Closeup of the Day

 Here we see an unremarkable photo of an unremarkable van that belongs to an unremarkable person. 

The cool thing is that if you zoom in there's a Beagle in the window. He's a good one too. Beagle or no, have a nice day.

Interesting Facts about Dogs

In case you didn't know, if you have a dog he can read you like a book. Just like AI he knows more about you than you yourself. One of the many things that flip me out about my dog is that if I leave the room, he knows my intention. 

 If I'm getting up to do something food related he'll follow me, but if I get up for any other reason he stays put, and it happens every time. How the heck does he know? Even if I try to psych him out and think "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!" when I'm not getting food he isn't fooled and he stays put. Is he a body language expert? It blows my mind. 

 I live off of peanut butter cheese crackers. They come six to a pack. When I finish them I let him lick the traces of peanut butter that stick to the wrapper. Whether it takes me two minutes or half an hour to eat them he knows when I'm on the last cracker and about to give him the wrapper, and he gets up and comes over. 

 Even if he's out of the line of sight he still knows when I'm on the last cracker. It's beyond impressive, like a magic trick. Can he count? 

 Every now and then I'll watch a video about how to tell if you've bonded with your dog and things like that. I always ace that stuff and I know we're bonded but I still watch those videos occasionally just to recalibrate and tell myself I'm a good person, at least when it comes to dogs.

 One video I just watched said that dogs react when they see you treat others with kindness. As I write this I'm getting misty and it doesn't bother me. Dogs see you and your family and friends as members of the pack. Dogs tend to take care of each other and it actually makes them happy to see you being kind to your "pack." It's been studied.

 They say that dogs are happier, healthier and more secure when they see their owners treat people kindly. Does my dog fit the bill? I think so. He's the sweetest dog in the world, and while I can't necessarily take credit for that, I did set out to raise him to be as sweet as possible, and he's seen me treat others with kindness a time or two.

 I looked after my mom and dad for years and my dog understood that I was trying to protect them as it were, and he'd help out in his own way. He dearly loved his grandmama and granddaddy, and they loved him.

 When I first got him he was afraid of storms, but he could see that I wasn't afraid and in fact enjoyed them, so he quickly lost his fear of thunder, which many animals never do. 

 99% of the time I've had him he's never more than a few feet away from me, as he is now, but when I was looking after my folks and a storm would roll in he'd go sit with mom and dad to keep them safe and make sure they weren't afraid, even though I might be out on the porch enjoying the storm, which is when most dogs would be glued to their owners if not under the bed. That used to give me a serious fuzzy. He was keeping his pack safe.

 Anyone who's gotten to meet my dog will back up what I say about him. He literally has a fan club. Thirty years or so ago he'd have been the greatest chick magnet in history, but as it is he's a goodwill ambassador, and that's much better. 

 He's cured four people of a serious fear of dogs, and to me that's huge. There was a neighbor girl who was maybe four, and she was terrified of dogs. When we'd see them out walking she'd hide behind her mom, even though Bert would be wagging his tail and obviously wanted her to pat him.

 When we'd see them the little girl's mom and I would try to assure her that he was friendly and encourage her to pat him but she was afraid. It went on for at least six months, but finally one day after much cajoling she finally gingerly reached her hand to him and gave him a tiny pat. He licked her hand.

 It was a beautiful moment. Her mom burst into tears and I got a bit misty myself. The quality of her life improved forever on that day. She got to like Bert so much that occasionally they'd knock on the door to see if Bert could come out to play. That was awesome. That's my dog.

 As I've said before, and although I can't prove it, I believe God sent me this particular dog to show His love for me. Several people have said that he has an angelic spirit, and I agree. I believe that we entertain angels unaware. Who says a dog can't be an angel?

 I do know that he's my bud. I'd say that we were joined at the hip, but since he's a true comedian and I at least used to have a sense of humor, I say we're joined at the funny bone. 

 I look after him and he looks after me. I try to stay in a good mood for him as much as for me, but when I'm sad, like when my mom recently died, he won't leave me alone. He'll paw me and lick me and honk and snort at me and try to get me to play and do everything he possibly can to make me feel better. He's a jewel. 

 He makes people happy when they see him approaching with his tail wagging. The last time I took him to the vet they said he looks like a happy dog and that they thought we have a good relationship. That's cool. 

 What's the moral of this story? Your dog knows whether you're a decent person or not so much. Be kind to your pack. 

  

The Most Unique Band That Will Never Exist

I think about music all day long. This is like my version of Fantasy Football. What if I could come up with an imaginary band made up of musicians whom I feel are unique on their instruments...who'd be in it? I had to think about it for a minute or two but not too long. 

 The term unique is overused in the music biz but sometimes a musician comes along once in a generation or even once in a lifetime, like the late great Buddy Rich, who plays so differently than everyone else that they can truly be called unique. Speaking of late, every musician I've chosen is deceased, but it doesn't matter because this is an imaginary band. 

 Since I'm a former drummer I'll start with the drums. Any band is only as good as the drummer, so I need a great one. This is a toughie because obviously there's a ton of drummers I love. 

 Many regard Buddy Rich as the greatest drummer in the world and I agree, but he'd be strictly a Jazz guy, and this band can't be limited by genres. 

 I could go with my boy Bill Bruford, because if ever a unique drummer picked up a pair of sticks it's Bill, but with all due respect, and there's a bunch of that, Bill might be too unique. His playing is incredible and it demands attention, which in this case, imaginary or not, might be too much. 

 As much as I'd love to have Bruford, John Weathers of Gentle Giant, my favorite drummer John Hernandez of Oingo Boingo, Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull, Carl Palmer of ELP or any one of a thousand great drummers, I'd have to go with John Bonham. 

 Bonham played with so much power but he was smooth and incredibly accurate. What made him unique was his drum sound. To this day drummers and studio engineers are still trying to get "that Bonham sound." His name has become an adjective, and that can't be overlooked. 

 He had no problem with odd meters, and although Zeppelin wasn't a "Prog" band I have no doubt he could handle that stuff. I have to go with power, accuracy but most of all sound. Bonham's the guy. If this band could somehow exist in another dimension or something, very few people would be unhappy with Bonham on the kit. 

 

To complete the rhythm section I'd go with Mick Karn, solo artist and member of the band Japan on bass. He truly is worthy of the term unique. He played a fretless bass and he never used a pick. His playing was generally legato, although he could play the staccato Pop stuff too. 

 Mick's playing is so unique that it would color the overall sound of the band, but not to the degree that a Bill Bruford would. Just like drummers there's a lot of great bass players that I adore and would be happy to use, but this band would be about uniqueness, and that's Mr. Karn. I have to say that after reading his biography I came to really like him as a person, and personality is crucial to a band. 

On keyboards I'd have to go with my favorite Rock keyboardist of all, Keith Emerson. He had the best left hand in the business. He could play anything from Classical to Jazz to Rock. Enough said. He's my guy. 

On guitar I'd have to go with Jimi. I'm a closet guitar guy and I love great guitarists as much as drummers, and there's a stack of them who could work, but nobody played like Hendrix. Nobody. 

You'd have to have an extraordinary singer. I started to go with Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo, for his range, power, ability to sing all styles, his knowledge of music and because he's a total badass in general, but I have to go with the golden voice of Greg Lake. There's a million great singers but to my ear only one Greg Lake. 

 So that's my imaginary band. It may be stupid to even think about, considering they're all deceased. Then again the general view among many scientists and String Theory guys is that there are multiple universes, with the possibility of different outcomes, so one never knows. 

 Even though I have 2/3 of ELP it wouldn't be a rehash of that band. Interestingly when Emerson was with The Nice they toured with Hendrix, and Keith and Jimi played together several times. When Keith started ELP there was talk of Jimi joining, so instead of the band being abbreviated ELP it would've been HELP. That's a band for yet another universe I guess. 

 I didn't come up with a name for this band but it doesn't matter. They'd surely be an amazing group. I'd go see 'em. I'd buy a t-shirt too. Imaginary or not, rock on.

 

I Wish I Was as Cool as My Dog

 I wish I was as cool as my dog. He's very handsome and photogenic; he's friendly; he lives in the moment; he doesn't hold grudges; he's a sweetheart; he's smart as a whip and he sees the good in everyone. I can't hold a candle to my dog. He's such a good boy. I guess that's why I like animals more than people.