Thanks & Time to Move Forward

I'm listening to the vocal jam out of You Enjoy Myself as I type. It's from Phish's summer tour opening show from Phenway Park in Boston on May 31, 2009. Grab it HERE. I had resigned myself to missing Phish this year. Between work, vacation plans, a relationship, and a bunch of other Big Picture stuff I tried to look the other way when it came to Phish this year. They draw me like an accident draws rubberneckers. I fear I've dropped the ball on this one, but it's just not as simple as when it was just me and the van. Life WAS a highway.

You know, I've been messing around with this blogging stuff for the better part of a year now. mrjackstrawSays is my personal blog and is really here to act as a running diary. I have a Tragically Hip blog that is really coming into its own with some good content and traffic due to how well it's done in the search engines. I also have a Phish Blog, but all I really do with that is post set lists and maybe a video here and there from Youtube. The Phish Blog was my first I think, but it never really developed as the band was off. I also felt a little inadequate with all the tremendous blogs and material already out there on the band so I guess the Hip Blog won out on the theory of bigger fish in a small pond as opposed to the other way around. I think this was a good choice since now I have become part of a community and I am building one around my own Tragically Hip Blog. It's a lot of fun to here from other fans out there and I don't think I would have had the same impact among the Phish.

What's really holding me back, and don't laugh, is my lack of typing skills. I mean, it takes me too long to write up blog posts. I need to get to the level where I can put it on screen as I'm thinking it. There is all kinds of shit that goes in, out, and through my head and I want to relay it. I want to hear what other people think. I lose a lot when it takes me 1 hour to do what I should be able to do in 15 minutes or less. I have the Mavis Beacon software. I've been ignoring it. No more.

The biggest influence I've had, the one that led me to start fucking around with this shit has been Paul McGuire also known as Dr. Pauly. I forget exactly how I came across his stuff. I think the first site I visited was the Coventry Music Blog because Jambands.com featured it as their "Fan Site of the Month". A little while later I either came across his poker blog: Tao of Poker or his personal blog: Tao of Pauly. I forget which. Anyway, I enjoy playing poker quite a bit and like to read on the subject both from a strategy point of view and from what I would call a General Scene Overview.

So I had found my way to one of his sites and here's a guys talking about poker, etc. while at the same time referencing Phish, Grateful Dead, sports betting, Caddyshack and a bunch of other shit that I personally took a lot of interest in. He'd describe different concert venues, Australia, Amsterdam, books on Garcia & music, HST, Kerouac, San Francisco, Bacon and places I've been and experiences shared although unknowingly and at different times. Yep, Bacon. Fuckin' right.

(For you folks here in Toronto check out Aris on Roncesvalles for The Best Peamal Bacon breakfast. 3 eggs, hashbrowns, tomato, toast and 3 SLABS of Peamal all for just $5.95. That's value folks)

I don't want to re-do what's been done, I just want to do my own thing. I did though try to take a template I guess for organizational purposes. I look at it as organic, so over time my influence should grow and envelop the entire thing kind of like the Jungle reclaiming Angkor Wat. What I think my life was and probably still is missing to this day is some sort of creative outlet. Am I a writer? No. Can I be? Maybe if just for myself. I've never trained in the art of Writing. Plus there's my typing issue. But I will tame that beast. Eventually. Of course, it's always going to depend on the weed consumption. Since musically I don't have it and drawing comes unnaturally, my best shot is putting pen to paper. All kinds of shit bounces through my head...stoned or not.

So I'm trying things. And that's why. My goal is to get something on Truckin' within 2 years. That's doable, but the standards are pretty high. Truckin' is a short story blog-zine that the aforementioned Dr. Pauly puts out once a month. I contacted him back when I first came across his stuff about some Phish shows at The Gorge in 1998. We drove down from Jasper, AB. Gorgeous drive. Anyways, he took the time to respond which was nice. That's the only time I contacted him or even mentioned him. I'm doing so now as a way of saying thanks for the influence and I guess inspiration (move me brightly...light the song with sense and colour, hold away despair). I also wanted to link him.

If you enjoy any of the things mentioned above along with insightful general commentary on anything from current events to pro betting to food photography check it out and bookmark/follow it.

Cheers,
-mrjackstraw