Two Queensryches????

I was with the wife at Walmart earlier and when we were looking through the bargain cd bin, I found Queensryche- Empire. Their 2^nd best album the first is obviously Operation: Mindcrime. This got me thinking about some older articles I recently read about Queensryche. A while ago I had heard there was some issues amongst the band members, but had no idea it was as bad as it got. The first article I read was from the June 23, 2013 Seattle Times- Court ruling creates two Queensrÿches. The article basically states that Geoff Tate had tried to prevent him or the original members be allowed to perform as Queensryche until the legal issues between the two parties was settled. However the judge ruled that both parties were allowed to perform as Queensryche until the case was settled. Out of the couple of articles and everything else I read on this subject, this mess all arose because of the greed and general douchebaggery of Geoff Tate. Of all the crap he did, at one point he even was in discussions to try to make an animated version of Operation: Mindcrime; which he just happened to forget to mention this to the rest of the band!

In the end they settled out of court with the remaining original members Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton having bought out Tate’s share of Queensryche, however in the deal Geoff Tate is the only one who is allowed to perform Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II in their entirety, while Jackson, Rockenfield, and Wilton can perform all songs from Queensryche’s entire catalog.

If you read about the history of this situation you will see that not only did greed fuel Tate, but also hypocrisy! The following is a quote from Tate in the Seattle Times article “In Queensrÿche, we created something very special and unique,” singer Geoff Tate says of the band he joined in the early ’80s. “And that time has gone by and it’s time to move on to a difference phase in life … and not look back. I’ve ripped the rearview mirror off.”

So I admit that I am not the smartest man alive, but if you say “And that time has gone by and it’s time to move on to a difference phase in life … and not look back". But you are allowed to be the only one to perform your former bands greatest album and it's follow up in its entirety, and then you name your new band after that album; how exactly is that moving on to a new phase of in life... and not looking back?

Train ride to NYC

Since I have joined the army I have been on more flights then I can remember flying back and forth to Oswego for leave, and many flights for training and PCS moves. Made a whole bunch of Road trips, going back and forth from Fort Benning, GA to home; I drove from Oswego, NY to Fairbanks, Alaska, then me and Serenity drove from Fairbanks to Southern Alaska caught the ferry from Whittier to Bellingham, Washington; and drove from there to Fort Benning.

Before the army out of necessity I once rode the Greyhound bus from Florida to Syracuse. One of my more memorable trips for the army was when my unit from Fort Drum flew down to Norfolk, VA and rode on the USS Eisenhower to Haiti, and did the Blackhawk landing in Port Au Prince airfield (September 1994). Mentioning that I have been on more Helicopter rides then I want to remember, Blackhawks, Chinooks, and once I even got to sit in the gunners seat of an Apache. Once for a very brief time I even got to drive a Sheridan tank.

I bring all of these travel memories up because today for the first time I am riding on an Amtrak train, going from Syracuse to Manhatten, NY. This I think is important, because one of my earliest leaders in the army told me to make sure I take the chance to try differant things; which is a lesson I have always tried to pass on to all the soldiers I have known.

NYC is nothing new I have been there a bunch of times, but now I can cross Train ride off the list. So while sometime in the future there may actually be hoverboards like Back to the Future predicted (however I would not try to ride one, Would probably break my ankle again like with the skateboard; Thanks Johnny).

So short of the space shuttle I have now used pretty much all forms of travel, However in the words of the late great Tim Wilson; I would like to know "Where the f**k is my Jet Pack?