Saturday, February 25, 2012

Life's Soundtrack starts with a Whitney Houston track and FFA


 Mixing it up some this is a little different as I try to tie three very different Items into one blog … this may be a little choppy but here we go
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Life's Soundtrack


I have posted a few different times about, and just knew I would do more than one blog post on music that belongs in or on the “SOUNDTRACK” to our lives….

“Every great movie has a soundtrack, your life is like a movie and you’re the star”

“You can have a life with out music, but why would want to?”

“Life is amplified though music”

(Those are Kevin Mears original quotes …. Feel free to share ;-o )

Would you agree that at difficult times you have had a special or certain song that helped you get you though it? 

Example after a friend’s sister died the constant replay of “I Can Only Imagine” brought comfort and solace to her. This song, I like it very well at any place other than a funeral, causes folks seem to cry way to easy.  

Another friend seemed bent on seeing if she could ware out a Sarah Mclachlan CD, trying to drown herself in the hypnotic melody of  “Angel” you remember it from back in the day “…in the arms of the angel fly away from here…”

Or it might be that a certain song may conger up memories of your youth,  your time of rebellion or teen angst. It might be Nirvana “Smells like Teen Sprit” For some. I am sure there are countless songs that people identify with from that WILD & FREE time of their youth… My song for this time period was “Welcome to The Jungle” by Guns and Roses,  and really anything of the Appetite for Destruction Cd….

Vivid, still are the memoires of where and when I first heard those monster power cords and ear shredding guitar riffs, with that piercing voice of GNR front man Axl Rose. 

At Salem Church of God….

No, not as part of a service, my high school held graduation at that church and I was a Junior that had  went to see my high school sweetheart who was a grade ahead of me go though commencement.  As I walked across the parking lot after the service I heard the tires squeal as a fellow class mate blew past driving his Jeep in quite a reckless fashion, doing donuts and peel outs right in the church parking lot while two of the recent grads still wearing commencement robes were standing up, in the back of the Jeep holding on to the roll bar with one hand and with the other hand slamming beers…. All the while blearing from that classmates 12 inch aftermarket Kmart Kenwood speakers, was what, to me was.... new, unknown, raw, it was sex and violence, and hate, death and destruction, drugs and alcohol and absolutely everything about it was wrong…… a line even said “ I wanna watch you bleed”….. oh it was wrong, wrong, wrong!

………and I liked it…..

Oh, I still picture those boys raising hell in the back of that Jeep every time I hear the songs unmistakable guitar into.

These are the songs that make up the soundtracks to our lives…. I know now you'll be thinking bout yours now….


Whitney Houston…..

I would like to talk about her life…don’t grown, not yet at least….

I sure don’t want to glamorize her death; I think way too much has been said and seen on TV about it…

Everyone remembers that fresh-faced beauty who broke out with hit after hit. I promise every guy, and I mean EVERY GUY, Black, White or Green who was a boy in the mid-80’s remembers her videos in vivid detail from that grey dress in “How Do You Know” and that hip hugging purple number in “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”.

Ladies, if your man is from 30 to 45 and says he didn’t have a little thing for her.. He is lying! .

I also bet every girl from that time remembers at least one day-dream where she was at the Jr. High Dance with her Teen Beat Heartthrob holding her tight, to Whit’s “Saving All My Love For You”   

I won’t even talk about her second rate remake of that Dolly Parton song that she totally butchered……. Kidding … I am Kidding…

Here’s where story turns… How does someone with such a voice, such beauty, such regalia, and such love and support from family and church community, spiral out of control in to a life of substance abuse?

It’s not polite to speak ill of the deceased, but I have to ask what went wrong?

You may have watched the funeral on TV, I caught a few minutes of it before I had to leave my hotel on that day, I saw bits and pieces of highlights on the evening news shows and saw more on YouTube where the service has over a 1.2 million views… By all accounts she had a great support group of love from powerfully strong Christian faithful…. So many people loved her, but where were these folks when she fell…. Those that spoke, tell that she was a woman of God.

Her troubles seem to all surrounds her choice of mates in Bobby Brown six years her junior. She was a woman of class and style, grace and presence. He was a punk, a bump, a bad boy with a rep for substance abuse…. I am sure he promised that he would change and be the man she deserved… Surely that woman had the confidence to demand the best from her spouse… Wouldn’t she?  

Well she’s not the first smart person whose choice was wrong in a mate…. Crazy how folks continue make the same mistakes when they have seen the movie already and know it doesn’t end well…

OK... I'll get back on course... Life's Soundtrack

The song of hers that goes on the Soundtrack to my life was a special song that was recorded for the 1988 Olympic games. The song was played during the opening ceremonies with video clips of past opening ceremonies and footage of past games and ends with the lighting of the flame of the Olympic Cauldron.  Albert Hammond, the songs writer says he was inspired by and wrote the song imagining that, “The KING” Elvis Presley was singing it….

Side note…. I’ve never written a song nor do plan to, but I am guessing if you write a song and can image Elvis singing it…. It might be a hit…. jus saying.


If this song doesn’t inspire you to achieve greatness, I don’t know if you can be inspired.

I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me

I don’t know about you, but I am the guy who wants the ball when the last seconds are on the clock… I’ve always wanted folks around me who have the same mantra in life …

Winning and the desire to win is built in our DNA…

Who, has ever seen a young boy, shooting hoops, who pretends that there are only five seconds on the clock, his team, down by one, with the championship on the line, playing against a bigger, stronger, better team, and as he dribbles the ball down the court and starts to count down the clock aloud  “Five, Four, Three……” He then talks in the announcer voice  “It’s all on the line with this shot, little Jimmy has the ball with three seconds left on the clock”
                                                                                    To pass the ball?

No!!!! he takes the SHOT…. If he makes it he says “The Crowd Goes WILD” … if he misses, chances are he’s going to try it again…
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then, in that one moment of time
I will feel eternity

“I will feel eternity”…to those who have been in big time clutch situations know that time stands still for just that monument.

Well it doesn’t really but that’s the way our brain processes certain things of great importance.

The reason this song makes it as track one is in high school, at most  FFA event’s it was almost cliché that they’re would be a slide show set to this song.  At times was a real treat if there was a member of the State or National Chorus or someone from the Talent Show would sing the song live…. I say sometimes. This song is one that is so perfect; it will tick you off when you hear it did it poorly.... 

----- is that safe enough segway to move on to the past week being National FFA Week? 

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This Past week was National FFA week… I am guessing that doesn’t mean much to most of the folks in the world … but for those of us who bled Blue and Gold its kind of a big deal.

Well not so much anymore, once your out of high school, or in the be big scheme of world events. I could go on and on about some of my great memoires of ag class and my experience participating in contests and the like however I know I will give attention to that at some point… Maybe

I was proud to serve as a State Officer 

I guess what I will touch on is how the last week I have found myself think about the person I am, and how much the leadership activities shaped me in to the person I am now. It troubles me to know that Ag Ed programs are continually under budget review and cuts.

I believe whole –heartedly that the life skills and lessons learned though the leadership side of FFA should be mandatory for all students!

I often wonder where other folks learn what I learned in FFA and my High School Ag Class.

Leadership.
Confidence
Work ethic
Decision making skills
Basic economic principals
Environmental understating
Community involvement
Interpersonal skills
Teamwork
Communication
Building relationships
Social interaction.
Character building
Citizenship
Volunteerism
 Patriotism.
Cooperation
Maintain a proper and healthy attitude 
To strive for excellence in all aspects of life and work

Well I won’t say this is the only place to learn these things but it defiantly help strengthen these core life skills. Thanks for stopping by...
Please leave comments I love to hear from folks... also feel free to share this blog with your others who might enjoy....

I would like to know what are some songs on your Life's Soundtrack? 
Please share in the comments below.


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