Hey, I didn’t either. And I was one of the expendables who was sent to Vietnam within a few months of taking a break from college. So don’t feel guilty. As a 1st Calvary helicopter crew chief, slash, door gunner, I was shot down twice and crashed once, due to mechanical difficulties... as in, the pilot was too high to avoid the ground.

Can’t blame the pilot, though. There was some extra potent ganja floating around over there. Oh well, that’s another story, or four…

If you’re interested, you can click on the thumbnail picture above, on the right, to see me standing in front of a memorial wall built for county veterans located at the entrance to the public cemetery near my hometown.

As you can see from the picture, I’m pointing to the name “Edd Ray Thorpe”. That’s how I’m still referred to in a place where there was only one high school for the entire population of Lee County, Kentucky. BTW, 76 people graduated the year I did.

Yep, 76 high school seniors for the whole county.

Anyway. Next Veteran’s Day, I resolve to reach out to some vets. They’re easy to find. I often see them wandering around the homeless shelters. I can usually tell the veterans from the general homeless because the vets have a ‘far-away-look’ in their eyes.

We used to call that look the thousand yard stare.

Always makes me feel guilty for surviving better than they have. And the realization shoots a freezing beam of pain through my heart…

Clarification about my blanket slurring of politicians:

I’m not referring to wars fought to actually defend our homeland and the way we choose to live. WWII and the Revolutionary War where honorable. Heroic and righteous.

But, the other wars/conflicts we’ve been in….?

Shameful and selfish power grabbing excursions that have wasted our resources and have harmed our national pride and have caused uncountable damage to the very people our pols said we were protecting. Shame on us for allowing it…

But enough of this personal exposure. It’s back to work for me. All my best goes out to you and yours.
Peace,
Edward Thorpe “The Roller”

P.S. Not all politicians are gas bags. Those who aren’t should be watched most closely, because they’re the one’s making decisions that gradually encroach upon the civil liberties and the freedoms that citizens like us have paid for with our lives.

P.P.S. Nothing unique here. It’s been going on since recorded history. But, Excuse me, didn’t our country’s forefathers start this country to end such abuses by the governing powers? Seems like I read something about that a time or two…?

Big deal, you may think. Not to me, though.

The Big Lebowski is one of the five movies I’d take with me if I was gonna get stuck on a desert island without cable TV or satellite TV. Not, mind you, that I expect any such evil deportation employment any time soon.

Yet, and to quote any politician some time in their public career, “I won’t lie to you…”

I love the movie “The Big Lebowski”! I’ve watched it (all the way through) more times than I’ve watched any other movie.

Why?

If you have to ask, you obviously haven’t scoped out The Dude, (played by a stunned blank-faced Jeff Bridges) Walter Sobchak, (raucously played by an energetic John Goodman) & Donny Kerabatso (under played, as usual, by the greatest actor of his generation, Steve Buscemi) being casually casual in the non-casual movie world they inhabit within ‘The Big Lebowski’.

In other words, if you have to ask why I love ‘The Big Lewobski’ so much, “You ain’t seen the movie!” This is a movie you remember seeing, because…

“The Big Lebowski” is hysterically funny on many levels. And, I’m not a cheap laugh…

A big part of it’s enjoyment factor is the movie’s off-hand portrayal of the essence of pure boredom and dead-eyed acceptance to the art of ‘maintaining’ an agreeable vibe.

Like, there’s bored and then there’s like, lives unknowingly dedicated to boredom. And, like, that sums up the zany appeal of ‘The Big Lebowski’ in like, a phrase.

Surprisingly, the mindless boredom theme makes ‘The Big Lebowski’ quite under-boring…

For example, even though I’ve seen it 23 times already, (conservative estimate) every time I watch the scene where ‘The Dude’ crashes his piece of crap car because he dropped a burning joint into his lap and spills his beer while vainly trying to rescue his uh, cajones from a good flaming, I convulse into serious belly laffs the likes of which are all too rare for a man of my age and experience.

I mean, if only I had a dollar for every time that kinda thing happened to me when I was in my prime!

Jeff Bridges; John Goodman; Steve Buscemi; Julianne Moore; Philip Seymour Hoffman; John Turturro; Flea (Yup, the bass player for ‘The Red Hot Chili Peppers’!); David Huddleston; Sam Elliott; Tara Reid; Philip Moon; Mark Pellegrino; Peter Stormare; Torsten Voges; Jimmie Dale Gilmore; Jack Kehler; the fab Ben Gazzara!; and the now retired adult star Asia Carrera…

Like, wow man…

Number one live band? target="_blank">The Small Faces were the best live band I’ve ever seen. If you like your rock clean, The Faces were gawd awful from one performance to the next. I didn’t get to see them live as often as I did the Stones, but I never heard them (Small Faces) play a song in the same way twice.

On any given night, it seemed like one or two of the Face’s band members took turns getting too drunk to play in sync with the rest of the band. But they were raw, exciting and reminded me a lot of Iggy Pop& the Stooges before they turned into hot-sh*t rock stars.

But back to why life’s not fair…

Good example: Keith Richards. Without doubt, he’s one helluva rhythm guitar player. In fact, he’s almost as good a guitar player as he is an ugly dude. No offense, but the cat hasn’t needed a Halloween costume since his mid-twenties.

Hey, “Good on ‘em” I say.

But, he’s a lot older than me. And, if the stories the entertainment media establishments have laid upon him are only one tenth true, how does he not only perform live, much less remember the 100′s of songs he plays?

And, according to the piddle paddle, he’s still parties with the best of them.

Now I like the thought of a man like Keith being around and doing what he does. It’s kinda like he’s stayed forever young. And, that’s really OK… But what ticks me off, no, what burns me up about Keith Richards, is his flipping full head of hair!

I mean I’m younger than him. A lot. Plus, I’ve lived a fairly healthy lifestyle. I haven’t party-party-partied in over 20 something years. I keep regular hours, exercise, eat good, sleep 6 – 8 hours per, and my strongest drink is coffee…

But have you seen the hair on my head?

Yeah, me neither. At least not since the mid 90′s, I haven’t. Like I said, I have a fond spot in my heart for Keith Richards. I think his sly guitar work on the old song “Beast Of Burden” is some of the best playing ever recorded.

But where does he get off with a full head of hair? And he’s soo older than me, too.

I’m telling you, “Life Just Ain’t Fair!”

Until next time, don’t play with pointy sharp things and don’t party with Keith Richards…
Stay Casual,
Old Bald-Headed Ed Thorpe

Even though Barbara Streisand reminded us how second rate many of today’s popular female vocalists really are, the Entertainment Channel’s Red Carpet coverage was more interesting than the actual awards show.

Yeah, I’m happy Bob Dylan & Mick Jagger can hold it long enough to put in brief performances. (In Jagger’s case, clearly not brief enough.)

It was heartwarming to see how genial and downright mellow Eminem has become. He’s turned into a cheerful boy, hasn’t he? And, mere words could never express how grateful the music public is for Rihanna’s photogenic behind.

But “The House That Built Me”? Please. Maybe the dumbest ‘song’ I’ve ever had the misfortune to see performed. On the other hand, I thought her fiancee’s introduction was cute and cuddly.

Real slick for a country boy.

Speaking of country slick, isn’t ‘Lady Antebellum’ the name for a feminine hygiene product of some kind? If not, it should be.

I kinda like the ‘idea’ of Lady Gaga (speaking of ladies). And her dance bit was just slightly this side of OK. But Your Ladyness, an EGG? Really? Talk about your heavy handed metaphors…

A quick note to the managers who let their clients sing a tribute to Aretha Franklin on the same stage with Jennifer Hudson… YOU’RE FIRED!!! FIRED! FIRED! FIRED!

Let me summarize the entire debacle that was the 53rd Grammy Awards Show: IF Gwyneth Paltrow had fallen off those high heels she was stomping around in, and she almost did, that would have been the highlight of entire evening. Far and away…

Stay casual,
Edward

Anyway, Gwyneth Paltrow was supposed to sing on last night’s CMA show. I realize I’m challenged in the areas of style, sophistication & savoir-faire. But, I loved Gwyneth in “Shallow Hal” a movie my wife teases my about my liking it.

Plus, I really liked the song ‘Duets’ she sang with Huey Lewis in the movie with the same name. (Also one of the best ‘buddy’ movies of all time, thanks to the acting of Andre Braugher & Paul Giamatti.)

Sooo, I flipped over to CMA during “Survivor” commercials in the off chance of catching Gwyneth doing her bit. Didn’t. By the time Survivor was over, I’d forgotton about the whole thing and got online to order Brian Wilson’s newest cd: Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin I bought four copies, yet. One for my Treasa & 3 for gifts.

But I stray, as I often do with the slightest stray thought during my narratives…

Mostly I stay well away from within hearing distance of “County Music”. It’s not exactly because I don’t like the sound of it, or that I’m too cool for America’s music. But I do have my reasons for not listening…

Where & when I grew up, the only radio stations within hearing distances played country music. So I’m no stranger to the genre. If I was somewhere with a radio on, I was forced to hear stuff with a lot of a-pickin’ and a-pluckin’. What I didn’t hear was a backbeat or someone who wasn’t singing through their nose.

By itself, this is bad enough. But those two glaringly irritants alone aren’t exactly the reasons why I’ve always avoided Country Music like vampires slunk from daylight.

(I’m talking here about evil, cruel, nasty vampires like the ones in John Carpenter’s really funny movie: Vampires released in 1998. Not those silly, cutie-pie vampires posing with their lips stuck out in drivel like “True Blood”.)

Uh, sorry. Where were we? Oh yeah…

I understand why many people love their music home-fried. Most of the songs tell a story.

Plus, they tell the story in simple, plain English.

It’s no secret we like stories. And, we’re busy doing lots of stuff with our music playing in the background. So give us music that tell stories we don’t have to think about to understand the possible meaning behind any slickish, metaphoric lyrics.

And, in a nutshell, that is exactly what “Country Music” does…

Provides us with plain as a new stainless steel appliance story that we can identify without thinking about it.

That the stories are often about misery, and missed opportunities, seems to increase their popularity rather than turn listeners off. Yep, misery was the currency of country music when I was a kid, and it still is today. And that, my friend is why I stay upwind to country music…

The lyrics make me wanna drive my car off a steep cliff. Not that you could find a cliff, steep or otherwise, here in the panhandle of Florida.

Until next time, “don’t play that country music white boy…”
Stay casual,
Edward

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