"Do the funky funky chicken, do you like it like this?"
So, here I am sitting in front of my computer, unable to sleep. In a few hours my most excellent roommate will awaken and drive me to the airport. I didn't even ask him, he just offered to help me out. Damn, friends are the best! I don't have a car, but I do have enough money for some yummy beer. That's a good trade if you ask me!
That's not the point of this though. The point of this is that I'm listening to some of my favorite music. The Blues Brothers - Made in America happens to be the waveforms that are being decoded off my CD, transferred as pulses of light down a plastic cable, and eventually becoming two little wonderful sonic experiences, one inside each headphone. I have much more appreciation for music and recordings now that I worked out some numbers. Music is one of those things that just kicks so much ass it's not even funny. I spend a lot of time learning about music, how to understand it and most importantly how to make more good music! It's hard, but it must be done because music is one of those things that can grab you and say: "Hey! Laugh!" or "Cry if you need to!" or "Here's my story.", all in a perfectly memorable, hummable, lovable little bit of time. It can be played again and again on your sound equipment, or even just in your head. And it can bring out locked up emotions and just get our souls rocking. Amazing!
I have noticed a lot of things lately when I have been walking around in Toronto or sitting on the bus or subway. Most people look as though the last thing they would like to do is live another day. I don't know if this is part of not attracting attention in public or what. But damn, it really stinks to see people like that. Although I don't have enough good songs written yet, I might eventually put together a CD with all kinds of fun and funky songs written and performed by me, make a bunch of copies and hand them out to people on the subway. I might not even put my name on it so that it doesn't look like promotional material or anything. You know, kind of like an anonymous musical hug.
This idea reminds me of a few years ago when I was in Toronto down on Queen St. West. I was walking down the street at night and I came upon a guy about my age selling little photocopied booklets. I paid him a dollar or something and he gave me one. For once it was someone trying to panhandle, but actually trying to do something cool instead of just making me feel guilty. I took the the thing home and read all of it. It was cutouts of various funny pictures, little quotes and thoughts and all manner of "make me feel good" kind of things. A little collage of interesting tidbits that made me feel that my dollar was in the hands of someone that deserved it. I'm sure the guy didn't make the contents himself, but it looks like he probably put it all together. That's cool. I can dig that.
Life is cool, and even cooler when you can make someone else smile. It's not always easy to know the right things to say, but smiling can never hurt. I hope that someday everyone will just be themselves, be friends with as many people as they can, and generally propagate a sense of "things are alright". After all, when times are tough, friends are the best thing in the world. They'll get you back on your feet in no time. And then, when I'm daydreaming out the window of the subway car, as I bring the internal reflection into focus I'll see a bunch of grins and hear chuckles and excitement instead of just the sound of big electric motors and air rushing. Keep it funky!
guitar solo....... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Goddamn!