The Question: Have you ever wanted far away to come close?

To answer that question: "Yes, every day of my life!"

I asked a friend a similar question:

"Which is a worse disease? Knowing there is a huge, interesting, varied and beautiful world out there, yet not having the means ($, time, etc) to get there, or not knowing or caring that it exists at all?"

My friend answered me, "Yours is a worse suffering. Even though their lives are bland, mere existences, sometimes, 'Ignorance is bliss!', after all !"

My view, position or stance on that subject varies from day-to-day.

On some days, I believe my life is better for having the gift of Clarity: knowing the difference, and enjoying the widely diverse St. Louis community. As one example, we have Vietnamese, Chinese, German, Italian, Asian Indian, genuine Mexican, Irish, Pakistani, Afghan and Ethiopian restaurants, and multiples of each - just to name a few.

Interior of one of my favorite Indian restaurants
in St. Louis:
India's Rasoi in the Central West End

We also have the #1 and #2 Art shows in the entire nation, but also the oldest Botanical Garden, with one of the rarest plant species in the world (The Dracaena umbraculifera - the Umbrella Dracaena). The Gardens has one of only 16 specimens known to survive in the world, and they are all in Botanical Gardens, and this plant is extinct in the wild.)

The Umbrella Dracaena in the Climatron at the
Missouri Botanical Gardens

Even though I have these - and many more - wonderful things just outside my front door that I can experience and enjoy, I miss the REST of the world that I can't get my hands, ears, eyes, nose and my mouth! on.

So... the question remains:

Which is worse? Living a bland, unfulfilled life, and not knowing or caring about the difference, or living a very fulfilled life, wanting more, but not being able to physically get your body to those fantastic places?

The Eiffel Tower, as viewed from Google Map's Street View
(You can get a much closer look, directly at the base of the tower, itself.  I had to virtually move back a bit to get a general view of the tower.):




I often go on 'virtual vacations.' I use Google Maps (placing the little man on the street-level view). Just last night, I 'went' to The southern most tip of The Florida Keys (Key West, FL), and I toured down Highway 1A, along the oceanside. I have also 'been' to Egypt, I have been to Barcelona, Spain, etc. When I shut my computer down for the night, I was even more homesick for places that I have never been!


Sea-side view from South Roosevelt Blvd, Key West, FL:





- Michael

It's Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me!

The discussion at hand:  The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and it's inductees

In general, and getting directly to the point, the R&R Hall of Fame has become a joke, and a bad one, at that. Politics and money supersede hard work and dedication to the music.

With that thought in the forefront, let's assume, for the sake of discussion, that the people responsible for the fiasco are legitimate and that their actions and intentions are good. (Even though a few of us know they really are not (good).

On the surface, John Mayer and Jennifer Hudson singing at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Inductions does seem to be a bit out of place.

From a purely personal standpoint and of my own opinion, as a fellow musician, I have to say that I DO hate musical genres and categories, in general. They're very limiting.

(In the late 1990's, I busted Sam Goody Music stores for placing ALL of Tina Turner's music under "R&B", when - since she escaped the Royal Jackass, her music has been very different than "R&B". I went on to enlighten Sam Goody by telling them that the only reason they continued to place Tina's music under R&B was that #1) it's a 'black thing' #2) from her earlier music, and her history with the Royal Jackass.)

The squeaky wheel does, indeed, either 'get the oil', or it 'gets replaced' ! Either way, something is going to happen. Something is going to get done.

The moral of that saga is that Tina Turner's R&B albums are now filed under "R&B" and her later albums are under "Rock 'n' Roll"

(The same thing goes for Darius Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish. His rock albums go under Rock....his country albums go under 'Country'. We wouldn't file his Country albums under 'Rock' simply because his earlier albums are Rock.

The full story of Jennifer & John singing at the Hall of Fame inductions is a bit different.

(One example would be that Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson are singing in honor of inductee Donna Summer, who, for obvious reasons, can't sing for herself - if you know what I mean).

When I sit down to a piano in a public space, and I play for 15 minutes, I often hear victims - er...I mean - listeners comment "I've never heard such a variety of music in such a short amount of time coming from one person!" I will play a Scott Joplin tune, followed by: Beethoven, old time tent revival gospel, Rock, Boogie, Country, Jazz, Top 40, Alternative, etc, etc.

Because each performer does what they do very well, and there is no need to change that, I would personally prefer not to listen to Sarah Brightman singing Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High", nor would I want to hear Tina Turner singing Sarah's "Fleurs De Mal". With that disclaimer being thrust forward, I do believe that anybody can sing any style that they feel bold enough to pull off.

(If you will pardon me, I have a Hammond B3 / Leslie 122 warming up. I have a couple hours of piano and organ practice (actually, music therapy!) ahead of me, and the day is quickly slipping through my fingers. he he)

https://rockhall.com/event/induction-2013/

- Michael

"You're a Wiener!"

"The Modern Family"s' Sofia Verga

Subject of discussion:  Overly used subtitles on American TV shows.
To avoid adding more aggravation to my brain, I prefer to think that English subtitles are added to English speakers on reality shows to assist visitors in our country to better answer their own query:

"I KNOW that when I stopped by England on my way to America, I learned English, but why the Hell can't I understand when these people speak?"

I'm certain that visitors to any other country large enough to have specific regions and varied dialects would run into the same difficulty upon arrival to the foreign country.  Learning a language "by the book" then putting that basic knowledge to work in daily practice around native people speaking that language would be a shock to anybody that has not adequately prepared themselves for such an experience.  If statistics have ever been collected on such data, I would be interested in learning which language in it's respective country has been the most altered (deviated?) from the text book version of that specific language.  Even though I truly have no specific data on such a study, I would be willing to wager that American English is somewhere near the top of that list.

Imagine, if you will, that two Hindi-speaking visitors land in Kennedy International Airport in New York City.  Then.... they take a cab to The Bronx, and they walk into a cafe.  They are greeted with an Italian-influenced, steeped-in-history Bronx accent. Can you possibly imagine the confused looks that these two visitors would give each other, wondering, "What the Hell?  I KNOW we both learned English back in India, but why can't we understand this man when he speaks to us?"  Most likely, these visitors learned a school book textbook version of English that was taught to them by a person speaking with a British or other European accent.

Then.... our two visitors go back to the airport, and fly into Savannah, GA.  They walk into Paula Deen's restaurant, "Lady & Sons", and they are greeted by Paula, herself.  Once again, imagine the looks on these visitor's faces when they realize that they can't understand a single word spoken by a Georgia resident....

...or a New Orleans resident..... or a Memphis resident..... and the list of United States regional dialects could continue for some length.

For several reasons, personally, I am opposed to English subtitles placed under a non-native English speaker who IS speaking English.  Many times, I am doing another task, and I am not looking up at the TV.  I will hear a person speaking with an accent, and - without looking up - I will tell Mark, "Please don't tell me that they are subtitled.  I can understand him perfectly."

Mark almost always answers me, "You know they're subtitled."

Such subtitles make people mentally lazy and constricted in their tight little worlds.  

For example, I know Spanish enough to get me by in a HUGE EMERGENCY.  Mark asked me why an English-speaking Spanish native says, "Wiener" instead of "WINNER".  When I pronounced the Spanish vowels, he understood immediately.  In Spanish, "I" sounds like "E".  

Having subtitles doesn't make the listener stop and compare the languages., and it doesn't encourage him / her to explore other cultures, thus expanding his view of the world.


Paraphrasing Mr. Mark Twain:

"Travel (and understanding people and languages that are not native to you) is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

- Innocents Abroad

Spanish           English             Spanish
Vowel             Example          Example

/a/ = "ah"         father, saw      papa, agua
/e/ = "eh"         met, bed          esperanza, bebe
/i/ = "ee"          bee, leaf          sí, chica
/o/ = "oh"         low, know      loco, bonito
/u/ = "oo"         sue, do           grupo, futuro

Now, go thou forth, and be a Wiener!


- Michael

Stolen Glory isn't Glory at all

Relating to Lance Armstrong's self-imposed predicament, the "Leave the guy" alone thing that many people are saying about his guilt for doping during all 7 Tour de France wins is related to those who like to say, "What you don't know can't hurt you" or "Don't hate the player, hate the game."

*ALL* of those phrases were created and are still used by people who 'want to take your stuff while your attention is diverted, and you are looking the other direction.'

They simply don't want you to see it coming when they broad-side you with a big red truck.

Uh, I'll have to say, "No, thanks!  I'll pass!", and then I never fail to correct those people by saying:

1) Yes, indeed, what you don't know can, in fact,  hurt or kill you.  Just ask ovarian cancer patients.

2) Thank you, but 'No, thank you!" for the suggestion to 'not hate the player, hate the game."  I am wise to that diversion tactic, too.  
For the record, I'll be hating both, the player AND the games they play.

Now, to answer the question at hand:

If they haven't done so, already, they should go back to every year that Lance won the Tour de France and automatically and immediately give the 2nd place guy the Yellow Jersey.  He, in fact, was the real winner of those races.

I have noted that Wikipedia's entry for Tour De France already has Lance removed from the winning position, and in fact, his name isn't in the listing of place winners at all.  

I have a $6,000 completely-outfitted 2007 REI Randonee Touring bicycle.  I am a huge fan and and an active participant in the sport of bicycling.  I am not a huge fan of people who have to steal the glory by cheating.  

Erb's Palsy:

Clubbed foot:
(Exception to this rule:  My right foot clubbed straight UP in the front, rather than the more common internally or externally rotated clubbing.)


I was born with Erb's Palsy in my right arm (4" shorter than the left, and severely limited range of motion), I am blind in my left eye, and I nearly had my right foot amputated when I was a child from a maggot infestation (severely clubbed foot and the original surgery FAILED).  I didn't mention severe psoriasis and the accompanying psoriatic arthritis, Habba Syndrome, and I had full fricken dentures before I was 30.    I know I've left a few out of that listing, but I think you get the gist.   (My gene pool was a cesspool.)


(This isn't my rig, but I have the exact same REI Randonee bicycle, all the same gear, including all the Ortlieb bags, the one-wheeled B.O.B touring trailer, complete with the same Yak Sak, etc)
I have bicycled across the state of Missouri and BACK three times (511 mile trip x 3), alone and with 70 lbs. of luggage.  

If an official Gimp can do it fair and square, so can Lance.

If you can't get glory, fame and recognition by doing hard work like the rest of us, you don't deserve it at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

- Michael