The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

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gbruin
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I saw a band, but let me tell you about the tiramisu!!

Post by gbruin »

Nice nod to anguyen. I love that food reviews have become an integral part of Alter Bridge recaps.
Another photobucket casualty... :(
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maximzub
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by maximzub »

I just looked through the users list of this board and found that when you arrange them by post count in descending order, I'm the only member on the first two pages that joined after 2014. Which begs the question: How do the rest of you feel about me posting so much? Does it ever get annoying?
I'm in love with somebody...
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I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
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Dolo
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Dolo »

To be perfectly honest, it is annoying sometimes but I read some of your posts and I think, gosh, I wish I had that much excitement and motivation for some things in my life, so keep on keeping on I would say! Maybe you can turn it into something useful in your future life and you can do this stuff for a living, who knows?
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Skittler
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Skittler »

I just went through the members list and literally no one who has signed up for the past two months has posted once. That's over a 100 users so I think it's a good thing @maximzub and keeps the forum active.

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maximzub
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by maximzub »

Skittler wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:34 pm I just went through the members list and literally no one who has signed up for the past two months has posted once. That's over a 100 users so I think it's a good thing @maximzub and keeps the forum active.
I was honestly surprised when I opened this site to find 5 new posts by you. Especially after no one posting at all yesterday. Hopefully you can help keep this forum going as well.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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Skittler
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Skittler »

maximzub wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 1:15 am
Skittler wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:34 pm I just went through the members list and literally no one who has signed up for the past two months has posted once. That's over a 100 users so I think it's a good thing @maximzub and keeps the forum active.
I was honestly surprised when I opened this site to find 5 new posts by you. Especially after no one posting at all yesterday. Hopefully you can help keep this forum going as well.
Yeah, I signed up a few years back then left. I'm going to try to stay active this time :D.

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by maximzub »

I want to take some time today to remember one of my fallen heroes. No, I'm not talking about some celebrity. Actually, I personally knew this kid. I may have not spent much time with him, but he still was a great influence on me and I'll say that his death was the closest shock of death that I've experienced.

I met Chris Ruckman in 2016 at a Christmas party hosted by the Andino family, one of the families whose son Jake attended the Rock & Roll Institute summer camp with me. Most of the party was spent jamming with friends from Rock & Roll Institute. Then Chris showed up and blew us all away with a flawless performance of Eruption by Van Halen, and later he jammed Paranoid by Black Sabbath with me and Jake. I probably still have video of the guitar solo battle between Jake and Chris from that song buried somewhere.

It turned out, the Andinos and the Ruckmans met each other at Guitar Center and became friends through that. Chris was very excited at the idea to go to Rock & Roll Institute the next year. And sure enough, he did. He was placed into a band that was arguably the best Rock & Roll Institute has ever seen. Their set was amazing (Renegade by Styx, The Train Kept-A-Rollin in the style of Motorhead, Running Down A Dream by Tom Petty, and Shepherd Of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold), and Chris wowed us with some things we were not really expecting. My friend Mack had dared him to play guitar either behind his back, behind his head, or with his teeth. Sure enough, he did two of these. His solo behind his back during Renegade is probably the single greatest Rock & Roll Institute moment ever.



We didn't spend enough time together to become friends per se, but we surely had some great moments together. One of our inside jokes was that I would blast something by Beatallica (a Beatles/Metallica mashup band) off my phone, and he would say they sucked. (He was a huge fan of The Beatles just like me.) And it was amazing to see him hop on the piano in between rehearsals and be able to play whatever anyone asked him.

I only saw him once after Rock & Roll Institute. He played at his middle school talent show with his band The Vitamin Gang, which included his brother Jack on drums as well as Jake Andino on guitar. They won, of course. Chris was just too good of a showman to not deserve first place. The last time we talked was then after they won. In addition to congratulating them about the win, we briefly discussed old times ("You don't listen to Beatallica anymore? You've done a great service for us."). I don't know if that was the best that a final conversation with someone could be, but how was I supposed to know that it would be our last? He was so looking forward to doing Rock & Roll Institute again, this time with Jack tagging along with him.

Which brings me to the reason why I am posting this today. Five years ago on February 28, 2018, tragedy struck. Sadly, nobody knew for many days after, so it was a few days into March that we received the terrible news. Mr. Ruckman had shot both Chris and Jack to death before killing himself. Chris was only 14. Jack was 12, I believe.

I still can't describe the shock I felt then. I'm fortunate that I've never had any close family member die, so this was the death that to this day still hits the closest to home. What if he had lived? He would probably have continued to make amazing music. In fact, today I found out that he had an entire album ready for release at the time of his death. We will never know what could have been of him and Jack.

The community tried its best to hold many tributes to the brothers. At the first one in March, many of us Rock & Roll Institute campers performed songs in his honor (I played Lady Madonna by The Beatles on piano, something that he inspired me to learn). The next Rock & Roll Institute season, they created a scholarship in their name for any exceptional first time musicians to attend the camp for free. At the next talent show at their former school, many of his musician friends assembled to play a couple songs while their pictures flashed on the screen (I believe it was Dream On by Aerosmith and Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix).

To this day, I am sure that everyone whose lives Chris and Jack touched still remember him and hold him in high regard. I can't imagine the pain that their mom felt from losing her entire immediate family at the hands of her former husband. Sorry this post is so incoherent and not as well written as some of my other posts on here. I am still trying to process this tragic loss five years later.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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zazthespaz
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Re: and why isn't it MT? Banned.

Post by zazthespaz »

Shea, who's the crush of the week in your avatar now?
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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SHEAKENBAKEN
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Re: Because MT is my man crush, she's my woman crush obviously.

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

zazthespaz wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 5:23 pm Shea, who's the crush of the week in your avatar now?
Jennifer Haben from Beyond The Black.

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maximzub
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Always stealing Shea's ideas.

Post by maximzub »

I guess I had to jump on the crush of the week avatar train.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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Ubik
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Re: Because MT is my man crush, she's my woman crush obviously.

Post by Ubik »

SHEAKENBAKEN wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:03 pm
zazthespaz wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 5:23 pm Shea, who's the crush of the week in your avatar now?
Jennifer Haben from Beyond The Black.
I reverse image searched it, and google suggested that it was Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
For all of the hope that it brings...

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SHEAKENBAKEN
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by SHEAKENBAKEN »

Ubik wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:23 pm
SHEAKENBAKEN wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:03 pm
zazthespaz wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 5:23 pm Shea, who's the crush of the week in your avatar now?
Jennifer Haben from Beyond The Black.
I reverse image searched it, and google suggested that it was Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Google is drunk. :lol

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by MaraCarr »

I am just keepin 'these threads active today since AB rules forever! i pray everyday for them and I hope they are protected and blessed with unconditional abundance and eternal happiness on this upcoming tour! God Bless You Guys! All My Love...Eternally.

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maximzub
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by maximzub »

What happened to this place? There's barely been anyone posting besides me for a couple weeks.
I'm in love with somebody...
Found someone who completes me...
I'm in love with somebody...
Oh yeah...
And it's Lzzy Hale!

MaraCarr wrote: It is not like a crush or a lust thing.
Check out my coolest TABN posts!
My Long Alter Bridge Facts Post
Order Of Me Hearing Alter Bridge Songs
Order Of Me Hearing Tremonti Songs

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zazthespaz
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Re: exactly down to the minute or I don’t get the money.

Post by zazthespaz »

maximzub wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:21 pm What happened to this place? There's barely been anyone posting besides me for a couple weeks.
Andy bet me $5 that I couldn’t go exactly one week without posting so that’s been my reason.
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

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zazthespaz
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Re: double or nothing?

Post by zazthespaz »

Dammit.
anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.
gbruin wrote:
Go reread what zaz says

Andy92
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Andy92 »

And here I thought it was gonna be an easy $5 for him.
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by MaraCarr »

Ok keepin it going!

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UninvitedZero
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by UninvitedZero »

So ummm... Holy shit you guys!
At almost 29 years old and after living in a motel room for the past two damn years, my lovely fiancee and I are finally signing the lease on our first apartment this Saturday.
:cheers :rockon
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Skittler
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Re: The Official "Total Randomness" Thread

Post by Skittler »

UninvitedZero wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:51 pm So ummm... Holy shit you guys!
At almost 29 years old and after living in a motel room for the past two damn years, my lovely fiancee and I are finally signing the lease on our first apartment this Saturday.
:cheers :rockon
Congrats! I have been there and know what it's like to struggle and claw my way back up. I'm not in a great financial state again after making some stupid personal decisions which cost me my job and my fiance. So the rebuilding stages begin again. It builds character I guess.

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