A little story + Music reviews

My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were married for over fifty years before they passed on. I met them once after they moved to Florida.

My great-grandfather made his own wine. He told us that some turned out really good, and some were undrinkable. He not only made his own wine but built two piers on the lake he lived on.

I noticed that he and my great-grandmother touched a lot. Smiled a lot too. Their default facial expressions were smiles, even though they were very old and probably had pains that I've yet to experience. Still, they smiled and held hands when walking.

That's so much more than I could say about my other relatives. As a young kid, I saw my great-grandparents married for over fifty years, smiling, and holding hands. Then I saw other relatives who spent time in prison, got married, divorced, married, divorced, married, and divorced. One used to get drunk and beat up his wife and oldest son. Another cheated on his wife and slapped around his kids.

Kids are a lot smarter than adults realize. I knew which relative I wanted to emulate. To this day, emulating my great-grandfather has been one of my dreams. I wanted to marry one woman and be with her until death do us part. Luckily for me, I found a woman who feels the same way.

So teach by example. Your life has a lot more meaning than you realize. There is a little kid in your life who is watching you, and with that in mind, you're a much larger influence than you realize. Make it a good one.

Now for the music

Thank you Jenn. I've been meaning to buy the new Mars Volta album, Frances the Mute, for awhile now. Jenn posted the video on her blog and that cemented it. I downloaded it from the iTunes store and am currently listening to it.

If you've never heard of Mars Volta, they're a unique band. They do what they want to do. If I had to classify them, they're rock, jazz, fusion, blues, psychadelic, and metal all rolled into one. Their music is kind of music for other musicians, so if you're a musician or a music nut, you'd definitely want to check them out. This album's shortest song is almost six minutes and one song is over a half hour.

The music is both in English and Spanish. I'm not sure if they're American or Mexican. I don't really know their background.

As musicians, they're top notched. Their singer's voice is okay, but it works. He sings with a tremendous amount of passion. Think of their guitarrist's solos as a metal version of Carlos Santana. Their drummer is all over the place and I love it.

If you can't stomach extreme music, this band isn't for you. I completely understand. Mrs. Z is still in bed, so she hasn't heard it yet but I'm sure she won't like it. I however give it 8 dead zombies. Some parts are brilliant, but some are too dissinent, even for me.

I first heard Beautiful Creatures at a strip club in L.A. where the lead guitarrist's girlfriend danced. I went up to the D.J. and asked "who was that?" He told me the name of the stripper and I said, "no, who was that band?"

"Beautiful Creatures," he answered.

Well, the lead guitarrist left the band and I wondered if it would fold, considering he co-wrote all the music. Instead, they regrouped and put out a second album, heavier and less melodic than the first.

It's called Deuce and has a new lead guitarrist and a new drummer. Neither musicians are as good as the ones they replaced.

However, the album grew on me after a few listens.

I give the album 8 dead zombies . L.A. still continues to put out good bands, it's just the music industry is lame. So if you want good music, you just have to dig a little.