We Are Breaking Down As A Nation.....

Welcome to 2020! A helluva party right? We are breaking down socially and politically. Our country is coming unglued right before our eyes....we are in the midst of a change, there can be no doubting that. We have children watching their parents and the people they are supposed to be learning life lessons from shooting each other, beating each other, and destroying property and business. They see liars and charlatans all around. Respect and taking pause before action are no longer things to be valued or taught. We have political leaders calling portions of Americans "enemies". We have leaders calling a portion of Americans terrorists. We have a president and a former presidential candidate saying they won't accept the results of the election.

We have people with their lives being destroyed over things they have written or said at much younger ages. We are getting dangerously close to compelled speech as we are told what we can and can't say. Our social media platforms, which should be awesome tools for conversation and working through differences used for making duck faces and piling hate and anger on to one another. People are starting to lose their homes. Bills are piling up. Small business' closing forever. We are on the brink of lawlessness. Our police have lost the respect and trust of a large number of people by being too heavy handed over the years and showing the inability to have empathy or to exhibit self-control in high pressure situations. We have citizens with no regard for law and order. Healthcare bills causing people's lives to be ruined, their savings to be depleted many go into depression and become suicidal. Some people want to actually protest in a peaceful manner to highlight injustice. Some people want to take advantage of that and loot and destroy our cities. Some people see that their leadership isn't reacting, so they feel the need to do so by protecting the streets. Our leadership sits on their hands and won't work together because they are scared of the mob or how many votes it may cost them. We are reflecting that in so many ways. We have a media that won't show us the truth, gaslights, and editorializes hard news to manufacture consent in the pursuit of political power and clicks. There is little hope....there is much hate.

Polls show we, as American citizens, want the following;

Campaign Finance Reform: the two parties don't

End the costly wars in the Middle East and northern Africa: the two parties don't

Stop subsidies for the fossil fuel industry; the two parties don't

Marijuana legalization/descheduling/decriminalization; the two parties don't

Universal healthcare; the two parties don't

Ending corporate welfare/bailouts: the two parties don't

Congressional term limits: the two parties don't

Our wants are not being addressed. We are at each others throats mainly due to our leadership, or lack thereof and the unwillingness to see through the long con. We have been played. We have been duped into this uber-tribal way of thinking as if our lives are ran by two sports teams. We reject compromise and talking to each other in a way that can lead to common ground and progress. We demonize each other to the contentment of the elite. The better for them to get away with pillaging our hard work, the planets resources, our liberties, and our humanity. We no longer even value our "sacred" vote. How will we ever get what we want if we don't demand it and use our votes to bring about substantial change? Aside from politics or voting, can we even put our egos aside for any sort of time that will allow us to hear and consider another opinion? Will our upheaval end up as a winner take all or will we be able to compromise into some sort of acceptable climate that we can build into a stable framework to move our country forward with? I don't know.....

Pandemics, 4/20, & Everything Else.....

NOTE: I wrote this in April...for some reason it didn't post when I scheduled it. I don't think the world missed it.

Here we are, another 4/20 is upon us. Where does the time go? This year's holiday is marred by a national lock down due to the COVID-19 virus, but since marijuana stores are deemed as "essential" business most people should be OK to celebrate, unless you are dry in a dry state. At that point, shame on you for not having an emergency stash. Smoke up Johnny! 

I've been working from home for over a month now and I can't say that I hate it. I'm not a real people person, so I tend to be able to get my work done and do it with a little less stress at home. No drive time. No burning up my gasoline. I still get up and do my normal routine, so the only difference for me is not driving to an office. I can walk 8 feet from my couch to my "office". I love it! 

Other than work, I've been enjoying the time I have been able to spend with my family. It's a second chance to connect with the kids. We have never been a family that sits down to dinner every night, but during the "lock down", we have been doing so at least 4 or 5 nights a week. It's been wonderful for me. Having my oldest home from college is nice, though I'm sure she would prefer to split her time between home and her college friends. This thing has kind of stalled out her "life development" and what she had gotten used to. 

I've also been watching some TV and listening to music more than I usually do. I have some shows I have gotten into and my friends have also been sending me suggestions. I've started texting my dad and brother a little bit and we exchange music. I don't often connect with them, so it's funny that we would be doing so while we are locked down, but I guess it's not something that I should take as unlikely, since all of us are at home with more down time than usual. 

My wife probably had the virus back in March. I don't think I've ever had a more physically and mentally wrecked week. Seeing someone in bed for nine days (that usually won't even spend a day of downtime for an illness) and not getting better was taxing, but we made it through.  I've started tuning out on the news a little, I'm just tired of the politics involved and seeing the shit show that is emerging from our leadership and from the reactions of the public in general. The information is conflicting from week to week and sometimes day to day. All I can do is stay as locked down as practical and try to wait things out. I like to control my life and this has taken that away, but I've adapted. 

During this time, I've also started cooking more than I ever have. Firing the grill up a few times a week, making BBQ and cheesy potato soup....mmm, mmm good! 

I don't really have anything else to say and this may be the most uninteresting stuff I've ever written, but I felt the need to just put some thoughts down for posterity. Hopefully anyone that reads this is doing OK and has come through the pandemic with their family and health intact. 

I Like The Sound & Love The Fury: Sturgill Simpson's "Sound & Fury"

SOUND & FURY

Sturgill Simpson has managed to do what I wasn't sure anyone could do for me anymore; introduce me to something unique musically. I need to start this off by admitting my bias. I'm a fan of Sturgill Simpson. I've poured over his lyrics, made the connections and admired the concepts of each record he has made. I suppose "man crush" could be a proper term.....I crush on the man's music. It's changed my life, much like The Beatles, The Beastie Boys, The Replacements, and Waylon Jennings have done after I absorbed their music. So, yeah, this album I'm about to talk about was going to be a tough record for me to NOT like. So, with that out of the way, I'll continue. One doesn't usually associate psychedelia, meditation, and rebellion with what most would consider a "country" artist. I am not a fan of genre, but for the sake of conversation, I do realize categorization is necessary. With the release of "Sound & Fury" I think it's safe to say that Simpson is a genre-bender on an all-time great scale. With the release of the Grammy Award winning album "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" you could feel it coming on as he started the transition away from a traditional sound to a style that was willing to dip its' toes into a lot of different musical pools, metaphorically speaking of course. 

"Sound & Fury" may not sound like the prototypical "outlaw" album, but I feel it's the most outlaw thing he's done since giving a good woman a ring. You would never describe this as honky tonk or country music, but it does have those elements soaked in that you can vaguely feel bubbling below the surface. Lyrically, Sturgill isn't too coy, but most of his fans are going to understand that he is singing to Nashville, the corporate music world, and the fame machine and there isn't much sweetness in his words. He gets his digs in. He "love(s) to say no to all the yes men, just to see the looks on their face" and announces that it's "fuck y'all season". To go along with that, the music is also a thunderous message to the establishment. He is telling them he won't be boxed in and he is separating the wheat from the chaff. This is a man letting the world know that he is going to make his art and shape his life in a way that he sees fit. There isn't much room for compromise and you can either stick with him and his art, or you can get off the bus. There is also a Japanese style anime movie released as the video track for the album. You can find that on Netflix. There are plenty of visual clues in the film that coincide directly with the message he is putting out there in the music. 

Yeah, anyone that knows me, is going to understand all of the aforementioned is in my wheelhouse. I love musicians and filmmakers that don't lock themselves into an idea of themselves, or what others see them to be. You can't move forward running in place. Sturgill keeps forging ahead and with each album release, you can feel that he is stretching his talents and challenging himself. "Sound & Fury" is a collection of music that I've heard thousands of times, yet feels fresh and special. All the boxes are checked; The Cars, ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, James Brown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kool and the Gang, Led Zeppelin, Giorgio Moroder among many other influences. No, you don't see Merle, Hank, or Waylon on that list. Their spirit remains, but the music is rooted in 70's hard rock, funk, New Wave, and southern style rock n roll. The guitar work is vicious and in your face at times and rarely feels restrained. Sturgill continues to impress me with his guitar work. The astute listener will hear Jimmy Page, David Gilmour and other rock gods permeating from the strings. It's a lot of fun to watch him go to work when seeing him live, but he manages to convey his energy and skill on wax as well. I'm not sure if it was any part intentional, but there is NOTHING on this record that can be played on your local Top 40 country radio station. Nashville will not be able to even try to get a hand on his coattails He has black balled them from his success. He didn't need them to become who he is. The CMA and money machine has stripped most mainstream music from Nashville of its' authenticity. To borrow the title of one of the albums strongest tracks, Sturgill is going to "Make Art, Not Friends". 

The album has been a revelation. I've never heard anything quite like it. It was like hearing "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Paul's Boutique" and being truly overcome with the feeling that what you are hearing is special. It hadn't been done THAT way before. It demands to be listened to loud. The mix pulls the vocals back into the music, so if you want to find them, you gotta crank the volume to 11. You gotta work for it. The album sleeve says it all; "Fuck Your Speakers". He is meaning to kick your ass and grab you by your metaphoric balls. "Sound & Fury" is a great headphone album. The synth grooves, vicious guitar, and relentless rhythm section give it an "ear candy" quality without being soft or immediately soothing. After a few listens, the subtlety started to emerge for me. I got comfortable with the music and the funk groove and beats started to show through and just totally hooked me. 

This is a true concept album. With each album it has felt like an evolution was taking place in the way Simpson structured song sequences and weaved a bit of a narrative from start to finish. This record sees all of that come to a head. You are hearing the collection of songs as one piece of art. The listener is along for the ride as the radio switches stations suddenly and we get a blast of something different than what we were just immersed in. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Simpson made it clear that he saw the album as one piece of music. There aren't many musicians that make albums quite like that anymore. How many artists will release and album these days with only 9 or 10 tracks? Usually you will get 13 to 15. It's all thrown at you, hoping a song or two sticks. Sturgill is about creating an experience and in my opinion, he has made his best album to date. The total package is there. The lyrics, the music, the concept, the passion, the visuals are at a peak (or are they?). Some of his fans are going to treat this like Bob Dylan going electric. That's OK, because Sturgill isn't stuck in the past. He is moving on. The anime video is moving him towards a potential new group of fans. He has a graphic novel based on the "Sound & Fury" film in the works and the musical direction is putting his sound into the ears of millennial types who may not have otherwise wanted to listen to "country" music. It's shrewd and potentially risky, although I'm not sure Sturgill would even acknowledge either. He doesn't seem like a guy that doesn't have a plan though. He is the anti-sell out. The easy move would have been to do a sequel to "A Sailors Guide...". To stay accessible for his audience and new fans, but not really challenging himself or them. With "Sound & Fury", Sturgill Simpson has set the bar high. It has quickly catapulted into one of my favorite records ever. It feels wrong to wrap this up without having mentioned Sturgill's band. They are a trio of fantastic musicians that give Sturgill the excellence that he strives for. He allows them to be a part of the process and they reward him with steady, clever, and on point craftsmanship. Drummer Miles Miller, bassist Chuck Bartels, and keyboardist Bobby Emmett are all Sturgill needs to burn a house down. Those guys can rock, they can slow it down, they can be whatever they are needed to be. 

There are a ton of reviews out there, if you like that sort of thing and I urge anyone that isn't really into sitting down and listening to an album, to perhaps turn on Netflix and check out the anime film which coincides with the album. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a visual doorway into the music and that music is worth hearing. 

10 Year Anniversary of Freddy's Open Mind

It's hard to believe that I started this blog ten years ago. A lot has changed. I've passed through my 40's, I am at a different job, and the friends I see the most of have changed. Neighbors have come and gone. I've watched my kids grow up and I've seen myself change as a person.  

Being able to put things I've thought or opined on into a type of "journal" just sitting out there for anyone to read has been a bit of a blessing and a curse. I can look back and see where I have changed. World view, politics, passions, hobbies.....I have had ups and downs with those things and I'd like to believe I have evolved into a better version of myself for the most people possible. I started writing so I could entertain myself and a few others and it eventually grew into a place for me to express my ideas and to organize thoughts and beliefs. I went on record with myself. I have really slowed down on the writing since my job now demands me be in front of a computer monitor all day long. I'm not as interested in coming home and hitting the keyboard again, after doing it for the past eight hours. 

I'm not implying that I really have anything to say these days and I'm missing out on getting stuff down. Just the opposite actually. My life has become very run of the mill and I will hesitate to use the word "boring", but I will say that life has become fairly predictable for me. So much so, that I wonder if this is how it's going to be from now on. What will I respond to about this particular piece ten years from now? Will I be into something else as a hobby? Will I even still manage to care about writing once in awhile? Of course I have no way of knowing that, but my strongest suspicion leads me to think that life will be as different at 60 as it was from 40 to 50. 

I'll admit that I miss some things from ten years ago. Oddly enough, I miss the kids being dependent. I'm very happy of course that they are growing into interesting young people, but I know that's going to eventually trend towards them leaving home. It's already partially happened with my oldest daughter living at college more than at the house. My youngest is an independent thinker and while I always enjoy engaging her in conversation, she is much more guarded with her time as she gets older. My immediate family is the most important aspect of my life. I care about how they are progressing and have worked on me so I don't impede them. 

I miss the friends that I don't get to hang out with anymore. Everyone moves on. Families start, people find new jobs and interests. It happens. When we are in the moment, it seems like what we are used to and probably content with, will roll on indefinitely. There is always that "last time" though, that we do something we enjoy and don't realize it's over. I also believe it works the other way. Sometimes things we don't enjoy end. Again, we just move on and something new fills the void in our time and relationships. 

That's about it I suppose, as I didn't want to let the date pass without acknowledging a decade of writing and sharing. I do sort of  hope that this blog will be a tool for my kids to use to learn a little more about me than they may have ever wanted to know. If I croak out tomorrow, anyone could start at the beginning and work through enough of my posts to figure out who I was. My motivations for writing changed from time to time and all in all, I have enjoyed just getting to write on stuff I loved, hated, laughed at, or cared about. If my children or friends want to learn about how I felt about a topic or what I was interested in or pissed off about or what I thought about politics, culture, etc....well, it's here. 

My New Hobby: Bourbon & Whiskey

As I get older, the ability to continue past hobbies has either gotten to a point where I can't physically do those things anymore, or I have become a bit bored or disinterested. I've always been fairly athletic and enjoyed baseball, softball, and basketball (sometimes golf) over the years, but as aforementioned, my "physicality" at age 50 just isn't going to allow for those things any longer. I've collected baseball cards and as I've gravitated away from MLB, it just doesn't interest me like it used to. Vinyl albums are a hobby also, but other than a few discs that I'm on the lookout for, I have just about everything I care about musically. By the way, I'm looking for "Seed of Memory" by Terry Reid....so if  you see it when perusing a flea market, grab it for me! :) My growing older and waning interest in past endeavors has led me to start becoming a bourbon/whiskey enthusiast.

I've been a fan of the stuff since my mid 20's, as I'm not much on beer and while I do enjoy rum on occasion, it's whiskey that has more or less interested me as both an intoxicant and as an interest. I decided some months back to engage bourbon/whiskey as more of a hobby. I started learning about it; how it was first invented, how it's distilled, bottled, the terminology, and of course the different varieties one can find. 

YouTube and a few "review" sites on the 'net have had a large hand in my education. Nothing can beat actually tasting though as an education into the hobby. That has led me to a nearly full blown obsession with finding recommended bottles and giving them a try. I have a decent beginner collection (for want of a better term), but I'm not really a collector. If I buy it, I intend on drinking it eventually. I don't care about "investing" in it or just having full bottles sitting around, although they do make nice conversation and decorative pieces in a lot of cases. 

Here is a shot of my "better" bourbons (along with a bottle of Monkey Shoulder scotch, which I really like) and the highest cost of any bottle there is $80. Most of what I have shown here can be had for under $50 or more in the $40 range. 

I have become a fan of the McKenna 10 year old bottled in bond from Heaven Hill in the past year and it has won a couple of awards in 2018 and 2019 which has made it a little more scarce than I'd like. I used to be able to pick up a bottle at $30 any time I wanted and these days it takes a little more hunting and can run up to $50. I'm not inclined to pay more than $35 for it, so it may be a brand that I eventually  have to let go of. The "run" has inflated the prices and while I do enjoy it and will always try to have a bottle around, I can find some good value under $30 that I know I'll be able to get almost any time I want. So, there is an element of supply and demand when it comes to bourbon and it can be a little frustrating to know that there are "hoarders" that buy up stuff with the intention of reselling at a higher rate. 

I have found some of my favorites to come from the bottom shelf, which in whiskey terms is basically "the cheap stuff". Cheap doesn't always equate with bad though. Bonded in Bond bourbons (click the link to learn more) are generally cheap in price, but can pack a good punch and my entry into learning about bourbon started in that area. BiB is always going to be 100 proof, so the strength is there and while they are usually a little bit younger (they have to be aged 4 years at least) there is a decent enough flavor profile. I enjoy Fast Eddie's favorite, JTS Brown quite a bit, and in addition to the aforementioned McKenna, Evan Williams BiB is also pretty damned good for under $20. My cheap go to though is the Heaven Hill green label. Aged 6 years and I believe only sold in Kentucky, it's a great starting point for anyone wanting to put on the training wheels and get into the hobby. 

These are my favorite cheaper brands that I sip on....

I have found a couple of great resources for learning about bourbon on YouTube, my favorite being "The Bourbon Guild".  A group of four bourbon enthusiast friends do reviews and blind tastings of different brands and it's fun and interesting to watch them discuss and argue about flavor and aroma profiles as well as value. They may be my favorite YouTube program. Always entertaining and informative, I have learned the tendencies and preferences of each of them and that helps me decide what I may want to try and what I may want to avoid. Hats off to Dutch, Dillon, Jules, and Ben Richards the butcher of Bakersfield for putting together such a fun show to watch. 

Another good program is "The Whiskey Vault". The "Somm" and the "Mooch" are also very entertaining and while they may not do the straight up review that other programs work from, they are very informative and dive into different areas that help one to expand their knowledge and understanding. They also get into a lot of different shenanigans....some miss, but most hit and they are an interesting pair to listen to. Their motto is basically like this; "the best whiskey to drink is what you like and the best way to drink it is the way you enjoy it"...I am paraphrasing, but that's the gist of it and how I try to approach my sipping! I would recommend either of these programs for people that want to learn more about the hobby or try to find out about some brands they may want to try. Most of the programs on YouTube that review bourbon are OK and can be fun to watch, but there are a few that just give arbitrary number scores to what they are sampling and without a discussion, I can't trust that what they like, I will like. 

Well, that's what I have been up to in recent months. I like to sip a few days a week while listening to music or whatever and I'm finally learning to pick up on flavor and aroma profiles. That has been a little difficult for me, but I feel like I would get disinterested in expanding my horizons if there wasn't a "game" to bourbon sipping. The nuance and discovering what I like and don't like in the profiles keep me coming back!

Take care.....and I'll leave you with a couple of videos....

From The Bourbon Guild, hilarious and informative, they have me sold on wanting this. It's out of my price range, but maybe Christmas? I swear, Ben Richards may be a long lost relative! 

The Whiskey Vault takes on Heaven Hill white label.....