RIP Rick Wright

I write this with tears in my eyes as I listen to "Keep Talking," one of the songs at least co-written by late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard "Rick" Wright, who - according to media reports - passed away today of cancer at the age of 65.
Pink Floyd's - and his - contributions to the sonic landscape are immense and nearly immeasurable. They've left us with some really timeless work with apparently incredible amounts of forethought and loads of creativity.
I'm grateful for Mr. Wright's contributions to the band's success and pray for healing and comfort for his family and friends as they mourn his loss.
I'm also preparing myself for the fact that natural causes are starting catch up to those who've left an indelible mark on recorded music and we'll see more and more like Mr. Wright pass away in the coming years.

Long time no post

Hey everyone!
We've been busy and fighting summer colds, so I haven't had a chance to post lately.
Plus, I'm struggling with an idea for a post and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. Prayers for wisdom and discernment will be greatly appreciated. Whatever I come up with, it will be posted on Sept. 5, so keep an eye out for it.
In the mean time, I was scrolling through some Rush stuff on the MP3 player on the way back from dropping off Jadyn from daycare and got another listen to "Vital Signs," the last track on what I consider their masterpiece album, "Moving Pictures."
Obviously, the lyrics and music are not mine so they belong to Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. But "Vital Signs" contains some of Neil's best lyrical work. Have a read (after this rambling missive) and have a great Labor Day weekend.
For our friends on the Coast, we're praying for you and will do whatever we can to help you guys recover from whatever ol' Gustav dishes out.
Speaking of Gustav, I've got to go cut the grass before he gets here. So I'm off. Later, and please look out for that post on Sept. 5 (Lord willing!)!

Vital Signs by Rush

Unstable condition:
A symptom of life
In mental,
And environmental

Change
Atmospheric disturbance--
The feverish flux
Of human interface
And interchange

The impulse is pure--
Sometimes our circuits get shorted,
By external interference


Signals get crossed--
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence

A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a mood lifter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to deviate
From the norm

An ounce of perception,
A pound of obscure.
Process information at half speed.
Pause, rewind, replay,
Warm memory chip,
Random sample, hold the one you need.

Leave out the fiction--
The fact is;
This friction
Will only be worn by persistence

Leave out conditions--
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence

A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a soft filter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to elevate
From the norm

RIP John Rutsey

On May 11, John Rutsey, the first drummer for the Canadian rock band Rush, died at the age of 55 due to complications from a lifelong battle with diabetes.
He was the guy on the skins on the self-titled debut and an important part of bringing the band out into the rest of the world.
In 1974, the year Cleveland DJ Donna Halper discovered Rush and the year "Rush" was released, Rutsey left the band - it is said for health reasons, apparently due to his diabetic condition.
The same year, remaining members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson brought Neil Peart aboard. And the rest, as they say, is history. The band generated numerous gold and platinum albums over the course of at least three decades and a loyal following which continues today after 34 years. [They are currently on tour at the ages of 54 (Lifeson and Lee) and 55 (Peart.)]
A comment I read online in the last few days basically says this: Rutsey must have been a class guy because he didn't ride the coattails of his bandmates' later success. He didn't venture out to talk shows, or write books or do any other "Hey, look at me" stuff. He just lived the rest of his life in relative obscurity.
He helped launch one of the most successful and - in my opinion, one of the best - rock acts in recording history.
An anonymous drummer posted this tribute to Rutsey based on clips of his own very good drum-along to portions of the album "Rush."

So whether he asked for it or not, John Rutsey deserves one last round of applause.

What it's all about (at least in music)

My favorite rock band, Rush, has been been shut out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though they are more than qualified.
But that's OK, because they recently got one of the highest honors they could muster. The kids at the Paul Green School of Rock in Washington D.C. (as I understand the inspiration for the movie "School of Rock") recently put on a show of Rush music. They do an outstanding job with some difficult stuff.
I am one of those people who like rock and think it has a place and if we are to continue to hear excellent music, the next generation of musicians should be exposed to the best so they can be inspired to create their own good, solid stuff. That's what I mean when I say this is what it's all about.
I stumbled across this story on Rushisaband.com.
Here's a video from YouTube of the kids' performance of "Subdivisions."

Changes

Sometimes, change happens in incremental, barely noticeable steps as we watch, like a bathtub being gradually filled with water.
Sometimes, it happens all at once - like a tornado.
About a week or so ago, I started listening again to the song "Changes" by Yes from their fantastic album "90125." While it's mostly a song about a relationship which appears to be at an end, it has some lines relevant to change in general. They've become more real to me as we are undergoing some changes in terms of Amanda's employment.
Some of the lines from "Changes" I find particularly meaningful right now include: "I'm moving through some changes; I'll never be the same; ... Capitalize on this good fortune; ... Only through love changes come."
The video to a live version of "Changes" is below.

The change began to unfold for Amanda Thursday around the same time a storm system bearing a tornado - which ultimately created tremendous damage, but fortunately only limited injury, to a community about an hour northeast of where we live - began its path through the area. The irony is simply too apparent to me to pass over.
A very well done video about the tornado's aftermath can be found below.

Speaking for myself, I'm sensing a peace about the road ahead. Though it is fraught with uncertainty, I'm trusting what happens in the future will be the best for us, even though the first few hours after the news hit looked and felt awful.
The losses experienced by the people of Caledonia, Miss. are in no way compared to the change we are going through (our house is intact, our cars are drivable), but the timing of both events taking place almost simultaneously seemed incredibly poignant.
Our hearts go out to the people of Caledonia. We pray they will get their lives back together and the Lord will provide for them the peace I'm sensing, that he will do a whole lot more with our lives than we can ask or imagine, even though it may be hard to see it in the first window of time after a life-altering event takes place.

RIP Kevin DuBrow

Let's travel back in time to 1983 to a day when four guys based in L.A. who went by the name Quiet Riot took the nation - and at least parts of the world - by storm with a little record called "Metal Health."
I was one of the teens who loved these guys and spent money (probably mostly Mom and Dad's) to see them with a friend in Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Ala. The above video - featuring their massive cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize" - gives a taste of what they were like back in the day.
OK, back to 2007.
While the band's lyrical content of debauchery of various sorts no longer appeals to me, the sound - vocals ranging from banshee screams to melodic signing, wailing guitars, pounding bass and thunderous drums - still does!
So, it is with a sincere prayer that I hope the late Kevin DuBrow, the band's frontman and lead vocalist, met Jesus somewhere along his 52 years here on Earth.
He was found dead in his residence in the Las Vegas area over the weekend.
Thanks for the enjoyment and memories, man.

The Man in Black

Early in the morning of May 11, 1965, officers in Starkville, Miss. arrested Johnny Cash for public drunkenness. As he told it in the song "Starkville City Jail," he was just "pickin' flowers."
Organizers are planning for this weekend in and around Starkville the first-ever Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival in honor of the late country music legend.
Cash was tough enough to empathize with the hard-boiled characters in his songs and play for those in prison, human enough to struggle with addiction and connected to his faith and His Lord and Savior enough to live well his own story of redemption. He remains one of my favorite musicians.
Starkville is a little over halfway between Interstate 55 and the Alabama line along U.S. Highway 82 within a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Ala. and Jackson, Miss. It is also accessible by air at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport just east of Starkville.
Entry to the festival is free, though organizers suggest a $10 donation to support the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum and the Starkville/Oktibbeha Boys and Girls Club.
Information can be found at www.myspace.com/pardonjohnnycash
or www.pardonjohnnycash.com .

My July post in August

I find myself once again trying to reclaim my miniscule readership with another heartfelt apology and a feeble attempt to put something else out there for blogdom.
Bloggers who post infrequently and randomly aren't usually the ones who get noticed. That's not why I'm doing this, is it?
I must say that I do enjoy reading other blogs (Here's a shout out to Amanda Johnson in Texas!) In my blogging, I am attempting a moderate amount of anonymity, so I don't put everything out there. However, frequency and interesting material helps maintain readership.
So here's a rough recap of July. We:

• Continued bonding with a great group of friends who shoulder each other's burdens and really seem to give a rip when the sea gets choppy and got new perspective on what friendship means.
• With lots of help, hauled most of our earthly possessions across town.
• Went through some stuff we hope we never face again. Trust me - this statement covers several events we wouldn't wish on anyone.
• Watched our daughter grow, start forming some basic words and even move toward walking.
• Started walking through some transitional phases of life with some friends and we're hanging in there together.
• Felt like even simple things were hard to accomplish, like communicating and changing a burned-out turn signal bulb.

So far in August, we:

• Wish the Lord would send some rain and turn down the thermostat just a hair.
• Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• Hope our daughter will be prepared whether or not conditions improve in her time here on Earth before Jesus' return.
• Finally feel like we're not trying to walk in mud.
• Still think about Chris, Leah and the kids and find it odd to speak of them in the past tense.

That should get things kicked off for the month, except an explanation about the new tagline. While there are some things about the band "Drive-by Truckers" which curl my hair, I will say they sometimes have an uncanny grasp of the truth. What's more, they don't mind sharing it. A co-worker has introduced me to their work, concentrating on their album "Southern Rock Opera." It's an interesting look at Lynyrd Skynyrd, political and racial issues, and the world with and without the band. The line comes from the song "Shut Up and Get on the Plane," which talks matter-of-factly about death. Several band members died in a plane crash in 1977 outside McComb, Miss. The line is relevant to me because overcoming fear of all sorts is a challenge I'm growing regularly toward facing and conquering, by the grace of God.

Music appreciation

Maybe it's a sign of maturity (I said maybe), but within the last few years, I've been appreciating what some would call older people's music.
This morning, I sang out loud (I don't think anyone heard, thankfully) "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys."
And, since Low Rawls' death, the line from one of his songs that goes "You'll never find ..." loops over and over in my head.
It wasn't really until just before his death that I started enjoying Johnny Cash. What pulled me in was the Trent Reznor song "Hurt" he re-did.
Often, I've been a fan of the big rock chords. Still am. I also enjoy much of the Christian music scene. But maybe I'm seeing a side of myself I haven't seen before and translate this willingness to branch out into other areas of life and do more risky things than simply listen to older people's music.

Been too long!

I probably have lost my entire fan base (made up largely of long-standing friends, family and a few recent arrivals to the fold).
I'm flying solo with Jadyn tonight so I might need to run back in to where she is (also because the first episode of "E-Ring" is on and I got hooked on the show after the first episode aired).
Got to work on the shopping for Amanda too along with a whole host of stuff to do before Christmas.
OK, more soon. I hope.
Fading out to my version of an old Van Halen song:
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jadyn's crying... ."