Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Life is like a bowl of soup

I made a big pot of chicken and lentil soup the other day and it was delicious. I'm not much of a soup guy but if a bowl of soup is significantly more than just hot water with chunks floating in it then I might give it a try. My lentil and chicken soup was very thick and hearty and when you add a healthy dollop of sour cream it really hits the spot.

The wife and I were eating on that big pot of soup for several days. The kids wouldn't help us with it. Anyhow the wife hands me the last bowl just yesterday and in her haste she failed to warm it up thoroughly. You know how something will start bubbling on the stove and it even starts steaming but it doesn't actually get hot if you don't leave it on there for a little while longer? Well that's what she did and it got me to thinking.

Hey this soup is kind of cold, was the first thought that cam into my head upon taking a bite of the not thoroughly warmed soup. My second thought was that soup isn't very good cold. Then my mind starting wandering. You know soup should be hot. The first spoonful should be approached with caution. You look at it and you blow on it then you take a small portion into your mouth. Then you take a little more until the spoonful is gone. Then you might stir the bowl and reload your spoon, blow and then carefully take another small amount into your mouth. As you begin to carefully eat your very hot soup the flavors begin to stimulate your taste buds. As you are able to take more and more of the soup into your mouth the experience becomes more and more enjoyable and the soup is quickly eaten.

I started thinking how life, if approached properly, is like a hot bowl of delicious soup. If you approach it slowly and somewhat cautiously, stir things around a little bit until it is the way you like it, blow on it some (fine tuning) if you need to, and then little by little take in more and more until you are giving it your all, and keep at it until it becomes delicious and you have consumed it all.

Life like soup should be delicious but if it isn't warmed up properly it won't be anywhere near as good as it can be.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Bring Back Rock and Roll

I've decided to do a daily blog. I figure that everyone has had, at least at one time or another, something to say. So how about me? I might have something to say. Ask around. Some people even listen when I speak, maybe not my wife and kids so much, some people though, sometimes, I think.

Anyhow what I want to say today is that I'm getting a little fed up with all this so called rock and roll music. I haven't heard any real rock and roll on the radio since Joan Jett was pumping out hits. And even then we heard way to little of her and way to much Elton John and other so called classics. The eighties had some clever stuff but very little of it is what I call rock and roll and the nineties and whatever the next decade was called had zip to offer.

Have people really forgotten what rock is all about or do they just think they need to keep inventing the wheel? The wheel should be round and able to move heavy objects smoothly forward picking up speed, only limited by the laws of physics. Just like rock and roll. Real rock and roll should propel you. It should be like a snowball rolling down a mountain side getting larger and moving faster until it explodes as it plows into the lodge at the bottom. Real rock and roll should force you to your feet and get you on down the road.

When I listen to one of my "real" rock and roll favorites I can't sit still. The new stuff however literally puts me to sleep. What's wrong with this g'g'generation? I think they all need to take a little trip in Mr Wizard"s "Way Back Machine" and get a little taste of the real stuff.

Here is a short list of what I consider "real" rock and roll, which means music that has an infectious beat and at least subtle blues influences with a lot of heartfelt soul. Let me know if you concur.

The Who's Magic Bus, Live at Leeds. Make that the whole album. Most of everything the Rolling Stones did in the Sixties.Joan Jett's I hate myself for loving you, Crimson and Clover, I love rock and roll. Led Zeppelin One and Two, and Three was pretty good. They lost me however with Stairway to heaven.Elvis Presley I'm all shook up. Alice Cooper I'm Eighteen. Everything from the Animals. Most of ZZ top. Etc, Etc,