Say It Ain't So, Mr. Rockett!

Rikki Rockett, drummer for Poison, was arrested on rape charges at LAX. Here is hoping that, first of all, it isn't true and that it is justa disgruntled groupie making the accusation!

The story is still developing and not many details are available.

Read more.

"Leaving the Game on Luckie St." DVD

Mine is on order! Can't wait! Got your's yet? Damn... Go, Butch, Go!

Peeping on Diddy on Bas?

"Puffy's the only guy who's jealous. "All drummers want to be singers. I think it's a myth that the singer needs to be the focus. Bands perpetuate that myth. With somebody like Sebastian Bach it makes sense. Look at him. He could be in an Avon ad."

- Mike Patton

Butch Walker "Leavin' the Game on Luckie St." DVD released!

Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street by Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites is out now on DVD! Recorded live at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Awesome! Get it now!

Diddy Didn't Do It!

P Diddy denies doing Tupac in and I believe him. Why shouldn't I believe him? He is more saavy than street. I don't think he has or has ever had the brass below necessary to plan, execute and continue to hide something this far reaching. Someone would have turned on him in by now.

Businessman? Yes, definitely and a keen one at that. Killer with a cold heart? I just can't see it.

St. Patrick's Day: Keep Your Spirit Alive!

I listening to some stuff I haven't listened to in a while and it's totally fitting! Dropkick Murphy's on St. Patrick's Day = PERFECT! Irish punk with a tinge of of hope, full of energy and just enough attitude to lift your day.

I wasn't into the Irish punk scene much until about a year ago. Even now, I am not completely versed in it, but do enjoy it. I have my iTunes on random today and it hit Your Spirit's Alive by Dropkick Murphys. Awesome song! Brought a huge smile to my face!

Check Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, another great Irish punk band, out at the links below. Then go get their albums!

Dropkick Murphys:

The Official Site
On Wikipedia

Flogging Molly:

The Official Site
On Wikipedia

Interesting side note, Dave King the singer/leader of Flogging Molly, was actually the singer in many semi-prominent 80's metal bands before creating Flogging Molly. He was in Fastway with guitarist Fast Eddie Clark and then recruited as singer for Katmandu. Also great bands! Check them out!

You can add Your Spirit's Alive and Sunshine Highway from Dropkick Murphys album The Warrior's Code to my inspirational song list.

"We are the ones who will never be broken,
We are the ones who survive,
This is the sound that brings us together,
You are the one by our side.

And through it all, the spirit's alive!
And through it all, your spirit's alive!"

- Dropkick Murphys

It's Only Rock 'n Roll

Hey, it's only rock 'n roll... It wasn't meant to be perfect.

It's meant to be raw, gritty, in your face and dirty. From the street. The gutter... even better! It's telling us how it is. It's real life. The story of the big city. The places I've never been and the things I have never seen... Oh, wait. My fault. I guess that's Hip Hop now.

For a new perspective and appreciation on life, read these books:

The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur: Legacy by Jamal Joseph

It makes you think, helps you appreciate and sheds new light on your own life. Tupac Shakur was blessed with a gift. Words.

Leavin' the Game on Luckie Street!

Butch Walker has a new double album out (are they still called albums?) sans record label. Butch is a breath of fresh air in a sadly stale recording industry.

Go here. Pay for it. Download it. Support him. Now! You have been warned...

Sports: Life in a Small Town - S.O.S. (Same Old Story)

"So you grew up in a town where everybody's all the same.
Like a city full of zombies going by the same name.
Saying "Eat this", "Wear that," Think ya know just where it's at,
When everybody's just alike, Now tell me how you deal with that!
This much is true, So here's the finger let me say it!"

- Lyrics from "My Way" by Butch Walker

Kids from a small town today deal with the same pressures their elders dealt with. It's the peer pressure of being on the team, the urging of the community to excel at sports... to conform to the heritage of the town. The heritage of the town: sports.

The people have changed but the last names are the same. The last names who excelled and made the family proud, the city proud and sometimes the county proud. It's a story of scenarios and "heroism". A story that allows you to write in new characters and the outcome is the same as it has always been.

It is boys Class B basketball weekend...

The Blank Page Before You

"I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind,
I'm undefined,
I'm just beginning,
The pen's in my hand,
Ending unplanned."

- Natasha Bedingfield

Have truer words ever been written about one's life? We have control, make decisions and live with the consequences.

Every new day a beginning to the rest of your story and every previous day is a chapter in your autobiography. You just keep writing. You may be writing the next great novel or a beautiful and emotional collection of short stories. You just don't know which.

If we could wrap things up and make the words dance on a page, we'd have a complete body of work. You would have tight story lines, deep character development and intertwining situations. The critics would love it and your fans would hang on every paragraph. It would be a best seller. One little problem though.

You never know if it is the end you are writing.

"No one else, no one else,
Can speak the words on your lips,
Drench yourself in words unspoken,
Live your life with arms wide open,
Today is where your book begins."

- Natasha Bedingfield

You can add Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield to my inspirational song list.

How Does Your Light Shine?

The first cassette tape I ever owned was given to me by my uncle Curt. He probably doesn't even remember giving it to me, but it's a moment I think back to often.

We were at my grandma and grandpa's house on a Sunday and I was messing around with one of those old time tape player/recorders. I'm not sure if it was even mine or not but I do know that I took it home with me. My uncle saw me playing around with it and said"Here!" and handed me a cassette. I put it in the player and hit the combination play/record button (remember the little red nub-type button?). The song that came on was life changing...

At that point in my very short life, it was the "coolest" thing I had heard and was instantly in love with the melody. It peaked my imagination and tweaked my senses. It instantly had me wondering where this place is, what it looks like, how beautiful it must be. Trying to picture it in my mind the whole time.

It was Shambala by Three Dog Night. I never looked at music the same.

Each song a story or chapter. Each album a book. And for me, it is one moment in time. A moment when my life froze, a snapshot was taken and filed in my picture book of a brain. To view later and just remember.

Thanks uncle Curt...

Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well

It's sometimes difficult to see the light when you are feeling buried or trapped. Even a pinhole is enough light to find the end of a tunnel or the way out of a well. you need to have hope and always look forward or up in this case. Don't hang it up. Tilt your head.

I always have a well of songs that I draw inspiraion from, some from words and with some it is just hte sheer energy of the beat. Or the the tightness of the music. Or the songwriting.

The songs don't fluctuate much and remain constant no mater the situation or the day.

• Super Bon Bon by Soul Coughing
• Starin' at the World Through My Rearview by 2Pac
• California Love by Dr. Dre and 2Pac
• Girlfriend by Matthwe Sweet
• April Fool by Soul Asylum
• Maybe It's Just Me by Butch Walker
• Key to Gramercy Park by Deadsy
• For the Love of God by Steve Vai
• The Way You Make Me Feel by Katmandu
• Fall Back Down by Rancid
• Seven Deadly Sins by Flogging Molly

That is the list I always seem to go back to for energy and inspiration. So many more and i will share even more in the future.

Hackers can really ruin your day!

I understand the freedom of speech and innate yearning to have fun and be mischevious. It's in all of us. But damn, what a waste of time and resources. It must be a huge drain on the economy.

Cost of Data Loss Rises

I guess it is...

You Know it's a Good Day!

You know it's a good day when you are planning to plan a meeting. Seriously. It's the little things that mean so much.

What come from where you at?

In other words, why is this blog here. It's a two-fold answer really.

Tom is a popular name, although it's not my name. Just seems that I have many "Toms" in my life. Maybe Tommy is more appropriate. You could say say the name is derived from Tommy Lee, Tom Jones or Mike Patton. You see, Mike Patton (Wiki) has an avante garde one man band type project called Peeping Tom. So now you know the pattern and my passion. Music. To be more exact. ALL music. That is reason one.

The second is much easier. It is a work related experiment to see how this all works. By this, I mean blogging.

As you read my posts and words, you will begin to understand where I work, why I love what I do, what it is I do and how this all came about. It's as much an experiment for me as it is for my job. We shall see what happens.