Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5832938535004868"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script>Concentration Although I have many interests I have trouble focusing on any one thing for more than fifteen or twenty minutes. After that I become restless and start thinking about a different activity. This evening was very typical for me. I spent some time practicing classic Led Zeppelin riffs on my guitar. I practiced Whole Lotta Love, a portion of the solo in Stairway to Heaven, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song and How Many More Times. The thing about these riffs is that they look surprisingly easy when you read them on tablature. Then I try to play them and they’re not as easy as they seem. To get them right requires continuous repetitious practice of the same riffs over and over on a daily basis. I guess this is called self discipline. After about twenty minutes of this I had enough and switched over t...

How Much Fun Can One Man Have? I believe in having fun. Unfortunately my wife and I live in a very small house. We also have two dogs and one cat. As a result we have to live in pretty close quarters. To keep each other's sane we have to have times when one of us goes out and the other one has the house to themselves. Last night was my turn to have the house to myself [except for the animals]. The dogs I had to put outside for a while because they would knock my guitar over. Plus it is hard to concentrate on what you're playing when a dog is trying to sit in your lap. Both our dogs love to go to the dog park. Yesterday the weather was not nice enough to take them. This always means there'll be a price to pay when my dogs don't get a good run. It means that they will try to pester me all evening with their excess energy.   Fortunately, I only planned on practicing my guitar in about 20 min. segments. I seem to have a difficult time concentrating on any one activity for...

Some of Those Old Movies Were Damn Scary I have always said that I am never bored. I actually pride myself on this. The only times I might be bored is if someone takes me someplace I don't want to be. If I am left to my own devices I can always find something interesting to do. This is because I have developed a lot of silly pastimes over the years. I can be alone for long stretches of time and completely enjoy myself. This weekend for a flash in time I almost had to eat my words. I had just finished reading all my subscriptions on blogster. I must commend you guys. You blogsters are very creative writers and the thinkers. When you are not, you are funny which is just as good. I could've started up a blog post of my own but it was getting too late at night and I didn't want to get my mind overstimulated. I often have trouble sleeping so I try and watch something meaningless before I go to bed hoping that this will settle me down. Fortunately I discovered that this was not...

When Giants Walked the Earth This week I have been reading When Giants Walked the Earth by Mick Wall. It is a biography of the iconic band Led Zeppelin. This is the best book on Led Zeppelin that I have read. It is probably one of the best rock biographies that I have read period. Many rock biographies degenerate into tales of substance abuse and not much else. When Giants Walked the Earth reads more like a novel. The story certainly has some fascinating characters including Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham. Jimmy Page’s extreme interest in Aleister Crowley is explored in great detail. Peter Grant is portrayed as a larger than life character who was notorious for intimidating any business associates who Grant felt did not have the best interests of his act in mind. John Bonham’s Jeckyl and Hyde personality is also discussed in great detail. In addition to being probably the heaviest drummer of all time Bonzo was also known as The Beast when he was on tour...

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5832938535004868"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script> SNFU Yesterday evening I was visiting my son. He showed me a video which the featured a Canadian punk rock band called SNFU. There was a time when I once enjoyed the music of punk bands such as the Sex Pistols and the DOA. What I liked about punk rock is that you usually didn't have to be a great musician to play the music. It was also a good way for young people to get out a lot of their angst. In the 1990s the music of bands like Nirvana was really in a similar vein. Prior to yesterday evening I was not really familiar with the Canadian punk rock scene. I had heard of DOA from Vancouver but that was about it. The video we watched was called Open Your Mouth and Say Mr. Chi Pig. A good portion of this documentary follows the struggles of SNFU’s front man, Ken Chinn. Ken Chinn has more than a few d...

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5832938535004868"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script> The Music of 1966 (part two) Okay, let’s get in my time machine. It’s the summer of 1966 and I’m fourteen years old again. It’s the summer holidays, school’s out and I’m listening to CKRC to my transistor radio. Whatever the disc jockeys are going to play I know it’s going to be good. The first song that I hear is 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians. The organ riff is simple but drives this number. It is the short but wonderful era of garage bands. This was a time where four or five teenagers could buy themselves an electric guitar, portable organ, bass or drums, get together and form a band. If they caught fire in their home town and were very lucky they might cut a single and get it played on their local radio station. This is how bands like The Guess Who from Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada got their st...

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5832938535004868"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script> The Music of 1966 (Part one) I woke up from a nap and for some odd reason I started thinking about the music I listened to during my teenage years. I remembered that the music that I enjoyed the most was during the years 1965 and 1966. These were magical years for AM radio. This was still the era where the 45 or single ruled the airways. A band or singer needed one or two hit singles to sell their latest LP release. For the younger people who may be reading this I should explain a few terms. We now live in an era of digital music with ipods, mp3 players and digital downloads. When I was growing up we had just vinyl records. There were two basic forms of vinyl records. One was known as the single or the 45. This was a small record with a donut hole in the middle. You needed to have a plastic record adap...

What Is Success? This week I have started reading a book titled The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill. I have also been listening to the audio book version. As I get older I find that my eyes get tired more easily. For this reason audio books have been a Godsend for me. This book started me thinking about how one may define success. The answer to this question will vary depending on the individual. What follows is some of the things that I would include in my perception of the concept of success: 1)       Enough money to live comfortably and to be able to afford a few luxuries. 2)       Being able to live at peace with one self. 3)       Being in optimum physical and mental health. 4)       The ability to calmly and reasonably deal with adversity. 5)       Having people in your life who love you. 6)       Having a close and peaceful relati...

Incident at Loch Ness Last night I watched the DVD , Incident at Loch Ness for perhaps the fourth time. This movie is my favorite lake monster movie. I have been interested in the topic of lake monsters since I was a little boy. My Granny used to tell me stories about the Loch Ness monster and our Canadian equivalent, Ogopogo. Incident at Loch Ness starts slowly but be forewarned it gets better after the first ten minutes. Although this movie is a mockumentary and is satirical in nature it definitely gets creepy. Every time you see Nessie’s humps or hear her crash into the fishing boat it is like a shot to the system. If you have a sense of humor and like a bit of suspense this is a good video to see.

Remember Kato Kaelin The Casey Anthony story plays out like a play. In any play there are secondary or bit players. In this case I am thinking about people like Roy Kronk and Casey’s ex fiancé, Jesse Grund. I have noticed that Jesse’s father likes to take part in television interviews. I also thought of Casey’s boyfriend, Tony and her friend, Amy. All of these people and perhaps others could probably cash in on book deals. Remember Kato Kaelin? And what about Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter? The possibilities are endless.

Biographies and Autobiographies One of my favorite activities is reading. This year I have read or am in the process of reading several biographies and autobiographies. I have enjoyed this genre of non fiction writing since high school. I will give you a list of some of my favorite biographies and autobiographies. I have listened to many of these titles in their audio book format. Here is my list: 1)       Life by Keith Richards 2)       When Giants Walked the Earth   the biography of Led Zeppelin by Mick Wall. 3)       Decision Points by George W. Bush 4)       The Last Boy the biography of Mickey Mantle by Jane Leavy 5)       Mustaine by Dave Mustaine 6)       I am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne 7)       High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips 8)       Robert Kennedy His Life by Evan Thomas 9...

Motorhead Stage Fright DVD Review<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5832938535004868"      crossorigin="anonymous"></script> First of all I'd like to say that Motorhead is my favorite band. I first learned about Motorhead from watching WWE wrestling. I learned that Motorhead played the entrance song called The Game for the wrestler, Triple H. I like this song so much that I decided to find out about the band Motorhead. I remember, vaguely, hearing their song Ace of Spades in the 1980s. I am surprised now that I heard so little about the band then. I soon learned that Motorhead have a massive catalog. I also got to see the DVD called Live Fast Die Old. This documentary does a very good job of exploring the legend of Motorhead. Of course, it is impossible to talk about Motorhead without talking about Lemmy Kilmister. Lemmy is the band’s bass player, songwriter and lead vocalist. He is a le...

The Best of the Rolling Stones (part three) As mentioned previously my two favorite Rolling Stones albums are December’s Children and Flowers. The third best Stones record in my opinion is Aftermath. This was the first album that really featured the writing talents of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Their previous records had favored a lot of cover songs. By the time Aftermath was released Jagger and Richards had matured as songwriters. What really make this a great record, however, is the contributions of Brian Jones. Jones had the ability to pick up virtually any musical instrument and be able to play it well within an hour. This included instruments such as marimbas, the dulcimer and the flute. Brian quickly mastered the sitar and his playing of it on Paint It, Black truly made this a classic track. Lady Jane featured Jones on dulcimer, and Jones played marimbas on Under My Thumb. One must also give credit to Ian Stewart for his superb piano playing on several tracks included on Af...

The Best of the Stones (part two) The icing on the cake for the December’s Children album is the inclusion of two live tracks, Route 66 and I’m Movin’ On. At this time live concert tracks were relatively rare. These two tracks added some grit and grunge to this eclectic album. My second album selection would be Flowers. Flowers is another patched together US release. Like its predecessor, December’s Children, Flowers turned out to be a gem. Some of the best Rolling Stones single releases are included on this album. These include, Lady Jane, Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadows and the pastoral masterpiece Ruby Tuesday. This album makes very evident the musicianship of Brian Jones. Brian plays the flute on Ruby Tuesday and dulcimer on Lady Jane. With these two tracks the Rolling Stones had greatly expanded the artistry of what is termed rock music. One of my favorite cuts on Flowers is My Girl, the Smoky Robinson and the Miracles cover.

The Third Reich Last night I watched a two DVD set from the History Channel called The Third Reich . This documentary relates to the rise and fall of The Nazi regime in Germany . This DVD set proves that history is anything but dry and boring.   This is a difficult video to watch. It even includes a viewer discretion advisory. I found myself becoming very drawn in by this video the same way I might be by watching a very enthralling fictional movie. As The Third Reich is a two disc set I planned on only watching disc one last night. However, I was so fascinated by the first disc that I just had to watch disc two immediately after it. As I have stated before, real life is much more horrific than fiction and this historical documentary proves the point. Keep on learning my friends, Ken David Stewart

The Best of the Rolling Stones (part one) The question that occurred to me was, ”If I could only take three Rolling Stones albums with me to a desert island, which three would they be?” My first choice is easy, “December’s Children”. This is my all time favorite Rolling Stones album. I can still recall when I first heard it. I was at a friend’s house and his older brother had just purchased it. Ironically, this was a spliced together US album version. It contained tracks from the UK version of “Out of our Heads” with a couple of recent singles thrown in. It also contains a couple of tracks from the EP “Got Live If You Want It.”   I don’t know how much thought was put into the track selections or the track order on the original record. Whether it was by considered choice or not, it makes for a kick ass album. The first track, “She Said Yeah” starts with Keith’s or possibly Brian’s, slashing guitar chords. This gets the album off to a rocking start. This set also includes two of t...

Nightmares and Dreamscapes Nightmares and Dreamscapes is Stephen King’s best collection of short stories. In his introduction Mr. King basically explains what makes him write what he writes. He makes it sound like he almost can’t help himself from writing such great stories. I have Nightmares and Dreamscapes in hardcover, paperback, audio cassette version. I also have it downloaded from audible.com as an audio book. I have read the book and all the stories are great. Many of these short stories will shake the reader up and are not recommended for those of us with a weak heart or an easily upset stomach. My favorite stories from the Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection are Chattery Teeth and The Moving Finger. These two are really classic short stories in this genre.

The Beach Boys in Concert 1980 This evening I had the privilege of watching the Beach Boys play a concert in England in 1080. The name of this DVD is Good Timin’. This is a very appropriate title as this was one of those special Beach Boys concerts in which all the members of the band (including Brian Wilson) were present and were playing in top form. This DVD is a great piece of musical history and is just a plain joy to watch. The Beach Boys - Good Timin' (Live at Knebworth, England 1980)

The World is Yours by Motorhead The World is Yours is the most recent album by Motorhead. This band has never sat back on its laurels and put out a record that they didn’t believe in. Their most current CD release is no exception. The musical skills of this band have kept progressing over the years. The World Is Yours is a hard rocking album. Lemmy and the boys have refused to compromise their principles or change their music over the years. In my opinion this is why they have maintained such a loyal following. The songs on this album are all inspired by Lemmy’s philosophy of life and Lemmy doesn’t really care whether you agree with him or not. Lemmy’s attitude is that the world is a pretty awful place most of the time but that isn’t going to prevent him from getting his kicks and making the most of it.

1) The United States. You're a great country. Thank you for getting rid of Bin Laden and thank you for reading my blogs. Have a great birthday my American friends! 2) Dogs. Dogs will wreck everything in your house but I can't stop loving my critters. 3) Central air conditioning. I have lived without air conditioning for most of my adult life but this year Martha and I finally got central air installed in our home. What a treat on a day like this! When we were without air conditioning it would get so hot in our house that we would feel sick.

Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today: Recommendations From KDS for July 1, 2011 : "1) Happy birthday Canada: we're still the best country to live in on the planet. 2) The video box set for the 1972 Summit Hockey Series wit..."

1) Happy birthday Canada: we're still the best country to live in on the planet. 2) The video box set for the 1972 Summit Hockey Series with Canada playing the Soviets. This was the most exciting hockey series of all time. 3) The Sundaze CD Shakin' all Over by the Guess Who. This is a great compilation of great Guess Who sons recorded a few years before the Guess Who became international rock stars. This Cd may still be available on Amazon. 4) This Time Long Ago 2 CD set by The Guess Who. This set is a must for Guess Who die hard fans. 5) The Blue CD by Joni Mitchell. This album is raw and brutally honest. 6) Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuck were the best platooned goaltending team of all time.

Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today: KDS Recommendations for June 30, 2011 : "1) The PS3 system- I have owned my PS3 for several months and absolutely love it, It's great for games and watching movies. I also like bein..."

1) The PS3 system- I have owned my PS3 for several months and absolutely love it, It's great for games and watching movies. I also like being able to use Netflix on my PS3 system. It's also cool to be able to play my audible.com audio books and my music downloads on my PS3. 2) Smackdown vs Raw 2010 video game. I have this gane in both the PS2 and PS3 formats. I like this game as I can actually win against the computer opponent once in awhile. I also enjoy the entrance themes for the individual wrestlers. 3) TNA televised wrestling. If you want to watch several former WWE wrestlers this is your show, 4) The original Nuggets CD box set. This awesome CD set is all about garage rock 0f the pre-psychedelic era. Some of these garage bands came up with some really great singles. 5) GNC and Popeyes supplements. You can get reasonable prices on your workout supplements at both these outlets.

Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today: Ken David Stewart's Daily Recommendations June 29,... : "HLN tv channel- excellent coverage of The Casey Anthony Trial. The History Channel- I was a history major in university. This channel has s..."

HLN tv channel- excellent coverage of The Casey Anthony Trial. The History Channel- I was a history major in university. This channel has some excellent documentaries. Amazon.com- I have purchased a variety of products from this site including compact discs, DVDs, books and electronics from this site. I have been able to find products that I could not find anywhere else. I have been very satisfied with every product that I have purchased from Amazon.com. Motorhead.com- I have purchased a tee-shirt from this site. They have a good selection of Motorhead merchandise on their official website. Digital cameras- I bought a Samsung and I love it. Being able to download and upload your photos is cool. Ebay.com- I bought a used Living Air Purifier through this site a few years ago. The air purifier is still working great and I use it all the time.

1) Kilcona Dog Park- a good place to get some exercise and make your furry friends happy at the same time. 2) Giant mountain bikes- I love my silver Giant Rincon. I've owned mine for about five years now. This is another great way to get in your daily exercise. 3) The Word of Promise audio Bible. The narrators really bring scripture to life in this version. 4) The Winnipeg Public Library- Your local public library is still the best deal around. 5) Practising guitar using a Digitech Guitar Workstation, my Renegade guitar and my 120 watt Crate amp.

Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today: Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Monday, Ju... : "1) Chuck Sheridan, lead pastor of House of the Risen Son Ministries Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. Chuck is simply the best t preacher I have ev..."

1) Chuck Sheridan, lead pastor of House of the Risen Son Ministries Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. Chuck is simply the best t preacher I have ever heard. 2) House of the Risen Son Church- I don't like going to church but I do enjoy going to this one. 3) Motorhead- The greatest freaking rock and roll band in the world end of story. 4) The audiobook The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: a fascinating into the personality of Adolf Hitler. 5) The audiobook Robert Kennedy His Life by Evan Thomas. This books leaves no doubt that Robert F. Kennedy was a very complex man. 6) The Word of Promise audiobook. This is the best dramatized version of the Bible that I have ever heard.

Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today: Ken David Stewart's Recommendations for Today : "1) Shapes Fitness Center in Winnipeg- This facility has friendly, helpful staff and a ton of cool fitness equipment. 2) Moby Dick 2010- Thi..."

1) Shapes Fitness Center in Winnipeg- This facility has friendly, helpful staff and a ton of cool fitness equipment. 2) Moby Dick 2010- This DVD is one of the best monster movies I've seen in years. The whale is awesome and the modern update is very clever. 3) Under the Dome by Stephen King- audio book and novel. I'm a big Stephen King fan and this is one of his best works ever. 4) Led Zeppelin III CD- Very simply this is my favorite all time Led Zeppelin album. I could write a whole blog on this album alone and probably will some day. 5) The Grandpa Ken David Stewart Show on You Tube, Facebook and My Space. I do these shows myself along with my puppets. This is also a great educational experience for the kids. Parents will enjoy watching this show too. 6) Sharing From the Heart with Brother Ken David Stewart. This is another one of my own. The messages are brief, honest and practical.