G.I.F

G.I.F .. what can I say.

Oh not the file tag .. G.I.F was a term that Sully coined in regards to internet message boards. G.I.F or Gay internet fighting is just that. Fighting that really doesn't mean a rats ass.

Ever run an internet bulliten board? How about taking that a step further and running a high profile 6000 registered member internet board dedicated to a brand of guitars. Then add to that a smaller board that is a subsidary of the larger with a finatical group of people who collect for either noteriety or money.

When you start dealing with collectors and especially collectors of vintage intruments you might as well be challenging every unmarried woman in your state to a competition for a wedding gown blowout sale because I honestly believe you'de do better with the sale.

In these collecting circles you quickly learn that for some it's all about posturing and power. Yeah I know the word power really sounds kind of funny relating to a message board but i swear that it is true.

I've met thousands of people online and hundreds face to face, but few I ever let into my private life. I'm simply a private person who is dealing with their own issues in life and don't need to add more icing to the cake. But every once in a while you let your guard down and someone gets in. for instance as in previous posts I've talked about my old pal Sull who is one of the positives to being involved with the internet in this manner.

The problem is that every once in a while one gets in that you assume is your friend. The problem is that once they get in it then becomes a nightmare when you learn it is all about posturing and power not friendship. This particular person was let in and made an administrator of the forum I own and without getting into nasty details I simply assumed he was a friend.

When things went south he bailed on the forum citing friendship and not wanting to ruin that. I later learned that he's started a competing board (which really is no big deal) but told people not to let me know and continues to email me still telling me we are "Bros"

I supposed even that shouldn't bother me but in this little private world I am not supposed to know of it has been brought to my attention that my good name os being dragged around by said owner and friends. This is something we would have never allowed within our board but the thing that gets me is ..this was and claims to still be a friend to me.

Maybe I'm being a bit over sensitive as I've been pretty sick for the past week, but is that the definition of what friendship is?

Webster's defines friendship as:

Main Entry: friend·ship
Pronunciation: 'fren(d)-"ship
Function: noun
1 : the state of being friends
2 : the quality or state of being friendly : FRIENDLINESS
3 obsolete : AID

I certainly don't see how that definition fits into the treament I've been given by my particualr peer. The sad part is this whole thing is that I remain a private person specifically because of things like this. I guess this means in the future I really need to be more selective about who I let in and who I don't ..

The message board? It's done with now I'll be closing it down and focusing on the larger one for the time being simply because there are people on that board that aren't about posturing and power, just learning and enjoyment ...

Sleepless in NH

Well it's 4 am here and I'm typing out a blog, I guess you can figure out who can't sleep huh.. I just dropped by old Sully's site and in case you hadn't seen his blog he is in the process of buying his 1st home.

It started of as a real stressful time for him but it's obvious that as the process get rolling his excitement is starting to become enhanced. You can see the changes in him almost like a little school girl going to her first dance ..heh ..how fitting!!

Seriously though, I met Sully through the board I run the JCF and we instantly hit it of as friends. All through that period He went through some pretty tough times living up in Chicago and decided that he was going to move to Texas to his sisters to get his life in order.

I guess you could say that was the turning point for what could have been a very scary time for him and he's come around 10 fold since then, It's actually great to hear him happy and dealing with so many positive things and not a lot of grief. Instead of dealing with the grief now he just gives it and that's usually to me in some form of an adjective.

All in all he's doing great and I'm proud of what he's accomplished since being in Tx.

Go Sull! Cheers to ya

Kev

Man oh Man!

Well it is Wed already and what do I have to show for it. I'm sick dammit! Monday I felt my throat getting sore, not raw sore mind you but painful sore. I had a feeling what I might be in for as Diane had it the week before so I'm sure you can guess how I probably caught it.

Tuesday morning I woke up and would have sworn I did 10 rounds in the UFC's. My throat and my sinuses absolutely ached! I decided the best thing for me was to just rest so I took the day off from work. As the day went on I felt slightly better but again this am I felt as though I had been in a war so here I am again home resting. Not that I mind taking a day off from work but I do end up feel a bit guilty for not being there getting my project done (Go figure!)

Yesterday was a bit of a wild day as the remnants of the hurricane scooted by New England in the Atlanic and we had a storm system come trhough that drew from it. We ended up with a fall noreaster which was pounding rain and wind gust to 60 mph. While there hasn't been a drastic change yet in the leaves the area looks like a war zone, a lot of the leaves got blown off the trees from the gusts!

Now we have to start getting ready to clean up the leaves (If we ever get rid of the rain!)

TGIF

So it's Friday almost 3pm and it's been a long damn day. I guess the only positive part of it is that there is no work tomorrow thank god. The sun is shining today and there is that nice hint of autumn in the air. If you have never experienced fall in New England you get used to the faint smell of the autumn leaves every year. It isn't something I can explain or relate it to anything else other than to say that whenever it hit's my nose, it is definitely a familiar odor to me every year.

This is the one time of year that I love being in New England. The crispness of the air, the changing of the leaves and that familiar smell all remind me that I'm alive. I guess it isn't hard to tell that this is my favorite season here. There are a lot of times where I'd love to live in other parts of the country but this is the one time I simply feel grounded here and know I'd miss it terribly.

So we get a minor reprieve from the rain for a few days, of at least until tomorrow night. It seems like I have so much to do before the snow flies and the weather just keeps pushing that out of reach. I'll have leaves to rake up and a yard full of things that need to be stored all on top of some house maintenance to get finished up.

C'mon 3:30 .........

Wow

Hey guess what, The SUN is out!! Don't hold your breath tho they said it will be raining again later this afternoon- Go F'in figure ..

Anyway onward ..

For those that know me are aware that I run a few forums for the fans of Charvel Jackson guitars http://www.jacksonguitars.com

The 1st forum I am lucky enough to run with 4 other guys that have the same passion as I do http://www.jcfonline.com which is dedicated to Charvel/Jackson guitars of all creeds.

the 2nd forum I run is dedicated strictly to USA Charvels http://www.charvelcentral.com and is run by myself and 2 other individuals.

In my many years of collecting and playing music I've been blessed to meet many people, and be involved in some cool things regarding these guitars,the people who make them, the people who play them and in some instances the artists who endorse them.

In my endevours I've been lucky enough to design a few limited guitar runs that have been extremely successful and most recently was a run we affectionately nicknamed "The Dweezil Green Meanie" after Dweezil Zappa original green charvel in which I teamed up with Matt from http://www.mattsmusic.com a great dealer out of Massachusetts!

This runs was a Green charvel, with a Floyd, one hum (Duncan Custom) and a maple board. The run was completed as a 20 guitar lot with 10 reversed headstock and 10 regular by the Charvel/Jackson custom shop. I am pleased to say that these guitar turned out to be nothing short of amazing and I am pleased to be a part of it. Here is Reveresed #1 in all her glory

A few years ago in 2001 and 2002 I appraoched a dealer out of Oklahoma who whould help me do a ltd run of 30 Black and White Bullseye Charvels. Lloyd ended up becoming a good friend to me and he runs an online music store http://www.guitarexpress.com and his own guitar line http://www.sandimasguitars.com

In 2001 USA Charvels were not a standard production guitar and had been sleeping for several years in the correct form. The last true USA Charvels that rolled off of the line were in 1986 and the only way to get one done was a custom order. Lloyd and I decided that we could do a proper run of USA Charvels and do it the right way. The run was a huge success and revered as some of the best modern Charvels to come out of the factory. To date I have not only not heard a bad word concerning those guitars it has gotten to the point that they rarely sell and people actually watch for them to buy one. I'd like to beleive this run was the springboard for the newly released USA standard line and the mother to the the Green Charvel seen above..

Here is Bullsyeye #1 in all her glory.

I'm proud to have been a part of these runs and a part of the ressurection of an 80's legend in 80's metal. I only hope that these guitars will be enjoyed for generations to come and anyone who remembers these 2 runs remember the people associated with them

I hope everyone appreciates them as much as I have and makes some great music with theirs...

Kev

Rain Rain Rain .... oh did I mention rain?

Well we had something like 10 days of straight rain up here in the north east. There were several areas west of me out in the Keene area that flooded and left about 1000 people homeless. Now the rivers are swelling over their banks around here.

I work directly across from the Merrimac River in Methuen Ma and while I'm in no danger where I am just down the road there are homes that are surrounded by river water now. The local news also mentioned a dam in Taunton Ma that is on the verge of bursting and flooding that city. WTF is going on with the weather pattern this year?

Here we are on Tuesday, it rained until Sat then Sun was supposed to be sunny and dry...uhuh .. maybe overcast and raw..at least there wasn't much rain. Monday showed a bit of Sunlight and today ..yup ..more rain!! Local news says there may be more on the way..

Anyone know how to build an Ark?

Oct 16th 1989 - Oct 16th 2005

Well,

Today is the 16th of Oct and funny enough it is the 16th anniversary of the day I started working at my current job. I never thought I would last 3 years at this company let along 16 years as prior to that my Avg was only 2-3 years.

Being a machinst as most can attest way "Back in the day" a good number of us were gypsies within the trade. While this sounds like a funny description it will make a bit of sense after some old mayday explaining.

Getting our of a trade school and paying your dues usually meant busting your ass in some sweatshop for minum wage (IE: $3.35 an hour back then) . We all pay dues in life so most can probably understand the theory. Unless you got into an apprentiship program back then the best way to gain experience and to move up the ladder was to be a gypsy. In essence another sweatshop would make an offer of .50 cents or $1 more an you were off to make more cash and learn new things. The only time you ever heard of established guys were those of high experince working for large defense contractors and even at that they were union and had the tenure to avoid layoffs...

So this led to my current job. I had been working in a union company for the defense industry in 1989 to make a living. I've worked on the Patriot missle battery , Blackhawk helicopter, Apahe Helicopter systems and even the space suttle within my career.

in 1989 the defense industry started to bottom out as the russians were slowly no longer becoming a threat and money was being filtered into other sectors of the economy. At that time the company I was working for Craig Systems needed 12 million in orders to be able to just stay open and we had 1 million and no outlook for anymore for the year.

Being a union boy it was easy to see the painting on the wall, Layoffs! When you are in a union job it is easy to see if you will be losing your job simply by virtue of your start date and who has been there longer.

I started looking for a job as soon as the rumors started flying. A good friend of mine that not only worked at Craigs with me but went through trade school with me had gotten an interview for a semi conductor company called MKS. In my research of the company I had noted they had a huge amount of openings over a period of time and simply assumed that they could not keep help. After a bit of coaxing Paul got through and pushed me into appying with him.

My interview had gone well enough for MKS to make an offer within 24 hours and I simply turened the down. I had assumed that it would be done with that but odd enough they decided to counter offer. I remember it vividly it was on a friday afternoon the phonecall came in. Instead of giving them a commitment I asked if it was possible to think about the offer over the weekend.

Monday morning would serve to be my do or day morning because it wasn't long before we were told that the layoffs were to be announced on Wed. Being union you have to be given a notice before they can let you go. I got on the payphone and accpeted my new job right then and there with the stipulation I wouldn't start for 3 weeks so I could have a vacation ...

I started at MKS on Oct 16th 1989 in their machine shop as a "B" machinist. Eventually I moved up to "A" then tool and die/fixturing and eventually the model shop for the engineering dept where I am currently.

It hasn't all been a smooth ride for the last 16 years but what makes it good is the people I work with and at times the challenging ideas our engineers come up with. It doesn't hurt that every once in a while I get to put a degreed MIT grad to shame by giving him the WTF are you stupid look and trust me as educated as they are.. sometimes they are stupid!

A few years ago we were going through a round of one of the many sets of Layoffs we have had and my friend Paul got layed off. We had not only gone through school together but endured Craig systems together, MKS, My wedding, Watching our kids grow together and in one instance it was gone. Oct 16th 2001 my office phone rang with Old Pauls voice on the other end letting me know he had been let go. He chuckled a remarked "Well Kev I almost made it" I asked what that was and he explained his 12th anniversary ..After a brief silence I calmy stated "Paul today was our 12th annivesary" ... He had been let go 12 years to the day of our starting day.....

Life goes on and stories forever change but the one thing for me that remains constant is the fact that at 6am tomorrow that alarm will go off and it will be me working on my 17th year at the company wondering if and when it will be my turn to take my stuff and go home ....

K

Diversity

I got into an odd discussion today about life with a co-worker that really struck me a bit funny. It started out for what ever reason with the differences in religion and how we act based on what we claim are our beliefs ..

Norm was brought up strict catholic and even attended catholic schools throughout his life. Well old Norm was stating how he felt the Catholic Church was hypocritical which to be 100% honest I agree with him 110%. Norm was saying how people go to pray and follow gods word yet they leave the church and begin breaking rules as soon as they leave. Getting in their cars swearing at the other drivers, using birth control or simply passing judgement on other human beings..

It’s funny how the religious card always paves a path to other subjects that intertwine with it so tightly and yet certainly change the direction of conversation abruptly. Norm is of the same school of thought as I am in the sense that if you go through life and be the best person you can, not intentionally hurt others and help out and car about your fellow brothers and sisters that all the rest paves the way.

So the simple turn in conversation was born off of one thing I said. “I think it’s awful that people take it upon themselves to judge GLT people and that wasn’t anyone but gods decision to judge” You would have thought I put a hot poker through old Norm’s skull.

Norm retorted how he had his own opinions of those people and how they say they are born that way ..etc etc etc blah blah blah blah … the fact is old Norm suddenly became no better than any other god preaching individual!

At what point do we draw a line and state that difference is wrong in people? Think about how complex the human body is from your fingers and toes all the way down to the smallest chromosome. Add the mysteries and complexities not only the earth but the entire universe and imagine the billions of pieces of matter that intertwine each individual piece to make up what our minds are able to comprehend.

Is it so wrong to think the Gays, Lesbians and Transgender people are any different than any other person who walk the street. It’s easy in this day an age to put a label on things that are different from us yet made up of the exact same genetic material and still not be able to accept that we are all just human beings.

Without diversity we become a very boring part of a very interesting a different world. Without diversity we stagnate and we do not learn that the very things that make us different forever push us forward into learning and seeing things in a new way.

I have to admit this conversation that started in a way that I could relate too had taken such an odd twist. I felt a bit hurt by the fact that someone who appeared to have some intelligence and compassion turned out to be just as hypocritical as the people he was speaking of …

At the end of the day whether you agree or disagree with how people dictate their lives remember one thing. For a very short time within this universe we are all bonded by similar genetic material… We are all human beings, brother and sisters regardless of how different anyone might be …


Live your life with pride and treat each other with respect, kindness and most off all compassion …

Light hearted nature

I've been getting some shit this am about not updating my "New" blog. Let me start by saying this blog wasn't intended as anything more than a joke to needle a very good friend of mine and maybe get a laugh.. Which worked btw..

See Sull and I have a habit of being pranksters and jokers with each other, which helps alleviate the bullshit side of life at times. The fact is no matter how rough life can appear I can always count on ole Sull to put a lighter step in my mood if even for a brief time.. I'd like to believe at times I've been able to do the same ..

There's been a myriad of times where life has just kicked me in the ass and I can just hear Sull making sexual comments in some foreign accent. It's those times that make memories of friendship, camaraderie and just plain good times ..
With that stated it's not all roses..

I have a serious update on the way....

Sweet Tuesday

OK,

So I decided after reading everyone else's blogs it was time to add my 2 cents..if that's what it is worth nowaday's ..... so here goes

1) The air is much sweeter today~ The Yankees lost!
2) The more I read my pal Sulls blogs the more I realize I'm not as fucked up as I used to think
3) There's something to be said for people who argue about coffee over the net ..I'm not sure what .. but I'd bet I could think of something .. refer to #2 please ..

that's it for now I gotta get back to work!