The Day the Music Died

Fifty-years ago today, news was broadcast about a plane, on it's way to Fargo, North Dakota, that went down in bad weather new Clear Lake, Iowa taking the lives of J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, 28; Ritchie Valens (originally Valenzuela), 17; and Charles Hardin Holley, 22, better known as Buddy Holly. A tragic story, indeed but, having occurred nearly a decade before my birth, I didn't feel that the event impacted my life in any way-- even though I had a great interest in music... especially Rock 'n Roll. 

The sad event, however, did influence Rock 'n Roll and many of the early artists that would leave a mark and, in fact, lay the foundation and several of the main-floors of the giant structure that the music has become in pop-culture. Legends such as Paul McCartney and John Lennon from the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones-- Keith Richards and Mick Jagger have declared Buddy Holly a foremost contributor to the success of Rock 'n Roll and a major influence on their own career-paths.

There have been two movies made that recount events in the lives of the men leading up to the accident. The 1987 film, La Bamba, gave Lou Diamond Phillips, playing Valens, his big break and 1978's, The Buddy Holly Story, even earned, crazy-man, Gary Busey, an Oscar nomination for his role of Holly. Although some of the facts have been altered for dramatic effect, either flick is worth a rental on a Saturday afternoon or weeknight.

These motion pictures brought the story of the musicians to people my age and younger some 20-30 years after their death but many in the mainstream had heard the story before in song. Though they may not have realized it, Don McLean tells us about it in his 1971 hit, American Pie. The song is an abstract story of his life and Rock 'n Roll's part in it that starts with the accident and ends in 1970.

The eight-minute 33-second song is the longest in Billboard's history to make it to number-one and spent four-weeks there in 1972. Because of it's length, Top 40 stations would originally only play the shortened B-side, but the song's popularity eventually forced them to play the whole thing. It is now considered a rock anthem and it's importance to America's musical and cultural heritage has been recognized by many sources.

When I was a Freshman in high-school, I wrote a paper on the symbolism found in the song. At the time, I had to spend many hours in the local library, researching scholarly interpretations of the lyrics. Today, on the Web, everybody and their brother is ready to explain what they think it means. This, for one reason, is why I will not bore you with my analysis (the other reason is... I'm not sure what it all means) but this one is pretty good if you should want to check it out.

When they asked the writer what it all meant, McLean replied, "It means I never have to work another day in my life!" On a more serious note he claimed, "...long ago I learned that songwriters should make their statements and move on...", though later he did admit to hearing about the plane crash while folding newspapers to be delivered on his paper route on February 3, 1959.

I like that because, when you think about it, everyone is going to have their own interpretation of any song, or piece of art, or event, or conversation and even if I tell you what mine is-- it isn't going to change what it means to you... or at least I don't want it to.

So... I'll be moving on now.

...and the rest is Rock 'n Roll.

Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

How to Make A Mix-Tape

They say that music soothes the savage beast. I don't think you can call me a savage-- beast maybe, but not a savage... but I agree that music can be soothing. It can also stir a lot of other emotions and feelings but right now I need it to be soothing. I have had a rough morning so I have put in my ear buds, kicked up my iTunes and I am going to hide under my desk, close my eyes and put everything else out of my mind for a few minutes...

There, that's better. It is pretty amazing how that works. Certain recordings can take you to happy places and better times in the same way that a picture can, or a smell or taste. All of our senses have the ability to affect us physically, mentally and emotionally, but music goes a step further by blocking out other distractions.

As a performer, I have had firsthand experience seeing how music can affect, effect and infect people. For some it may be a rock 'n roll song that "pumps them up", almost to a point of an aggressive frenzy. For others it may be a mellow ballad that makes them cry or a peppy pop tune that brings a smile to their face. Christian music and religious hymns can be very powerful, bringing the listener to their feet in a moment of joy and classical music or other genres can be very spiritual, as well, to some. It is very different for every person, but I think everyone has some degree of instinctual, internal rhythm that is keeping time to a song in their head.

Having dealt with many challenges with anxiety, I have a collection of songs categorized by attitude adjustments that they bring on. Music to help make me happy, relaxed, energized, concentrate or reflective is all grouped in different playlists on my computer. My calming tunes have even been burned to a series of CDs so I can listen to them in the car-- to prevent road rage or at the office-- to prevent work wage. I also have other song sets that I listen to if I want to get in the proper mood to do something like workout, mow the lawn or get romantical.

I love the idea of playlists because it reminds me of the mix-tapes that we used to make before the Internet age and the invention of the CD burner. A mix-tape is a group of songs recorded to cassette tape with the intention of reflecting the producer's chosen theme. Anyone could make them with very minimal equipment and with vinyl, 8-tracks, cassettes or even compact discs but a true mix-tape artist would toil hours-upon-hours to get the best possible reproduction of the perfect, 60-minute, combination of tracks.

Mix-tapes have been around since the early 1970s when compact cassettes were made readily available to the public and hit their peak in the 80s and 90s before fading away in this millennium when consumers were able to record music, as well as data and video to compact disc. The amateur recordings were vaulted into mainstream pop-culture with the release of the 2000 film, High Fidelity, starring John Cusack and based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby-- a great flick that I would highly recommend, especially if you, like me, are a big fan of Cusack.

Some would argue that the CD Compilation is the mix-tape of today, but the purist knows that the shiny silver discs could never live up to the small, twin wheels of fragile, thin tape embedded in that smokey, plastic shell and that no one could cue a song with a pencil, blindfolded, with one hand tied behind their back, as well as them.

Today, as with many other days, this went a different direction than I intended. Visit How to Make a Mix-Tape if you would like to read more of what I have to say on the subject. Be sure to check back soon when I will post the article that I was planning or writing about how the music of today and the music of the past is impacting each other.

Until then, Read This. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.10

I wanted to take this opportunity to tease a special story that I will post sometime next week. It is a special follow-up report on my driving series that was published last year. As I was driving home from work on I-70 at 22 miles per hour, I did some quick calculations in my head and was astounded at the amount of time that I spend in my car! I am taking some time to do a little more research and put together a another piece commenting on our commuting habits.

I came down with some kind of stomach bug that has put me out of commission for some time this week, but I still hope to get this post out before Saturday. Because I'm doing a Let's Roll, MLW will not read it anyway but, while doing my research, I have stumbled across several Websites that I wanted to feature today. They include a tool to improve your Squidoo experience and a couple of tributes to the best decade in the history of the world. Let's Roll:

SquidUtils-

Squidoo supplies users with an abundance of tools for use with the application but SquidUtils takes it a few steps further with an extensive list of utilities and very simple explanations of how to use them to work for you. An Advanced Dashboard, as well as tools for lens building and maintenance will allow you to determine the needs of your individual lenses and a directory to make your lenses available to other users with similar interests. There is also a chat room, other plug-in extensions and an interesting little forum where you can buy and sell lenses in an auction-type setting. If you have created lenses on Squidoo, you should have this Site bookmarked.

Stuck in the 80s-

I have to mention my disclaimer again-- I don't like to list other people's blogs because you have no idea what type of person the writer really is. I have read through a good number of entries on this site, however, and not only does it seem fairly family friendly, it is also very entertaining for a child of the 80s, such as myself and the online editor who was kind enough to feature my Shermer High School Bulldogs T-shirt in October. Along with his commentary on all things eighties, there are links to the official Websites of the decades bands and personalities... Totally Rad!

David Lee Roth Running with the Devil Soundboard-

The epitome of a rock 'n' roll front man, Diamond Dave filled the airwaves and concert halls with an loud, arrogant, flambouyant personality. His sound bites were a hard to avoid plastered between music videos at the peak of MTV popularity. (Yes... they used to play videos on MTV.) I can't, possibly, believe that this is really digital sampling of DLR's distinctive vocal stylings, but if it's not, it is certainly a good impression. I like to pull this up when I'm at work and try to use one of the 37 Davisms as a response to all of the stupid questions I am asked during the day.

How to Tight Roll Pants-

I here it is coming back into style and if you have not been properly trained in the technique, you should not try this with you fine denim-wear. 

Short but sweet this week because my Wife doesn't like these. Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

America's Top 40: Christmas

I promised, earlier in the week, that I was going to do a follow-up to my Top Twelve Days of Christmas Specials and List my favorite Christmas songs. I don't really have 40 but I have been working to narrow down the list to 10-12 for several days now and I just can't get there so I am going to go with my Top 14 Christmas Songs...

First the ground rules: All the songs are going to be Christmas songs. I'm as PC as the next guy but I wanted to pick my favorite holiday songs, I would. I celebrate Christmas, though, and I don't think Adam Sandler's, Hanukkah Song, would've broken the top 15, anyway, so I am going to stick with saying, "Merry Christmas". Note: I tried very, very hard to find some way to make the Counting Crow's, A Long December, a Christmas song but couldn't find even a remote reference to anything to do with the Winter Holiday so I had to leave it out which is a real shame because I love that tune.

Other ground rules include that we are not really judging the song, itself, but rather the specific performance of a song. Many of the entries are classic tunes that many artists have covered over the years and I am rating them on a single recorded version. In addition, to get the list down to a reasonable size, I had to eliminate songs that where written for a special Christmas program. Although many of the works have been included in Holiday TV shows or movies so this will eliminate some great classics like I'm Mister Heat Miser, Put One Foot in Front of the Other, and Christmastime Is Here or any of the other pieces composed by the great jazz musician, Vince Guaraldi.

Most of these songs also make this list of The Pop Top 100 Christmas Songs and you can see more detail and more fun stuff about this list at my Squidoo Lens: The Top 14 Pop Christmas Song Performances:

14. Wonderful Christmas Time- Paul McCartney (1979)- John Lennon was right when he said since McCartney went solo all that he does is silly love songs. That is, exactly, what this is but it made the list and Lennon's, Happy Christmas (War Is Over) didn't... What's wrong with that?

13. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)- U2 (1987)- This song was originally done by Darlene Love on the 1963 Album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector and she provided backing vocals when U2 recorded it for the compilation album A Very Special Christmas. I really never knew it was Bono singing but, when I hear it, I always find myself singing along in a baritone voice... Christmas... Christmas...

12. Sleigh Ride- Ella Fitgerald (1960)- This is the first of a few classic Christmas songs that I could of pick one of many performances as over 65 artist have recorded it including the Spice Girls, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, the Muppets and Clay Aiken. I choose this version because it has gained popularity recently by being featured in the Will Ferrell, soon to be Holiday classic, Elf, and my dad always like Ella.

11. Merry Christmas Baby- Bruce Springsteen (1987)- Originally a Beach Boys release, the more popular Springsteen version was recorded live at an earlier Jersey Holiday Concert and also featured on the A Very Special Christmas album. The boss does it better than the even more popular, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, which I have mentioned before, no grown man should be recording.

10. It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas- Johnny Mathis (1986)- Written in 1951, I thought Mathis did his version way before '86 as I thought I remember hearing it as a kid. My mom loved Johnny Mathis and the Andrew Sisters- who also did this song and I could have just as easily included here but Johnny has an awesome voice. I do remember, however, singing this song and The Holly and the Ivory in a Junior High Choir Competition. I wonder, what ever happened to Ms. Davis?

9. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee (1958)- I find it interesting that over 30 artists have recorded this song but, still, the most air-play goes to this original. I remember doing a grade school program to this one! There are some really cool guitar licks in this song.

8. The Christmas Song- Nat King Cole (1946)- Written by Mel Torme, Cole recorded the tune four times between '46 and '61. It has been covered by other artists over 100 times-- none of them me, but it is my favorite classic.

7. Do They Know It's Christmas?- Band Aid (1984)- I think my dad camped out at a record store to get this for me for Christmas. Written by Bob Geldof the song was recorded by 40-some-odd 80s superstars on November 24, 1984 and released by Band Aid four-days later to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia.

6. Christmas Is A Time to Say I Love You- Billy Squire (1982)- MTV was young and rock singer Billy Squier was at his peak of popularity when this cheery holiday song was filmed as sort of an office party singalong. It is just plain fun.

5. Christmas Wrapping- The Waitresses (1981)- One of the best bass lines-- not only in a Christmas song, but in any song. Arguably, the obscure, Kent, Ohio, punk band's biggest hit, along with I Know What Boys Like and Square Pegs the theme song to the TV series of the same name starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker.

4. 2000 Miles- The Pretenders (1983)- This dark, seasonal song was released as a B-side to "Middle of the Road" and was a major hit in the UK. Although Crissie Hynde may be one of the least attractive women in music, she has a beautiful voice that resonates straight to your soul in this song.

3. All I Want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey (1994)- You may think it a bit odd, with all of the rock-type music in my top-15, that I would include a Mariah Carey tune, consider that this original is the diva's most successful song worldwide and it is in the top ten most downloaded ring-tones of all time. I just like it because it reminds me of the music that the old Motown girl groups used to do.

2. Easier Said Than Done- Jon Anderson (1985)- This was the first and only single released from Yes front-man, Jon Anderson's solo Christmas album, Three Ships. It got a little air-time in the late 80s, but I haven't heard it in years and I have worn out my LP.

1. Celebrate Me Home- Kenny Loggins (1976)- Celebrate Me Home was on Kenny Loggins' debut solo album of the same name. Although not released as a single, it evolved into one of Loggins' better-known songs, especially as it became a popular staple of radio stations' play-lists during the holiday season. I don't know exactly why, but when I hear this song and I am alone, it touches me in a way that I have a heard time holding back my emotions. That is why I rank it as number one.

Have a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday. Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

15-Minutes of Fame

In Entertainment News from Reality TV World:

Paula Goodspeed, a 30-year-old former American Idol auditioneer and Paula Abdul fan, was found dead in her car nearby the Entertainer's house on Tuesday evening. According to the LAPD, the death was an apparent suicide caused by a drug overdose.

Goodspeed had been featured during one of American Idol's fifth-season tryout shows. Her audition was expanded into a featurette that ran nearly four minutes and portrayed her obsession with Abdul during an interview with host Ryan Seacrest.

Forget, for a moment, of how producers of the show went about exploiting this poor, obviously mentally ill (or, at the very least, unstable) young lady and thousands of other individuals, and tell me how, even if they are somewhat deranged or delusional, these kids with absolutely no vocal talent, either believe that they will not humiliate themselves or realize it and allow it to happen for a few moments in the national spotlight?

There are three types of people that try out for a show like this. Some have real talent and they usually know it. If they are lucky enough and things go their way, these are the ones featured, prominantly, in the final 20 or so. For every one of those 20, however, I bet there are 20 more with just as much talent that didn't audition or did and didn't make it that far for one reason or another.

The next group of makes up probably 90% of the individuals that audition. They are people like me 20-years ago. Some have training or experience singing in a band or in the choir at church. Others have fantastic voices but are lacking the training or experience. Generally, though, they all have some talent, can find a key and have enough balls to get out there and try. 

Although, I'm sure, this is the biggest group, I'm sure you see less of these people on TV than any of the others because they are, frankly, the least interesting to watch. You may see a few of them if they happen to have a gimmick, a personality or the right look and some will even get a ticket to Hollywood but, for the most part, the kids you're going to see on TV are the ones from the first group and the last one.

The auditioneers in the last group may have a gimmick or an interesting personality or look, in fact, many of them excel in these areas but they are missing a valuable trait that would prevent them from becoming your next American Idol... talent. I still think a few of them realize that they have no reason being there and just hope to be eccentric enough to have their 15-minutes of fame but so many of them seem so sincere that they would have to be the best actors in the world to play the part of a pathetic loony through the entire show.

There is no doubt that the producers of the show have some part in making the viewer see (and therefore believe) whatever they want them to just by, simply, editing out whatever they want but, like everything else in today's society, we want the drama and the tragedy. Similarly to the way we all slow down and try to get a glimpse of the automobile accident on the other side of the highway, the average American would rather watch the freaks trying to sing in the auditions the first few weeks of the series than see the final seven contestants' interpretations of Barry Manilow tunes from the decade that they were born.

I guess the formula works, though, because so many people are glued to the tube for all of the Reality Shows that fill up the prime time airwaves. The viewers get what they want, the makers of the shows are making money and the contestants... well what about the contestants? The winners have to appreciate all the hard work they put in as championship money on these shows start in the six-digit range and most are paying seven-digits to, at least, the champions of a season-long contest.

I don't here many complaints about the way losers were treated, either because, most of the time, they get what they are looking for too-- their 15-minutes. Some, like William Hung, in exchange for a little national humiliation get a bit more time and some can drag enough out of it to make a few bucks. There are some members of the early Real World episodes that have been cashing in on Reunion Shows and Follow-up Challenges for more than 15-years.

Maybe we can blame the whole politically-correct, everybody-gets-a-trophy, sense-of-entitlement, society that Paula Goodspeed was never told that she didn't have what it takes to be the next American Idol-- or maybe she knew and that really wasn't her goal. A posting on her MySpace page yesterday stated, "Rest in peace, the world knows your name."

That's a pretty big price to pay for your 15-minutes of fame...

Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace. 

Let's Roll! 1.07

Cafepress revealed the new Website design this week. I was concerned, at first, that the navigation was misdirected because I didn't make a sale for the first two days after the change but then my old standby, Big Brother '09, came through for me last night. Americans must not be too worried about the economy because they are still having babies and there is a lot of maternity and children's stuff that sells on that Site. I would assume that now since Halloween and the election are over the Big Brother and Big Sister along with a few of my designs for expectant mothers will be my top sellers until the holiday season.

Speaking of the holiday season, I guess all of the stores now start pushing Christmas sales in October. They might as well include Halloween with Thanksgiving in the holidays. 

This is my first year being involved as a Internet retailer but, from what I gather from more experienced shopkeepers, it is not uncommon to have sales from November 15 to December 31 that equal all the sales from the rest of the year so I'll be ready. Be sure to keep SkeetzTeez in mind when you are looking over your gift giving lists and check back often to see all of the new designs for the Winter! Let's Roll.

Michael Jackson- Thriller

Yes-- he's a freak but this 13:41 video was the most anticipated release in the history of MTV and is still regarded as one of the best even though it was premiered over 25 years ago. Sure-- it's a little hokey for today's times. The outfits are dated, the acting is overdone, the special effects are antique and even the dance moves, considered cutting-edge in 1982, are punchlines for modern, comments on pop-culture but, back then, even though most people won't admit it, MJ and this video in particular, was the coolest thing around-- right Cox?

64-Voice A' Cappella Thriller

This is too cool and perfect for Halloween. One dude, self-recorded on 64 different tracks. He does all the vocals as well as the instruments and special effects with no assistance from any tools or devices. The guy is a little freaky (I think he's French) with his accent and there is an eerie picture of Michael Jackson in a werewolf getup from his 80s hit video, but this is just too freaking cool to pass up this time of year.

Filipino Prison Thriller Remake

That last one reminded me of this video which has gotten a lot of YouTube hits and been featured on a bunch of nationally syndicated entertainment shows. Again-- kind of freaky but, still, something about it makes you have a hard time not watching it all the way through. Go ahead... try it... See? I guess if you have to be in prison there would be a lot worse ways to spend your time than dancing to 80s hits but the orange jumpsuits look like they would make it hard to get your groove on.

Thriller- Wikipedia

Did you know?

• Thriller was ranked number 20 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of Top 500 Albums of All-Time in 2003

• Several members of the band Toto were involved in the recording and production of the album

• Thriller was released and immediately went to number one on both the US and UK charts-- the first album to do that

• MTV played the almost 14-minute video twice an hour everyday for several weeks after the release to keep up with demand

Happy Halloweenie. Read This. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Drive Time

My morning drive to work takes me 23-minutes and 52-seconds on a good day. Considering, however, that there are almost no good days, I'm lucky to make the trip in less than a half-hour or 45-minutes most of the time. I have become wiser in my old age and have just come to accept that there is nothing I can do to reduce the amount of time that I spend on the road and I must try to make the most of the situation.

I take advantage of the opportunity to prepare, mentally, for the day ahead of me. I want to be sure to not be distracted when driving but, because there is less driving and more crawling, very slowly along the highway, I can get away with some minor brain-activity like practicing a speech, memorizing multiplication tables or analyzing the previous night's reality show episode and trying to handicap the odds of each contestant being eliminated off the island, dance floor or stage the next week. On days when the sun is out or when it is raining I can catch up on some reading or get in a game of Texas Hold 'em on my cel phone. If I am lucky enough that there is a fender-bender going the other way, I actually have enough time to do some laps around adjacent cars or take a quick nap before a fellow commuter notices I have dozed off and politely reminds me what we are here for with a friendly toot of his or her horn.

All kidding aside, as seen in yesterday's post, I'm an Excellent Driver, I am a big proponent of eliminating the distractions we all face while trying to operate a motor vehicle. I am also a believer that, although cel phones have received most of the attention, something as simple as glancing away to change the radio station or adjust the climate controls can be distracting enough to cause an accident. 

I am fortunate, though, to own a 2006 Toyota Prius that, for safety's sake more than comfort, has most controls for every system in the car, literally, right at your fingertips. Besides the usual turn signals, lights, windshield wipers and cruise control levers mounted on the steering column, the automakers embedded controls for the heater/air conditioner and, most importantly, the audio system, right on the steering wheel. With the additional features of a LED instrument panel on top of the dashboard, up at the windshield instead of lower on the dash, I rarely have to take my eyes off of front and center, much less, my hands off the wheel.

The radio in the car is important to me because I think I would be more distracted by it not being there. Let me try to explain... when I am by myself, without some kind to mental stimulation, my mind starts to wander. Having a creative imagination, this isn't usually a concern unless, of course, I start to wander into a thought that makes me anxious because, no matter how ridiculous the concept may sound, if my anxiety takes over, it very quickly becomes real to me and I start obsessing about all the negative possibilities until I become overwhelmed with what is going on in my mind and forget about everything else that is going on around me.

So... I listen to the stereo when I drive to work. I often listen to one of three AM talk stations-- one news, one sports and one variety. I'm not sure if my reasons for doing so are because it is just a natural instinct thing that one starts listening to talk radio when they start getting old or if it is a security thing that I know what I am going to get when I listen to these stations: news- mostly bad in this day and age, but they try (mostly unsuccessfully) to put a positive spin on things; sports- mostly bad in this town, but they try (mostly unsuccessfully) to be funny and entertaining; and variety- is a little less predictable depending on the guest and subject of the day could be anything from gossip or fortunetellers to current events and interviews with entertainers or political leaders.

You would think that music stations would be a little more predictable, but I have found that is not the case-- especially during morning drive time. I have a total of 12-pre-set stations that I have programmed on the car stereo. Because I like a very wide variety of music, so I basically have each of those pre-sets on a different genre station-- classic rock, pop, easy listening, R&B, jazz, etc. I even have Christian music and Hip Hop stations programmed in for when MLW is in the car and the Disney Station set for when M3S is with me.

Monday morning, for a change of pace, I felt like listening to one of the twelve music stations instead of the three talk stations, mainly because even the sports guys were discussing the upcoming presidential election. I have heard about enough discussion of our two candidates to last until the 2016 campaign that I would be willing, at this point, to commit my vote to the guy that promises to pull all of the negative advertisements, honestly give their position on the real issues and then shut their trap. But I digress...

In the first 2o-minutes of my commute, I was surprised to find nothing worth listening to. An almost constant cycle through eleven (I just couldn't bring myself to try the Hip-Hop that early in the morning) music channels and I could find no music! I would have even resorted to Worship music or gospel hymns on my wife's or the Jonas Brothers on the kid's favorites, but even they were broadcasting talk-- or should I say static and talk (neither has a very strong signal). Some of the others run big production, syndicated, super-crazy morning shows that you expect a lot of teams of hosts and their wild shenanigans, but a just couldn't believe that no one was playing any thing close to music for such a long period of time.

Granted that I was flipping through all of those channels and about three-quarters of the way through my trip I was frustrated enough to try the scan button to see if I could find anything anywhere else (nothing but the end of a classical tune and something that I think was a Hindu love song) so I could have missed a very, very short song, but it would have had to be timed just perfectly-- nothing else but politics, commercials and political commercials. 

Oh... and Christmas music, of all things! There is a station in this town that has gone to all Holiday music... in October. I expect they will continue with that format through December but, if they are doing it now, they might as well play it all year long!

I was about to give up because it had been a good traffic day and I was almost to work when I came upon the sweet sound of a ringing acoustic guitar chord. It only took a few seconds to recognize the harmonized vocals of Extreme with their 1990 chart-topping hit "No More Words"-- I love that song!

As I pulled into my parking spot on the side of the building, the rock ballad was coming to it's end. I sat there for a few seconds to soak in the last little bit and see if the station would follow that classic with another cool tune. Imagine my astonishment when they went with... an Extreme Two-for! Hole Hearted! Sweet! The only thing that was going to beat that on a Monday A.M. is to get to hear some other obscure one-or-two-hit wonder like Nelson or Zebra!

My morning had gone from worst-to-first and now I could go in and start my work day with a song in my head and a smile on my face. After all of that searching and searching, I stumbled onto a little piece of heaven right here on... the Oldies station? There must be some mistake! If music on the charts when I was old enough to vote is being played on the Oldies Station-- there can be no doubt that I am definitely getting old.

Don't get old. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Thank God It's Tuesday!

As I recall, it was Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats who did the song "I don't like Mondays" in the mid-eighties and in the seventies there was a Disco tune (and movie) declaring "Thank God It's Friday". Both were fine pieces of music in their respected genres and eras but, as a student of pop-culture, I think it was what the lyrics said rather than the whole composition of the songs that made these moderate hits. I, especially, like Geldof and appreciate his humanitarian efforts, but this song, sort of, went the way of Johnny Paycheck's, "Take This Job and Shove-It", as a angry working-man's anthem. Besides... I love Mondays.

I must have heard six or seven people say, "Thank God, It's Friday," or something similar from the time I woke up last Friday until the time I made it to my desk. I don't know why I even noticed the comments as I am pretty non-functioning in that 85-minutes as my body runs on auto-pilot. That day, though, by the third or forth time, I was openly questioning the statements, and by the time I made it to the office I was just waiting for someone to mention it again so I could jump on them and start beating them about the head and torso.

Sadly, though, no one said word one to me that morning and after sitting puzzled about the whole thing for several minutes (that seemed like several hours) I had to bring it up to whoever would listen. Unfortunately (for them), this was the other members of my department-- three very nice, young ladies that didn't want to have anything to do with my rant.

Fridays are pretty much like every other weekday except I am more tired than Thursday-- the day that I'm more tired than every other day of the week. In addition, people tend to be more anxious on Fridays than other days and, in my vast experience with anxiety, I have learn that stress and anxiety produce more stress and anxiety resulting in more stress and anxiety. In my research, I recalled reading a report that more heart attacks occurred on Fridays than any other day of the week but I now am finding conflicting statistics claiming there are more on Saturdays or Mondays.

I just don't understand why most people you ask would say Friday was one of their favorite days of the week and probably their favorite weekday. If you would go further and ask why, I bet most replies would include something about work and before my brain attack, I would have answered the same way. Afterwards, however, I have gained a new perspective of things.

Jobs are a necessary evil. Don't get me wrong! I think you should put 100% (or 110% if you do that) effort into your job and everything else you commit to getting involved in but let's get our priorities straight-- work to live... don't live to work.

I understand that days that you have to do things are not going to be as nice as days when you do but, the fact is, there is always something that's got to be done and never enough time to do it. Make sure that you take some of that time and spend it on the things that are important to you because when you have one of those moments when you realize that we don't have enough time in our life... it is too late to do anything about it.

I'm sure you have heard this before but I think it is worth mentioning again. I don't know of anyone that when asked on their deathbed, "What would you do differently?" that would reply with anything like, "I wish I would have worked a little more."

I think it is a great practice to thank God for Fridays, but we don't often enough remember to thank him for the other days of the week, hours of the day, minutes of the hour or seconds of the minutes.

I've been thinking about this story for several days now and I wasn't really planning on it going this far in this direction or being this preachy, but on Monday morning I had an epiphany, of sorts-- one of many since my as near to death experience that I ever want to experience:

I rolled out of bed and tried to shower and get ready as quietly as possible because MLW works the noon - 8:00 PM shift on Mondays and I really don't want to wake her or M3S who may go to sleep in his own room on most nights, but almost always ends up in our bed by morning. Every other weekday I wake alone because they leave at such a ridiculous hour that I don't even know what time it is, because I've never been up that early.

There is something about those mornings and them just being there-- a peace that is incredibly hard to come by when they are awake. Even though we have a king-size bed I spend half of my night trying to find a little piece of mattress to myself but on Monday mornings, I want nothing more than to crawl back into bed between them-- and most Mondays I do.

At three, my son has become a little less of a Mama's boy, recently, and is hanging out with Dada more but he usually doesn't want to give hugs out too easily. Something amazing happens, though, when he sleeps early in the morning. If I lay by him, very quietly, after a few moments he will, eventually, feel my presence, roll toward me and cuddle up tight wrapping his strong little arms around and "hold me". At the same time, if everything is positioned just right, I can reach out and hold my wife and "the baby in her tummy" without her asking me to do so and without her knowing that I did.

This is why I thank God for Mondays. Since last November 28, I can find a reason to thank Him for every other day of the week, too. I find reasons to thank God for minutes and seconds that I am lucky enough to spend with the people I love. I thank Him that I am still better than most of my friends on the drums at RockBand and that I am able to write every day in this blog if I can find the time.

I asked an old friend that I haven't seen in a very long time if they ever freaked out because they realized that we were adults. We were just kids and next thing you know we are all grown up! I guess it is going to happen whether we are ready or not. I thank God for things like that, too, (and for not reminding me about them too much) and things like work even though they aren't my favorite things.

I lay there in my bed holding my two best friends in the whole world-- my family, that I dreamed that I would have, but never thought I would-- for as long as I can until I have to get up and head to work... the necessary evil that will allow me to be thankful for the things that are really important... like Tuesdays.

Be Thankful. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

My Two Cents

I am fortunate to work for a company that realizes the value of training their employees and supports the belief by providing opportunities to learn about work, home and life related issues. Part of the training program includes a speaker series that features business, industry and community leaders speaking on a variety of topics. Yesterday, I sat in on a session with, John Mozeliak, the General Manager of Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals.

Mr. Mozeliak was very cordial and I was somewhat amazed at how down-to-earth he seem while holding a position that only 29 other people have in the whole world but every red-blooded, American boy, man or person, would give up their left arm for. I was also surprised at his relative youth and felt that I was listening to someone in my generation speaking as opposed to my Dad's generation-- possibly another indicator that I am getting old.

It was a very interesting and informative discussion for me, being a baseball fan, but I didn't see anyone in the room nodding off so I suppose even those that have indifferent feelings toward the sport enjoyed it to some degree. He went on for 20 minutes or so about how he was a salesperson and a manager, and tried to show some parallels between what he does and what we do-- a point that I had to differ with, to some degree, as he mentioned how his annual payroll budget was in the hundreds of millions of dollars and his performance reviews are daily and conducted by the national media.

Mr. Mozeliak, then impressed me by opening the floor for questions and answering in a straight-forward and casual manner. He handled some pretty tough questions from a few dedicated fans of our beloved Cards that had recently gone on an ugly losing streak and had all but been eliminated from the playoffs. I guess that he is used to getting a lot tougher questions, from a lot more difficult people, in a lot more hostile environments than from the 20 or so of us in the room.

I asked him if was still a fan of the game and if it was as fun as he thought it would be when he was a kid, now that it is, first and foremost, a business to him now. He gave me a good, solid answer and gave us an example of how it is sometimes hard to balance the two with a funny story about Ron Vallone. I wish I got a chance to ask him about the struggling economy and how he thought it was going to impact baseball.

I am no financial analyst or CPA, so much of the stuff that is going on right now is over my head, but even the average Cub Fan can tell you that if Americans start to go through some rough times, financially, the entertainment dollar is the first thing that gets eliminated from the family budget. This not only means sports, but movies, concerts, vacations and then things like cable or satellite TV, club memberships and video games.

It's just common sense that you get rid of the things that you can live without before the necessities like food and shelter and the Internet. I often whine in this blog that the younger generations have gotten lazy because things have become too easy and they haven't had to go through many challenges in their lifetime, but I think this time is different. We are in store for a very difficult situation in this country's economy-- the most difficult that we have seen in a long time, if not our lifetimes.

Did you ever ask, in High School or College, "Why do I have to learn History? How is this going to help me in the real world?" and had someone answer you with, "Those who do not learn from history, are bound to repeat it..." Maybe that's part of the problem. There are very few people left that remember what led up to the Great Depression and no one else did their studies.

I don't believe anyone is "putting partisan politics aside". I do think they want to solve this "grave economic crisis" but I think both the Republicans and the Democrats have their own agendas-- for goodness sake, people, we are 40-days away from the Presidential Election! (I have to take some time to write about the "terrorism-conspiracy-theory" in the next few weeks.) I am confident that we are going to make it through the next few years and eventually, this too, will all be history that we can forget, but we are probably going to experience some hard times along the way.

I think the politicians can be on the right track as long as they use a little common sense. I understand the need to use tax-payers money for a bailout of financial institutions, but it is ridiculous to think the dudes with the golden parachutes would get one dime of my hard earned dough-- they may have to dump the Summer Home, but Winter is coming anyway. 

I also have a concern with comments about how we can't let working-families lose their homes to foreclosure. Let's face it-- for the past ten or so years we have been giving outrageous mortgages to individuals who "as long as everything went as planned and the stars aligned and we didn't hit any bumps in the road for the next say... 30 years, may-- let me emphasize-- may be able to afford their dream home..." Real life doesn't work like that!

I told my 20-year old nephew this only the other day, "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst," when we were discussing his grand plan to move out of his parents' place and into a rental. I was being sincere with the advise but I really doubt that he will follow it. He's got big ideas and can't have "the Man" holding him back. I really hope he is successful, but I bet he wont even begin to think of what he is going to do if he isn't.

Lack of common sense, overconfidence in ourselves and others, laziness, greed and fear seems to be the recipe for the soup that we've gotten ourselves into now and it is going to take a little time and a bunch of people blowing before it cools down enough for us to eat. OK, I'll admit that analogy was beyond stupid but I got on a roll and couldn't stop.

I don't know, for I am not in charge of a multi-million dollar budget or thousands of families' financial security-- though I feel a little sorry for those who are-- I am, merely, a simple artist, trying to make a buck or two and, possibly, make someone smile, or think, or feel good about themselves or someone else for a brief moment (so buy a T-shirt).

In the mean time I will continue to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I suggest that you do the same.

Peace.

Monday Morning Quarterback 1.05

Today is the first day of Autumn. I think I mentioned before that this is probably my favorite time of the year. The weather is cool and crisp so we can turn off the air conditioner and, although it is getting dark earlier, we still have a few more weeks before daylight savings time is over. The only thing I can think of that I don't care for around this time of the year is my allergies that seem to get worse and now and the Spring. I'll get by with a little help from Claritin D even though I will spend a small fortune on it in the next month or two.

I am lucky to live in the Midwest, where we have all four seasons, but I would like it if the moderate climates of Fall and Spring where longer than the extremes of Summer and Winter. They often say, "If you don't like the weather in St. Louis today-- wait until tomorrow." Here's my notes for today:

• We went to do some karaoke for my niece's 22 birthday on Saturday. It wasn't the people in their 40s and 50s singing my song set--it was the darn 20 year olds. Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Rick Springfield and Journey? Get your own music! Someone said it was because of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and TV and Movies like The Sopranos that use classic music but my theory is that these kids are smart and today's music sucks so they have come to relate with the old stuff.

• The younger generation may be into the music but they no nothing about playing air guitar.

• Jordo got several Compilation CDs as gifts from her friends. It reminded me of mix tapes and the movie High Fidelity and inspired the Squidoo lens, Mix-Tape.

• Week three in the NFL was pretty bizarre with Miami beating the Pats and Indy almost losing again to a weaker opponent but the Rams still may be the worse team in the league and our fantasy team may not be much better.

• Shermer, Illinois High School's mascot is the bulldog. This is just one of the many interesting facts I learned while researching my Shermer High School lens.

• M3S is growing up so fast. He went peepees standing up over the weekend several times. Maybe because that was such a bonding experience between a boy and his Dada or maybe it's because his Mother is going to be having to spend more attention with the new baby, but he is switching from a Mama's boy to his Father's Son in the matter of a couple of weeks.

• All the new TV shows are starting up and I am not, at all, interested in any of them. All I get to watch anyway is Sprout and Noggin.

• Facebook is pretty cool. I have four friends and there are some pretty cool applications associated with the Site. My sister doesn't approve of me joining but I don't approve her pierced nose.

Short but sweet this week. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Follow the bouncing ball...

There was a time, quite recently actually, when I was considered extremely knowledgeable about music. I may not be asked to participate on a general trivia team but I was a first team all star at music trivia night. Not that I knew my classic rock as well as Dupee or the 80s as well as Cox and I definitely had my weaknesses, like country/western, but overall, I had a general, overall knowledge about a very wide range of music genres. 

I said that this was fairly recently but I must be getting old because I realized that I haven't been in the band since just after Jenn and I were engaged– that was almost six years ago now. Except for when I am listening to my Zune during my workouts (which is not often or long enough) I rarely listen to any of the music I used to. 

I guess most people most often listen to music in the car. That's why radio stations are so concerned with drive times for ratings. When I'm in the car alone I am usually listening to talk radio. Maybe that's because music stations in this town suck, maybe it's because my single-CD player skips after you get to the third track or maybe it's because I'm getting too darn old.

When I'm in the car with my wife and/or son (which is most of the time now) we usually go with no radio at all. I wish I could say this policy is to promote conversation and family togetherness, but honestly, it's so there are no arguments over what we listen to. My lovely wife prefers (get this) either Hip Hop or Christian music while my three-year old tends to lean toward Rock 'n Roll but can surprise you, go off the board and request something that he heard seven weeks ago... "you know, that one song– about... babies!" He's an incredibly bright kid but he can't understand the concept of a radio and my inability to control what song they play next.

So this one-time front-man for a band called 1.sick.puppy now finds himself, most days, with either something we sang at church or heard on the Disney Channel or a tune like "The Pirate Song" or "Who Let the Dogs Out?" stuck in my head. 

That's enough to make you old.

I have a few more music designs inspired by my wife added to the cafepress shop at: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez/5792787

I am considering doing a whole series of license plate frames in the follow the bouncing ball theme! Tell me what you think about that or give me lyrics from good driving songs to use in the comments section!

Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it...

This is a re-publish of a blog article originally posted on August 13, 2008. I am running it again as a tribute to the man who inspired it-- Tony Tocco-- who passed away this week after a battle with cancer...

Peace, Tony and Many Thanks...

Last week I wrote about how music was so important to me in various stages in my life. This week, for reasons I will explain later in the article, I would like to tell you about, by far, the most important of those stages.

In 1982 my friends and I were into soccer more than anything. We had a pool for the World Cup Tournament and when Italy took the championship, I won the top prize money and invested in a "Italy... World Cup Champs '82" T-shirt with my nickname, "Wopper," on the back. Several of my friends also purchased shirts and put similar names (Greaser, Hoser, Rambler, Loser, etc.) on the back to mock me. 

I had just started driving and because there wasn't much else to do, my friends and I loaded into the car on Friday night and we went to a large parish soccer tournament– all, of coarse, wearing our shirts. Well... to make a long story shorter, the shirts attracted a lot of attention, we met some attractive young girls and met them at a dance the following night.

That was defining moment in our life and, from that point on, soccer was not the thing I was most into because I had discovered music, CYC dances, attractive young girls and Tony Tocco. I was a nieve, sheltered, shy boy before that day but something came over me when I walked into that first dance at St. Sabina and I haven't been the same since.

From that September night through when I graduated High School in 1984 we averaged close to 75 dances a year. It started off slow in the beginning but quickly grew in frequency and the distance that we would travel to get our fix of The Fixx and Duran Duran, WHAM!, Dexy's Midnight Runners and many other one-hit wonders that were seen on the new MTV as well as superstars like Michael Jackson and Madonna before they were superstars and still, somewhat, cool. We would drive to a private girls' school in O'Fallon, Missouri before half of North County moved there. Although we were good catholic boys we would regularly attend dances at Lutheran and Methodist churches, shopping malls, public parks, swimming pools and community centers within a 50 or so mile radius of our homes. Most of the events were held on Saturday, or possibly Friday, nights during the school year but when Summer break rolled around, any day of the week at any time of the day, was fair game.

Bands like Fantasy, Deliverance and even the KHITS band (sponsored by a local radio station) played some of the gigs but the vast majority of the dances were DJ'd by Tony Tocco. Tocco dances were the hottest ticket in town. I know because my main source of income through my senior year was from scalping as many tics as I could get my hands on.

He did put on quite a show. There were flash pods and smoke machines for some pretty decent visual effects and the music spoke for itself. This was at the pinnacle of the MTV era, when the music video station actually played music videos. The songs that didn't have a dance that was featured in that video had one at the Tocco dances after making the regular rotation for a few weeks. I actually made up my fair share of line dances. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you step back from dancing on the gym floor to look behind you and there is a couple hundred kids following your lead.

Tocco led his fair share too. The title of this story, "Beat it, beat it, beat it..." was inspired by how my brother would mock the little Italian man, and in doing so, his biggest fan– when Tony would play Michael Jackson's big hit and join me on the floor to pace four beats left and then four beats rights through the song. Not really that complicated or fancy but 95% of the kids in that hall were doing it right along with us and the other 5%, my brother included, still showed up and paid their $5.00 to be there to make fun.

I could go on and on... I had my first slow dance at a Tocco dance, met (and broke up) my first girlfriend at a dance. Hell, one of my best friend is still married to a girl he met at one. The nickname that I am still called by today, Skeetz, evolved from events surrounding Tocco and the song that he always ended the night with was the last song played at my wedding reception.

Last week on casual day at work a young lady was wearing a T-shirt that immediately caught my eye. It was very similar to the Tony Tocco Entertainment tees that he would toss into the crowds to let the teenagers to wrestle over, but it had a pink ribbon on the sleeve and I website address on the front: www.tonytocco.net. I was sad to hear that Tony is fighting a rare form of pancreatic cancer and the T-shirts were being sold as a benefit to raise money for his treatment.

I really didn't know him personally so I don't know what kind of man Tony Tocco was or is now. All I know is that he was a (or the) major player in a two-year period of my life that defined much of the kind of man that I was and am now.

I am usually pleading for readers (if there are any) to buy T-shirts at: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez but today I am going take this time at lunch to buy a shirt at: http://www.tonytocco.net. I don't really expect anyone else to do the same... except maybe my brother if he is reading.

All you need is love... bum ba da da dum.

It is just amazing how things in your life can be so important to you and then something else comes along and you hardly even care about the other thing.

Music was like that for me. One of my earliest childhood memories is music. I vividly remember at the age of 3-4 riding in the car while my mother was taking my dad and grandma to work. The Beatles, Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds, was playing. (I know I was that age not because of when the song was released, but because this was the only time my father and grandmother worked in the same place.)

I also remember, starting a little after that, my mother cleaning on Saturdays. I recall she had a very specific routine, but what is most vivid is the music– and the harmony. My mom would never sing the lead to any song. It was always the harmony and it was loud so it could be heard over the vacuum cleaner. Her favorites were soundtracks to musicals like The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and Godspell and artists like John Denver, Anne Murray, Kenny Rodgers, Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. They were all considered lame by most pre-teens but I kind of liked them and I could sing most every track on the albums, word for word, front and back– and in harmony.

I am going to have to write about some more of my music memories. They really are powerful as they can stir up such emotion– bringing you back to places and times that otherwise seem insignificant.

I need to do some more music based designs for the shop on cafepress too. I only have one available right now: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez/5792803 but it is one of the most prolific lines in rock 'n roll– if not the entire history of music...

All you need is love.