Part 1: Just Saying Hi:
I’ve been light posting lately. This isn’t an accident. There are two main reasons.
The first is that winter is kicking my ass. The fact that the calendar says March while I’m still plowing February level snow is proof of that. Lugging yet another jug of diesel across the ice to my tractor so I can plow yet another round of snow that’s drifting like the fucking Sahara of doom really does take it out of you. I’m beat!
The second is more philosophical; I’m trying to post as I wish to be. If it’s merely negative or it’s shit you don’t need it from me. You can get it elsewhere. The internet is doing just fine at hyperventilating without my help. Jumping up and down pointing at the dumpster fire saying “There it is! It sucks!” doesn’t seem necessary.
Y’all know. Y’all just lived through the COVID panic. You either understand or you’re trying hard to not understand. Instead of bitching about the eleventh stupid thing to happen since yesterday I’m wisely checking out until some level sanity returns.
I’ll give you an example that has absolutely nothing to do with our current president who got more votes than any other candidate in American history. I’m interested in economics. I actually like studying it. I used to post about the federal debt. Then I stopped. I didn’t stop last year or last week. I stopped (more or less) when it was a done deal. Sometime in the second Obama administration the largest debt ever amassed in human existence went beyond my own personal event horizon. I can’t remember the exact number (perhaps ten trillion)? I came to the realization that it could not be resolved in a normal non-destructive manner and therefore it would be resolved in a big messy shitstorm. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
That was probably 10 years ago or more. Frankly I’ve enjoyed these last many years of whistling past the graveyard. I even got a good chuckle out of about three years of booming economy during the post “Hillary wasn’t coronated” shitstorm and pre-plandemic shitstorm. I couldn’t have enjoyed that respite if I’d been too focused on the inevitable doom. Maybe we have a few more years left, maybe we don’t. But I’m not going to fret about it on my blog. The timing is uncertain but the destination is known; so lets talk about sailboats and trees instead.
That’s why two (or is it three now?) banks going tits up didn’t merit much response. Why would it? Why comment on what we all knew that would happen? We all know what will eventually happen. No need for me to bitch about it. It’s not a new concept. I’ll post when I have a ray of sunshine in my heart.
Which brings me to part 2.
Part 2: Play It Loud!
I haven’t paid attention to the band Extreme. I had not the slightest clue that Nuno Bettencourt was a guitar God. But I just heard a song that absolutely set me back on my heels!
I want to share it with you. What a breath of fresh air! In a world where autotune bitch music oozes from the earbuds of empty headed drones en masse, I have found another of the very few who can shred. Hendrix and Satrani and Skwisgaar (and some others) have a new member at the table!
This may be the coolest thing I hear in 2023.
Warning! If you can’t do heavy metal, this may hurt. If you’re Boomerishly incapable of liking anything newer than the Beatles… run! If you think Garth Brooks is the apex of music… bail out! If you think that hippie upstart Bach went overboard with Toccata and Fugue in D minor… hurl your computer out the window. You’ve been warned. If this isn’t for you, that’s fine. Accept there are places you can’t go and leave the path unexplored.
Those of us who aren’t dead yet should take it in like it was meant to be experienced. Do the whole dose! Slam it down! Don’t half-listen while writing up your TPS reports. Do yourself a favor and grant yourself five minutes to a single purpose. Turn off the phone, tell everyone to shut up, crank up your speakers, and listen.
Let this be a reminder of a different level of engagement. The cell phone dancing monkey that can’t sit still for even one single song will miss the blast zone.
It’s four and a half minutes. You aren’t doing anything that important. Experience it properly. Shut out every distraction. Let it happen. When the two phase guitar solo hits you’ll thank me.
The universe has given you a gift. Enjoy it!
