Musings of a Dumb Ass

Musings of a Dumb Ass.... A few years ago one of our children was having a hard time with life. The problems were all self inflicted but as they grew behaviour got worse which caused troubles to grow and compound. Finally one day we got to a place that a reasonably intelligent and objective conversation occurred and the door opened for me to give some 'old mans advice'. It was simple but profound, which doesn't happen with me often. We had arrived to the blame stage in our conversation but none of the blame could be accepted by our child, nor could any misbehaviour paramount to bringing on problems be recognized by our Einstein, only the shortcomings of others and wonder that the whole world could be so blind. My advice was to consider honestly what one would see if one could literally step out of their body, move away 5 steps, turn around and see themselves, as an observer. It wasn't long before realization started emerging about how another could find oneself unnattractive in behaviour and spoiled in demeanor. One truth will beget another truth and with just a sprinkling of honesty soon the right way to do things will light your way. As citizens of the world, we should step out of ourselves long enough to see how we really act and recognise the folly of what we do and what we expect of the rest of the world. We were smart enough to recognize the folly of the Berlin Wall and smugly told ourselves it was to keep the Easterners in. But once it came down and the curiosity of those behind the wall was satisfied most of them went back home. We all knew walls never kept anyone in or out very long. So how have we conducted ourselves? Much like the Russians of the cold war and the Chinese behind their ancient wall that didn't work either so long ago. Our plan now is to fence in Baghdad with moats, canals and wire. With all our might we can't stop the civil war we've created in Iraq and neither can we defend even a five square mile of an area we call the green zone inside the city. We can't leave our compounds without being blown up by roadside bombs planted by unknowns. Iraq has no military as our foe, only the civilians that were supposed to cheer us as we drove by. We have no clue why this is so. The very best explanation we can come up with is "They want to kill us because we're Americans" or "They hate us because we love freedom". While we're trying to sort that out, maybe we can come up with a sure fire plan for our place in the sun, while like idiots, we can try to figure out some equally lame slogans while we're building a fence between us and Mexico. We need to step out of ourselves, take five steps, turn around and watch ourselves awhile. We may be too far gone to understand what we'd see................

Musings of a Dumb Ass

Musings of a Dumb Ass........ There's a 'situation' with radio that allows me to feel a certain bit of vindication in a personal way. In this blog I've spent a notable amount of words foretelling the pitfalls of our behaviour as a society and a country, all based on history, logic, and right and wrong. Simple though that may be, those factors will tell who you are, what's going to happen in business, political, and personal futures. With radio, I had a particularly personal experience with that media that was frustrating. I spent many years of my life in the music business and like so many others I just had a deep attraction to everything about it and chose to chase it. My field was country music, and I recorded 51 times, and wrote 42 songs that found their way to the publishers house and vinyl (that's a term not used anymore that means you put a song on a 45 RPM single or a 33RPM Album). My first 'real' record was in 1968. The local radio station aired it and I thought I was a star. I already had some years on the stage and this music 'thing' was really in my ear. After the acquaintance of a few real live stars, my trip was unavoidable. In the 70's I began recording in a serious way, and became concerned with the quality of the product I was creating, making sure it was as good as it could get. Of course, paramount to dreams coming true, is recognition of your efforts, which is where radio came in. As I recorded, I tried to get radio stations to play my material. I had some success, but not many ever gave my material the same introductory coverage they gave the big label artists, good or bad. I always sold enough records at shows off stage, out of 'the trunk' etc. to bail my sessions out, but could never crack the radio community. Mail out records for airplay would be trash canned without review, and visits on the road to program directors, station mangers, would either be shut off at the front desk, or be told your mix wasn't right, subject matter wasn't current, tempo was wrong, or that their listening audience simply wouldn't tolerate listening to anything other than a major artist and would turn the dial if they heard anything but that. That wasn't the way the music industry evolved and I knew that many who appreciated my music across the nation requested my material to be played from their local stations, and I got royatly checks through the years that said my songs were played some, but never by a major market urban powerful station. Of course, at those stations, most of the time management recieved a hefty 'consultants fee' or had some other perk provided by a major label which guaranteed NOBODYS material other than major label artists would get a spin on their turn tables. Trends are powerful in America and soon the rural station that used to play whatever sounded good to them were simply taking their play lists from the big stations and presuming thats what was hot and successful and let it go at that. After we had the 20 song play lists that were just repeated again and again 24 hours a day with a couple of deletions and replaced by, you guessed it, new recordings performed much of the time by the same artists that were just deleted last week, time brought the deletion of the local DJ and they were replaced by a taped show from L.A, or Houston and played in stations across the country who had no one at the mike. This is a glaring example of 'less is more' and is the fodder that is always destructive to consumers in the end, no matter what the product or service may be. Now radio finds itself in a world in which no one is listening, revenues are in a dive, their stock is falling, and the industry is in a crises mode. The audience who could only choose regular radio for their listening enjoyment has bolted from the clutches of that world and taken up with Sirius or pay radio of some kind that they can choose what they listen to, or download their listening pleasure on to an ipod and go their way free of the confines of the historically strong national radio network. It was predictable, and I said so many years ago, it was deserved, the wealth of talent across this nation generally went unnoticed by this media, and it should have not been so, and now they're in the dump, and who cares. I don't. Technology has provided such an array of listening choices that are not including the exclusive wishes of the powerbrokers, and the all powerful 20 song playlist is history. The artist smart enough to take advantage of the avenues available to them now could have great success without the stranglehold of those who are now on the chopping block. I have this strange feeling of vindication and though time and circumstance won't permit it, I wish I could do it all over again on a more level playing field. Kiss my ass radio.... you deserve this.............

Musings of a Dumb Ass

Musings of a Dumb Ass....... This morning along with my coffee and toast the Today show had a segment that was loaded with tips for the person who wanted a lifestyle change whether it was a job or a different place to live or maybe just go on an extended hiatus of some kind to search for the meaning of life. The young woman who was the guest authority on the matter had all the suggestions possible to help you decide which way to go and get started. The morning person, whoever it was, I know longer have any desire to have any of them identified in any way, seemed to understand the subject matter completely and nodded her head approvingly before interjecting questions that common folk might want to know but wouldn't think to ask. The whole thing was out of reach for most folks I know, and the authority's parting suggestion was for any one contemplating a life style change, be sure and have in the bank the equivalent of at least six months salary, more if possible, before embarking on your journey of adventure. This entire description of this morning's national morning television fare is also descriptive of the gap between the media and most of America. Statistics say that the average household is carrying more than $9,000.00 in credit card debt which would make it a little tough for a 50 thousand a year house hold income to salt away 25 grand for an adventure, not to mention mortgages, car payments, essentials, and just surviving. I cannot fathom for sure what segment of our population would benefit from that information given this morning, but not many that I know. It brought back nauseating memories for me of Bryant Gumbel (what ever happened to him?) proudly defying ANYONE finding breakfast in New York City for less than $30 bucks years ago when he was being overpaid by NBC on the Today show. I don't think any reasonable person could accuse network television of having a clue on anything, anywhere, at any time, likewise with Hollywood and sadly enough, Washington. There's a huge world out there that just crawls through one day hoping for a chance for a better one tomorrow, that seldom is. It is highly offensive to me that any media thinks they have any idea what I like. It is even more offensive to me that it could be assumed by CBS or for that matter anyone else, that they could put some face on the screen that I just cannot resist, or that the overwhelming personality powers of a Katie Couric would guarantee success of a news program. There is no television anymore. Four primetime re-run back to back episodes of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' or on another channel same night, four primetime re-run episodes of 'Two and a half men', or some Reality Show cancer of some kind that is sure to cause bed wetting or memory lapse. Of course Katie Couric is gainfully employed at One Million Three Hundred Thousand a month, which is just over Three Hundred Thousand a week, which is roughly Seven Thousand Five Hundred an hour. Hmmmm......... I guess I have to admit maybe she does know something after all. It's just that she knows nothing of me or anyone I know. Maybe we just don't matter? I wonder if she gets premium pay for overtime? I wonder if......... Oh hell, forget it.....................

Musings of a Dumb Ass

Musings of a Dumb Ass.... After having the angel of death hover about me for two full days I arose to the task of survival today and tried to get back in step with whatever is going on in the world. A nasty virus of some kind invaded my space and temporarily changed my values on just about everything including the continuation of life and in my indecision on whether to continue breathing or not, I went to bed for contemplation on the matter. I sleep with a TV on, an old habit from years on the road that still is with me, and even in my haze I was able to understand what was going on in the world. It is much like a soap opera in that after years in a dark soundproof room a reasonably intelligent being could get caught up on current events in 20 minutes via the technology and choices for news given us today. Our attention is now being focused on the 5th. anniversary of 9-11 and of course the accompanying emotional offerings of too many without true emotion, not to mention those who have no clue as to what really happened that day. I know that to some I must surely come off as a smart ass, when actually I desire only to be a good Dumb Ass, because when the cows come home simplicity and logic always rules with a Dumb Ass. Regardless of those that believe the world is complicated, I remain convinced that all differences and solutions are really simple and can be stated as such. Case in point: The attack on the Twin Towers. We all know 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian, all of which were killed in the crashes. We also know the general feeling in Saudi is support of Al-Qaeda. So our response was to attack Afghanistan for harboring Osama Bin Laden who interestingly enough recieved a reputed half/billion from the Reagan Administration to aid in the fight against Russia in their attack on Afghanistan, which the Russians lost, and in which Bin Laden was credited with being the major factor in that loss, something about that has a ring of familurarity about our behaviour and support of Saddam Hussein in Iraq's war with Iran, and makes somewhat of a statement about our hypocricy and judgement. Our answer was to not question the Saudi Monarchy in any way and to show our devotion and allow them to collect their $70 a barrel on oil that hasn't increased any to them at the ground level in more than 20 years and agree that 'there just isn't a thing they can do about it', even though it is crippling our economy and will destroy us if we don't do something soon. Of course any good Dumb Ass would have to be aware that the main profit maker in inflation is the government, so why would they worry much when inflation is what will allow them to continue on in irresponsibility? I think our view of 9-11 and its aftermath surely would not be clear and concise if we didn't ask ourselves, 'Who has gained anything from the way we handled things?' The Iraqi's? The Afghani's? American Business? Our personal rights and freedoms? The Saudi's ?......????? We are so far removed from logic and reason we can no longer be objective and will remain so as long as we accept the balderdash shoveled out from those who should be representing us and only us. Nothing good will come by revisiting 9-11 in any context. Only more fear and what nightmares sleep with fear. We need leadership. It does not exist in the way we know it now, and if it continues the way it has, it won't matter anyway..............

Musings of a Dumb Ass

Musings of a Dumb Ass......... Living in this crazy world where animated films starring Tom Hanks or other 'star's voices are treated with the same hype that regular production movies are, one must wonder what the ignoramus quotient for John Q. Public must be. In listening to the media and the government one can quickly get the sense most of us are unable to make a rational decision about anything concerning our life or what we watch, eat, listen to, drive, wear or think. What's scary is that may be correct. It must be true because we all seem to do very near the same things and think in a mass effort way. We're all afraid of pretty much the same things, which is mostly everything, and uncertain about everything else. It will likely take less stress to break us than any other nation in history because all the individual strength and endurance of just a generation ago has been diluted to less than an opinion by government and media in concert. We are held in a strangle hold by whomever is in the limelight and cannot survive without the benefit of knowing whatever is going on in their life. We've been traumatized by Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise and their loves and passions and births and opinions and without sufficient time to recover, now we must somehow figure a way to get through Merideth Vierra's and Katie Couric's transition to their new spots in our lives. Everybody is certain that we will all be much better off and in more perfect harmony when they take their respective posts and that magic and happiness will flow freely, and they will be even more hugely successful than we ever imagined and will hopefully bring understanding that has so far eluded us and they will get even more rich and powerful and understanding in return. I can't wait.............