On August 24, 1986, Paul Morgan’s life was forever changed.   He was in an accident which left him paralyzed.  Paul and several of his friends had been out boating that day.  They were on their way home, pulling the boat on a trailer behind the truck.  Paul fell out of the back of the truck and was run over by the boat trailer they were towing.  He spent 3 months in and out of hospitals.

Oh man, that sounds terrible.  Do go on…

Paul Morgan is a man who desperately wants to lead a normal life again.  When the accident first happened, the technology was not available for that to happen.  While the technology is now available for Paul to lead a better life, the financial burden would be much more than he could afford .

Since Paul is on Medicare/Medicaid, his insurance will not cover the amputation and new prosthetics because it is not deemed a necessary procedure.  Paul also receives medical disability and his Medicare plan does not even cover the cost of his catheter bag.  Paul doesn’t want to fight a no-win battle with the insurance and medical communities in the United States.

I hear you man.  Well, what are you going to do then?

Paul and his friend, Kevin Nicholson, came up with the idea to charge internet access and cut off Paul’s feet on the internet.

cut marks on foot?

What?  Why?  How?

A location has been secured to build the guillotine.  The building of the guillotine has started and the process will take a few days to several weeks… and if you are a member of Freck’s World you can watch him build the guillotine, step by step, via streaming video!

frecks guillotine

Oh, a guillotine.  Right.  That’s really fucked up Freck.

Needless to say, I loved this idea.  Michael and I, being roommates at the time, were definitely all for Paul Morgan slicing his own feet off.  We never paid our 19.95 to see it live, and I’m glad we didn’t.

Freck never went through with it.  I’m not really sure what he ended up doing about his feet, but I sure as hell don’t care.  You can see his site here now, not sure for how long though.  Enjoy while you can!

R.I.P. Frecks Feet

This won’t be easy for me to say, but, Metallica, I, I think I’m over you.

<sigh> Look, we’ve had our fair share of good times, I won’t lie.

I’ll never forget my first experience of hearing you. My brother had a cassette tape of Ride the Lightning, and played it in his ’66 Mustang when he and I were going off to run some errands. It was loud, it was fast, it was ominous. It was awesome. Little did I know that over time, the music I heard in the car that day was that of a band that would become my all-time favorite.

I’ll never forget that my very first all-black t-shirt was a Metallica “Wherever I May Roam” shirt I bought in 8th grade. I made my cousin drive me to the then iconic Bill’s Records and Tapes, where nothing has a price on it, the man behind the counter was creepy, and they still sold albums on vinyl. I wore that shirt proudly, even if I did look out of place because my hair wasn’t long, and I didn’t wear Jnco jeans.

I’ll never forget when I received Metallica (The Black Album), on CD, as a gift, but that it actually turned out to be a live Doors album, even though everything about the CD physically said “I’m one of Metallica’s best albums.” I still have that CD.

I’ll never forget when I stood out in the sweltering heat at Texas Stadium, all day, sitting through bands I didn’t really care for back then. Bands like Powerman 5000, System of a Down, Kid Rock, and Korn. I’ll never forget when people started ripping off their seat cushions during a Powerman 5000 song and tossing them down on to the field, and when someone had to come out between songs and tell us to not do that anymore. I waited, through the heat, knowing that James Hetfield wouldn’t even be there because he had injured his back a few nights back. That Metallica still came on stage, using the frontmen from the other bands there to fill in for James, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And to top it off, you told us that you’d come back and play a free show once James was in tip-top shape.

I’ll never forget the night that, after drinking a good deal of beer, and eating enough pizza for two people with my 3 college roommates, I beat both Blackened, and …And Justice For All on expert on the drums on Rock Band. I felt like Lars that night, like I was an unstoppable drummer with a 32 piece drumset in front of me, arms of steel, flailing wildly, hitting patterns that would make even Neil Peart piss his pants.

Alas, those were the days.

But, I’m sorry Metallica, I realized today, during a conversation with Ryan, that, as he put it, “I guess I’ve just moved on from Metallica.” It hit me then, that I too had moved on. It’s a combination of St. Anger leaving such a bad taste in my mouth, and also me just not being into that heavy of music anymore. It’s that there’s an Unforgiven III on your new album Death Magnetic – how can you fit “unforgiven three” into the lyrics of a song?  I guess I’ve just evolved into more of what some might refer to as an “indie snob.” So be it.

On the best of days, I know I will still be able to jump right in to any song on Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, or Metallica, crank up the volume, and remember the good ol’ days of sheer Metallica blisfulness.

Thank you Metallica, for giving me great music to listen to, unforgettable concert experiences, and near impossible Guitar Hero and Rock Band songs to play.

I’ll miss you.

Good bye.