EXOTIC VESSELS

RFI did not work

2011-10-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the RFA's I had done on my lower back did not work..

I think my issues are a lot deeper than just facet joints.

Nothing that good storng pain drugs can't fix, right?

Neck MRI report... Nice!

2011-09-20T14:21:00.001-07:00

Mild annular bulging and uncinate ridging at the C5-6 level. There is moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis, slightly worse to the left.

Mild uncinate ridging at the C4-5 level. There is mild to moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis.

Slight annular bulging at the C6-7 level with mild uncinate ridging. Findings contribute to mild to moderate left and mild right right-sided foraminal stenosis.

Mild to moderate facet arthropathy at the C7-T1 level. There is mild bilateral foraminal stenosis.

Or to put it in a simple term... OUCH!!!!!

Not Medically Necessary... WHAT!

2011-08-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

So now it seems I can not have the RFA re-done on my lower back right side because my lovely insurance company says it is "not medically necessary". That's nice!

When the insurance company sends me the monthly bill, I don't deny payment and say its "not financially necessary", I just pay the FUCKING BILL!!

I could understand their denial if I was asking for a penis enlargement.
Were talking PAIN here... and a lot of it!

I would be willing to bet that if the asshole that denied this was in just a fraction of the pain I am in, not only would this procedure be "medically necessary", but it would be 100% covered.. And mandated into law.

Who the hell gave these fucking insurance company's the power or the right to tell us whether we are in pain or not!

I think the RFA worked this time around..

2011-07-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I think I might be feeling better.

Maybe , Just maybe my lower left back pain is now under control... I think for the most part today I was only feeling pain in my upper back and my lower right side...

Can this be the key that I have been looking for all this time?

I know this is not a "fix" to the real problem, but being able to live without pain is a great start.
Going to have my lower right side re-done on the 23rd of next month.

Maybe I should go talk to my pain doctor about doing something for my upper back now...

Why do I get to have all the fun?

2011-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Just got back home a little bit ago... You know its not going to be fun when before you have it done the surgeon tells you.. "I hope you understand that were not trying to torture you, its just that we need for you to feel the pain for us to know that we have placed the needles in the correct place. And the higher the pain, the closer we are to the correct spot." I would have to say... this surgeon must have been a Marksman Sniper.. OMFG! ...Nailed them!

Now I have to give them a few days to a week for the pain to calm back down...

Radio Frequency Ablation Again.....

2011-07-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

No pain, no Brain!

I am going in Thursday morning to have Radio Frequency Ablation done on my lower back left side.
I hate my life!
I wish they could dope me up for this, but they need my (as they call it) "Participation". In other words... It will hurt like a MOTHERF****R as they jab these needles into the PAIN receptor nerves and pulse them with RF to find the most painful spots. Then once they find these spots, then they can numb them before they burn them... Spike = Stressed out.....

The look I am trying to get maybe

2011-07-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here is what I am trying to get, or something like it or maybe better... Video within a marker... kind of cool huh!

Working with a new plug-in that is cool

2011-07-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

I am asking the makers to add a few more features to make it even more cool. Like video within the marker.

We will see.

Radio Frequency Ablation

2011-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the Radio Frequency Ablation on my lower back right side did not work the first time for me...
The Doctor said this might happen in my case but we had to try and see. They did what is called a pulse and although it is done at a lower temperature to try and save the nerves, the success rate is also lower.
So I am going to have it re-done. This time they are going to be more aggressive and fry them suckers!

Hey, whatever it takes to stop this pain!
Just make it go away!

So I have to have my left side fried, then go back and have my right side re-fried.

Re-fried Spike Yum!

Left side Medial branch blocks worked, kind of..

2011-06-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I had the left side Medial branch blocks done on my lower back today...
Well, they did work for about 4 - 5 hours, but now I am back to full pain...
I have no idea what they did different this time, as last time the pain was gone for about 4 days or so...

I guess the good news is that I know it will in fact stop the pain from that area, so I am going to move forward with the Radio frequency Ablation on the lower left side.. Just want this to be over... I am getting so drained from this pain...

That was fun

2011-06-08T21:14:00.001-07:00

NOT!

Radio frequency Ablation

2011-05-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Going to have my Radio frequency Ablation done on June 8th

Medial branch blocks worked

2011-04-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Medial branch blocks worked! They did them at 4 levels on my lower back right side. This stopped my lower back pain on the right side for a few days. It was only a test to see if my pain was in fact coming from these nerves. Yes it is!
Now I need to go back and have the "Radio Frequency Ablation" done at 4 levels on both sides (8 spots) to "shut down" these nerves for a year or so.

Medial branch blocks

2011-04-15T12:24:00.001-07:00

Going in next Thursday to have this fun little procedure done on my lower back to see if they can then do another thing called "radiofrequency ablation" on some of the nerves. Fun stuff!

Ingo getting big fast

2011-03-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

The boy is getting big very fast...

What can I say...

2011-02-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Bat Boy.

While I still can

2011-01-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

I am sure he will be too big for this very soon, but I do love my boy..

Ingos home with us now

2011-01-23T19:10:00.001-08:00

Just got Ingo today....

Me thinks he is going to be a handfull, but he is SO cute!

Ingo

2011-01-12T11:04:00.001-08:00

Can this be our new baby boy?

Steroid-induced osteoporosis

2011-01-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

Been trying to speed up my back pain healing as I have not been able to do anything for a while now.
Had a call into my Doctor asking for a steroid pack to help "kick start" my healing.

I got a call from my Doctors office today. He said this was not a good idea to use Steroids as they thin the bones and as I already have osteoporosis, he did not want to compound the risks. He said it was far better for me to go back to my pain management doctor and deal with my pain. Just let your body heal on its own over time and take pain meds..

Nobody wants to touch my back as it is totally messed up.....

That is totally messed up!

Support

2010-12-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

Life has kicked me in the ass pretty hard these days..

Sometimes it just blows me away how people that I don't even know have called or e-mailed with their support and kind words.

I just wanted to thank you all for being there for me..

Waste of my time

2010-12-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

So I went to the Dr. yesterday ..
They took a few X-rays of my back (waste of time)...
He said he did not see any fractures.. I already knew that!
I went in there saying that I think I Herniated myL5 S1 disc!

I asked why not just go right to a MRI?
They said... Oh! well, we would have to order that and that would take a few days... Lets just see how you feel is 6 weeks..

6 WEEKS? How about I stick that scalpel up your ass and see how your doing in 6 weeks?

Now they want me to see a shrink to give me the "tools" to deal with my pain.. I GOT YOUR TOOLS RIGHT HERE!

The flu from hell

2010-12-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

This has been the flu from hell..

So last week I was coughing and broke a rib.. (Easy to do with osteoporosis)

Yesterday morning I was coughing and SNAP I think I Herniated myL5 S1 disc again. I can hardly walk.. right now.. This was the first back problem I had back in 2003, but has been doing ok for the past few years..

The good news.. I guess I have to slow down some.. The bad news, everyone that is waiting for a Zen has to wait a little longer. I can't stand this part. I need to keep people happy...

2010-12-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

Been tuning to some new scales.

Golden Gate Zen

Silverado Zen

And a fake echo test using both drums

New door bell

2010-11-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

Just a matter of time before I had to build one of these...

New tuner

2010-11-14T20:06:00.001-08:00

Got a new tuner the other day.

This thing allows me to tune to just about anything I want.

Makes the other one look like a toy..

Very cool!

Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Attacks? Perfect!

2010-11-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

So I went to my Dr. yesterday for a check up.

As some of you may know I have osteoporosis and have been instructed to take a lot of Calcium...
Now they find out Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Attacks!

Sounds about right!

Humans, were not as smart as we think we are..

Studs and Bitches

2010-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

So we are thinking we might be ready to get another puppy..
We are looking around anyway...

So they call the Male dog the "Stud"
And the female dog the "Bitch"

This got me thinking.....

So if I were to call some dude a "Stud", he would thank me and say "yes I am"
If I called some woman a "Bitch", I do not think she would thank me...

Slang Dictionary:

Stud: A human male viewed as very successful with women.
Bitch: An unpleasant or irritating female.

Once again, the English language proves to be stupid and make no sense.
No wonder I failed it so badly in school..

An unpleasant or irritating female.

Once again, the English language proves to be stupid and make no sense.
No wonder I failed it so badly in school..

Drum Heads

2010-10-07T19:44:00.001-07:00

Another 50 heads

Trying to Zen out a little

2010-09-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

Been a crazy few days... trying to take my mind off some stuff and came up with this..

C Pentatonic in Blue and Copper patina

2010-09-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Just finished putting the last of 6 coats of clear on this C Pentatonic Zen.

Me likes this color combo.

Air brushing a Lotus OM

2010-09-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Spraying a Lotus OM on a Zen

Peeling off the stencil

Welding day

2010-09-17T19:35:00.001-07:00

Today is my welding day

New booth

2010-09-15T14:45:00.001-07:00

Spraying clear over some Kandy Apple Red in my new booth. Going to take a few days to get the hang of it. Might have to go to a slower reducer.. Going to have to ask around.

I do need to set the lighting up better.. I can not see the front of the drums well enough..

Burple and Butterflies

2010-09-13T11:16:00.001-07:00

A new color to play with. This one is called "Burple kandy". It's a mix of blue and purple. With a nice butterfly in the center.

I still need to wet sand it and buff it to a mirror finish.

I guess I can't do whatever I want.

2010-09-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

I was in the process of phasing out the 11 note Zen but have been getting so much e-mail asking me to keep it... I guess I have to keep offering it. Got to keep everyone happy..

I just have to put together a clear list of scales that will be offered in the 11 note version as not all scales will work.

D Minor will not work in a 18" 11 note Zen.

Oh yeah, Well.. I cut metal with frickin lightning

2010-09-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Here I am cutting down some of the drum heads to size with the plasma cutter.

And yes, as a matter of fact, I do feel real manly when I do this :)

The new 10 note Zen is here.

2010-08-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Just uploaded the first video of the new 10 note Zen.

10 Note Zen

A new color too.. :)

I only wish the video could capture the true sound of these things..
The new model sounds so pure...
I am very happy with it.

Still here

2010-08-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Been working on Zens.... Have a few new ideas...
A new note layout for the 18" Zen that might prove to be a more pure sound with some scales .. more testing needed...
A few more colors to play with... Kandy Red, Burple and Wild Cherry Sweet looking...
Will try and upload photos and stuff soon....

Does size matter?

2010-07-24T21:03:00.001-07:00

Working on a new size drum.. its a 8" Zen. Not sure how it will work out yet. One of my collectors asked me to build her a drum she can take with her to remote places. It needs to be small, light and still sound good.

Looks like its going to be about 4 pounds.

I am thinking that it might have to be played with a drum beater, but don't know yet as I have not cut the notes..

The notes shown are just for layout...

its sooo cute...

The first "color shift" patina Zen

2010-06-30T16:09:00.001-07:00

Here it is, the very first "color shift" patina Zen #193

Zen Sign

2010-06-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

Stephanie went out and had my good friends over at RUSTWORKS make this sign for me...

You guys ROCK!!

Spike likes

Color shift patina

2010-06-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

Ya know it was just a matter of time....
I can now offer "color shift" patinas on the Zen Tambour.
Very hard to photograph, but they look sweet!
This is a bad sample of how the purple looks.

Hey Dan! Thanks for the help with this...

Practice! Practice! Practice!

2010-06-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Practice! Practice! Practice!

I am sure you will see a hummer or Bfly on a Zen soon....

Yum!

2010-05-29T11:21:00.001-07:00

Happy B-day to her!
Stephanie just made this cake for her birthday...

Looks yummy...

Pushing limits

2010-05-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking about other tunings and scales...
I am still working on a new idea, but might have a way to get 16 notes on the drums.

For the D scale drums, it will start down at the D2..

Should know more in a few days...

Cloud highlighting kind of thing

2010-05-07T20:01:00.001-07:00

Kind of went for a "cloud" effect on the note highlighting...

Going to put this one up on EBay over the next few days... It's an 18" D Hijaz scale.

Me likes

2010-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

I really like this look.

I miss my buddy

2010-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Off to China you go...

2010-04-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

This drum is going off to China..

Arabic Zen

2010-04-24T15:43:00.001-07:00

Getting ready to build a 18" drum for one of my drum collectors with these Arabic symbols.

Not sure what this says, but it does look very cool.

Me likes

Drum Wall

2010-04-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

I need to get a bigger drum wall... Running out of room...

Om

2010-04-07T18:01:00.001-07:00

Working on this 18" drum today.

Still need to buff it to a mirror finish..

The new 18, 11 note, Long sustain drum

2010-03-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of the new 18" drum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdVv681lglM

This drum is not finished, but I am getting tons of e-mail asking about it, sooooo....

Spike

RIP Klaus

2010-03-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Klaus, you are already missed my little buddy.

Be well my friend.

Zen Rock

2010-03-16T10:58:00.001-07:00

Someone posted a video and said my drum looked like a rock.. Sooooo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q0PNQug1Gg

Is thicker better?

2010-03-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

My 12" drums are made using steel that is .105" thick. My larger drums are using a thinner .075" steel because I am worried that the thicker drum will be too heavy for people. Well, I think I am going to order some .105" 18" heads.. I am sure they will sound nice, I am just worried about how much they weigh. We will see....

Drum case

2010-02-26T08:25:00.001-08:00

Ordered this drum case the other day...

MAN this is cool! I can fit one of my 20" drums in this bad boy. Works great!

and was only $30 from:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BODBGHBCB

I did cut the dividers out.

The drum gets a quick wrap with a small blanket and slips into its new home... Sweet!

This thing also has full backpack straps built in..

20" 11 note Zen Tambour

2010-02-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the new 20" 11 note Zen Tambour in D Hijaz scale with a center note of A2.

20" - 11 note drum

2010-02-17T19:47:00.001-08:00

Working on this 20" - 11 note drum.

The center note will be an A2, not the C3 shown...

I think there is enough room for the center note to work without hurting the rest of the sound.. but will not know until I try...

20" drum with a Hitzaz scale.

2010-01-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

I know, what is that?

For anyone that owns or wants to own a Hang drum, you know what it is...

This is a 20" drum I am working on.

I do not want to put the "ding" note in the center of the drum because it kills the sound and look of the drum, so I thought it might work out by placing it at the bottom.

So the scale will be:
A2 (ding) D3, Eb3, F#3, G3, A3, Bb3, C4, D4

This should work out... we will see.

20" 10 note drum

2010-01-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the new 20" drum I am working on.
This drum is large enough that I can fit 10 notes on it... And this is a C Akebono scale.. So far, it's looking and sounding very nice. I will know more later today.

12" 16" 20" stack

2010-01-27T12:29:00.000-08:00

Showing the
12" drum
16" drum
and the new 20" drum.

Got to love color shifts

2010-01-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Showing off what "color shift" colors do.

Same drum, same lighting just different angles

This drum will go on Ebay sometime on 1-27-10.

Color shift graphics

2010-01-23T13:44:00.001-08:00

These new color shift paints are soo cooool!!!

The graphics on this drum are done in a Sivler - Green.

20" drums?

2010-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

Sure, why not! I have some 20" tank heads ordered.. going to be doing a few tests when I get them. Who knows, I am sure they will sound different. If they do what I hope, they will be a cool sound.

We will see.....

16" drumfest

2010-01-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Here are ten - 16" drums in the process.

New graphics color offering

2010-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Now offering a few more colors for the graphics.

These are color shift colors. They look great when doing ghosted flames.

Ghost flames

2010-01-05T19:24:00.001-08:00

Finished this 16" drum today.
Russet patina with copper ghosted flames.
Will try and get it up on Ebay tomorrow.

Now offering a 16" drum

2010-01-01T12:47:00.001-08:00

I am now offering a 16" low profile drum as well as the 12" drums.

Is bigger better?

2009-12-29T11:51:00.001-08:00

Trying out a new size 16" drum heads.

So far, it's sounding very nice.

New day, new color

2009-12-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

Working on this drum. Should be finished tomorrow and will put it up on Ebay.

It's a mix of Blue and Copper iridescent powders in the patina. Not sure what color it is.

The note shading is gold.

Scale = D Akebono.

Me likes!

Ideas

2009-12-19T11:39:00.001-08:00

Working on a few new ideas with the drums.

This is a low profile version using a thicker metal. Not sure how its going to sound yet, but will report when finished. I am thinking it will give a "fuller" sound.

The metal thickness, drum size and shape does make a difference in the sound, the question is... what sounds best. Or better yet, what sounds best to you! I can see me offering more than one style.

Going to also try a 14" drum soon. That should be fun.

Blue Iridescent patina

2009-12-18T08:11:00.001-08:00

I love this color!

Custom swirl

2009-12-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

Working on this custom drum.

The bottom half is a blue/green patina(not shown). Kind of a swirl vortex thing going on...

Russet/Copper

2009-12-11T20:16:00.001-08:00

Just finished this one today. Its a D major with Russet/Copper patina.

Crop Circles

2009-12-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

How about this for fun?

A custom made drum with crop circles for graphics.

Blue/Red patina

2009-11-30T19:20:00.001-08:00

Blue/Red Patina in D Pygmy scale. Will post it on Ebay tomorrow.

If all goes well

2009-11-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

I should be able to post a few drums on EBay tomorrow. ... Bad photo, but you get the idea..

Patinas are like a box of chocolates

2009-11-16T17:59:00.001-08:00

Ya never know.....

I mixed Blue, Red and Copper iridescent Powders and it made this color... Not sure what it is, but it is cool.

This drum is tuned to D Pygmy scale.

Going to put it up on EBay in the morning some time.

Blue with copper

2009-11-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Blue with copper patina and Japanese symbols.

This is just the first coat of clear.

Red/Blue with copper

2009-11-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

One of my collectors wanted this color combo... Have to say, Me likes!

iridescent Russet with Copper

2009-11-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

I like the look of this stuff.

You tube ratings.

2009-11-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Seems someone ( I am betting a competitor of mine) thought it would be cool to go to You tube and down rate all my videos.

At first (about 5 seconds) it started to get to me, then I thought... Well, my drums must be real good for a competitor to have to go out of there way and try and make my drums look bad by down rating my videos. Too bad for them the You Tube rating system does not change how my drums look and sound...

I am an artist, I let my work do the talking for me.

iridescent copper patina

2009-11-04T14:10:00.001-08:00

Me likes this stuff!!!

iridescent Powders

2009-11-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Got some iridescent Powders today. They look great!

Drumfest

2009-10-27T11:08:00.001-07:00

What can I say...

Blue Iridescent Powder with patina

2009-10-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Working on this drum today.

This is the blue iridescent Powder mixed with the patina.

I like it!

Drum up on Ebay

2009-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

You can see it here

Iridescent Powders success

2009-10-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Working on this drum with a blue/green Iridescent Powder in the patina.. I wish you could see it live... Looks outstanding!

The Iridescent Powder is not in the clear coat, but in the patina itself. Man this looks cool!

Iridescent Powders

2009-10-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

The Iridescent Powders look GREAT!!! .... Can't wait to put this new look on a drum.

Hand painting

2009-10-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Got this very cool idea from Ryan Louis. He had this idea of putting a "Hand painting" on a drum.

This idea comes from the Aboriginal cave hand paintings.

Going to try it on a drum in a few days.

Thanks Ryan for the cool idea

Iridescent Powder

2009-10-21T18:50:00.001-07:00

Going to be doing a test in the next few days to see if
Iridescent Powders mixed into the patinas will give a cool look as a finish on my drums.

If this test does work out, it should provide some cool looks.

Slight change on drum

2009-09-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

I added a Celtic knot to the center.

Drum of the day

2009-09-29T18:12:00.001-07:00

Finished this drum today.
Tuned to D Pygmy.

Kuba Drum

2009-09-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Another animal print drum today.

This drum is tuned to E-Pygmy scale.

I am going to call this the "Kuba" drum... A few of you will know why...

Zebra

2009-09-19T18:56:00.001-07:00

Finished this one today.

Mini drum

2009-09-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Finished this small drum today.

Its 10"Dia, tuned to F Pentatonic and has a blue/green art job.
It was made from a very thick tank(about twice as thick as most). has a very nice tone.

Celtic knot Drum

2009-09-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Finished a drum with a cool Celtic Knot pattern.
12" Dia.

Tuned to C Pentatonic scale.

Another drum art job

2009-08-27T18:07:00.001-07:00

Finished this one today.