UncleSpike's Xanga

Pennies From Heaven!

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:26:35 GMT

Or rather from the basement! I have been holding onto this old antique electric organ - it's a VOX Continental - truly terrible sounding, think 'Iron Butterfly meets surf music...' - and decided I would put it up for sale. I figured I might get a couple hundred dollars for it, so what the hell - I put it up on Craig's List and a refinishing forum that I visit, and a couple months go by, nothing. Suddenly there's this cat in California (who plays surf music and collects these old VOX bastards) who wants it - I had checked on fleaBay to see what they were going for, and the last 2 sold for nearly $2000!!! Naturally, I set the price high, even though mine's not in that nice of shape - I asked for $1500. Well Mr Moneybags and I get to haggling, and 2 days later, I've got $1300 in money orders sitting in front of me!!! Of course I insisted on US Postal Service MO's, because they're impossible to fake and it's a federal crime to do so, so it keeps the scammers away.... Anyway, I'm going to pick up a case tomorrow and ship it out to this dude - I'm still in shock... Yesterday I was saving every penney just to get through to my next paycheck, and today I've got money pouring out of my ass!!! 8P Well, I know, $1200 (after the shipping cost) isn't exactly a fortune, but it will get me a very cool new toy I've been saving up for, and a bunch of fun money on top... Don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging here, or trying to sound like a stuck up dick who's all into money, but for Fuck's sake, this is like a gift from the Gods! I'm super psyched. I will soon be the owner of this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-GR20-Guitar-Synthesizer-with-GK3-Divided-Pickup?sku=150097

I've wanted one of these for about a year, but I never seem to have $600 worth of disposable income at any one time... Anyway, it will allow me to trigger synthesizer sounds with my guitar, along with the guitar sounds - you can 'blend' the two sounds together, and make it sound like you've got a full orchestra backing you up, or a piano, or a sax, just about anything you can imagine. I guess I should make an offering to the Goddess of Good Fortune! More to come, I'll make a link to some cool music that I record when I get my new toy! Melissa, you're gonna have to help me with that...

BTW - METALOCALYPSE ROCKS!!! Thanks for the CD, Lissa - the artwork you did (chibi Lissa with her iPod) is WICKED COOL! I can't wait to show it to my friends. Your talent is boundless, woman!

Laterz, all

Spike

Getting over the Flu...

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:51:29 GMT

Damn, man, I hate being sick! I got the fucking flu, right before Halloween. It's not like I missed out on Trick-Or-Treating, since I haven't done that for about 25 years, but I was looking forward to putting Anna's little 'Ladybug' costume on her and parading her around a bit... I did put it on her, and it is cute as hell - she looks like a 100 pound Ladybug/Rottweiler, with big red wings (with black polka dots) and two little antennae on top of her head - she was such a good sport about it, too, until I tried to take it off of her - I think she actually liked the feeling of wearing it. It was so fucking funny I almost pissed myself laughing. Of course, it was too late to take a picture, because my dad was asleep in bed and he's got the camera in his room, so I'll have to do it again, maybe tomorrow. Anyway, things are going pretty good for me, at the moment, I'm keeping busy with my little guitar repair business, and I've got more customers than I can handle at the moment, so I'm making a pretty good little amount of money, all tax free! he-he!!! Take that, Uncle Sam! You like it like that, don't cha, bitch!!! O....o

Anyway, I'm selling off a few of my guitars, since I've got, like 13 or so right now - I've just been accumulating them like crazy, but I've had a lot of fun modifying them and playing the shit out of them, and now I'm gonna sell them for a bit more than I've got in them, and buy myself some new gear! Whoo-Hoo! I just love what I do - I wish I'd become a guitar tech years ago - it's something that I'm really good at, and that I enjoy the shit out of, and I can make a pretty decent living, doing it. Everyone who plays guitar needs a guitar tech, to keep their guitars playing right - the intonation goes out about twice a year with the change of the seasons, and the necks go out of whack about twice a year, too, so it's a pretty stable job. I've got a bunch of new customers from an ad I placed on Craig's List, and now I'm getting a bunch of referrals from people who I've already helped out, so the money just keeps a-rollin in. No complaints, here - Those of you who know me know that I'm disabled (nasty rheumatoid arthritic condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis) and my mobility is becoming more and more limited. Even now I'm having trouble driving a car, because I cannot turn my head left or right (or up or down, for that matter) anymore, so I have to have someone ride with me, to look left and right for me. It's kind of a drag, but you know, it's all happened so gradually, that I've become accustomed to it, and to me, it really doesn't seem all that bad. I don't have to work anymore (except my little hobby/side career of guitar techie) and I collect Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits, so I really cannot complain one bit. Of course I have a lot of medical expenses - primarily prescription drugs for the pain, but I'm going to qualify for Medicare next year (2008) so that will pay for a lot of my medical expenses, as well. I am also forced to live at home with my parents, but they are pretty 'hands-off', and they allow me to do all the stuff I love to do, like playing guitar and recording, and collecting and watching anime, and of course I have my loving little doggie butt-butt Anna (aka Anna Banana Pants) to keep me company, so I never really get that lonely. I still dream of making it big in the music industry, and I know that I have a snowball's chance in Hell of actually pulling it off, but you know, a guy has gotta dream! LOL At least my current situation allows me to nurture my inner child, which I think is the most important thing anyone can do, so when you look at it that way, I'm actually pretty fucking lucky. I don't have to work, I get to play guitar as much as I want, I get a decent wage from my guitar techie work, and the government pays me retirement money, as well. If it weren't for the pain (ouch) I'd be in hog-heaven. Oh, well, I still can't complain - the pills do a pretty good job of masking the pain, without putting me totally in 'lala' land, and I gotta say, Life is Good. I've got some really great friends who totally support me and encourage me to be the best I can, I've got the best Dad in the whole wide mother-f-ing world (You ROCK, Pop!), and I have a really awesome niece named Melissa (you may know her as Mewtaila) and a cool kid of a nephew (you may know him as Blockhead) <just kidding, Jeremy - you know I love you, boy!> And of course my little butt-butt doggie Anna Pants - I'd say life is pretty fuckin good, baby.

That's all from the world of Uncle Spike Spiegel, AKA Robster the mad musician. To all of you who made it this far, Thanks for reading, and thanks for being there for me!

Peace, Love, and Applesauce, babies!

Spike

The METALOCALYPSE has begun...

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:56:24 GMT

I just got my Metalocalypse Season I DVD set today in the mail - if you haven't seen this series on Adult Swim, you have to check it out - it's a parody of a death-metal band that is 'the single largest financial entity in the world... They're responsible for the rise and fall of nations, peoples, religions, etc... It is so funny! I especially like the bass player, Murderface - he talks with a lisp and is always threatening to kill himself whenever anything goes wrong. I can't recommend this series enough - it's totally tongue-in-cheek, it's not to be taken seriously. Personally, I hate the whole 'death-metal' thing, but these guys make it so funny that you have to laugh.

Anyway, that's all I got today. Check it out on Adult Swim, Cartoon network, Sundays at 11:45pm.

Laterz!

Spike

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:53:20 GMT

Hey, All!

Things are going pretty good for me, right now - I have a few complaints, but they're really not worth mentioning... I'm really excited tonight, because I'm getting a new guitar tomorrow. It's not 'new' new, but it's new to me... I found it on CraigsList (of course) and it's an Apollo '335'-style guitar, which is a semi-hollow bodied guitar with f-holes like a violin. Here's a couple of pics:

They're terrible pictures, and they got cropped, so you can't really see much of it, but it's a wonderful old relic - made somewhere between 1969 and 1971. It's very rare, only about 5000 were made, and only a few are still around. I imagine most of them were either destroyed or cannibalized over the past 37 or so years. I am going to pick it up tomorrow, and I cannot wait. The guy only wants 75 bucks for it, which is DIRT cheap. I'm sure he has no idea of the value - I doubt I'll ever sell it, because it's such a cool piece of history, but to a collector, I'm sure it would be worth many hundreds of dollars, maybe $500 or more! I love it when I find scores like this - I'm constantly trolling the Musical Instruments section of CL, and I've found quite a few really good deals that way. I just built another really cool 'muttcaster' guitar, it's got a Squier '51 body and a really awesome mohogany and rosewood telecaster neck, and it's rapidly becoming one of my favorites, as well. Jesus, I've got a serious case of GAS (that's Guitar Aquisition Syndrome) going here... I've already got them spread all over the 2nd floor of our house, just because I cannot possibly keep them all in my room!!! Let me see, after I pick up my new Apollo tomorrow, I will have 11 electric guitars, one acoustic/electric, and an electric bass. I think I'm going to have to thin the herd, soon, or else build a new wing onto the house to accomodate them all! 8P

Anyway, I just wanted to brag on my new aquisition - I'm really psyched about getting it. The guy lives in Lawrence, but he works out in south OP, so I'm gonna drive out to 130th and Metcalf tomorrow afternoon and pick it up from him at his work.

Well, that's all I've got for the moment, I'll talk to ya soon!

Spike

It's been AGES Gotta BLOG!!

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:05:48 GMT

I just saw STARDUST - what an amazing movie. Every bit as magical as the Harry Potter series, with a kind of neat little love story woven in. I was shocked at how good it was. Left me wishing I could watch it again, and again.

Anna Banana Pants (my rottie) is growing up into a beautiful young lady, almost 2 1/2 years old now! My little girl is growing up... sniff... LOL

I'm building/repairing/modifying guitars in my spare time right now, and I've even got customers! I placed an ad on CraigsList in the Musical Instruments forum, and I've got people coming to me from all over the city to help them setup their guitars properly, and getting 40-50 bucks a whack! Pretty nice little supplement to my social security disability income. Not enough to screw up my eligibility, mind you - just a couple extra hundred bucks a month. It's really nice, because even though I'm disabled, I can still tinker with guitars - makes me wish I had learned to do it back when I was still able to work full-time. I might have had a nice little guitar/music store right now. Oh, well, shit happens for a reason, and it's not up to me to fuck with fate. Even though I've been through some pretty awful shit (and believe me, parts of it would curl your hair!!!) I wouldn't change a thing, because I like who I am, and everything that's happened up until now is what's made me, me - y'know?

Anyway, enough of the cathartic introspection. It's nice to be back.

Take it easy all,

Rob (Uncle Spike)

Monday, December 25, 2006

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 02:51:46 GMT

Yay! It's Christmas eve! I'm really excited this year, not because I'm expecting anything in particular, but because this is the first year I've really cared more about the presents that I've bought for others than what I'm getting myself. They say it's better to give than recieve, and I finally get it. I've put a lot of thought into the gifts I've bought my family this year. Dad loves to cook, so I bought him a wicked-cool set of kitchen knives (Antonello Brunelli) which I hope he will love. My mom, she just loves the old 'Rat Pack', you know, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis - those guys, so I bought her a truckload of DVD's featuring those guys. Altogether she's getting something like 10 movies and a ton of 'stand-up' comedy stuff. Neither of them have a clue what they're gonna get, but I really hope they dig them a whole lot. I got a really big check this month from Social Security, so I was able to afford nice gifts for my niece and nephew, too... (he he - not gonna give those away!) But I think they're both gonna be blown away too. I'll let Melissa tell you tomorrow what she got, but I expect her to be super psyched, and even my nutty little nephew Jeremy is getting something he's gonna dig a bunch, too. (If you're reading this, Melissa - Don't wait too long to come over - We want to get to the presents thing as early as possible, so don't keep us waiting all day!!) I'm didn't get much for my Sis & Bro-in-law, because my dad already got them a super gift, along with some other cool stuff, so I just helped him pay for those. It really does feel good to get things for others that I think they'll be excited about. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces, hopefully I did good, and they'll all be happy happy joy joy - like... Anyway, I really don't know what I'm getting, but that's not what's important to me this year. Don't get me wrong - I'm gonna be thrilled if I get a shitload of cool stuff, but I'll be happiest just seeing my family's faces light up when they see what I've gotten them. I refuse to believe that this is a sign of maturity - As all of you who know me already know, I refuse to grow up. I may get old, but that's not the same thing. I'm going to keep my inner child alive as long as I live, and I think this is just an extention of that. I've got just about everything I could hope for - lots and lots of anime DVD's, plenty of good friends, all the guitars and such that I could ever want, and a great loving family that have really helped me get my life back together after I made such a mess of it a few years back. Even though I'm disabled with this rotten disease, it hasn't gotten in the way of the things I love most. I can still play guitar, which makes me feel great and is an awesome release for my creative juices, and I've got just about the best little doggie in the world (ok, she's 95lbs, but she's still always gonna be my little doggie) who gets me out to the dogpark so I can meet other cool animal lovers, and I've got my love of anime and all things animated (Speaking of which, if you haven't seen Happy Feet yet, DO IT!), and that's really all I need right now, or at all, for that matter. I'm hoping this next year will bring lots of cool stuff, too. I'm looking forward to finishing my old Fender Strat - it's a 1971 pre-CBS strat (meaning it's a collector's item and worth mondo mega bucks) , and I'm in the process of refinishing it and replacing all the worn-out electronics with brand new, state of the art pickups, pots, caps, and tuners. I've got the neck almost done, and the body is prepped now and ready for filling, sealing, and painting, then clear-coating with nitro-cellulose laquer (which gives it that 'foot-deep' finish). It's a painstaking process, especially the painting and clear-coating, because that stuff takes over a month to cure, but there is no substitute for the beauty and durability of a nitro-based finish. That's the way they used to do them, back in the day when guitar building was more of an art than it is today. Today's guitars are pretty much mass-produced, and very little 'love' goes into them, and they're usually clear-coated with polyurethane, which looks good, but not as good as a true 30-coat nitro finish. NOTHING compares with that. Like I said, it's a huge, time consuming project, but I really don't have much else on my plate at the moment, being technically 'disabled', I can't work, so I have a lot of time on my hands, at present. Anyway, back to the Christmas thing - I hope you all have an AWESOME Christmas (or whatever you celebrate at this time of year) and that you get everything you hope for and deserve in the year to come. Take care, and I'll talk to you again, soon.

PS: Here's a link to the Guitar Re-Ranch, where I get all my guitar refinishing supplies, should any of you be interested in that whole process... They have a cool gallery of guitars that have been painted with their nitro-cellulose laquers. The color I chose was 'translucent blue'. Check it out!

www.reranch.com

Have a great one, guys!

Rob (UncleSpike)

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:12:41 GMT

Hello again!

As most of you who know me already know, I suffer from a rather nasty, degenerative rheumatoid arthritic condition known as 'Ankylosing Spondylitis' or AS for short. It's a condition that causes my bones to 'fuse' together, and my spine, including my lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine are now totally fused, including my neck, which is really a bitch, because now I can't turn my head at all, left/right, up/down - nothing. I've had this beast since my late teens/early 20's and it's in the severely advanced stages now, and it causes me an INSANE amount of pain on a daily basis, which I treat with a number of different pain medications, including hydrocodone and morphine. I'm usually on a pretty level 'pain' field, somewhere around a 5 or 6, with 1 being the least and 10 being the worst, but the other day I took Anna (my rottweiler) to the vet to get her nails trimmed (which she hates) and while I was holding her down so the vet could cut her nails, she bucked like a champion bronco, and jacked me up but good! She wrenched my neck, chest, left shoulder, and elbow so hard that I've been almost totally immobilized ever since - OUCH! It brought on what we 'spondy's' call a 'flare-up', which just means my arthritis pain and inflammation are 'off the charts' and even my monster pain meds are just barely touching the pain. I don't usually post just to vent, but this time I feel compelled to do so, just so those of you who see me just barely moving will understand why I look like an 80 year-old man who just got hit by a truck! LOL Anyway, I'm through bitching, I just thought I'd share my woes, and share a little about my condition for those who don't know me personally. You can find out a lot about AS by going to the website www.spondylitis.org , and read what a lot of us spondy's go through by reading the forums there - I post quite often, and my login name there is Rob H. If any of this strikes a chord with any of you, or if you know any other spondy's, think about making a donation to the Spondylitis Association of America (at the same address www.spondylitis.org) and maybe one day there will be a cure for this monster. Currently there is no cure, and no real hope for those of us who suffer from it, but perhaps if we can get some real progress with stem-cell research in this country, there will be hope for some future spondy's, and who knows, maybe even those of us who have lived with this disease for years. Well, I'm going to try to get some more rest, now - it comes in small doses and I try to get as much as possible, especially now that I'm on the 'injured reserve' list again... 8P

Take care, all, and I'll post again as soon as I'm feeling a little bit better. CYA then!

Uncle Spike

Just saw the OMEN!

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 02:41:44 GMT

Hey, Happy 666 everybody, especially you satanists out there, hope the party was kickin! <grin> I just got back from seeing the OMEN, and I gotta say, it was OK. I really liked the lady they chose to be Damien's mom, but the dad was kindof a dork. Although he did kick ass in the last 3 minutes of the movie.... OMG! For those of you who haven't seen it yet (or seen the original for that matter) I'll leave the ending out, but suffice it to say there will be an OMEN II. <grin> As far as the Rottweiler angle, it was downplayed a bit compared to the original. The rotties in the original Omen were much more wicked and menacing than the puppies in this flick. Although I did love the little trap-door trick... very funny!!! Very untrue, though, even MY dog would've jumped right over That little trap and had the guy for lunch if he'd been trying to take ME downtown to church to put a buncha knives in me!! (big hugs for Anna)

Overall, I'd say see it, but don't expect much difference from the original. I think it was novel seeing it on 666 but other than that, I give it about a 6. maybe a 6.66... <grin>

Uncle Spike

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 01:17:44 GMT

Hello again!

Just dropping in to leave a short note, as I am currently bedridden with the f(*king flu. Yuk-0-rama. I'm starting to feel a little better today, but yesterday I had to pass on steak dinner with the family, so you KNOW I must be feeling pretty sick. I LOVE steak. For those of you who've never heard of HEART, shame on you! (no, just kidding, I know you're too young to have known about them in their 'heyday'. Definitely download 'dreamboat annie (all 3 versions)' 'dog & butterfly' and 'little queen'. Those 3 songs will definitely get you interested, if you like the style. They definitely have a lot of rockers, too, check out 'crazy on you' and 'Magic Man'. well, I gotta run, cause I'm feeling pretty damn yucky. So until next time - take it easy, and be well.

Rob

Hello All!

Fri, 19 May 2006 21:22:22 GMT

Sorry it's been so long, (especially to you, beth!) I have no excuses, I've just been lazy... Not a whole lot going on here, just surviving... I've been taking little Anna to the dog park almost every day lately, and she's been loving it. She's gone from being a timid little puppy to a rambunctious rottweiler, scrapping and wrestling with the other doggies... she just loves it. It's a cool place to meet people too - some are idiots *you know who you are!* but most are really cool. For somebody like me with no social life whatsoever it's a good place to go and hang out for a couple hours a day, and at least be around other people who love dogs.

I saw a really cool video the other day, it was Ann & Nancy Wilson from Heart playing with a bunch of others, Dave Navarro, Gretchen Wilson (no relation), even Carrie Underwood, and they were doing a bunch of old Heart songs, and it reminded me how much I love their music, and that I haven't heard any of it in a long (too long) time. So, I did what any good consumer would do, I logged on to amazon.com and bought up all those old Heart albums, excuse me CD's, that I used to listen to back when we actually had records... You know, those plastic things we used to listen to our music on... Yes, I know, that dates me... I had a huge record collection back in the day. But back to the subject - Heart ROCKS! Do yourselves a favor and buy (or download) some of their music. My particular favorites (in no particular order) are:

Dog & Butterfly, Little Queen, Magazine, and Dreamboat Annie

Awesome rock 'n roll from the first ladies of rock, Ann & Nancy. Well, It's getting on towards dinna time, so I'm gonna cut this short and go find something to grub upon.

Talk to you soon, I mean it this time...

Uncle Spike