Taking Note of a Few Things: The ‘You Can Hate Me For All I Care’ Edition

Eddie Van Halen was not a very good musician. He was a much better guitar virtuoso than musician. I get that people place him on their Mt. Rushmore of guitarists, but he is not on mine.

Van Halen was just a band with two egos and a rhythm section. Much of the band’s early success involved Eddie playing over the song while David Lee Roth sang over Eddie’s guitar. It was perfect music for any teen to play loud just to piss off mom and dad, but they were not America’s answer to Led Zeppelin.

Jimmy Page is another great guitarist who lands on most people’s list of guitar gods. However, unlike EVH, Page knew how to craft excellent songs and play within their framework, just as Robert Plant knew how to sing within them.

Eddie Van Halen never learned to play within the framework of a song until Sammy Hagar replaced Roth. Hagar knows how to incorporate an entire band into a song, so when he joined Van Halen, it freed up Eddie to pursue his growing interest in the synthesizer.

I know there are two camps when it comes to Van Halen, but in terms of total musicianship, the Hagar years impress me more. That said, I am not a big fan of either.

The hair metal era of the 80’s was more about bands looking like ugly women with nice hair than it was about quality music. I can’t think of a single hair metal band that holds up to the likes of 70’s heavy metal. BTW: I do not consider Metallica or Guns N Roses hair metal bands. They were musicians who happened to have long hair and a seriously heavy sound and do not fall into the same category as bands like Ratt, Poison, Bon Jovi, and countless others who I’ve forgotten.

Queen is the most overrated band of the 70’s. They had some, not a ton, but a few good songs and a huge hit with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but they also churned out a lot of crap. There’s no doubt that Freddie Mercury was an amazing vocalist and unique visionary, and Brian May a wonderful guitarist. However, much of their music was more of an indulgence of Mercury’s ideas that bordered on absurdity and less about speaking to a generation.

If you take Queen’s best songs, they might make for a great double album. The rest are forgettable.

Whitney Houston was an amazing singer, but her version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is not very good. It’s just an example of her letting loose to show off her range, but she fails to capture the essence of the song the way Dolly did. You can hear and feel Dolly’s sadness, two things Whitney failed to capture.

Sticking with music U2 has not released any meaningful music since All That You Can’t Leave Behind was released a quarter of a century ago. In my mind, they are now the world’s largest lounge act. The more they dig into their vaults and find unreleased music, the more they need to lock themselves inside it.

I can list a lot of great songs U2 released before the turn of the century. My top ten since then would be in need of about eight songs to complete the list. Zooropa is perhaps their most underrated album and is filled with one gem after another. In fact, from their beginning up to this album, it was almost impossible for me not to listen to any of their albums without hearing them from beginning to end. I miss that band.

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame has become the Walkers and Rollers Hall of Meh. Worse, it will morph into the No More Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and start filling its rafters up with more artists who are a lot of things, but Rock stars is not one. BTW: Cher does not belong in it but then most of the people voted in now don’t. Straddling a ship’s cannon while wearing revealing clothing does not place anyone in any hall of fame, unless it only includes posters of women above your bed as a teen.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO has flown off to Europe for a few final performances before calling it quits. I attended their Out of the Blue concert in the late 70’s when the stage was a spaceship that rose up from below the front row seat level while at the same time lights of every color from every angle blinded the audience.

Lynn is a far better musician than Eddie Van Halen ever was. He came from the Beatles school of crafting a song in which you explore all the possibilities of sound while laying down songs that you kept singing for days on end. Face the Music, El Dorado, and A New World Record were a far superior three album run than most any bands ever enjoyed.

Who remembers “Fire on High” as the intro music to CBS’ weekly Sports Spectacular  program?

Besides recording albums with his band, Lynn was a fantastic producer. He was a natural for the Traveling Wilburys because he had produced albums for George Harrison and Tom Petty.

This will not surprise you if you know me, but Lindsey Buckingham is a horribly underrated talent. He is a master of the song before any individual which is why many of his best guitar parts with Fleetwood Mac are hidden little gems rather than him taking over a song.

His production skills are rivaled by few, yet he lacked the ego that a certain ex-lover possessed. He can produce something as amazing as any of the songs found on Rumours while also utilizing Kleenex boxes for drums and singing into a mic taped to the floor while holding a pushup position on Tusk. The Beatles had Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but Lindsey had the entire USC marching band. He even played with different tape speeds so he could sing Stevie Nicks’ parts and sound like her on much of Tango in the Night while she was in rehab for a year.

If this doesn’t give you chills, nothing will. One man playing lead, rhythm, and bass on one acoustic guitar.

When Roy Orbison passed away, George Harrison wanted Lindsey Buckingham to become the next Wilsbury.

Egos get way more credit than those who prefer being artists. It’s why George Harrison shocked John and Paul, as well as the world, with his solo work. His quiet way provided him with an education under George Martin. When he was free from the Beatles, fans realized what they missed thanks to John and Paul’s egos.

There are those who become famous and those who prefer being left to create art. Fame requires an image and being pigeonholed into a box for the sake of promotion, popularity, and personal wealth. Art requires the space and solitude to create and go where your talent takes you as well as the refusal to compromise on what you believe in just for the sake of making yourself and others richer.

One of my favorite musicians was the late John Stewart. He had a taste of mass success only to walk away from a drug that robs artists of their souls. When dropped by his record label, RSO, in the early 80’s, Stewart made the choice of going without a record company and made, sold, and promoted albums on his terms.

Let’s see if I can make a few haters over something other than music. I’ll give politics a rest for now. On second thought, the Israeli government should be despised and admired at the same time. First, my hat is tipped to them for their ability to do what our government failed so miserably at; hunting down terrorist leaders. No one does it better than Israel has ever since the Munich Olympics in 1972.

However, no one goes to the extreme of killing innocent people like Israel has since October 7, 2023. The utter destruction of Gaza and the random manner to which they have murdered children and innocent women and men is the worst the world has seen since World War II. The thirst for blood displayed by Benjamin Netanyahu places him toward the top of the most vindictive leaders ever. Claiming to protect the future of a nation while murdering children is what we came to expect from the likes of Hitler and not someone who our government calls an ally.

My problem with how our government ran up trillions of dollars in debt fighting two wars after 9/11 was we went too far trying not to anger anyone by the manner we fought. It yielded nothing. Israel just does the opposite. When the world speaks out, they just show it a giant middle finger that presses a button and fires more missiles to kill more innocent people.

If any other nation did what Israel has done the past year, we would call it Russia.

Why is it when a human turd like DeShaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns goes down with a major injury, people call it Karma? If this is true, we’re all human turds because none of us get out of here without major setbacks. I don’t care how many women Watson has paid off and whether he got away with crimes or just horrible behavior. He is a reflection of what all of us have created.

We’re all guilty of placing people on pedestals for offering us nothing other than some talent we wish we had. Watson, at best, has demonstrated consistently questionable behavior. I get the hate people have toward him and the team that made him very wealthy, the Cleveland Browns. However, your anger toward him is also celebrated by the wealthiest turds on the planet. They are the kind who fail to pay their fair share in taxes while paying off more victims than Watson ever will. Even worse, they get to cozy up to our leaders who make sure they go undertaxed while the rest of us are expected to pay through the nose.

I no longer want to hear people say there is nothing they can do about the system. You are just telling everyone as long as you have enough to feel satisfied, you can’t be bothered about how our nation has been taken hostage by a select few. Basically, you have been bought. If your real anger only comes out once you are smacked in the face, well, maybe that’s your Karma. Leaders at every level, whether it be in politics, economics, or at your workplace, want you to remain silent. They also want you to live in fear of losing your job, not having access to health care, the high price of food and gas, and countless other things so you won’t question the system that holds you back.

If you can’t make noise for others, don’t expect them to make it for you.

Then again, I can also attest to what happens when you make noise on behalf of others at the workplace. In my case, it resulted in involuntary transfers, written apologies, attorneys, more attorneys, and then more attorneys, and finally, lots and lots of changes in my teaching assignments. Some employees do what is called quiet quitting. I just kept taking notes and keeping very good files while teaching whatever I was assigned. I may have been tossed under a few school district buses, but I made damn sure the right people became speed bumps first.

I laugh when I read people complaining about the high prices artists charge for their concerts. The likes of Elon Musk are provided with tax breaks worth billions of dollars by your elected leaders, and you can only get angry because of the price of a Bruce Springsteen ticket?

Now that election day has come and gone, maybe we can get on with what really matters — Jesus Season. Nothing screams the life of Christ like running up credit card bills, drinking eggnog until tossing your cookies, and getting into verbal fisticuffs with loved ones over the election results. “Peace on Earth and Kill Your Enemies”, I say.

Instead of Christmas, can we just call this time of year what it really is; The National Shopping Season. Black Friday, Drunk Shopping Saturday, Hungover Returns Sunday, Cyber Monday, Identity Theft Tuesday, Hump an Elf Wednesday, and Hire a Sexy Santa’s Helper Thursday all have more to offer than Christmas ads from Walmart. Once a day, we can observe a moment of silence, a very brief one at that, to think about Jesus, or is it black Jesus? Brown Jesus? Jesus Christ WTF Jesus? Anyway, it’s worth a go.

Recently, I purchased a pair of Nike Air Pegasus’ to update my four year old pair that just doesn’t wear out (I wish I could say the same about myself). I have been a runner so long that I can remember owning the first iteration of the Pegasus. Now they are in their 40’s and I am 66. Pegasus’ are still one of the most comfortable shoes to wear whether you run or just spend hours sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room.

My problem is not with Nike and the shoes I purchased. My issue is with the man bun wearing hipster population that have decided to refer to a classic shoe as “The Peg.” If it is The Peg, does that make those who wear them peggers? Do they participate in pegging events? If so, I will donate mine to a homeless guy and go purchase a different brand. How about a shoe called The Oral? Maybe another called The Penetrator. Perhaps call a shoe The Peck and its wearers Peckers. How about the Phuck and its owners … [expletive avoided]. Of course, it this were to happen, they would have to be sold next to the sex toys at my local CVS.

Speaking of Nike, for those who voted for Trump because of all the foreigners in this country who take jobs from Americans who refuse to move out of mom and dad’s basement, keep this in mind: When Elliott Hill relies on sweatshop labor from overseas so he can get you to pay $200.00 for a pair of shoes (I paid $74.00 for a display model pair), just remember you will pay more than double that if they are made in America with labor at $20.00 an hour with full benefits. And picking on Elliott Hill for his labor practices is like pointing out the crappy excuse called beef at McDonalds while other fast food joints and finer restaurants the meat is no better.

Too many Americans have their heads up their hypocritical asses (Mine is so far up that I can almost see the light). We want and want while we whine about our wages and the cost of everything. Personally, I don’t eat at fast food joints (except Gordo’s around the corner from me) because their food either tastes like crap or is actually crap. I avoid “real” restaurants primarily because their quality of food is not much better, is smothered with so many seasons and salts to hide its actual flavor, and because they charge an arm and a leg for a cold beer.

Everything comes with a price. I recently landscaped my backyard. With fall arriving, I decided now was a good time to put some plants in the ground and create a nicer feel to my backyard. There are plants that I refer to as my misfits because they sat on outdoor clearance shelves hoping someone would give them a home instead of buying nicer looking ones. Between Walmart (the Devil’s Den) and Lowe’s, I scored plenty of deals. I then repurposed lumber from previous projects and laid out planting areas. I also went on rock hunts for borders and purchased solar lights on clearance to add some night time ambiance.

You would think that with all the money I saved that I would hire one or two people to turn over the rock-hard soil in my backyard and plant everything. Instead, with the help of a hose to moisten the soil, I turned over soil and planted trees, flowers, grasses, and groundcover for very long work days. I ended up saving quite a bit of money that I now am able to spend at my chiropractor so he can adjust everything I managed to knock out of alignment. EVERYTHING comes with a price.

I have decided to pull a Larry David. Why should I be expected to fill out online forms for medical offices, so they do not have to pay someone to do it? I don’t receive a discount and I sure as hell don’t receive better service. From now on I will arrive 15 minutes early to my doctors’ appointments and fill everything out on paper just to make them pay someone to scan and download it themselves.

If a doctor’s office can afford to pay front office staff, physician assistants, tech support, and nurse’s assistants, then they should also pay me to fill out forms on a computer. Asking a patient to do this is the equivalent of self-checkout lines.

It’s official, the medical services in Chico only rival those in a third world country. Most recently, four phone numbers to neurologists that were listed on the internet yielded one that is no longer in service, another that is now an eye clinic, a third that never rang but went straight to elevator music, and a fourth that was not open despite their posted website office hours saying it was. Then came a second text reminder from a clinic for an upcoming appointment long canceled because when they called me a month ago I told them I would no longer be a patient at a place that takes two and a half months to return my call. Oh, and CVS does not think it needs to remind my doctor he needs to contact my insurance for an RX refill but has no trouble suggesting I call my doctor.

On the bright side, CVS still sells plenty of sex toys and I will celebrate the Jesus Season and use my weekly discount to grab my children some. If your local CVS is not selling any, let me know your preference and I will grab them for you. Of course, you must fill out my online forms first and know that I do not bill insurance.

One of these days I am going to purchase and use one of those CVS sex toys so I can bitch and moan about the product. If all goes well, I will moan more than I bitch.