B S U R

Warning..forced post ahead! I am fighting a food coma...

Went out to dinner with M, Jen, E, S & A. Outstanding food at a fine local restaurant named Niche. Killer good tonight. I think everyone enjoyed their choice of entree and it was fun. I do feel like I ate a bowling ball. I obviously ate too much.

T is for Taylor; as in James Taylor. JT has written and performed some great music over the span of his lengthy career. I think I've seen him perform 5 or 6 times. Most recently I saw him the last month here in Chicago. The show was just him accompanied by a piano player. At times I felt we were in his living room because he spent a great deal of time showing slides and talking about what he was showing us. He talked about where some of his music came from; the events, the places, the people involved. JT, in addition to his musical abilities, is a pretty funny dude. It made for a great evening.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

My U band is should not be a surprise. No, it's not Uriah Heep although I went through a period in college where I actually listened to them.

It's U2. I was never a rabid fan but I truly like a lot of their music. Sunday, Bloody Sunday is a fabulous song about a horrific incident. If you haven't seen the movie, get on it. It's made in the style of a documentary which is interesting. You will see the events that inspired this song. You will also learn a bunch about the problems in Ireland

J is home from U of I and she brought home something special. Pink Eye!


I think I'll stay away from her until Christmas break.

Let's Go Blue

My first Friday Random 10...

1. Midnight Stroll - Robert Cray
2. Okayalright - moe.
3. Harvest Moon - Neil Young
4. Cry On My Shoulder - Bonnie Raitt
5. Nothingman - Pearl Jam
6. Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones
7. Crazy Love - The Allman Brothers
8. Make Me Smile - Chicago
9. Too Broke to Spend the Night - Buddy Guy
10. God - John Lennon



Sad news today in the world of college football; Bo Schembechler passed away at age 77. It happened on the eve of of the 103rd meeting between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University. Its the 3rd time both teams come in undefeated and the 1st time it features the number 1 rated team against number 2. A respected man in the world of sports, Bo ran a solid program and was loved and revered by many.

I did get to meet Bo once many years ago at a meeting of the American Football Coaches Assn. As a former college player and avid football fan, I was awed to be in the room with him and many of the other guys in that room. I did not attend the U of M but they were one of my favorites as a kid and I still have great respect for their place in college football.

Two thoughts came to mind...

Bo would do anything to help get the Wolverines fired up for this game. Damn, what an athletic director!

If his God is a college football fan, God decided that he needed to watch this one with Bo in the next seat. Do you think Woody Hayes will be there too?

There is no better way to celebrate and honor this good this man's life other than to tune in to watch his beloved Wolverines take on their biggest rival. The team that gets closer to playing with the passion that Bo had for the game will walk out champions.

Tune low, play hard, and floor it. That's technical talk.

The above is a picture of a print by Ron Wood (yes, that Ron Wood) of Stevie Ray Vaughn that we are fortunate enough to own. I love the piece and I love the subject. SRV was unbelievable. Eric Clapton first heard him on the radio while he was driving and said he had to pull over to listen and essentially said to himself "Wow, who is this guy". SRV was that good. He was admired by just about every blues player you have ever heard of.

Try Texas Flood...that's not two guitar players or one player over dubbed that's Stevie Ray. The live session CD with Albert King is very cool. I hafta mention Pride and Joy and Crossfire. His versions of Little Wing and Voodoo Child (slight return) would have made Jimi pull over. If you don't own any SRV, I suggest the In Step CD. After you fall in love with that, buy them all.

About a year before his tragic death, Stevie Ray showed up in Chicago to help his friend Buddy Guy launch his nightclub. On the night of the crash, Buddy actually joined Stevie at Alpine Valley for his closing song. What nobody knew was that it was the last song SRV would ever perform. Buddy, who had known Stevie for a number of years was quoted as saying "Stevie is the best friend I've ever had, the best guitarist I ever heard and the best person anyone will ever want to know. He will be missed a lot." We all got cheated Buddy.

I never saw him live and it's one of the gaping holes on my concert resume. My fault. I had just discovered him at the time of his death. I like scores of others, wish he was still making new music. However, the beauty of recorded music is that Stevie, like others that have passed on, will always be with us. This guy was just plain outta here.

It's only teenage wasteland

I don't know how much longer I can live with the "burning X of love". It's kinda freakin me out.

I am on my way out to a wine dinner at a local restaurant and I thought I would start my post pre-wine and finish post vino. I don't think I will drink to excess but I am planning on sampling the goods.

Today is W day and this is my first big dilemma. The obvious choice for me is The Who. I have only seen them once, about a month ago, and even though there were only 2 of the original guys, the show was great. They have made a lot of great music over the years...songs that I love hearing everytime they come on. Baba O'Riley comes to mind, The Seeker, My Generation, Won't Get Fooled Again, Tommy, Who Are You. I think Who's Next is a great listen start to finish.

In position 1a in the world of W has to be Joe Walsh. He has always been a favorite of mine. The guy is a great player and he's funny as hell. I have been fortunate to see Joe a number of times with and without the Eagles. Joe flat out makes me smile both with his playing and his antics. The Bomber is one of my favorite songs of all time. The guitar duet on Hotel California is only bad because it doesn't go on for another 15 minutes. Hey Joe, how ya doin?

That brings us to 1b. Stevie Wonder. He has written some songs that make me get goosebumps. However, it is still the worst concert I ever saw. I had decent seats and I can honestly tell you that I don't remember seeing Stevie and I never heard a word he sung. The production was horrible. Even so, he's Stevie Wonder. A musical treasure if there ever was one. I forgive him for that disappointing evening at the always disappointing Rosemont Horizon.

Just arrived home from the wine dinner. 4 hours!! Way too slow. The food was great and the wine very nice but man...I felt like a captive after 2 and half hours. I am full of food and extremely tired of sitting. Now I must concentrate on quick digestion, whatever the hell that is, and get to bed.

It's only castles burning. Just find someone who's turning and you will come around

I've been reviewing my Y & Z bands and need to add a few things.

Honorable mention goes out to Warren Zevon. He was a very interesting character and wrote some great songs.

In the Y category, I'm not sure how I overlooked Neil Young. If you have ever enjoyed any of his work, I implore you to see "Heart of Gold". My wife, who was never much of a fan, "got it" after seeing this film. Neil touched us both and I don't ever remember welling up watching any other concert movie. So I have two Y choices...

Now for X. There are not many choices here. My choice is the band X. Their song "Los Angeles" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 songs that influenced Rock and Roll. This band was as influential on the west coast punk scene as the Ramones were to the east coast scene. If you like punk at all, you really need to give X a try.

Long Distance Runaround

Today is an exciting day for a music lover like me. I got a new car a couple of weeks ago and it did not come equipped with a connection for my iPod. The dealer referred me to some audio guys that will put in a connection today. They did inform me that I would lose the use of the CD changer. If I can have just about all of my music with me on the iPod, the loss of the changer is a no-brainer. I can't wait!

Update...the install was cancelled because they don't have the proper kit. I'm still waiting on 11/16/2006. I'm not good at waiting.

My Y band is Yes. This is one band that I would love to see live. I did catch a performance a number of years ago on PBS and they were as good as I thought they would be. Anderson and Wakeman are touring in England right now so there is hope that they will come to the states. An honorable mention goes out to the Yardbirds. All you need to know is Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton & Jimmy Page.

Cheap Sunglasses

My list for Sunday night when I am preoccupied with watching Da Bears.

I don't know what the football announcers get paid for doing what they do but it is entirely too much.

The Who are packaging each of the live shows from their current tour on dvd and cd. I saw the Chicago show and now I bought it. I think it's a really cool idea. The other thing that's cool about it is that all proceeds go to charity. Nicely done guys.

I could go for a cone from Dairy Queen. Not gonna happen...

I'm tired of cold weather already. C'mon Thanksgiving. Ft. Myers here we come!

I'm gonna name a band or entertainer for each letter of the alphabet. I'm gonna start with Z. It's easier for me to agree on a Z band. It's gotta be Z Z Top. Saw them at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas a couple summers ago and Billy Gibbons can flat out play that thing. They were having fun and the crowd ate it up. Add your Z band and tell me something about them.

That's all...halftime is over...gotta go get emotional over my football team.

I want to thank you fa lettin me be myself

It's Veterans Day. I would like to say thank you to all veterans and current military personnel for all that you do for us. The courage to risk your life for our country is something that all Americans should appreciate. You will always have my support and best wishes.

My father was a veteran of the Korean War and he paid a high personal price. The horrors of what he endured haunted him his entire life. He paid such a high price that sometime after the Viet Nam conflict had passed and it was clear that I would not have to serve, he told me that had I been drafted he would have helped me go to Canada to avoid the horrors he lived. I was shocked! I had never considered Canada because I felt it would dishonor my Dad. I am grateful that I never had to face that decision.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss

Ben Stein was the speaker today at the closing session of the convention I attended. At one point he said, " hey how about those elections?". Then he used the line I used for my title. His timing was impeccable and he elicited a pretty good laugh. Who knew the who would know?

Happy to be home...I don't envy folks that have to do convention after convention. They are a pain in the ass.

My list for tonight

I'm really kinda sleepy
Sports analysts are the new weather men. No need to be right just say something. Blah blah blah
Portillos chocolate cake is evil
As the dad I am unable to engage in the underwear discussion my daughters are having
41 degrees and rainy sucks
Our dogs have new names "fat baby" and "rat baby". Don't let their peaceful demeanor fool you.

Random Acts of Journalism

I am surrounded by insurance geeks and lawyers...I need a change of scenery.

Today there was actually an educational session on blogging. There are over 58 million bloggers out there and more coming on. 150 new blogs every 2 seconds.

The insurance angle is something I never thought about. Lawsuits against bloggers for libel...defamation. Homeowners coverage will cover some of the claims unless you are making money on your blog. I didn't know that. I wonder if the people that entice you to make money with your blog tell you that?

I will be able to get the session materials online within the next couple of weeks and I will blog about some of the things I found most interesting.

One funny definition of blogging was "something written by people with nothing to say to be read by people with nothing to do". Funny...but what makes it funny is that it is so far from the truth. Some first amendment scholars believe that the ability of all people to be able to publish will help further the democracy. That's kinda cool.

Blogging lets me exercise my precious right of free speech. I like that. I agree wholeheartedly that there is a lot of power in people having a forum to publish their thoughts.

Hey, guess what, I just committed another random act of journalism.

Dateline: Hyatt Regency Chicago

I am on the road at a convention...woo frickin hoo...so these posts are coming from the inside of the poster child for convention hotels. Huge. Stark. Clean and nicely done for what it is though.

Well it seems as if the Hawaii idea has started a dialogue as to who can go when. This will be a tricky situation but we'll give it a go. This idea may end up in the "no good deed goes unpunished" pile.

Went to see Barbra Streisand last night. It was a lot cooler than I thought. She is a legend in the biz and she is still very good at it. The Il Divo backup guys should stay home. Operatic noise that was stomping on Barbra. Whatever it is they do, I don't like it at all. There is more to singing than power and that's all these guys showed. Yuk.

Rumsfeld gone. He seems like he would be a mean grandpa. I hope it's progress. Now we'll see if we have a reason for hope.

Off to schmooze insurance geeks...equal amounts of pain and pleasure.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all

Between M (me lovely wife) & I we have over 1,000,000 frequent flier miles. I think we need to go to Hawaii again and soon. This group had some fun last time. Who wants to go? Sorry but this offer is limited to family. I'm not sure when but June might be good again or July or August. I don't care. I just want to use some miles and go to Hawaii.

First come, first served. New islands, new hotels, new beaches, new restaurants, a live volcano, new golf courses, Lanai, ATV adventures, absolutely no rubber raft boat ride to the Na Pali coast.

It may be quite simple but now that it's done

OK...I posted a picture earlier today but I'm not sure it technically qualifies as a post. So I'll ramble a bit here.

I just listed my first ever item for sale on Ebay. I have miscellaneous stuff that is perfect for selling on Ebay so I hope this experience turns out ok. We shall see what we shall see.

Tomorrow is election day and I will exercise my right as always. Lots of bad choices surrounded by a few no choices. I wish the best for my country and my community. I am also happy that I will stop getting the "personalized" political phone calls that clutter my answering machine. I know I'm cynical about politics but look at our government. I have a lot of ammunition for an argument.

Several random thoughts

I love my kids
I can't wait until baseball season (spring means summer is coming)
I wish I was in Florida
I am one of the luckiest people in the world
I couldn't live without music
Pro football players are tough and just a bit crazy
I ate too much tonight
Nothing relaxes me more than playing a guitar
I wish I was better at playing the guitar
I will always miss my dad
Love like there is no tomorrow...because tomorrow is a promise that will too soon be broken.

Does this count as a post?

  

I'm not sure I know any actually...

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation

The Chicago Bears went down to defeat today. Unfortunately my daughter A was excited to go see her first Bear game and she saw a clunker. Sorry A but that's football. Were the pigeons on the field?

Rex Grossman was miserable and the rest of the offense was offensive. As an avid football fan, former player and student of the game it seems he gets "happy feet". It happened in the Arizona debacle and it happened today. For all intents and purposes he is dropping back, bailing out and throwing off his back foot. The Bears are likely to make the playoffs this year. If the happy feet don't get fixed, I don't expect that they will go very far. C'mon Rex! I know you've been hurt in the past but if you can't look down field and forget that huge men are trying to flatten you, find another career. He played like a rookie again. Ugly dude, very ugly.

I think there is some good in the loss though...better to get that undefeated crap behind them for the second half of the season. 7-1 first half record...I'll take it. Same number of wins the Cubs got in the first half of their season this year I think.

I tried to install a wireless print server today to no avail. Every computer project I take on never goes smoothly; you know point A to point B. I seem to visit every letter in the alphabet along the way. What a royal pain in the arse and I have no printer at this point. Very frustrating.

I Saw a Dead Head Sticker on a Cadillac

Today was clean the garage day...It was getting tight in there. Lots of crap laying around...gone. Not a fun thing but it had to be done before it gets too much colder around here. The cars will fit comfortably now.

I miss being able to play golf. It's more fun than garage cleaning.

Also worked on the guest list for our upcoming Christmas Open House. The party was fun even if it got a little nutso late in the evening. We are paring the list of those that didn't respond last year. Some of you may be surprised to know that all of my invitable relatives are making the cut again. Relatives have more leeway on the "you drank how much?" scale than others...That's all I'll say about that.

I miss playing golf. It's more fun than working on an invitation list or writing a blog entry for that matter.

Matty told Hattie

Better late than never...had a wonderful dinner tonight with my kids at Tuscany in Little Italy. Excellent Italian cuisine if I do say so. Tried to get reservations at a few other spots but at the last minute is was impossible. Tuscany turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

After dinner some of the less fortunate ones went to see the Bulls home opener. It was disappointing as they blew the game with less than a minute to go. The refs must have called a billion fouls on both teams. Boring!!! Watching the Bulls leaves me with one thought.

Go Bears!!!!

Ramble on

I'm off to a rough start with this NaBloPoMo thingy. My first post nightmares can be found in yesterdays post. Today I was just about done with post #2 and my computer locked up. What fun!

I now have the NaBloPoMo Yoda graphic on my site thanks to my birthday girl computer geekette. Hooray for Kt!!! I like it. I also like having blog specialists like my daughters as a resource.

Negative campaign ads are clogging the airwaves. A word of advice to the politicians out there, save your money for your trial. No credibility exists in any political ads whatsoever and if some does it's a waste. I might use a Quija board to pick a candidate in some of these races. Maybe I'll just vote for the one most likely to go to jail first. That sounds a whole lot easier than picking one that will actually do some good for we the people.

I miss golf.

A huge thank you goes out to my sister Sooz for everything she is doing to help our mother. I will include an adjective that describes our mom somewhere in each of the next several posts. Your job is to figure it out. It won't be

difficult.

An adjective for my sister is awesome.

Name that band...still among the best shows I have ever seen.

Antivirus program plays keep away with my word document for the last time

I wrote the following last night using Word in anticipation of posting it at 5:00 A.M. this morning. Well, my Norton Antivirus program would not let me open it this morning because I needed to renew. I removed Norton Antivirus. Screw you. Who do you think you are? Microsoft? I will buy another antivirus program after I post this. Symantec you pushed me too far this time. It was a long day but the sales call went well.

Blog month starts off with me having to catch a plane to Indianapolis at 7:00 A.M. I’m returning later in the afternoon so it’s just a long ass commute. But I have to get up at an ungodly hour to get the plane, fly to Indy, rent a car, flawlessly schmooze a potential new client (falling asleep or yawning is not an option), return the car, get on the plane and return home. I’m really glad I don’t have to commute like this every day. My regular daily commute has been reduced to 5 to 7 minutes.

I did however spend the better part of 12 years using up 3 hours a day getting to work and back. I did it because I had to but it mostly sucked. Most of those years were spent on a commuter train which is much better, safer and less expensive than being stuck in your car. I did have a lot of time to unwind and read on the train and I met some nice people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. One of them works with me now and has for many years. So like everything there were some benefits.

My all time record driving commute was 3 and a half hours to get to work and 4 hours to get home. I believe that was the day that male pattern baldness started to become a bigger part of my life.

Commuting does play a big part in the lives of many of us. Here’s a modern blessing or toast for all of you. “I wish all of you the commute of your dreams.”