Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Sunday, May 29, 2016

Books about musicians

It seems like every time you turn around, some musician somewhere is releasing an autobiography/biography or working on one. What I've always believed is that these types of books are good if you are a music lover or love getting to know stuff about your favorite musicians. Not to mention, it all comes down to who you want to read about. There are books on certain members of bands, books on whole bands, etc. I already found two more I want to get. So here are some of the biographies/autobiographies that exist in our world. BTW, there is a difference between autobiography and biography. Autobiography means the subject of the story wrote it themselves while biography means someone else wrote it about someone.

Broken Music: A Memoir
-Sting
-I love this book. Very good!! You learn all sorts of cool stuff about Sting. Like for example, he got his nickname from wearing a black and yellow striped sweater during his days with his early band the Phoenix Jazzmen
Jagger: Rebel, Rockstar, Rambler, Rogue
-Mark Spitz
-I have this one. Really good. I never knew that his mother was an English teacher from Australia and his father was a gym teacher
Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography from Deep Purple to Black Country Communion
-Glenn Hughes/Joel McIver
-Because of reading this book, I now want to get quite a few of Glenn's solo albums. Not to mention, he's still cute!! He and his wife are so adorable together!!!!
 

Aww! How sweet!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath
-Tony Iommi
-I've read this one quite a few times judging from the wear and tear on the spine, lol
I Am Ozzy
-Ozzy Osbourne
-This is a good book and it's also funny because he just says whatever comes into his head, lol
Lemmy: White Line Fever
-Lemmy Kilmister
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
-Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, Neil Strauss
-I have this one. I usually skip by the sections pertaining to Vince Neil and Mick Mars. I do not like them! So essentially I only read the sections pertaining to Nikki Sixx because I think he's cute even though he's gigantically arrogant and Tommy Lee because he's still cute, even with the tattoos and he has that goofy, laid back, surfer-type attitude
It's So Easy and Other Lies
-Duff McKagan
-This one is awesome. Duff is still cute!!!
Red
-Sammy Hagar
-Love it and have it!
Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera
-Rex Brown
Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith
-Joe Perry/David Ritz
-I checked this out from the library when it came out and had to hide it in my desk drawer at work so my sister wouldn't know I was reading it; I was getting it for Christmas, hahahahahahahahahaha!!
Slash
-Slash/Anthony Bozza
-I love this one, but he talks too much about going to score drugs!
Face the Music: A Life Exposed
-Paul Stanley
-I love this one. He says everyone can see themselves somewhere in that book. He was definitely right on the money. I saw myself in there occasionally
-Another mistake I made: mentioning this book to my sister. She's now reading it, lol!!
Tommyland
-Tommy Lee
-I love his goofy, laid back, surfer-type approach to life. He just seems like a kid at heart!
Robert Plant: A Life
-Paul Rees
-Man, was he sexy back then. A little rough on the eyes, but still awesome! My eyes would be glued to him at a Led Zeppelin concert, lol!!
Who Am I
-Pete Townshend
-This one was actually quite interesting. I liked it. Very good especially considering he seems like one of the more private rock stars out there
Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers
-Martin Popoff
-Have it and love it!!
Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose
-Martin Popoff
-Love this one!
Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard and Beyond
-Phil Collen
-I think I made the mistake of mentioning this book to my sister. The other night me and my stepdad were watching a Def Leppard concert on TV and in walks my sister. She stops dead when she sees  Phil Collen on stage with no shirt, playing guitar and looking sweaty. Hahahahahaha. When I told her I had a book on him, she smiled and said "hey Caitlin. Can you let me borrow that book? it might be good." It was an official mistake to let my sister read this. Now she wants her own copy, hahahahahahahahahahaha!!
Bruce Dickinson: Flashing Metal with "Maiden" and Flying Solo
-Bruce Dickinson
-BTW, he's currently working on an official one that is due to come out next year in e-book, audiobook and hardback form, paperback in 2018
-This one was good, but there were a few spelling and grammatical errors in it. Other than that, it was good. It goes up until about 2008, which I think might have been the time of their Somewhere Back in Time tour
According to the Rolling Stones
-The Rolling Stones
-I love this one. This book lets the guys in the Stones tell the story
Dancing with Myself
-Billy Idol
-I love this one and now so does my sister, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Ronnie
-Ronnie Wood
-He's a pretty interesting guy, not to mention an incredibly talented artist!
Motorhead: Live to Win
-Alan Burridge
Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of the Beast
-Neil Daniels
-I love this one. There's one image of Maiden during the early 1980s when Bruce first came into the band that shows the band and Bruce has nothing but a t-shirt and underwear on, with his arms over his chest and a look of deep thought on his face. The caption for the image says "Bruce is wondering what happened to his pants." LOL!!
Run to the Hills: Iron Maiden, the Authorized Biography
-Mick Wall, Chris Ingham
-This was awesome!!!
Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir
-Dave Mustaine
George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door
-Graeme Thompson
Ringo: With a Little Help from My Friends
-Michael Seth Starr
Hammer of the Gods
-Stephen Davis
-BTW, from the way I hear it, Led Zeppelin, the subject of this book, is not too happy with this book. They say that this book is sorely inaccurate!!!
Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?
-Steven Tyler
The Heroin Diaries
-Nikki Sixx
Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of Kiss
-Peter Criss

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Let's celebrate Asian and Asian American Heritage Month

May is the official month to celebrate the achievements of people who happen to be of Asian descent. Amazing isn't it? That many people think Asians can't do anything or that anything Asian is bad!! Hmm. Well, this post is going to show that it doesn't matter the race. Anyone can make history!!

Eric Shinseki
-The first man of Japanese ancestry to become the US Army's Chief of Staff
Sessue Hayakawa
-The first Japanese actor in the silent film era, whose success, talent and sex appeal rivaled then silent film legend Rudolph Valentino
Jerry Yang
-American-born Taiwanese engineer who created the Yahoo! search engine
Maya Lin
-Created the travelling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Anna May Wong-The first actress of Chinese descent. Her career went from silent film to sound film to television, stage and radio
Noriyuki 'Pat'Morita-The first American of Japanese descent to star on own sitcom, Mr. T and Tina
Connie Chung-First woman of Asian descent to be a nightly news anchor
Daniel Inouye
-Senator for Hawai'i. He was a member of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, whose motto was "Go for broke". This was the first all Japanese military unit in the US Army. Comprised of American-born Japanese men and Japanese men living in the US, who were all eager to prove their loyalty to the US, both of whom were in internment camps spread throughout the US. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor. He tragically died on Dec. 17, 2012 in Bethesda, Maryland from respiratory problems. He entered the House of Representatives in 1959, when Hawaii became a state and was elected to the Senate in 1963
Gyo Obata
-Designed the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
IM Pei
-architect who designed the triangular pyramid shape of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH
Steve Chen
-Co-founder of the site YouTube
Heather Fong
-The first woman of Asian descent to head a metropolitan police force. In her case, San Francisco, CA
Dale Minami
-Attorney who won the case of Korematsu vs.United States. This case revolved around Fred Korematsu, who disobeyed the Japanese internment orders during WWII
Bruce Yamashita
-Attorney/US Marine officer who exposed racial discrimination in the military
Ken Kashiwahara
-News anchor. He is the first Emmy-winning journalist of Asian ancestry
Ellison Onizuka
-First astronaut of Japanese descent who went up with the space shuttle Challenger. He sadly died during this
Sammy Lee
-First American of Asian descent to win an Olympic Gold Medal for platform diving in 1948 and 1952
Dr. Feng Shan-ho
-He was the Chinese General Consul who saved hundreds of thousands of Austrian Jews during the Holocaust. He saved these peoples' lives by issuing them visas to Shanghai, China, against his boss' orders
Yo-Yo Ma
-A world renowned violinist
Amy Tan
-An author. Most of her stories involve some aspect or another of her Chinese heritage
Duke Kahanamoku
-Known as the father of international surfing