Shinybass journal entry 11-19-12

And so it goes…again.

I love being right.  You know, like more than being wrong?  Since being married, I realize that my box score of being right has diminished, however, I still have faith in my calls on the lawnmower, anything musical, and the bulk of sports.  Beyond that, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about anything.  I was looking for the bidet in the bedroom and the duvet in the bathroom.  French people piss me off.  (and watching the trailer for Les Miserables I feel that was the last time a Frenchman yelled ‘Charge!’).  Regardless of my lack of culture (although I can tell you how to say thank you in Chuukese – and if you go here you’ll want to say thank you, too.) I am correct about a couple of things from time to time.  Today, the 19th of November, mark your calendars, I was right.  It’s all been done.

The back story – we had a show on Saturday in DeKalb, Illinois, at NIU.  It was a long day, for we never left the venue.  Not even for snacks.  This really isn’t unusual  – especially on bigger tours, because everything we need is in one spot – food, showers, etc, except entertainment.  We get a little bored.  We played long games of ‘throw the football into something and you win’, the most ridiculous target being a dumpster from 25 yards.  My wife asked ‘Who has to get the ball out?’ ‘Umm, the person who threw it’ ‘And how is that winning?’ Dammit…So we took a long walk, and found the stadium (with the obligatory condom wrapper by the entrance – as if someone was running towards the 50 yard-line as they were putting it on) we ate, ate, played. That was the day.  Brock was bored. And Jdawg resorted to a new game called ‘Fog the Glass’.  It’s going to be bigger than ‘Chase the Parked C/.ars’ soon.

Hell, we were even getting low on whiskey.  That’s OK – we had cookies and apple pie to carry us through.  One good thing about it being just warm enough to play outside – the scenery.  As we threw the football at each other, the biggest flock of geese I have ever witnessed flew overhead, and as the sun crept lower in the crisp lower-half hours of the clock, I was reminded as to how great life really is, bored or not.  We were in a great venue, playing a great show.

So the show ends, we pack, we leave.  I hit Nashville roads in my truck around 9:30 AM, and get a text from a friend to go to the movies.  On a Sunday?  At 11:30?  And I don’t have to fight lines, or sit next to anyone?  My Steelers were playing at night, so I wasn’t interested in watching any football during the day.  So sure – let’s go to the movies!  Lincoln was the movie of choice, and it was a great one.  I returned home and settled in a little bit, then, while making dinner, received a call from a friend to come downtown and see some bands at the Hard Rock.  So my plans of watching the Black and Gold went away.  But you know what?  That’s OK. They are going to play the same way whether I watch or not, and live music (inspiring GREAT live music) was going on, and in a nutshell, I am glad I went.

Not only did it help my goal to become a non-hermit, but I also heard something last night that was interesting.  My friend said that all these people say ‘I wrote this and I wrote that’.  Well, as fate would have it, it turns out that it’s all been written.  Someone figured out a that with the modern 12-note scale that mathematically we hit that point about 15 years ago.  Ahh well, born at the wrong time, huh?  My friend told me that acts should be saying ‘I put this together’ instead.  Here’s where all the crying songwriters get pissed at me.  I didn’t say lyrics – although that’s getting close, too – I said music.  But we still play on.  Just because all the good novels have been written, I doesn’t mean we stop writing.

I came home to see that Psy had paired up with MC Hammer for a mash-up of Gangnam style on the AMA’s.  What perfect synchronicity to my evening.  Here’s a song that makes people do funny things with their hands and dance and is copied by just bout everyone for about 3 months.  And then there’s Gangnam style (oh – a twist!)  Oh, how soon we forget (or maybe the white suburbanites like myself have a short memory), but this stupid dance stuff was going on 20 years ago.  And you know what?  Give or take 20 years before that we had YMCA, and before that the Twist.  The beat’s a little different, but there’s your secret key to success – borrow, modify, stupify, and your money will multiply.

I’m not mad at anyone – a billion youtube hits would be great for anyone – but I’m just asking for everyone to keep it all in perspective, that’s all.  There really is nothing new under the sun.  We just change the album cover every so often to remind us that we are still thinkers.

On to live music -a reason I breathe – tonight we are playing a sold-out show at the Ryman as part of the Christmas for Kids concert.  Last year we had such a great time at this event, and I am looking forward to it again. If you are going to be in the building, then scream extra loud.

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday.  If you are traveling, be safe.  If you are staying home, then be safe.  If you are alone, then don’t feel bad.  We wandering minstrels spend a LOT of holidays away from the ones we love, and I am thankful that we (or you) aren’t getting shot at in a desert.  And if you are – thank you.  We love you.

See you on the road!