Smooth Duke Beastie - ProfilesArchive

About Me

You really wanna' know? Well, I'll tell you anyway! I'm an artist... a lazy artist, but an artist nonetheless. I'm also a semi-pro amatuer musician (what artist isn't and vice-versa, just ask Paul McCartney... no wait, he's a GOOD musician first and foremost): guitar, bass, vox... as with my artwork, I'm lazy in the music area also, but this will change. I'm the bassist/vocalist in a band called THIRD STRIKE. We've been creatin' quite a rattle (HA!) around Grand Rapids and other West Michigan digs: especially Muskegon, recently we've been branching out even more, getting to the farthest reaches of the West Coast (of Michigan, that is). We're still hitting the cover tunes, constantly adding new ones to keep things interesting. We're continuing to add our originals to each show as well. On that note we've finally been rolling on some of our scrawlings and sounds. You can check out our four newest songs here on MySpace (just click on the snakes (Third Strike link) in My Friends). Could that CD be far off?! When I'm not playing music, I enjoy listening to a plethora of tuneage, and I relish writing my own stuff, then hearing someone else do it 10 years later, and getting pissed about it... it's great. I'm a Russophile, which for all you pervs is a fancy way of saying I'm down with the Russkie business: language, culture, history, etc. Well, that's me... there's more, but you'll have to buy the book!

My Interests

Art, music, travel, and things of the Russian variety!

I'd like to meet:

Ace Frehley, Rick Neilsen, Steve Harris, Robin Guthrie, Geddy Lee, Tony Iommi, Gene Simmons, Blackie Lawless, Robert Smith, Steve Winwood, David Gilmour, Andrew Eldritch, Peter Gabriel... just to name a few. Some people I have met: Fish, Steve Rothery, Steve Hogarth (actually all of Marillion, twice) and recently: Dokken (the whole band) and L.A. Guns (Phil Lewis' L.A. Guns). More to come I'm sure! Who else... Oh, yeah! People to hang with online and talk about, I don't know... stuff! "Stuff" seems a broad, vague, and overly generalized word to be a topic of conversation, or criteria for meeting people, but I'm all about "stuff."

Music:

Metal, alternative, rock, progressive, pop... even classical and opera. I listen to just about everything. Even if it's a genre of music I'm not into, I'll give it a shot! Here's a few of my faves... and they're always subject to new additions! Don't laugh too loudly at some of the selections... I'm bearing my soul here for ya'.

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Movies:

Quite a few... I can't really list particular flicks, or a genre.

Television:

If it's on, I'm probably watching it.

Books:

I love reading books about Russian and Soviet History. Mysteries are pretty sweet, as well. I don't read as much as I'd like, because I'm so particular when it comes to stories. They've got to reel me in from the start, or it's two chapters and out. Just Finished: "Jarhead" by Anthony Swofford Just Started: "Hannibal Rising" by Thomas Harris Next on the list: "The Motorcycle Diaries" by Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Heroes:

Here are just a few...

My Blog

Gone, Daddy, Gone...

It's been a weird last couple of days, as a local icon has left the area. I'm talking about "Big Papa" Fred Droog. Fred was the first person I met after moving back to Michigan from Califo...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:56:00 PST

Get your hair on...

What to do with this off time? My band (Third Strike) is on a month long hiatus, with only one gig in August. It's weird, but it's become our summer break of sorts. So, rather than w...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:01:00 PST

Mourning Doves...

It seems strange to me to be blogging about a bird, but lately these pigeons with clout have been on my mind. Have you ever seen an unusual name somewhere, thinking "that's odd, you don't see th...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:57:00 PST

You need a hug...

I was reading some stuff that people have posted: bulletins, blogs, et al and I've noticed something... there's a lot of tough ass folks out there. What I mean by that is the fact that they've w...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:04:00 PST

Dichotomy In the U.S.A.

Ever since I moved to Michigan I've found my experiences at poll time to be quite odd. The first year I was back, I voted in an old firehouse with a one-armed pull punch machine from the 18th Ce...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Tue, 07 Nov 2006 08:33:00 PST

Prom Date Dilemma...

Here I sit, once again wondering which way my date will swing come Prom. It's a tough dilemma to be in, for sure, but I'm hoping my date will make the right choice and that'll be me. You se...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 04:35:00 PST

Experience necessary...

Have you ever applied for a job out of the paper, or from an online site, like Manpower, Talent Tree, or even a government page? This job looks good, you know you can do it, hell, you've even go...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Wed, 11 Oct 2006 03:58:00 PST

This probably didn't work...

Your Birthdate: March 4 Being born on the 4th day of the month should help make you a better manager and organizer. You may be more responsible and self-disciplined than you realize. ...
Posted by Smooth Duke Beastie on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST