY with a friend. We decided to drive 70 miles to Canada & check out Niagra Falls. What we saw was astounding! Both the American & Canadian Falls were frozen! In addition to the falls, the Niagra River was also mostly frozen - with large chunks of ice protruding upwards like mini ice-bergs. Neither of us had a camera so I ran up the strip to a tourist shop & plunked down $15.00 for a cardboard, throw away camera. With a little fence hopping, determination & a cardboard box I was able to get some pretty decent shots! However one must really see this world wonder in person to fully grasp it's sheer magnitude! Hope you all are keeping warm....

2006-11-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

Music is in the air.... Recording has become my new 'drug of choice' lately. We're really getting quite a bit done & I'm very pleased at the way it's all coming together. I'm intentionally holding-off on putting anything new on IAC or MySpace at the moment. In fact, we're revamping everything. For those who liked the 3 songs we have up, you're really gonna dig the new tunes! I've got a plan...

2006-10-09T06:54:00.000-07:00

In The Ghetto... of Eden that is. Dream Secret's concept album "Ghetto of Eden" is shaping up nicely. We've unearthed a song that we kind of forgot about. It's called 'Mama's Girl' which we wrote & did a demo of back in the 90's. When we initially did the song it really didn't fit with what we were doing at the time. Now it has aged into a relevant 'piece of the puzzle' & works perfectly into the flow of our story. To do a concept album/CD/digital download [or whatever the fuck people call songs strung together as a collection these days] may be viewed as absurd. Despite this we feel it's a worthy endeavour. This is a very tense, scary time we all live in. Mankind has taken a paradise [Earth] and turned it into a shit-hole. Ghettos are not part of nature's plan. Their evolution is evil, despicable & the end result of human neglect. We're pissed-off about it. How about you?

2006-09-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

One Enchanted Evening... I Went to Rachel Fuller's Barnes & Nobles in store gig (in New York City) on September 11, 2006. What a terrific time we all had! Rachel's performance was superb! She's very comfortable as a performer, interacting with the audience & poking fun at herself. A truly classy & wonderful person to behold. Pete played a song with Rachel which was a real treat for everyone! Afterwards Rachel signed autographs & chatted with us. During this time I met a few fellow bloggers which was very cool! Pete was also very receptive, posing for photos & giving autographs to anyone who asked. I was very fortunate to be able to chat with Pete for quite awhile! I mentioned to Pete that his [guitar playing] has been sounding better than ever. "Who have you been listening to these days Pete?" I asked. "Myself" he replied. "I never really listened to my playing in the past" he then added. As a serious guitarist also, I totally understood what he meant. It's not easy to explain this-yet it makes perfect sense. Pete seems a bit shy at first, yet he opened up & spoke to me. We made eye contact & it was amazing to realize that I was chatting with an artist who enriched my life more than he can ever know. One thing that impressed me in particular were Rachel & Pete's eyes! They both have really beautiful eyes. It's often been said that 'the eyes are the windows to a person's soul.' When I gazed into Rachel & Pete's eyes, I saw two beautiful souls... (Photos courtesy of Sarah B & Alison >Thanks to you both!)

2006-09-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

The 'Nose' & me wishing for World Peace....

Every Picture Tells a Story.... or so they say. These pics tell the story of Rock & Roll in 2006. I'm happy to report that it is alive & well. We had a great gig with 'The Mickey Scott Band' September 8. I felt fucking great that night. Can't wait for my band 'Dream Secret' to get out & do live shows. Patience is priceless - as The Who say- in "Another Tricky Day."

2006-08-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

To Who or Not to Who... So The Who are back with a new EP 'Wire & Glass' with an upcoming new album in Septemeber. Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey are also on the road once again - brandishing their musical weaponary - as The Who. There has been debate as to whether Pete & Roger [with a backing band] are truly 'The Who. Indeed with 2 of the band's [not to mention rock music's] most prolific players dead before their time, it seems a fair question to ask. This argument stems back nearly 30 years when The Who decided to continue after Keith Moon's death. Without Moon's manic drumming & seemingly inhuman feats of brilliance, many felt they should have called it a day at that time. Instead they 'defied' the doubters & returned with Kenny Jones on drums. Their 2 post-Moon albums were not fan favorites. However 'live' they were still the best band on the planet. When John Entwistle decided to join 'The Harpists' up in 'the ether' back in 2002, Pete & Roger faced the same dilemma as whether to continue as The Who. Fortunately they decided to carry on as such. At the end of the day the fact remains that Townshend was & is The Who. Roger Daltrey is the face, voice & translator of Townshend's musical vision. As important as Entwistle & Moon were to the band - the songs & creative-impetus were mostly Townshend's. "Tommy" firmly established this fact back in 1969. So I ask the question yet again. Is it really The Who? Entwistle & Moon without question created the rythmic 'template' that drove the band. Zak Starkey & Pino Palladino have been extremely adept in keeping this crucial element alive in the music. Though not 'founding' members of The Who they have been faithfull to the music. With all that said- in my humble opinion - it's still The Wh0. They have reached 'artistic-maturity' without losing any edge. In 2006 the 'song' is not over...

2006-08-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Fill In The Blank... I'm at a loss for a post yet I am still posting.

2006-08-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

September Magic.... Alright! Positive Energies are flowing nicely. Just got the word that The Mickey Scott Band is doing a show. [I play bass in this band] This is on September 7th at 'Dingbatz' in Clifton, NJ. We're a good-time rock & roll band. It's the first gig we've done in awhile so it's gonna be a blast! Looking forward to getting back on a stage. It's really great to see people come out & have fun seeing us play! Also.... Got a ticket to see Rachel Fuller at Joe's Pub in New York City. That should be quite entertaining indeed. She's a a great talent not to mention a nice person! We auditioned a drummer this past week & he didn't pass the test. Very nice, polite guy. His drumming was good however he had 'timing-problems' when he played drum-rolls & fills. Too bad because he had the right attitude. So the search for a drummer continues. In the mean-time we're continuing with recording. So what's new with you all out there?

2006-08-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Liquid Lunch... so now the terrorists are trying to employ 'liquid-based' explosives in their deadly arsenal of evil. Where is all this heading towards?

2006-08-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Glass Deserts Don't Make for Good Play.... This Mid-East Crisis between Fundamentalist Islam & The West is really becoming troubling. My core worry are all those nukes that went unaccounted for after the Soviet Union fell apart. At this point I truly believe that these radicals would not hesitate to use such weapons against Israel. Tel Aviv would be the prime target. Jerusalem would never be considered as Islam 'claims' this city [as does Judiasm & Christianity] There is no question in my mind that this is a 'war by proxy' on both fronts. Oil, Religon, Politics.... What do the children of today have to look forward to tomorrow? When you really get down & analyze the current situation in the Mid-East - one can trace it's roots back to World War ll. We are still feeling the 'ripple-effects' of 60+ years ago! Mind-boggling, absurd, ridiculous, frightening, add infinitum.... add nauseum. What a truly disturbing time we all live in.

2006-07-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Bonfire.... all my life people have been drawn to me for advice, sympathy & venting their feelings. This is flattering indeed- yet very exhausting at times. This has prompted me to possibly start an 'Advice - Blog' akin to Dear Abbey or Ann Landers newspaper columns. I'd field questions & try to give 'enlightenment' to those seeking answers. Maybe when the weather cools down a bit I'll start this Blog up. Dream Secret's CD.... I'm dragging getting my parts finished up on our CD in progress. There are a few reasons for this; 1) In our studio-area is a cat-litter box that sometimes stinks so bad that I hallucinate. 2) This heat & humidity sucks out all my physical/creative energies. 3) A few of the discs containing basic tracks got corrupted & I had to mix everything on them to my Masterlink [an extremely high-resolution 2 track digital recorder] This was the only way to salvage all our work on those bad disks. Luckily I was able to save all the data although they are now 2 track 'sub-mixes.' Not exactly how I intended to record these tracks - however there was no sound degradation so we're cool. That's one of the down-sides to digital recording. Data can become skunked for no apparent reason. We're going to go back to analog-tape for some of the recording work. Tape is not a perfect recording-medium-however it does sound better than digital for some things plus there are other advantages as well. (Technical stuff that I won't go into here) Hope everyone out there is having a lovely Summer!

2006-07-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Heat Wave... that song is stuck in my head. Our tremendously accurate 'weather people' have informed us that we're in for a major heat wave. This is for the east-coast of the USA & elsewhere. I'm in northern-New Jersey-12 miles from New York City. This area is a 'heat-pocket' and we almost always will have higher temperatures than other parts of the country. They say if you live in New Jersey you can live just about anywhere. We have weeks in April where on a Monday it'll be 80+ degrees outside, Wednesday feels like Fall weather at 50 degrees & Friday we get hit with a snow-storm! I'm not joking. It's absolutely nuts.... much like myself. I blame everything on New Jersey. Yep.... it's all Jersey's fault! Except when I'm on the beach getting tanned & feeling that lovely sea-breeze. I have yet to do that this year. I've got a friend who has a shore house in Ocean Beach. They call me a 'Bennie' when I go down there. A Bennie is someone from Nothern New Jersey or outside the 'Jersey Shore'-area. You can spot a Bennie by their tan-lines. Bennie's only have tanned arms & you can see their tan- lines from wearing short-sleeved shirts. It's actually quite funny. So I must go south & 'de-Bennify' myself a bit. On the ride down I'll play 'Bennie & The Jets' by Elton John.

2006-06-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Dream Secret... This is our new band name. [See my previous post for explanation] We have relinquished 'The Rumble Strips' name to our brothers in the UK. Logically speaking this was our best option. So... check out Dream Secret on our IAC page. We have a new song up that we know you will enjoy! Spread the word for the Dream Secret has been revealed....

2006-06-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

What's in a Name? A major quandry has arisen. There is another band using the same name as my band 'The Rumble Strips.' This really is problematic & of great concern to us. We can go 2 routes: 1) Keep the name as is & say screw that other band... or....2) Change the name completely. This to avoid confusion & conflict. We do have a very good alternate name! So changing our band name is not the end of the world. However the problem is - we did very well with the 3 songs - we put out on IAC. We broke the top 500 and stayed there for a fairly long time. We also received mostly good, positive feedback from listeners. Not bad for a couple of 'pikers' from New Jersey that nobody had never even heard of! So what worries us is the 'name-transition' phase. 2,000 plus listeners heard our songs under 'The Rumble Strips' name. As a new independent band - that is huge for us. Not to mention the fact that we never would/could have reached all these listeners without the internet. So... we have to transition smoothly & not lose our cherished little group of listeners! We will also 'unveil' our new band name shortly. In the mean-time please check out our new song 'I Don't Need No Holy Man' on IAC. http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?id=30181

2006-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Happiness is a Warm Guitar..... that's me on the right.

2006-06-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Art of Guitar Solos... ahhh yes... the elusive, slippery guitar solo! I'm working hard on Dream Secret's [songs] guitar parts. There are times where I find myself in a quandry about my guitar solos. Solos need to flow naturally without force or too much thought prior. Occasionally however solos need to be 'worked out.' These become mini-compositions within the composition. I also often approach my bass-lines in this same manner. I've always been of the school that strives for unity in music. By 'unity' I mean where the sum is greater than it's parts. When a musician reaches a certain technical-level-it's very easy to abuse this power. Being able to play fast solos can actually be counter-productive at times. Quite honestly it's boring to hear a guitarist paly the same tired & fast licks & scale-based lead guitar. [I'd much rather hear B.B. King or Dave Gilmour play sparse solos that make you cry] So it is crucial for me to create solos that 'speak' to the listener. Often times 3 or 4 note clusters can be much more effective & emotive than a 'plethora' of random tones. In other words I try to play for the song. Why all this stuff about guitar solos? I'm all happy 'cause I totally nailed some good solos on our new song! We will be releasing our new song 'I Don't Need No Holy Man' this week on IAC. This is from our upcoming album 'Ghetto of Eden' which is a conceptual piece of music. I wouldn't call it a rock opera. More like a 'thematic' album with central themes, reprises & a message. We're very ambitious to do this. If all goes as planned we will have a CD, a new 'live' band & a bunch of gigs to look forward to. We're working on an 'outline' of Ghetto of Eden's theme & message. I'll be posting that soon also.

We've also got a MySpace page which we'll be revamping. There are also several other options -that we are considering. Internet-based music platforms are the future so we are looking into additional resources besides IAC & MySpace. This is an exciting time- as well as a very uncertain time- musically speaking. We're up for the challenges up ahead...

2006-06-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Still Alive, Still Here.... Thanks to all who have wished me well during my malady recently! For awhile I thought no one cared about my Blog. This turns out to be a misconception on my part. Many people have told me that they do read my Blog-posts. They just do not comment always. Some are not bloggers at all & have found me through Google searches or word of mouth. People also have mentioned that they sometimes feel a bit intimidated by my subject-matter. I'll let you in on a little secret. I also am intimidated by my subject-matter! Sometimes I scare myself silly with what I have written-to the point of feeling like deleting things. Yet- I leave most of it up & out there for all to see. One thing I have learned in life is that I cannot run from myself. I've tried only to fall apart. So my 'glue' is facing reality head-on. I'm tired of running....

2006-05-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Feeling Buggy... Oh My Lord! I picked up a horrible viral infection in my stomach from somewhere. Oh did it suck so bad. This was no 24 hour bug-more like 3 days of Hell. This felt like 'Divine Retribution' or something to that effect. *** Beware My Fellow Bloggers as the 'bug' may be lurking nearby*** Wash your hands frequently, try not to touch door knobs, handles, etc... A Public Service Message from Bonfire Jones

2006-05-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

Outside The Universe.... I'm currently tormenting myself with metapysical issues. This sort of thing happens to me every so often, especially after re-reading books like 'Cosmos' by Carl Sagan & 'A Brief History of Time' by Steven Hawking. Listening to old lectures by Alan Watts adds to my despair as well. My core problem with material-existence is the whole 'eternity' concept. I can understand eternity going forwards as it is seems logical to comprehend. One would always want to see another day (or at least most of us would) so I'm jiggy with that idea. What perplexes me (and everyone else who wonders about such ethereal questions) is eternity from the past. It blows my mind that 100 billion years ago was preceded by 100 billion years & that 100 billion years was preceded by another 100 billion years & on & on & on.... Imagine a number like 1,000,000,000 to the 100th power. As huge as that number is - it only is a mere slice of time - in comparison to eternity. Karl Marx wrote that God does not exist. Yet he also believed that 'matter' existed always. How so? Why did it always exist? Then there's that 'a watch implies a watch-maker' philosophy that we all have heard. Who created the watch-maker then?
After I hit 'publish post' on Blogger I'm going to run outside into the middle of the street & scream....

2006-05-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

I Don't Need No Holy Man... This is the next 'single' that The Rumble Strips are putting on IAC soon. Despite it's title the song is not ant-religon or religous figures, etc... It's simply about those feelings many of us have in life in regards to this concept/idea. Is there truly a need for a 'holy man' figure to guide us through life? Does one need an 'avatar' or preacher *mentor* to help reinforce or form one's spiritual awareness? We don't know - yet we ask the question(s.) Maybe...

2006-04-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Jonah's Crystal... I went to the 6th Annual Jammys Award Show-at Madison Square Garden- in New York City last week. My friend won VIP tickets, including unlimited bar & food snackies! Again, I am so fucking glad that I don't drink too much. Drunks are amazing in that they are oblivious to how stupid they really look. Hey... I ain't no saint but I know how to act amongst people...know what I mean Billy Jean? Anyway at the pre-show party I met this dude Jonah. He was quite cool, burned one with us outside & we rapped. Jonah then goes to me "Dude...you're like giving off this energy man" and so forth... "Positive energy I hope" (I laughingly replied) Jonah reaches into his pocket & pulls out this crystal & hands it to me. "You give off a really positive vibe & I want you to have this quartz-crystal" which was very nice of Jonah! So to Jonah... thanks for the compliment, good vibes, the shhmmmokeeees & the crystal. We will meet again soon! By the way the show was really cool! Peter Frampton kicked ass! Funky Baby.....

2006-04-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Dig the new logo!

2006-04-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

6 Simple Rules to Be Happy: 1) Free Your Mind From Hatred 2) Free Your Mind From Worries 3) Live Simply 4) GiveMore 5) Expect Less *6) Have No Expectations *Gina B's perfect addition to the list. Thanks Gina!

2006-04-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Mickey & Me... Mickey Scott that is. This is the front man from my other band... 'The Mickey Scott Band" of course! Mickey looks like a rock star & I'm sporting my 'choir-boy' look. He's a Sagittarius & I'm a Gemini- polar opposites in astrological terms. Yet together we click like a brand new Bic lighter! Fire. We are musical pyromaniacs. Would you believe that we both don't drink? I have the occasional beer, jello shot or those 'test-tube' Kamakazi drinks to be social. However being in a room full of drunks makes me thankfull that I never took it to the limit. I'd rather be the observer than the observed.

2006-03-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

We now have a logo - so there's no turning back! Check out our 2nd song on IAC 'Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda' & let us know what you think! We'd love to hear from you!

2006-03-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Spring is in the air! I'm feeling very optimistic these days. The Rumble Strips on IAC is garnering a bit of attention which is encouraging! The Rumble Strips are gearing up for some live shows very soon. We will use 'fill-in' drummers until we decide on a permanent member. I'm really itching to play live with this band. The Mickey Scott Band (in which I play bass) plays shows somewhat often. Yet as the bass player - I don't get the chance to stretch out the way I would like to. So hopefully I can remedy this frustration soon. It feels good to play loud electric guitar & lose myself in the performance. I'm not going to hold back anything. If I feel like leaping or banging my guitar on the stage then I will do so. It's gonna be fun!

2006-03-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Rumble Strips: Link for IAC

http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?id=30181

Please give us a listen & leave comments! Thanks, Ed

2006-03-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

The Rumble Strips- Mark Kerns (Top) Bonfire Jones (Bottom)

We have posted our song 'So Far Away' on IAC. At the moment we are a 'duo.' We had several drummers however they did not share our artistic vision. A decision was made & we decided to record everything ourselves. This is actually working out excellent! Once our entire CD is finished we will actively search for a drummer as we want to play live. That's what it's all about! Live performance. Loud guitars, feedback, rumbling bass, drums pulsing.... you get the picture!

2006-03-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hagstrom Guitars. This is my prized sun-burst 1965 Hagstrom 3 electric guitar. Hagstrom guitars were made in Sweden up until 1981. Unfortunately the company fell victim to cheaper, mass-produced instruments from Japan & other foreign manufacturers. I absolutely adore Hagstrom guitars! These guitars have the lowest action in the world! Very comfortable to play & they sound amazing. Hagstrom guitars were used by quite a few artists such as David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Frank Zappa, Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) & Pat Smear (Foo Fighters) to name a few. I love these guitars so dearly that I currently own 8 of them! Yes... 8 Hagstroms! Included in my collection are a bass, nylon string classical guitar, 12 string electric & assorted electric 6 strings. I've been recording extensively using these guitars & the results have been very satisfying. My guitar collection is not just relegated to Hagstrom. I have Gibson, Fender & other brands but my Hagstroms are very near & dear to my heart! If you play guitar & you happen to run across one of these somewhere try it out. Hagstrom Guitars..... FOREVER!!!

2006-02-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

(New York City-Chelsea Section-2004) Recently I was down in the Times Square area & I was shocked at how 'gentrified' it has become! It's fucking Disney Land over there these days! I was actually looking for a drunk or a bum to trip over. Personally I prefer Chelsea or The Village over mid-town New York. This picture was taken down by 14th Sreet near the 'meat-district' area which is quickly becoming more upscale with lots of restaurants, boutiques, etc... Soon Mickey Mouse will become Mayor of this fine city.

2006-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Unconditional Love....

'Goldie' is my baby dog. I found her Thanksgiving Day 2000 while taking a before dinner stroll. Someone abandoned her. Her ears were red from the cold & she was hungry.
Now she lives like a queen. Goldie makes a great foot-warmer too!

2006-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

Garage sales, yard sales & flea markets. These are my ticket to the coolest, lowest-cost merchandise anywhere! 2005 was a great year for me in this regard. Here is a partial list of the 'goodies' I acquired:

1) De Armond electric guitar- This was had at a yard sale for $15.00!
It was plastered with stickers & had black electrical tape masking the edges. It took quite a bit of cleaning up to say the least. This guitar is now my main axe. It plays like a dream! $15.00 & a dream!

2) Cort Bass guitar. This was part of a 3 instrument 'lot' from another yard sale. I paid $10.00 for this bass, an old mandolin & an 'el cheapo' 12 string acoustic. This Cort bass is smoking! It's worth about $300.00 & it only cost me $3.33 ! I used this at my band's recent gig & it was great!

3) Desert Cacti- This is a print of a great painting by J. Swinnerton who was an obscure American artist - who specialized in desert themes. It's probably from the 1940's. It hangs proudly above my 'art-deco' desk. $5.00 for this beauty. I love it!

These are just a few nuggets that I've found. The lesson here? When you see a gargage or yard sale.....stop & check it out! You'll be amazed at what you can find!

2006-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Cheese is important! I love cheese. Egg sandwiches with cheese, cheese & crackers & melted cheese in a toasted pita.
One cheese I hate is blue cheese. That moldly stuff ain't going in my mouth!

I even like some cheezy music. I'm a closet 'Grease' fan. That soundtrack is so cheesy that it's great! In fact I think 'Grease' was the truly last great American musical ever made! "Summer Loving, Happened so Fast" I love that crappy song!

Devo has some really cool cheezy music also. I can eat cheese & also sing & dance to cheese. Isn't cheese just marvelous?

2006-01-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

Somehow the comments on some of my posts got wiped. I hope no one thinks I deleted them intentionally. I'm actually quite bummed out about this. If anybody knows how to remedy this I'm all ears...
errr...I mean eyes @@
0

2006-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

I had too many Blogs! What I did was condense everything into 2 different Blogs.

1) 'Imprint Memories' is for posting my own memories plus anyone else who would like to contribute.

2) 'I'm Alive & To Prove It I'm Here' is my main Blog where you can comment, complain & just say hello.

Note: Coming soon will be a new Blog dedicated to all original pop/rock music from the bands I am in. Cool Beans!

2006-01-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 18, 2005

Responsible Blogging
Just a brief post. Bloggers need to comment on other's Blog-sites with respect. It's very easy to "run at the mouth" when commenting on other's Blog-sites. There's a parallel between road rage & nasty blog-commenting. People sometimes behave more aggressively-feeling invulnerable-when behind a computer screen or a vehicle. I am coining a phrase here: "Blog Rage" Having said that....think things through before posting nasty comments on people's Blog-sites. Stay Cool & Composed. Bonfire Jones
posted by Bonfire Jones at 12:59 PM 21 comments

2006-01-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Are We Ready For The Truth?
Hello to all! I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about where we are headed as a society. We are in trouble in case you haven't noticed. We are constantly being told "half-truths" by the media. What is being withheld from the people I ask? Is there an underlying force that controls what we can see & hear? What should we believe? Who can we trust & if we do decide to trust anyone for what reason(s) should we do so?Hollywood & TV rubs it in the public's faces that the majority ain't got nothing! Look at all these "reality shows" on at the moment. I truly believe that we are being fed this unreality to keep us down & suppressed. Many people I speak to in my everyday life seem to have given in to this wretched philosophy of "if you don't have alot of money or good looks then you don't rank." Fuck that. During hurricane Katrina's wrath recently a minister down there was interviewed. He said that for those who lost everything their recovery depends on whether material possesions define who they are. You see the poor people who were displaced & went through hell down there. Yet many victims are optimistic about their future. These people do not rely on materialism to define who they are. Home to them is family & their soul. Everything we love will be destroyed in the end. We are only caretakers & curators of the stuff we accumulate in this reality. We need to learn the truth about ourselves first then we can be better prepared for "The Truth" that has been hidden from us for so long. Peace on Earth.Truthfully Yours, Bonfire Jones
posted by Bonfire Jones at 2:53 PM 25 comments

2006-01-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Out With The Old...In With The New
Happy New Year to all my fellow Bloggers! 2006 is going to be an exciting year. Good things are happening & this Blog of mine shall continue. Blogging has opened another door for me as a creative outlet.Please continue to stop by & check out what will be offered in 2006!Bonfire Jones
posted by Bonfire Jones at 10:32 PM 10 comments

2005-12-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

I've been busy with other endeavours the past couple of weeks. Ever want to run out in the middle of the street & scream? I'm stressing out.

Seriously though I'm getting distracted lately so I must focus on....

The Rumble Strips. Getting mp3's up. Posting crazy literature.

Onward through the fog!