Music Saves Lives Every Day

You ask a Buddhist what the truth about life is, the first thing he'll tell you is this; "Existence is suffering". I'm not a Buddhist but I tell you they're right. Everybody suffers sometimes, I don't care who they are. Successful, rich, famous, loved, all the friends in the world, every reason to be satisfied, it doesn't matter. Sometimes you could look somebody right in the eye and never even know how absolutely down and out they were. It's because there is no such thing as a perfect person, and we all get the pain once in a while, in one form or another, big and small, short-term and long-term.

So then why don't we all just hold hands and jump into the grand canyon together or something? Because I believe that just as existence is suffering, existence is joy. Life is beautiful, and it's these parts of life that make up for the hard times. It's how we take care of ourselves and each other. Everyone realizes this in different ways, and in my personal life music is what does it for me in a big way.

I am an only child, and though blessed with many wonderful friends I often find myself feeling all by myself and without anyone I trust enough to freely speak person-to-person on a deep level with. My personality is such that I tell myself I don't need anybody and deal with most personal problems independently. But the truth of the matter is that I do get by with a little help from my friends; and one of those friends is CHARLES MINGUS.



CHARLES MINGUS (pictured above and below) had a tough time on this Earth. Though a revered jazz musician, he was poor his whole life, and was prone to long bouts of depression. Late in his life he was evicted from his NYC apartment because he couldn't pay his rent, before Lou Gehrig's disease prevented him from playing music and eventually led to his death in 1979 at the age of 56. MINGUS was known as "the Angry Man of Jazz" because of his extreme temper both on stage and off. He would get frustrated about one thing or another and start throwing insults, chairs and fists at audiences and band members. One time he punched professional trombone player JIMMY KNEPPER in the mouth, not only knocking his tooth out but permanently affecting his range on the instrument.

MINGUS' music is incredibly emotional. Listeners can feel his pain, his hopes and dreams, and his happy moments. All emotions have the potential to inspire profound and beautiful works of art. When you listen to the music I do (jazz, blues especially), this is something you come to appreciate in a very strong way.

I can't relate to CHARLES MINGUS in any specific way. I'll probably count myself among those lucky to never experience poverty or be evicted from my home, but when you listen to his music you gain a sort of shared appreciation for the emotion that went into creating it. In this way, MINGUS understands how I feel when no one else can, even though he's been dead for more than 30 years and never met me. A comforting thought. It's not a cure for feeling down but it helps, for damn sure it helps.

It's in this way that music saves lives every day. It's one of the things that helps me, but for you it may well be something else entirely. Underwater basket weaving or something. I sure hope you find it and embrace it if you haven't already.

Jonesin For More

As I stand right now, my strongest cultural influence comes down to one word; internets. But I suppose I should start at the beginning.

When I was around 14-15 years old, I had a revelation of sorts. It was at this time I realized a lot about who I was, what was right for me, what truly made me happy, priorities, goals and aspirations, all that kind of coming-of-age story noise. For the first time in my life I was comfortable with myself, and for the most part I've stayed that way. That being said, I'm 18 years old now and if I'm lucky there's still a whole hell of a lot in store for me in the future, but I do maintain a sure-of-myself state of mind I like to call 'an old soul', or sometimes 'being from the future'.

One of the things I came to discover as a part of this revelation was that the world all around us is a wonderfully alive and interesting place for those willing to look hard enough. Contemporary guys like Anthony Bourdain and old school guys like Jean Shepherd nurtured my appreciation for the everyday extraordinary, but more on them some other time.

I became a much more involved internets person. At first I mostly just BS'ed with people on forums and whatnot, which had its own charms, but when I found the iNternets Celebrities, it changed my mentality about what the internets were really for. These guys spoke my language.



I really dug the idea of two guys going to McDonalds and having an adventure, and that same spirit runs through almost everything these guys do (together and apart, I might add).

When I joined Twitter I was able to start being creative myself. I know creative is probably a generous term for an extended series of smart remarks and goofy life commentary, but it was still mine, by George, and it's good for my spirit to twit things out. But every once in a while I wish I could more fully express an idea in regular blog format, so that's what's gonna go down here.

This was kind of a lifes story post, and I don't plan on doing that many more of these. I'll be back to my usual ish of music, movies, cultural effluvia, all that next time, I promise.