Sad Day in Muskyville

Brought the boat in to get it winterized. Means any more fishing this year will be slumming in somebody elses boat. Always a sad day to put the boat away, but it has to be done. Boo Hoo.

Hell is Freezing...hopefully

I was on Rik Emmett's website forum. Great forum (but you have to pay for it). Rik consistenly posts responses to questions and other topics. In a response to one post he implies that a potential reconciliation with the other members of Triumph (Gil Moore and Mike Levine) might be in the works. I almost pissed myself I am so excited. Don't know if that means a reunion or what, but if there is I will pay whatever it takes to get to a show.

I told MommaMusky that even if we could only afford one ticket I was getting one. She let me know that she would give me a complete review of the show when she got back. I guess I deserved that.

Death to the MuskyMobile, long live the MuskyMobile

Well the MuskyMobile bit it last week. After 150,000 miles the electrical system shit the bed and called for some very pricey repairs. Of course anytime a vehicle requires some repairs MommaMusky looks to buy a new vehicle.

So I'm on a conference call Thursday, trying to get my companies quarterly filing done with the SEC when my cell phone starts ringing. I see its MM. I didn't answer because of the conference call, but she was persistent and continued calling. So I stop the conference call figuring it's an emergency, but no, MM has a sales guy at the local dealership on the phone and she is negotiating a new deal. I tried for about 5 minutes to pay attention but I had to much going on at the office.

Friday, I took the day off and pretty much slept all morning and afternoon, MM wakes me up at 4:00 and off to the dealership we go. We came home with a new (used) 2003 Chevy Trailblazer. So the family has a new MuskyMobile.

Heading out to the lake tomorrow for what might be the last fishing trip of the year. Water temps on in the low 40's, weather is supposed to be low of 32 degrees and a high of 40. Gonna be a bit cold.

No Guitar but Emmett amazing

Well I made my attempt on winning a silent auction for a Rik Emmett signed Dean V guitar. The actual guitar is a bottom of the line Dean V, which retails for about $200. Once the bidding broke $900 I got out, although Momma Musky told me to go after it, I couldn't part with that much cash.

The evening wasn't a total bust. Dave Stoddard opened the show with some folky acoustic guitar and was an absolute riot. I've seen him before but he really brought the house down with a song he wrote with his daughter called, "There's a Turd in the Street." His set lasted about 1/2 hour. During the intermission I made the mistake of turning my blackberry on which had 5 urgent emails and one voice mail. Of course I was stupid enough to respond to one of the emails which resulted in an almost immediate phone call.

Rik Emmett came on after the intermission and was awesome as usual. Every time I see him play I am just amazed. He certainly can't hit the high notes signing like he used to, you would have to clamp my balls in a vice for me to come even close, but his guitar playing is incredible. It is obvious that he loves to play his guitar (talk about Rock and Roll Faces). What was even better is we were in the front row center. He didn't play all my Triumph favorites but did play Magic Power, Lay it on the Line and Hold On.

During Lay it on the Line I leaned over to Momma Musky and said, "I don't quite play it that good do I?", she chuckled and instead of giving words of encouragement she said, "well at least you try hard." Gee thanks!!!

It was obvious that he has seen it all in his 30+ years of performing. During Hold On Rik's guitar shit the bed and died during the song. Instead of stopping the show, he called out the chord changes to Dave Dunlop who was playing lead (and switched to rhythm) and finished the song. It was interesting to watch.

Picked up his new CD and a DVD of some of his performances. The DVD is great, haven't listened to the CD yet, but the stuff he played live Saturday was great so I'm sure I will like it. Can't wait till the CD of his new band Airtime comes out. He is currently shopping the CD to the major labels and hopefully it will get picked up. Been searching for a clip or two, but haven't found anything yet.

Two things I can't stand....Why is it whenever you go to a show that is in a small venue there has to be one guy who wants to be the life of the party and can't shut up? Also, why is it when prior to the show it is announced that photo's are OK but please no flash that people can't abide by that request?

Date night with Momma Musky

Date night with Momma Musky tonight.... How does that play into Muskies and Metal? Well after the obligatory dinner we are off the see Rik Emmett (ex Lead Singer/Guitarist of Triumph). My brother turned me onto Triumph in the early 80's and I have been a huge Emmett fan ever since.

The show tonight is a two man deal. He will be playing with Dave Dunlop, no band. Just two guitar arrangements of some of my favorite songs, hopefully including Fight the Good Light, Lay It on the Line, Magic Power from the Triumph days. We went and saw him play last year and it was amazing. This guy can play. He is in his 50's now, but the energy he brings to a show is incredible. It is obvious that he loves playing his guitar.

As the show is a fund raiser for the Crystal Lake food pantry they are auctioning off a few things including an autographed Dean Flying V guitar. Money's tight, but the boss has given the go ahead to take a crack at it. We will see, but I'm guessing somebody else will be willing to pay way more that I will.

Should be a great night.