Peter Steele R.I.P.

I guess it seems that part of being a fan of rock and metal music is dealing with the early deaths of some of your icons. Whether it's Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, etc., there's way too many names on the list. A new name was added to the list this week, one of my all time favorite musical icons: Peter Steele, lead singer and bass player of the band Type O Negative. While neither may be household names, both are well known names among fans of hard rock and metal music, especially in the 1990's.

The band first caught my attention in the early 1990's when a local college station started playing one of their songs (and in doing so probably broke a few FCC regulations). The song was called "Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Fidelity" and was about finding out that your girlfriend was cheating on you. The song is most known for it's chorus (and I'll type the edited more family friendly version of the lyrics) "I know you're f-bombing someone else"

But Peter Steele and Type O Negative was more than pushing the envelope and occasional politically incorrect lyrics. In the mid 1990's, they released (in my opinion) two all time heavy metal masterpieces: Bloody Kisses and October Rust. They had a rather unique sound in a way, usually described as gothic-metal. Picture a hybrid of Black Sabbath, Danzig, Sisters of Mercy and the Beatles and you get the sound of Type O Negative. Lyrically they sang about heartbreak, loneliness, death and drug addiction. But despite their dark topic matter, they were also known for their tongue in cheek humor. They weren't afraid to do something totally unusual. One of them was a remake of the Seals and Croft hit "Summer Breeze". That song and songs like "Black No1", "Blood & Fire", "Green Man" and "Wolf Moon" stand out as classics.

After October Rust they put out a few more albums and was able to maintain a sizable fan base. Sadly, it all came to and end when Peter Steele died this week of heart failure. While he may have entered the afterlife, the music that he put out will never be forgotten.

Freddie Mercury

The other day during a conversation with my haircutter, he mentioned Freddie Mercury and that he's been dead for nearly 20 years now. A conversation about Freddie Mercury and Queen soon came about. Queen was indeed an excellent band. Queen, along with Police were the first two bands to capture my attention. I remember, as a elementary school kid singing the words to "Another One Bites the Dust". In front of Queen was Freddie Mercury himself. He was and still is one of a kind. One of the all time great vocalists, frontmen and entertainers. If there is someone who's virtually irreplaceable, it's him. No one that I know of has the vocal range that he did. While I'm sure that Queen put on a good show a few years back when they toured with Paul Rogers, I'm sure it wasn't the same either. The only guy in all of rock who comes close to Freddie Mercury is Geoff Tate from Queensryche. If anyone can come close to being a replacement for Freddie Mercury in Queen it's him. Even he is not Freddie Mercury. While he is no longer with us, Freddie Mercury leaves an undeniable legacy in music.

Phoebe Prince Update

A quick update on the Phoebe Price/South Hadley case. Phoebe Prince was a teenage girl who immigrated here from Ireland with her family, but took her life after constant bullying from her classmates. For more detail read my blog "How the System Failed Phoebe Prince".





Three of the alleged bullies were arraigned on various charges, but did not show up to court. What else would you expect from a bunch of cowards? If bullies are cowards, why should be expect them to be willing to face the firestorm that they had a role in creating? Meanwhile, as of now, nothing has happened to the administrators that allowed this to happen. Till now. The Prince family has apparently hired a Springfield area attorney.



In the meantime, a few websites came out with the alleged bullies as it's subject matter. On those websites, the bullies themselves are the subject to threats and ridicule. While I don't have any pity for the bullies, there is no reason to stoop to their levels. to get your point across.

Mr. McNabb Goes to Washington

There's not as much of a hot stove off season in football as they are in baseball. Yes there's your normal free agent signings, but not much in the way of trades. So when one happens, you can't help but notice. That was the case with the recent Donovan McNabb from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Washington Redskins. The trade is even more interesting considering that the Eagles and Redskins are in the same division.



McNabb probably deserves a medal for years of putting up with Philadelphia fans. They make the liquored up Red Sox fans in the Fenway Park bleachers look like a bunch of Boy Scouts. Philadelphia fans of course are the same group of people who booed Santa Clause. They booed Mike Schmidt who probably was the best third baseman ever to play baseball. Eagles fan were cheering as Michael Irvin was laying on the turf with what looked like (at the time) a serious neck injury. McNabb found out quickly about the nature of Philadelphia fans during the 1999 NFL Draft. Imagine being a football star coming out of college and getting booed by the fans of the team that selected you. That is what literally what happened to McNabb when he was selected by the Eagles. Eagles fans preferred Ricky Williams, who would soon be known for as off the field love for marijuana as his on the field activities.



McNabb was part of a turn of fortunes of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. One of the worst teams in the league when he arrived, the Eagles soon became perennial contenders. They even played in the Super Bowl, losing to the New England Patriots, who were in the peak of their dynasty run. While the game was not one of McNabb's best (he was seen throwing up on the sidelines in the waning minutes) the mere appearance in the title games symbolized the turn around the Eagles have made.



McNabb and the Eagles failed to return to the Super Bowl and despite their consistent success, McNabb got the brunt of the blame from Philadelphia fans. In the meantime the team drafted Kevin Kolb and signed Micheal Vick. The demands for the Eagles to draft McNabb grew louder. At first the team resisted such offers. Till this week. The Eagles traded McNabb to the Redskins for draft picks.



What this all mean? The Redskins get a signifigant upgrade at quarterback. Kolb is the likely new starter for the Eagles. The networks will most likely schedule a Eagles-Redskins game for prime time. Philadelphia fans finally get what they wanted: McNabb no longer playing for the Eagles. The NFL is suddenly more interesting now than

A Great Opening Night

It was a nice New England night for early April. Nothing like the coldness that we feared when the date was announced: opening night for the Boston Red Sox. All the players came out on the field. Mike Lowell getting the biggest cheers from the crowd. At various points of the game, people like Steven Tyler, Neil Diamond made appearences. Of all the people who showed, it was really nice to see Ryan Westmoreland. Mr. Westmoreland is a top prospect in the Red Sox minor league system who recently had brain surgery. One can only hope for Godspeed and a quick recovery. Our arch rivals, the New York Yankees were also coming to down. It had everything it could possibly have for a potential classic.

Play ball! At first, things didn't look good for the Red Sox as the Yankees went out to a quick 5-1 lead. But thanks to Kevin Youkalis and Dustin Pedroia double teaming a vulnerable Yankees bullpen, the Red Sox came back and was able to pull out a victory.

It's only game one. Some on the concerns we had pre-season showed during the game (Big Papi, Josh Beckett). But a win is a win and it was a great opening night.

How the System Failed Phoebe Prince

Welcome to my little space on the web. I used to write blogs often on myspace and I did one on facebook not too long ago. Now I bring my stuff to the world wide web. I'll be writing mostly about whatever is on my mind at a particular time. Plus an occassional poem or shot story thrown in. Now off to my first topic.

The story of Phoebe Prince is one of the most saddest stories I have ever heard. Worst of all, it was one that should not ever had happened. This link from Irish Central detailed some of what happened to her. http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/phoebe-prince-bullied-by-two-separate-gangs-new-evidence-shows-89863757.html

To those who are not local to New England, Phoebe Prince was a 14 year old girl who immigrated to the United States from Ireland. Her family settled in the Western Massachusetts town of South Hadley. It was there, for various reasons that she fell out of favor with a couple of cliques at South Hadley High School. What followed was a barrage of bullying and insults that no one deserves to go through. Among the popular insults thrown her way was "Irish slut" and "Irish whore". Most disturbing off all was that members of the South Hadly High School administration know about what Phoebe went through, but little was done to stop it till it was too late. Phoebe eventually committed suicide.

Now one can't help but ask "Why was this allowed to happen?". Conduct that is not acceptable among adult coworkers seems to be tolerated if it's done by children. If members of the South Hadly High School science department treated someone in the math department in the same way and matter that Phoebe was treated by her classmates, they would all be fired and a series of lawsuits would pop up. But you hear many stories similar to Phoebe, but few with the tragic consequences of her story. Did they think it'll go away by ignoring it. Did they buy in to some BS notion that bullying is a teenage rite of passion. Fighting among teenage cliques has always been around. But what happened to Phoebe crosses the lines of decency.

Imagine being this young girl. It's Sunday night and your weekend of peace is over. The alarm clock on Monday morning gives you another rude awakening. What follows is five straight days of hell. Five straight days of bullying, insults and dealing with a clique of students intent on making your life as miserable as possible. Friday gives you a two day furlough from hell, but you leave school knowing that hell will resume on Monday morning. This is too much for ANYONE to take, never mind a 14 year old girl.

It was too much for her to take. On her last day on earth, she was attacked in the library, allegedly in front of a member of a staff. Later on, during her walk home, of group of her bullies drove by. One of them threw a can of Red Bull at her, hitting her. Later on that day, Phoebe Prince hung herself. Ending an all to brief life.

The local District Attorney recently files charges against a group of her alleged tormentors, charging them with various charges including stalking and statutory rape. The Prince family has hired a lawyer and hopefully he's a good one. If this is not a wrongful death lawsuit, then I don't know what one is. Worst of all, a young girl is dead. A young life is taken before it has a chance to realize it's full potential. Does it bother you? It should.