Category Archives: Culture

Politics and the Person

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1945_Soviet-Held-Berlin_500

I have a burning feeling in my stomach every time I think of the Russian invasion of Berlin.  What the Red Army did was cowardly and shameful.  But what Stalin had created was a culture without morals.  It’s the only way communism can work.  To say I hate Russians would say I hate America, as what America and Great Britain did in the early months of 1945 was just as bad.  The terror bombings of Dresden under the guise of war was as hideous as the cowardly Red Army killing 11 year old German boys, then raping his mother and 8 year old sister.

Germans_killed_by_Soviet_army rape-german-women-ww2-1945-001

These are German women and children raped and killed by the Russian Army.

It’s not Paval’s fault he was born under the leadership of Stalin. (Who probably killed Paval and his family for not wanting to be party members.

I’ve been to Tokyo.  The Japanese people are amongst the most polite people I’ve ever met.  Yet the emperor’s Army took none to very few prisoners.  Stories of children being killed with Bayonets were not just propaganda.  It did happen Yet I don’t hate the Japanese.  What was the difference between Russia and Japan?  Russia was suppose to be a liberator.

Austrian Women raped

Austrian Women in Berlin commit suicide after being Raped by Red Army

Perhaps I’m a convenient victim of growing up during the cold war and the Bay of Pigs when the USSR wanted to destroy America.

Khrushchev

America is far from perfect.  We stole this land from the Native Americans and Mexicans who were here before us.  What right did we have to “Manifest Destiny”?  Was that any different from Hitler’s “Lebensraum”?

I can’t believe that Americans died protecting Chinese nationals in WWII.  (Remember the AVG)? The Flying Tigers?  Then 5 years after the war we are being killed in Korea by Chinese and Koreans.  Japan and Germany become loyal allies while our WWII allies became our worst nightmare. In 1961 Nikita Khrushchev pledges to bury us.  This came only 15 years after supplying Russia with food and P-39 Cobras to combat Germany.

And now Putin is at it again.  Americans have died more for other countries’ freedom than for our own.  Some speculate that had we not stopped Hitler in the late 20th century, he would have cornered the world. But I suggest that is just speculation.

There will always be someone who has an inherent need to conquer.  Unfortunately, there will always be those afraid to stand up to tyranny.  Lyndon B. Johnson once said, aggression not confronted is aggression unleashed.  I would hope that the Russian troops that go into the Ukraine would not kill the men and rape the women and children.  Hopefully Russia’s “taste of freedom” planted the seeds of morality.  Unlike the generation before.

I’m sure Putin represents the Russian people as much as Obama represents America.  79% of Americans wish they could replace Obama.  I’m sure the feelings of the Russian people do not matter to Putin.  Putin has a Gulag for those who don’t speak kindly of him.  In America, a place where free speech is supposed to be welcomed, if you say something negative about Obama, you will be harassed by government agencies like the NSA or worse, the IRS.

$7,000 worth of Free Advice

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Q and Woo

If you are struggling with anger management, I’ve got a great story that really helped me.

In 2006 I moved to the greatest city in the World, Monterey, California. Then after a year, I move 7 miles south to the elite neighborhood of Carmel.  But while in Monterey; I leased a condo on Del Monte Beach.  It was right on the Monterey Bay and the sound of the ocean waves as well as the vibration of the waves crashing put me to sleep at night.

Beach Art 021

Del Monte Beach is one of the few “Dog Beaches” on the Monterey Peninsula.  But your dog must be on a leash.  As you can see; I own a German Shepherd and a Hybrid wolf.  They mind their business but keep an eye out for the “pack’s” safety.  Day after day idiot liberals would let their dogs run free on the beach because they felt that leashes were too cruel for animals.  Of course dogs that didn’t know better ended up in the jaws of my Shepherd who was obeying the law on the beach.

Monterey beach house 009

It use to make me furious day after day.  I told my counselor that I just wanted to let my dog kill the next dog that was off leash that came running up to my dogs.  He said something very profound.  Here’s your 7K worth of free advice.  He said: “So you let your dog kill the next dog; what about tomorrow”?  The point being that there will always be ass holes in your life.  You can’t kill them all.  There will always be an endless abundance of stupid people in California.

That put life into perspective for me.  I was a minority in a sea of liberal idiots.  Saul Alinski is buried in Carmel.  So once I realized that I was getting upset over fools, I let my dogs defend themselves, then said to the owners: “You know the leash law isn’t just a law”. I changed my attitude towards these idiots and rather than getting mad: I just let them make fools of themselves.  fortunately my dogs would spit out little Fee Fee and never killed an animal on the beach.

To this day, I think of the same line whether I’m in a long traffic jam or a long line at the bank.  “You gonna kill them all?  What about tomorrow”?

Fortunately, here in Area 51, everyone owns German Shepherds and everyone keeps them on their leashes. The people here are responsible Republicans that care for their pets and are thoughtful of others.  So if you find yourself in a place like Carmel; you might think about moving.  If not, just keep in mind; The world will always have stupid people and you can’t kill them all so don’t let them upset you.

SILLY PREPPERS

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doomsday-preppers

National Geographic ran a series for 3 seasons called “Doomsday Preppers”.  The intent was to make survivalists look like paranoid idiots.  After 5 years of Obama, should something happen which is NOT out of the question; it would appear we will be ruled by Paranoid Idiots.

gas-mask

The show originally featured 3 scenarios and 3 different “Preppers” (name given to those “preparing” for a crisis) then, in game show fashion, the preppers would be given a score based on their plan and resources by a group of experts known only as “practical preppers”.  Following each scenario, they would give the odds of such a crisis happening.  Of course the show would say: “Our EXPERTS SAY” Then they would basically call the preppers crazy for preparing for things like: “The collapse of our currency”, The explosion of an electro-magnetic-pulse or EMP over the U.S. which would render most of America “Powerless”.  Some were preparing for “Biological Warfare” or Pandemics.  Some feared this administration would impose martial law.  (Oh no, that would never happen). What’s the emoticon for a smirk? I found the natural disasters interesting.  If you look at a map of the U.S. you have 5 to 6 major acts of nature you should be concerned about.

  1. Tsunamis – There’s not much you can do if you have that beautiful beach front property.  We’ve seen seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean over the last 10 years.  The Atlantic coastline is not immune either.  There is a part of Portugal that could fall into the Atlantic causing a huge Tsunami to hit the East Coast.
  2. Volcanic activity- The Yellowstone Caldera seemed to be of grave concern. It’s not your ordinary      Volcano, rather a Caldera or “Bowl”(a Super Volcano) that could erupt the size of 4-5 states in the mid north-west.       The concern is the ash cloud that would cause a nuclear winter type greenhouse effect.
  3. The devaluation of the dollar – This concern was the most popular.  Since Idiot Americans elected Barak      Hussein Obama; the deficit has gone from 9 Trillion to 17.3 trillion as of this article.  The ramifications of      an uncontrollable debt could lead to a myriad of causes for civil unrest.  Every month, the Federal Reserve pumps 75 Billion dollars of “Monopoly” (or FIAT) money into the banks to keep the stock market from crashing.  If this happens and our paper money is worthless, who is going to pay the police and the fire department.  The Iphone culture will become the old west overnight.
  4. The Major fault lines – The San Andreas fault is part of the Pacific ring of Fire.  You’ve heard the jokes about California falling into the ocean? That would be plausible if we had a “Super-quake”  Also mentioned is the      “New Madrid” fault which, once upon a time, made the Mississippi river      flow towards Canada.
  5. Biological Terrorism –This one is no joke as we’ve seen the Aviary flu and the Spanish flu reduce the world population by millions in the 20th century.  Many speculate that a dirty bomb or an aerosol bomb with Neuro-toxins or viruses could be released into our atmosphere by terrorists.
  6. Civil War – Many feel that Obama is setting up the country for an uncivil war.  He’s trying to rob the rich to feed the lazy.  This is American where Americans pride themselves on self-reliance.  The sales of guns are at an all-time high.  The country is at an all-time state of divisiveness.  You do the  math.

Food

After 3 years, most of the preppers saw Obama and the debt as the root of anything really bad that would bring an “End to the world as we know it” scenario to fruition.  Not necessarily an end to the world or even mankind; but an end to smart phones, microwave ovens and even conventional transportation.

Guns

I have an outline that anyone should be able to address just for the sake of a local emergency.  These 5 primary areas of concern should be addressed by you personally and don’t expect the government to send you a helicopter being flown by fucking Santa Clause.

  1. Water – Invest in a Waterbob.  BOB stands for “Bug Out Bag”  it’s a term that was coined in the Korean war.  Bugging out means you relocate really fast.  A waterbob is basically a waterbed mattress for fresh drinking water.  It will hold up to 300 gallons of drinking water.
  2. Food & Medications – Many people are not aware that once the electricity is out, everything will stop.  Including diesel pumps.  No trucks? No deliveries.  That means no prescription refills.  As for food, you want a minimum of 3 days.  Most people will be eating their canned green beans for 2 days.  The shelves at Wal-Mart will be clean in 45 minutes.
  3. Fire Arms/sufficient Ammo – Should you have food; you will need to protect it.  As I said, if the police and fire department aren’t getting paid, there will be no rule of law.  You (I’m sorry to inform you) will need to provide for your own common defense.  Look at what happened in New Orleans after Katrina hit.  Don’t be without adequate protection.  I recommend the “circle of defense”.
  4. First Aid – I can actually perform small surgical procedures in my home if I have to.  I’ve gone so far as to buy suture, dressings and of course masks and sterile gloves.  Do not count on the Hospitals being open
  5. Communication – This is last on the list as you will want to know what is going on.  Those with Ham or CB radios will be able to communicate outside of the community.  You should at least have a set of small walkie-talkies.
  6. As a bonus, you might consider a generator and a dirt bike.  The generator can help you out with “Well water” (Not running the refrigerator) and a dirt bike will be one of the more reliable forms of transportation with cars littering the highway.

Take my advice with some consideration.  It’s for your own good.  You’re not a kook if you plan in advance.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Viewer

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Cinderella

I once took a class called “Finding the Love of Your Life”.  It was a video course that was produced by Dr. Neil Clark Warren.  Yes the same Dr. Warren in his commercials for EHarmony.com. One section in the course focused on a question that has puzzled me all of my life.

Why do we find certain people more attractive than others? And why are some women perceived as very attractive to a majority of men?

Dr. Warren says it’s our childhood scripting that is the programming of our fantasy partner.  In other words: “Hollywood”.

Snow

Somewhere in the DNA of the seeds of Puberty lay the visions of Beauty as described by Disney. If you study the characters of “Sleeping Beauty” “Snow White” or even “Cinderella” you’ll find that Disney preferred a light skinned Caucasian girl with Big Eyes, a small nose, and big lips. Prominent cheek bones were also common. These images are what keep cosmetic surgeons busy every day.  Rhinoplasty makes your nose smaller. Blepharoplasty makes your eye bigger (by reducing the eyelids). And of course what would Angelina Jolie be without collagen in those lips?

As you can see, This was the image little boys were told to look for; and the goal little girls were told to aim for. I guess it would have helped to be Nordic or Scandinavian.

Barbie        Jessica_0

So we go thru life using these mental images as what we need to attain to be successful in life. If you’re a minority; forget it. This isn’t the country for you. You blondes wonder why Hispanic girls have a chip on their shoulders? EVEN in the movie KING KONG the Gorilla was offered up a female human sacrifice with a BLONDE WIG. So can we blame Walt Disney for the 50% divorce rate in America Today? Perhaps there’s enough blame to go around all of Hollywood. But ultimately we only have ourselves to blame. Self-esteem is not something that comes from society’s norms. As children, we are taught with positive and negative re-enforcement. If we do something good, your parents tell you so. If you do something bad, you are admonished. So as children, we are always looking outside (from someone other than ourselves) for “confirmations” of our behavior.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop at behavior. We do the same thing for our profession, our lifestyle and of course our appearance.

In Science, we use what is called a “control” to determine what is normal to give us “desirable” results. And as humans, we want to use that same type of paradigm (pronounced “pair- uh- dime) or method of thinking. So as a young “virile” male; if I can mate with someone that looks like “Barbie”, then that reflects on my ability to attract women.  It says nothing about my ability to have a lasting relationship (see Hollywood marriages).
Dr. Warren went on to classify people that were seeking a mate in 3 categories.

1. Breezers – (I’m paraphrasing) or people that look like Hollywood’s perception of Beauty. These people never have to look for a date. Their always having people hit on them and their biggest problem is weeding out the one’s they dislike. I guess this would be the Jennifers, Brads, Bens and Angelinas of the world.

2. The Short Shrifted – You know who you are. I guess the best phrase that describes this bunch is from the Woody Allen movie “Annie Hall” Woody quotes Groucho Marx when describing his relationships. He says “I would never want to be in a club that would have me as a member”. I think this describes the sort of “Programmed” social suicide that keeps many humans from being happy. I’ve seen it many times with financially successful people. We don’t want what we don’t have; we want what we can’t have. Short Shrifted people think they’re too good for what has come their way. The problem is, all of their decision making criteria is based on physical attributes.

3. The desperate – Yes, these are people with just the opposite problem of the short Shrifted. They lack self-esteem and are drawn to anyone that will look at them twice. They mistake attention for attraction. It’s very sad because true beauty lies within the person. And these people sell themselves short.
Hollywood has sold us a bill of goods. They want us to think that a mindless bimbo has more going for her than mother Theresa. The more women gained from the civil rights movement of the 60’s; the more Hollywood has denigrated them by focusing on their physical attributes. True beauty doesn’t come from Revlon. It doesn’t come from having the right genetic makeup. It’s not about what you have, where you live, what you wear or what you drive. It’s about what you are. To millions of shallow girls, they find their role models in Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. In their Hollywood programmed mind; “if only I could look like her all of my problems would be over”.

Jenbie

It’s very sad. As long as we keep using “Video” as a form of parenting, we will continue to support this self-destructive myth. When little girls long to be more like mother Theresa, or Sally Ride and Men start appreciating women as beings and not physical possessions; then will there be hope for future generations. Only then will the divorce rate start to decline. Only then will humanity start to scratch the surface of its’ potential.

THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST?

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Cat rod-stewart

Cat Stevens wrote: “The First Cut is the Deepest”.  The First Cut is the Deepest?  Naw the last cut is the deepest and the most painful.

With social media and the ability to find that girl that sat in the 1st row, 3rd seat in your sophomore algebra class, or the ability to just say hi on your smart phone, I’ve discovered something; a phenomena if I may, that I find quite disturbing.

I have a list of people that I “THOUGHT” I was close to.  People that “I KNOW” can get in touch with me, yet prefer to let things lay in the past.  And what I hate the most is wondering if I was the A$$ hole, or they’re being an A$$ hole.

Let’s put cyber technology aside.  Are some things best left as history?  Or will you, in the long run, regret not being able to say one last good-bye?  Steve Martin writes a very important line in the Movie L.A. story that is incredibly profound for a comedian.  He says why is it you never know when exactly you fell in love; but you always remember the exact moment it’s over?

Thus I say: “The last cut is the deepest”.  Being turned down is part of life.  Being turned down after being accepted is painful. (If it meant anything to you).  But worse than being turned down after being accepted is being turned down without knowing why.  It does not allow closure.

Sometimes people are just busy.  Sometimes people have short memories and sometimes people are just selfish.  Life goes on and some things just need to be filed under E for enigmatic.  If not, you will hurt yourself trying to take blame for something that you have nothing to do with.

Unless someone comes out and tells you that they want nothing further to do with you, then they fall under one of the above categories.  Oh wait, there is one more: “They’re too thoughtless to let you know why they can’t/won’t/or haven’t replied to your outreach”.

I guess, just as the enemy often considers kindness a weakness, the self centered consider kindness a gratuity.  Or even worse, we (The Seeker) mistake kindness for friendship.

Life is short.  Sometimes we need to: “Let it be”.

I MISS THE STEREO NEEDLE

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Stereo

One thing the Vietnam war brought America was great stereo systems from the “Tokyo Exchange”. Guys coming back from “Nam” usually came back with these gigantic Akai stereo systems that they bought through the military PX/exchange. In the late 60’s and early 70’s when Rock was good, the baby boomers started working on their “tinitus” (pronounced ten-it-us, not ten- eye- tus) It’s ringing of the ears. Contrary to what the new commercial over the counter products say; tinnitus is the result of killing off the cells in your Cochlea or hearing organ in the inner ear. When you hear that ringing in your ear after you hear a gun shot, that’s tinnitus. For us musicians it’s that ringing in our ears that comes from standing in front of Marshall cabs for 3 hours.

But I digress. Back in the day (1970’s) We had really cool speakers. My personal favorites were Bose 501s. (not to big, not to small) you had to have a receiver, preferably 50 watts per channel. A Techniques turn table. A Sony cassette to cassette recorder, and of course a 12 to 24 band eq (graphic equalizer). Then on a Friday night when the new Pink Floyd album came out, you told your neighbors to shut their windows if they didn’t want to hear DSOTM at 90 decibels.

The speakers and eq really made the system. (and a good cartridge or “Needle”) OH and don’t forget the bean bag.

All we had back then was vinyl. But it was great if you recorded it on your cassette tape before your LP “record” got scratched. (damn cats) Then began the quest to improve the media. They did a great job, but in doing so, they screwed up the sound ! IT’s the SOUND DAMN IT.

I don’t give a damn about MP3 players. I don’t want to listen to music through ear plugs. Plus MP3’s rob you of 90 percent of your sound.

But I’ve jumped ahead.

Next came cassettes and really cool high end cassette players that had titanium play heads and a bitchin’ thing called “SOUND SEARCH”. A really good cassette player would fast forward and stop in between tracks. A mega/uber cool player would have a belt driven carriage. (Like a VCR if you’re familiar with those antiques) It took the cassette and gently lined up the tape so the heads played the tape at a perfect perpendicular angle.

record player

Then somewhere in the 70’s someone really really high invented the 8 track. lol…… Oh the jokes you can tell about 8 tracks. If you had an 8 track player in your car, and you wanted to hear a certain song again; you had to keep driving. You also had to make sure you had a book of matches to wedge under the tape and the player opening to line up a worn tape. lol how awful.

Then in 1979, every FM Radio station in the free world bragged about having the “digitally re-mixed” version of the White Album, or Houses of the Holy, or Elvis Costello’s My aim is True.

It’s safe to say that Consumer music sounded the best in the early 80’s. We still had the bad ass speakers and graphic EQ’s.

Fast forward 20 years. 8″ sub woofers with tweeters gave way to 2.5″ boom box speakers. Of course the price of the new CD system was only about 300 bucks. (complete with 5 spot CD carousel) The stereo system as we knew it morphed into the glorified boom box. Even the quality of the CDs went to hell. Originally CD’s would take a lickin and keep on tickin. Now they’re pieces of crap that are only good for burning wave files on to archive.

In 1998 when the personal computer became as popular as the Television; they came with MP3 players.  An Mp3 is a degraded sound file that has 1/10th of the information the full wave (.wav) file.  You could still here the song but when you do an A/B comparison, there’s no question that MP3s strip the original song of many important frequencies.

I predicted someone would invent an MP3 device. “SHAZAM” the IPOD. They even came out with IPOD sunglasses for skiing. Ya you could hear something, but you never heard DSOTM or Close to the Edge unless you’ve heard it on vinyl or early 80’s CDs through huge fricken Bose speakers.

Oh how I miss the drop of the needle.

CROSS THIS OFF YOUR BUCKET LIST

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Kingsmen

In 1956 Richard Berry wrote a song about a sailor who fell in love with a bar maid in Jamaica.  Being a lonely sailor out at sea wasn’t  exactly a song with an edge during the “birth of Rock and Roll”.

The song was kicked around by 3 to 4 bands on the west coast and North West but went “No where really fast”.  That is until 1963.  Under the worst of recording conditions, a band called the Kingsmen recorded what would be one of the greatest musical hoaxes of all time.  No not Milli Vanilli, in fact this Hoax was taken so seriously by that tyrant homosexual in Washington, “J. Edgar Hoover”, that the FBI spent tax payer dollars for 31 months trying to prove something that was just a bunch of prankster teenagers, “Punking” their parents.

The FBI could have been investigating the military industrial complex and the lobbyists from Bell, (Who made the parts to repair the UH-1 helicopter that sent thousands of young kids to their death at the hands of “Charlie”.  But instead, Just as “Paul is not Dead” and John Lennon did not say “I buried Paul” in Strawberry Fields, There wasn’t one dirty word in the1963 HIT SONG “LOUIE LOUIE“.

THE HOAX

Teens in 1963 were just being rebellious teens and they floated a rumor that the song “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen (Which had almost inaudible vocals) was a filthy song and the obscenities could be heard when you played the 45rpm at 33.3 rpms.  Mothers were outraged (which caused the sales of Louie Louie to sky rocket) and without interviewing the singer of the song or the writer, the FBI fed the song into audio analysis equipment like it was the Zapruder Film.  The F.B.I. spent 2.5 years trying to find a dirty word in Louie Louie.  So of course, bands that played high school proms would make up their own filthy lyrics and the myth became worse as it was publicized.  After 31 months, The official FBI report said: “They were unable to interpret any of the wording on the record”.  Ladies and Gentlemen I give the you the lyrics to Louie Louie

Chorus

Louie, Louie (Oh baby, I said)
Me gotta go. (now, ya ya ya ya I said)
Louie, Louie(Oh baby, I said)
me gotta go.

A fine little girl, she wait for me,
me catch a ship across the sea
I sailed the ship all alone
I never think I’ll make it home

Three nights and days we sailded the sea
me think of girl constantly
On the ship, I dream she there
I smell the rose in her hair

Me see Jamaica moon above
It won’t be long me see me love.
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again

BEATLES 101 FOR GREG

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ON THE FIVE

BEATLES 101 for Greg

Gutfeld83

Greg Gutfeld who is usually the resident “Cool dude” on all things music choked on the topic of the Beatles.  He did give the band props for knowing when to call it quits and even Bob Beckel understood how the Beatles reinvented themselves over the years to stay “Fresh”.

But Greg, you need to know a few things about the Fab Four in the early years. (No I’m not going to talk about Johnny and the Moon Dogs or the Quarry men)  But Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll between 56 and 59.  He NEVER went to Europe.  Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, was afraid to fly.  On the other hand; Buddy Holly and the Crickets (Which is where the “BEATLES” came from) did tour England.  John was so infatuated with Buddy,

  • A. because of his music and production skills, and
  • B. Because John said Buddy made it cool to wear glasses on stage.

The first demo the Beatles ever recorded was “That’ll be the Day”.  Buddy had so much influence on the English music.  In fact, Buddy influenced the Brits so much that Brit Rock star “Tony Sheridan” was the first British musician to own a Fender Stratocaster, because of Buddy Holly.

The Beatles were in love with Holly’s music, but when they came to America they met a black Rock musician that influenced their music even more.  Little Richard Pennimen was the influence behind the Woooooo when the Beatles would shake their hair..

So when “Please Please me” came out, it was a hybrid of Buddy Holly and Little Richard.  This sold well to millions of young white kids. (See my article Beatlemania and the Stupid 8 year old). 

Paul felt the band was getting to old to sing: “I saw her standing there” and was responsible for the re-invention of the band in 67.  It was easy to see that Paul had the commercial sound while John truly wrote songs of substance; Poetry from the heart.  The song “Tell me Why” was a song that John said he wrote for children from broken homes. Paul was the teen Idol of the band and his original works show it.  In Lennon’s “How do you sleep”, John writes, “The only song you ever wrote was Yesterday”.  And even when he wrote that song, Paul was obsessed with writing a song like Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge over troubled water”.

Paul, after John’s death, would confess that great lyrics just rolled off of John’s tongue, where Paul had to struggle.  Ironically, because Paul was such a “Paul Anka-ish” bubble gum sell out; he had greater post Beatle success than his counter part.  But one can argue that Paul’s success was quantitative while John’s “Imagine” and “Woman” were far superior to anything Paul ever wrote and had greater “qualitative success.

Beatles

HEROES

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HEROES

Heroes

When I was growing up my Heroes were Elvis, Willie Mays, Kenny Stabler, Bobby Kennedy, Juan Marichal, Mike Smith (Dave Clark Five), Jimi Hendrix, and lastly Rick Derringer.

Willie was every kid’s Hero if they played Baseball.  The others, besides Elvis, Stabler, Kennedy and Jimi might be a bit obscure.  But that’s not the point.  My point is, having Heroes is not necessarily a good thing.  Joe Montana doesn’t want you running up to him on the street, or interrupting him at dinner for an autograph.  Sure, he won’t say no, but just think how rude it is.  In fact I would say don’t have Heroes because more than likely they’re not Heroes, they’re Idols.

Murphy

Audie Murphy WWII Hero

True Heroes do things that do not make sense under normal circumstances.  The Firemen who raced into the Twin Towers to bring as many people out, those are Heroes. True heroes are servants.  True Heroes are people like the late Audie Murphy.  If you get a chance watch his Movie “Red Badge of Courage”. It tells the story of how a small soldier took it upon himself to rush the enemy and in doing so, he neutralized 3 Nazi Machine Gun nests.  When asked why he did it, he responded like most Heroes: “They were killing my friends.  I had to stop them”.  That’s a HERO.

York

Sergeant Alvin York WWI Hero

Alvin York also known as “Sergeant York” was the WWI American that captured a whole squad of the Enemy and marched them back to his lines single handedly.  Again, York, who tried to get out of the draft because he was an “Objector” and found it against his Christian beliefs to kill.  When he was awarded the the Congressional Medal of Honor he was ask how an objector could be a war hero.  Again he responded: “They were killing us and I had to do something”.  Most true Heroes are “Reluctant Heroes”.

Role models are another thing.  In music, if you’re a serious player, you have admiration for many professional players.  When you become a professional, you can hear the influences of your role models.  But Heroes? No.  I’ve had the fortune and misfortune of meeting many of my Hero/role models.  Many I was able to talk to as one musician to another.  Some acted like it was an honor for me to be in the same room with them. (Did I say that right)?  I don’t want to drop names, but I will say that Neil Young, Edgar Winter and in spite of  what a grouchy old bastard he comes across to the press; Dick Dale (The King of Surf Guitar) is one of the nicest mentors I’ve ever met.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: “Don’t put Hero status on anyone”.  Like I said above, most true Heroes are reluctant Heroes, they just know what has to be done and they do it out of courage and/or compassion.  Most Heroes don’t enjoy being Heroes.  The father that stays in a miserable marriage for the “Sake of the Kids”, I consider a hero.  Especially if he gives up a better woman and perhaps a better paying job.

Idols, on the other hand, are merely a disappointment waiting to happen.  I don’t know how many times Willie Mays struck out with the bases loaded. Jimi Hendrix gave me the foundation for most of my solos, but a hero?  No, he died choking on his own vomit.  Kenny Stabler?  He was quoted in 1977 as saying he beat Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings in the Super Bowl with a Hangover.

How come Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy are still not in the Hall of fame?  They were Baseball fans’ biggest heroes.  If not for that damn HGH.  They weren’t heroes, they were biologically engineered freaks.  Even without the steroid scandals, they were merely entertainers.

Hero worship is Idolatry.  It’s not good for you and it is not fair to the person you are calling a Hero.  Sure it may be flattering to “Your Hero” at first, but once you realize they’re just flesh and blood humans that are unable to walk on water, they become just another person who will die someday.  I’m sorry to ruin your fantasies.

ONCE THE SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION HAVE GERMINATED

by in Culture, Personal Development | Leave a comment

court

THE RELATIONSHIP – AFTER THE PARTY IS OVER 

When did you know you didn’t love me”? She said: “I don’t know if I’ve ever loved you”.

                                                      ~ Billy Crystal as Harry in “When Harry met Sally”

He does all the things that you would never do. He loves me to, his love is true. Why can’t he be you?

                         ~ Patsy Cline

“My wife said to me as she kissed me good-bye: “Have a nice day”. That’s what the bank teller says to you. That’s what you say to a customer. Shouldn’t your wife tell you she loves you”?

                                                                                               ~ Jeff Goldblum in “Into the Night”

 “Now I’m praying for the end of time so I can end my time with you” !

                                                                      ~Meatloaf from Paradise by the Dashboard lights.

If the seeds of destruction are planted in the Motive of your marriage, it’s only a matter of time before you are in a relationship void of Eros (lust) Philia (sibling love) and maybe even Agape (a Divine Love). Often this relationship is the result of unintended consequences. Such as:

  • We got pregnant and neither of us believes in abortion.
  • I was not over so and so. ( I’m still not over so and so I thought they would change)
  • Kids will settle him down.
  • Maybe the financial situation will change.
  • I was in love with the feeling of being in love.
  • I’m better off as a single person.
  • I didn’t sew all of my “wild oats”.
  • They don’t make me happy any more.
  • They stopped filling my needs.
  • I wanted to show the world and my ex, that I am desirable.
  • I enjoy having someone to come home to.
  • It was pre-arranged by our parents.
  • I could do worse and I’m not getting any younger
  • I wanted someone to bury me.

Had enough ???

For the myriad of reasons to break up a marriage; I can only think of a few not to.

  1. Divorce is a sin and knowingly doing so would anger God.
  2. The other person needs me and I took a vow. (My word is important to me)

It all boils down to: “How serious do you take marriage”? NO MARRIAGE IS PERFECT. That’s a good thing to keep in mind.  And keep these principles in mind as well.

  • • People change.
  • Couples change.
  • The economy changes
  • Religious beliefs change
  • Physical conditions change.
  • Mental stability changes.
  • Some people cheat.
  • Some people are never satisfied with one sex partner.
  • People don’t like being controlled.
  • People can’t read minds so the ability to communicate verbally is unbelievably important.
  • BONUS PRINCIPLE: FUN DOES NOT EQUAL LOVE

Once you notice the seeds of marital destruction come to fruition and you hear certain “hints” like: “I want a divorce” or “Get out you pig”.  Understand that it could just be that person’s less than eloquent way of saying: “I’m unhappy and something needs to change” or it could really mean: “You’ve got to go”.  If you do not have kids; BONUS.  Be as cordial as you can, LEAVE, then think about what you want to do.

If you do have children, I would urge you to negotiate like Henry Kissinger until you’re just wasting your breath.  Sometimes we need to take one for the team.  Just because you got yourself into a bad marriage doesn’t mean the kids have to be drug through the awful trash of lawyers and asset divisions.  And the sooner you learn that you have as much to do with the break up as your mate, the sooner the name calling and ugliness will cease.  If the marriage has become abusive, by all means do what’s right because watching your parents fight can ruin you as badly as watching them separate.   It’s a Lose/Lose situation.

I said that you were as responsible for the break up as the other person who may be cheating; because you signed the dotted line in the beginning.  You made a poor choice.  More than likely, you didn’t take enough time to know this creature that was great in bed but awful in public.  Take responsibility for it and don’t play the “victim”.