Dave Mustaine & Vincent Price

Dave Mustaine

I have just completed “Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir” by Dave Mustaine of the popular Heavy Metal (Thrash Metal) band Megadeth. I listened to this in audio format, not for any particular reason except that I was going through audible.com one day and saw it there. I got excited and purchased it right on the spot. The narrator was great, there were times I forgot it wasn’t Mustaine who was narrating the book, and the other voices he used such as the voice of Lars Ulrich of Metallica fame was spot on. It was done very well.

I have been a fan of Megadeth for 24 years. I followed them closely for about 10 years, and then life got in the way, and I only caught news of them every now and again. This book filled in the gaps.

I knew about Dave’s life with Metallica as well as his life with Megadeth up until 1995, or until about when his arm ‘died’. I knew he lived the Rock n Roll life style of excess, but to hear just how much excess there was shocked me.

It was also interesting to hear about his childhood. I did remember hearing he was a Jehovah’s Witness as a child. I remember this because his former band mate, James Hetfield (Metallica) was a Christian Scientist as a child, and I found it very interesting that both of these men, who had such extreme religious upbringings, were now both into the Heavy Metal scene.

Dave doesn’t sugar coat his ‘asshole’ moments, or does he hid his humility. He admits he was a bone head at times, and that he was a very arrogant and egotistical jerk. He admits to diarrhea of the mouth more often than not. He admits to his weaknesses and eventually realizing that he cannot do it alone and that he really is blessed beyond his imagination. But what a ride!

This book does have some choice words and some graphic imagery. However, it is written by a Christian man (a ‘baby’ Christian). He put his life out there for all to see, how brave is that?
I was hoping this book wouldn’t cause me to lose respect for him, and it didn’t. I am more in awe now than I was when I started. I’ve read memoirs and biographies of Rock Musicians before and have always been left disheartened by the end, not this time.

* * *

Vincent Price

I recently started watching Vincent Price movies. I know he was the Prince of horror movies, but I didn’t realize how many. About two years ago I got to watch “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”. In “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”, the maniacal sawbones uses the biblical plagues visited upon Egypt as a model for revenge against the surgeons he blames for his wife's demise. A silly movie, but entertaining none the less, my daughter enjoyed it.

This weekend I got the opportunity to watch "Dr. Phibes Rises Again", the sequel. This film was so campy I just loved it. In this movie Dr. Phibes attempts to resurrect his wife and will take care of anyone who gets in his way.

You have to really enjoy hearing Vincent Price’s voice, because he does a lot of talking in these movies, although his lips never move.

I also watched “The Raven” another of Price’s movies from that era. This was a quadruple threat as it also starred Peter Lore, Boris Karloff and a very, very young Jack Nicholson. Its full title is “Edgar Alan Poe’s: The Raven”, however, it has nothing to do with the poem. The only Poe thing in this movie is a short recitation at the beginning and the last line of the movie is one of the more famous lines in the poem, “Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore. Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

This was definitely a tongue and cheek effort. Very entertaining and campy. Dr. Craven is a non practicing sorcerer who is asked by a talking raven for his help in changing him back to a human being. Craven hasn’t practiced sorcery in some time; since his wife Lenore died, but he did it one last time to help this man. Once the man is transformed into his human form, Craven discovers he is a fellow sorcerer in need of help. Craven agrees to help him and the story takes off from there.

This Weeks Enlightening Reads

The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra

I was never a fan of Deepak Chopra, sometimes I think he talks out of his ear, but I was intrigued by the title of this book, I skimmed through it in the library and it looked interesting enough for me to at least give it a shot. At first, I had a huge chip on my shoulder, I thought "This guy is a flake", "He doesn't know Jesus from Joe". But I kept reading, because the more I read the better the book seemed. I didn't agree with some stuff he said, but some of what he wrote was enlightening. And by the end of the book, though still not of fan of Chopra's, I had to appreciate the effort that went into this book. He does admit he is not a commited Christian, which is why I initially thought this book would be full of bull, but maybe it takes someone who approaches the religion from the outside to see how it works (or doesn't). The chip is no longer on my shoulder, and I am thinking a little differently about Jesus. I cannot say this is the best inspirational book I've ever read, but it was worth the read.

I wanted to post a synopsis from Amazon, but there isn't one. However, they have loads of editorials about the book, all positive in praise. So I'm thinking that is a little one sided. So I will have to try and give a brief synopsis for you.

Deepak talks about Jesus and religion today. How today's Christian doesn't know the real Jesus, how the church hides and misuses doctrine. He takes passages from the Bible and attempts to explain them for the average person to understand. This is where the chip on the shoulder comes in, how can someone who is not Christian explain the Bible to me? However, he does a pretty good job, I think he's explained it better than people who have been Christian all of their life.

4/5 stars for This one.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I've been avoiding this book since it came out. I don't know why, the premise seemed so sad. But it was in the library and I thought, WHY NOT. It was a quick read. The first two-thirds of the book was OK, it started like any other memoir, talked about childhood, marriage, life in general, dying...etc. The last third of the book grabbed my attention. He starts doling out the advice, things he's learned over the years. Things I have learned, but forgot or chose not to follow. Some of the writing is sophmoric, but the good intention was apparent. For myself, this came at the appropriate time, things were going real bad and going down hill fast. This book didn't cure it, but it helped me think about things differently, which made my day better.

From Publishers Weekly
Made famous by his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon and the quick Internet proliferation of the video of the event, Pausch decided that maybe he just wasn't done lecturing. Despite being several months into the last stage of pancreatic cancer, he managed to put together this book. The crux of it is lessons and morals for his young and infant children to learn once he is gone. Despite his sometimes-contradictory life rules, it proves entertaining and at times inspirational.

4/5 Stars for This one.

Rage To Survive: The Etta James Story

Rage To Survive: The Etta James Story by Etta James & David Ritz


Etta James is one of those celebrities you hear about and wondered what happened to. Up until a few years ago, I thought she was deceased. You don’t hear much about or from here these days, but she is alive and kicking.

Jamesetta Hawkins was the product of a 14 year old African-American mother and a white father (who is rumored to be Minnesota Fats the pool shark). This book chronicles her tumultuous childhood complete with absent mother. It goes on to talk of her rise to stardom and her demise through various types of drugs. It also goes on to talk about her failed romantic relationships, criminal activity and stints in prison and rehab.

Pretty much your standard autobiography/memoir fare, however, Etta’s writing style makes the story more accessible. Not the queen of grammar, using double negatives all over the damn book, you still can read it with ease.

But Etta doesn’t feel sorry for herself; she falls down and stands up over and over again. Each chapter there is something awful happening in her life, and you would think this would make a depressing read, but it doesn’t.

This book was published in the early 1990s, and the story stops sometime after she was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll hall of fame. The last chapter of this book, she talks about how she is still overweight and working toward being leaner and healthier. I looked her up recently, and she has succeeded.

She is now in her early 70s and looks like she weighs 120 lbs…a far cry from the 300+ lbs she weighed toward the end of her book.

This book was enlightening and I’m glad there are still some strong black women in this world. Etta James is a survivor.

Roasting in Hell's Kitchen

Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Puruit of Perfection by Gordon Ramsay

It took me a while to start reading this one. I bought it for my Kindle for a couple of bucks. I am a fan of Ramsay, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. I always figure, if someone takes the time to write a memoir, they had it pretty bad or why bother, who would care?

Well Ramsay's life was pretty messed up, and this book shows why he is who he is. Growing up with an alcoholic father and a heroin addicted brother, the loss of his career as a footballer, not to mention having to make a go at it before he was of age, will either make you or break you. In his case, he made it. There is coarse language in the book, but I did expect that as he doesn't hold back on TV either. Pretty well written and informative.

Now I have a softer spot for him. I understand his need for perfection comes from, I understand what drives him, I understand why he expects so much from others.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.