Thursday Thirsty?

Good morning folks. I hope today finds you well. I am doing pretty good myself, I realize that I haven't written much lately but that is often the case for me when I am feeling pretty good. I think just knowing that there is a job coming up in the future has allowed some significant peace of mind. It isn't like my money issues have changed in fact in some ways they have gotten worse since I have literally no income at all. But, knowing that I will have an income just makes a world of difference. 

Red Sector A - Rush

Blah, blah, blah, Rush....prog rock. Blah Blah

I know that some of my readers come here from Facebook and I know that a few weeks ago on Valentines day I posted a picture of my new girlfriend and for the story that I am going to tell you today I suppose I should share that picture again. 

Now contained within that picture are two things that I love very much, actually three. The Portland Timbers. Whiskey and Flogging Molly. This story involves two of those three things. Though I may add a Flogging Molly song for your listening pleasure later. Aw, hell, forget later how about right now. 

Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly

Music

So, back to the beginning. I have always had an interesting relationship with alcohol. I never drank much before I was twenty-one. In fact now that I am past that age I do not drink all that much now. I would say that I drink alcohol of some sort about two or three times a month and often that depends on what is going on. This month for example, today is the 27th, I had two different beers and some samples last Saturday but up until then I had not had anything to drink other than a glass of whisky the week before. By glass I mean two fingers and some ice. I am telling you this to highlight that fact that while I enjoy a good drink and I enjoy getting a good buzz on I can take it or leave it as far as alcohol goes. In fact the only thing that I drink regularly is coffee. Glorious, glorious, coffee. The nectar of the Gods. 

Concrete Jungle - Special Beat 

Ska members of The Specials and The English Beat

So when I choose to drink alcohol I do it because there is a party going on or because I think it will be fun or funny. I own two different flasks and depending on the situation I may bring one along. But I am very careful about getting very drunk or out of control in public. It is just not who I am. I was raised by very non drinking parents and I am sure that the shame that it would bring upon them has been enough to keep me in line for years. Some lessons stick with you forever I suppose. Anyway. So, last night was a Timbers match and I thought it would be both fun and give me a story to tell if I brought my flask of Jameson along to share with a couple of the guys that I sit near at the matches. 

My Michelle - Guns N Roses

Metal

So, as you can see, taking my flask along is not a regular occurrence for me but I do bring it along now and then depending on my mood or the situation. So last night I have my flask and off to the stadium Nick and I go. We get there and head into our section and I see the fellows that I mentioned before. I stop by the first guy and offer him a pull, he thanks me graciously and he takes one and I head to my seat. Once there I slide the flask back over my shoulder to the guy that sits behind me and he thanks me and takes a quick one as well and then hands it back to me. I sit for a moment and yell at some of the other teams players on the pitch. Nothing to loud or out of control and no profanity was used. It was pretty typical heckling for me. I then took a swig from my flask. One drink that was all and not a full one. Perhaps a wee mouthful.

Suzanne - Leonard Cohen

Heartbreakingly beautiful song.

A moment later there is an usher standing in front of me and he asks if he can talk to me out on the concourse. I question him for a moment but I was already sure that the battle was lost and rather than cause a ruckus I get up and head for the top of the stairs. Once I get out there I realize that I am dealing with two or three ushers and some sort of alcohol compliance officer and two policeman. The first thing that I say to the compliance officer is "Are the police really needed for this?" He assures me that they are not there for me but of course they stand there the whole time. I am sure just in case I am some sort of threat to the good of all. Again I was not drunk in anyway and would have passed any and all intoxication tests. 

Humans Remain Human Remains - Red Fang

Metal

I will skip all of the conversation and move to me being escorted from the stadium. Now I get it. I hadn't really thought about it. But the stadium and I suppose the Timbers have a policy against outside booze. But and I realize that I may very well be nitpicking here, had I been buying my beer or liquor in the stadium and been sitting drunk as hell and yelling profanities at the other team and referees. I would not have been made to leave. Because I had spent my money there. But, because I dared to bring in outside liquid, I believe eight ounces worth, perhaps ten. I was asked to leave. A season ticket holder for nearly six years with no other problems on my record at the stadium. I have never once been drunk at a match or been warned or complained about. I have never been asked to leave and have always been a good citizen of the Timbers Army. But despite all of that. They have a "no tolerance" policy when it comes to bringing a flask in. 

It's All Over Now - Grateful Dead

Hippies

I will be back at the stadium on Saturday. I was banned for just the one match and that is good I suppose. But it does bug me because I would have gladly given them my flask or poured it out and even taken a ticket and then gone back to watch the rest of the match with no problems. But I was not even offered that as an option. It went from a fun evening to kind of a lame drive back to Salem. I am just lucky that Nick is so forgiving of my stupidity. He has been a good friend for a longtime. My sad, sad story aside I feel like it is time for the Timbers to perhaps rethink their alcohol policy and maybe take things on a case by case basis rather than treating all of us the same and perhaps if I would have wanted to push things up the ladder I might have been able to talk to a manager or something who could have given me some flexibility as far as things went. But I chose not too. I also chose not to scream and shout and case a scene and that could have easily happened as well. But I chose to behave decently about everything. That is my story and you may or may not agree with me and that is fine. I will be attending the rest of the matches this season and perhaps some away ones as well and my flask will be staying at home. The lesson was learned. Though I think the rules need to be changed I am not going to be taking up that fight. Thanks for listening. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to my quiet place and dance my pain and shame away. 

 

Monday Music and Musings

Good Monday to you my friends....

Analog Kid - Rush

This is a classic Rush song and one that I always enjoy. Though to be fair I have to admit that I enjoyed Rush more when I unaware of the political leanings of their main lyricist N. Peart. I suppose I should be charitable because of his age when he wrote most of their music. But anyway this is still a pretty great song. 

  I hope the day is finding you well and that you are recovering for yesterdays festivities. I know that often the Super Bowl is the most watched even of the entire year. I would love to see a study done as to how many people miss the Monday after the big game. I suspect that the offices in most of greater Seattle are going to be pretty empty today. I would imagine that a good chunk of Denver will be empty as well but probably out of sadness rather then recovery from the happiness. I have watched nearly all the Super Bowls since I was 10 or 11 and I can't recall anything ever being that bad. I was shocked. I don't Seattle is that good but I never thought of Denver as bad either.

Magic - Ben Folds Five

A great song by the Ben Folds Five. I love basically everything Ben Folds and the Ben Folds Five has ever done. 

So I suppose I should address something that happened yesterday that for me was far more impacting than anything that happened in the Super Bowl and that was the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. It isn't unusual for me to get emotional about something. I am not afraid to show my emotions. I wear them on my sleeve and my open face and anyone who knows me knows that over the stretch of time they are going to see me either laugh loudly and openly and they will see me with tears in my eyes. This is the reality of my being.

Rod Stewart - Maggie May

I do not listen to a lot of Rod Stewart and this song is coming from a film soundtrack. I believe it is Almost Famous. But it is a great song. I really should check out the rest of his music because I do love this song.

But, while I am emotional I usually do not react to the deaths of famous people that I do not know. I just never have. I am not sure why. I suppose on some logical level I never knew them and they did not know me and so why get worked up about it. But it wasn't like I was making a choice to not be emotional of these events I just wasn't. What was odd about yesterday was as news began to pop up on Facebook and different people begin sharing links to news articles about Philip Seymour Hoffman being found I began to find myself getting sad.

The Angels Are Singing In Heaven Tonight - Ralph Stanley II

A great bluegrass number and a nice thought. 


I cried for the death of a very talented man and I cried at the memories I have of his many wonderful performances and of the many films that he has been in that have been a big part of my life as a lover of cinema. I am not going to speculate as to the nature of his death. We all have demons and we all handle them in different ways. But I am saddened by and I miss him. It is very hard for me to pin down a favorite film or performance of his that I liked better than any others but I think that for me my top 5 Philip Seymour Hoffman performances in now real particular order are.

Almost Famous

The Big Lebowski

Pirate Radio

The Master

Magnolia

There are many more but for me those are the performances that I think of when I think of him and his acting. I am sad that he is gone and I will be revisiting these films again soon.

I do not know what else to say. It may be uncool of me to be sad about this and so be it. I am going to sit her and be uncool. I think I am in pretty good company.

See you tomorrow. 

Thursday Music Mix

Welcome back to this post holiday Thursday that feels like a Monday. It is nothing special. I have always felt that the days following the Christmas and New Years Holidays are odd ones. They just sit there all alone and in this case it feels odd because it is a Thursday and just sits there ahead of the weekend.

Turn The Page - Rush

Well this is a nice treat. I like Rush but I haven't listened to them much lately. They are always worth listening too as far as I am concerned though I should probably give their newer stuff a listen too now and then.

Then or Than? A pair of words and spellings that I am pretty sure I use incorrectly. I am pretty sure that the correct way to use both of them has been explained to me and I for the life of me have the hardest time doing it. There are times when I feel bad about that but most of the time I really don't. I have never been all that hung up about grammar which I am sure is a gross failing on my part.

Cat's Squirrel - Jethro Tull

This is a nice little treat. Almost jazz like in its meanderings across the musical soundscape with a little blues thrown in for good measure. I really like it.

But, back to the matter at hand. I do not mind being corrected when I miss use words or use them incorrectly. But I would rather that I was corrected in a polite and private manner. To me that is the way things need to be done in a civil society. There are a few and really it is a sad few who feel the need to correct people in a public way on the many public forums that people of today use to communicate with each other on the internet. Often Facebook feels like a minefield rather, then or than, a place for people to communicate or entertain each other.

Marathon - Rush

It looks like the music player has locked into some prog rock what with two by Rush and one by Jethro Tull. We shall see what the future holds.

Back to Facebook. I like Facebook but there are times when it feels like the town square is full of crazies and each one is standing on their soapbox and trying to shout over the top of all of the other crazies. You may have one guy talking about a movie that he liked or didn't like. While in another corner you have some jackass screaming about some pizza company and their television commercials that he finds totally annoying. It would actually be okay if it was just that but it isn't, instead the people who disagree with the soap boxers engage with them by using often their only tools which are ridicule and abuse. It is hard to have reasoned debate on Facebook and often, I suspect, reasoned debate is not the goal and that is sad.

Whistles The Wind - Flogging Molly

Well, the blackness came on quickly. Flogging Molly was a special band to me and my friend Eric and now Eric is gone and he is not coming back. His life is gone and I will not be listening too or seeing this band with him ever again and that makes me sad. I miss you brother.

Touch - Daft Punk

This is a really good album, There are some great songs on it.

Reasoned debate? Is that really a thing? Has reasoned debate ever really existed? I would like to think that it did but I also think that I am probably wrong about that. Information travels so fast now that people rarely take the time to think about what they are saying before they send off a response and I think in the times before the internet the sheer amount of time it took to respond just allowed people to cool down. Taking some time to respond is not a bad thing. I lost a job once because of a quickly worded snappy email. I was totally out of line. So it doesn't bother me all that much now but at the time it was pretty upsetting.

Edge Of The Universe - Bee Gees

This is a live track and a pretty good one. Though I am not sure about its place in the earlier songs in this mix. It is nice though.

Dark Paradise - Lana Del Rey

Wow. This is a sad song. I have not really listened to the lyrics before. Ouch.

Well, I am going to leave you folks on that somber note. Hang in there today and love each other okay.

Thirsty Thursday...Tunes

Lets keep the love going shall we...

Everything's Just Wonderful - Lilly Allen

I really do love me some Lilly Allen. This is a good start to the day. Though I do not think that ol Phil from Ducky Dynasty feels the same right now. He is on the hot seat for things that he said in a GQ interview and it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out and how his already ardent fan base reacts.

Enthused - Blink 182

This is actually a good song and back from when they were a good band. They are not anymore. But this is a good album.

I can understand why Phil has made people upset. But I am not surprised that he said it. He is an older man, white southern Christian. He is not going to be pro gay. He won't be. So for people to act surprised by this is just silly. It doesn't excuse what he said but don't act surprised just start actually paying attention.

Sci Fi Kid - Blitzen Trapper

This is an interesting song. A little bit to blip and blop and computer sounds for me but I get what they are doing with it. Kind of cool.

Though this whole kerfuffle might be a good reminder for people that free speech doesn't always mean say what you want without any sort of consequences. It means say what you want and if someone disagrees with you then they may stop purchasing your items or stop attending your events. Or they may speak out against what you said. They are free to do that. Sometimes people disagree with each other on things but the world still spins and we are still moving forward.

Brother - Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes

I enjoy this album more and more every time I listen to it. I just enjoy it. This is a good band and worth listening too. The piano in this song is so nice.

Out On The Tiles - Led Zeppelin

Such a great song. This is one of their top 10 songs as far as I am concerned. It just works and everything about it works. One of my favorites.

He just wants all your love. Is that to much to ask? I don't think so. Love makes everything better. Lets all just love each other, shall we. Who wants a hug?

Close To The Heart - Rush


This is a good note to close us down on today. Be good to each other out there today folks. We are all just people trying to find our way in the world and things are hard enough as it is without us being shitty toward each other.

Neil Peart Is Mistaken...

As I sit here listening to Rush, allow me to say again THE ALMIGHTY RUSH. Sure they have their problems and it is easy to poke fun at them. But I grew up liking them, I believe since the 4th grade when a boy in my grade school named Tom, cruised past me in the hallway singing Rush's "Tom Sawyer" and that was it. I was hooked.

I did not see them in concert until I was out of high school. I was working at the Lancaster mall theater with my good friend, one of my best friends actually Travis or as I sometimes call him Maestro and we heard that Rush was coming to Portland for their Presto tour and we decided to go. There was a girl working with us at the theater at the same time and she asked if she could go with us. That seemed fine because she was relatively attractive in a 1990's kind of way, with the big feathered hair and the kind of slutty vibe. Well Maestro and I picked her up at her apartment and we both were shocked as this woman who appeared to have stepped off of the set of the latest Whitesnake video came walking down the stairs in the tightest and shortest black dress I had ever seen and never in real life that is for sure. As she came closer to us we both realized that she was not wearing anything under her dress and we were not dealing with a proper lady at all. I leaned over to him and said "When we get to your brothers house you better tell him that neither of us are dating her." I am not sure why that was important to me but I wanted to be sure that his brother knew that neither of us would be dating such a obviously slutty girl. As you can tell I was raised pretty sheltered and still had not broken away from it. But that was the first time that we saw Rush and it was amazing.

I tell you that story to let you know that I love Rush. I do not dislike the band at all and I still to this day really do enjoy their music. So what I am going to say to you next is not coming from a place of hatred for the band or anything like that. True, I am a bit of a music snob to be sure but that has never stopped me from enjoying them. Not one bit. So that being said, I have been reading a book written by Neil Peart (Rush's drummer) titled "Ghost Rider : Travels On The Healing Road".

Now there are some songs that he wrote early in beginnings of Rush that are very obviously inspired by the writings of Ayn Rand and I will allow for the exuberance and idiocy of youth as far as that goes because Ayn Rand is just silly. We can have that conversation later if you want. But, fair warning, you are going to have to work very hard to change my mind and prove to me that she had anything of value to say. But, back to the matter at hand. He wrote this book about a year or so after going through what is probably one of the most horrible things that a person could go through. In the space of basically less then a year he lost his 19 yr old daughter in a car accident and then his wife from cancer.

So after all of that in his quest to find some healing and some peace he decided to go on a long solo motorcycle ride. The book is the story of that trip and so far I have found it very interesting and a little bit healing for some issues in my own life. But as I read it I also notice some of his political views coming out and at one point he says some things about the great state of Oregon  that I found rather upsetting. I will allow that he is entitled to his own opinion on many things but when he starts to talk about Oregon well I can't stand idly by and not respond especially when he is so far off base.

What begins with him complaining about the 65 MPH speed limit in Oregon soon moves to not being able to pump your own gas and that is when I begun to get annoyed, this is what he said.

"Although modern day Oregon's progressiveness was often admirable, that same liberal-conservative...mindset could also tend toward the presumption that its citizens (and visitors) weren't ready for too much freedom. The unreasonably low speed limits were one example; another was the state wide ban on self service gas stations, presumably because people were not responsible enough to fuel their own vehicles without the risk of spilling fossil fuel and causing fires and environmental degradation. Or maybe it was designed to increase employment at minimum wage level."  (pg 125)

He then goes on to talk about how, being a motorcyclist, he likes to pump his own gas and so he made a point of doing it himself in Oregon in the spirit of civil disobedience followed by the comment "You've got to resist oppression!"  I almost do not know where to begin with addressing this. The first thing that pops to mind is that as far as being a motorcyclist goes they always let those guys pump their own gas regardless of the law or not. You are not some outlaw scoffing at "Big Government" if you fill your own tank. You are being a prudent cyclist who wants to protect the paint job of your gas tank.

My other is that if he or anyone can prove to me that it would be cheaper to pump my own gas then by all means lets do this. But I live in Oregon and have purchased gas in both Washington and California where I pump my own and it is not cheaper. So what is the benefit? I ask you Mr Peart, what is the benefit of pumping my own gas? Since there isn't one. I will gladly stay in the relative comfort of my own vehicle and let the paid employee pump it for me.

I am sorry that things are so rough for you here, Neil. But really nobody asked your thoughts on the subject so just

Happy Canada Day!

Today is Canada day and a good friend from the north mentioned that I should put up some Canadian songs today to honor my many friends from Canada. I thought well that sounds like a fine idea. So here we go.

I know that for most music fans the obvious choice for this would be Rush and they will be included but I honestly think that for me I have to go with Neil Young as my first choice. I like that his music seems to evoke the Canadian prairies. I honestly am not sure why I feel that way but I do.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young W/ Crazy Horse

There is just something about his music that evokes the idea of Canada for me. Another Canadian artist that really enjoy and I had not really thought about him being Canadian is Leonard Cohen.

Going Home - Leonard Cohen

This is a supremely sad song. But it is also lovely and I feel like it speaks to a couple of things that I will choose to keep to myself. But if you know me you most likely know what I am talking about.  So for me the meaning is a deep one and a good one even though listening to it does pain me.

The mightiest of all Canadian bands is of course Rush and for me the song that speaks of Canada is "Lakeside Park".

Lakeside Park - Rush

I know nothing about the location of this park or what it means to the guys in the band but the song is obviously evoking a memory of the time and the place and that makes me enjoy listening to it.

I would be remiss if I didn't include a couple of lovely Canadian ladies on this list as well so here we go.

Building A Mystery - Sarah McLachlan

I haven't listened to her in a long time and I had forgotten both the era of music that she was part of as well as my enjoyment of her singing. I always liked her voice and the overall tone of her music.

Sweet Surrender - Sarah McLachlan

I had to add another one and while some may find it overwrought I enjoy it. So deal with it.

My Humps - Alanis Morissette

I had to add this beautiful cover of a horrible song by the Black Eyed Peas. Her version is both poignant and sad. But it is such a good version.

Now I am sure I left many fine Canadian artists off of this list. But these are the ones that came to mind for me. I hope you enjoyed it. 

Monday...

Some days you wake up and everything seems fine but then there are other days where you wake up and get your coffee and sit down in front of your computer to continue your job search and everything just kind of breaks down. Sometimes all it takes is one thoughtful comment on Facebook and it tips you right over the emotional edge and you didn't even realize that you were on the edge. The main reason because you woke up with that moment of clarity when the reality of life has not been remembered and things seem good. But the reality is that things are not good and you are just putting one foot in front of the other because that is all you know how to do and you know that if you stop moving it will all fall apart.

Battle of Who Could Care Less - Ben Folds Five

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be able to not care. I think it would be freeing in some way. No, I am sure it would be freeing to not have this knot inside my belly of worry and pain for how the others are coping with this. To not be taken by surprise by emotions so strong that they leave you nearly doubled up as you try to fight off the sobs that you feel bubbling up inside of you. You have given up telling people that you are fine when they ask because that isn't true. But you are also tired of trying to explain to people why you are not fine and you are tired of seeing their eyes glaze over and you can see how much they regret even asking the question but that doesn't matter because they can't really understand the answer and how you are processing it is so completely different then how anyone else is.

La Villa Strangiato - Rush

Sometimes it is all you can do. It is all you are able to do. To sit and immerse yourself in a video game because then you can have a little bit of that emptiness that you crave. You can have a small break from the constant thinking. Because the thoughts never really stop and if you aren't filling the space around you with some sort of white noise they become overwhelming and the others faces and how much pain they are in pops into your head and flies around you like the specters in a bad horror movie. You are thankful that you are out of work because you do not understand how some of the others are even functioning at this time and wonder if they are able to use work to find their blankness.

Feb 20, 2000 - The Avett Bros

You try to meditate because that has been successful in the past. But you are trying so hard to find that Zen that it has become almost impossible to achieve.You smoke a little pot thinking that will help you to get their. It does not.

Pieces of a Story - Trevor Jones

The only thing that seems to help when you are in the middle of it is to grab someone and hold on to them. Because for some reason the feel their bodies the skin of their skin against yours validates your existence. You do that and you return to your blog because writing it down at least helps you to ride that bubble of grief it helps it to be manageable and it gives it a release and because you know of no other way for you to cope with this.

Turn Turn Turn - The Byrds

That and sometimes the strange randomness of the music can help as well because sometimes the songs seem more appropriate then you realize and you wonder, how random is random.

Am I Not Merciful? - Hans Zimmer

Seriously? How random is random because right now this not feeling random. Damn you Google and your mystical music player. 

Rush...

is the greatest rock band in the world!! There I said it and I do not feel ashamed about saying it. I am not going to write a big defense of the band here or try to detail for the doubter why I think this. I am just going to put up some songs from their very first album. I realized as I was listening to 'Finding My Way" on my earlier post from today that I really, really like basically their entire first album. So I thought I would share some highlights of it with you.

What makes this debut album different from their other albums is that they had a different drummer on it, John Rutsey, and the music was written by Lifeson and Lee. The majority of the rest of the Rush albums were written by Neil Peart and you can really see the change in influences with his arrival. This first album is more of a typical mid 70's hard rock album and they hadn't become the prog rock gods that they were destined to be. The two biggest hits on the album were "Finding My Way" which I detailed in a previous blog post and..

"In The Mood" and do not pretend that you didn't dig the cowbell.

But I think there are several solid rock songs on the album. One of my favorites and I love the guitar on it is "Take A Friend" it isn't anything fancy but there is something about the basic straight forwardness of the rocking that I really can get behind.

The song that follows "Take A Friend" is the almost Black Sabbath copy "Here Again", it just chugs along and if you are at all familiar with early Black Sabbath you can totally hear the similarities. Which really isn't that much of a surprise because by the time this album came out in 1974, Black Sabbath had already put out five albums since the release of their debut album in 1970. 

 

Up next is another song that I just plain really enjoy and that one is called "What You Doing" and this one is more of a faster and harder edged song then the last one. Another solid head banger. I love Lifeson's guitar work on this one. 

The final song on the album is a classic and one that never fails to get me going. I think it is one of their best songs and one that they tend to play in concert pretty regularly because the crowd never fails to get up for it. It is called "Working Man"

Enjoy your day and enjoy listening to one of the great bands. Rush! 

More Random Music Wednesday

Going On - Dark Moor - This is one of my favorite epic metal bands. If there is one thing that I miss about the newer more modern music is the state of heavy metal. I miss this kind of power ballad metal and I wish that there were more American bands who played this way. But at least there are still some Northern European bands that can still bring the thunder.

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Jimmie Rodgers - This is a great, great early folk song. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you like folk music at all please give this one a listen. It really brings a smile to my face.

Finding My Way - Rush - This is the first Rush song off of their very first album and it rocks so hard. If you can't at least enjoy some of what Rush has brought the world musically then I have some doubts about you as a person and because I am a gentleman I am not going to express them right now. But I will be thinking them.

Despicable - Eminem - Ummm, this one is not safe for work at all. I had forgotten that I even had any Eminem in my collection. I enjoy him but he is for sure not for everyone. I think he has some real talent but I am not a big fan of the constant flow of profanity. But that is just me. The beats he uses are funky fresh.

South Bound Saurez - Led Zeppelin - This is a great song and to be honest there is not a song by Led Zeppelin that I do not enjoy in some form. The piano on this one is very good and kind of reminds me of Elton John

That is it for today folks and I think that today the selections showed how varied my musical tastes are. I hope you enjoyed it.

If Wishes and Butts Were Candy and Nuts....

We would all have a Merry Christmas!! There is a line in the film 'Pitch Perfect' that goes like this. "If I could sing a lick, I would. But I can't and I hate myself everyday for it!"


I am not nearly as dramatic as that but there are times when I am listening to music and I feel that way about playing guitar or piano or drums or just wanting to be in a band in general and to be able to blow peoples minds. To just be up on stage and to rock their socks off with the power of my rocking! So because of that I thought it might be fun to show you guys some songs that make me feel that way. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoy bringing them to you.

Now the first instrument I want to highlight is guitar and I am not saying that this is the best guitarist in the world or anything like that. I am just saying that listening to this makes me wish I could play guitar like that.

Let's take a look at drums now and for me this is a pretty obvious choice. But it may not be the choice for everyone else and the same rule applies as before. I am not saying this is the best, it is just the one that brings these feelings out of me. This is Santana's drummer at Woodstock he was 19 at this time and his name is Michael Shrieve and he will blow your mind. Actually the whole of this performance by the band is mind altering.

The Piano and there can be only one Ben Folds

Bass and Rush go hand in hand

There you go folks. I hope you enjoyed listening to it as much as I enjoyed bringing it too you.