Too Hot To Trot

Hey there, greetings from Jakarta! At least, that's how it feels here today. Living in the Pacific NW usually guarantees a pretty moderate climate. But last winter we had snow, ice and record low temps. Now we're getting the opposite for summer. It's getting close to 100 this week, and we Seattlites are ill prepared to meet that challenge. Air conditioning in homes is rare here, we usually just don't need it (just like snow plows!). Home swimming pools are also not the norm. Heck, it's cold and rainy here, right? Well, this week we're way up in the 90's, and it is quite a challenge. Makes me realize that I just would never really want to make my home at a latitude of anywhere below 35 degrees or so. Heat is problematic, because it's tough to escape it, without going deeply into debt. Cold, on the other hand, is much easier to beat. A big warm coat and sweater, a hot toddy, someone to cuddle with, and you're pretty much good to go. If you're outside, build a fire! Simplistic thinking, I know, but when was the last time a cold night made you just want to melt into a puddle? Cold is invigorating, heat is dilapidating. That's my final word on it. (BTW, I'm half Norwegian - that will explain this particular rant.)

Toto too?

Toto. Do you remember "Hold The Line"? Dumb lyric, but great music. Have you listened to them since "Africa" or "Rosanna"? If not, shame on you! This is the greatest single group of musicians playing pop/rock music ever. (Unless you want to throw the Funk Brothers into the mix, the guys who played on all the classic Motown tunes of the '60's and early '70's.) But I'm talking about pop/rock, not R&B/Soul. The musicality of these guys is rivaled by no other band. They were able to write songs that made it onto mainstream radio, while playing parts and solos that most musicians only dream of coming up with. Listen to "Pamela", "Stop Loving You", or "King Of The World". There is a level of commitment to what these guys played and sang that is unequaled by another band. Unless you include Steely Dan, and they weren't (aren't) really an actual band. And now Toto does not exist. Why? Because the pinhead ticket buyers in these United States of America would rather shell out hard earned cash to see no-talent folks like Taylor Swift and the Jonas Bros. Toto cannot sell enough tickets to make touring feasible, except in Europe and Southeast Asia. So one of the best groups of musicians to record and play music is now a memory. Buy a couple DVD's and see what you missed. Flawless playing, incredible writing, beautiful music my friends. Is this starting to sound like a tirade? I'm sorry, it is! I am just sick of seeing the music industry swirl down the toilet bowl. The best music and musicians ignored for whatever/whoever the record companies are choosing to ram down our collective throats this month. Great music not listened too, while Pro Tooled blasphemies flood the airwaves. Where are the great new bands? Musicians? Songs? Where is pop music going - to the grave? That's what it feels like. I'm sad. And I'm pissed.