Want To Be A Rock ‘n Roll Star?

I went over to see a friend and they had their grandkids over and they were playing one of their video games (I can’t believe that I’m even talking about someone’s grandkids, but tine marches on).

I noticed that they were playing something called Guitar Hero or was it Rock Band? I don’t know which one, but they were playing some controller that was shaped like an electric guitar and trying to match notes or riffs that came up in the game or video.

The game looks like fun, but I got to thinking. Wouldn’t it be better if these kids were taking the time and learning to play a real guitar or instrument? I play really bad guitar, but play I did (I’m staring at my old guitar as I write this, right now). I don’t anymore since I lost my voice and can’t carry a note much less talk loud.  My brother-in-law’s both play and instrument, one plays guitar and the other drums. Both have played in bands and played well.  My nephew plays guitar and even played in a Christian Rock band. No matter how well or poorly we all play. We had the enjoyment of learning an instrument and being a little creative. Wouldn’t it be great instead of playing a fake guitar they would learn the real thing? I can only hope they by playing the game, they might be interested in learning the real thing, some day.

I notice that real guitar Hero’s like Clapton, Paul Simon, or Dylan don’t lend their name or songs to the products.  They understand that the joy in music comes in the songs and how they are played and how we should approach them.

I’m a third rate guitar player. Thank Gad for that. I’d rather a player of a real guitar, than a make believe Guitar Hero, with a plastic, fake guitar strapped across my chest.

My Crabgrass Is Better Than Your Crabgrass

I went out to take my daily walk and cringed as I looked at out lawn. We have a lot of crabgrass this year. After two sessions of spreading crabgrass killer on the lawn, I raised the white flag and gave up.  The only thing left is a novena and a prayer that an Act of God will get rid of the crabgrass, at least for this year.

My father, if he were living would probably call out the National Guard and go out and nuke it with whatever strong stuff that he could find. I’m less noble. I’ll just walk away and shrug my shoulders. I don’t have the killer instinct in me. I’ll wait for the winter to kill it all off and then next year put down some new grass and plant it thick, thereby killing off the opportunity for it to take root. That’s my half- baked plan, anyway.

Actually, in my daily walk through the neighborhood, I see a lot of lawns with crabgrass all over the place. Some yards are even worse than ours. It doesn’t take away my guilt, but it relieves me of some of my pain. I also wonder why this is happening.

I have come to the conclusion that part of the reason is the economy.  People are working so hard, maybe with two jobs, that they have no time or energy to take the time with their lawns. They don’t have the money to spend on Tru-Green or Chemlawn to come out and spray their lawns, either. Any money they make is being used for essentials, like food, mortgages, gas for the car and so forth.

Bad lawn: Another by product of our poor economy. Maybe we should send a patch of our crabgrass to our lawmakers and president as a reminder for them to fix the bad economy and our lawns. Maybe we should send some to the CEO’s of the oil companies as a reminder for them to use some of the profits to help us fix our lawns, if we can still afford the homes that sit nest to the crabgrass.

Better yet, forget the whole thing and be thankful. The crabgrass is always greener on the other side.

What A Weekend

What A Weekend

It’s been an unusually busy weekend for me. Most of the time my weekends are quiet and for the most part boring. This weekend however, I spent a lot of time out and about, at least for me it was.

First Friday I had lunch with a friend who decided to have me meet a girlfriend of her’s, thinking we might hit it off? A nice gesture for her to come up with something like that.. But after a nice lunch and conversation it was decided that we were better off being two ships that passed in the night. Over the years I’ve passed by a lot of ships. Mostly, I spent the time fixing up my ship with the transplant and all. Now, I wouldn’t know what to do if a ship even ran into me, these days.

Besides, I had other things to do this weekend…

A friend of mine came from out of town Sunday and we spent the day out and around visiting friends at Church and having a sort of reunion with all of us there. This is my old parish of St. Victor and I got a chance to listen to their choir while I was there and see old friends.

It will never be the same as it once was there, but for one Sunday it was a blast to have some of the old feeling come back. I won’t kid myself, times and circumstances have changed. We all have new things to do, whether it be jobs, taking care of our parents, fixing a home etc… But for one day we could forget about our present situations and come together and share some laughs and memories and get an energy boost for the week ahead.

I was tired by Sunday night, but it wasn’t a bad tired. It was more of a satisfied kind of tired: One that comes with having a good and eventful weekend. It’s Monday now, back to the same old routine. The weekend, however will help me through the ups and downs of the same old routine.

Some Thoughts On a Rainy Day

Last week, I had to do some shopping for a birthday present, and went to one of the malls to do my walking and then shop.

After my two runs around the mall I picked up my present and looked around in the bookstore in the mall.

One of the first things I noticed was a Christmas book for sale. I don’t know if it was a book that somehow escaped being put away until a appropriate time came, or that someone decided to beat the rush an put it out early, but it broke a record.  Here it is; a Christmas item out in July! Come and get it, before the rush! I shook my head in wonder. I’m not even ready for Labor Day, yet. I you want me to think about Christmas? I think not.

While I browsed through the bookstore, I came to the Social Science section. It should be called the Whine section. It seemed that all the books seemed to be by authors who wanted whine about something. Conservatives against Liberals; Liberals against Conservatives; Traditionalists against Progressives; Progressives against Traditionalists ad so forth.

It seems that the way of politics, religion, social science and most anything else is implied in the phrase ‘My way or no way.’ What ever happened to taking the best of peoples ideas and combining them into a synthesis and come up with something that will work?

Maybe that is what the American People are searching for: Ideas that will help the country along, rather than the political parties or a certain group of people.  I guess I’m tired of the same old thing, I know I can be guilty of being a partisan myself: I’m an Obama supporter. But that’s because I seen McCain only using the same playbook as Bush used. Still, there are times that Obama could be braver in articulating a fresh look at what we can do in this country as opposed to the politics of tit for tat.

Book Review: Two Beatle Books

I don’t usually make reviews of books. I don’t think that people would want to read something that some unknown blogger would reccomend. But for these two books I decided to make an exception. These two books were written about the Beatles and are part of my research for some future book about the sixties and maybe even about rock ’n roll.

The books in question are “Shout” by Phillip Norman, a journalist and novelist by trade and “The Love You Make” by Peter Brown with Steven Gaines. I had read “The Love You Make” a number of years ago and always liked it. Recently though I found a newly updated “Shout” and began to read it, figuring that there is always something more to learn about the Beatles and the fascinating time of the 1960’s. I was right on both counts.

Both books cover the same period of course. The Beatles became the most popular and influential musical group in the ‘60’s. for good or for bad. In some ways their influence is felt today; though in muted form.

Each book has a different emphasis. Peter Brown was connected with the Beatles and worked for them during their time as the most popular rock group. His portrait is more intimate in many ways compared to Phillip Norman’s book. In ‘Shout” however, Norman researched the development of the Beatles and covered their early days in great detail. Norman also went into greater detail concerning the business end of the Beatle Empire and covered the struggle for control of the Beatle management after the death of Brian Epstein.

Yes, both books are good. Peter Brown’s book is more sympathetic to the Beatles than Phillip Norman’s. Norman tends to criticize some of the Beatle music, while Brown tends to romanticize it. Perhaps, since both books were written around the same time, the two authors could have gotten together and worked with each other, they could have written the most complete book on the Beatles that could ever be written. I guess you will have to buy both books, if you want a complete look at the Beatles

The Cubs At All-Star Break

Since the All-Star Game is the traditional break in the baseball season, I thought it would be a good time to report on my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.

They’re still in first place, 4.5 games ahead in their division. Despite a few blips along the way, they are playing better than they did last year at this time.  The pitching, especially the starting pitching has been good. Although Carlos Marmol needs to turn it up a notch from the way he has performed recently.

The hitting, still not home run driven, has been solid. Thanks to more walks, the OBP has been up this year and they have had a few clutch hits to help them win games.

With the White Sox in first place in their division in the American League, I’m thinking about an cross town World Series this year. I think it will be harder for the Sox than the Cubs to get there, but anything is possible in baseball.

2008- The Historical Year

“In order to save the village, we must destroy it.” This was a phrase used by military men to describe what they had to do in Viet Nam during the U. S. involvement there. In order to save the country, they felt that they had to destroy it. A contrast, to be sure, it is kind of what we face today. In 2008 we are at a cross –road, staring down at a precipice and wondering if we can go back.

Even the presidential race is a study of contrasts. It is now a race where the two main opponents are a young, black man versus an old white guy. Besides that, each has a world view that is opposed to each other. We will have to decide which view we want to live with for the next four years.

Gas prices are killing us. Do we want to drill more or go into alternative fuel? Have cars using alternative energy and/or drive less. Or drill for more oil for gas. With global warming staring us in the face, as almost all of us now recognize, how do we propose to get the energy we need to survive, if the energy that we now use and demand could eventually be our undoing?

We built houses that are mansions, reaching up in the sky and covering the earth. We made it easy for any one to almost buy one on mortgage. Then,  adjusted it upward and suddenly people can’t afford.

We don’t want to pay the high taxes, but what happens when the services that we got for our taxes are cut and we are made to live on less? What will you and I do when that time comes?

We have the highest technology in healthcare in the world. How do we make sure that all of us have access to it?

We have a lot of thinking and action to do. It is time to fish or cut bait. We have to make bold and careful choices (a contrast in itself). We will have to make sacrifices. It will not be easy. No side is completely right. It is not flip flopping to take the best of either side and come up with solutions that will get us through in the years ahead. Only then, will 2008 be a watershed year of change.

A Mid Year Report- Sort Of

Sheesh…have I been busy lately! Not on the blogs, of course, But I’ve been busy elsewhere. I’ve been taking care of my mother since she hasn’t been well, lately. She has had some severe back pain due to a compression fracture and recently had some trouble breathing, due to her congestive heart failure. She is home now and resting comfortably. But that has made me the ruler of the house. With that, I have more responsibility. I’m getting used to it and I can almost say I’m enjoying it: Just that things that I’d rather do doesn’t get done.

It does look like my next book will be out in the next few weeks. It’s science fiction as I had mentioned before. I’m still debating whether to put it on Lulu or Booklocker. Com. Lulu is cheaper, but I don’t generate as much in sales. Booklocker is a bit more expensive, but I have had better sales. It ends up almost the same in terms of profit. I do think the niche audience will help sell more books this time around. Being a science fiction book, I think I have a better chance this time. So maybe Booklocker is better.

I could also put out all the books on one site or the other and get them all on one site. Then I would have a catalogue of books in one area for sale. That would easily be the best way to go.

Well, that’s a lot to think about and as always, a lot to do. I’ll let you know when the new book is out. For now, it’s back to work and

Immagration and a True American Response

First, let us have a little background. Immigration laws set up in the 1920’s did not address the problem of immigration from Mexico. One reason was, because few came from Mexico and second because the area that they settled was in the Southwest, little settled until the 1960’s on.

As people moved for health and retirement the area became more populated. Then, as computer industries developed in the dry air, conducive for chip- makers, the area boomed.  Workers in all industries were needed, especially service workers. Mexico with a poor economy, supplied many workers.

Then President Reagan, allowed workers to cross over because employers needed workers. He never closed the border and neither has the other presidents.

Also, In the early 1900’s people came through ports of entry; Ellis Island, Baltimore, San Francisco etc. There is no port of entry in the Southwest United States.

My own solution is this. Build a fence, if it going to make people happy. I doubt it can work, but we have to give it a try. Then perhaps we can create points of entry that will allow us to monitor the flow. We can then check who can come into our country and those who have a criminal record can be kept out/

But what do wee do with the 12 million who are here? First, fining them substantially will not work. After spending perhaps thousands of dollars to a coyote to get them here, they will be willing to stay in the background and stay in the country.

Why not allow them a 3 to 5 year plan to assimilate themselves in this country. First by applying for temporary status in this country and within 5 years, apply for citizenship. If after 3 years they have not applied for temporary status they could be liable for deportation. If after 5 years of being in this country, they have not at least applied for citizenship, the same would happen. They would not be allowed to enter the country for 10 years. This would only apply to those who are in the country once the fence is built and the framework is set up to safely allow legal entry into our country. Any one entering this country at that moment in Illegally would automatically be deported and not allowed to enter, ever.

I know that with the energy and credit crises that the problem of immigration is taking a back seat. It seems that this is a problem only when the American public has no other worries that obsess them at the moment. But eventually a solution must be reached.

Also, with Obama and McCain running for President in 2008, draconian measures will not be contemplated. I believe that a plan, such as one that I have outlined here, would be the only way to do the correct thing in the immigration tangle. It eventually must be settled and in a way that is tough, but also compassionate.

Hermit Car

Gas prices are high; we all know that. So I have to say that I notice fewer SUV’s on the road these days as people are climbing back into cars and try to save in the fuel costs.

Then, there’s the fact that the cars are getting smaller and more fuel-efficient. It seems to me that I see smaller cars than I have in a long time. It sort of reminds me of the late 70’s, when we had an oil embargo and gas was hard to get and having a small car was the way to go.

Now, I know about the Smart Car; a two-seater that gets about 50 MPG and in on the market these days (though you might have to wait 6 months to get one). But yesterday I saw a car the even outdoes that little gem. It was small; it was ugly and yellow. It was a one- person car. Yep, it was the ugliest thing I ever saw, but I have to admit it is practical.

It probably has a motorcycle engine or a squirrel for an engine and it sort of looks like a bumble -bee on steroids. It’s great if you are a hermit and want to keep you hermit status while getting around town. But I kind of think it’s a little selfish. I rather have a Smart car and at least drive around with a friend. The ten extra miles of gas I save would be a lonely victory. I rather share my frugality with a friend once in a while.