exdeadman.com

i hacked my own account

2011-03-21T21:52:00.002-05:00

almost 4 years ago, i forgot either my login or password or both to my flickr account.

for whatever reason, i figured it our tonite.

i dusted it off and uploaded a few pictures just to see if i could remember how.

i feel kinda stupid, but also vindicated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exdeadman
~r2

modern marvels

2011-03-21T21:33:00.003-05:00

i am officially in syndication, though i won't collect any royalties.

i was recently part of a modern marvels episode on packaging that aired in january 2011.

it has aired multiple times since.

it cracks me up.

the history channel is my favorite cable channel, its pretty awesome to be a part of it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1812023

check it out if you get a chance

~r2

blue monkey

2011-03-21T21:28:00.003-05:00

my niece gave me a monkey from her barrel of monkeys for valentines day.

this is his first appaerance in a blog (to my knowledge)

~r2

new book

2011-03-21T21:05:00.003-05:00

.............not mine.

sammy hagar's.

worth a read unless you are an eddie van halen fan, he doesn't fare well.

turns out eddie is a little difficult to get along with when he's drunk,........which seems to be quite often.

still one of the greatest 6-stringers of all time.

anyway, just thought i would share.

~r2

a good sign the apocolypse is near

2010-12-12T20:41:00.002-05:00

a mini-van with a snow plow.

]v[EGADET]-[

2010-09-13T19:55:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Dave Mustaine!

i just finished reading dave's book last week.

i read the whole thing in 4 days, couldn't put it down.

i'm proud of dave for turning his life around.

i've walked a similar path.

awesome book.

especially if you like megadeth.

~r2

coolest game i have ever played, ever.

2010-09-13T19:43:00.004-05:00

if you fashion yourself a gamer, then you will probably just nod when you read this.

just cause 2 is the greatest video game ever made....as of today.

that could change.

but it hasn't yet.

this game has everything

guns

explosions

tanks

race cars

tanks

jets

helicopters

gat-guns

a huge roaming area.

it's similar to GTA4, but better because you can go anywhere and operate any of the machinery.

i've even flown a passenger jet.

if you haven't already, you need to check this game out.

seriously.

it's football season

2010-09-13T19:09:00.004-05:00

it must be, because the lions have already broke my heart.

i couldn't believe the call that nullified calvin johnson's TD. even my 11 year old daughter is still complaining about the call, and this is her first season actually watching football.

so it goes.

i a am lions fan, always have been, always will be.

that's why it sucks to watch them lose.

as the new season starts i find myself, once again, saying "maybe this is the year".

then they lost the first game.

i was encouraged by the defense, and mortified to see our starting quarterback get hurt, again.

maybe next week they will turn things around.

till then

in case you haven't noticed..

2010-01-05T23:42:00.003-05:00

its been quite awhile since i have posted.

i fell in love with facebook.

having said that, facebook isn't really the place to discuss certain topics

like politics, religion, the economy, etc.

i have some opinion to share, so i'm crawling back to my online journal.

my new year's resolution is to be more consistent with my posts. (fingers crossed).

~r2

under the dome

2010-01-05T23:33:00.003-05:00

just finished ready the epic stephen king novel 'under the dome'.

it was a challenge.

over 1,000 pages.

lots of developed characters.

interesting plot.

i was a little disappointed with the ending, it was a little thin.

overall, a good book. if you like stephen king, you'll like it.

~r2

special delivery

2008-12-22T11:02:00.008-05:00

one of the things i love about christmas......is surprises.

i also love to read....and i love my friends.

and i love the band KISS.

so imagine my joy when i recieved this in the mail.

a good friend of mine from high school,

tom waltz

who happens to be a very gifted writer and editor,

sent me some of his latest work,

a comic he wrote with gene simmons of KISS.

i will be dedicating a portion of my holiday

to reading tom's latest.

i will keep you posted. in the meantime,

check him out.

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?tid=13286191&SetShowNotes=Y

happy holidays

2008-12-22T10:57:00.003-05:00

just wanted to let everyone know that i'm

spending way too much time on facebook lately.

but that's where you can go to find me.

i have a couple of weeks off for christmas

(crazy isn't it?)

so i plan to play a little more on my blog and

do some writing.

till then.

today's painting

2008-10-25T16:55:00.002-05:00

fused glass

2008-10-24T21:48:00.002-05:00

here is a fused glass i created back in august of this year.

i love working with glass and these colors are awesome.

art 634

2008-10-24T21:38:00.009-05:00

well, i painted tonite.

a lot of my friends from westwinds were there.

very cool experience.

here's what i started with.

and here is the final result.

my art

2008-10-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

i started painting this year. i wanted to share them.

i did a couple in enamel and acrylic ala pollock.

the rest are oil on canvas. i will be adding more.

i will be painting live at ART 634 in jackson, mi

friday oct 24 7-9pm. my paintings will be on display

and for sale. all proceeds go to support local arts.

my art

2008-10-23T22:11:00.005-05:00

my art

2008-10-23T22:10:00.003-05:00

my art

2008-10-23T22:09:00.004-05:00

my art

2008-10-23T22:07:00.006-05:00

my art

2008-10-23T21:58:00.006-05:00

my favorite band this week

2008-06-01T22:35:00.004-05:00

i'm constantly in search of good music.

i recently stumbled onto a band called dispatch.
awesome band, broke up about 5 years ago.
check them out on iTunes.

the lead singer of this band went on to form a new band called state radio.
awesome band, and they are playing michigan this summer
(check out "man in the hall" on iTunes)

you can also see them on fabchannel.com

really good stuff.

let me know what you think.

-r2

twitter

2008-06-01T20:03:00.007-05:00

just signed up on twitter
to connect with all my westwinds peeps

also,

a lot has happened since my last update.......

much to share

plus,

i plan to get back into an update rhythm that is more frequent

you can count on it!

new york in august

2007-09-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

here i am in manhattan last month
near the 'flatiron" building
holding my 3rd or 4th starbuck's of the day. -r2

happy b-day livi

2007-09-18T21:26:00.000-05:00

my daughter got her ears pierced for her b-day
as you can see, it very emotional.
that little girl can scream,......she's all better now. -r2

sometimes i play music

2007-09-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

here's a picture of my band at the cascades 2 weeks ago.
i really like this shot, not just because i'm in the front either.
looks like we are playing in a club,
when we were actually outside in front of 3,000+ people
cascades was an awesome venue to play,
the pinnacle of my musical career so far.
we hope to be back playing the cascades next,
i'll save you a seat. -r2

tonecasters video

2007-09-16T22:22:00.000-05:00

we have some videos posted of our show at cascades in jackson mi.

this clip is me singing green river
http://gallery.mac.com/gregoryhurley#100024

this link will take you to some of the other clips.
http://www.tonecasters.com/livefootage

(you will get prompted to select a browser,.........use your existing)

i will also be posting some pics and stuff of our last 4 or 5 shows.

we have been busy.

-r2

for zoe

2007-09-16T22:15:00.001-05:00

i'm glad to hear that you got something useful from my blog.

if we don't believe in ourselves,............ no one else will either.

take care

-r2

it is written, therefore it is true

2007-08-08T00:42:00.000-05:00

You can't force someone to love you;
all you can do is become someone who can be loved;
the rest is up the them.

--Unknown

through my eyes.........

2007-08-08T00:02:00.000-05:00

both of my boys are now teenagers
and recently i made an observation
when they were growing up, i was the coolest guy on the planet
now i'm the coolest DAD they know.

ouch!

not really........... that's a great compliment
i'm not here to be cool
i'm here to be a good father and raise those 2 boys to be good men.
i've learned a few things in my travels that i want to pass that
wisdom on to them.

i know they love me and they know how proud i am of them both.

it was fun being the coolest guy on the planet
maybe it's just time to pass the torch on to them.

i leave you with this...........

People creep into childhood, bound into youth, sober in adulthood, and soften into old age.-- Henry Giles

-r2

me as a simpson

2007-08-03T09:04:00.001-05:00

check this website out

http://simpsonizeme.com/#

funny stuff

-r2

lance and rachel's wedding

2007-08-03T07:33:00.000-05:00

my brother got married last weekend.

it was an outdoor wedding at it was HOT......

it was 95 degrees with 90% humidity (felt like it anyway).

my boys working hard. they were in charge of parking.

this lilly was part of the ceremony.

it was my mom's favorite flower.

here's our transportation. it was olivia's first limo ride, she loved it

she told me we should ride in limos more often,.....i agree.

here's a picture of me and liv dancing.

it may have been his wedding but i was the luckiest man there.

-r2

nomad bookhouse jun2k7

2007-07-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

here's a picture of;

megan's band
(she rocks)

and a collage of

bob, greg, and me

playing at nomad

bookhouse in jackson

last month.

because this is a small

venue, me lose the

drums for a stripped-

down sound.

unplugged if you will.

very cool.

-r2

the band

2007-07-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

i'm getting closer to
that big update i've
promised.

here's the reason
i haven't had much
spare time.

i'm playing guitar
and doing a little singing.
check the band website
for upcoming gigs.
it's a good time, you
should check us out.

www.tonecasters.com

update coming

2007-07-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

i've been super busy the last 4 weeks.

lots of new stuff to report, pics to post, etc.

i will be doing an extensive update this weekend

..........stay tuned.

-r2

bands i've seen

2007-06-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

(this is a guitar i built)

here is a partial list of bands i have
seen and the number of times
i've seen them. later i'll get into
where and when.

tesla (6x)
jackyl (4x, 3 in the same year)
great white (4x)
night ranger
skid row (2x...and i got to meet rachel bolan!!)
trixter
slaughter
cinderella
scorpions
dokken
vince neil
kiss
candlebox
sponge
george thorogood (my first concert, 1985)
ted nugent
bon jovi
def leppard (3x)
queensryche
souls at zero
warrant
aerosmith
kenny wayne shepherd
willie nelson

these are the ones i could remember off the

top of my head. i'm sure there are a couple i missed.

-r2

fyi

2007-06-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

in case you didn't notice

i've added a link to my flickr photo gallery

and a link to my new deviantart gallery.

check them out if you get a chance.

-r2

bilder kraftwagen

2007-06-06T23:24:00.000-05:00

here are a couple of fotos
that i took during car rides this week.
i kinda liked them
so i thought i'd share them.
i used a little bit of photoshop magic
to "enhance" the color.

-r2

weekend update

2007-06-03T18:38:00.000-05:00

june arrived in a foul mood this year.

it was overcast and rainy all weekend
but that didn't keep me down.

i watched movies on friday nite
i made it to the chelsea, michigan art fair on saturday
ate at the common grill in dowtown chelsea
watched the jackson, michigan 2007 rose parade
connected with my tribe at westwinds on sunday.

the chelsea art fair is a small-ish event that showcases
local artists. it's not far from ann arbor, michigan
and features some of the same artists that participate in
the ann arbor art fair.

i met a couple of the artists and bought some art
(they were the $3 postcards, but art nonetheless).

this pastel is titled "red tree" and was painted by teresa freed.

we talked about what motivates and inspires artists.
since i'm a designer and she is an artist, we talked about the
differences between those 2 vocations. she talked about design
being more cerebral and art being more emotive. i didn't agree
at first.

but after thinking about it for a day, i sort of agree.
true design is meant to function, we interact with design phsyically.

art isn't usually something we touch or use, it's a catalyst for emotion.
great art touches us much deeper.

it doesn't make our life easier or
more efficient like design does
great art can change how we see the world.
great design is the perfect marriage between aesthetics and function.

just a few words about the rose parade in jackson.

it rained.
it was fun.
i even caught a glimpse of captain jackson.

i posted some pictures on flickr, check them out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exdeadman/

i spent my weekend connecting with the arts, nature, and good food
all this while surrounded by the ones i love.
it was a great weekend.

-r2

may flowers

2007-05-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

i took these pictures mother's day weekend.

(no i don't know the names of them).

-r2

fender makes a guitar i can play

2007-05-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

i've never really liked stratocasters,

but fender makes a wicked bass guitar. here is mine.

i'm playing a show at goose lake father's day weekend

and had to get it out of the closet and wipe the dust off it.

i think the last time i played bass on stage in front of people

was back in 1997 or 1998 at the flight deck in jackson, mi.

anyway, here are a couple of fotos

it's a fender precision plus bass. i believe it was made 1990

and i purchased it in 1995. it came with a precision and a jazz

pickup. it has a blueburst finish.

-r2

my les paul

2007-05-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

here are a few fotos of my 1979 les paul custom.

i bought this guitar used in 1990 (i think).

it was made april 18th in nashville tennessee.

it was the 52nd les paul made that day.

the color is described as "blonde" or " natural"

and gibson only made them in 1979 and 1980.

it still has all original hardware and plays like a dream.

i love this guitar and thought i would share it with you.

-r2

7i3

2007-05-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

I Pledge Allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic
for which it stands,
one Nation
under God,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.

-r2

2007-05-26T21:06:00.000-05:00

celebrate the 22nd of every month.........

2007-05-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

...i do. here are a few reasons to be happy on the 22nd of every month.

jun22 - in 1772 england outlaws slavery

jul22 - rat catcher's day in germany

aug22 - lead singer of alice in chains, layne staley, was born in 1967

sep22 - independence day in the republic of mali

oct22 - in 1969 led zeppelin II is released,.....oh and i was born
(coincidence?,......i think not)

nov22 - the humane society is formed in 1954

dec22 - winter solstice (toji) begins in japan

jan22 - in 1814 1st Knights Templar grand encampment in U.S.

feb22 - drew barrymore is born in 1975, 1st daytona 500 in 1959

mar22 - in 1457, the gutenberg bible becomes 1st book ever printed

apr22 - in 1991, Intel releases 486SX processor chip

may22 - in 1570, the 1st atlas is published

these are my recommendations for the 22nd

you're on your own the rest of the month

-r2

family tradition

2007-05-26T09:12:00.001-05:00

someone recently inquired about my hurley lineage.
i've traced the hurley name through my
maternal grandmother hope katherine hurley
all the way back to darby hurley who
was born in cork county ireland in 1617.
darby left from london in 1635 on a ship named "mathew of london"
this trip was warranted by the earl of carlisle and
the ship was captained by mr. richard goodladd.
this ship sailed on 21 may 1635 and
arrived on st. christopher's (saint kitts) island
in the caribbean sometime that same year.
most of the people on that ship were
wards of the church of england,
which means they were criminals or political exiles
sent to this island to pick tobacco instead of going to prison.
according to wikipedia.org, this island switched to growing
sugar cane sometime around 1640. this happened because
the new colonies in america were growing a better
tobacco crop. i'm just guessing, but i assume
that darby came to new york during this time period
and finally settled in maryland. i am searching for
information on ships that sailed from
st. christopher island to new york and
hoping to see darby's name.
darby was 18 years old when he left on that ship
and he had no hurley relatives with him. this is all i have for now,
hope it helps.

-r2

life in the fast lane

2007-05-15T11:51:00.000-05:00

my buddy eric took me for a ride in his dragster this weekend.

that's the fastest i've ever gotten from zero to 120mph.

what a rush. there's nothing like the raw power of a big block.

i've got some specs & video that i will post soon.

-r2

what i'm reading

2007-05-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

i've finished reading "dry".

the content is mature and very graphic in spots,

but overall it's a good story about addiction and recovery.

augusten puts a funny spin on some tragic events in his life,

and in the process illuminates the perils addicts will face on

the road to recovery.

speaking of roads.........

i just started reading "the road" by cormac mccarthy.

it's a book about postapocalyptic america and the story is

told from a fathers perspective as he and his son travel

through burned america.

i figured if it was good enough for oprah,

it's good enough for me. i will keep you posted.

-r2

......she can sing and dance too.

2007-05-08T22:47:00.000-05:00

i love this picture

of livi. her hands

are still a little too

small for my guitar,

but she tries.

-r2

speaking of family............

2007-05-08T22:21:00.000-05:00

here's a picture i found

it's a picture of my mom

and i. these school pictures

were taken when each of

us were about 7 yrs old.

kinda neat

livi's piano recital

2007-05-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

my daughter had a piano recital this last friday.

she did an awesome job,

especially considering

she was the youngest there.

she recieved 2 national recognition

awards for her recital

at spring arbor college

2 months ago.

i'm very proud.

as you can see, i also got into the act

(though not by choice). the parents

were asked to get on stage and try

to keep a beat.

in the future,

i'm gonna stick to guitar only.

-r2

HAPPY B-DAY

2007-05-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

spam

(the quasi-meat, not the digital junk-mail)

is 70 years old.

every couple of years i relive my childhood

and fry up a slice or 2.

my kids won't eat it

because it scares the crap out of them.

anyway, help them celebrate 70 glorious years

as america's favorite pseudo-meat

by mailing a pound or two to your favorite uncle.

http://www.spam.com/seventy/

-r2

empire state building at nite

2007-05-05T01:30:00.000-05:00

i don't remember exactly where i was when i took this

but i loved the view

-r2

sometimes i get bored

2007-05-05T01:12:00.000-05:00

this was me at laguardia in march, waiting to come home.

grace church - 10th & broadway - manhattan

2007-05-05T00:45:00.000-05:00

here's a picture i took when i was in ny march of this year.

i took this picture late at nite.

i was on my way north from houston st. heading to union square.

this church was designed by james renwick jr

architecture style - gothic revival

grace church was opened in 1846

-r2

10 recent songs on my iPod

2007-05-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

miles away - winger

black and blue - van halen

breakin' down - skid row

wake up - mad season

i don't wanna be - gavin degraw

growing up - fall out boy

purple haze - covered by the cure (really cool)

time bomb - godsmack

are you that somebody - aaliyah

someday - project rocket

for my daughter

2007-04-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

don't dance near cameras

2007-04-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

...........nothing good can come from it.

-r2

mood swings

2007-04-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

i quit drinking because i got full........

2007-04-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

here's a recovering alcoholic that i met at the fuse conference in nyc who went on to become quite an author after his moment of clarity. he signed a couple of books for me, and i've just started reading the one titled "dry" which deals with his recovery...........pretty good so far (80 pgs in). he also wrote the bestseller "running with scissors" that was made into a movie. like a lot of recovering addicts i've met who have went thru a good treatment program, he is excruciatingly honest about himself, but quite funny at the same time. after hearing him speak about his life as an alcoholic, his life as a creative, and his recovery, i realized that i shared a lot of the same highs & lows (no-pun). thought i would share in case you were looking for a good read.

-r2

The Oracle of Bacon

2007-04-20T19:09:00.000-05:00

i found recently that i have a

bacon number of 3 (sorta).

so anyone who knows

me automatically has a

bacon number of 4.

although i was never

in a movie (that i know of),

i met rusty wallace in 1999,

rusty wallace was in

Days of Thunder (1990)

with j.c. quinn,

j.c. quinn was in

Digging to China (1998)

with kevin bacon.

http://oracleofbacon.org/

-r2

i heard you missed me..........

2007-04-20T18:24:00.000-05:00

..........i'm back. well, maybe you didn't miss me, but i'm back anyway. i spent this week in new york at fuse, which is a brand identity and packaging conference. it was a really cool setting, located at chelsea pier #60 right on the hudson river.

i met some

really cool

designers/architects/authors

at this conference.

i met daniel libeskind, who is a brilliant architect & a true visionary who has done some really inspirational designs including the jewish museum in berlin and the ground zero memorial gardens where the twin towers used to stand. he was the keynote speaker who opened the conference on monday nite (4/16). after daniel gave his presentation and shared some stories, he did the "rockstar" thank you and escaped from the conference hall. i happened to be leaving at the same time and crossed paths with him while we were waiting for rides in the parking garage at pier 60. we talked for less than a minute, but it was still cool. check out some of his work.
http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/

last 5 movies from netflix

2007-04-12T08:03:00.000-05:00

firestarter 1984 - drew barrymore
the 80s rule!!!

the apostle 1997 - robert duvall
duvall good, movie bad

the warriors 1979 - i suspect that this movie was the beginning and end for many actors
cult classic = bad movie, liked it anyway

dawn of the dead 2004 - ving rhames
awesome movie, a rare remake better than the original

babel 2006 - brad pitt, kate blanchett
a few good scenes, but they felt random and weakly connected at the end

-r2

last 10 songs added to rix myPod

2007-04-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

tonight's the night - rod stewart

fa la la song - john voelz

window in the skies - u2

on the third day - michael olson

breakaway - kelly clarkson

through glass - stone sour

all we need - charlie hall

great are you - downhere

we are finding who we are - king's X

x_girlfriend - bush

-r2

things you can look forward to......

2007-04-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

watch for these exciting posts in the near future

find out what 2 mormons, bottled water and me all have in common
head collections II
see what religion looks like to me
why i volunteered to go to prison once a week
recipes
and much, much more

-r2

the one & only ray's pizza

2007-04-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

i went to new york for the first time this year in january with my design team from work....we were there for 5 days to research trends and to plug into the rich culture that this great city has to offer. as you can imagine, i have hundreds of pictures and quite a few stories to share. i will post bits and pieces here as i find the time.

this first picture is of me my first nite in nyc. i'm standing in the original ray's pizza on times square. i later found out that there are probably 50 (or more) original ray's pizza places all over manhattan,..........and they all have different owners. the restaurant may not be the real deal, but my experience was. new york style pizza trumps chicago style anyday.

-r2

work, work, work

2007-04-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

here is a picture of me at work a couple of months ago. i swapped out contacts for glasses in january, mainly because i thought they made me look smarter......and it's the thought that counts. anyway, i work in manchester michigan, i am a packaging designer and graphic artist specializing primarily in the design of plastic bottles. primary tools of my trade are catia 3D modeling software and photoshop. this picture is a peAk into my work environment.

-r2

head collections

2007-04-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

i just wanted to share this little piece of random-ness that i experience on a daily basis. i work in an office environment,.............which is basically just a collection of cubicles.....and because of the wall height, when a person is sitting down, you can only see their heads. so when you tour thru different areas, what you have is an odds-and-ends display of heads. it occurred to me that this is also true in other areas of society as well. here are a couple other situations where you might run into these "collections"...... swimming pools, people riding in cars, school year books, drivers licenses,........this odd thought inspired the collage that follows............enjoy

-r2

welcome

2007-04-11T09:16:00.000-05:00

i thought i would start this page by posting my intentions for this site. it is born out of my love for life's spiritual awakenings, family, friends, art, photography, music, learning, teaching, growing, etc. i wish to share some of my work. as times rolls on and my comfort level on the web increases, this will become a window into my life as well as a sounding board for those who care.

-r2