All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
Celebrity/musician deaths

Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter makes appearance at Kentucky derby…

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Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Danielynn, is now 5 and she’s getting a little older. The older she gets, the more she looks just like her mother, Anna Nicole. Danielynn and her father, Larry Birkhead, enjoy the day at the Kentucky Derby.

See, the photo, here.

Nice!

How much do you want to bet that when Danielynn gets older, she’s going to be a Playboy playmate just like her, Mom? Wouldn’t surprise me. Usually when kids have a celebrity parent, they follow the same careers just like them. I think Danielynn will indeed become a big supermodel, like her Mom, when she turns 18.

I’ve always liked Anna Nicole and still do. Was a big fan of her Playboy years, didn’t like her reality show though.

Kev

movies, music

Report: Andre 3000 is Jimi Hendrix…

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There has been rumors in the past that Andre 3000, rapper/actor, was supposed to be playing Jimi Hendrix, for the biopic film, titled, “All Is By My Side”, well now, the rumor has been officially confirmed. I don’t know much about Andre 3000, since I’ve never listened to rap music all that much, but I remember seeing him in the film, “Be Cool”. Looking at Andre’s photos, he looks almost identical to Hendrix, almost like twin brothers. So I must say that Andre is a perfect fit!

More on the story, here.

Like I said, I don’t know much about the music of Andre 3000, but I do know that he really plays the guitar. He’s going to have to learn more about Hendrix’s guitar style. He’s going to learn how to play left handed. Hendrix played a right handed guitar but he reversed the strings so he could play left handed. Andre may have to do the same, which may be tough for him. I’m sure Andre will be trained by guitar instructors in Hendrix’s style.

I hate most music biopics, there’s only very few of them that I loved, like: “La Bamba” with Lou Diamond Philips, “The Buddy Holly Story” with Gary Busey, “Ray” with Jamie Foxx, and “Walk the Line” with Joaquin Phoenix.

Hopefully, this Hendrix biopic will be a real good one.

Kev

movies

Report: Arnold signs himself onto an action movie about drug cartels called, “Ten”…

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Wow. Arnold is on a roll! Since being back in Hollywood from his governor run, he has been signing himself to new movie roles like crazy. Even though Arnie, is aging, that’s still not stopping him from starring in action movies. His next film is, “The Expendables 2”, in which he gets a longer role in. He will also star in, “The Tomb” along with Sylvester Stallone, and he will star in, “The Last Stand”. Here is his latest signing, he will star in a movie called, “Ten”, and here’s the synopsis from the article: “Ten” revolves around the members of an elite DEA task force who depart from their usual operations and steal millions from a drug cartel safe house. Just when the team thinks they got away with it, someone begins to take out them out one by one.

The Hollywood Reporter, reports.

And of course, that certain someone, the synopsis is referring to is none other than, Arnold’s character. Sounds like it’s going to be a pretty violent action movie. I’m sure people are laughing at Arnold, and accusing him that he’s too old for action movies, but he’s been doing action movies for years. He’s still into bodybuilding and he still works out on a regular basis, so I’m sure he is physical enough to do his own stunts, still.

I can’t wait to see Arnold back on the big screen, because it’s been such a long time. “Expendables 2” is a perfect comeback for, the Governator! Come back with a bang!

Kev

music

The future of the Beastie Boys, what’s next now that Adam Yauch is gone???

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Now that Adam Yauch or MCA, is gone, there are quite a few questions that need to be answered that left some people thinking. Will Mike D and Ad-Rock continue, the Beastie Boys, without Yauch? Will they get a replacement for him, or will they just go on as a duo? I don’t think they should go on ’cause in my opinion, and I think most of you would agree there can’t be a Beastie Boys without, Adam Yauch.

I’m sure they will continue to release new music as I’m sure they have plenty of material that were thrown out.

Not sure what they have plans for the future, but I’m sure the surviving members are discussing things. They were an incredible group though. I’ve always loved their music, “Ill Communication” has always been my favorite album of theirs.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Seems like everyone is into fitness these days…

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I find it really amazing how fitness & bodybuilding has become so popular. Everybody wants to get into it these days. More public gyms are opening around this area and more health foods stores are opening around here too (Whole Foods, slowly making their way to the Capital District). I am noticing that losing weight is more popular than bodybuilding though. Most people want to lose the pounds more than bodybuilding, there aren’t many that are into bodybuilding around here.

Why is fitness so popular and mainstream? Why does everyone wants to get into it? Well, I certainly blame it on TV shows like, the “Biggest Loser” for one. I also blame it on the fitness ads you see in the magazines which could be responsible for getting people motivated. Plus the supplement products help get people interested. I also blame it on P90X or beachbody stuff (no offense to Steve) and all these muscle & fitness magazines. A lot of people get into fitness expect to see fast results that the ads make you believe. It’s not true. Losing weight or building muscle takes years. In my opinion, supplemental products don’t really do anything, and they just want your money. You achieve your goals on a strict nutrition.

I didn’t get into fitness because of all the ads and fitness media.

I got into it because of Sly & Arnold, pretty much. They were my main inspiration. Yes, of course, people will accuse those guys using steroids, but they help get people motivated, no matter what you think of them. It makes me want to feel tough like them. It makes me want to look like them someday, when I reach their age. I may have decent results and I may be at a good start now, but I still have lots of work and learning to do. I’m still studying nutrition and still trying make my eating habits better as well.

It’s good that people want to lose weight, but they need to think about adding more muscle too. A lot of them fail to realize that building muscle helps them lose the weight even more and faster. They just eat really good and do way too much cardio, not lift any weights at all. You need to lose the pounds and add the muscle at the same time.

People are desperate to lose weight or build muscle, when they need to learn that this stuff takes time. Just enjoy life, keep it up and be happy. I may not look like Sly or Arnold yet, but I’m not rushing to get there. People will think it’s impossible to look like Sly or Arnold, but I believe it’s possible. Just don’t give up. Work hard and prove people wrong.

Kev

Local music

Why is there too much bullying and negativity with other musicians???

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Sometimes I just don’t understand the music world. Why there’s sometimes a bit of bullying and negativity around music with other musicians. I learned that if you want to have a better career in music and if you want people to respect you as a musician more, you need to watch how you post online. I’m learning from my past mistakes, and learning to let the past be the past, and keep it that way. I’ll admit that the way I posted online in the past was bad, and I regretted it. The reason I did what I did long ago, was that I was calling out people by name of musicians who were negative nancies and called out the ones that bullied me over the years. I’ll admit that what I’ve done was kind of childish on my part and wish I could have handled that stuff a little better. When you become defensive of yourself like that, it makes other people think that you’re the badguy instead. Musicians still have a problem defending themselves over negative things written about them online, so they reply to everything, calling them out and trying to defend themselves. That stuff is still a huge problem today, I see it in facebook with musicians all the time and on craigslist too.

Why do musicians feel the need to be negative online? It’s not just an ego thing, there’s more to it than that. It’s just their way of trying to get more people to pay more attention to them. It’s like a, “Hey, nobody respects me as a musician, so respect me,” kind of thing. That’s pretty much the main reason some of them do it. They think they’re playing and musicianship is talented. They think they are god or something, and when they learn that not many people respect them, they do whatever it takes to get people to respect them. Know what I mean? That’s why some of these musicians go on these daily negative rants in facebook, or even worse, criticizing or bullying other musicians, or putting down the music scene.

When music fans and other musicians see this musician being negative in facebook or some other social media site, they will give this musician support to make him/her feel better. It’s just their secret way of promoting themselves and getting themselves out there. So is a musician acting like however you want publicly a good thing?

Knowing from my past experiences about this, no it isn’t good. Understand how good and bad karma works. If you become a good guy, you will get good things out of your career and better opportunities will come. If you become a bad guy, you’re just going to kill your chances in achieving your dreams, you won’t get anywhere. The way you post online, really affects your professionalism. You may have a personal facebook page, separate from your music pages, but yes, you must be careful how you post in your personal pages as well.

If you want to be a respected musician, you can’t be an attention whore to get it. You earn the respect by being a talented musician and acting like a professional.

Kev

music

Brock defends the “Rock and Roll” Hall of Fame…

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You hear the same old arguments and the same old debates without any proof to back their arguments with. The things that comes from people. They are just opinionated when it comes to the, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A lot of people call, it the “Hall of Shame”, because they induct a lot of pop stars, disco artists, hip hop/rap artists, r&b singers, etc. People expect the “Hall of Fame” to induct rock n’ roll acts, since the name of the ceremony has “Rock N’ Roll”, in it.

I truly believe that when people bash the Hall of Fame, truly know nothing about music. They don’t know the history. People don’t know how rock n’ roll all started. People don’t understand that rock n’ roll is the roots to all genres of music. Rock n’ roll does not need to be strictly rock n’ roll. You hear rock n’ roll in R&B, funk, metal, and yes, you even hear rock n’ roll in rap and pop music. Rock n’ roll covers everything. All genres of music came from rock n’ roll. So all these artists such as Madonna, Run DMC, Prince, Aretha Franklin, the Beastie Boys, etc. Do they all deserve the Hall of Fame induction? Absolutely!

All the negative criticism coming from music fans about the Hall of Fame, I believe the criticism became big after artists such as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and several others ditching the Hall of Fame induction ’cause of differences of genres, so the music fans jumped on their bandwagon, criticizing the Hall of Fame in return. The Hall of Fame knows what they’re doing when inducting artists. They’re not stupid like you think they are.

The criticism also started because Rush and KISS, hasn’t been inducted yet. Keep in mind that there is a lot of music and a lot of bands out there. Too many to look after. So they can’t induct every music legend out there. That’s why they have a strict voting system with the board, and it’s why that they have this rule that artists are eligible for induction after 25 years of their first record. The nominees are selected by rock n’ roll historians and experts. Get the hint with that word, “historians”. They’re no joke, they know what they are doing. Maybe Kiss didn’t get inducted because they don’t have enough votes in, yet?

Maybe Rush didn’t get a nomination yet because maybe the band themselves secretly told them not to give them a nomination? Maybe Rush prefers not to be in the Hall of Fame? I think the guys in Rush themselves, said Rush was never supposed to be a mainstream band. Plus, progressive rock is not that friendly with the Hall of Fame as they have also snubbed, Yes, and Jethro Tull.

I’m sure Rush and Kiss would get inducted sometime in the future, just give it time. Just be patient. It’ll happen.

With that being said, I respect the Hall of Fame, honoring music legends. If you were a true music lover, you would respect the Hall of Fame and the legends they induct. If you bash the hall of fame for what they do, you’re not that intelligent about music as you look. The Hall of Fame is all about celebrating the legacy of a music artist. Celebrating their history and their music career, the success they achieved over the years. That’s what the Hall of Fame is about. It’s not about inducting artists who you think are good and who you think are bad. They are not here to please you. It’s about supporting their legacy they created with their careers, period, end of story.

Sure, I may not like some of the artists they induct, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to trash the Hall of Fame because they suck at inducting genres, they don’t. I may not like some of the artists inducted in the Hall of Fame, but I do respect their legacy. Like them or not, all the artists inducted in the past are pretty big legends. It didn’t matter if it was Run DMC or Madonna.

On top of that, this year’s Hall of Fame is being aired on HBO tonight at 9, and yes, I’ll be watching. I want to see the Chili Pepopers, Guns N’ Roses, and the Beastie Boys get inducted. Should be a good ceremony, and looking forward to it.

Kev

Kev Brock music

Looking back at my musical past in the Capital Land…

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I was just doing some cleaning around and I found several CD’s that included stuff from my musical past. My gigging adventures from 2006-07, when I was out there gigging like crazy. Mostly photos of my old gigs, and I found a CD that had videos of an old Valentine’s performance of mine back in 2006. I’d love to get those videos of that Valentine’s performance on youtube but I’ll have to figure out how to convert them and get them off the CD.

Maybe I’ll start uploading some old photos of my gigs from the past.

It’s fun to look back, and the more I look back, the more I miss gigging. Why did I stop? Why don’t I gig as much anymore as much as I used to? I think the simple answer, I wanted time off to improve my musical talent. Improve my guitar skills and singing. Hopefully, write some new songs.

I’ll get back into the live performing again soon, ’cause I love performing live. Performing live is one of my favorite things to do.

Kev

Local music

Not all drummers out there are good, be careful choosing the right one to jam with…

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A drummer’s job in music, is to keep time. There are drummers out there that mistakenly believe that you can play the kit however you felt like it. Drummers need to practice along with a metronome just like other musicians do with other instruments. There are bands out there where the drummer isn’t even playing in time at all.

When you’re auditioning for drummers and if you want to make sure that he/she is keeping time well, make them play along with a metronome first so you can see for yourself. It’s a good test to see if they know what they are really doing.

Whenever I get a band going and start auditioning members, I’m going to make sure I get a good enough drummer. Playing in time is serious. If you get the wrong drummer, your band will NOT sound good, and believe me, other people can tell if you’re playing in time or not. Timing is everything in music. It’s important, you have to take it seriously.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths

RIP: Adam Yauch 1964 – 2012

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Like most fans in the music world, I am very heart broken hearing about the death of Adam Yauch (better known as MCA) of the Beastie Boys. I’ve listened to the Beastie Boys for years. I’ve been a huge fan of them from way back and still am a huge fan of them now. No matter what you think of the Beastie Boys, love ’em or hate ’em. They were geniuses. They wrote incredible songs, and they are very talented live performers. They were such an inspiration to me. I never saw the Beastie Boys live, but I’ve always bought their albums.

Adam’s earlier life, he was born in and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He taught himself how to play bass guitar during high school, and right away he formed the Beastie Boys, with members: John Berry, Kate Schellenbach, and Michael Diamond. The band started off playing hardcore punk music before changing their sound to hip hop. When Yauch turned 22, that’s when he changed the Beastie Boys genre to hip hop music, as a trio. The band released their first album, “License To Ill”, under Def Jam Records.

The band were very successful over the years. Selling millions of records, making lots of hit music videos (which most of them were directed by Yauch himself), they won a few awards, and now they were just inducted into the, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. Yauch passed away today at the age of 47. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

Kev