Larry's Last Stand

Larry's finished. Yes, I know we never thought this day would come, but it's here. Larry's last concert was on Wednesday, and even though I attended, it seemed more like a dream than reality. Yes, it was an emotional night for all of us. Larry was special, in more ways than 3.

I guess the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Larry would have to be the loving way in which he taught. While too some it would seem that yelling, kicking people out of the class, and shooting with imaginary pistols would be hostile actions, those of us who knew Larry best know that these were the only ways Larry could express the deep musical admiration he had for each of us.

The second thing I think of is Nuance. Larry was always talking about "Nuance". While I still don't know what nuance is, and nobody else does either, I know that Larry was full of it.

Lastly, Larry's "Quiet Bus Ride" was superb. I think this attribute had the most lasting and profound effect on me. I even named my Jr. Jazz team after it, and we all know what an honor that is. Larry's contributions to my character cannot be calculated. Let's just say, I'll be a forever dogmented person.

Text Messaging

I think I've written a previous blog on the many pitfalls of text messaging, but I could be mistaken. Either way, this subject requires our immediate attention. The problem with text messaging is, there is no communication. Several studies have shown that 90% of human communication is NOT done verbally. So you're basically taking out all but 10% of normal communication. As you can formulate, this can provide for some strange misunderstandings.

For purposes of making fun of Jake, we'll also throw instant or "msn" messaging into this equation, as it's basically the same idea. I once heard a story about a young man who asked a girl to prom over msn messenger. The young man's name was Jake Glenn, and it happened for this very prom at Mountain View High School. Don't ask me what was going through his head, but apparently it was not much.

I once tried to carry out a text-messaging only relationship. It didn't work out too well. So in summary, text messaging sucks unless it's to Hank.

Collecitve Soul

What's the deal with the calendar? It's totally useless. Collective Soul, on the other hand, is absolutely, positively, the most ridiculously awesome band ever to walk the earth. If you don't believe me, just go and watch the news.

There was a time, like I'm sure many of you are experiencing now, when I didn't think Collective Soul was the best band in the universe. I also thought I was happy. But then a little thing called DirecTV opened my eyes. While aimlessly flipping through the many, mostly useless channels, I stumbled across a live Collective Soul concert . . FOR FREE. Well at that very moment, my life was changed forever.

I can't say what it is exactly about C*SOUL that I love so much. It just makes me feel good. It's like the spirit or a drug trip. When you hear the sound, all your troubles just melt away. You feel like you could jump off a cliff and not even get hurt! So to all you people out there with drug problems, substitute crack with Collective Soul.