Surrounded By Idiots

I just read this and I had to repost it.

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If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for entering and remaining in the country illegally — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or to take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

If you MUST show your identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book and rent a video, but not to vote for who runs the government — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots. 

If the government wants to prevent stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds, but gives twenty F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If, in the nation’s largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not one 24-ounce soda, because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If an 80-year-old woman or a three-year-old girl who is confined to a wheelchair can be strip-searched by the TSA at the airport, but a woman in a burka or a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots. 

If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher is “cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government regulation and intrusion, while not working is rewarded with Food Stamps, WIC checks, Medicaid benefits, subsidized housing, and free cell phones — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to provide incentives for not working, by granting 99 weeks of unemployment checks, without any requirement to prove that gainful employment was diligently sought, but couldn’t be found — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If you pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big-screen TV, while your neighbor buys iPhones, time shares, a wall-sized do-it-all plasma screen TV and new cars, and the government forgives his debt when he defaults on his mortgage — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 If being stripped of your Constitutional right to defend yourself makes you more “safe” according to the government — you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.

 What a country! How about we give God a reason to continue blessing America! A Country Founded by Geniuses but Run by Idiots.

 Attributed to Jeff Foxworthy ~ Tom Retterbush

The new commercial

I just wanted to post this in case you don't see it on facebook or on my youtube channel.

This is the new commercial for our amazon store. I was targeting the female audience with this one. Or targeting men that are buying gifts for women. Whatever.

What I Want For Christmas

If you're wondering what to get me for Christmas, you can pick up tickets to Steel Panther playing at Bogart's in Cincinnati, OH on December 22nd. I saw them last year at a sold out show at Bogart's and they were amazing .

Steel Panther is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, CA mostly known for their profane and humorous lyrics as well as their exaggerated on-stage personae that reimagine and parody the heavy metal music and wild partying lifestyle of the 1980s.

The quartet began to gain popularity in the Sunset Strip during the early 2000s under the name Metal Shop (soon changed into Metal Skool, then into Steel Panther). Their lineup consists of vocalist Ralph Saenz (born May 17, 1965) aka Michael Starr. Saenz was the lead singer for the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen tribute band Atomic Punks, where he had the nickname "David Lee Ralph", and he was briefly the lead singer for L.A. Guns. He also has sung for the bands 7% Solution, First Cause, Longgone, and Nightfall; and he appeared briefly in the 2001 film, Rock Star.

 Stix Zadinia is the stage name of Darren Leader, an American-born drummer. Stix was a member of a band called The Thornbirds with Russ Parrish (born November 24, 1970 in Redwood City, CA), the guitarist for Steel Panther,

 In the early 1990s Russ (better known as Satchel) was an instructor at The Guitar Institute of Technology (G.I.T.) at Hollywood's Musician's Institute. Russ played guitar for Jeff Pilson's post- Dokken band War & Peace, before leaving to join Rob Halford's band Fight.

 The final piece of the band is bassist Travis Haley aka Lexxi Foxxx.

 The band did weekly shows on Monday nights at the Viper Room, playing covers of 1980s hair metal hits while parodying the bands that made the songs famous. Despite the name changes, Ralph and Russ moonlighting in their Van Halen tribute band, they finally managed to gain some success.

In 2003 Steel Panther published Hole Patrol, their self-produced debut. The band appeared in a Discover Card advertisement as Danger Kitty and in the sitcom Drew Carey Show as themselves.

In April 2008 the band decided to change their name from Metal Skool to Steel Panther. In an interview with Michael Starr, he states that the band's name wasn't inspired by Steel Dragon, the band with Zakk Wylde and Mark Wahlberg in the movie Rock Star.

 Steel Panther released their major record label debut (Universal/Republic Recoerds), Feel the Steel in 2009. The record features hit singles, Community Property and Death To All But Metal as well as notable guest vocal performances from Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Justin Hawkins of the Darkness, and and M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold.

Steel Panther continued their revival of the 80's heavy metal genre with their sophomore effort titled Balls Out  released in 2011.

 Steel Panther released their first Live DVD British Invasion in 2012. The DVD was filmed at Brixton Academy in London and features a two-hour concert/documentary based on the band's sold-out British tour.

The band will be touring the United States at the end of the year heading into next year for the release of their new album, tentatively titled All You Can Eat.

A Great Band I Found

Everybody makes fun of me when I tell them the name of my favorite band!

The band's name is Big Cock and they are from Scarsdale, Arizona. 

 Their singer is Robert Mason (born on August 6, 1964 in New York City), a vocalist associated with a variety of hard rock and heavy metal acts such as Lynch Mob, Cry of Love, the James Byrd Group, and Silent Witness. In 2008, after a chance meeting at the Rocklahoma Festival, Mason was asked to join long-time friends Warrant as a replacement for vocalist Jani Lane.

The guitarist is a rock veteran named David Philip "Dave" Henzerling (born 3 May 1961), a.k.a. David Michael-Philips. He has been a member of numerous hard rock bands including Scholboys (later known as Icon), Keel, King Kobra (which has recently reformed), Lizzy Borden, Geronimo!, Liquid Black, Tunnel, Steelshine, and Kelly Keeling & Friends. David was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his family in December 1969.

In early 2005, David reunited with his Schoolboys band-mate John Covington to form the band Big Cock with vocalist Robert Mason  and bassist Colby. The band's name was meant as a satirical jab at the music business since they figured no label would sign and no radio station would play anything by a band called "Big Cock". The project was released independently and without fanfare solely for the purpose of creating music and having some fun.

 They released three albums Year of the Cock (2005), Big Cock (2006) and Motherload (2008) as well as a digital-only greatest hits compilation Got Big Cock? (2009). The albums received positive critical acclaim for both their musicianship and unapologetic swagger. I am a huge fan of the guitar playing, amazing vocals, hard driving drums and bass, and the tongue-in-cheek songwritting. I'm even learning to play drums to some of their songs. You can tell that the band is playing the kind of music that they are passionate about. most of the band are involved in other groups at the moment, but it's my opinion that this is truely their best work

Here a links if you're interested in purchasing some of this awesome bands catalog.

Year of the Cock (2005)

Big Cock (2006)

Motherload [Explicit] (2008) mp3 download

So I'm off to find some more new music.

Philip C Knecht, b.m.f.

Look Boss, De Plane!

Does anybody even get that reference?

I can't help myself sometimes with my movie and pop culture references.

I have often thought about trying my hand at stand up comedy, but I wonder how many people would get my jokes. Anyway, that's not what this blog is about. This blog is about tattoos.

(By the way, my headline refers to the tv show  Fantasy Island and the character Tattoo, played by Herve' Villechaize. Tattoo would run up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout "The Plane! The Plane!" to announce the arrival of a new set of guests at the beginning of each episode. This line, shown at the beginning of the show's credits, became an unlikely catchphrase because of Villechaize's spirited delivery and French accent (he actually pronounced it, "De plane! De plane!").

Anyway, I'm in the process of learning how to tattoo. The most important thing to remember when tattooing, in addition to making sure you don't scar someone for life, is using sterile equipment. equipment for sterilizing some of your equipment will cost you at least $1600. (If you find something cheaper than that, you've done better than me.) But there is a cheap an easy alternative. I first seal the tattoo gun inside a ziplock sandwich bag with a hole cut in the corner for the needle and tube to stick thru. You then purchase disposable needles with pre-sterilized plastic tubes. These are the longer tubes that attach directly to the tattoo machine. Purchased together, they cost just a little over $1 a piece when you buy them in quantity. And I'm not even talking large quantities. I bought 2 different size needles with the matching tubes at a cost of $40 and some change for 40 needles.

Here's a link to the ones I purchased (although I purchased different sizes).

 So far I can do outlines but I'm trying to get someone to teach me how to use shading needles. A respected local tattoo artist recently taught me procedures for safe tattooing and how to make greywash (shades of black). I have a friend that is going to let me work on his tattoo as soon as I can learn shading. 

Well, thanks for stopping by.

Phili C Knecht, b.m.f.

One of My Favorite Shows

If you know anything about me at all, you know that one of my favorite shows is a Canadian mockumentary tv series called Trailer Park Boys.

The television series is a continuation of  Mike Clattenburg's 1999 film of the same name that premiered on the Showcase television network in 2001.

Trailer Park Boys focuses on the misadventures of a group of Trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. 

The series originally ran for eight seasons.

 "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys," premiered in 2008, ending the initial run of the series. A second film—Countdown To Liquor Day—was released in 2009. A third film has completed production and is awaiting a release date. With the films, stage shows and continued international interest in the original series, an eighth season started production early July 2013.

Episodes revolve around the Ricky, Julian, Bubbles and their misfit accomplices Trevor and Cory trying to make money through petty crime while staying out of jail. Their schemes are complicated by vindictive trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey and his shirtless assistant Randy as Ricky and Julian's incompetence competes with Lahey's own drunken ineptitude. Throughout the season Ricky and Julian end up in and out of jail with most, but not all, of their plans falling apart.

Later seasons changed this formula with the final episode of the season showing that their schemes had been successful. The first episode of the following season would then show them sheepishly explaining how everything went wrong and set them back to square one.

Each of the characters has their own particular trademark mannerism or trait. Julian is the leader and comes up with plans, and is never seen without a drink in his hand. Ricky thinks he is dumb and looks to Julian for advice. He often mispronounces words and is known to mess things up. Bubbles wears Coke-bottle glasses, drives a go kart, lives in a shed with a bunch of cats and gets upset and starts crying when the boys fight. Trailer Park Supervisor Jim Lahey is almost always drunk and his assistant Randy is almost always shirtless. Other minor characters include Cory and Trevor (who help out Ricky and Julian and look up to them), Mr. Lahey and Randy, Lucy and Sarah (Lucy is the mother of Ricky's daughter and Sarah is her roommate) and J-Roc and T (J-Roc thinks he's black despite his skin color and the two are amateur rappers.)

The series is shot in a mockumentary style (including the use of long takes), and often the camera vrew become engrossed in the plot. On several occasions, the camera crew are spoken to by the characters, and often end up becoming directly involved in the action. In one episode, a crew member is shot, and they are also enlisted several times to help the characters. All of this is intended to produce the feeling that these are real events that are happening to real people, when in reality, the show is loosely scripted, with much of the dialog ad-libbed from very basic plot points.

Furthering the myth that Trailer Park Boys is nonfiction, many of the actors (particularly Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, Mike Smith and John Dunsworth) often make public appearances without breaking character

The cinematographic style of the show is split between rough handheld camera work and clearly planned camera work; the latter sometimes involves crane shots and quite clearly pre-arranged fixed-camera shots.

Trailer Park Boys is also an inspirational source for an internet tv series that I am developing called White Trash Heroes.

If you are interested in purchasing episodes of the Trailer Park Boys, or any of the stand alone movies, or the complete series, you can find them at our online store in the DVD section.

Click here for seasons 1-7 complete!

Click here for Countdown To Liqour Day

And everyone have a great day.

Times Making Changes...

We're making some changes

The first thing you might notice, if you've been here before or if you read the previous post, is that I've removed our dating site from this blog.

We have another blog that is about dating and I will be removing the online store from that blog, as well.

I was advised that this would be a wise move as there could potentially be an issue with that.

Too many unrelated links could get our account suspended or something along those lines.

Basically it was some advise that I thought made sense.

Another change is that we have started using an additional URL for our online store.

We will also be developing some specialty online stores.

So that people don't have to look thru the over 6 million items we carry on our ALL ABOUT YOU Online Store.

Like for instance a store that only sells Holiday Items.

And there may be more changes coming after our business meeting tomorrow.

Well, that's it for right now.

I'll be back with more later.

Philip C Knecht

b.m.f.