So, I’ve pretty much got Vladimir trained to fetch, sit and roll over…or maybe it’s that he has me trained. So far, no more messes in the house. BONUS! I was worried about him with the three flights of stairs here but he seems to be quite the “stair-master”.

So rather than have Vlad take over my blog completely, i just gave him his own YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/VladimirRocks. Maybe once he’s mastered some more tricks, I’ll post those.

My weekend was sort of depressing but having a little pup sure helps.

I think everyone could use a squeaky toy.

Although it’s been a while, I’m still here. I seem to be starting quite a few blog entries like this. Hmm… And all with the intention of going back to writing daily. Well, this time I’m not going to even suggest that, but I did want to give a shout out. So AHHHHHHHHH!

Life’s been pretty interesting these last few weeks. Last I left off, I think I said that I purchased a new car. I still love it and love it even more when I fill up the gas tank and only have to pay around $20. I wonder when the next Prius model will come out with even better MPG. Someone sent me a link to this new car called Aptera …the thing looks more like an airplane and gets something like 230 mpg… [I’m not making this up… yes-"230"]. 

Um…what else? My website’s getting a makeover. There’s still some things that need to be done with it but I’d like to think the opening page is a little nicer than it was. I’d like to get a new blog theme as well but maybe that’ll be down the road.

I’ve been recording again and it feels good. Right now i’m just waiting for Kevin (the guitar player) to get back to me so I can track him. He’s been in the middle of a move so it’s been tricky.

Last week, I was pretty sick. Well, I guess I’m always a little sick in the head but this was pretty nasty. It was so bad that I actually went to see a doctor. For me to voluntarily walk into the doctor’s office is a pretty huge step. I try not to see a doctor unless I need an organ removed.

My sickness was bizarre… I didn’t feel like I had the flu and I didn’t feel like I had a cold but I just felt like I was living underwater. My head and eyes were hurting. The doc said he thought I had some sort of "sinusitis" and gave me antibiotics. I’m pretty sure they give you antibiotics when they don’t have a clue and they just wanna cover their asses.

Anyway…a few days after, the doctor called me up to say that my blood-work was all healthy and that I’m going to live. Of course, when he called it didn’t feel that way. So a week later and I’m feeling normal again…or maybe it’s that I still feel the same way but my body just got used it. 

My journal’s been all screwy these last few days…sorry about that. It’s still not back to how i want it to be…need to fix some things. It’s actually been a web-nightmare.

Like many others, my site’s been hacked into. Somehow…some way…someone’s managed to sneak in and mess with my email. What’s been happening is…any time i send an email from my cell phone, it also sends out spam to other folks. So I basically got rid of most of the email scripts on my site…and of course..that made it worse. (I’ll try sending a mailing notification of to the subscribers this time but i don’t think it’ll work–we’ll see).

It would be nice if everyone was familiar with RSS readers but i know that there’s still folks out there who like getting the email. Anyway..enough about that for now…that stuff just frustrates me.

Yesterday, I spent the day in the Recording Studio tracking more songs. Felt good to be back doing that and can’t wait to finish these up and move on to the next!

I have a hockey game tonight …not really in the mood for that right now but maybe later i will be

I only have a second…but i wanted to post that the blog mailing list is not working at the moment. I had a few emails from folks who thought i took them off the list or something …sorry about that….wasn’t the case

I’ll get it back up and working again real soon…and hey..i might even write some stuff

Ok..i’m off and running again.

In rehearsals tonight ..and then back in the recording studio again on the 1st of the month. I’m excited.

I’ve been dreading writing my farewell to 2007… but here goes.

2007 started off on a high note. I guess I was still flying high from the good stuff that went on in 2006. In the beginning of the year[January], I played a show at the Key Club opening up for the band Great White. This was a fun event…lotza crazy Hollywood stuff but more importantly, i remember us sounding pretty damn good that night. Some shows feel better than others …this one felt pretty nice =)

The following month, I started a T-shirt contest and gave away a chunk of cash to the winning design that everyone voted on. Since then, I’ve worn my own t-shirt out places and I’m finding that the shirt DOES attracts attention… I usually get people asking me “Who is this Bob Gentry guy?”…or the fun ones are the ones who say “I’m a Bob Gentry Fan too”… Those give me a smile…I guess i don’t really look like the image of myself on the t-shirt unless i turn my head sideways. Of course, i probably wouldn’t wear it myself if the image was that easy to make out A good conversation starter though.

My new Yamaha Guitar arrived back in March. It still has that new guitar smell. I guess that just means i need to be taking it to more dingy clubs. It sure came in handy for recording we did in May. I cemented new tracks for the upcoming CD that I’m happy with and can’t wait to let people hear. This CD is taking longer than I thought it would. Hopefully, it’s worth the wait.

By April, my videos finally made it to Comcast ON DEMAND. I got the news in 2006 that the clips were going to be posted but as i look back i see that this really didn’t happen until 2007.

Somewhere in the year, I stepped on the scale and realized I gained a bunch of weight. Getting older makes it harder… This was my 1st diet ever and I started obsessing over counting calories. Before it was over I ended up losing about 30 lbs. Of course, I DID have a little help when the doctor removed my appendix.

Being rushed to the hospital and having someone put you to sleep for emergency surgery is one of the worst experiences I’ve ever gone through…and the most expensive. While I was recovering, I entered into another one of those voting contests[Rockstar 98.7]. Ya know…the kind that require begging friends and fans for votes… I was too busy begging for a normal digestive system so I’m pretty sure that killed any contest chance …. however, the one major New Years Resolution i’m making for 2008 is… NO MORE FUCKING ONLINE VOTING CONTESTS. Perhaps, if it were a national TV show, I’d reconsider but Online Contests that only care about web traffic suck donkey balls.

Something I DIDN’T blog about but what also happened in 2007 was that I moved…only 6 miles away from where i was before but so far the move has been dandy.

By September… I went back to Michigan for a long visit. Almost a month. This was good trip getting to see friends and family but something about this particular trip made me do some reflecting on my life and question and 2nd guess everything. It was just a combination of everything that happened during the year. It didn’t help that I was dealing with a High School Reunion that made me feel old as dirt.

October brought a job opportunity that didn’t have anything to do with music. Paychecks that come from music come in chunks…the trick is, getting those chunks closer to each other. Sadly, that hasn’t happened so I took this job thinking it would be short-term until music picked back up.

This pretty much takes me up to NOW. The last few months, my attention has been sucked away to “steady paychecks” doing something that I really don’t want to do. This is pretty much everyone’s life right?

So the plan for the upcoming year? It’s hard to say. I just know that I’m tired of the battle, teeth pulling, and basic struggle of wondering where or when the next cent is gonna come from. I’m not giving up just yet… I’ll always write songs and record. For now, I just need to sort some things out…take a breather(even if the “breather” is 9 to 5).

To end on an optimistic word…

I’ve been doing the whole “starving artist” stuff long enough to know that The Good Stuff has a way of circling back around… just as long as ya stick with it. The trick is going to be… not getting sucked into another life before that happens.

Wishing you all the best 2008!

So the Voting begins!

I mentioned yesterday about this contest Star 98.7FM is having…here’s the details. It’s REAL EASY stuff (unlike that last voting contest I was in). 

I was going to embed the video clip right in my blog but it plays automatically and I know some folks like to have the power of clicking PLAY   

So here’s a link to the new Video and the 3 easy steps on how to vote.

Details of this contest are posted at star987.com but the grand prize winner gets a record deal with Kiefer Sutherland and Jude Cole’s “Ironworks Music”- you know, the same company that the band Life House is on.

So…uh..click the link above and vote.

Oh…if you wanna just skip seeing the video and just send a vote my way..you can go right here and just click next to my name. 

It’s listed as:

28 Days- Bob Gentry (under “G”) 

THANKS SO MUCH YOU GUYS! 

Before I forget… you get one vote per email address so spread the word

Tomorrow, I pick up my copy of the Spider-Man 3 Video Game for the PS3. I’m not sure which I’m more excited about…seeing the movie or getting the game. I’ll try to sneak out to see the movie during the week and not on opening weekend..perhaps in the day while everyone’s working. As for the game…I pick it up tomorrow…it’s "on hold" for me [I might vanish for a little while once I get the game].

I already know the story of what the 3rd movie will be about since I know the comic story pretty well. I’m a little bummed that keep showing more and more in the movie trailers. I saw one the other night that had Venom in it. I was hoping NOT to see him in the trailer and to be surprised when I saw the movie. It sucks when movie trailers show ALL the good parts but I understand that they need to try to fill theater seats and do what they must. I would think with Spidey 3, they wouldn’t need to do that though..it already has a built-in audience who would go see it even if the trailer was just Spider-Man in the black suit…that to me would be enough. I really try to look away when the trailer is on TV because I feel they’re showing way too much…hopefully when I see the movie they’ll have SOME surprises that I haven’t seen in the trailer. Ah well.

I think the WORST is COMEDY movie trailers where they show all the funny parts in the trailer…and what gets me is…when that same scene shows on the screen, people still laugh at it as if they never saw the joke coming. I love comedy but only dark comedy…I’m not really a fan of slapstick goofy stuff. Comedy is so subjective though…What’s funny to some people is mind-boggling to me sometimes.

Yesterday, I sent out my monthly mailer and got some nice responses from it. We’re all set to be in the Recording Studio on Saturday May 19th. I’m REALLY looking forward to it.

It’s so funny how recording has changed over the years. I remember when I’ve have to drop $200.00 on a 2 inch reel to reel tape to record the session on. You be lucky if the analog tape would hold 4 songs. Now, I just need an extra hard drive to keep all the Masters on. I DO like the way Analog Tape recordings sounds…but Digital is real crisp and good for vocals …maybe a mix of the two would be good but it could all be all in my imagination.

The main thing is…Studio time is BOOKED and I’m excited.

The New T-Shirt is now For Sale!

I really hope people show some support and make a purchase. I’m trying to keep the price as low as I can to cover costs and various stuff like that. The quicker these sell, the faster I can work on getting the 2nd place contest winner image printed up and maybe even have another contest like this.

Click here to buy!

Here’s how they look on a person but to see a larger view of the image just click here.

Buy one for yourself and a friend and help spread the word.

Oh…I almost forgot…

If anyone places an order over $100, you can enter a coupon code while checking out through the secure Google Checkout that gives you $20.00 Off the order.

Just enter BIGSPENDER in the coupon section of the shopping cart when checking out. It’s easy stuff… So uh yeah…buy a T-Shirt and maybe I’ll celebrate and eat more than just a salad

Lastly, you can also order by Check or Money Order but it’ll take a little longer for your shirts to get there is all

Blog readers will be seeing this 1st and I’ll be sending out a mailer next month so get them while they last. I really dig the T-Shirt and hope you all like it as much as I do. Ok…enough pimping for T-Shirt sales.

I’m excited to have these.

I’m taking a break from work stuff. I’m REALLY tired today. I’m supposed to be playing tennis a little later…my body says "no, don’t play" but I’m going to suck it up and get some exercise on the court. Since the 12th…I’ve lost 10 LBS although I’m not sure WHERE i lost it. I don’t feel or think I look any lighter but I suppose the scale doesn’t lie.

I’m OBSESSED with counting calories now…it’s almost funny and probably annoying everyone around me. I’m told the 1st 10 pounds is easy to lose but anything after that, I’ll have to really work for it. We’ll see. I SO miss junk food though!

Oh, I was just looking through the LA Music Awards website and I just noticed they have a gallery posted of the 2006 winners. I’m the 3rd photo in the gallery. COOL! I see Leeza Gibbons is also in that same gallery. So does that make 2 degrees separation of "Dancing with the Stars"??? LOL

I’ve been DVR-ing the show this season. It entertains me…I guess I’m easily entertained The only thing I don’t like about it is…WHY IS THE RESULTS SHOW AN HOUR LONG? I always fast forward to the end…the rest of the time it seems like they’re just looking for "filler stuff" for the rest of the hour. I could see a 30 minute results show…but an hour is a bit much. I’m just glad HEROES is starting back up on Monday! My life is now complete!

I just found out yesterday that I’m now posted on the Yamaha Site as a Yamaha Artist. I got endorsed by them a a few months back and was SUPER HAPPY about it. I LOVE Yamaha stuff! Somehow seeing my mug shot on their site makes it more "official"…

What’s even nicer about all this is…I’m listed along with some MONSTEROUS talented people and well-known artists. I must admit, it’s a little weird to look through the list of Yamaha Artists like Elton John, Nora Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Tony Bennett, James Blunt, Burt Bacharach, and Paul (Oh My God) McCartney to see my name on that same list. It’s a little surreal and bad ass!!!

VERY COOL!