Paulie CLUB FAR's blog: "Personal"

Well I don't quite know how to begin to describe the day that I've had today. First thing today I got news that I'm basically screwed for getting back into the gaming industry unless I want to lie about my practical experience. Although I have 9 years experience doing EXACTLY what I did when I did it as a job...the JOB part is all they seem to pay attention to. So I can't hardly find a job in the games industry...BUT...I had a glimmer of hope until this morning. The studio I worked with in England posted a 'track designer' job (which is the job that I did for them on ATV Offroad Fury 4), so I applied and got the news this morning that while they were happy to see my application, they are looking for a candidate with a little more experience! Needless to say after that I was feeling rather sorry for myself. I sat back and took stock of my life, where I am, my eventual retirement (and lack of planning or saving for it)...and I was just about to (as we say in the games industry) 'push the reset button'! So anyway my Mom came home early to pick me up to go to her eye appointment (she was getting cortozone shots in her eye...ouch!) so I could drive home. So I got to pour out my frustrations on her. She was able to sort of calm me down and get me half-way feeling OK again. BUT...then comes the call that capped off my whole day. My cousin Debbie called to tell us that my grandmother passed away during her nap today! I can't begin to describe how crappy I feel right now. I'm hoping that maybe putting it down in words takes some of the pain and sting of the day's events and news away. The funeral is Friday and I'm a pall bearer...so I've got to go out tomorrow night and get fitted for a jacket (since I don't have a suit or a jacket at all). More later when I have something of WORTH to say!

To my friends and fellow members of Club F.A.R. I am in a contest to win a One-Day Blast and I need YOUR help to get 1000 comments in a week. That starts RIGHT NOW...so whatever help you can give is appreciated and I promise to return the love. Please repost this as you see fit. Here's how you can help...first you need to fan/rate/add the very generous and wonderful Stephanie Lynn by following this link http://fubar.com/user/813171 who is being kind enough (as she always does) to hold this contest and dole out the prizes out of her pocket. So please remember to show her some love too. ***IMPORTANT - You cannot follow the pic to the folder until Stephanie Lynn has accepted your Add Request!!!*** Then click the pic and COMMENT away! Thanks in advance for your help!
The more comments you can leave the better. Now here's the GOOD part. I will pay you for your work. After you've done all the commenting you can stand send me a PM...I will count up your posts and send you 100 Fubucks PER comment (for the first 1000 comments...or a max of 100,000 fubucks)! That's some pretty serious payback for your time. The rules of the contest prohibit NSFW comments and bad language so please keep it clean! Thanks for your time and help on this my friends! Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.rivergard.com

I am one of the luckiest guys in the world! I play guitar with a top-notch KC area Country band. They are the best group of guys (and gals) that I could hope for really. Dean Saul sings the lead vocals. Dean is the baby (youngest of us all) and though he is usually a bit nervous, Dean has the best voice of probably anybody in Kansas City for Country music. Furthermore he is just a really nice and fairly laid-back guy. I've played in bands with Dean since the mid 90's. Mark has played with me in groups since the early 90's and plays Drums. Mark is a real character and is left-handed but plays drums in a unique way that keeps more drummers 'busy' wondering how he does it. He's a bit unconventional and probably the one most responsible for the way we sound as a group. Mark is stubborn and forthright...but a true friend and just a great guy to be around. We're lucky to have him. Rick has fast become one of my best friends. We have so much in common outside of the band that we just click. We have a relationship that is akin to brother-hood. He is fairly new to the bass guitar but is fast becoming a solid and fun player. His attitude and commitment to the band are second to none. He practices more than all of us and is constantly impressing me...and that is no easy task! Nelson is the newest member of the band and the oldest of us all. He is very laid-back and mild-mannered. Nelson is the most level-headed of us all and has a lot of experience with bands and touring and as a result a lot of Nelson's ideas are put into practice and have helped us to progress in a generally positive direction. Nelson's playing is so great...and he's such a great guy. We are SO lucky to have found him and that he wanted to join us. He's made us SO much better as a band. Finally there is Mary. She is Rick's wife and does SO much for the band that helps us in big ways. She does most of our promotions, printing and typing up promo stuff, printing pictures, dealing with fans at gigs and taking down email addresses to send people info on the band, handing out cards, talking to club staff, getting the names of the staff for us so we can thank them publicly...the list just goes on and on with her. We are TRULY lucky to have her. So like I said...How lucky can a guy get?

YEAH! I have tickets for Trans-Siberian Orchestra tonight at The Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. This promises to be a really cool and fun time. I really love these guys and can't wait to catch them live! I hope to enjoy myself thoroughly today. The show is at 3pm and it's 10am now. I can't wait! Anyway...I'll try to post more after the show. I've also got to play tonight. So we'll see if I have time to post before I have to leave for the gig tonight.

Today I had the good fortune of a referral I made to a friend being accepted. Since I immediately had space for 10 more pictures I decided to add a new folder for my passion of Motocross. A while back...in 2004 I worked with a professional motocross team that was created to support newly turned pro rider Cody Gilmore. My job was basically gopher. Whatever the team needed...I went for it! lol I helped with advertising, contracting team sponsorships, answered the phone in the suspension shop and basically helped where-ever I could. Well..I got to be pretty good friends with Cody Gilmore and we've kept in touch since then. Cody has 2 amatuer national championships before he turned pro. Cody raced a few of the outdoor national races in 2004 and then we hit the areancross circuit hard and heavy. He wound up finishing 15th in the nation and got the AMA Rookie of the Year award. The second year Cody raced some supercross and a few outdoor national races...but lack of major sponsorships (to cover things like hotels, food and diesel fuel) kept him from racing full time. Then the arenacross season came around and Cody wound up doing extremely well his second season getting top 5 finishes in nearly every round and a few 1st places as well. Unfortunately...as is the case in this sport so often...Cody got hurt. He would wind up missing about 1/2 of the season and still wound up finishing 11th in the nation. Things turned horribly bad for Cody when he was helping a friend in the pits at the amatuer national championships at Loretta Lynn's ranch in 2006. Cody had been having back pains and they eventually got so bad that he had to leave the race and go back to his hotel room. By that evening Cody couldn't move or feel anything below his waist! Cody was rushed to the emergency room where he went through a rigorous round of testing that would eventually reveal that he had Cancer. Ewing Sarcoma had hit Cody in the form of two large lumps...one on his shoulder and the other on his spine (which was causing the paralysis and back pain). They operated and were able to remove all of the Cancerous material. Cody was told that he may never walk again...much less ride. He underwent a full round of chemo and radiation treatments and has since been certified cancer-free. Furthermore Cody is gaining weight and growing hair again and is even back riding the bike again. It will be some time before Cody regains all of his strength and his speed on the bike. But I have faith that if ANYBODY can do it...he can! So this new folder and the pictures are dedicated to MY HERO and friend...Cody Gilmore AMA# 374! WAY TO GO CODY!!!! Love ya brother! Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.RiverGard.com

Hey all! I've FINALLY got my music working and got the autoplay feature working as well. I hope that you ALL enjoy the music that I've got posted up and that you also enjoy "Still Got the Blues" by Gary Moore which autoplays now when you load my page. Thanks to The Juke who helped point me in the right direction to help get this problem worked out finally. Apparently The Juke is good for much more than playing a bass guitar. Who would've thunk it? Just got some band business taken care of and will be uploading some new pics as soon as I'm able (I need a few hundred more points first). Hope to see some of you this friday at Harrah's VooDoo Lounge! Have a great week between now and then as well. Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.rivergard.com www.myspace.com/rivergard