Stairway to Heaven Guitar Solo.

I heard an old rule about learning guitar (pre-YouTube), Always play with people better than you! Well, that covered just about everybody I knew, so the field was wide open for me. Then I realized that everybody better than me was too busy playing with people better than them. As a result, I learned to play the guitar on my own. I played mostly with records (i.e., like a vinyl CD) and I learned rhythms and leads note for note. I could play a pretty good cover of a song, but when it came down to improvising on the spot, I was lost. Still I get lost from time to time... I play a lot of pentatonic scale based riffs in Rock and Blues songs and sometimes I can string together a solo, but not long ones. I tried looking for jam buddies on Craigslist and other sites, but people are just too busy these days. So, I just jam with CDs and plug away at improvising! I gotta send out a plug for a guy that is awesome at teaching guitar. It's so selfless to share guitar knowledge the way he does. Marty Schwartz. I'd love to hear how others have done it!

Lift a Heavy Elephant Challenge

This is my strength work out video. In it I show how to knock out the bulk of the weight in the "Lift a Heavy Elephant (26,000 lbs) Challenge." It has to be done in less than an hour. I was working on improving my form on the upright bench (bringing the bar down to where my arms and forearms are at a 90 degree angle - but I broke a rib and stopped lifting for a while. So, I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to get back up to the "Heavy Elephant" strength level. Once there, my goal will be to do it once a month. I'll be doing regular workouts every other day, and then the Heavy Elephant once at the end of each month. It's fun - Give it a try! Heavy Elephant Challenge

Immortal Vengeance by: C.D. Buchanan (Me)

I planned this to be a two book series and am currently writing the second one. This book is the first and is available from several sites includling Amazon and Barnes & Nobel.
Synopsis:
Dr. James Meek, a prominent scientist, loving husband, and father of four, is at the forefront of a new technology. He founded his company, NanoTek, on the potential of nanotechnology for medical applications. The company's R&D effort promised to provide nano-scale systems that could assemble material to repair aged or damaged cells. Although the scientific community dubbed the research as another unrealistic "fountain of youth," Dr. Meek and his team worked tirelessly to prove their theories.One day, the doctor's daughter failed to return home from school. Dr. Meek turned his entire focus from work to finding his daughter. After searching for hours, he found his daughter near death. Dr. Meek, faced with the most important decision of his life, must decide whether his research is mature enough to save his daughter without causing unforeseen side effects.

My Review of Les Miserables (2012)

First, I am very critical since I've read the book, seen the play four times, and watched the mildly entertaining 1998 movie. This effort was a blend of big screen acting and theater so there was a lot of vocal latitude - it's not about pitch as much as passion. Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) Was incredible! His "God on high, hear my prayer" for Marius and then again at his death were so moving... And when Fantine joined in from beyond... Man-o-man goosebumps!!! Inspector Javert (Russell Crow) was solid as the relentless persecutor! His voice was deep and cold - until the end! The young Cosette was adorable! Fantine (Anne Hathaway) captured passion needed for her role! Her pain and passion were expressed brilliantly! Eponine (Samantha Barks) who had two of the top songs ("A Little Fall of Rain," and "On My Own") did a great job - I felt it! Gotta love the Inn-Keepers, they made me love hating them! Marius did well projecting his being torn between "the cause" and love! Little Gavroche won me over! They always find such good child actors for his part! Finally, Older Cosette (Amanda Seyfried)... Her passion was made believable by her acting ability; however, her vocals were too out of place - mostly the high-pitched and sheepish vibrato. I still give her credit for her acting work! I give this film 5 out of 5 stars! The star, in my opinion, all things considered was Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman, a.k.a Wolverine!) Anne was a close second. Take the time to go see this and use the restroom before you take your seats! Included with my review is my own fan art. Because I love this Novel / Play / Movie!

Evolution of generations in America

I recall the days of my youth when I knew it was time to go home by the absence of the sun or presence of the moon! If I wanted to talk with or play with friends, I went to their houses and knocked on their doors, or I went to places where I'd expect them to be (usually the ball-ground). We respected adults, authority, property, etc... Well, we did get in to mischief, but nothing serious. We left the U.S. back in 1975 to live in Turkey for two years (My father was in the U.S. Air Force). In 1977 we moved to Germany and to Holland in 1981 where I started college at the Troy State University extension campus. At the ripe old age of nineteen I left home and lived on my own back in Germany as I waited for my flight back to the U.S. to join the Air Force. In Turkey, we didn't have TV and our whole time in Europe we didn't have phones. How in the world did we ever survive? Well, my parents were my role models. Dad worked hard and if anything was broken at the house, he would fix it. If we didn't have the money to buy a new starter, he would rebuild the old starter himself. He just did what needed to be done. He would wake me up in the mornings and we'd work on a car, or on his airplane – something! Mom kept a clean home and had my sister and me doing chores – nothing grueling, but just stuff that needed to be done. Mom made meals that would put Julia Childs to shame.

When I look at children / young adults today, I see something very different. I still have one child, no, adult, living in my home. I had to force him out of the house to go get a job. I had to register him in college, because he didn't do it, even though I set it all up and made it easy. All his free time is dedicated to “VIDEO GAMES!” There it is, the crux of this post! I can't say that I'm totally at fault as his parent, because two out of four do not make video games their whole lives. I asked my son, who was probably 21 at the time, “Hey, how about mowing the lawn while I'm gone for the week?” To which, he replied, “What's the criteria for knowing when the lawn should be mowed.” Another time, I was out working under his car, because it needed to be fixed. I went inside and saw him sitting all comfy under a blanket watching morning cartoons (Twenty one years old!) I asked him why not come out and learn something and see if you can help fix YOUR car! He said he didn't want to know about cars and just planned to take it to a shop whenever it needed to be fixed. So, I quit working on it and told him to take it to the shop. On the way there the timing belt broke. It cost him $1,200 that day and that hurt him! I chuckled a little inside!

If this trouble was just in my household, then no problem right? What if it is this way all over the U.S. and world? The youth find more value in learning how to play a three- buttoned guitar instead of a real one. They don't interface anywhere but online and in role playing video games where you can simulate just about anything! I can't tell my son anything as he takes the opposite side of almost everything I am or like. I'm Christian, so he's now atheist; I'm a software engineer, so he chose anything but that. I try to stay open minded and realize that every generation is different, but when does it start hurting a nation. I read where there's not enough enrollment or interest in technology fields to sustain the current infrastructure that we older employees plan to leave behind. That's not good!

I was always comforted by the idea that when he's out there, truly on his own, then the world will teach him the lessons he needs to learn. You want to eat, work! You want a car, work! Something's broke, fix it! But, darned my luck! Over the last four years we've witnessed our U.S. Government breast-feeding and burping our adult citizens. “There, there!” they say. “We'll give you some of the other people's money because they have too much and you don't have enough!” Or, “there, there! You don't have to work, vote for us and you can stay home and get more than you'd earn out there in the mean old workforce! That's just a rumor that you can excel and succeed to bigger and better rewards! Stay here where it's safe and we'll give you all you need!” Somehow, I think my parents would now prefer the hippies of the 60s over the gamer/slackers of today, and certainly over the gimme, gimme zombies of tomorrow.

Stop communism and save America, take a right the next chance you get!