life, and a little more

5,000 hits!

Nov 29

metalman777Life, tech, www 5000 hits, blogging, redesign No Comments

My little ‘ol blog has had over 5,000 hits now!  I know most blogs get that kind of traffic in just one day, but for me, that stat is pretty awesome!

I thought it would be a perfect time to celebrate and do some redesigning.  Thus the new look for the blog.  Cheers!

Gmail gets skinned!

Nov 21

metalman777tech, www gmail, themes No Comments

Google has given us many free things: Google Earth, Google Maps, Blogger, Youtube, Picasa, Google Reader, and yes, Google Mail.  I’ve been an avid user of Gmail for quite a while now and was pleasantly surpised that Google finally added Themes go its online mail service!

As you can see above, Google has given us 31 different themes to use.  Personally, I only like a few, but I sure appreciate the thought!

Below are my favorite themes:

If you feel Ninja-like, this is the perfect theme!

Give your email an office feel!

My personal favorite! Brings back many memories of being in front of my TSR-80 trying to get my tape drive to work!

Coach Ron's video for The Quakes

Nov 20

metalman777family, videos family, soccer No Comments

[viddler id=a17e2750&w=437&h=370]

Nathan finished up another season of soccer and Coach Ron made this video to remember the season by!  Thanks Ron!

Metallica Lyrics to Live By?

Nov 17

metalman777Christianity, Life, audio, music, videos Christianity, lyrics, metallica, poetry No Comments

Stop what you are doing and take a minute to listen to the song below. As you listen, scroll down and read the lyrics that go with the music.  Even if you don’t like metal, listen to the song!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxgc4PCklnI]

Metallica - Broken, Beat & Scarred lyrics

You rise, you fall, you're down then you rise again
What don't kill ya make ya more strong
You rise, you fall, you're down then you rise again
What don't kill ya make ya more strong

Rise, fall, down, rise again
What don't kill ya make ya more strong
Rise, fall, down, rise again
What don't kill ya make ya more strong

Through black days, through black nights
Through pitch black insides

Breaking your teeth on the hard life coming
(Show your scars)
Cutting your feet on the hard earth running
(Show your scars)
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
But we die hard

The dawn, the death, the fight to the final breath
What don't kill ya make ya more strong
The dawn, the death, the fight to the final breath
What don't kill ya make ya more strong

Dawn, death, fight, final breath
What don't kill ya make ya more strong
Dawn, death, fight, final breath
What don't kill ya make ya more strong

They scratch me, they scrape me
They cut and rape me

Breaking your teeth on the hard life coming
(Show your scars)
Cutting your feet on the hard earth running
(Show your scars)
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
But we die hard

Breaking your teeth on the hard life coming
(Show your scars)
Cutting your feet on the hard earth running
(Show your scars)
Bleeding your soul in a hard luck story
(Show your scars)
Spilling your blood in the hot sun's glory
(Show your scars)
Breaking your life, broken, beat and scarred
We die hard
We die hard
We die hard

Lyrics | Metallica - Broken, Beat & Scarred lyrics

If nothing else, you have to give James Hetfield credit for the poetic force of his lyrics. This is one strong song and the music that is delivered behind the lyrics pushes the song into metal legend.  It energizes the listener and makes him just want to lift something heavy or do some feat of greatness!

But beyond that, believe it or not, this song actually reminds me of some words written by the Apostle Paul, the guy that wrote two thirds of the New Testament (bet you weren’t expecting that, eh?)

In the book of  Second Corinthians, chapter 6 Paul says this:

3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

One might wonder how in all that is good and holy could I connect a Metallica song with the Sacred Scripture?  Well, I have come to finally understand that all truth is God’s truth and I can take the poetic lyric of Metallica and yes, it can help me ruminate and meditate on what God has done for me!  Crazy, eh?

Even though we might go some through some crazy stuff in this life, it makes us stronger and
can actually bring us into a closer relationship with our Creator.

Is there a bigger point to this blog? Not really. Just a very cool secular song reminded of
some very cool sacred writings!

Iron Metallic Ivory

Nov 12

metalman777audio, music iron maiden, metallica, music, piano, piano tribute, tribute album No Comments

I’m a hypocrite…I’ll admit it.  Yesterday I wrote that I was taking a break and yet, here I am posting a new entry today!  What gives?

Well, as you might know, I’m rebuilding my music library, and as I was looking over music to put back into iTunes, I ran across two albums that really caught my eye (ear?)

The first album is entitled Pianotarium: A Piano Tribute to Metallica by Scott D. Davis.

This is from Mr. Davis’ official website:

Pianist/composer Scott D. Davis has been referred to as “the rocker of new age/contemporary classical music”. Perhaps New Age Reporter best described him by saying “his exuberance and originality are invigorating and his upbeat attitude contagious.”

Interestingly enough, if you ask Scott about his musical background he might surprise you. He comes not from a background of polished piano music, but grew up a typical 1980′s teenager strongly under the influences of such progressive rock artists as Rush, Queensrÿche, and Metallica. Scott pursued rock music as a career throughout his college years, playing keyboards for a number of local bands

I have to say that Mr. Davis really captures the mood and emotion of the songs he covers.  The piano is actually quite haunting at times.  Below is Master of Puppets, piano style:

[audio=https://dl-web.getdropbox.com/get/Music/03%20Master%20of%20Puppets.mp3?w=323166e5]

Davis does choose a good variety of songs to cover, as well as adding three original compositions.  Here is the track listing for the album.

1. “Enter Sandman” – 5:39
2. “Until It Sleeps” – 4:27
3. “Master Of Puppets” – 8:44
4. “The Unforgiven” – 6:06
5. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” – 6:23
6. “Nothing Else Matters” – 6:02
7. “One” – 6:17
8. “Fade To Black” – 6:49
9. “The Renewal – I – Lament” – 2:28
10. “The Renewal – II – Inner Battle” – 3:50
11. “The Renewal – III – Return to Sanity” – 3:53

The second album is another piano tribute, but this album gives tribute to metal gods Iron Maiden.

Scott Lavender has released The Piano Tribute to Iron Maiden.  Lavender takes some very classic Iron Maiden songs and translates them into piano interludes that, for the most part, capture the magic of Iron Maiden.

Information about Mr. Lavender was hard to find, but here is what I did scrounge up:

Scott Lavender is a both a talented conductor as well as a fantastic pianist, he has worked with the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, The Los Angeles Philharmonic and many more. He holds a Bachelors Degree for Music in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. After this he was awarded a Masters Degree in Instrumental Conducting from California State University. (found here)

Mr Lavender selects some wonderful Iron Maiden covers.  The tracklisting is:

1. Two Minutes to Midnight [6:33]
2. Wasted Years [5:11]
3. Can I Play with Madness [3:46]
4. The Trooper [4:54]
5. Brave New World [5:04]
6. Run to the Hills [3:49]
7. Caught Somewhere in Time [5:55]
8. Aces High [4:46]
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name [6:55]
10. Flight of Icarus [3:55]
11. Number of the Beast [6:02]
12. Eddie’s Lament (Original Track) [4:49]

I do like this album, but the piano sounds a little thin and tinny at times.  It sounds like Mr. Lavender has done an almost note for note translation of music, which normally wouldn’t bother me.  But after hearing Pianotarium and hearing the heart of the songs revealed with much passion and vigor, The Piano Tribute to Iron Maiden could seem a little lackluster.  The album artwork for this album is much better than the Metallica Tribute though!

Listen for yourself.  Below is the track Two Minutes to Midnight:

[audio=https://dl-web.getdropbox.com/get/Music/01%20Two%20Minutes%20To%20Midnight.mp3?w=91076491]

taking a break?

Nov 11

metalman777Life Life No Comments

Well, it sure has been a while since I’ve written anything.  I’ve actually been catching up on some reading and it has been great!  I’ve been feeling pressure to write and to keep the blog up (from myself of course), but then I remembered it is my blog and I am not bound by any rules!

So I might be taking a little break.  I just want to read some more and we’ll see if that writing urge arises again sometime soon.

The Deed Is Done

Nov 04

metalman777Life election, voting No Comments

So today is the day where America is changed for the better.  Well, 50% of Americans will be happy tomorrow, and 50% will be pretty disappointed.

I’m a little jaded on the entire political situation, and really think both parties are a bunch of crooks out to further their own agendas.

Still, I do believe voting is a civic duty for every citizen.  And I did my part!  Do I think my vote counts?  In some ways yes, and some ways no.  I hate the fact that the very minute the polls close here in California the state is declared for the Democratic nominee.   What if I didn’t vote for that particular person?  But, it’s all part of the game!

So, go vote your conscience and do your part to “save” our country!