I read a review a while ago about  Roger Waters performing the X-Cel Center in St  Paul. He was performing all songs from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, THE WALL, WISH YOU WERE HERE, and other classic Pink Floyd records.  The review expressed how great the band was and how the 15,000 people in attendance enjoyed hearing their favorites.   While I’m sure Roger Waters, his band and crew appreciated the payday from this performance, it struck me that despite the success of the concert, something about committing to the actual concert in the first place must be unsettling for a man like Roger Waters. 

 

Roger Waters is not alone.  In a larger sense, any recognizable name with a long history of making influential music in whatever genre must experience the same thing.  It must be an odd combination of gratitude and regret when these Hall of Fame artists hit the stage each night.  Because while the financial and production stakes are at a far higher level than they are at a local club gig, the great equalizer for Hall of Fame artists and musicians who perform at any nightclub, VFW, Wedding Party, etc is the concept of repetition.

 

Repetition is at the core of the music business.  An artist craves to have something they create become repetitive to the listening audience so they can make more money.  A listener, once they hear something they like, enjoy the pleasures of repetition and access it on their phone, I-Pod, CD player or even 8-track tape if it still functions.   For the record company, repetition is the lifeblood of their business success. Without repetition, everything falls apart.  Creativity and production can get accomplished, but without repetition, nothing works.

 

While scholars can debate which came first, the egg or the hen, I’m confident that creativity comes first before repetition.  The difference is, a hen will eventually make an egg.  A piece of music, or a music career has far less chance of becoming repetitive.

 

It’s odd that creative people even want repetition to enter their life.  The essence of being a creative being is to never be satisfied with what you’ve just finished.  The hunger of the next creation is what drives them.  But when a creative person shares their talent and that same talent creates a piece of art that the viewer, or listener craves to see it, or hear it more than once, that’s certainly a financial payoff for the artist, but is it satisfying?

 

Creativity drives the artist.  Discipline provides the artist the fuel to shelf the urge to create something new and come to grips with the fact that something they created years ago must be repeated time and time again for financial reasons.  I think for Roger Waters, Elton John, Springsteen, Van Morrison, B.B.King, and the list goes on and on, it has to be a battle they face each day.

 

How can I explain this to someone who doesn’t perform?  Perhaps the best way would be to go back to your first great kiss. Not the first time you had sex, but your first great kiss.  In the majority of instances, the first time you have sex is clumsy.  Your first great kiss is something you probably spent some time working on.  

 

Let’s say after that first kiss, everyone you met expected you to kiss them with the same delivery and passion every time they see you.  If you didn’t kiss them when you saw them in that same way, they were disappointed.  They want that kiss that gave them memories and they want it when they want it. 

 

Now imagine the person who gave the kiss having to repeat that same kiss over and over again, when they are supremely confident that they are a much better kisser than they were when they gave that first kiss.   It could be much worse, after all, they are asking you for a kiss, but you see where I’m going with this. 

 

When a piece of art is accepted, it came from a magical combination of talent, timing and luck.  Those three elements are not repetitive in nature. In fact, it’s closer to a freak of nature when it does happen.  Nevertheless, for the artist, when those elements come together, it does create magic.  For another night, Roger Waters had to conjure up the magic he created 30 years ago, for 15,000 people craving repetition.  He had to create a piece of magic and take another step in the long path of repetition.  I just wonder if when he hits the pillow in his hotel room or tour bus, if the price of repetition is worth it for him, or any other artist.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've slept better in the past few months than I had in the past. Food has tasted sweeter to me lately. My productivity in my professional life has increased. It's as if the days that used to be cold and blustery are starting to actually get warmer and pleasant. Some may call that meteorological phenomenon winter turning in to spring. Those same "some" people would be wrong. I know why I've turned my frown upside down and put on a happy face and you do too. We are now living in a more enlightened age. The source of that enlightenment isn't Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. It isn't John McCain or Mike Huckabee and it sure isn't Larry King or Jack Cafferty on CNN, or Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly from FOX. While these voices are certainly influential, they don't hold a candle to the unquestioned wisdom and idolatry that we are bestowing upon one man. That man is Scott Baio. He's 45 and apparently, we are supposed to be impressed by this. 

Scott Baio is in his mid-40's. He recently got married and now he has a child from that same marriage. He grew up in front of our eyes as Chachi on "Happy Days" and the Citizen Kane of TV spin-off's "Joanie Loves Chachi", and then the red headed stepchild series he did with Willie Ames  called "Charles in Charge".   I grew up watching Scott Baio. He seems like a very likable fellow. He was a good actor. That's about all I knew about him and figured that would be all I would know about him.

I read magazines linking him with a bevy of sexy stars. Bravo to Scott, more power to him as far as I was concerned.   After his series were all over, he was faced with the proposition of what to do next. He lasted longer than most child stars so you have to give it for him for that. But what do you do when 99.9% of the people you meet every day relate to you as a teenager when you're in your mid-40's?  I suppose that is a curse all child actors have to live with.   Granted, there are worse things to deal with, but it has to be frustrating. The only rational thing to do is to create a reality show centered on the fact that the best career move for Scott Baio is not to play another part because no one can see past him being anything else but Chachi. So, what is else is left to do except to play Scott Baio. I actually think that is a smart career move. But the content within this show and the cultural reaction to that content is what is so disturbing and absurd to me.

In this reality show, we see the struggles Scott Baio has with intimacy and commitment. We see how he has this girlfriend that he won't marry because he's uneasy about commitment.   We see his friends wanting the never ending Scott Baio relationship circus to continue so all the parties involved never have to grow up. Although prior to the reality show, Scott Baio was probably not on the same level of celebrity as Brad Pitt or George Clooney, being a celebrity of any level still provides perks for Scott and his hanger's on. So we are left to sympathize with a middle-aged man trying to conquer something that has been accomplished quite easily by hundreds of millions of men throughout history, yet for Scott Baio, it's a struggle. Each week millions watched Scott Baio face his commitment demons and at the end of the season, he conquered them.  Congratulations to Scott, but is this accomplishment worthy of such praise?

I was watching my guilty pleasure "Regis and Kelly". Regis Philbin is unstoppable in my eyes and Kelly is terrific. Scott Baio came on with his new wife and his new child. The child was beautiful. The wife was beautiful and they both seemed very happy. But what didn't make me happy was the commentary that his wife gave to the question "What kind of father is Scott?"
 

"Scott is a great father! He changes the diapers", she explained.  "Scott wakes up with the baby", she continued.   Regis and Kelly gaze upon Scott  as if they are looking at someone who has gone so far above expectations for any man, let alone lifelong bachelor Scott Baio.  As remarkable as this sequence seemed to be to the hosts and the audience members, it made me shrug.

Lets see if I have this straight. A man changing diapers and waking up with a baby is a remarkable thing?  Is it manly for a man to sit by and let his child scream with a dirty diaper all night long just because a man shouldn't be the one changing diapers?  Is a man in his mid-40's finally deciding that he can commit to someone so special?  Is a man taking that long to grow up viewed as being on higher plane of consciousness than other mere mortal men of the same age? Why does our culture, and especially women, put up with this? Why do we celebrate the fact that Scott Baio, as likable as he is, took so long to finally grow up?   Why do we celebrate the fact that the most mundane and commonplace activities of parents is somehow worthy of praise and hero worship if Scott Baio and his wife are going through it? Didn't we all do the same things and figure it out far quicker than Scott Baio? 

This is hard because it looks like Scott Baio is a cool guy, but since he opened the door to his life for money and ratings; I have no choice to but to use him as an example.  This is just not about Scott Baio, but about men in general and how our culture views their position and expectations.  When you're in your mid-40's, you should have it figured out. You don't deserve a medal or a TV show if it takes you that long to figure it out. Your reward is received every night when you hit the pillow and you find someone with enough guts and faith in you to put up with someone who took so long to figure it out.

 

In this world where we tend to skirt around an issue that is right in front of our face, sometimes it's hard to break things down to one word that can explain it. The happenings I'm speaking of can be interpreted as one thing for those who choose to believe it.  That word is evil.  That same evil has been busy lately taking something mundane and boring and turning it in to front page news

There's a phrase in The Bible, Matthew 5:15 that states: "No one lights a lamp and then puts it in a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house".  There's more to that phrase, but you're not reading this for religious words, so I will leave it at that.  However, a few people have read this book and there is wisdom to be found in the words within if you want to look in to it.
 

The phrase about the lamp is very interesting to me.  As a creative person, I want the things that I create to be seen and heard.  That means I'm lighting a lamp for someone to see what I'm doing.  But that same light can illuminate a lot of other things that aren't as simple and pure as wanting people to see what you do.  That same light that can highlight the positive, can just as easily highlight the negative and yes, it can highlight evil.
 

As superficial and irrelevant as this subject is to me, the controversy surrounding Britney Spears has gone past being annoying.  It seems to me that the characters around her are no longer sickly amusing, pathetic or vapid, they have crossed the line in showing characteristics of evil.  Now before you think I'm overreacting, I'm not talking about Hitler kind of evil, but nonetheless, I think there are elements of evil surrounding Britney Spears.  While it may be true that Britney and her publicists are guilty of inviting that kind of evil in to their lives, Britney's version of her "lamp" has exposed with blinding clarity a very dangerous situation.  This version of evil is opening up every door and knocking down every gate to lead Britney Spears to a far too early death.  As a father of children just a few years younger than her, that just makes me sad.

It seems every time something is in place to help Britney get her act together, some slimeball comes along and knocks down the gate.  The trainwreck that is her life has attracted a throng of young losers who are clearly lost and had little to no parental guidance.  Their self-esteem is nothing so there natural inclination is to run to a light, any light that validates them as worthy, despite having nothing to back up that worthiness.
 

These people are called hangers-on, groupies, wannabe's, you choose the title.  All successful artists have to learn to navigate their career and the personal life with these people.  Unfortunately for Britney, she is dealing with those same people. The only difference is these same people are taking hourly doses of gallons of Red Bull, never sleeping.  These same people will never be satisfied with the amount of money they are making.   There is always more money to be made by another's suffering, making them even more cutthroat and never satisfied.  They spirit of photographer competition for a photo has turned in to a hyena like frenzy of baying and barking jackals salivating over a wounded animal, namely Britney.  The difference is, this is not the jungle.  This is not a case where Britney is there to participate in the "circle of life" to feed the jungle. What has driven the media and our fascination with her whole hellish life has entered in to the realm of being evil.

I'm as sick of Britney Spears as you are.  I want her to go away, live on a farm for a couple of years, and get her life together again.  But as much as I'm sick of her, I don't want to see Britney Spears dead.  I think her death is imminent.  I think the evil people  around her, when that death happens, will feign shock and horror and wonder how it could happen.  I'll know how it happened, and so will you.

Britney Spears is a young woman who needs help.  Britney Spears did not hide her "light" under a table.  We all saw it and for a while, it looked like her version of that light had a long beam.   That light now needs to be put under the table for a long time.  That table should have some big chairs put on it and a couple of big blankets draped over it.  Her "light" needs to be dimmed to a flame that only the people who love her, really love her can see and feel.  If that "light" is not dimmed, the keepers and igniters of the flame that feeds her light and exposing Britney lately will burn her alive.

No matter how you feel about the parents of Britney Spears, nobody deserves to see their child persecuted.  Yes, it's up to Britney to get it together, but the glee in which the media flocks to her misfortunes is a pathetic statement on their profession and our own warped fixation on her.