Legends, Classics And An Opus In The Making

So the past couple weeks have been action packed. A couple weeks ago, I had the great fortune to see the legendary Dr. John in concert and he did not dissappoint! I know there are many out there that ask, "Who is Dr. John?" and that hurts me, instead of going into a rant about that, I'll just say, go to a record store and buy Dr. John Essentials and educate yourself! This guy is one of the most accomplished keys players and has that crazy New Orleans singing voice to go with it! It's amazing to see and hear someone play so much so effortlessly, although I admit it is also a bit depressing to know I will NEVER be able to play like that...

About a week later I had the great honor to see B.B. King in concert as well and that was one of those things you put on a list of things to do before you die. That guy is still playing his heart and soul out at the age of 81! He's been regularly touring and playing for 60 freaking years now! You sit and think about how awesome that is, to do what you love and are passionate about for so long! The way he plays guitar is so signature you can hear it in a crowd of thousands, but then he opens his mouth to sing and that voice drops your jaws and ears to the floor! He played for over 2 hours and in the middle of the show I had a sad realization that after guys like Mr. King, Dr. John and so on are gone, we've lost that music forever, no one does it like this anymore...some imitate or come close, but no cigar. What will we do then? Soul will be gone...

Today I actually had a stinkin' day off and I had no idea what to do with myself so I went to Best Buy and got a stack of movies I've been meaning to add to my collection and watch. Included in this were Amadeus and Citizen Kane. These were some timeless films, I was online looking up some info about Amadeus and had no clue that it was made in 1984!

The past few weeks and especially this last week I've buckled down and have been writing music like a madman any spare moment I had. (If you've called or e-mailed me and I still haven't replied, this is why...) Things in my life aligned as well as my motivation and the sudden inspiration all came together and this material is awesome. I feel like this is so personal though I know artists say that all the time and without context, most listeners don't know or care how personal it is...but to me, I needed to make this record. I needed this material to ease my mind and work things out. Even if it real life I can't have closure on things, I can have closure with my music, and that is incredibly comforting. Before starting this project I had a title and artwork picked out and I know that it was a foolish thing to do because it's so different now. I have no idea what to call it and don't know what anything should look like, but I guess like everything else, it will come. I am finally writing my opus, my masterpiece...when it will be done? I have no idea, but I'm actually writing it now, as opposed to talking about how I will get to it someday...

On a lighter note, Thor is as animated as ever, he's organized his cage and moved things around to his liking no matter where I put them. At night, he even takes his food one kernel or pellet at a time and moves it from the bottom left of his cage where the dish is to a spot on the top level left of his cage. I let him wander around my desk while I was working on the computer once and he climbed onto my printer and took a dive into a glass bottle I use for pens and markers...not a good day for him, but I got a good laugh...

Anyway, time for bed! Goodnight friends...

-Rod

P.S. I almost forgot to post photos from our 2/15 festivities! Here are some highlights:

He Said, She Said...Well, Yes Apparently

So like millions around the world I heard about the mysterious "JP" a.k.a. "The Superbowl Proposal Guy" from http://www.mysuperproposal.com/. For those of you that aren't familiar with him, the short story is this guy started a blog to raise money to air a marriage proposal to his girlfriend of 5 years during the Superbowl. Though it was originally cleared and set to air, CBS flexed their network muscle and called him at 2nd or 3rd quarter to tell him they pulled his ad. So his back up plan was to air it in a few days after his girlfriend's favorite TV show and that happened. From day one he stated that whatever funds weren't used for whatever reason, the money would go to a children's hospital. In the end, he did raise a lot of money and actually ended up donating it ALL to the hospital. Anyways, I could go on more about this like every other blog in the world has, but you go to the website and read all about it yourself. Watch the proposal here.

What's been moving me to blog today is reading some of the responses people have left on his blog. There has been much more positive feedback than negative, but the negatives really do reduce my faith in people.

1. There are a lot of people that scolded him for wasting money and being an egomaniac. Yet these are the same people that laugh their faces off and cheer for a Budweiser commercial promoting bad beer that cost even more than JP's proposal. Sure, he spent some money, but he's an adult and anyone who donated to him has a right to do with their money as they wish and they chose to help him out, why do we live in a world where people are getting upset about people helping people?

2. There are some comments about how much money he'll have if it doesn't air. These people are so quick to hate that they didn't bother to read his proposal idea. One of the major points from day one was that he would donate any unused funds to a children's hospital (he named a specific one, but I can't remember the name) and that there would be an official press release from the hospital to prove it. Not only did he keep good on this, he donated all of the funds, not just the remaining.

3. There were some comments about how his girlfriend would much prefer something else or how she would want something different than this. How do they know? This man was completely anonymous until the day after his proposal aired. Everyone thinks they know everything about everyone else, even people they don't know at all.

4. Some accused the whole event as being a fraud and some sort of publicity stunt to gain attention for the Superbowl or a TV show or something. It didn't seem fake, but I can't ever be sure, I don't know these people...but does it even matter? Why are there people out there focusing their energy on seeking out and squashing anything that even seems positive? The best case scenario: it's real and they are a cute couple...it was a really cool story to hear and you wish them well in life. The worst case scenario: it's not real but was still a cool story and didn't hurt anyone and a couple charities got some good donations in the end of it all. The span of consequences seems to lie in the positive end of the spectrum and either way is inspiring and sweet enough. If it upsets you, why even waste your energy trying to add more negativity in the world?

Anyways, those are my thoughts about it, hey those guys have all my love and I wish the best for them. He's fortunate to have a girl so cool and she's fortunate to have a guy that's into her and great romantic gestures. The world needs more positive people like this. I can only hope if I ever am blessed enough to have someone so important in my life I'll be as inspired and creative...

"You can always look at the negative, but you should always live in the positive. I try everyday to live that way." -Stevie Wonder

-Rod

P.S. BTW, she said yes, watch that video here.

Hooray, It's Feb. 15!

So Feb. 15 at Denny's was as awesome as ever...for those who don't know what happens on Feb. 15, there's a long story behind it, but now it's the day after Valentine's Day and all about friends getting together to eat terrible food and have a good time. There's usually a voodoo doll, pins and some sort of wacky object...thus giving us the origin of Bumblebee Duck and this year it was a plush rose that sang "The Rose" in a chipmunk voice. Yeah, and all of this happens while completely sober and at Denny's.

I hope to still be celebrating the 2/15 well into my old ages. This year we had 6 people and Kevin Reeves on the phone! YAY! I'm trying to figure out how to make this bigger every year and maybe one day when I'm long gone at least some groups will still gather, that'd be awesome. Anyway, I've got a nasty cold and am tired, time for BED!

-Rod

P.S. We have LOTS of photos, those coming soon...

At Mojo13 With Berry

Berry kicking arse.