Sunday, January 27, 2008

Soundtrack

I am a musical have-not. I'm musically talented, having played guitar for over 30 years, but I pretty much stopped listening to popular music in the 90's. I'm sure there are tons of great artists out there I'm missing, but it's just never been a priority. I know this puts me in the minority in this illustrious group of pokerati, but so be it.

So, it should come as no surprise that my MP3 player, newly purchased just prior to leaving for Iraq, is filled with music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Two songs I heard in the gym today stand out:

Helplessly Hoping, by Crosby, Stills and Nash – boy, could this be more appropriate? I sure am helplessly hoping for this deployment to end safely. Aside from the obvious poignancy of the song, it's just great music. I love good harmony and these guys were among the best.

Back in Black, by AC/DC – This song brings back tons of memories from childhood. One of my best friends, Frank Sweeney, got this album and we listened to it in his room. He had the coolest set up in his basement. His father built a whole separate room and let him keep it dark and he even had a blacklight in there. I remember Star Wars fighter jets hanging from the ceiling. Listening to AC/DC felt almost scary – like it was something our parents, certain MY parents, would disapprove of. A few years later, when I heard Frank had experimented with drugs, I just knew his turn to the dark side started with that album. It wasn't until many years later that I got over my childhood hang-up and really stared to enjoy this music. It was especially helpful today. While cranking Back in Black, I benched 200 pounds for the first time ever.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

OUTSTANDING Choices...

Hmmm... Songs that have been on my mind...

Freebird (Skynrd)
I'm gonna crawl (Zepplin)
Heavy Fuel (Dire Straits)

Have fun my friend, get back to us safe!

IT

911siren said...

I feel ya bro! My mp3 player is filled with much dated music. You should see me jump around when Pinball Wizard comes on or Layla oooh I gotta go Cradle of Love (Billy Idol) just came on... feet...must...dance...

Sister Michele (not a nun)

BamBam said...

So I imagine if I send you a "BadBlood & Bam-Bam" approved list to enter into the player,
250lbs. can't be far behind !

Be safe !

Anonymous said...

Wow...Cradle of Love and Layla. Sweet! My MP3 has much more of today's music in it. So it ends up sounding like JACK FM (vice versa perhaps?). So one minute I am running on the tredmill to Kenny Loggin's "Heartlife" and the next it's Yo Quero Billar which is a Reggetone number by Ivy Queen. Either way, I credit my MP3 player with increasing both my stamina, run time and consistancy with my workouts. Congrats on 200lbs bro!

The Sandman Cometh said...

Wow. The last time I even heard Cradle of Love was back when MTV still did videos. But at least I know who you're talking about.