Spent some time this eve listening to one of my very favorite bands: Chicago. I've been a fan of theirs for over 20 years, and they most definitely had an influence on my early musical development (I played sax in an earlier life). There's just something so right about their first 14 albums... the ones that they recorded on the Columbia label: they all just have a certain groove that clicks with me.
While I'm on the topic, you won't generally find Peter Cetera on lists of "most talented bassists". Regardless, this cat could get out with the best of them.
Chicago's still around today. Cetera's been gone long gone (yeah, I know, BAD), and there have been some other changes to the lineup, but they're still touring. I have a feeling that they're destined to become a Vegas act, what with the subs that they put in from time to time. I've got no prob with that.
BTW, if you've ever heard Stone of Sisyphus, drop me a line. It's just been confirmed that this "lost album" will be released toward the end of the year. Sweet.
9.17.2007
9.11.2007
I will never forget.
Though September 11th has been declared a national holiday, I cannot find it in myself to be very festive. In fact, I celebrate 9/11 much like I do Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran's Day: with deep introspection and reverence, and great thanks. Many heroes died 9/11/2001---heroes protecting the American nation. These are the Patriots that today was set aside for.
The writing below is not my own, but states better than I ever could the way I felt that day and still do today.
First Battle
By Jim Quinn, 9/16/2001
As we sift through football fields of rubble with cement dust clogging our eyes and throats it may hardly seem that there is victory anywhere in this landscape of catastrophe, but there is. The first battle of the war has been fought and it was a decisive victory for America. It didn't happen on the ground, it just ended up there. It happened sometime between 10:00 am and 10:37 am in the sky over Somerset PA on United Flight 93.
This was not just a symbolic victory; it was a win for the practical utility of freedom versus the robotic behavior of programmed fanaticism. In other words, it was a test of who we are versus who they are, and we won!
While there is some evidence that our military may have been forced to make a terrible choice last Tuesday it's clear that with or without an "assist" from one of our flyers, whom we shall hold blameless. The other members of our military on board the plane had already made their decision. The contents of cell phone calls from the plane bear witness to this. "But military?” what in the world are you talking about Quinn? Allow me to explain. These people weren't in the military when they boarded the plane. They enlisted in flight. They did it without a recruiter. There was no paper work and no promise of a college education or a career skill to secure their future. They signed up knowing their future would be less than 15 minutes.
The significance of the outcome of this battle will be lost on these over funded, over educated, oil saturated former Nomads. It should make them drop to their knees and make them pray to Allah for forgiveness, but it won't. Here's why:
The Battle of Fight 93 was a short but decisive encounter where the fanatic met the free. Where a group of people who have been programmed from birth to believe in the sanctity of self destruction and mass murder in the name of a god who does not exist as they envision him, came face to face with something they never understood; free people who are used to thinking for themselves.
It took decades of preparation, training and pseudo religious indoctrination to prepare these men to sacrifice their lives for their twisted purpose. It took a bunch of free Americans about two minutes to prepare to sacrifice theirs. These men and women who began their day with a toothbrush and a plane ticket and nothing more on their plate than the expectation of a business meeting and dinner at Fisherman's Wharf; these people with husbands, wives and children to consider, unhesitatingly chose to give their lives for their fellow Americans in less time than it takes to boil an egg.
Advantage: Freedom!
As I write this, God is probably hearing from a vast number of people He hasn't heard from in a while. In times of difficulty we are moved to turn back to that which we have neglected. Freedom will be the tool of victory in all battles as it was in this one. It is of desperate importance that we understand from whence the tool of victory emanates. You'll find it in the writings of the Framers of our Constitution. Faith and Freedom will triumph over fanaticism.
In those few dreadful seconds over Somerset, the template for the coming battles emerged from the fires in which they were forged. Free Americans fought the first battle "on the fly" and "by the seats of their pants". They did it with the only tool they had the resourcefulness of people who can still think for themselves. They earned victory and the admiration of the Free World. The fanatics earned a smoking hole in the ground.
The writing below is not my own, but states better than I ever could the way I felt that day and still do today.
First Battle
By Jim Quinn, 9/16/2001
As we sift through football fields of rubble with cement dust clogging our eyes and throats it may hardly seem that there is victory anywhere in this landscape of catastrophe, but there is. The first battle of the war has been fought and it was a decisive victory for America. It didn't happen on the ground, it just ended up there. It happened sometime between 10:00 am and 10:37 am in the sky over Somerset PA on United Flight 93.
This was not just a symbolic victory; it was a win for the practical utility of freedom versus the robotic behavior of programmed fanaticism. In other words, it was a test of who we are versus who they are, and we won!
While there is some evidence that our military may have been forced to make a terrible choice last Tuesday it's clear that with or without an "assist" from one of our flyers, whom we shall hold blameless. The other members of our military on board the plane had already made their decision. The contents of cell phone calls from the plane bear witness to this. "But military?” what in the world are you talking about Quinn? Allow me to explain. These people weren't in the military when they boarded the plane. They enlisted in flight. They did it without a recruiter. There was no paper work and no promise of a college education or a career skill to secure their future. They signed up knowing their future would be less than 15 minutes.
The significance of the outcome of this battle will be lost on these over funded, over educated, oil saturated former Nomads. It should make them drop to their knees and make them pray to Allah for forgiveness, but it won't. Here's why:
The Battle of Fight 93 was a short but decisive encounter where the fanatic met the free. Where a group of people who have been programmed from birth to believe in the sanctity of self destruction and mass murder in the name of a god who does not exist as they envision him, came face to face with something they never understood; free people who are used to thinking for themselves.
It took decades of preparation, training and pseudo religious indoctrination to prepare these men to sacrifice their lives for their twisted purpose. It took a bunch of free Americans about two minutes to prepare to sacrifice theirs. These men and women who began their day with a toothbrush and a plane ticket and nothing more on their plate than the expectation of a business meeting and dinner at Fisherman's Wharf; these people with husbands, wives and children to consider, unhesitatingly chose to give their lives for their fellow Americans in less time than it takes to boil an egg.
Advantage: Freedom!
As I write this, God is probably hearing from a vast number of people He hasn't heard from in a while. In times of difficulty we are moved to turn back to that which we have neglected. Freedom will be the tool of victory in all battles as it was in this one. It is of desperate importance that we understand from whence the tool of victory emanates. You'll find it in the writings of the Framers of our Constitution. Faith and Freedom will triumph over fanaticism.
In those few dreadful seconds over Somerset, the template for the coming battles emerged from the fires in which they were forged. Free Americans fought the first battle "on the fly" and "by the seats of their pants". They did it with the only tool they had the resourcefulness of people who can still think for themselves. They earned victory and the admiration of the Free World. The fanatics earned a smoking hole in the ground.
9.03.2007
Well, this is it.
I'll be sharing my extemporaneous thoughts and impromptu experiences here.
For all the nudniks, troglodytes, and other troublemakers out there: what I post on this blog represents my personal views only, not my professional or other views, and certainly not any views of my family, friends, employer, clients, etc. I know it's hard to believe, but there do exist people that can keep their professional lives and personal views mutually exclusive.
For all the nudniks, troglodytes, and other troublemakers out there: what I post on this blog represents my personal views only, not my professional or other views, and certainly not any views of my family, friends, employer, clients, etc. I know it's hard to believe, but there do exist people that can keep their professional lives and personal views mutually exclusive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
