From last night’s show Cool Collectables, here’s the animation of Transformers Earthrise Scorponok transforming from Scorpion to robot mode. This took about an hour to make. Toy includes DK-19 upgrade kit by DNA Design,
Music is “Randy” by Max the Axe.
The always difficult-to-please Chris Sarre called this a “Top Five” show last night, and I’m flattered but have to agree with him! Thanks to Rob from Visions In Sound, and Harrison the Man Metal Man for showing off your music and entertainment collectables last night. From rare CDs, autographs and Australian exclusives, to board games, books and odds n’ ends, we saw a lot of cool items with great stories behind them.
Hightlights:
Thanks to all who watched and participated live in the comments. Apologies for the sniffling. Those board games were dusty and triggered my allergies.
No show next time, time for a break! Thanks for watching and we’ll see ya when we see ya!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Friends
Episode 111 – Cool Collectables! Helix bass, Rob Daniels and Harrison Kopp!
Tonight I’ll be showing off some previously unseen treasures of my collection. The summer months offer a wealth of riches, including a variety of things at the cottage. From books and magazines to toys and games, and finally my new acoustic bass formerly owned by the late Don Simmons of Helix, there will be plenty of fun things to look at tonight. Rob from Visions In Sound, and Harrison the Man Metal Man will be on hand as well with their own treasures.
While this episode will be less focused on music than usual, it will be 100% zoomed-in on fun.
NOTE: I am not a musician, so no song requests on the new bass! I am a casual fan just looking to fart around to some records this summer on the porch. We will be taking a nice close look at the bass but I will not be able to play you a song.
As always, your participation is encouraged and desired. As David Lee Roth said, “It ain’t no good without an audience” so please like, share and join us live!
Friday June 1, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!
Fantastic interview by Erica Ehm once again, with Reb Beach and Kip Winger. Lengthy session too, 23 minutes in total! Starting with some country riffs (Reb on 6-string, Kip on 12-string), the boys defied the expectations of the early 90s and proved they could really play — and how! For the Winger guys, it was already “first thing in the morning”, otherwise known as “mid-afternoon” to us; Kip had his cup of coffee ready! (Really good coffee, according to Erica.)
Sad observation: We’ve seen past interviews with groups like Bon Jovi, where throngs of fans were banging on the big MuchMusic windows. Winger only got a couple curious onlookers pulling faces. Too bad.
Songs played:
Topics covered:
Winger ends the session with a blues jam.
Awesome acoustic tunes and a fantastic interview. Check it out below.
Though John and I both have diminished cassette collections compared to the glory days, we had more than enough to show off for an hour. John has acquired some lovely copies of some of his favourites from Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, Needtobreath, Kiss, and many more. I had some oldies from Quiet Riot, Judas Priest, Bonham, and more, but I think much more interesting were the homebrew tapes I have left. Some are “bootlegs” that I made and some are copies of albums, but the artwork in some cases were pretty cool. I spent a lot of time making cassette copies of things like the two Blackjack albums, 24 kt Purple by Deep Purple, and Guns N’ Roses Live at the Ritz. We also looked at a whack of cassingles by a variety of bands, some newer releases, some cassette box sets, and more.
After the cassettes, we played a quiz game and had John guess the identity of surprise mystery guest “X”. Well, John guessed after one clue. But we thank “X” – aka Lana! – for joining and talking about the new Def Leppard Diamond Star Halos, and the news of a Spinal Tap farewell film.
Thanks for an awesome night John & Lana, and all who watched and participated in the comments! See you next week – CanadianGrooves and Uncle Meat will be back for a Tenacious D – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list show!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & John
Episode 109 – Cassettes “Snow & Tell”
It is true when I say that 95% of my cassettes went into a Thunder Bay landfill. Then I misguidedly dumped more when I did some downsizing in 2019. Only recently have I realized that there are diehard collectors (cough cough Tim Durling) out there who want albums on every format, including cassette. They don’t necessarily play them, they just show them off. There are a bunch of tapes I wish I kept for that reason. Helix – Wild in the Streets with glow in the dark cassette. Sammy Hagar self-titled with a weird cover that wrapped around the outside of the tape case. Dozens that I recorded myself, with my own artwork on them. All gone, forever.
Tonight, join John Snow from 2Loud2OldMusic as we gather what remains of our tapes for a truly magnetic “Snow & Tell” show! What we have left is what you will see tonight. A lot of mix tapes, and I hope you enjoy. I know it’ll be fun to dig through these old cassettes. My oldest tapes go back to about 1984. My newest are from 2022. John has small selection to show off as well, so join us tonight for some tapes!
Friday May 20, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!
Amazing weekend at the lake once again, and you can see it all right now, to the tune of “Space Marine” by Max the Axe from Trillion Dollar Threats! This short metallic blitz of a song is a condensed and concentrated rewrite of “Hard Drive” from their 1995 EP Bodies of Water. It’s a fantastic tune from Max with another killer riff.
This year represents the earliest “first swim of the year” on May 13, a record. A sign of a hot summer to come.
In this video you will see my new Fender acoustic bass. This originally belonged to Don Simmons of Helix and I am fortunate enough to have bought it from his sister Donna. This will provide many hours of summer entertaining at the cottage as I slowly become acquainted with this lovely instrument. Tomorrow you’ll get the full story of the weekend in Record Store Tales #987: The Summer Awakens.
Did Harrison really cause Erik and Rob to walk off the show? Did Rob drop two “F-bombs”? Did Harrison actually smile in the featured image? Was this one of our best shows ever?
“It’s true. All of it.”
Our esteemed panel of Jedi masters tonight were:
Opinions veered wildly on the 11 Star Wars films we examined in great detail tonight. While you may never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, I also will contend you will not find a more passionate Star Wars discussion than the one we had this week.
Truly one of our best shows, and we barely scratched the surface of these films. Perhaps a deeper dive is in order for the future.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano and Friends
Episode 108 – All the Star Wars films, ranked!
This is a show that has been in the works a long time. A long time. I understand you’re Star Wars fans yourselves! Then you will love this show we have lined up for you tonight.
The Nigel Tugnel Top Ten list format — a top 11 — is perfect for cases like this. Tonight our panel of experts (top men!) will rank all 11 films (9 Saga movies plus 2 spinoffs). This is sure to get hairy (Wookiee style) due to the diversity of the panel:
Note: We are only counting the 11 live action theatrical films, not any made-for-video films, or the animated Clone Wars (which did have a brief theatrical run). Oh sure, Harrison might try to throw a curve ball but the rules are clear.
At the end of the night, will we have consensus? I sure hope not! What I do expect is plenty of lively conversation with maybe a little trash-talk.
Friday May 13, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!
If anything, this Ugly Kid Joe bumper for Start Me Up is just a reminder of a time when certain words were OK on national television!
mikeladano.com 