January 9th, 2010
Growing up working on one of the oldest farms in America (run by the same family since the 1680s), my interest in local history was definitely the cause of some long-winded conversations with some of the old-timers. The farm was located adjacent to Maudslay State in park in Newburyport. In fact, the park itself used to be part of the farm before it was sold off to the Moseley family (Originally spelled Maudesleigh) around the turn of the century (1900s).
One bit of local history that always really interested me was the “Moulton Castle” that used to sit on what is now called “Castle Hill” in Maudslay State Park. To sum up, Henry Moulton was this civil war soldier. After the war, he came back and built a very real castle in Newburyport. I’ve know about it since I was a teenager, but every time I tell someone about it I always get the same response; “Yeah, right. A castle in Newburyport…”
Well, alas I have proof that can share! A close friend of mine, and son of the farmer I grew up with, just gave me what may be the “only” remaining copy of this:
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Tags: Castle Hill, Maudslay State Park, Newburyport
Posted in Rants & Reviews | 3 Comments »
May 20th, 2009
If you’re a Green Day fan like me, you were probably a little hesitant to hear the new record “21st Century Breakdown”. I mean come on, the previous release “American Idiot” was such a monumentally awesome album – It seemed a tough act to follow. In fact, I’d almost say it was so good that I’d give the band a “get out of jail free card” for the follow-up record. Even if they had released “American Idiot 2 – Electric Boogaloo” I’d probably be ok with it.
Well, I’ve had the new record “21st Century Breakdown” for a few days now, played it through in it’s entirety three times, and I just have to say…
Like American Idiot was, 21st Century Breakdown is different, melodic, catchy, and basically an awesome record!
I really, really dig this record more each time I play it. It’s not really a huge leap from American Idiot. In fact, I see it as sort of a sister record. One thing that stands out to me is that the songs seem very.. um.. mature for Green Day. The harmonies are awesome, the melodies are great, and I feel like the band reached out of their standard formula a little when writing it. I mean, I’m not saying the record is unlike any other Green Day album. That’s not the case. If I had never heard any of 21st Century Breakdown before, walked into a bar and heard another band covering one of the tunes, I would instantly know it was a Green Day song. But, the writing just seems a little more thought out.
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Tags: 21st Century Breakdown, Band Review, Green Day
Posted in Rants & Reviews | 1 Comment »
April 27th, 2009
Any race fan will tell you – Talladega is known for its white-knuckle, bumper grinding, bump-drafting, giant pileup, last-lap-pass racing.
This week’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega was no exception.
Nascar drivers generally don’t like restrictor plate racing because the plate limits the amount of horsepower these cars have, thus making it near impossible to pull away. The cars drive around in a huge pack, wide open, using the “draft” to find the speed needed to get around the other cars. This means that any mistake by a driver who is drafting in the big pack of cars, creates a chain-reaction – collecting all the cars around them. Wrecks like this can gather up half the field and are referred to as the “big one”.
The fans love restrictor plate races for precisely the same reason drivers don’t. We love watching the cars race around at over 200mph, like three inches apart. They bump each other, race four wide at times, and put on an “edge of your seat” show for us sitting at home.
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Tags: Carl Edwards Crash, NASCAR, Talladega
Posted in Rants & Reviews | No Comments »
April 17th, 2009
I’m a big Joe Satriani fan. In fact, most of the guitar players I know share some sort of appreciation for what he has done. Personally, “Satch” was one of the biggest influence on my playing while growing up. I spent countless hours, sitting in my bedroom, playing an old B.C. Rich over “Surfing With the Alien” and trying to make it sound like the recording. Needless to say, I’ve been playing for twenty years and still can’t do most of what he can. Joe is the man!
Anyways, being the fan that I am, I decided to pick up one of his signature-series Ibanez electric guitars a few years back. I love his tone and thought that playing that guitar would be one step closer to achieving that sound. I was not let down. The second I plugged it in, I could tell that this guitar was definitely something special.
I’ve owned many guitars. From a 70’s Gibson Flying V, to a 50’s Sears Silvertone, I’ve spent a decent amount of time paying a wide variety of instruments. The Ibanez JS100 has one of the warmest tones, and silky smooth fretboards of any guitar I have ever played. I mean it, this thing is awesome.
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Tags: Ibanez, Joe Satriani, JS100, Musician Gear
Posted in Musician Stuff, Rants & Reviews | No Comments »
April 12th, 2009
My wife and I recently took a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, and figured now was as good a time as any to do it.
Shopping for a cruise line was actually way more difficult than I had expected. There was Princess, Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Disney – they all look really nice. After doing a lot of research, and asking as many people as we knew who had taken cruises, we settled on Royal Caribbean. Our friends had great experiences with them, and the reviews were generally very favorable.
Picking the cruise line was only the beginning; then we needed to pick the ship and where we wanted to go. I liked this part of the planning very much. In fact, it was way easier than settling on the cruise line. Clearly I wanted the biggest, most lavish ship available. Royal Caribbean has some pretty awesome ships, including: “Adventure Of The Seas”, “Liberty Of The Seas”, “Jewel Of The Seas” and more. All of these looked spectacular, but I wanted the biggest and the best – it had to be the “Freedom of the Seas”.
The Freedom was available to board the day after our wedding! We booked an eight-day, seven-night western Caribbean tour aboard “the worlds biggest cruise ship.” I was incredible exited, yet reserved. I mean, I didn’t want to seem “too” excited. After all, I was getting married – the cruise was just a bonus. But, I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t pretty much occupy my mind in the weeks and days leading up to our wedding.
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Tags: Caribbean Cruise, Freedom of the Seas, Miami
Posted in Rants & Reviews | No Comments »
April 12th, 2009
I have been a big fan of the band Ra since I first heard of them in the fall of 2000. Their first major release “From One” was a constant in my car stereo for at least a year. The guitar work is tight and heavy, and the riffs have those “hooks” that seem to get stuck in your head for a week. Some highlights off From One are “Do you call my name”, “Rectifier”, “Parole” and “Sky”. I highly recommend this record.
After From One came “Duality”. While not as fundamentally heavy as From One, Duality offered a more refined, produced sound that seemed to blend more into mainstream rock. Personally, I think Duality is outstanding and every song on that record is a hit. The guitars are not as “hooky” as From One, but the vocals make up for it. I find my self singing songs off Dually all the time. Tracks like “Take me away”, “I lost everything”, “Got me going”, “Undertaken” and “Tell me” have lyrics that I can relate to. It confuses me as to why this record was not an enormous hit, it’s clearly better than 80% of the crap out there. Needless to say, once again I highly recommend this record.
Now.. enter the latest “Black Sun”
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Tags: Band Review, Black Sun, Ra
Posted in Musician Stuff, Rants & Reviews | 5 Comments »