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

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...

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...

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...

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...