Lettuce! Give Thanks!

Things I am thankful for on Thanksgiving, 2008:

My life. Given to me by my parents, not some silly invisible man in the sky. And the fact that, to this day, I've lived it on my own terms, and managed to get this far alive.

Hope for the Future. Long has it been since I've felt any. Yes We DID ^,^

The fact that I'm still standing after all these years.

That the 14 years of my life I spent chasing a dream weren't all for not.

The possibility that I just might be an honest-to-jeebus father. Yeah, that's right. Someone calls me "dad." Suck it, haters. My offspring will demolish yours. Muahahahahahahahahahaaaaa!

That I have friends like the many that I have. You guys and girls rock harder than anyone has rocked hard in the history of people rocking hard. E Pluribus, Unum.

My Family. Sure, we have our differences. But in the end, we're still a family, and love is still unconditional.

That I have this outlet, and the will to use it, and that some of you actually take time out to read the stupid shit I say on it. Stay tuned, more to come...

Most of all, though, on a purely geek-life level, I'm thankful for all of the seemingly-impossible saving throws I've made against Life's Bullshit. It's as if my d20 was blessed by Gygax himself. I'm exceptionally fortunate to be where I am today, and to have the chances that lie ahead in the near future.

Someday, it'll all come together, the loose ends tied up and the final curtain lowered. But for now, the trip is fun, the rope is holding strong, and the stage lights aren't all that blinding...

The Revelation

Cross-posted at my MySpace Blog

Have I ever mentioned how awesome Andy Howard is? Yeah, well, guess what.

He. Is. AWESOME.

So we polish up a few tunes at band practice today, and the time comes, before Dave has to roll out for work, for us to kick around new tune ideas. We're constantly trying to expand our arsenal, recently adding some new Metallica (Cyanide) and Offspring (You're Gonna Go Far Kid). There's some obscure stuff in there, too, like Arcade's "Tow Truck," and, after today, something that makes me very, very happy indeed.

At Andy's suggestion, Buck-It will be covering the one and only...

KMFDM

Yes, I'm in a band that's gonna do KMFDM tunes! HOW FUCKING AWESOME? REAL FUCKING AWESOME!

KMFDM ranks as one of my three all time favorite bands (the others being Pink Floyd and Tool), and to be with a group of awesome musicians who are all quite eager to cover something from them... Wow. I'm really blown away by the opportunity.

In case you're wondering, the song in question will be Juke-Joint Jezebel. For those of you who aren't familiar with KMFDM, the track can be found on the soundtracks to both the first Mortal Kombat and Bad Boys movies. It's probably the KMFDM track the mainstream recognizes the most, given the exposure it got on those two discs. I don't know what kid didn't have a copy of the soundtrack to MK when it came out, but they weren't in my circle of friends, that's for sure.

And that was a pretty big circle at that time.

But to have Andy suggest it. Not me, who you'd think would try to push a track by such an obscure band through. I said, though, that I also wasn't surprised. "Tow Truck" was Andy's idea, and he's tossed forth songs by The Members and Type O Negative as well. Not really what you'd call mainstream, right? Right. So it's not really that far-fetch'd to think that Andy would pick up on a KMFDM track.

Bob remarked about how it had a Rob Zombie feel. ROFLMAO! KMFDM predates Zombie by a year, having formed in 1984 as part of a Multimedia Art presentation. Afterwards, they moved almost straightaway into experimenting with the then infant Industrial sound, becoming one of the driving forces of the genre, which Zombie would later contribute classic tracks to as well.

Dave likes the Zombie feel to it as well, which pretty much seals the deal: Buck-It is doing Juke-Joint Jezebel. ROCK! \m/ Andy and I will be splitting vocal duties, which is always fun, and it's a pretty driving tune all-around. Look it up on YouTube if you must, but be warned. KMFDM, once heard, can be addicting. VERY addicting. Trust me...