For what it's worth...

...here's a few random thoughts, straight from my freshly-caffineated brain:

Today is Martin Luther King's birthday...wonder what MLK would have to say about NOLA & the aftermath of the Katrina disaster? Seems to me that he'd point out that racism is alive & institutionalized in America today, in spite of over fifty years of activism & education to rid our nation of the scourge. He'd also say we have to keep trying...

I'm not a big fan of winter on Delmarva...life & work start resembling the grey gloomy weather that we seem to have for months at a time...usually, I try to amp up the creative juices & write some songs, or some other artistic effort, as an antidote for my seasonal depression...I'm still working on that this year, but with my recent experiences reminding me of my mortality, I feel an extra twinge of anxiety to "do something with my life". Probably in response to that, I spent the last two days mostly in bed, with the covers pulled over my head...I may know what maturity is, but that doesn't mean I have to BE mature...

I've developed a puzzling fascination with champagne, a beverege I never much cared for previously...Veuve Cliqueot is my current fave...I think this has something to do with my "allez le bon temps roulez" New Year's resolution, the only one I seem to be able to keep. Fortunately, it's a self-limiting mental illness, since Veuve Cliqueot is about $50.00 per bottle.

I've decided to stretch my mind this year...everyone says a fresh mental challenge is one way to remain young, so I'm teaching myself to play jazz, both on the guitar & the tenor saxaphone. If that doesn't stretch my mind, I don't know what else will...there's some weird chords & harmony in these jazz tunes, for someone whose musical backround is folk, country, blues, & rock 'n roll, but I'm trying to work it all out...

I NEED a palm-tree "fix", STAT!!! We're going to Grand Exuma Island in March to hook up with friends who are currently sailing their boat throught the Bahamas...no problem, mon, just get me there fast, so I can take it slow....(ewww, Beach Boys lyric alert!!!)

Does anyone else think the Brits have the right idea with their "Prime Minister's Questions" free-for-all, on the BBC? I enjoy that show immensly, even though I don't have a clue about the issues being discussed...watching a head-of-state being directly questioned on issues, by political friends & foes alike, is a refreshing experience when measured against the paranoia of our current Neocon mob, who I couldn't imagine being put on the griddle like Tony Blair is, once a week. For one thing, W couldn't survive five minutes of the withering questions he'd have to face...he'd come off as the bumbling oaf his staff tries, unsucessfully, to hide from the world. I'd pay to see that show, though...

I've decided I'm too young to be as old as I am...

People who frequent the clubs around here don't know how to be an audience...is it just me, or does anyone else think the younger generations are being cheated out of the live-music experience by d.j.'s, canned music, MTV, etc.? Thee is NO substitute for the communion between a smokin' band & an engaged & energized audience...everybody goes home inspired & reborn!!! People literally don't know what they're missing these days...I have a friend who operates a great little venue here, and brings in lots of high-level entertainment, as well as having a first-rate eatery on the premises. She's closing the doors, after 15 years of operation, cause she's exhausted from "pushing the chain uphill"...people won't support live entertainment anymore...she, and I, just don't understand what's happened to our culture, and we feel like something's died...

Fortunately, there are still a few places to play...we press on, with Don Quixote-like optimism...

Mike