The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

OK, I was planning on writing my year end VENT but decided against it. Why? Just not in the mood. I've been too busy listening to the ghosts of the past. Now before you start thinking that I'm a schizophrenic in dire need of his meds , allow me to clarify. I love music of all kinds. A friend put music in a different perspective to me last night. As a non musician, she perceives it thusly : Music is what makes all of us move. To the song writer, its what we create. To the musician, its what we learn. To the dancer, its what we listen to and then translate into physical movement. If we're depressed, music lifts us up. If we're feeling good, music takes us to an even higher ground. Music is all around us and it runs through us...at all times. That said, I've been indulging my love of old 1920s-30s blues lately. Damn there's some great stuff out there. These are the ghosts of today's 'popular' music. Without these geniuses, caught somewhere, somehow on t...

I'm not very good at holidays...never have been. I always become extremely introspective and melancholy. However, I do tend to sweep that mess under my karmic carpet and at least make an attempt to make the holidays special for those I care about. This year is no different. Sure, I'm still broke (thanks in no small part to the ongoing legal battle) but I've found that money doesn't necessarily buy the best gifts. (don't worry...if you're on my gift list, you're still getting a present! HAHA ) But the past few days, I've been giving thought to the things that are truly precious. Just the other night, my neighbor's house burned down. While there is no good time for that to happen, I think that the holidays has got to be the worst time for such a tragedy. My heart just goes out to them. Everyday as I pass the burnt out shell of a house, I think of all the times I saw this family in and around their home. Their noisy little yip yip dog would bark at me a...

This is the 4th year in a row that I've posted this blog. I hope y'all enjoy it! A lot has changed in my life since the 1st time I posted it but all in all, life is good! Cheers! BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!!!!!! 4th YEAR!!!!!! Thanksgivus Thanksgivus: that's what she called it. The 'she' in question would be a very short, loud, middle aged black woman with retardation who I supervised for years. Her name is Omega...fitting because she truly is THE END! Omega didn't exactly have a speech problem but I think her hearing wasn't 100% on the mark, as certain words would get slurred together such as "Thanksgivus". Another fave was her version of Social Security, which often sounded more like "sociable secretary" (of which I've known a few). Thanksgivus (which is what I now prefer to call the US holiday Thanksgiving) is the last Thursday of November (this is for my overseas friends who may not be fully knowledgeable of the subject). It is the h...

In the last few days, life has shown me some things about myself. I can honestly say that I like who Ive become. Being in my 40s is nowhere near as dreary as I thought it would be! It's definitely never boring! Friday, I debated all day whether or not to go see SUN Records legend, Sonny Burgess and his band The Pacers. Normally you'd think that I'd jump at the chance to see one of the originators of the music I love...but I've seen Sonny a bunch of times over the past 14 years and I can honestly say, he was best the 1st time. I was also reticent to spend $15 to see him...but as my friends Wes & Mike's new band was also on the bill, and I'd come into some extra cash, I decided what the hell. My friends' band ARR, were really good. Just good old fashioned rockin' hillbilly boogie kinda stuff. No showboating, just good music. Then Sonny and Co. came on and I knew life was about to get weird. When Sonny put The Pacers back together in 2001 or so, I share...

Welcome to my dark side. We all have one. You can lie to yourself and everyone you know and say that you don't but you do. I know I do. My dark side is simple enough though. Those closest to me already know all about it. It may come as a surprise to everyone else though, that I have lived with/suffered with chronic depression pretty much my entire life. As it turns out, its a genetic trait passed down on my mother's side of the family. My mother quietly battled depression. Her twin sister did the same. Their mother eventually committed suicide due to hers. My first suicidal impulses started at age four. They've continued for 39 years. Sometimes they're frequent, sometimes not so frequent. The most important thing I learned about them is that they are impulses, nothing more. They're like a nagging itch in my brain. If I ignore it, it gets worse. I had to find my own way to "scratch that itch" though. I learned to talk myself through it. I remind myself that...

I can sympathize with Charlie Brown. He tries to be a good kid and do the right thing but life often, like Lucy Van Pelt, pulls the football away at the last second. So, Charlie Brown was just a good kid with odd luck and an unabiding love for his dog. Went to court today in hopes of finally ending my nearly 2 year legal ordeal. For those of you unfamiliar, look back through these blogs and you'll be caught up. You know you've been in court too many times when you're on a 1st name basis with the clerks and bailiffs! LOL After 2 and a half hours of sitting doing nothing, the court proceedings finally get under way. 2 cases ahead of me; a drug addict pleading guilty to forging scripts to get probabtion and a simple assault case being postponed...and then me. But then I see my lawyer talking with the prosecution...I've learned this never goes well for me. My lawyer takes me out into the hallway to inform me that the case is being postponed. Again. Until February 2010! Whil...

I wish I was an Okie from Muskogee...you know, that place where even squares can have a ball. It seems like too many people have lost the ability to just have FUN anymore. These days, it seems like folks can't have a good time without drinking, smoking pot, snorting something, popping a pill or belittling someone else (usually someone not present). What happened? I thought that we, as a species, were evolving. Instead, it seems that we've stunted...and as 8th graders to boot! I remember when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to be 'grown up' so that I wouldn't have to deal with childishness anymore. Alas, it seems that the grown ups have all gone off and died and left the brats in charge. Everywhere I look these days, I see rampant immaturity. No one wants to take responsibility for anything anymore. Guess what, part of taking responsibility means facing up to the mistakes we make. These days, it seems that most folks would rather sweep their follies under the prover...

You could almost say I have a ghost in my own backyard! Well, not quite my back yard but at least close to home. You'd think that living close to a cemetary, I'd be telling of ghosts there but you'd be wrong! This is the story of Peter, a little boy ghost. I've heard this story for years! My family has lived in this area since the early 20th century. Up until recently, the oldest house in Allegheny county was our family homestead, but after the death of my great aunt Alberta, the house was sold. My grandmother and great aunts used to tell me stories of prohibition and all the crazy times. I wish my great aunt Ann was alive so I could get more information on this alleged 'bordello'. (she lived right up the street...but WAS NOT a working girl! LOL)Anyhoo, on with the story... BLAHA FLOWER SHOP (Etna, Allegheny County) Shop owner David Kornely relocated his flower and gift shop to Bridge Street in Etna in 1991. He had heard the building was haunted but had no secon...

Grrrrrrrrreetings and welcome to my 1st Halloween-inspired blog!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA OK, everyone loves ghost stories and such...well, at least most of the people I know do! I know I love them...and as I'm also a bit of a history geek, I thought I'd mix the two! So here goes nothing! A bit of 'haunted local history'. If you know of some scary local history, please fill me in! It doesn't have to be Pittsburgh, it can be from anywhere! NOTE: I didn't write the following. I took it from a web site. As a bit of a Halloween prank, I'll let YOU figure out which one! MWAHAHAHAHAHA Enjoy....... The Original Most Haunted House in AmericaCongelier Mansion, 1129 Ridge Avenue Formerly known as the Most Haunted House in America, the home of carpetbagger Charles Wright Congelier, his Mexican wife Lyda, and a young servant girl, Essie, was located at 1129 Ridge Avenue, in the Manchester, North Side, neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The story of its life as a haunted house* begins i...

I've long said that I liken creativity to psychosis...and if you really think about it, it's probably not far from the truth. The creative mind sees/hears/smells/tastes things that don't exist until we create them. As a musician, writer and photographer, I view the world with my own weird set of senses. I hear music that no one else can hear. I see images that while visible to others, are probably not perceived the way I perceive them. I have stories running through my head at all times. It can be quite a frightening mess at times! LOL But every now and then, I can get these ideas OUT of my head and transform them into something that others can (hopefully) enjoy or at least recognize. I, for years, played in rockabilly bands almost exclusivley. During the past few years, along with some serious personal issues, I found this to be severely stifling. My photography suffered from it as did my writing and composing. I found myself becoming a caricature of myself. I did NOT enjo...

30 years in the music biz and damn, alot has changed...except for the money. Musicians make LESS now than 30 years ago! LOL But I was just thinking about all the places I've played over the years...and how many of them are gone. Just here in Pittsburgh, the list goes kinda like this... The Decade (and its many later incarnations, The Next Decade, Tobacco Roadhouse, Ribbits, etc...) The Upstage The Attic Zelda's Thirsty's Kangaroo's Anthony's Nick's Fat City Jack's on 18th Dolly B's Boo Boo's Luciano's Skelly's Del Frati's The Jukebox The Electric Banana Club Ed The Riverside Penn Cafe/Nooner's 3 River's Brewery Rosebud Metropol Graffitti and the list goes on & on....(these are just places that I used to play regularly See kids, THIS is what happens when you don't support LIVE music. Businesses go under. That means that YOU have to pick up the tab for those lost tax dollars! LOL Man...it's just sad.......

One of the nice things about being comfortably in my 40s is that I get to look back with no regrets. I also get to look at kids today and bitch! LOL The kids today just seem to NOT GET rock & roll. The occasional young bands I see pretty much suck (oh sure, there ARE exceptions) and the crowds just don't know how to party. Its not just me saying that, I know a lot of bartenders, club owners, etc., who share in that same thought. Seems most of the kids today want to be in bed at a reasonable hour. WTF??? All of this brings me to thinking about the regional music scene. 25 years ago, it was HOPPING! 15 years ago, it was HOPPING! In the past 5-10 years, its been a serious downhill slide. Whats WRONG with the kids today???? Hey, we didn't have money but we still managed to create some great music. Did we have the greatest gear known to man? No! But we used what we had and used our own creativity to make it happen. While I've always loved all kinds of music; punk, blues, c...

8 years on and I still miss you. 8 years on and I still think about you. 8 years on and I still think of all the good times and bad. 8 years on and I still laugh at your jokes. 8 years on and I still tell people funny stories about us. 8 years on and I'm still mad as hell that you were taken from us. 8 years on and I still cry and get depressed. 8 years on and I still think of you on your birthday. 8 years on and I can still see your face. 8 years on and I can still hear your voice. 8 years on and I'm still trying to move on. 8 years on and you're still the annoying little bird on my ass. 8 years on and I still feel the terror. 8 years on and I still miss you.

If Jesus were here today (and who knows, He could well be!) would He be a socialist? I can already hear the religious right screaming for my crucifixion and calling me a heretic but I'm just posing a question. As Jesus said to the Apostle Peter, “What do you say I am?” Take a look at this list and see what YOU think: Jesus owned nothing. Jesus loved all people regardless of ethnicity or class. Jesus revolted against the imperial government, established religion and finance capitalism. Jesus taught that we should act as one body, one blood. Jesus taught that his kingdom is in the heart and not below the feet. Jesus taught that we should fight for Justice and 'turn the other cheek' to petty morality. Jesus was a laborer and a teacher. Jesus practiced healing and forgiveness. Sure sounds like a pinko socialist type to me! Heck, we all know that the poor CHOOSE to be poor because they're too lazy and shiftless to work. And those sick people, heck, they're all just faki...

The GOP, once known as the Grand Old Party has become, in essence, the Great Obsolete Party. (Greedy Old People perhaps?) Let's face it, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin (who I still think is hot as all git out, but I digress) are their most recognizable faces. That alone should be enough to realize that the party's days are numbered. So, when backed into a corner, they do like any wild beast will: they come out foaming at the mouth and essentially scaring off anyone or anything that would want to try to help. Case in point; the Great Obama State of the Student Union Address (my term for it thankyouverymuch LOL). Soooooo, it seems that our prez wants to address school students and tell them positive things like stay in school, get an education and don't be a putz. But the GOP and its cronies have decided that this is some form of secret indoctrination to Socialism. FACT: Obama is a Democrat, NOT a socialist! I AM a socialist and I can tell you that he's not one of us! LOL ...

I am primitive. I live in the jungle. Race, colour, creed, gender...are all unimportant. I ignore them. I hunger for my own. I thirst for knowledge. I hunt the uninformed. I have things to tell them. I am neither right nor wrong. I just am. I am primitive. I live in the jungle. I step with purpose. The only laws are those of nature. I learned long ago from my ancestors that we do right because it is right. I do not search for the creator. I accept it's existence. I teach the younger and respect the elders. I am primitive. I live in the jungle. I live among the civilised and watch them mistreat each other. I do not understand it. I live without greed. My needs are simple and few. Wanting is a drug. The civilised use it. I watch the civilised kill their own merely to gain the material. I am content in the jungle. Are they? I am primitive. I live in the jungle. My jungle is neither trees nor caves. It is concrete, steel and suburbs. Farms are a memory. The civilised follow the machine...

So my sentencing date was pretty much 'much ado about nothing'. I got there @ 8:20am for my 8:30am sentencing...and of course, it was a typo on my form. No one else was there til 9:00am! LOL Another hour goes by, pretty much everyone piddling about...the one clerk was on the phone checking into purchasing a car for her daughter, the other clerk was doing some filing and the court reporter didn't even show til about 9:30! The judge then asked to see both lawyers in chambers...WTF? I knew then that something was up. My lawyer came out about 10-15 minutes later with an odd look on her face and the ADA pretty much bolted. My lawyer then informed me that my trial had been declared a mistrial! So as it stands, to my knowledge and understanding, the last trial pretty much has been rendered moot. So, a date has been tentatively set for a retrial (here we go again!)...but I have to wonder IF the DA will even continue to attempt to prosecute me. It seems to me that it would be a stup...

OK, it's Sunday. Countdown to Friday begins NOW! What's the importance of this Friday, aside from it being the start of a new weekend? Well, in case you're unfamiliar with my legal mess, let me put it in a nut shell for ya. Back in November 2007, I had a heart attack. Life had been a bitch for some months personally and financially but everything was finally coming together...and then the heart attack. Being a generally resilient guy, I bounced back pretty quickly and was ready to get back on my feet...along with my new $80k hospital bill dogging me. I'd been working in the MH/MR field (mental health/mental retardation) for over 20 years and had spent the last 3 years self-employed (using an employer of record, as per the state's regs). I was ready to get back to work and sort out my finances. Things were coming together. Well, on my 2nd day back to work, I was attacked by a teenage client. He landed a really good punch to my right eye and as my back was against the...

Les Paul died today at age 94. For those of you who have lived under a rock in a cave your entire lives, Les Paul was possibly the greatest guitarist who ever lived. He was also responsible in part for almost every bit of music you've ever listened to. How you may ask? He pretty much invented multitrack recording. Without Les Paul and his whacky, wizardous, ideas, music would not be what it is today. Last night, I dreamt that a friend and I were dueting on Les Paul/Mary Ford songs. All morning long, I was humming old Les Paul songs. Mind you, this itself isn't unheard of...but its not where my mind has been lately. At work, around 1:00pm EST, while humming one of the guitar parts to "Waiting For The Sunrise", I received a text message that Les Paul had died of complications from pneumonia. I was greatly saddened by this. Not so much because he passed away...the man had a long, rich, meaningful life. He'll be remembered for thousands of years. No, I was saddened be...

OK, this has long been an issue that I care strongly about. Health Care should not be an "issue", it should be a basic human right. Anyone that wants to argue THAT with me, please feel free. If you've ever suffered a major health issue, or had a loved one with a life long disorder, then you already know how expensive it is. Healthy people, while the majority, have no idea how lucky they are...nor do they realize how quickly all that can change. Sooooo... According to the 2008 US Census, there are 304,059,724 people living in the US. That's just over 304 million. I'm using that figure as the basis for my equation. If the government were to institute a fractional sales tax, across the board, it would add up like this: At 50 cents per day (minimum), that would add up to $152,029,862 raised per day or $55,490,899,630.00 per year. Yes, that's in excess of $55 billion. And thats a very minimum number. With a fractional, NATIONAL sales tax included in the price of ev...

Yeah, like I really needed yet another web presence! LOL But as I've always got something on my mind, something to say and a love for writing, I figured it was time to create a blog...why? Because I like the word blog, OK? LOL So, as this blogscape grows, you'll find me rambling on about the sorts of things I care about...or just happen to catch my fancy that day. Stick around kids...it's about to get interesting! LOL