If you have been reading these segments about how I have been journeying through the various Social Media networks over the years since I became a writer you might have a recollection of me stressing how at the end of the day that your own thing was in some sense a better idea. In my case, I was already running a website for the purposes of professional and objective review of music releases, video, and concert performances but not everyone needs their own full on website and might be better served at showcasing their interests via a very focused and constantly updated blog. After starting my own PiercingMetal domain I also decided to venture into a side blog which I felt would let me explore in a little more personal detail, all of the stuff I was learning and observing as a music media person. I started this by using one of the free options provided by Google which was called “Blogger” or sometimes referred to as “Blogspot”. I decided to call it “PiercingMetal Musings” and yes, you are right now in this same blog, but it has since been imported in full into a WordPress installation under my own domain. I will explain why we did that in a moment. Click the logo below to be taken to what a no frills version of a Blogger account looks like. I used my personal side blog as the link for good measure. It features some posts that I did but it was unmodified in terms of its overall design.

Another popular medium for Blogging is WordPress and I morphed over to this format a few years ago for both the PiercingMetal Musings and PiercingKen blogs. It was more important for me to do this with the websites blog because if you remember on an earlier post, I stressed how it was better to keep all traffic as your own as opposed to sending it away from your domain name. The tools offered by hosting service allowed me to install WordPress under my domain and I have been a happy camper ever since. To check out how a WordPress Blog looks and feels outside of the one you are already in, just click the logo below. That will take you to the updated version and slightly visually modified personal blog that used to also live on Blogger.

Don’t get me wrong here because Blogger is the best to some users while WordPress is the only option for others. This is purely a personal preference and quite honestly if you have some great ideas and images and want to showcase them, doing so in a blog is the very best bet. From here you make your own voice a louder one above the crowd and the chance to be viewed a little more professionally is done with a little more ease. The rise in popularity of Blogs has become so great that even if you have a very content loaded and popular website, you are almost expected to have a Blog as well somewhere for people to enjoy. I admit that I was initially hesitant about Blogs and felt that they should by no means be given preference over a historically archived website like many I supported as well as my own but in time I grew to appreciate the stand out ones based on how solidly they were set up.  The goal of the PiercingMetal Musings Blog is more wide spread today than it was when I first pulled the trigger and started blogging.  It began as a “side views” of life as a music journalist and eventually became a little bit of everything in terms of how we entertain you over on the main site.  At this point in time I am embracing the medium for my own writing and while it adds considerably to the workload, there are times when it can be a lot more fun to do than the focused and objective viewpoints that I offer up as music reviewer on the core site. Setting up a blog is also FREE and we all love that. You just need to create an account on one of the providers mentioned and you are good to go in the beginning of setting up your own blog. Historically viewing the PiercingMetal Musings blog, this was originally a free Blogger one, but now is what is referred to as a “self-hosted blog” which is in WordPress. I neglected to mention that before and I apologize. The reason for self-hosting was to capture all of ones traffic numbers but this need is not applicable to everyone. At the end of the day, it does not hurt to give it a whirl as its much better than putting your hard work all up on the social networking sites and risk losing control over it.

As the readers are already in our sites blog, we ask that they subscribe to our RSS and if they want to see the side blog which is more personal photography and touristy NYC life, then they can click the WordPress logo above to be taken to my PiercingKen.com site. For those who want to learn a little more about blogging on the whole, just click the Wikipedia entry right HERE.

PS: For those who think this might be something to do as well they need to realize and understand that its a very different geography from when I started my own (especially when its music related).  One needs to constantly offer up content to remain viewed as “relevant” and doing three or four product discussions will not get you backstage to the Rush or Iron Maiden concert.  You need to keep at it and not give up easily.  A recent Technorati study cited that there were over 50 million blogs online today and that means that practically every topic has scores of people writing about it.  This is especially true in the realm of music review and commentary.  It’s how loud you make your voice that gets you noticed, well, that and a quality bit of copy.

One final thought on the blogging.  It’s very important to leave comments on blog posts if you have the means to do so and can bring something of interest to the readers of the post.  Don’t soapbox or lambaste the writer without a valid point of view as that will only get you reported or banned.  It’s also useful to leave said comments with your own domain listed where you post your name.  That can act as a traffic sign to your own work and potentially move you into a larger reader base.

Several months ago we got our hands on the very interesting Vampire Crime Drama series called “Blood Ties” and offered the readers some critique about the show. It aired on Lifetime Television in 2007 and was based on the writings of Tanya Huff and her “Blood Books”. Give that each season was discussed for you already, we are revisiting those narratives before getting to the task at hand. Please feel free to sink your teeth into them – we’ll wait for you at the end.

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When you are a music fan and living in New York City, you are truly a lucky person for a couple of reasons. The first is because there always seems to be something interesting to do and the second is how you can very well walk into something special by sheer happenstance and find yourself entertained to the fullest. Such was the case that I found happening when I headed down to Sullivan Hall a few weeks ago to see my friends Rock band do their covers and some originals. I had started my night down at Duke’s Bar over on 19th Street and Park Avenue South and it had been a nice quiet couple of weeks from the often insanely busy Heavy Metal concert scene. My choice of the Duke’s Happy Hour was a no-brainer for me as I always find it to be a comfort zone and so I enjoyed myself and reflected upon some of the January shows we had adventured into and documented for the readers of the site. Since Sullivan Hall is a decent distance away from where I was perched, I figured to walk off the indulgent fun by making my way down to the West village by foot. I wandered down the avenues past the shops on Broadway and through Union Square Park. It was still a nice night as far as temperature was concerned and not too cold or windy.

Washington Square Park Arch

The venue itself is on Sullivan Street right off of the park, but I had to stop and pause to get a shot of the magnificent Arch which is aptly named “The Washington Square Park Arch”. Amazing how it is not named something a little more grandiose. So where was I….oh yes, the club and the gig. When I arrived at the show my friends band RagTag were beginning their set and it was a good time but as they closed out their portion of the night the venue space really began to fill up. The large crowd was gathering for singer songwriter Ron Pope, a musician who had just been signed to Universal Republic records. Since I had my trusty camera in hand I decided to snap a number of shots of his performance for our blog because we had periodically attended shows outside of the normal scope to help re-energize our Metal batteries and keep us as an open minded music journalist. You can see all of the shots we took of Ron Pope by clicking the image below, and we have a number of them for you to enjoy.

One of Ron’s staple tracks was “A Drop In The Ocean” which you can hear on his MySpace page and I must say that I liked his style when I heard this track. I can safely compare him to being along the lines of singers that would work well within a Counting Crows sort of vibe and it was a nice change of pace for me. Tonight Ron was celebrating the new association with Universal Republic and he had the crowd eating out of his hand and also was doing this set with about a dozen other musicians on the stage. He had a couple of guitar players, a three singer backing vocal and two keyboard players and the drummer. Whew. I don’t think I will ever complain about lacking room on a stage should I ever jam again with the conventional four person lineups I am usually involved in.

Ron’s signature song can be legally downloaded via the link above for a mere $.99 and if you are also an open minded fan of music, I think you will agree that it is a sound choice to make and help a promising artist show his new label that they made a good decision with him. My personal opinion is that Universal Republic has a solid winner on their hands with Ron and his material and we wish them all luck. I would go to see him again if the time allowed me the chance. Click his official MySpace page to hear more of his stuff.

The brutal cold was finally upon us in my city of New York, and while this is often the kind of climate that finds one remaining in the warmth of one’s home, the need for some bracing air and wandering were upon me in a much stronger sense. With this being the case I set forth to traveling the village streets of Bay Ridge with my comrade in arms The Beehive Hairdresser. This neighborhood is a place that I’ve lived in for most of my life and the region is very interesting for the most part with it’s numerous parks and some cool history. The region was primarily the home to a lot of Norwegian folks for many years and while it has become a little more diverse since those decades past their influence and culture still resonate in the neighborhood. This influence led me on what I coined my “Quest for Vikings” today and how could you blame me when we found this gigantic rune monument erected in the honor of the famous Norse explorer Leif Ericson.

Rune Monument to Leiv Eiriksson in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

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Yes it is that time of the year again and that means we once more take stock in what we delivered to the Metal Faithful over on PiercingMetal.com.  It was an interesting year to say the least as far as the site activity went and as many readers know this is far different from our  “Best Of The Year” listing.  Instead this is a narrative compiled about what we presented to the audience in the various sections of the site and how we perceived the goings on in the Metal realm when we left the cloistered inner sanctum that is PiercingMetal Headquarters.   As always, we address the site in a section by section manner and offer up our own views about the things we liked and disliked about the scene upon which we walked.  Remember these views are primarily our own and as result you might disagree with some of our findings.   That’s what keeps this all interesting.  The full article can be accessed by clicking the link below and we thank you in advance for reading this lengthy narrative.  We tried our best to keep it as interesting and to stay on point as much as was humanly possible.

PiercingMetal.com’s Editorial For 2009

We lead into this narrative via our official blog since we want to give the readers the chance to offer up their own insights on what we are doing for their entertainment dollar.  Should you have relevant or topical views to offer up we welcome you to do so but please avoid belligerence as no one truly benefits from inane ranting.  As always keep the horns raised high for the Metal.

Picking up where Season One closed out is the Second Season DVD boxed set of Lifetime Television’s “Blood Ties”. For those that are joining us in the middle of the movie; let’s recap and fill you in on the fact that the show is Crime Drama meets Bram Stoker. A little bit of your conventional detective mystery with a deliciously devilish vampire bite taken out of it. When the show originally ran on the Lifetime Network I never caught an episode so I enjoyed having the chance to absorb the whole first season in a couple of days sitting and now with the assistance of the second season set can learn just how the story played out. I mentioned enjoying the long cancelled “Moonlight” on CBS just as it was picking up steam and the premise of “Blood Ties” is rather interesting for a television show.

The series continues to follow the adventures of private investigator Vicky Nelson who while no longer a member of the Police Force sometimes works with their officials on matters that are a little harder to explain. Christina Cox plays Nelson and her vampire ally is Henry Fitzroy (played by Kyle Schmid). Together the pair bravely explores the night air solving mysteries that your conventional Crime Scene Investigators would stymie them. The first season found them against the living dead, voodoo powers and more. This time around they face shape shifters, demons, killer bugs and psychic serial killers and with that host of horrors you just have to think that the team has their work cut out for them. It’s a thrilling ride into the dark cave that you are not supposed to go inside without a flashlight or steel will and while some stories are left unsolved there are others that reach a final conclusion most dire. I liked the first season quite a bit and can safely inform the more skittish viewers that there are no real vivid depictions of blood and gore even though this is some minor violence or “action” depending on your view of that. This was a Lifetime TV show after all and as result there are no off-color comments and bad language to worry about in case the little ones are watching with you. The characters work well for a prime time broadcast of this type and the stories are rather interesting to see played out, even if you might be able to figure out a couple of the mysteries just before the final “Monk moment” that they have that ties the whole story together. I guess my long time viewership of the various C.S.I.’s, Monk, & Columbo shows have given me a bit of an edge over the years. We’re not going to ruin the actual episodes for you here so no fear of spoilers in this narrative but we shall say that the story does end with a bit of a cliffhanger that perhaps we will one day see the conclusion of.

The show is based on the “Blood Book” novels by Tanya Huff who was a big fan of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and other similar programs before she came up with the idea for the series. Perhaps you would enjoy it if you are a fan of those kinds of terrifying treats and shows like “True Blood” or maybe even “Dexter”. Granted the latter reference is not exactly vampire related even though the premise is ghoulish. The First Season set found thirteen episodes on four DVD’s and the Second Season completes the full run of 22 filmed shows on three DVD’s. It is packaged in the same decorative case with a clear plastic sleeve. I’ve long appreciated the full season show releases based on the fact that one doesn’t need to suffer through mass amounts of commercials and can be on top of the show in a couple of days if the time to sit in front of the TV is available. Like the first season, this season has easily navigated menus and a scant amount of bonus features. This time around it is limited to a Photo Gallery and Season One Trailer. Since this “finishes” the series for the most part one can only wonder if it will be picked up again and give us more of these characters adventures. One can only hope since the need for vampire shows has not waned in the public eye given the massive popularity of the “Twilight” movies, the “True Blood” HBO series and the fact that these kinds of stories take us to worlds that don’t truly exist……or do they? It currently runs in syndication on a number of television stations around the world and I am sure that Lifetime airs it very often in the middle of the night. The show ended in April 2008 and that’s been some time so I would not hold too much faith in its returning. At least you have the DVD’s to take you away for a little while.

Episodes:
1. Wild Blood
2. 5:55
3. Bugged
4. The Devil You Know
5. Drawn And Quartered
6. Wrapped
7. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
8. We’ll Meet Again
12. Deep Dark

If you were ever a fan of the Monty Python’s Flying Circus television program that aired on the BBC Network then this lengthy documentary film will be something that you’ll really enjoy. Originally airing on the IFC Network, “Monty Python: Almost The Truth” was a six hour documentary that covered what appears to be
every major point about the comedy troupe’s origins, first meetings, and their motivations to deliver their unique and eventually influential brand of comedy to the masses and much more. They succeed in this by including commentary from every one of the six Python’s (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin) and each of them offers up a terrific insight to what they were all about. From beginning to end the documentary features little bits and pieces of the famous sketches and animations that the program was so well-known for. The complete IFC documentary comes to us care of Eagle Vision and while it is loaded with features, I am not too certain that it includes anything that we did not see on the original broadcast.

The program began in 1969 which for me meant that it was a little bit ahead of my own interests (as I was only four when it first aired) and while I eventually found myself fond of British Comedy, I found that my own interests were more in tune with self-contained shows like “Fawlty Towers” and “The Young Ones” more than the slapstick sketches that Python was splitting sides with. Given the basis of my own comedic interests I had to say that it made this documentary such a fascinating thing because it was able to clue me in on numerous items that I had missed or “didn’t get” in the first. I must admit that it was awesome to listen to John Cleese and Terry Gilliam line out their views on how a particular bit was formulated and what they felt made it work in the end. While the six-hour length might seem rather daunting, I can inform you that a
lot of this moves rather quickly and will keep you entertained.

It’s packaged in a highly decorative box with various jokes and snippets around the photos and images and comes together on three DVD discs. The first two are the core of the documentary footage and the third one features some of their most time honored sketches. I might not have been the biggest study of the Monty Python players, but I sure knew the “Spanish Inquisition”, “Dead Parror” and “Fish Slapping Dance” numbers very well. They are a part of world comedy history based on their hilarily and impact to this very day. I can safely recommend this to not only the Python die hards but also those who for whatever reason missed the boat like I did. It’s also great for anyone who is studying modern comedy as an art form because the laughter instilled by these guys so many years ago is still revered by many comedians who found their work inspirational and had it guide their own destinies. The DVD medium we find so commonplace now allows the curious fan to own the complete run of episodes of the series for only a few dollars and you cannot beat that. Check this out and then order the series if you like what you have learned from this release. Maybe after you’ve done that you can check out the two programs I mentioned earlier that I found enjoyable.

At the beginning of the week I decked the halls with New York’s own Twisted Sister who had once again set out to deliver their “Twisted Christmas Holiday Extravaganza” and this festive hoedown too place at The Nokia Theatre in Times Square. We documented all the fun from that night HERE, and that evening’s happenings were part of the reason that we were on point for this special occasion down on Wall Street today.

Oh Come All Ye Metal Faithful

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This past week was the annual CMJ Music Convention and like many before it would again invade The Big Apple and deliver more music than any one person could easily absorb.  To say that there is something for everyone at the CMJ convention would be an understatement and while I would have loved to partake in a lot more that was happening, the time was just not there for me to do so based on a hectic week of Metal concerts that required my coverage.  One of the things that I did manage to enjoy was the annual Skateboard Marketing music showcase which is hosted by the company’s founder Munsey Ricci.  I’ve been working as an ally in Metal media with Munsey for about five years now and was eager to help him and his friends celebrate the company’s 18th year of doing this kind of showcase.  This years hang would be at The Bowery Poetry Club (across the street from the location that once housed CBGB’s) and it was sure to be a good time of familiar faces, cold beers and loud music.  I was certain that the bands would be something interesting because one year we found the legendary Fear Factory performing at it, while last year we got both Autumn Black and Ionia.  Tonight there would only be one act delivering out the Metal and their name was Texas Hippie Coalition, and while I had only heard their name a couple of times, I had heard that they were along the lines of your Southern Fried Metal genre and let’s face it, a lot of that stuff rocks.   I shot a lot of photos and documented the performance which can be enjoyed on the main PiercingMetal.com site by clicking the bands logo below but before you do that, please keep on reading to see some of the candid moments captured during the showcase.

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As much as I love vacations, the aspect of them seems to have eluded me of late and the closest I seem to get are those little moments of respite that fall outside of the normal scenarios that I often find myself adventuring into. Thanks to my good friend in music media, Christa Titus, the Piercing One would tonight be taking a breather from all of the Heavy Metal indulgence that I had been undertaking. It was needed to say the least and came right after the killer performance by Stratovarius & Pagan’s Mind that was last night over at the Nokia Theater. This brief excursion into “normalcy” would be a perfect lead into the next couple of days since tomorrow I had planned to see Stryper over at The Fillmore NY and if I could maneuver between time efficiently, both the Chris Caffery performance and Gwynbleidd one on the same day the Saturday which followed.

Gibson New Music Showcase Invite

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