Saturday, May 18, 2002
I have another observation about the desert. It's the only place I know that you still hear the sounds of classic rock just blasting from the windows of cars. And not just the many El Caminos. I can proudly wear my Van Halen T-Shirts out here. Speaking of Van Halen, what in the hell happened to the guitar solo? I don't know if you noticed, but modern rock and roll has not included the venerable guitar solo for about ten years. Since the 1950's, nearly every rock song included a guitar solo. Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and don't get me started on the glam rock 80's. But sometime around 1991, it just went away. Kurt you rat bastard. I blame you. And boy band pop certainly didn't help matters. Sure it was a bit over done, but dammit I like the guitar solo! I think we need to hear more from our axmen. I mean, whatever happened to Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai, or Yngwei Malmsteen, or Joe Satriani or Slash or that guy who used to play with Billy Idol. I bet you can't name two guitar players from any band currently in rotation on MTV. But I bet you can name ten from the 80s. Grunge killed the guitar hero. Just think of all those balding, out of work rock stars weeping into a bottle of whiskey to the sounds of all that three chord bubble punk. So come on! Let's bring the guitar solo back. If parachute pants made it back into style, shouldn't the guitar solo? You know you used to air guitar every time you heard Crazy Train on the radio. It's time for the axmen to reclaim their rightful place at the front of the stage! However I think we can live without the yellow spandex and eye makeup this time around.
Jim Parisi
I am back in Scottsdale for the weekend. For a place with so much sunshine and so many tans, it's just amazing how white Arizona really is. Diversity is driving a foreign car. But driving around AZ today, Tempe, Scottsdale, etc. I realized that there are just thousands of astonishingly beautiful people in this place. I think it's the heat. It's really hard to be fat in a city with an average summer temperature of about 110. You kind of have to be skinny to survive. And of course the thermonuclear temperatures render all unnecessary layers of clothing totally unbearable. I summary, lots of thin and lots of skin. I'm gonna have fun clubbing tonight. I think I need to spend some more time out here in my homeland.
Jim Parisi
Thursday, May 16, 2002
I am racking up the frequent flier miles again this week. And the bloodshot eyes from sleep loss. On the upside the DMB concert in LA last night was great. Well, it was the worst DMB show I have ever seen, but every DMB show is a great gig. Some are just not as great as others. Now if you will excuse me, I will go back to napping in the Admirals Club in San Francisco.
Jim Parisi
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
A friend of mine asked my why so many seemingly grown men get so damn excited about Star Wars. *Sigh*. She doesn't get it. She was too young to watch the first movie in the theatre. The whole lack of a penis thing doesn't help either. Yes, there are lots of female Star Wars fans, but it really was primarily a "guy thing". Regardless, she missed the window. I had to explain to her that the predominate childhood memory for suburban American men between the ages of 29 and 35 is Star Wars. The toys, the movies - everything. I can't begin to describe what it felt like for me a few years ago to sit in a crowded theatre again and hear the first notes of the Star Wars theme encho in the room as the now famous text began to scoll up the screen. At that moment, I was eight years old again. As kids, we would have debates about the plot/title/ending/characters of the next movie. My dad pulled me out of school early so we could see both the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. We all believed Lucas had six more movies ready to go. Speculation was thick in the season before the new movie. Did you hear about Luke? What would happen to Han? Everyone had Star Wars sheets on their beds - sadly, some of us still do.. "Laugh it up fuzz ball" was the funniest joke we had ever heard. Everyone had an X-Wing or Tie fighter or maybe the Millennium Falcon - although the Falcon was too big to really play with. It's awfully hard to chase your best friend's Tie Fighter around the house with an unwieldy five pound spaceship with cheap plastic blasters that regularly fell off. We all had at least two dozen figures. We all lost their guns, swords, staffs, and that snake of Yoda's after only a week. Everyone had the Han Solo blaster that looked really cool but only made that stupid buzzing noise. We all melted a storm trooper in the back yard at least once. And everyone, everyone, thought Boba Fett was THE coolest character ever - even if he had a total of six minutes of screen time throughout the series.
Jim Parisi
Ok, John and Jim just killed me with this one. Any sick and twisted thirty something male who spent his childhood playing with Star Wars figures should get a kick out of this juvenile lunacy.
Jim Parisi
Monday, May 13, 2002
Speaking of eight tracks, my baby sister lifted my dad's old eight track player from the house and all the old tapes. I am so jealous! When I was hanging out at her house a few months back I was having a ball digging through the old Doobie Brothers, Bachman Turner Overdrive, and Steely Dan tapes. I gotta tell you, there is no cooler retro kitsch than a working eight track player and a big ol stack of music.
Jim Parisi
Star Wars hits the theaters this week. Spiderman came out last week. Scooby Doo arrives next. Geez, I wonder when someone's gonna film a movie version of Land of the Lost. Gotta love the Sleestacks. Actually, they scared the crap out of me when I was five. It's just been a 70s celebration all around. I'm gonna go buy me a Hostess Snowball and drink me a Yoo Hoo and listen to some eight tracks.
Jim Parisi
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Only three more days till DMB in LA. I'm a huge DMB fanatic and very excited, but also a little worried. After my last concert experience, I'm afraid everything else I see might just be a let down. The last concert I went to see was U2's Elevation Tour. I saw it twice, once from the side of the arena at the Pond, and once from the floor, about fifteen feet from the stage in Dallas. Why did I see it twice and spend almost four hundred bucks to do so? Because the performance was so energized, the stage so intimate, and the band so connected to the audience, that I felt honored, literally, to have been there to share it. Don't believe me? Pick up the DVD and watch the performance of Where the Streets Have No Name. The band just owns the room. Oh yes, I will follow.
Jim Parisi
