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

Howdy Y'all & Happy Holidays! I'll say that as I know people of many faiths...not everyone celebrates Christmas. Deal with it. If you've been following my saga, then you know that life has taken an upswing for me lately. It's been a really rough couple of years...but it's all working out. Whew! Over the past year, my typically crappy health took yet another turn, and I was diagnosed with diabetes (aka...The Beetus). That was all I needed to hear! Aside from the physical complications that come along with it, it's a damned expensive disorder to have...especially for the poor and uninsured...like me! Luckily, my broke ass had found the Birmingham Free Clinic, down in Pittsburgh's Southside. WOW! What a great bunch! I contacted them last spring. I was broke, just about to run out of my heart medication, and really didn't know what to do. (For you Fox News lovers out there, NO...going to the ER is not a viable option. An ER visit costs, usually, $1...

"I can't breathe!" If you've never experienced this, then you don't know what scary is. I've experienced it a few times. Twice, due to using too many drugs, a few times due to reactive asthma, and once when I was literally choking to death. (I was clinically dead for 7 minutes, followed by a week in a coma) I've had guns in my face. I've been stabbed. I crashed a car at 120mph. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is as terrifying as not being able to breathe. Now imagine that the reason you can't breathe is because another person, another human being, is causing this. Worse still, imagine the person causing you to NOT BREATHE is someone you should be able to trust. Someone you should be able to trust to NOT kill you. How fucking scary would that be? Think about it. I won't go into the details. Sadly, it's all over the news...and it should be. Sadder still, it never should have happened. Justice is not being served. Just imagine, if only ...

I'm an AC/DC fan. If you're 'of a certain age', and enjoy rock & roll music, chances are you are too. But here's the thing...as great as the Back In Black album is, I was sick of it within weeks of it's release. Yeppers, even back in 1980, radio stations were killing music by putting certain songs into heavy rotation. Sure, these were, and still are, GREAT songs...but damn, enough was enough. It wasn't the only album available but you'd think it was. It was everywhere. I don't know many of my contemporaries who didn't have a copy...whether it be on vinyl, cassette, or (gasp!) 8-track. Many updated to a CD copy 10 years later. Why? The record is just that good. Yes, I dig the album...but pretty much ignored it for years...because I just couldn't get away from it. Eventually, I'd hear one of the tracks on the radio and crank it up...giving it it's due. BIB is really one of those records every band wishes they could record. Song ...