April 2, 2000
Hello Everyone March 11, 2000 Hello Everybody January 19, 2000 Hi Everyone :) November 16, 1999 Hi Everyone :) August 24, 1999 Hi Everyone!! June 14, 1999 It's taken me awhile to gather the energy and inspiration to work on my site. For that I do apologize. I kept looking at this "page to bitch" as something that I had to be angry about something to write my thoughts down. With the help of a friend of mine I'm now looking at this page as more of an editorial page. Just a place to voice my opinion--happy, angry, upsetting or whatever. So, with that said I'll proceed. :) March 28, 1999 I just finished reading a book about GNR called
"Over the Top" by Mark Putterford. If you have not
bought this book-don't bother, if you're an Axl fan. It does have
some decent pictures in it but the text is insulting. He should
have done his homework a little better and at least gotten the
facts straight before filling his pages with bullshit. He also
seems to find everyone, except Axl, completely blameless in
everything that ever happened badly in the GNR organization. This
ridiculous idea inspired me to write this. I've grown extremely tired of that whole idea.
While I will admit that Axl is not perfect, he's known for his
temper tantrums, he's probably, at best, difficult to work with,
but I refuse to believe that everything that has happened with the band is solely his fault! When Izzy left the band, it
became Axl's fault, it couldn't possibly have happened anywhere
near the way that Axl said that it happened (or somewhere in
between the two). When Slash left the band, Axl said it was
because of creative differences and left it at that. Slash has
been known to completely blame Axl & insinuate that he
doesn't know what he's doing. That sounds very bitter to me. Like
Slash can't handle that Axl is taking GNR beyond him. Duff chose
to leave the band and has chosen not to bash Axl in public for
the most part. The other former members of the band could have
done it that way but they chose not to. I guess it's easier to
make Axl the bad guy instead of taking some fucking
responsibility for their own damn careers! I've heard several comments about Axl's new
sound, some good, some bad. A lot of old time GNR fans have said
that if Axl's new album isn't like the old GNR then they don't
want to hear it. And that's the best negative comment that I've
heard. Okay! That's fine! We're all entitled to our own opinions,
but I will say this: if you don't like it why trash it? If you
don't like it just don't listen to it. I don't understand why
some people feel compelled to completely trash a band that they
don't like or a new album that they haven't even heard yet. I'm
not making up my mind about Axl's new sound until I hear it. I've
been a fan of his for about 13 years now. I realize that it's not
going to be like the old GNR. He's grown since then, he's lived a
little more, and had some new experiences. I don't see how it
could possibly be anything like the old sound. I, speaking as an
old time GNR fan, can't wait to hear his new album. I hope that
he knows that there are some of us out here that are looking
forward to it. Okay...I'll stop ranting now...but stay tuned,
as I get pissed off regularly and I'll be posting my rants here!
Okay, well I've been reading the posts at the fan forum at the official GNR site lately plus a couple of different mailing lists...anyway once again I'm pissed off. I understand that there are people out there that are tired of waiting for Axl to release this new album. Hell, I have my moments when I'm just fed up with constantly having it put off. But I do not find it necessary to go onto GNR fan places and post whining, bitching, bullshit posts!!! I don't have a hell of a lot of time anymore to just roam around and read stuff. The last thing I want to do is listen to someone gripe about how long it's taking Axl to do this thing. If you don't fucking like it then fine just go on down the road and forget that Axl Rose exists!!! I ask you why is it that these people have this overwhelming urge to just try to pour dirt all over the hope that fans have out there? I don't understand the point. Why is it that GNR seems to attract these assholes that have to come in and bitch about how much GNR sucks? I mean, I don't like the Backstreet Boys but do I go over to their web page and tell everyone that I don't like them? NO!!! It's just stupid. It's not accomplishing anything. They're not gonna just decide to agree with me and say that the BSB suck too. Nothing I say is gonna change their minds. So I pose the question again--Why is it that GNR attracts people that do this kind of thing? If you have an answer I'd sure like to hear it. Post it on my guestbook or email me--whichever you'd prefer.
I think I'm done for the moment. I'll post again soon. Later everyone.
Jen
I just got back about a week ago from an absolutely amazing vacation!! I spent 9 days in New York City. That is such an amazing place! I loved it there. Everywhere you turn there's something else to do. So, I'm gonna take this opportunity to talk about my trip a bit :) I did see a couple of GNR related things there but I'll talk about those in a while. I think I'll start with the Empire State Building. I'm sure that the view from the 86th floor is beautiful during the day but I'm certain that no matter how awesome it is at that hour it can't possibly beat that view at night. It was breathtaking. I had never seen anything quite like it--lights as far as you could see. I got so caught up in the view that I completely forgot that I'm afraid of heights!! Now that was an amazing feeling. I also had alot of people tell me to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge--again what an awesome view of the city. I did that one at night too-but I do most stuff at night if possible. That's my time :) I avoid the sun as much as possible. Ummm lets see I walked around in Central Park quite a bit-it's awesome!! I spent hours just roaming around on the paths--I felt so at peace there.
This takes me to the museums. I went to the Museum of Modern Art. Sadly, they had half of it closed that day so I didn't get to see everything :(. But I really enjoyed what I did get to see. For example, I had always admired the work of Van Gogh but had never seen any of his work in person. I don't think I can put into words how amazing it was to me to look at those paintings. Seeing photographs is great but the actual work...I don't know, it's just different. :) The other museum that I went to was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I spent about 5 hours there and never got past the first floor. It's so massive I didn't know where to start. The highlight for me I think was the armor and weapons section and the medieval and renaissance items. But then, I'm really into that period of history. Anyway, it was beautiful and I wish I'd had more time in there. Ah well, I'm sure I'll go back next time I'm up in NYC. I lucked out while I was there--they had an exhibit that was of great interest to me :) They had some costumes of rock artists. The first thing that I remember seeing there was the cape that Mick Jagger wore onstage (the one that's the british flag and the u.s. flag). They had a couple of outfits that belonged to Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Janis Joplin, etc. But the best one for me (of course) was when I looked up and saw this leather jacket and torn up jeans and that infamous top hat!! SLASH!!! Cool :) and I didn't have my camera with me dammit!! But next to that was an Axl outfit. OH MAN!! Okay...sorry :) I'll calm down now. ;) Axl's little red shorts (I love those :) ) and these strips of plaid material that they were calling a kilt. It was awesome!!! I also went to the Hard Rock Cafe. I had only been to one other one-it was here in Texas. Didn't even eat there :) I just roamed around and looked at the stuff. I would have liked to have seen all the guitars that they had on the 2nd floor. But, they had it closed off that evening :(.
My absolute favorite thing to do while I was there though was just walking around and looking at the buildings and the people. I've never walked so much in my life! I live outside of Houston, Tx. We don't walk places here. We drive everywhere. Anyway, by the time I got back home from my trip my feet were killing me. I will say one thing though-that little bit of time up in NY had an impact on me. I see alot more places as being walkable. There's just nothing like experiencing places when walking. I came away with this great need to roam around. You notice things that you'd normally just drive right by. It's awesome :)
I could talk about my trip for hours. I only mentioned a couple of places that really stuck out in my brain at this moment. I did alot while I was there and I enjoyed it SO much!! I'll definitely be going back :).
As for site information-I do have more pictures to scan and put up here. So, I'll do my best to get to that soon. I'll also be adding a Duff section. And then I think I'll start back on that interview section. I have a huge stack of interviews to type up. Anybody out there really love typing? Wanna type for me?? ;) I'm joking. I will get to them soon. Anyway, that's about it for now. Take Care everyone.
Jen
Please excuse this little message everyone-I have to put a little note up to a friend here :)
Love that latest entry in my guestbook COP!!! hehehe Okay Okay--ask and ye shall receive. For your viewing pleasure I've added a Slash section & some more group pics. Oh yeah, COP thanks for that one Slash pic. You'll notice that it's up on the first page of that new section. :) :p
I am working on a new entry to post here-I'm just not happy with it yet. I will put it up soon though. Later Everyone!!
Jen
Okay-I think I'll start off by answering the questions that Tanya asked me on the guestbook.
1) What do I think of the new GNR/new album?
I love "Oh My God". I admit that I had to listen to the sample a couple of times to decide that I liked it. But when I heard the whole song the first time I was hooked!! I like that Axl's voice sounds a little rougher (actually not quite as polished). As for the new GNR--I do miss Slash, Duff, & Izzy alot. But things have to move forward. I've always kinda seen Axl as the driving force behind GNR. It really saddens me to see them all on separate paths. But, I'd much rather see them all on their own than see them all get so fed up with each other that they just quit making music all-together. To be honest I haven't heard enough of the new GNR to really form an opinion but as soon as I have I will certainly post it here :)!
2)What do I think of Axl's haircut?
Hehehe...I kinda like this question :) Um, well I should probably start by saying that I'm really into men with long hair. I just think it's sexier than hell. It makes me a little upset to think of Axl with short hair (only because of my preferences). But it's his hair so I suppose he can do whatever he wants with it. I'd like to see another picture (besides that damn mug shot) cause you can't really tell. It kinda looked like it was cut but he could have just pulled his hair back too. Let me just put it this way--I won't stop being into Axl if his hair is short--but I DO like it long :) :)!!!
For any of you that haven't checked out the official GNR site--YOU SHOULD!! I think it's gonna be cool. Definitely check out the Fan Forum. It's great--fellow fans talking and trading opinions. There is a little bit of Axl bashing going on there but it's not too bad. Just more of the old "the breakup is ALL Axl's fault" shit. I firmly believe that there are three sides to that whole story--Axl's, Slash's, and what really happened (which I'd bet is in the middle of the other two stories.) I just get really sick of hearing that. If anybody out there wants GNR to go back to the old sound then go buy Appetite cause I think you'll be disappointed by "Chinese Democracy". I can't wait to hear it!!! I want to hear what the last 6 1/2 years has done to Axl's music. I'm just really excited about it.
Well, that's it for now. If any of you have something you want me to address here please feel free to ask on the guestbook or you can email me at axlsjen@yahoo.com.
Take Care All!!
Jen :)
Once again I apologize for taking so long to voice my opinion! :) Life has been a bit hectic---full time job, full time mom, spending time with friends-sometimes I just don't have enough hours in the day. I'm sure y'all know the drill. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has signed my guestbook!! I love reading your comments. Keep 'em coming!! Also, for anyone that hasn't visited it I do have a message board now. Feel free to come join in the conversation. I'll be posting some new topics very soon.
Here's one topic that's going to be on there--but I'll go ahead and give my opinion now. I've noticed on several boards and clubs this tendency to attack each other just because they don't agree. For instance, when Slash left GNR--whose fault was it? I'm sure we all have our opinions about it...but some people have very heated discussions over something that they don't know anything about. We only know what's been released to the public. But we will never know what actually happened between Axl and Slash. It makes me very sad really that Slash is not part of GNR anymore...but that's not going to change anything. Slash is still out of the group. He's an awesome guitarist and I would love to see him and Axl together again...but Come on people!!! What's the point of fans fighting about this?? I would much rather listen to the individual members in their solo efforts...than not get to listen to them at all. What would have happened if they had stuck it out and let their music suffer? That would really upset me. So, just maybe this decision was the best one at the time. Who knows what the future might bring?
Well that's it for now! I'll try not to wait so long before my next post here.
Jen
In the recent issue of Spin magazine we have an article on Axl. He also graces the cover of that magazine. It was an amazing feeling to see him on the cover of a magazine again. When I opened it to take a look at the article I was pleasantly surprised. Beginning with the listing of several rumors floating around about him--along with how likely that any of them are true was out of this world. From there we move onto some great quotes and some vintage pictures of Axl and the rest of the original band. I loved the way it was broken down into the different phases of their success. All in all I loved the quotes. Some were great and some sounded very bitter to me. I enjoyed reading about some of the stories from the people that were actually present rather than through another's view of a situation they didn't experience. It was an awesome walk down memory lane for me--now I'm ready to start reading some current information. :)
I've recently heard several times a rumor that the new GNR album will be out around late fall. I do hope this one's true. We shall see!!!
This last subject is one that's extremely upsetting to me. Since I went online-I hear of this type of thing happening more and more. There seem to be people (and I use that term loosely!) that enjoy messing with other people's heads. They prey on people that could be considered naive or innocent. They like to impersonate someone famous by sending emails, messages, chatting, etc. pretending to be someone that they're not. While to them it could be fun to pretend--they don't think or care about the effect they will have on the other person. They get this person's hopes up making them think that they're talking to someone that they idolize-when in fact they are talking to someone that is very cruel (in my opinion). I don't understand what the impersonator thinks they will gain from doing something so vicious. I hope I never understand what makes someone WANT to do something like this. After they decide to stop playing their little game the person they are doing this to could end up being very hurt!!!
I'm a big believer in Karma. You should be careful of what you decide to dish out because eventually it will come back on you often much worse than what you gave out. So, I do hope the people that are doing this get theirs someday. Maybe then they will have some inkling of what they did to other people. Although somehow I doubt they will ever understand that this is one of the lowest things that you can do to someone else!!! Preying on someone's feelings about someone...it's just inexcusable.
Okay...now that I've ranted about something that really bothers me-living up to the name of my page here :). On a more personal note :)--to the friend that I mentioned at the beginning of this message:
Thank you for being so understanding, for listening to me rant about things that upset me, for laughing with me when I'm happy, for being a shoulder for me to lean on when I need one, and for helping me find my focus again!! Your friendship means the world to me. :)
Jen