[Slowhand] Current Discourse

[Almighty Geetarz]

Hello All,

Please allow me to knock out responses to a few different posts 
all-in-one....

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"AG is a god, no doubt."

[AG] (laughs) nothing can be further from the truth. 

But, true story ... one of the things I've always enjoyed about the SD 
and other music related lists, is that I'm able to connect with people 
who are moved by the same things that move me.  Some people are brought 
to tears by opera, others dig on Monet, still others on whatever it is 
out there that grabs them, digs deep in their soul. For me, it's music.  
The irony here is that I'm blessed to have more than my fair share of 
friends, tons of acquaintances, but NO ONE in my local circle of family 
and friends could care less about music.  I mean, past most people's 
definition of "I like music" which means "I listen to the radio wben I'm 
in the car".  LOL.

Tangentially - one of my biggest kicks when I meet someone is to see for 
instance their book collection, their CDs, etc., to get some insight. 
The real trick in getting to know someone's taste, is not in 
recommending something that *you* like.  I'd say that the pinnacle is in 
fact in recommending something to a friend, that in fact you *hate*, and 
knowing that your friend will love it.  Has anyone ever seen the John 
Huston film "The Dead"?  One reviewer's comments were so memorable, that 
I've memorized them, "it's a dead movie, for dead people".  I watched it 
and it was everything I dislike about that type of movie.  I 
completely,totally disliked it, and recommended it to a friend who 
*loved* it and thought I had amazing taste.  I'm proud of the fact that 
I could move past my visceral dislike of the film and judge it in terms 
of what other people might like.  I try to do that with music, too, even 
though it's hard sometimes.

I get a real kick out of turning people onto great music, it's a 
wonderful feeling when you get something to someone to whom it will be 
*very* special. Like I said, none of my "local" friends give a rip.  I 
give out cool rare stuff like candy, in the hopes of "converting" 
people, but it's like someone else giving me a tape of, say, Morris 
Dancing.  I don't care, I'm not gonna care, etc.  Stuff like "Nothing 
But the Blues" that are near-worshipped by many of us, I give copies to 
my local friends and they don't even watch it.

So, back to me being "a god".  True story.  I come across a very rare 
soundboard from a pretty obscure group. Something - like that movie - 
that I really just didn't like, wasn't going to like, and didn't WANT to 
like.  But I knew a guy who I figured would really flip over this.  To 
make it even more fun, this guy was more an acquaintance than anything 
else, we'd only corresponded a few times in passing, no real connection 
there, so in my book that even adds to the fun. What's that old saying, 
"a random act of kindness"??  So I popped the discs in the mail as a 
surprise.

This guy gets the package and goes BONKERS.  I mean, FLIPS OUT.  Not 
only didn't he have this material in any format, he hadn't even known of 
its *existence*.

Now the funny part.  He tries to call me at home. That doesn't work, a 
friend gives him my work #. He can't get hold of me there.  This guy did 
some really remarkable detective work trying to call me, from family to 
friends, back to family, etc.  Finally, somehow, he finds my elderly 
mother's phone number. And dials.

She picks up the phone and he says to her  ... "he is a GOD !!!!" to 
which her answer (mostly unprintable) was "OH PLEASE .... a God would 
come visit his mother more often ..."

It's still a pretty big in-joke in the family.  I never heard the end of 
it. "Oh, Mr. God, if you wouldn't mind snapping your fingers and taking 
out the trash ..."

;)

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"Guys like Delta Nick and AG get blasted sometimes for opinions and that 
just leads to others being less likely to post since they live in fear 
of getting rebuked too. "

[AG] I don't know about getting "blasted".  Then again this stuff 
doesn't get to me.  One of the things I get asked a lot (in a sort of 
exasperated way) by friends and coworkers is "why are you in such a good 
mood all the time?" and it's really because ... well, it's not that the 
opinions of my friends and family aren't important to me, but at the 
same time, I'm not one of those people who go through life moistening my 
finger and sticking it in the wind to see which way I should go.  I'm 
quite secure in what I like and dislike, so say what you will and it 
just won't bother me.  In a way I sort of get a kick out of some of the 
more hysterical responses from some people.  I'm guessing that we may 
have folks on the SD who for instance don't even know how the "AG" thing 
came about.  It amazes me how some people seem to get so bent out of 
shape over a difference of opinion on a list like this, and I wonder how 
if that gets them so worked up, how they handle the thousand indignities 
presented by every day life in the 21st century? 

And like I've said, sometimes a difference of opinion is a good thing.  
When "Pilgrim" came out - I didn't dislike it.  I hated it. I mean, 
hated in the sense that it was almost a personal affront, especially 
coming after FtC.  And, do you know, I have to admit that while I still 
don't care much for the production in some ways, I see more of where EC 
was trying to go with it, and on many levels the songwriting is some of 
EC's best. Not to mention the fact that so many of those songs really 
took on a new life, live. 

So, folks can call me all the names they want, fine by me. The only 
things I really find offensive in the world are laziness and willful 
stupidity.  I'm a big boy, and can take the slings and arrows.

Oh, and Nick?  Here's a secret.  He's a teddy bear ;)

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[Art] "

 I also got all the info on the Crossroads benefit show here and decided to make my first cross country journey to NYC and meet many of you at Niles before and after the show."

[AG] Amen, out of everything, that's been my biggest kick, has been making so many friends and being able to meet them.  In so many ways email etc. is great as it's brought us together, but it's also a curse as it's so limiting.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this would be so much more fun if we all lived in the same town/city and could simply meet at the local blues club a couple times a month. Think about it, so many of the silly "flame war" type things aren't anything compared to what you will hear friends debating about their favorite teams in a sports bar, it's the lack of context etc. in email that leads to misunderstanding and miscommunication. 

The frustration for me is that those "get togethers" are so few and far between ...

~AG