While browsing the auction sites, I came across this fantastic website. It’s an absolutely fabulous slice of rock and roll history. If you love rock or if you’re a collector or historian, then check these guys out!

www.rockstarsguitars.com/

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I just recently got interested in auctions, after Eric Clapton auctioned off his most famous guitars Brownie and Blackie. Also, George Harrison’s rosewood Fender Telecaster, and then John Lennon’s piano that he composed the song “Imagine” on. So I started browsing through sites like Christie’s, and found some amazing things.

Keith Moon’s Premier five-piece drum kit from 1968 sold for $215,000 in London’s pop memorabilia auction in September 2004, which set another world record for the highest price paid for a set of drums at an auction.

Christie’s set a new world auction record for Eric Clapton’s 1956 Fender Stratocaster named Brownie, which is the guitar he used on his “Layla” album. Clapton’s Blackie Fender Stratocaster (circa ‘56-’57) sold for $959,500 in June of 2004 after his Crossroads Guitar Festival. It was a world auction record for any guitar.

Then there’s the story about George Harrison’s Solid Rosewood Telecaster that he played on Let It Be and the Beatles rooftop concert. It was shipped to the Beatles Abbey Road studios in London from Fender Guitar headquarters in the U.S. as a special gift. That was the introduction to a very limited production run of only 500 all rosewood solid body Telecasters that Fender produced that year in 1967. Harrison’s Telecaster sold in auction just a few years ago for just under $450,000.

The piano that John Lennon composed the song “Imagine” on has recently ended it’s “tour for peace” and is currently on display at the Goss Gallery in Dallas, Texas. The famous piano was purchased by George Michael at auction in October 2000 for a reported amount of $2.1 million, and is estimated to be worth somewhere between $8 to $12 million.

Related Links:
www.lennonpiano.com/
www.gossgallery.com/
www.christies.com/

On this Memorial Day, it just felt like it was time to take a moment and recognize those brave souls who have served in our military here at home and in our armed forces around the world. May God Bless you and your families. It breaks my heart to see the news stories of how many soldiers we have lost to war, and how their loved ones and families struggle to survive. Even worse, how our own government falls short to care and provide for our veterans.

It is heart warming to read stories like this, about non-profit groups who continue to push for better care for our veterans. CNN story about Rolling Thunder goes to Washington.

I have several family members and friends who I would like to pay tribute to. I don’t know exactly what all their military service involved, but I just want to acknowledge their hard work, dedication, and most of all, personal sacrifice, as they put their country first, and themselves and their families second.

My father Ken who served in the Army in the Korean war.
My step-dad Richard who served in the Army in the Vietnam war.
My uncle Bill who served in the Air Force.
My cousin Billy who served in the Navy.
My friend Ron who served and survived the Vietnam war.

I love you guys. Thank You for serving our country and protecting our freedoms. May God Bless you, your families, and keep us all safe in this increasingly dangerous world we live in.

1st Single: “Ever Present Past” Audio: WinMedia ~ RealAudio

“Memory Almost Full” Album Segways: WinMedia ~ RealAudio

Paul McCartney’s 21st solo album, Memory Almost Full, will be released on June 5th. It’s the first official release from the new Starbucks Hear Music label (formed by Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Music Group.) In addition to the regular CD, a deluxe 2-disc edition with unreleased bonus tracks and audio commentary by McCartney will be available.

“Dance Tonight” is the first music video from Paul McCartney’s new album Memory Almost Full. The full video will debut on YouTube on May 23rd, but an advance clip is already on amazon.com. It was filmed in London last March, and stars McCartney, Natalie Portman and Mackenzie Crook, and was directed by Michel Gondry.

Earlier sources reported that Paul McCartney played all the instruments on the album, but an updated press release reports that his long time bandmates also played on these tracks; “Only Mamma Knows, You Tell Me, Vintage Clothes, That Was Me, Feet In The Clouds & House of Wax .”
Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens - keyboards
Rusty Anderson - guitar
Brian Ray - bass guitar
Abe Laboriel Jr. - drums

McCartney Online:
www.paulmccartney.com
http://meyesight.com

I’m just testing a video clip taken with my camera phone, a Motorola RAZR. It’s a short clip from our jam last night. 05-20-07_0134.3gp

Dear Mom,
On this Mother’s Day, I remember your ever present smile, your quick wit and wonderful sense of humor.
It’s that sense of humor that I carry with me every single day, and with it, your loving memory of affection, caring and love.
Thank You for helping me through each day, with just a little more endurance and grace.
I Love You. May God Bless You and keep you within his love. I’ll see you again someday and we’ll rejoice in heaven.

Love Always & Forever,
Mike

The House of Blues just opened in Dallas; last week on the 8th of May. Dan Aykroyd, aka Elwood Blues of The Blues Brothers, kicked off the debut party. The Hard Rock Cafe closed it’s doors, and then the House of Blues opened up. I’ve always said that when one door closes, another door opens.

It’s just good karma, man.

Top40-charts.com reports:
Live Nation, the world’s largest live music company, opened it’s 11th House of Blues in Dallas, Texas. The new venue includes a 1,625 capacity music hall, a 400 seat restaurant, special events facilities, a company store and a Foundation Room consisting of a private lounge and fine dining area for members. It establishes an important small size music venue in Dallas, the number six Designated Market Area, or DMA, as defined by Nielsen Media Research.

The new facility is located in the historic White Swan Building in the heart of downtown Dallas and is an important anchor to the ambitious Victory Park redevelopment project underway in the city. Live Nation also operates and exclusively books the 20,000 seat Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas. Formerly known as StarPlex, located in the Fair Park area.

House of Blues Dallas Music Hall, 2200 N. Lamar Street. Dallas, Texas

Deftones & Fall of Troy opens Tuesday and Wednesday May 15th & 16th at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:00. Tickets @ Tickemaster $28.50 to $36.

The Subdudes W/ Pieta Brown @ the Cambridge Room, Sunday May 20, Showtime 7:30pm.

Sources:
Dallas Morning News
HOB Dallas: House of Blues Online
Top40-charts.com

I’ve been feeling overworked and stressed out for some time now. You know it’s bad when the symptoms creep into your daily life and reach out to slap you in the face. Oh, little things like finding yourself obsessing over some small trivial thing, or getting all hung up over something that normally wouldn’t even get your attention.

I realize I’m an information junkie. I try to watch or at least listen to the TV news while sorting through 500 email messages in two different inboxes, and browsing 100 RSS feeds. Not to mention posting to each one of my blogs. I’m trying to save time by multi-tasking (another overused buzzword) and just bogging myself down in the process. It’s almost a form of self abuse. Why in the world am I doing this? Information overload.

Now I’ve recently got interested in this book by Timothy Ferriss, called The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. The title sure got my attention. So I read some of his blog and alot of his points really hit home. Yes, I’m a wage slave. Have been for years. But I’m over 50 now, and for the first time in my life looking ahead to retirement. But I’m not good with money and don’t have alot of savings. And I don’t have a 20 plus year pension plan that I’m vested in. Who stays long enough at one company for retirement vesting anyway? Not in today’s world. The prospect of working until the day I die is not appealing. And living on social security from age 65 is a joke. In that scenario, I see myself as a starving artist living on the street with cardboard as my only currency.

No no no!!! Get out of my brain, dammed vision of doom! I want better. Not rich, but comfortable, with time and money to allow me to do those things I’ve wanted all my life. Time to write, play music, freedom to travel and see the world, or at least more of it than my previous years on this planet.

So I’m buying Tim’s book and reading it cover to cover. I like the tips he has on his website…

• Outsource your life - delegate some tasks; don’t try to do everything
• Setup an autoresponder to announce you’re checking email only twice a day and stick to a regular schedule
• Learn “selective ignorance” to focus on what’s really important and weed out those time consuming distractions

In particular, I like Tim’s statement here:
Above all, remember three things. First, life can end at any time, so don’t postpone it. Second, if it doesn’t end, the average person works 500 months in their lifetime, so there’s no rush to get to the office. Third, people have short memories and are too busy thinking about themselves to worry about you. Take the journey and leave the office behind.

Official Website: 4hourworkweek.com

Supernova SN 2006gy; story from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory:

The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes.

“This was a truly monstrous explosion, a hundred times more energetic than a typical supernova,” said Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley, who led a team of astronomers from California and the University of Texas in Austin. ” That means the star that exploded might have been as massive as a star can get, about 150 times that of our sun. We’ve never seen that before.”

“Of all exploding stars ever observed, this was the king,” said Alex Filippenko, leader of the ground-based observations at the Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton, Calif., and the Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. “We were astonished to see how bright it got, and how long it lasted.”

The star that produced SN 2006gy apparently expelled a large amount of mass prior to exploding. This large mass loss is similar to that seen from Eta Carinae, a massive star in our galaxy, raising suspicion that Eta Carinae may be poised to explode as a supernova. Although SN 2006gy is intrinsically the brightest supernova ever, it is in the galaxy NGC 1260, some 240 million light years away. However, Eta Carinae is only about 7,500 light years away in our own Milky Way galaxy.

“We don’t know for sure if Eta Carinae will explode soon, but we had better keep a close eye on it just in case,” said Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, who was not involved in the research. “Eta Carinae’s explosion could be the best star-show in the history of modern civilization.”

Source: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main

Related Links:
Space Telescope Science Institute
University of California Observatories