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Featured Pages: 
The Staff: 
You Linked Me!
Chris Barrus
These sites are the best that you will find on the internet. You should visit them frequently. Required Listening
KXOA.com - Sacramento's Hard Rock
Go see the above bands in concert often. Buy multiple copies of their cds. Join the mailing lists. Patronize the above clubs and tip your bartender generously. Especially at the Roadhouse. And listen to Chicks Who Rock. Early Influences/Frequent Visits
Big Dark Cloud Dot Com
These folks could have sued me at one time or another during this site's development. Reward them for not prosecuting me for "sampling" their source codes while I was trying to learn how to write my own. Actual google.com searches that resulted in visits to this site:
Xannex
The Worst Of James
May 2001
Miss an update? Can't get enough of my insightful commentary? Have no fear. I save everything I put up. Even the stupid stuff I wish I'd have deleted long ago. Proof that I am truly beyond help:
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February 28 - I Don't Need No Doctor Eating better, keeping active, and taking vitamins aren't doing a damn bit of good so far... Screw this. I'm ordering a pizza. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 27 - Another Crackhead... Nuke 'em. Then let's go after Iraq... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 26 - Just Dawned On Me... Sobering, to say the least. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 25 - Return of the Hempered Chef!  Hey Hempered Chef... You should know that your page is the second biggest draw on the site for the past several months, behind only the main page. You've even beaten the My Wacky Customers page. Anything you want to (legally) pass along to your fans? Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 24 - R.I.P. Ty Longley Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 23 - This just in - MTV SUCKS. I don't know what crackhead is in charge over there anymore, but whoever it is really needs a reality check. MTV is so culturally irrelevant now. Yet they still pretend that they're something other than a lame corporate attempt to emulate the perceived, mandated opinions of a politically correct pre-assembled focus group. What a bunch of crap. Personally, I don't think I've spent more than a few minutes at a time watching that steaming cesspool. I could handle it if I only hated the music they play... I know that pop music changes over time, and I can accept that. But dammit, at least play some friggin' music or report on some newsworthy event pertaining to the music industry, and leave the social engineering to the whacked-out college professors, independent newspaper editors, and FOX network execs whose idea of cutting edge is puking up more useless reality shows. Speaking thereof, there's an update for My Wacky Customers. And as long as we're on the topic of stupidity today... I recently received this email, reprinted below in it's entirety:
Good Lord, I don't need a freaking analysis of link science... This isn't some kind of strategic media outlet, based on a marketing plan created in a stuffy boardroom... This is little more than a diversion I create in a pair of jean shorts. I could care less who reads here, and doubt that what few readers do regularly check in care about sites that I might like. I've no idea why I'm listed as an authority on 'Alyssa Milano pics' because I don't have any posted here. Plus, WHO CARES how many important sites are linked to me? I'd like to think that anyone who's ever linked me or given me a plug does so simply because they like something about the site. That's the only reason any sites I've linked here are listed. Notice that hardly any of them refer back to me. That's how it works... I don't go around begging for plugs (quite the opposite, actually, because as traffic increases, so does hosting cost), I praise the sites I like without expecting anything in return. And one more simple thing... IF YOU WANT ME TO LINK UP YOUR SITE YOU HAVE TO SEND ME IT'S ADDRESS SO I CAN VISIT IT AND DECIDE IF I LIKE IT ENOUGH TO PLUG IT HERE. Thank you, Scientist Angela. I'll let you get back to writing whoever ranked #52 in that Alyssa pic search now... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 22 - Not new and barely improved! Also have a few comments about the show I saw a few nights ago... Unfortunately, no pictures. The venue didn't allow cameras, and frankly, my seats were too far for the crappy disposables I use. First up... Dokken. A surprise! They sounded pretty good. Don's been getting increasingly moody over the last few times I've seen them, but he seemed to be in fairly good spirits. He even hit a lot of the notes he's failed to reach in recent memory. My only criticism would be the backing vocals... Jeff Pilson did most of the high end of the vocal harmonies in Dokken's glory days. While Barry Sparks is an amazing bass player, his voice isn't as good as Jeff's was. And since new guitarist Alex DeRosso doesn't really sing backup, there was a little something missing in the vocal department. But musically, they were pretty tight. Next...Whitesnake. Well, I don't know if I could really call 'em "Whitesnake", more like David Coverdale, Tommy Aldridge, and a bunch of other guys... But the "other guys" are seasoned veterans who filled the respective gaps of the classic Whitesnake lineup very adeptly. Guitarists were Reb Beach (Winger and Dokken, ironically) and Doug Aldrich (Lion and Dio), who were incredible. Marco Mendoza (From Ted Nugent's touring band) filled in on bass. The musical chairs of the 80s metal community were revolving quite a bit! Anyhow, Whitesnake was really good. The reviews of the previous shows have been incredible, so I think my expectations were a little too high. It was rumored that David Coverdale was lip synching, and blew out his voice at a previous show. Let me assure you this was NOT the case... I can tell you first hand he was singing his ass off. I know they use backing vocal tracks, and triggers (which almost every band in an arena uses), but I can prove the vocals were live... First off, the band blew the intro to "Slow and Easy". Doug Aldrich played an extra bar, which threw the rest of the band off, taking a moment to recover. If there were pre-recorded lead vocals, they would have been out of sync. They weren't. Also, (unfortunately), David failed to hit a lot of the high notes from the classic songs, and resorted to a lower-key scream. I'm sure he'd have used a better quality lead track if he were planning to lip sync. I'd really like to see this show again in a better venue. Whitesnake could have easily stolen the show from just about any headliner, even on a not-perfect night. Headlining...Scorpions. A near-flawless performance. But Klaus' vocals were run through more effects processors than you'd ever believe... I think he could have whispered his vocals and had them turn into an Earth-shattering roar. They played a great set list with enough hit songs for the casual fan, but a few obscure titles for old farts like me. The crowd was receptive, and the light show was interesting. I did take a cynical note of drummer James Kottak's (ex-Kingdom Come) temporary donning of a Sacramento Kings jersey... What a cheap attempt to get applause. I'll tell you what - if he can tell me the name of the player and the position he plays, I'll go ahead and cheer. But the minute I hear how he wore a Lakers jersey the next night... I'm gonna call him a poser faster than the rest of the world called his previous band Kingdom Clone. But it should be noted that despite my inane criticisms, the show was worth every penny. Go see it when it comes to your town. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 21 - Shocked Makes me wonder who'll eventually be found at fault - I've observed that small clubs frequently oversell shows like that, making it damn near impossible to even head back to the bar to get a drink, much less evacuate the building quickly. I'd also imagine that the club would claim no advance knowledge of a pyro show in an attempt to avoid liability. It's also pretty weird to see Great White footage on CNN. Wonder how long it'll be before some asshole tries to sell it on ebay... Update - 2:00pm PST Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 19 - Holiday Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 18 - Florida Sleaze! Good to know those guys are still around... Well, more to the point... Good to know that one guy (Kevin Steele) is still around with a bunch of other guys who now call themselves Roxx Gang. Wonder whatever happened to the folks who played on the first cd? Maybe they'll join the ranks of Danger Danger's Bruno Ravel, Diamond Rexx's Billy Nychay, and Big Block Dodge's Bill Altman, formerly of Crystal Zoo, as early influences who've later actually acknowledged my existence through this nerdy webpage... Doubtful. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 17 - Whoa Bundy! Yeah, I watched the reunion special last night. And I own the DVD collection. And I still watch the reruns when I'm home alone. And I'm really not a big TV person, so that says a lot. Most obviously, it says - "James, you need to get a life..." Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 16 - When all else fails... Also deleted some links. Some of them were no longer active, and some hadn't been updated in a long time. Plus, they really weren't sending me any traffic, and a lot were sites that I stopped following too. so you probably won't even miss them. Let me know if you do. I'm a little disappointed at the demise of some of them. Guess that means that neither Crimson Glory nor Diamond Rexx are coming back anytime soon. Maybe I'll just go find tribute pages or something for them later... Some of you will notice that the link for Chicks Who Rock is gone, too. That's NOT because the show doesn't exist. It's NOT because I had some sort of falling-out with Staci Anderson, the program's still-super-cool host. It's NOT because I don't support the show anymore. The reason for that is because the KXOA website was redesigned and the station changed formats a few months ago and I was too lazy to fix the link. It's format is now exclusively hard rock, although they branch out into classic rock and some of the late 90s stuff too. Unfortunately, that meant losing the pages dedicated solely to Staci's show. After all, pretty much the entire station's playlist is an extension of it now. And notice that the station link did re-appear in the "Required Listening" section. Again, don't freak out just because a few pages on the station site were redesigned and I removed the dead links from this one. Go check out their new site at : www.937KXOA.com. But if you want to bug them to put the link back up to my site here, I wouldn't complain... ;-) Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 15 - The Morning After I did go out last night. I went to the Roadhouse. I knew that Anatomic was playing, and they're one of the few groups left that proudly carry the melodic rock sound. No Cookie Monster vocals, no rapping, and no sound effects disguised as guitar - just 4 guys who play and sing. Good enough for me. But I got a surprise... There was an opening band. I'd never heard of them, so I figured I'd just remain by the bar during their set, feel sorry for myself, and patiently wait for Anatomic. Then they started playing, and they weren't bad. THEN I caught a glimpse of the guitar player...
But I'm gonna try something a little different... In the past, I've listed compatibilities and reasons why any previous delusional crushes of mine would WANT to be with me... For this one, I'm gonna give you some reasons why it would never work in a million years: 1) She can dance. I can't even bang my head in time. Oh well... The lead singer actually patted me on the back after their
set and thanked me for coming up front. (I think I was one of about 7 people at the club.) She even gave me a copy of their cd. Mary didn't even return any
of my  Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 14 - If you can't say something nice... Anatomic plays at the Roadhouse tonight. They always put on a good show. Maybe I'll find a quiet corner and nurse a drink (or 7). Ironically, I've actually got the day off, as well as tomorrow. What a total friggin' waste, huh? (But don't you worry... I'll still ignore the page and neglect to post any meaningful updates even though I've really got nothing better to do this weekend...) Oh well... Rather than ruin it for those of you who feel a little more optimisic about their existence, I'll just wish you all a good one. Love the one you're with. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 13 - Great Movie Moments  From Detroit Rock City    From This Is Spinal Tap  
From Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 12 - Reach Out And Touch Someone Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 11 - A Tribute To Greatness After losing the ability to play football at a competitive level, Buddy enrolled at Palm Beach Junior College and studied art appreciation and English literature after noticing that all of his preferred classes were already full. Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye" inpired a love in Buddy for literature, and a forced-upon-him audition for a college drama production of "Outward Bound" sealed his fate. Buddy turned to acting. After making several films, landing some television roles, and nailing loads of famous chicks, Buddy was selected to be in a movie that changed my life. Buddy's co-star in the movie was actually the first musician I'd ever seen in concert, at the young age of 8 at the South Florida Fair. Some of you may have already figured out who I'm talking about. The rest of you, please meet one of my all-time heroes:  BURTON LEON REYNOLDS, Jr.
A personal highlight for me came in 1995... Burt donated a statue of a replica of a Seminole Indian to the Florida State University football team, but needed it to be shipped from his home in Jupiter to the Florida State locker room in Tallahassee. Coincidentally, my father happened to be driving up from Jupiter to Tallahassee to meet me for a football game. He was selected to deliver the statue, and deliver it to the Athletic Department. (pictures forthcoming, if I can ever get this damned scanner to work...) Those of you who think I'm only doing this as some sort of sarcastic, snotty joke, and question my sincerity as a proud Burt Reynolds fan need only know... I once had every single episode of B L Stryker on videotape. I own an unreleased film of his called Hostage Hotel. I even took a date to the Backstage restaurant once simply because Burt was rumored to be in town. At the time I could have cared less about the girl who came with me. (I was wise beyond my years...) I OWN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY. And if all of that's not enough, just read the autograph:   Happy 67th Birthday Burt! - From a fellow FSU Alumni, Jupiter Florida resident, and successfully transplanted Southerner - your friend always, James. Those who wish to seek more information on Burt Reynolds are invited to visit the
following websites:  Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 10 - Technical Difficulties...  Trying to get something to work, but it just won't. Oh well. At least my dvd drive and screen capture function both still do... Added a few new links in the "you linked me" table. Going through referral stats, I found a bunch of sites that gave me a plug. As always, I checked 'em out, and deemed some of them worthy. Lucky them... Who wants to take bets as to when they finally wise up and remove all reference to my stupid 15-minute a day project over here? But for some reason, lately I've actually had a bunch of people write in and ask me to link them up. I don't really know why. It's not like this site gets a lot of traffic. And a lot of them have very little in common with anything I do here. I really only plug sites that I like, or that I think are relevant to whatever subject matter I'm currently obsessing over. I don't really do very much web surfing - just to a handful of favorites unless I'm looking for something specifically. If you want me to plug your site, the best way is to show up in my referral stats. I do visit every site listed as a referrer. And if I like what I see, you'll almost surely get mentioned. If I don't? Well, don't take it personally. I just don't have much interest in plugging weblogs of people I don't know unless they spark my thought process. I could care less about what some stranger had for breakfast, or what they think about the Iraq crisis, or why they only wear black and stay up all night. And frankly, I've no idea why anyone cares what I think about that sort of stuff either... But just because I hate leaving questions unanswered... I had a cereal bar and a glass of juice, support disarming Iraq but hope we'll have UN support before doing so, prefer blue to black, and can get by on little sleep for extended periods of time, so staying up late AND getting up early are both just fine by me... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 9 - Health Quiz! a) Call a friend and ask him/her to bring you some soup and juice. Anyone wanna take a guess which option I picked? Here's a hint - I've got no soup... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 8 - Born Yesterday
So I tried a few different combinations (maybe I'll post some here later), and alas, it's not personalized any more than any of the other crap I delete without ever reading. Fer cryin' out loud... Next thing you people are gonna tell me that those Nigerian nationals aren't gonna deposit that $12 million into my savings account.. and after I promised them utmost confidentiality... By the way, I wouldn't recommend clicking that link if you're at work... On to other business at hand... I also got this email today:
You got me... I don't know the circumstances. But I'm not looking to bust up anything. Frankly, any relationship acquired by busting up another one just isn't worth the effort. New or old, I'm not gonna do it. I'd only be setting myself up for a future failure, and would likely end up being totally played. That's pretty much always what happens when you chase after someone that already has a significant other in their life. And frankly, if I were that guy, (unless I'd only just met her via the magazine article) I'd be pretty pissed off about the whole thing. That's baggage I don't need - some angry hothead in the picture. Besides, I was only looking for ONE lousy date! But the guy who sent in that email promised that he'd at least pass along the URL to this site to Nana... We'll see what happens. I should also mention... There are women *lined up* to reject me and tell me to piss off! Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 7 - When It Rains...
Oh well... Can't win 'em all (or seemingly ANY of them if you're me!) Shot through the heart... and... never mind. This whole "find the perfect woman who's already taken" thing is getting really old... If I had a nickel for every time that's happened, I'd have, well, a few nickels. I'm either gonna have to learn how to be more of a jerk who doesn't acknowledge the relationships of others or just move somewhere else and lie about my past. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 6 - Just wonderful...
I don't actually use an address book. I'm one of those idiots who actually types in the email address of whoever I'm writing, so you may be safe. But hell, I delete everything that comes from an unfamiliar source and never download attachments and I was still infected. Damn the luck. First a cold virus and now this... I'll bet Iraq is somehow behind the whole thing. Dammit... _____________ _____________ And my personal favorite...
Once again... my deepest apologies. But I still think Iraq is behind it somehow... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 5 - Believe it or not.  Still feeling lousy. Actually skipped out of work a few hours early, which is very unusual for me. The Ny-Quil is kicking in now. I'm gonna put on a movie and go back to bed... Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 4 - Sick. And if the two chefs are out there and are still reading, and you don't like the pics, send some of your own in and I'll change 'em. Maybe... One more thing... I'm still working on landing just ONE date with Nana Cao, this month's Sacramento magazine cover model. Last month I wrote about a few quirks we had in common, and this month I'll present her entire bio from the magazine article, with all potential compatibilities bolded. Check her out (clipped from Sacramento magazine):
Anyone interested in helping me out here? Send an email to the editor of the magazine at krista@sacmag.com and let them know how much you'd like to read an article about our date. Tell them you'll patronize their advertisers. Tell them you *won't* patronize advertisers unless they cover a night out for Nana and I... Whatever you have to do... Just make sure that my offer is at least heard by all relevant parties. If I screw it up and/or get shot down, hey, at least it'll make for great reading. And if I make a friend, well, I'll be sure to post lots of pics here. Deal? Now start emailing. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 3 - Missing The Point But what I don't understand is the rush to ground the space program indefinitely. Of course there needs to be an investigation. Of course there should be a period of mourning to honor those who lost their lives. But you know what? It's gonna launch again. Our engineers are gonna figure out what malfunctioned, they're gonna make improvements, and we're gonna send more people into space and do more experiments. We're also probably lose another craft again in the future. It's the price we pay for being one of the world's technological leaders, and pioneers of space research who take risks like that just because we can. And though we've historically been very successful at it, it's still probably the most dangerous and unchartered line of work a person can enter. Absolutely it's always tragic when people lose their lives. But in a lot of countries, people die from exposure to diseases we don't even think about here in America. A lot of people die from drinking poisoned water, or from starvation. Some of us died going into SPACE. When you think about it, that's pretty damned cool. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop February 2 - Not Again... There's a major update for the In Concert page. New pics of Quiet Riot, Y & T, and Frank Hannon are up. The Y & T show was in November, but I only just got around to developing the roll. Sorry about that. They did put on a great show, and are very cool guys. As always, Quiet Riot didn't disappoint. Another amazing performance. And Frank Hannon is just a freakin' legend. He even mentioned that Tesla will release a new album this summer, and hit the road shortly thereafter. I just hope the guitar community takes notice - why this guy hasn't gotten multiple covers on Guitar magazine is completely beyond me... Also added a page for another local Sacramento band. They're called Rogue. In all honesty, I'd never much cared for them over the past few years. They've opened for just about everyone, and I've seen them a bunch of times. They never sucked, but they just never really did it for me either. I've changed my stance on them now. They were incredible, and I officially deem them worthy of being linked (and featured) by me. I'll bet they're ecstatic. Anyhow, go check out all of the new pictures, and I'll be back again tomorrow. Email : : Post a Comment: : Gift Shop |
I don't know what it is about this show... I don't even have
to hear any dialogue to bust out laughing. Just the sight of Al walking in the door gets me chuckling. As
sad as it might be, this is "The Honeymooners" of my generation. Wonder if I like it so much because I'm one
of those underachiever, loser retail guys who used to be a lot more cool when I was young, too... Al Bundy -
hero of the downtrodden.
I've found another woman to obsess over, who'll never
give me the time of day. Just what I need... But check her out:
Of course, I had to be front and center...The band
called themselves 
...post a snotty Photoshopped picture instead. But come on now, did ANYONE
really think I'd have something positive to say on Valentine's Day? I don't. The last thing I really need is another
reinforcement of my seemingly neverending single status. So I'm trying to decide whether I should hide at home and
just stew, or whether I should go out somewhere and stew.
First, Smokey and the Bandit was actually shot in part in my hometown of
Jupiter, Florida. The sequel featured even more hometown shots. Remember the drawbridge that Smokey's car was perilously
perched atop, before plunging into the waiting waters below? That bridge was about 2 miles from my house. Many a childhood afternoon was spent on the banks of the
river that the bridge crossed. Just across the bridge from my house was the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, which for many
years brought live theatre featuring then-top celebrities to a small town in northern Palm Beach COunty. 
Nana Cao