Friend or Foe

Sometimes I feel like my closest friends are not always in my best interest. Not to say I have bad friends, I just think that everyone has their own best interest in mind and putting your friends before yourself is becoming a rare commodity. I understand the desire to take care of #1, but where do people draw the line between doing what is best for them and doing what is best for them in spite of how it may effect their friends. I am sure I am not exempt from this folly of friendship, but I think this is something I will pay more attention to, to ensure that I don't alienate a friend for the sake of self-promotion. I think having a close friend or friends is very important, and to jeopardize that would be nothing short of reckless. For this entry may I recommend starting off with a selection from the Beatles? Say " A little Help From My Friends," and them we'll move to some Cake, the Comfort Eagle album should do the trick.

Speaking of Cake, I have heard they have a new album on the horizon and I must say I am thrilled. Most people think I am strictly a country music listener, but that is just not true. When it comes to the radio, then that is the case a majority of the time, but again, not exclusively. I love the sound of classical music, and along those lines I like some Opera to get my mind soaring, or some Gregorian Chant to make me feel spiritual. Irish folk music has always been a favorite of mine, and might I recommend picking up the CD Emerald Castles by Richard Searles, it is fantastic. He has a number of other Traditional Irish music compilations, but I have yet to find one to beat Emerald Castles. I like a good kick ass rock album, but have not found one other than Californication from the Red Hot Chili Peppers that didn't leave me wishing there was more than just a small handful of good songs on the album. If you know of some albums that you just know are awesome turn it up and rock out type CDs, then please let me know.

That is just the tip of the iceburg, I don't tend to dislike music based solely on a genre (like a LOT of people do with country music by the way), but one thing I can't stand is violent, explicit rap and the kind of rap where the rappers sing about the lifestyle only they know about, the so-called "bling-bling" lifestyle. Oh, and don't forget to thank God for the success of your album when you accept the award for your song "Die Nigga and Fuck Yo Bitch!" or something along those lines. I think there truly is a Hip Hop culture, and it is all about positive messages and anything else that music as an ideal is about, and not the money, bitches and "respect" that rap has come to glamourize. And another thing that people say about country music that bugs me is "It doesn't even sound like country any more." Well, neither does R&B, neither does Rock and Roll, neither does Rap, nothing sounds the same any more, it keeps changing like most everything else in the world. Also, it has somehow become popular to claim to like the "old country stuff" and if you say that to people you can appear very hip and cool. Oh and also they can appear to be on both sides of the fence, which is a hard trick for even David Copperfield to pull off.

When are people going to see that music means something different to everyone, it is a universal language with thousands of different dialects. You may not understand them all, but that doesn't mean they are any less valid than those you can identitify with. And on a grander scale, a persons point of view, no matter how skewed you may think it is, is still their point of view which they are entitled to. A little understanding goes a long way. How often is someone going to be able to relate the experiences and influences that dictate their tendencies and beliefs? Zero, none, nobody can, not in a life time. What does that mean to you and me? It means we should try to realize that we know nothing about them, I mean I hardly know even most of what there is to know about me. In realizing that, It think we can develop a healthy respect for the fact that; to the person you are talking to, their belief is their reality. It is undoubtedly a different reality then your own, and you will get nowhere trying to change their reality by changing their beliefs. Why would you want to? To be right? To feel superior? To make th whole world think one way? Share your reality as it pertains to the situation, try to see their reality, and maybe come to an understanding where you both might share a little enlightenment. What can that hurt? Yeah, you won't get to feel bigger than them when you can come up with more reasons whyyou are right, but you will get to feel like more of a human with emotions that lean toward compassion and understanding.

Life is like a box of chocolates, which chocolates you like is up to you, same goes for the rest of us.