Moving Forward With RoxX

Spent two days in studio this week with Tommy recording new vocals for new songs, including a totally different collaboration Tommy brought me in on.  We finished vocals on "Life Is Good" yesterday and all that's lacking on that tune is the guitar solo.  Today we re-visited one of our most recent unreleased tunes "Eleven Or Bust" and totally re-worked the vocals.  I sing this song in a gravelly voice and it's almost a call and answer song.  We removed the gravelly voices from the "call" portion and replaced them with sweeter sounding smooth voices and it's totally changed the entire sound of the song.

Tommy mapped out the background vocals and recorded them himself, today he broke them down to individual voices and had me re-record them in my voice.  Yeah, I was totally unaware of the structure of background vocals before today and I have a great new respect for everything he's done to teach me as we go along.  We're going to stick to this new method of recording vocals, meaning we will have to revisit most tunes after lead vocals are recorded to re-record backing vocals as needed.  And yeah, I'm jacked.  Hearing MY voice doubled in 3 voices in a 4 part harmony kind of made me sit up and wonder what IS possible in the future.

Tommy has already sent me two more new tunes to write lyrics for and he's shown me two more he's got in works today.  He's off of work next week too, hoping I can finish one of the two songs I have now so we can get ahead of the game before his work schedule picks up again.  He'll work "regular" from January-March with the madness hitting prior to the spring furniture market.  Yeah, Tommy's a studio photographer in the furniture industry by trade.

We're still having fun and using RoxX as therapy and a getaway from everyday stress and we're both quite humbled at the fact that we are in a position where we are writing and recording music much in the vein of our own favorite bands and artists.  As a matter of fact, the new song "Life Is Good" is another very Rush-sounding tune, yes it was intentional on my part, and Tommy challenged me to open up on the final verse.  His instructions were "Go full Geddy!"  I didn't think I could pull it off but surprisingly did it.  We took a break and began on the backing vocals.  Went even higher on them, unreal hearing myself singing those notes!

"Realize you must have the dream to begin to make it come true in your life my friend
The Golden Rule was so outdated just yesterday it seems
Be the light of day - Fight the dark of night - 'Cause life is good!"

"Life Is Good" - RoxX (unreleased)

Feeling Relieved, But Not Backing Down!

Yeah, with the legalities surrounding the 2016 election now finalized I am feeling somewhat relieved that the media hubub about electors flipping votes turned out to be ANOTHER loss for Hillary, as she had five electors choose other candidates.  For the record, that's the most of any candidate in 100 years, and before you blow a gasket, Mr. Trump lost two himself.  And the terminology calls these folks "faithless voters" and yes, I agree that there has been a MAJOR lack of faith across this nation the past decade or so.

I'm beginning to also feel good that the majority of America believes as I do as opposed to the more liberal agenda pushed by the media psychopaths.  Anybody else notice that since the election the name-calling and accusations from that side haven't slowed down a bit?  I've heard the most absurd suggestions SINCE the Electoral College vote was made official, such as attempting to have Trump declared "mentally unfit" to serve.  Same folks have no idea how high the President-elect's IQ actually is.

Nope, I don't think I'll be backing down any time soon, I shall continue to call things like I see them on the political front.  And I do wish the best to both Donald Trump and incoming NC Governor Roy Cooper, after all, what they do affects all of us.  I also applaud Governor Pat McCrory for initiating the repeal of HB2 the same day the City of Charlotte repealed the nondiscrimination bill that created the need for HB2.  I am somewhat surprised, but history will scratch it's head wondering how McCrory got beat in 2016 and continued to work for the people of North Carolina until his term expired.  I really thought HB2 would be a carrot that the GOP supermajorities in the NC General Assembly held above Roy's head for the next four years.

Now, everybody pay attention to all of those offended by a law who pulled their business out of our state and be wary of spending money with them again in the future.  The NBA and Bruce Springsteen come to mind first, along with the NCAA.  Perhaps North Carolina could create a special user fee for our state's publicly owned facilities and require pro basketball, rock concert promoters and college tournaments to pay a use tax which could be used toward public education or such.  If they complain of such donations, that doesn't help their public relations at all.  Just a thought...

Merry Christmas ya'll.  Be safe out there, aiight? 

My Personal Sanity

My personal sanity walks on all fours.  He's bi-racial, well actually he's black and white.  Kind of monochrome color scheme.  My sanity wakes me up several nights a week for a snack and has made himself at home both on my lap and on my desk.  He has already became the central figure of our household and makes demands on our time and attention.

Being someone's personal sanity is quite an undertaking but this individual seems up to the task and happy to be a part of our family.  We don't know his history before he showed up on my son's doorstep a few Christmases ago, but he's obviously traveled the world and is quite cosmopolitan in his attitude.  This street-educated fellow is quite fastidious and always looks sharp as a tack because he knows appearance is important.

The personal sanity business picked up earlier this year after my previous sanity became seriously ill and passed away.  I had already found new candidates for the job opening but the boss wasn't ready.  Out of the blue we get a message on Facebook from our adopted son Dave and he's offering to drive me a new personal sanity all the way from Maryland.  And the next day, he did.  

Pip, named from the Dickens classic, is easily the largest cat I've ever owned.  He's a sweetheart that loves to see someone make a move toward the kitchen because he knows that's where the kitty treats live.  He sleeps at my feet, often taking up half of the bed and wakes me up by patting my nose with his paw.  That normally results in me making a trip to the little boy's room and then following him to the kitchen downstairs for an early morning treat.  

Pip has been messing with the blinds in the kitchen lately so I cleared a spot for him on the table next to the window so he can see outside into the woods.  A couple of hours later I hear something hitting the glass and Pip making strange little sounds.  No wonder.  I walk to the window and there are squirrels outside hanging on trees and the privacy wall chattering at Mr. Cat.  I guess he told them.  He's inside in warm and cozy while they're outside looking for a nut.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

As per the last few years, this Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by breakfast at Biscuitville since Karen's job requires her to spend her holiday on the sales floor.  No turkey here, no stuffing or even sweet potatoes, but hey, we have football!  A long holiday weekend with no bookings means pro football, college football, more college football and more pro football between taxi driving Karen to and from retail hay-deez.  

Seeing a lot of lists of things folks are posting that they are thankful for today, quite a nice distraction actually.  Too bad most folks are only thankful one day a year (publicly anyways).  

Me?  I'm thankful I can still get out of bed in the mornings, thankful Karen hasn't decided to kick me to the curb, thankful that Pip came into my life, thankful for Delilah, Alden, Imogen & Mason growing into beautiful little humans, thankful for friendships too numerous to even begin to tackle.  Danny Wenkel and his entire family have always bent over backwards to make sure I'm having fun when we do our little rasslin' thing, Jeff Rudd has smartening me up on the business aspects of the game and every wrestler standing in the squared circle looking at me like a madman due to me calling their match results wrong or mis-pronouncing their name...Sorry about that.  Want to know when I've fubared something at a live show?  Watch Grant.  He'll be screaming, grabbing his hat, stomping and rolling his eyes like a crap game.

I'm especially thankful to my life-long friend Tommy Smith for continuing to send me incredible songs to write lyrics for and to sing on as RoxX.  This has been the one single thing I can point towards as a reason to continue onward that I'm actually STILL excited about.  We have recorded and published ten songs on SoundCloud in the past 14 months and have several in the can awaiting release.  Also, we're still churning out new stuff, as I submitted lyrics for another new tune ("Life's Good") just yesterday afternoon.  Hope we get a chance to get back in studio soon.  As a matter of fact, Click Here to hear RoxX's latest release "Sanity And Darkness".

Aiight.  Detroit and Minnesota is close, gonna go veg in front of the television and see if I can coax Pip into joining me before I have to take Karen to work.

Somebody email me a deviled egg, aiight?

Donald Trump Has Broke The Interwebs Today

The barrage of insults, barbs, innuendo and snark has been nearly unbearable over the past few months.  Aimed at me, aimed at Karen and I, or aimed at the general "Trump voters", I saw them.  I may not always acknowledge them, but yeah, I saw them.  Today, those same individuals who were proclaiming a war on behalf of the common good and history are crying in their beer.  Today those same folks are asking that the victors be humble and forgiving of past trespasses.  

I seem to recall in 2008, a day or so after Barack Obama was first elected, responding to a reporter's question with "I won."  I recall Valeri Jarrett's threats that they were "watching" their opposition and would "deal with them" after the 2012 elections.  I also recall being labeled a "tea-bagger", a "standard redneck", a "deplorable" and other things to numerous to list here.  You realize that both "standard redneck" and "deplorable" both came out of the mouth of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the term "tea-bagger" was first coined as a nick-name for conservative Tea Party members by CNN's own homosexual anchor-person Anderson Cooper, who fully realized the implications when he used the slur.

So today, something closer to the values I believe in is coming into power and after 8 years of abuse, I need to be kinder and gentler to those who believe differently than I do?  Yeah, I need to bite my tongue and NOT inflict a little pain to the same folk that have tried to torment me with threats of "racism" and whatever the catchphrase of the week was at the time.  I need to remember that in most cases, I don't really know the persons who belittled me in the past, and I don't know the pain they've been through or are currently going through.

Sorry, that's not how I roll.

Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.  So simple.  So true.  So foreign to youth today.  Wonder why?

Politics & Religion

Totally enjoying the chaos that has just broadsided the DNC in the form of FBI Director Comey announcing he's reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails less than two weeks before the election.  On a Friday.  After 1pm.  She's not been able to distance herself from the emails since it was made public and now she's got the added bonus of having the emails connected with an underage sex story in the form of sleazy perv Anthony Weiner, the husband of Hillary's hand-maiden Huma Abedin.  Also, why don't they call her Huma Weiner?  Inquiring minds want to know!

What I'm going to ask now...involves 2 gallons of nitro glycerin, 3 pygmy fainting goats, an all-expense paid round-trip to the Quickie Mart for kerosene and coffee, around 4 dozen angry Hell's Angels, the Spanish Inquisition, the Lost Ark of the Covenant, Blackbeard's treasure and an angry sleep-deprived pregnant wife.  Are you with me?

Right now, a half-dozen people in the world are laughing at the paragraph above.  Those are people that have been employed or associated with one John Kuzmier over the years.  I could write a book on this one joker, 100% honest and true, and not one reader would believe the words on the pages.  Kuzmier came across to me as a little shady on our first meeting, but he offered me a job, so I had to set that aside.  Started on Monday, on Friday he writes me a paycheck for Monday through Wednesday my first week.  He sends me to HIS bank with other employees to cash our checks.  No problem on the first two, but when my turn came the teller shook her head and said "there's not enough in the account to cash your check, sorry!"  Yeah.  His wife bought that check from me that evening at their home for cash.  His wife.

Sorry.  I'm just not excited at all about either Halloween or the upcoming 40th anniversary high school reunion.  Haven't had a single visitor the last two Halloweens here, and never considered going to the reunion in the first place.  High school was an awkward situation I was glad to be done with and I was on the road within a few years travelling with a show band playing a six-state area 28 days out of the month.  When I came off of the road and ready to take roots again, I was a different animal in many ways from the kid that graduated high school and drove across town to college...

Nuts and Bolts

Had a wonderful 'guest' here today, a gentleman who I didn't even get his name.  He was born in Mexico and worked 15 years as a cook on a ship, he's seen the world and had GREAT stories.  He laughed when I commented that my cat, Pip, is a "yankee" cat (he's from MD, so technically not a 'yankee') and the word "gringo" came out of his mouth.  The two other Mexican folks with him froze until they realized the conversation we were having.

Classic TV was playing in the background, a black and white episode of Gunsmoke showing as he asked if I knew who Pancho Villa was.  Knowing him, he explains that the president of the US ordered the army to capture him.  At that point in time our army was wearing green uniforms, earlier versions of todays.  Villa instructed his people to form a line of sentries to be on the lookout for the green-clad army.  When you spot them, you rush to the next sentry station and report you've seen the 'green' and you need to 'go' to the next sentry station and so on.  So the phrase used by the exhausted sentries was actually "Green!  Go!"

So I'm told that's where the term "gringo" comes from, and it's not said to be any sort of slur or insult.  I guess if he wasn't such a likable guy, I could have whipped out my photos from CMLL in 2006 and tell him that me and Canek are besties, but I didn't.  Great guy, great worker, he leaves me with an apartment looking 100% better than it did when he arrived.  Pleasant surprise of the day, CHECK!

And yes, I AM getting evil with a CNN Don Lemon graphic, which I have altered to allow me to add photos and a CNN caption to.  I've made a handful already and I'm sure there will be more!

For the old schoolers, I did a half-baked series of photos of both Otto Schwanz and Playboy Tripp.  Found one that was never published.  Enjoy, ya'll!

Upside Down, Inside Out

Been a few since I 'remembered' to update this puppy, which is still mostly unknown of, so let me drop a few random thoughts here:

How "old school" do you have to be to actually get excited about buying a new flip-phone?  I'm there.  Battery in my Acutel TracFone started getting weird and I picked up a new LG today at Wallace World.  Still haven't bought minutes in 3 or 4 months, currently have 100 minutes in the account.  Yeah, I paid a whopping $15 for the new phone!  BTW, TracFone is the way to go if you don't want to pay for service you don't use.

I've personally had enough of these "athletes" using the National Anthem as a way to draw attention to themselves in "protest" of this injustice or that.  Professional athletes are VERY well paid for what they do and they can afford to make their point on numerous platforms without insulting those who died in service and defense of our country.  ECU's band actually had members kneeling and not playing the Anthem?  They'd be on their way home, each and every one of them.  The white kids raising their fists during the Anthem at the Carolina football game?  Remember, there are video cameras EVERYWHERE these days kids.  Keep it up.  When the blowback hits, you're going to want to pretend you're surprised, otherwise the whole victim act is a waste of time.

Notice I didn't mention the falling NFL ratings in the above paragraph?

This NFL season's first quarter came to an end with everything upside down and standings are turned inside out.  It's early in this marathon season and I'm not in a panic over the Carolina Panther's 1-3 start despite Cam being concussed and likely out on Monday night.  I laughed out loud on Sunday watching the Cowboys and 49ers.  Early in the 2nd quarter with the 49ers in front, Troy Aikman starts lamenting about "when will Tony Romo return?"  If Jerry Jones would quit getting facelifts long enough to use his brain, he'd send Romo packing for whatever he can get in return for him and use all of that freed up salary cap to build a monster around Dak Prescott.  And yeah, I am NOT a Cowboy fan.

Folks who have inadequate or even no insurance for their belongings and home are living a lie.  If you can't afford to protect what you have, you can't afford it.

Still having a blast with the Pip Rocket.  Fun, crazy cat that plays fetch and sleeps on my feet.  Most mornings around 5:30 he crawls up the bed to my elbow wanting to be petted.  He's went from silent kitty to very vocal kitty in the past few weeks and he's began selectively attacking rolls of paper towels, bananas, apples and assorted potatoes.  Yup, we have to hide the bananas.

Pip says "hi, ya'll."  Until next time, happy trails, partners!

When You Thought You'd Seen It All

Rest assured you'll either see something unexpected or something you've seen before.  What other choices are there?

Our band released our political opus on SoundCloud yesterday, our take on politics in 2016, "Electile Dysfunction".  Here's the link to the RoxX tune:

RoxX: ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Lyrics and credits are contained on the link above ya'll.

So tell me, how does it feel to be described as a "basketful of deplorables"?  I rather like it.  Has an old school feel to it.  The only name I like better is "deadbeats and ne'er-do-wells", but who's to complain?

BABY TIME!

Grand-daughter Imogen breaking hearts.

Short but sweet, thanks to the baby pic!  Take care kids, act like ya'll got some sense, aiight?

The Handbag is FULL

I don't know what to think about the news stories I read every day about retail employees refusing to wait on uniformed police officers.  The one that grabbed my attention today happened at a Walmart store in St. Cloud Florida, where a uniformed police officer was refused service because of "skin color" according to both the local TV news AND Walmart.  Walmart refuses to comment, as they refer to this as a "personnel issue".  Walmart admits that not one, but TWO employees refused to wait on the officer and indicated the reason why they would not wait on him was the officer's skin color.

I'm sorry.  Actually, I'm NOT sorry,  I'm sick of this.  When Walmart gets ripped off they have no qualms with calling their local police and expecting professional service.  Sorry, but that whole "service" thing goes both ways.  Service and professionalism are both two-way streets.  Same for the fast-food places that are refusing service or tampering with officer's orders.

It's not a personnel issue as Walmart contends, it's a total breakdown of respect in the United States by an entire generation of snot-noses who have no work ethic, no common sense, no pride and VERY limited intelligence.  It's a generation being raised by a previous generation that has had everything handed to them, and has finally seized the idea that not only do they not have to work for a living, but they also now want to control the incomes of those who DO work.

You can't blame this phenomenon on Black Lives Matter, or even that walking turd Obama, but you can certainly blame it on a lack of home training.  If your child proves himself to be a classless, base, ignorant and rude individual, it is a reflection on their home life and the parents.  Yeah.  It's YOUR fault if you've allowed your kid to become a self-centered criminal with no home training.  It's ALL YOU.

LBJ told the world that they'd keep the plantation open and running for fifty years, and he was correct.  It's much easier to pretend to be a victim that requires special treatment, support and safe spaces than it is to be an adult that understands responsibilities and takes care of his own family.  Leather bootstraps, which one used to pull himself up by have been replaced with plastic Crocs and initiative has been kidnapped and held ransom by the social media hive mind.  Common sense is a trait you only read about today, especially in the media and in politics.  

Everyone that my generation was taught to give the highest respect, like our military heroes, our law enforcement officers and rescue personnel have been relegated to the back pages by a generation that demands a higher minimum wage to flip burgers than our emergency medical responders earn today.  Who decided that "protesting" was the way to get more free stuff?  What happened to that initiative that used to burn like a wildfire across America?

You all know the answers to those questions.  And I'm gonna tell ya, this country has gone to hell in a handbag...

Big Weekend Upcoming!

We finally took the plunge, including a little vacation time for Karen so we can do a whirlwind tour this coming weekend.  Have a new rental car reserved so we can make an overnight visit to the grand-kids for their birthday party on Saturday before driving back home later in the day.  I'm finally going to meet Alden and Imogen in person and catch up with grandbaby #1 Delilah.

Too much cuteness for one photo, and this was from April, with Delilah, Imogen and Alden showing off their smiles.  I'm terrified that I'm going to want to snatch these babies up and bring them home with me on Saturday, but I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with them on Sunday when we go back to work at Riders In The Country with R.C.W. Boogie's Birthday Bash Lizard Lick Style.

There is so much to do, so much to consider leading up to this weekend.  The #1 issue is should I trim my beard sometime between now and next spring?  I'm sure inquiring minds want to know, or something.  The second issue has been handled, Delilah and Alden's birthday presents are in hand and becomes the third issue, when will KAREN get around to wrapping them?  Then there's the other issues, will Kingfish drop trou at Riders?  Will Earl Dawson arrive with the Lizard Lick crew?  Will Riders in the Country survive feeding an entire rasslin' crowd George Rider Hotdogs?

Tune in next time and find out!  Same Bat-Time!  Same Bat-Channel!

Winding Down the Career...

I've had a blast over the past 25 years in the indy wrestling business.  I've met legends, dined with divas, rubbed elbows with stars and got advice from a few Hall of Famers.  I got into the business before the internet tell-all age, which effectively changed the sport for the worse when many of the secrets of the business were exposed, publicized and spread with glee by anyone with an internet connection.  

Photo Credit:  Jeff Rudd  (l-r) Rich Landrum, Sandy Scott, Johnny Weaver, myself, Rocky Kernodle & Don "Pride of the USA" Kernodle

I grew up idolizing Johnny Weaver, the rugged fan favorite that run the Mid Atlantic for years.  I was fortunate enough to meet and work with him on numerous occasions as well and had the pleasure to meet and work with members of his family.  Spoiler Alert:  His wife dated Elvis before marrying Johnny!

Today there is an alphabet soup of "groups", "organizations", and "promoters" each running over the same areas that have been proliferated with pro wrestling events for decades with varying success.  I've worked for many of these groups over the years, but tend to primarily work today with CWF Mid Atlantic, Riders Championship Wrestling & Benefit Championship Wrestling.  I was once in demand, back in the day when people had the idea that "this guy can get you all over the internets" (sic) and due to television experience in the mid '90's and again in the mid '00's.  Then the invitations began to peter out and the demand went somewhere south.  I confronted one promoter whom I had worked for since he began doing shows and asked why he was no longer booking me.  His response was "people see you and think this a CWF show..."

Photo Credit:  Steve Zeban -  World Class Championship Wrestling's Bill Mercer and I

I don't really know how much longer I'm going to continue with pro wrestling, but retirement keeps eluding a date and time.  I'd actually spoke with Karen about ending it all April 30th, but a week prior Rob McBride contacts me about running Riders in August.  And yes, I've already accepted a booking with Benefit Championship Wrestling's next event in November, so it's on for while longer regardless.

People outside of the business have no clue about the way the wrestling community takes care of each other, even if it's a glad hand and a pat on the back when you're feeling down.  As I'm approaching 60, I'm beginning to realize the sheer number of young men and women I've seen begin training, learning the ropes with experience and even retiring afterwards may be astronomical.  And it's those faces, the ones just beginning the trek, ones who have yet to be disillusioned by those outrageous slings and arrows of misfortune and the ones that keep getting back to their feet after getting knocked down that make me go on.  I seriously realize those young folks and the "wrestling family" will be what I miss the most when it all comes to an end.  Oh, and the divas too.

Photo Credit:  Amber Gertner  (l-r) NWA Women's World Champion Amber O'Neal Gallows, myself, "Funtime" Shelly Martinez

Especially the divas.  

See ya at ringside kids!

Another New Beginning

Today has been a whirlwind.  Dave, one of my most trusted family friends, drove from Maryland to my home in North Carolina to deliver a new companion to our home.  A three-year old bouncing baby boy that loves to be petted on.  He was suddenly on the verge of being homeless and Dave contacted me as soon as he heard.  He discussed driving down on Sunday and a half hour later he's telling me "I'm coming tomorrow between 12:30 and 1."  

The kitty in question was originally Dave's (maybe he was Josh's), but he gave him to another family after he had problems with the older cats.  The new family informed Dave yesterday they would have to give the cat away after several months because they were relocating.

His name is Pip, which I will always call him even if I do decide to call him something totally different down the road, and he's a bright-eyed boy that loves attention and has made himself at home in under a day.  No trauma, no spitting and hissing like previous cats introduced to our house, came in found his water dish 2 minutes after arriving.  Showed him the litter box, he casually checked out the room and I walked off.  Pretty sure after a 5 and a half hour ride, he needed a little privacy.

He's already sprawled out on my bed and shown me his belly and has been more affectionate than you'd expect for a brand new friend in a new environment.  Hoping Pip doesn't decide to follow Bootsy's path into training to become a Ninja Attack Cat because Pip goes up and down the stairs here silently, where Bootsy gave you plenty of warning.

Building Anger...

I entered the world of fantasy, of imagery, of personalities and conflict willingly.  I was taught in an orderly fashion by people many consider "legends" today, quiet moments chatting in a locker room, on a car trip or even in passing in a restaurant.  I still learn from contemporaries and correspondence about the main point of what we are involved in today.  Everyone taught the one aspect that appears to be suffering the most these days, respect.

There is a widening generation gap between those I learned from and today's fans (who I've been told to no longer refer to as "marks" because it is "name-calling").  I've heard for years the grumbling from the old school guys about "kids" ruining the business, "kids" exposing the business, or "kids" messing up things for everybody else in the business.  These same men and women would most likely tell you today the the problem is the "kids" running the business, rather than the tell-all world of the internet choking the life out of the mystique that used to surround us all...

Hurt

Said goodbye to my personal sanity today, after a surprising diagnosis of huge spots on his lungs that tested out not to be infectious.  Took him in for a check up and the doctor immediately asks how long he'd been having problems breathing.  Long story short, after three hours at the office, he tested negative for all of the feline leukemia ailments, infections, was administered Lasiks because of fluid around his heart and then x-rayed.  They could not see his heart for a mass of growths in his lungs.  Most likely cancerous.

I've screamed.  I've lost it a few times.  I've tried to convince myself it's true (so I'm at least up to Denial).  The hardest part was gathering up his food & water dishes for washing and tossing his purr pad in the washer for a spin.  It's only been a few hours, but I continue to glance toward the back of the couch, the credenza at the window and everywhere else he used to chill.  The bare spot on the kitchen floor is painful, as is the empty room where the box resided.

I met this particular feline almost a year before my sister-in-law asked me to bring him home with me, she already had the entire crazy cat lady set.  The first time I saw him, he jumped onto the hood of my car and immediately slid down and off.  Looked up at me like "I meant to do that" and jumped back on the hood.  Same result.  He lived outside during that time until I finally brought him home.  

The first discovery was that he had been declawed.  Otherwise, every plastic garbage bag hanging over trash cans in our home would have been shredded.  And yes, he'd been altered as well.  He had the personality of someone who had been hurt and betrayed when we met, but after a couple of weeks of explaining to us HIS boundaries, we co-existed in peace.  Weeks later, he's sleeping on the foot of my bed and following me around like a puppy.  He was also quit adept at sneaking up behind you, grabbing one of your legs with his front paws and biting it.  Used to be a bloody mess, but he figured it out after a while and stopped randomly chomping on the back of my leg.

Karen was another story.  She could walk by him and he'd attack her, and I think it was because she didn't acknowledge his presence as she passed.  Someone suggested that perhaps he didn't like women, which knowing what little as I do about his past, I agree it's a real possibility.  He'd sneak up on Pam and get her too.

I'm feeling much better now, thank you interwebs.  Even if not a single human reads this, it's been a moment of good memories that I so badly need right now.  Guess I'll drop a pic of him here as well.  We called him Mr. Cat, Kato the Ninja Attack Cat and "Bootsy".  One crazy loving buddy I'll miss the rest of my life.  Godspeed old friend.

No Lies

I won't front for a second.  Screamed, sang, spit and strained and I will stand here all day and tell you the honest truth:  I am NOT the powerful vocalist Mark Farner is and was in 1971, but we gave it HELL!  Initial rough vocal mix is incredible with some BIG (dare I say almost Queen-like?) backing vocals.  Tommy Smith took the song and made it tap out on both bass and guitars (and backing vocals) and our co-conspirator in this little project, Joe Perri of Youtube's Drum Channel flat tears it up on drums.  I am just honored to be a part of this one guys.  Seriously honored.

I'm sure Tommy will tweak the mix on it a bit more, it's his nature to try everything he can think of before deciding what he likes best.  He's also a lead break away from completing our election song "Electile Dysfuction" and adding some final touches to "We Will Not Fail" before releasing.  On future projects, Tommy says he's "got something going" that I'll be hearing soon for a new project and we're still knocking around another cover, either Alice Cooper's "Under My Wheels" or the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus".  I'm leaning toward Walrus despite being the one that suggested Cooper!

Coming Attractions!

Tommy Smith and myself have began another musical journey featuring a well-known drummer, Joe Perri, the owner of YouTube's Drum Channel.  He offered up his drum track to Grand Funk Railroad's "I Come Tumblin'" from the epic E Pluribus Funk album (1971).  I've heard the first rough mix of guitar/bass/drums (read: Tommy/Tommy/Joe Perri) and I stand with my mouth open and jaw slack.  Sounds INCREDIBLE to say the least.  I will attempt to do Mark Farner a little justice this coming Saturday as it's MY turn to make some noise on this track!

Oh yeah, we're collectively known as ROXX!

Check out ALL of our releases at Tommy Smith's Soundcloud account or check out the ROXX Music Page!  Share the music, ya'll and feel free to comment!

Relaunch May 2016

Never know how to react to the fact I had an old blog site that I posted 3 times on and forgot about.  Well, I've wiped that puppy, re-named it and re-thought it.  Doesn't guarantee that I won't forget about again in a week, but that's the chance you take trying to get inside of MY head, ya'll!

Yup, this is how we began that whole satellite program, back in the day.  I will NEVER forget the anger that came across my mother's face when she realized that the graphic read "Randolph" Hedrick.  "That's NOT what your father and I named you!"  Thus, the almost annual post on the Insiders Soapbox titled "Randoph Is A Work!"

Today, yeah, still playing pro rasslin' but we've kicked up music side of my life too.  Currently recording with Tommy Smith under the name of ROXX, we have several original songs already published on Soundcloud.  Here's the most recent, our first ballad, "It Wasn't Me":

It Wasn't Me by ROXX 

Please feel free to share ROXX music and comment!