"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and do choose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," Wilson wrote in his opinion, released Friday. "Grokster and StreamCast are not significantly different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights."
Boy, I bet the RIAA and MPAA are pretty steamed about this judgment. You can bet this isn't the last time we'll hear about this issue.
Man, I wouldn't mind seeing Fleetwood Mac, but I really am not going to pay $47.50 to sit in the nosebleed sections. I just can't jusitify paying $125 per ticket to see Fleetwood Mac. Maybe I'd do it if Christine McVie was with them, but if that's a big maybe. There's only a couple of people I'd pay that much to go see live.
Not positive I'm going to this concert or not, I've already seen Journey and Styx a couple of times. I'd definitely go there's group interest in going though. I haven't seen REO in concert, but they're supposedly good live. The ticket prices aren't bad, but I don't think I want to pay $47.50 to stand on my feet the whole time—I'm getting old, what can I say?
So it appears to be official, the Fates Warning/Queensryche/Dream Theater concert appears to be heading to Columbus, OH. I'm looking forward to seeing Fates Warning and Dream Theater, but at this point in my life I could care less if Queensryche is there—and at one point they were my favorite band.
I was on ProgGods.com today and they had some release dates listed for projects I'm interesting in. It looks like Trevor Rabin is releasing some re-workings of the tunes from Yes' 90125—I wonder what that's like. It's also interesting to see that Queensryche is re-releasing all of their albums. I think it's a shame that they added bonus live tracks to "Operation: Mindcrime" though—it ruins the flow of the album if you ask me.
April 8th:
A Dream Theater fan is releasing a series of videos in DivX v5.03 format called "Nine Degrees of Backstage Tourbulence." The series contain backstage video from the guys in Dream Theater. I'm trying to download the videos now, so I may post an updated
Todd, Eric and I finally got together for the first time since like September to jam. I'm really glad none of you were there to witness it. :) I haven't played much in the past 4 months and it really showed. I really need to work on picking up my bass for a few minutes a day. I had really gotten out of my routine of playing every day once I started spending all my time w/Jenn and then when I got the puppy, my time grew to nothing. Anyway, I've got to get back in to the groove and and start playing every day.
Todd called me this afternoon and wants to put together a flyer for a drummer and I'd assume for a keyboard/guitarist/singer. We really would love to find a keyboardist who can play several instruments. There's a guy I have in mind who may fit that role, so we'll probably ask him to jam again. I can't wait until we get a drummer to play with, playing w/a live drummer makes such a huge difference. Playing to a midi drummer sure beats nothing, but it's just nowhere near the real thing.
Anyway, for as bad as I sounded (and was,) it sure was nice to get together again to jam. I'm really hoping this becomes a more regular weekend event. Honestly, when we play more than once every month or two we actually sound not too bad!
This story is just plain strange.
I wanted to somehow get word to Mike, that there's a guy in NYC who is pretending to be Mike, picking guys up at bars, restaurants, and on the street, convincing them that he's Mike Portnoy, the world famous drummer from Dream Theater... (he has all their music CD's, knows every beat of every song, and the words, and has Mike's schedule, both past and present down to a "T")... He says that he's been struggling with his sexuality lately, thinking back to a molestation when he was 14, and has decided to give it another try to see if he can finally find happiness. After convincing them of who he is and of his sincerity, they get it on, and at some point, when they aren't paying attention, he steals whatever he can find from them, (from me, it was my wallet, with ID's, credit cards, ATM card, social security card, etc., as well as 2 cell phones and a set of keys.) From another guy, he stole his house keys, intending to go back when the guy wasn't home and clean him out
An update from the Spock's Beard HQ:
I really dig Spock's Beard, they're a band I'd heard about for a while, and when I finally listened to the album "V" about 8 months ago, I've been hooked since. If you like Yes or other 70s prog bands, then check out Spock's Beard.
The one thing I'm really bummed out about is that Neil Morse (Alan Morse's brother and former lead vocalist/keyboard player) decided to leave the band after their last album "Snow." It'll be interesting to hear what the new album sounds like.
Ten years ago, this would have been a dream concert for me. I'm still a big fan of Dream Theater and Fates Warning, so I'm definitely planning on trying to make a show, but I really got bored with Queensryche after the album "Empire." I'd much rather see DT/FW headline, w/Queensryche opening!
Dream Theater/Queensryche/Fates Warning Announce Tour!