Teetering on the edge…how does Bret Michaels do it?
I have to give Bret Michaels credit, he has battled a life of disease and he keeps bouncing back.
At the age of six, he was diagonosed with Type I diabetes and has struggled to maintain his health all the while becoming an 80’s glam metal rock god, a history of hard hard partying, and what seems to be a constant limelight on his fame and health.
Over the years, Michaels has nearly died numerous times from a lethal mix of booze and his own personal battle with diabetes. Just in the last year, Michaels has suffered an emergency appendectomy, just weeks later he’s rushed back to the emergency room with an intense headache which turns out to be a brain hemorrage. Just the other day, he is again rushed to the ER while suffering a mild stroke and doctors discover a small hole in his heart called a Patent Forum Ovale. The condition is treatable but Michaels will be forced to rest again.
I see Michael’s story as a sort of wake up call to the average person out there who is convinced they are in tip top shape. Granted he has not taken the greatest care of his internal organs over the years, but looking at him, he’s thin, fit, and has the financial means to eat right and take care of himself. What scares me is the thought that diabetes has taken a toll on him. This internal tornado has been wreaking havoc on his body over the years and sadly I think his own doctors know why this is happening. It’s a very hard condition to control, it takes constant discipline, sugar control, and lifestyle modifications forever. Michaels is a shining example of the sick kid who has masked a serious condition for years with glitz, fame, sex, music, and any poppy distraction that the normal sufferer isn’t able to do.
Maybe he’s been hit with incredibly bad luck the last six months, is he being tested by somebody bigger. Be what it may, I hope he pulls through this and he can get back to the semi-slimy Bret we love to follow.
Come on ABC…Lambert only kissed another guy, big deal
What’s wrong ABC? You can’t allow a very flamboyant and talented singer on GMA?
However, you have prime time shows that openly display homosexual men/women and sometimes they kiss!
Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, they all have gay characters who quite frequently engaged in PDA. Granted, these are actors but there is no difference.
Adam Lambert grabbed a guy and gave him a smack on the lips on live TV. Oh noooooooooo!
MTV never lets us down…staged or not?
Either way, this was a rude move on his part. Career ending? No. Proves what kind of person he is? Yes. Enough said…
An apology is a wasted effort on his part. I like a lot of R & B artists, however, now I feel Easy E has more integrity then this clown. Actually, Easy E does have more integrity, he was a street thug and let us all know it through his rap music!
West is a punk, plain and simple.
George Michael and motor vehicles, a marriage made in heaven
He wasn’t wasted so he declares, but it has happened again. George Michael discovers more trouble behind the wheel.
“I’m never gonna drive again, wasted no but I’ve got no feeling”
“So I’m never gonna drive again, the way I drove with youuuu, hooo, hooo”
Why does a Bob Dylan X-mas album not do it for me…
I know he is a folk and rock legend who has influenced legions of artists and movements over the last four decades, but I don’t want to hear him sing holiday music. Even more strange that it’s in the news now?
I can’t help it, Dylan has never done much for me from an audibly pleasing standpoint.
A revolutionary, an artist in every sense of the word, and a staple in the folklore of popular music as we know it today.
Having said all that and knowing that Dylan is considered God (more so than Clapton)…I don’t want to hear an album of Bob Dylan X-mas music, which I hear will be released sometime this year (maybe around Christmas? Hahahaha)
Ironically, Dylan was Jewish who then became a Born Again Christian…beside the point.
Nat King Cole- Yes!
Sinatra -Yes!
Johnny Mathis- Yes!
Judy Garland- I can live with it…
Burl Ives – The man exudes X-mas music! (he was the snowman in Rudolph of course)
Bob Dylan – 68 years old, folk legend, still rocking and on tour (awesome)…do we need to hear Jingle Bells?…probably not.
Ken Griffey Jr pays a subtle tribute to the King of Pop
Griffey was acting “cutesy” during his first at bat in the Mariners game last night. “Billie Jean” blared over the sound system during his first at bat as he displayed one white glove.
He normally wears two, dark batting gloves.
Funny.
In Memoriam…a sad week in Hollywood
No Doubt – the disfunctional band that functions well
They’ve been pounding the pavement since the late 1980’s but struck platinum success in 1995 with the album Tragic Kingdom. That’s when the world was formally introduced to Gwen Stefani and since that time, she has transcended into a stand alone goddess of the pop/punk/grunge music world. Personally, I liked her when she had pigtails and wore wild, skater chick clothes of the late 90’s. I hope No Doubt can get their “ska’dom” back this summer as they tour together for the first time in five years.
This band has interesting dynamics. Gwen and bass player Tony Kanalused to be a couple but split, or became friends, not really sure. Gwen, as did other members of the group, embarked on solo projects with Gwen’s being the most well known. She marries ex-Bush front man Gavin Rossdale (who now has new music, but not with Bush).
The band recently began work on a new album without Gwen, but are now close to finishing it and should be completed in early 2010, with Gwen.
Unlike a lot of other bands these days, they seem to function well together and still manage to function with the individual pieces separated.
Why do songs come to life more late at night when alcohol is involved?
I have been asking myself this for years. The low lights, the shuffling crowd, and the emotionally charged atmosphere. At times, it brings out the best or the beast in us, some guys fight, some girls fight, or sometimes fight each other. Alcohol makes you focus (accept behind the wheel!), it makes you think, it opens your mind to ideas you’ve never had before, you develop ambitions that have escaped you, your guard is down, you love the guy next to you, or the girl. Everyone goes deaf and voices get louder, more spit flies into your face as your buddy or BFF taunts and teases you about something you’d rather not talk about.
The environment takes on a different look and feel, your mind races and remembers every move and sound you hear. People seem more interesting, you bond more with people you normally wouldn’t, and groups of strangers converge under one roof in a solitary, intimate setting watching each other intently as if everyone has a specific purpose for being there.
The time when the hope of new love or flashes of old love run crazy in your head. People who are important to you become that much more important as the alcohol cast a veil of truth over your body and there is no escaping its pull. You reflect on how things are and how they could be. For a few hours of the evening (or the afternoon), the outside world is a mere shadow of itself and you are now lost in an amazing jazz piece from the trio, or maybe a 70’s classic rock song blaring from an old school jukebox, or the thumping of an R&B song from the loudspeakers which seems to take on a new meaning and you think to yourself “I actually like that!”
The music becomes more intense, your admiration for a beautiful person in your life becomes stronger, and the cares of the everyday are swept away and everyone shares the feeling either together or deeply tucked away in their hearts and souls.
One thing is always a constant, the music. The melody is more catchy and the lyrics are more deeply meaningful..and hurtful. You listen harder, you sulk into the moment, you wish for things that haven’t happened yet, you reflect on past events and try desperately to sort them out into a somewhat logical order, you realize you liked that kind of music but never confessed it to anyone.
You swear to yourself that after tonight, I’m gonna get better, look better, act better, be a better friend, call my folks, call my brother, make a move, call her, call him, play with my kids more, share something personal with someone…but most of all…your juices are flowing and you don’t know why!
Just a few of my favorites to hear in a bar (or anywhere for that matter):
Frank Sinatra- In the Wee Small Hours. The song is from a man’s viewpoint but equally tugs at the heart of both sexes. Sinatra’s version is by far the best. Rumored to be right around the time he was in the midst of ending a relationship with actress Eva Gardner, the album In the Wee Small Hours was recorded in 1955. This time period is by far one of my favorites in modern music. Many say the songwriting was over the top and lyrics overly poetic but I think it was perfect.
Dave Brubeck Quartet- Take Five. I heard a live version of this at a jazz bar about four years ago and was memorized. The song is in a catchy 5/4 time signature which forces you to move. The entire club was bobbing their heads and “digging it man”
Journey – Send Her My Love. Now that you have picked yourself off the floor and wiped your tears from your laughing outburst, bare with me. The band wrote some pretty damn good ballads in their prime. Total junior high dance for 30 somethings now but still a shit bar classic. I bet you’ll still find Journey tunes in some pool halls out there!!! Like I said, when it’s 1:30am and you have a glazed, half baked feeling as you lean against the dusty bar, then this song sounds like it was written for you, just yesterday.
Lily Allen- The Fear. Now jumping to the present and boy what is it about her that I can’t get enough of. She’s very normal appearing at first glance until you notice she dresses odd, wears strange wigs in public, and is not a nice gal to talk to as I’ve heard she can be quite frank and offensive when interviewed, mmmm I like her even more now. I’m not a big techno, club music guy but damn. I want to pour her thick, English accent all over myself like hot chocolate syrup and…well…I dig the song too…and it grows on you.
The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight. Well…not much to say…the song was written about this very topic and it’s cool too.
Susan Boyle’s performance…something to make you feel all warm and fuzzy
This was the chatter of the week in case you’ve been hiding under a rock. Susan Boyle stunned the Britian’s Got Talent audience (and the judges) with her singing.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to. The video cannot be embedded so please follow the link. It is fun to watch! You need to watch the audience before she sings and you literally see people laughing and mocking her before she even begins. Watch the turnaround and watch Simon’s face as she starts her song…it is priceless. I wanted to run through the house and shout out the window.
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