Hey Buddy - how've you been?

I ran into Geddy over the holidays (after 16 or so years) and we had a chat to get updated.

I mentioned our discussions about Rush and how much you guys knew about their albums and he was quite impressed. Even said he may try to drop in and view some of them sometime (I told him how to retrieve old threads with searches, etc.). He's reluctant to post (at least so everyone knows who it is) but said he'd like to drop by. Cool eh?! ;)

Hey Buddy - how've you been?

I ran into Geddy over the holidays (after 16 or so years) and we had a chat to get updated.

I mentioned our discussions about Rush and how much you guys knew about their albums and he was quite impressed. Even said he may try to drop in and view some of them sometime (I told him how to retrieve old threads with searches, etc.). He's reluctant to post (at least so everyone knows who it is) but said he'd like to drop by. Cool eh?! ;)
WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!! GEDDY LEE!!!!! TOTAL AWESOMENESS!!!!!! HI, GEDDY!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! HOW'RE ALEX AND NEIL DOING????!!!!! HOW'S THAT NEW ALBUM COMING ALONG???? HAVE A KOKANEE, OR A MOLSON, OR A LABATT'S ON ME!!!!! YEEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! THE GED-MEISTER KNOW WHO I AM!!!!!! HEY, GEDDY, GUESS WHAT!!!!! I GOT A BASS THIS CHRISTMAS, AND I'M GOING TO BE A GOD OF BASS JUST LIKE YOU!!!!! EH??? YEAH!!!!! :rock: :guitar: :clap: :cheers: :notworthy :woohoo:

It would be really cool if Geddy dropped by SO. :rock

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!! GEDDY LEE!!!!! TOTAL AWESOMENESS!!!!!! HI, GEDDY!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! HOW'RE ALEX AND NEIL DOING????!!!!! HOW'S THAT NEW ALBUM COMING ALONG???? HAVE A KOKANEE, OR A MOLSON, OR A LABATT'S ON ME!!!!! YEEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! THE GED-MEISTER KNOW WHO I AM!!!!!! HEY, GEDDY, GUESS WHAT!!!!! I GOT A BASS THIS CHRISTMAS, AND I'M GOING TO BE A GOD OF BASS JUST LIKE YOU!!!!! EH??? YEAH!!!!! :rock: :guitar: :clap: :cheers: :notworthy :woohoo:


LMAO - I don't think he'll miss this post!!!!!!!

Watch for their new album May 1st, 2007 - Geddy's voice is as great as ever on it! We're also hoping for a tour of some kind. I'd love one of their open-air, summer nights concerts, although I was at one New Years Eve and it rocked too. We'd also love to see one of the finest drummers in rock and roll back in action again. Since the death of Bonham, nobody hits the skins like Neil. Now THAT'S a Gong Show!! :lol: :wave:

I'm really getting into the new song, "Far Cry", they're playing it quite a bit on KNAC.com!! :cool:

I was playing a few songs on bass by Rush last night, and I should keep working on them!! :guitar:

I'm really getting into the new song, "Far Cry", they're playing it quite a bit on KNAC.com!! :cool:

I was playing a few songs on bass by Rush last night, and I should keep working on them!! :guitar:


Yeah, I've now been hearing it a lot too and the DJ saying it looks like the rest of the album is as good as this song so that's really encouraging!

I had forgotten you were a bass player. My brother plays bass. I remember how jealous I was when my parents bought him a left-handed custom made (all left handed guitars are custom made - they have to wait for enough orders to reverse the machines and then run a batch off) Richenbacher. I haven't been in touch with him so don't know if he still plays or not.

It does make me want to pickup the sticks again though.....

Thatd be awesome. Does he still have a super high voice?


Its not that high though, Ive heeard higher. Michael Jackson. NO PRINCE

Thatd be awesome. Does he still have a super high voice?


Its not that high though, Ive heeard higher. Michael Jackson. NO PRINCE


:lol: I still think Prince is a chick! (Actually he lives parttime in my city even though he dumped that chick he was living with).

Yep - Geddy still has the same voice. His speaking voice isn't high though.
Even as a female on certain songs I'd have a tough time getting to the high notes like he does.

Yeah, I've now been hearing it a lot too and the DJ saying it looks like the rest of the album is as good as this song so that's really encouraging!

I had forgotten you were a bass player. My brother plays bass. I remember how jealous I was when my parents bought him a left-handed custom made (all left handed guitars are custom made - they have to wait for enough orders to reverse the machines and then run a batch off) Richenbacher. I haven't been in touch with him so don't know if he still plays or not.

It does make me want to pickup the sticks again though.....Actually, I just gotten into bass recently, I play mainly guitar, but I'm thinking that I do connect with bass a lot more. I want to do both, though, I need to get better on guitar, though I've been doing that for years. But I've been finding playing bass has this sort of "from the gut" kind of feel that sounds nice and loud that the rest of the band sits on, next to drums.

I'm wondering, though, should I just concentrate on bass? I could become a better bass player, like Geddy, instead of trying to be another Alex, which we already have! :D No one can top him!!

Actually, I just gotten into bass recently, I play mainly guitar, but I'm thinking that I do connect with bass a lot more. I want to do both, though, I need to get better on guitar, though I've been doing that for years. But I've been finding playing bass has this sort of "from the gut" kind of feel that sounds nice and loud that the rest of the band sits on, next to drums.

I'm wondering, though, should I just concentrate on bass? I could become a better bass player, like Geddy, instead of trying to be another Alex, which we already have! :D No one can top him!!


I'd go with what makes you the most happy and from the sounds of it, it could be bass. As you know, music has to come from the gut/heart. I play both drums and flute and it just depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm happy and "light" I usually pickup the flute, if I'm pissed, frustrated, sad, then usual grab the sticks and go nuts until my forearms and wrists burn! :lol:

I'd go with what makes you the most happy and from the sounds of it, it could be bass. As you know, music has to come from the gut/heart. I play both drums and flute and it just depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm happy and "light" I usually pickup the flute, if I'm pissed, frustrated, sad, then usual grab the sticks and go nuts until my forearms and wrists burn! :lol:It's really strange, all these years, I've wanted to be the best at guitar, still do, but once I put on the bass, it's like, something that really fits me, from the gut. And I've been only been playing bass for a very short while, but it just feels like something that I've been meant to play. I guess sometimes I've just wanted to play guitar to show others, like skeptical family members, what I can do, something to impress others with, but what's the point in that? I was made to feel when I was younger, that, naaah, you can't play, Greg, give up that music business, you're just no good. But I feel like, once I plug in the bass, it's something really from the heart, and it's MORE than something I "can" do only because I am not great on guitar, but something where I feel the groove, the rhythm, the deep thump from within, the bottom end. I don't look at bass as a "consolation prize" because I must suck at guitar, but something that really does speak to me from within and that I really enjoy playing. Of course I want to play guitar and use it for songwriting ideas and compositions, for which I bought a four-track recorder last weekend.

I heard "Far Cry" today for the first time and it really rocks. Vocally, I don't think that Geddy has ever sounded better. And Alex's guitar playing kicks a**. My only complaint about the song is that except during the solo, you can't really hear Neil.

IT'S JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK: RUSH WILL BE PLAYING THE WHITE RIVER AMPITHEATER HERE IN AUBURN, JUST FIVE MILES UP THE ROAD FROM WHERE I LIVE, ON JULY 20!!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:

IT'S JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK: RUSH WILL BE PLAYING THE WHITE RIVER AMPITHEATER HERE IN AUBURN, JUST FIVE MILES UP THE ROAD FROM WHERE I LIVE, ON JULY 20!!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:


Do you know when they will be playing Chicago and when the tickets will be going on sale? Do to a problem with my computer I can not long onto either the official Rush website or the ticketmater site.

Do you know when they will be playing Chicago and when the tickets will be going on sale? Do to a problem with my computer I can not long onto either the official Rush website or the ticketmater site.

September 8, 2007 Midwest Bank Amphitheater. Chicago, Illinois. It doesn't say when tickets will be going on sale there.

September 8, 2007 Midwest Bank Amphitheater. Chicago, Illinois. It doesn't say when tickets will be going on sale there.


Thanks for the information! :D

Thanks for the information! :D:welcome: I just scheduled that Saturday off after the show, I'm going the show after work, and I'll be recovering from Rush the next day!! :crazy: Tickets go on sale this Saturday, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get them this weekend.

:welcome: I just scheduled that Saturday off after the show, I'm going the show after work, and I'll be recovering from Rush the next day!! :crazy: Tickets go on sale this Saturday, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get them this weekend.


Their September 8th performance here in Chicago will be on a Saturday...which is I think the best day to hold a concert. I'm sure it will be a great show. :D This will be my sixth Rudh show. I saw them once on the Counterparts tour, twice on the Test For Echo tour, once on the Vapor Trails tour and their one and only Chicago show on the R30 tour.

naplesnews.com

Judge says deputies acted properly in Rush guitarist fracas

By John Henderson

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Collier County sheriff’s deputies didn’t use excessive force in subduing an international rock star at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, on New Year’s Eve 2003, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson has ruled against the civil claims brought against Collier deputies by Alex Zivojinovich. He is known on stage as “Alex Lifeson,” lead guitarist for the rock group Rush.

Deputies used a high-voltage Taser stun gun on Alex and his son, Justin, in the altercation in the stairwell of the hotel. They also broke Alex’s nose.

Alex Zivojinovich, his son, Justin, and daughter-in-law, Michelle, had filed suit, alleging that the deputies violated their civil rights based on “illegal detention” and “excessive force.”

But Magnuson, in his ruling issued through the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida’s Fort Myers division, didn’t agree.

The judge ruled that the deputies’ actions “we’re objectively reasonable.”

“In sum, the plaintiffs have not established that any of the defendant deputies violated their constitutional right to be free of excessive force,” Magnuson wrote in his recent ruling.

The judge ruled that the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity on all of the excessive force claims.

Magnuson’s ruling means the trial that was slated to occur this month won’t take place.

The judge also ruled that the Ritz hotel and its security employee, Frank Barner, weren’t negligent in the case.

Zivojinovich’s lawyer, Michael McDonnell, had argued that hotel security simply should have asked Justin to leave before calling in Collier deputies.

Magnuson ruled that under state statute, the hotel wasn’t obligated to take that step.

And the judge ruled that Barner didn’t use excessive force on Justin Zivojinovich when he handcuffed him with Deputy Christopher Knott’s permission.

Hotel spokesman Bruce Seigel said Wednesday he had no comment about the ruling or case.

In April 2005, Alex Zivojinovich and his son escaped what could have been a lengthy prison sentence when they reached a plea deal on the criminal charges. Their deal called for a year of probation.

Zivojinovich was facing two felony battery-on-a-law-enforcement officer charges that each carried a potential five-year prison sentence.

Zivojinovich and his son were guests at the bash at the Ritz-Carlton, ringing in 2004, when the skirmish with deputies occurred.

Justin Zivojinovich agitated hotel security when, without permission, he twice got up on a platform where the house band had been performing.

Security called deputies, who escorted Justin out of the hotel with Alex Zivojinovich following behind.

Witnesses who saw what happened in the stairwell gave conflicting statements. There was no security camera recording.

Alex Zivojinovich was accused of pushing deputy Amy Stanford down a stairwell and spitting his blood on deputy Knott.

Alex Zivojinovich had his nose broken by Deputy Scott Russell, who leaned over a railing and struck him in the face as Zivojinovich was charging up the stairwell of the hotel to go to the aid of his son, who was being zapped with a stun gun by deputies.

Despite the recent ruling, the Zivojinoviches aren’t ready to give up on their civil case.

Zivojinovich’s Naples defense lawyer, Michael McDonnell, said he plans to appeal.

The deputies’ attorney, Fort Lauderdale attorney Richard Giuffreda, said he believes this judge’s ruling will be affirmed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which is a court one notch down from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Magnuson’s ruling also dismissed “without prejudice” deputy Knott’s battery claim against Alex Zivojinovich, which means it can be revised and filed again.

“I have to refile it (that case) in state court. It is going to proceed forward,” Giuffreda said.

Stanford, who suffered injuries after tumbling down the stairwell with Alex Zivojinovich during the scuffle, also has a pending lawsuit against him in state court.

“It’s been very stressful for them (the deputies) that they have been accused of these things falsely, and they are very happy this is behind them, at least at this point,” Giuffreda said.

© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.


Bad cop. No doughnut. :nonono:

Launch Radio Networks reports: RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson couldn't believe it recently when he found out the sheriff's deputies who arrested him in Florida a few years ago had been cleared of any wrongdoing. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson ruled that the officers from the Collier County Sheriff's Department "were objectively reasonable" in their behavior, which included arresting and Tasering Lifeson and his son Justin at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples on New Years'Eve 2003.

Lifeson told Launch that no one could have seen things going this way. "I was quite shocked with the judge's ruling, as all my lawyers were shocked," he said. "And I think that if you probably asked the defendant's lawyers, they would have to admit that they were surprised, too. The ruling was just so overwhelming."

Lifeson also told Launch that he still believes in his case, so he and his lawyers will continue to move forward. "All we can do is go to appeal," he said. "I know what happened to me — I know what happened in that stairwell, I know the brutality of these police officers, and I know the way the hotel behaved. And, you know, someone else's opinion is someone else's opinion, but I was there, and I know what it was like."

On December 31, 2003, Alex Lifeson, his son Justin, and Justin's wife Michelle were at a New Year's Eve party at the Ritz-Carlton, when Justin got up on the bandstand twice, without being invited. The sheriff's department was called in, and Alex thought the deputies were being too harsh on Justin. When he got involved, both men were hit with Tasers, and Alex also suffered a broken nose in the brawl, during which he allegedly pushed one deputy down a flight of stairs and spit blood on another.

I'm shocked that those officers got off. :mad: This was a clear case of police using "excessive force".

Officer involved in RUSH guitarist's countersuit fired for sexually harassing women

Ryan Mills of Naples Daily News reports that Cpl. Christopher Knott — one of the officers involved in RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson's countersuit (stemming from the incident on New Year's Eve 2004 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, Florida) — has been fired for sexually harassing women.

According to an internal investigation obtained Monday by the Naples Daily News and reported on NaplesNews.com, Knott, who started with the agency in January 2003, was fired in January after it was revealed he grabbed the shorts of a woman working at a local restaurant and told her he wanted naked pictures of her.

Another investigation revealed that Knott, 32, had been "checking out" a woman in a shopping center parking lot, and then pulled the woman over in Lee County for what she deemed to be no apparent reason.

But Knott said in the report he was joking with the restaurant employee, whom he had known for years, and had pulled the other woman over because of a report of littering. Multiple attempts to reach Knott, who collected $45,413 a year, for comment were unsuccessful.

Read more at Naples Daily News.


naplesnews.com

Collier deputy fired for sexually harassing women
By Ryan Mills

Originally published — 12:38 a.m., April 17, 2007
Updated — 11:50 p.m., April 17, 2007

A four-year veteran of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office was fired in January after two internal investigations revealed he was sexually harassing women while on duty.

According to an internal investigation obtained Monday by the Naples Daily News and reported on naplesnews.com, Cpl. Christopher Knott, who started with the agency in January 2003, was fired in January after it was revealed he grabbed the shorts of a woman working at a local restaurant and told her he wanted naked pictures of her.

Another investigation revealed that Knott, 32, had been “checking out” a woman in a shopping center parking lot, and then pulled the woman over in Lee County for what she deemed to be no apparent reason.

But Knott said in the report he was joking with the restaurant employee, whom he had known for years, and had pulled the other woman over because of a report of littering. Multiple attempts to reach Knott, who collected $45,413 a year, for comment were unsuccessful.

Around 7:45 p.m. on July 31, 2006, Jennifer Hipwell, a manager the Pelican Larry’s Raw Bar & Grill at 2700 Immokalee Road, was on break behind the restaurant when Knott drove up to her while he was on duty, in uniform and in a marked Sheriff’s Office vehicle, an investigation revealed. Knott worked on road patrol in North Naples, authorities said.

Hipwell and Knott, who have known each other for about three years as acquaintances, made small talk for a few minutes when Hipwell mentioned she was “a little grumpy,” a Sheriff’s Office report said.

Knott then told Hipwell to “come here and sit on my lap. I’ll make you feel better,” Hipwell wrote in a complaint.

When she moved closer to Knott’s vehicle, Knott grabbed Hipwell’s shorts and had four fingers inside the waistband, authorities said.

When Hipwell asked him what he was doing and told him to stop, Knott said: “Come on, I want to see your panties,” the investigation revealed.

During an interview, Hipwell told authorities Knott was pulling her shorts toward him and downward so he could see her underwear, the report said. She said Knott was trying to take her pants off.

“Hey, nice green drawers,” Knott recalled saying to Hipwell, to which she replied: “They’re blue.”

Hipwell wrote in a complaint that Knott then told her “I want to see naked pictures of you.” She then called her husband on her cell phone “figuring it would be a distraction and I could get away.”

On Aug. 6, 2006, Hipwell said Knott returned to Pelican Larry’s off-duty with friends and continued talking to her in a lewd manner. She said Knott asked her: “When are you moving in with me?” He also told her “My wife’s bags are packed. I love you,” Hipwell told authorities.

Knott told authorities he was talking to Hipwell in a joking manner. Knott admitted that he “probably” said he wanted naked pictures of Hipwell in various conversations, but didn’t know if he said that to her the night of the incident, the investigation revealed.

Knott also admitted in the report to grabbing Hipwell’s shorts, but said he did so because he was receiving a call and attempted to tell her to hold on because he wanted to talk to her.

Hipwell filed a complaint against Knott with the Sheriff’s Office’s Professional Responsibility Bureau on Aug. 11, 2006.

On Nov. 1, 2006, Sonja Craparo, who worked for the News-Press in Fort Myers, was on a sales call at the Pavilion Shopping Center in Naples when she observed a male deputy who appeared to be following her and watching her, the investigation revealed. Craparo left the parking lot in her silver Honda and went north on U.S. 41.

When she passed through the intersection of U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road, a deputy behind her who later was identified as Knott activated his lights and pulled her over, authorities said.

Craparo asked the deputy why he pulled her over, considering he had just been “checking her out” at the shopping center, she told investigators. Knott explained that a person in a different vehicle told him that a passenger in a silver vehicle had thrown something out the window.

“You had just seen me 20 minutes before at the Pavilion,” Craparo said. “You were checking me out. You know I had no passenger.”

Knott told investigators he was at the shopping center to meet his wife when a driver in a white SUV flagged him down and told him that the passenger in a silver car threw something out the window. Knott headed north on U.S. 41 and pulled over the first silver vehicle he came upon — Craparo’s, he said.

Knott said he explained to Craparo why he pulled her over. When he realized Craparo didn’t have a passenger he apologized and left, he told investigators.

Knott acknowledged that he didn’t follow department policy when pulling over Craparo, did not check out the alleged complaint over the radio by getting the driver’s name or license plate number, and made the stop in Lee County. Deputies are required to radio into dispatch to report the location of a traffic stop, the make of the vehicle they’ve pulled over and the license plate number, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Knott told investigators he was in a “hurry.”

A polygraph exam taken during the internal investigation regarding the traffic stop showed “there were ... responses indicative of deception,” the report indicates.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Knott turned in his resignation. But his resignation was “rendered moot” because his appointment was withdrawn on Jan. 22 for unlawful or improper conduct on or off duty and willfully departing from the truth, the investigation revealed.

Knott appealed the decision, but Collier Sheriff Don Hunter denied his appeal.

“I find that there has been no new mitigating or exculpatory information brought forward in your appeal, and that the evidence in the file is credible and persuasive,” Hunter wrote to Knott. “Your conduct was contrary to Agency policy and to the best interest of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.”

The Sheriff’s Office reported that Knott had been disciplined once before for “carelessness in duty performance” in 2005.

© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.