InstantForum.NET v4.1.4LivingForMetal.com [ Metal Music Forum ]http://livingformetal.com/forum/lfm@livingformetal.comWed, 07 Jan 2009 12:19:14 GMT20http://livingformetal.com/forum/Topic27952-21-1.aspxIndeed. What's more amazing that I didn't mention in the article is that the doctors originally gave him 3-5 years to live when he was 20. He proved them wrong.<br><br>As for the "write-up". I have a brief little description that I think will help with the explanation...<br><br>"The Cactus Monster is an opinion column written by Erik Blekeberg of San Diego, California. It covers a vast variety of topics but, all echoing the Monster’s love for metal and the people involved with it. He can be funny, offensive, odd and over opinionated but, he always means it in the best of ways. More than anything think about the topics and enjoy the writing because the Cactus Monster will never stop."Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:54:32 GMTErikhttp://livingformetal.com/forum/Topic27952-21-1.aspxWow, quite a write-up. Not really sure how to respond. <br><br>I am honestly not too familiar with Becker's work but I am familiar with his struggles with the disease. It's always a shame when someone has so much to give the world and for whatever reason they are unable to do so. Whether it's because of disease, death or anything else. It is amazing that he developed a method of communication once the "normal" way deteriorated.Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:12:42 GMTvoodoohttp://livingformetal.com/forum/Topic27952-21-1.aspxI have a pension for coffee shops. I think they are quaint and charming. I tend to go there get a tasty pecan bar with a 16 oz blacker than black coffee. I then sit there and read a book while enjoying these tasty treats while now and then I set the book down to watch people. People watching is very interesting, you get to observe the human condition first hand. What makes it more interesting to me is, I can join with them at anytime I wish. However, some people are forever trapped in the limbo of watching people through the window of their eyes.<br><br>Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease is possibly the worst thing I can ever imagine happening to a person. It robs you of your ability to move and act. You become a prisoner of your own body with the same mental capacity you had. You are a brain in a shell. This disease destroys your motor neurons. These tiny little things are what allow you to stand up and stretch in the morning, kiss your loved ones and play guitar. This is the disease that robbed us of one of the great virtuosic guitar players of our time.<br><br>Jason Becker was a prodigy. He recorded Speed Metal Symphony with another phenomenal guitarist named Marty Friedman when he was just 18 years old. The intricate and bombastic neo classical style of Becker was forged as he studied the works of legendary violinist Niccolo Paganini. The extreme sweep arpeggios and scale structure require massive finger control. Becker continued to pursue this style and released another 2 albums, 1 with Cacophony and 1 solo, before working with David Lee Roth on an album. It was during this time that ALS began to take its hold in the young musician. He was 20. The disease first begins to attack the motor neurons that stop fine motor control, meaning fingers and hands. His hands were getting weaker and to finish the recording of the album with Roth he switched to lighter gauge strings just so he could finger the notes. After the album was finished, Becker went to live with his parents as the disease accelerated and soon he couldn’t walk or even speak. Becker and his father developed a way to communicate with his eyes and later, with the advent of a computer, was allowed more freedom of communication. Jason still writes music but, he can no longer record. The last album he wrote was Perspective in 1996 before the disease had almost entirely crippled him. <br><br>This was a great musician that was truly taken from us. We tend to focus on the death of musicians like Jimmy Hendrix, Randy Rhoads and ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abott but, they never had to know the torture of being dead on the outside but, alive on the inside. It is a testament to the will of survival that Becker continues to be creative. Currently, there are talks of a biography and film adaptation for Jason Becker’s life. While people keep digging up old recordings from fallen musicians, know that there are still amazing musicians alive that despite all else, triumph and create. The human condition, seems even being trapped in your own body, you can still be apart of it. <br>Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:04:44 GMTErik