The Bravery and Courage of War

The one "good" thing that comes from war is the possibility of bravery, courage, camaradarie , and fellowship that follows among the soldiers who fight side by side. None of this is more evident in the Band of Brother's Series. Those men from basic training to the end of the way sacrificed their lives for one another, their families back home, their country, and for peace. What they faced and what soldiers face is something people who do not experience war can never imagine and experience. We owe our soldiers the respect and honor they so rightly deserve for fighting to protect those who live in the country they serve. Here is to the men of the US Armed Forces and Thank-You.

Here's Your Sign...

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King

Last Tuesday the much anticipated release of Dave Matthew's Band "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" was out in stores. I, like many others, purchased the album on have my comments and review on it song by song:

1. "Grux" the opening song is an saxophone instrument remembering the late member LeRoi Moore-appropriate way to remember the man whose saxophone gave life to so many DMB songs

Comparable Song: "Kit Kat Jam" "American Baby Intro"

2. "Shake Me Like a Monkey"
Quotable Lyric: "Come on everybody make me lose my mind ,Everybody get together gonna make love shine"
This is one of the couple of fun, playful love type songs on the album; one of the many references to "monkeys" on the album;

Comparable Song: "Tripping Billies"

3. "Funny the Way it is"
Quotable Lyric: "Funny the way it is
Not right or wrong
On a soldier’s last breath
His baby’s being born"

This song cries "justice," the ironies of the world in which we live in -how one person is enjoying life, but at the expense of someone's' worries or troubles. I think it is a very moving song to listen to and makes people aware of the world we live in-which Dave himself is accustomed to doing in his songs.

Comparable Song: "Typical Situation" "Everybody Wake Up" "American Baby"

4. "Lying in the hands of God"
Quotable Lyric: "If you feel angels in your head
Teardrops of joy run down your face You will rise"

"I don’t know whether it’s a song about being lost or being out of your mind because you licked some cactus or swallowed some mushroom somewhere and turned your head upside down. It could be “Hey! (hey), You! (you), Get off of my cloud.” It could be a lot of things. I like songs that just create beautiful images and that’s why I don’t want to talk about the lyrics because I just think it’s perfect. Some of the songs have to be open."

Comparable Song: "Rhyme and Reason" "Warehouse"

5. "Why I Am" (my top 3 on the album)
"Quotable Lyric:One to make you smile
It's why I am still a stake in the wood pile
It's why I am still here dancing with the GrooGrux King"

Another tribute to Moore whose nickname was the "GrooGrux King;" another upbeat playful song that is catchy-a way for Dave to get out his multiple personalities...the imagination of an 8 year old wanting to be many things..."I really liked Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King because it sounds sort of like a fairytale, more like an old story."

Comparable Song: "Lie in Our Graves" "I Did It"

6. "Dive In"
Quotable Lyric: "Wake up sleepy head I think the sun's a little brighter today
Smile and watch the icicles melt away and see the water rising"

Kind of a "Carpe Diem" seize the day song, but at the time also realizing that the good times will end one day to take advantages of those good times...a hint of death in the song as well...the Chorus is definitely uplifitng mix of guitar and drums.

Comparable Song: "Raven" "Digging a Ditch"

7. "Spaceman"
Quotable Lyric "All the people are on parade
Thought I saw a spaceman trying to get laid
Doesn’t everyone deserve to have the good life"

This is a very interesting song lyrically...Dave goes in many directions here to keep the listener entertained on a path of some sort to figure out the meaning of the song-the banjo gives it a "Southern Cajun" feel that is present throughout the song-also hints at a playful love song...

Comparable Song "Rapunzel" "Hunger for the Great Light"

8. "Squirm"
Quotable Lyric "Above all things if kindness is your king
Then heaven will be yours before you meet your end"

"Dave: ““[New sax player] Jeff Coffin played an eastern scale thing, a beautiful solo, one of my favorite things on the record. ‘Squirm’ was written after Roi had passed on. Otherwise, every saxophone solo moment on the album is LeRoi. Carter had a drum groove that was pretty awesome but he originally did it over the top of this lilting, melancholy song. And I was like, ‘This drum groove is too good for this song! So I took that drum groove and wrote this new song over the top of it. That song is one of the most joyful songs on the record, if not the most joyful, just because I think it’s sort of “be yourself.” It’s a song about peace and about acknowledging those things we have in common. For me, I have the image of a convention hall, almost like some strange church, where you go to learn that you’re just a naked monkey! And it’s not the only simian-themed moment—I went monkey-crazy on this album. I may be the only monkey I know, but I tend to think that I’m not. I watched monkeys all my life and I don’t see that the difference is that remarkable. " Couldn't put it any better...

Comparable Song "Last Stop" -musically "Big Eyed Fish" "Warehouse"

9. "Alligator Pie (Cockadile)" (my top 3)
Quotable Lyric "Grace is all i'm asking
When will grace return
Remember how I feel in those days of the summertime
Then Stella smiled
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?"

Dave mentions his two girls, Grace and Stella, in this song which is another catchy upbeat song with a strong drumbeat and electric guitar, violin-DMB mixing it all together-that "Southern Cajun" feeling...searching for help and meaning...while Dave mixes in his "voice jams" into it to his jig that he does on stage...a fun song

Comparable Song "Grace is Gone"-lyrically "Ants Marching" - musically

10. "Seven"
Quotable Lyric "Mama told me boy someday a girl will take your mind
And then you'll know I never knew but I do now"

Another more "serious" love song with some inuendoes and insinuations in it to a love song...just gonna leave it at that

Comparable Song "Rapunzel" "Stand Up

11. "Time Bomb"
Quotable Lyric "No one would believe it
Except for all the people
Watching as you fly away"

A dark song searching for meaning and truth a mix of electric guitar-a more "rock" song than what listeners are accustomed to from DMB

Comparable Song: "What You Are" "Halloween"

12. "Baby Blue"
Quotable Lyric "Holding tight to the legs of all your angels
Goodbye my love into your blue eyes
In your blue world
You and me forever"

True Love song...it was as if Dave put lyrics to a poem...all that is needed to say

Comparable Song "Crash" "So Right" "Steady as We Go" "Lover Lay Down"

13. "You and Me" (my top 3)
Quotable Lyric: 'With eyes closed we're gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky we're gonna ride the blue
All the way to the end of the world"

Another love song..very upbeat and playful-almost another version of stay lyrically and musically...just a great song to listen to as if you and your sweetheart are sitting out in a field on a blanket as if nothing else in the world matters...

Comparable Song "Stay" "When the World Ends" "Satellite"

Dave's Explanation of Songs from AntsMarching

Hope You enjoy the album as much as I do! "DMB's Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with 424,000 copies sold in its first week of release"

An unexpected source of Courage and Manliness

This from The American Catholic, who I have found, has very interesting historical articles from important times and events and how Catholicism played a huge and oftentimes unexpected role...

"The men of the 5th Ranger Battalion could barely keep from laughing when they first saw their chaplain, Captain Joe Lacy, a week before D-Day. These were young men, in peak physical condition. Father Joe Lacy was old by Ranger standards, knocking on 40, overweight by at least 30 pounds, wearing thick glasses and short, 5 foot, six inches. He was described by one Ranger as “a small, fat old Irishman.” No way would he be able to keep up when they invaded France.

On the trip across the Channel to France, Chaplain Lacy told the men: “When you land on the beach and you get in there, I don’t want to see anybody kneeling down and praying. If I do I’m gonna come up and boot you in the tail. You leave the praying to me and you do the fighting.” A few of the men began to think that maybe this priest was tougher than he looked.

On June 6, 1944 at 7:30 AM, LCA 1377 landed the Rangers on Omaha Dog Green Beach, the first landing craft to land on that section of Omaha Beach. Father Lacy was the last man out just before an artillery shell hit the fantail. Everything was chaos with the beach being swept by German artillery and small arms fire. Wounded men were everywhere, both on the beach and in the water feebly trying to get to the beach. Father Lacy did not hesistate. With no thought for his own safety he waded into the water to pull men out of the ocean and onto the beach. He began treating the wounded on the beach and administering the Last Rites to those beyond human assistance. On a day when courage was not in short supply men took notice of this small fat priest who was doing his best under fire to save as many lives as he could. While his battalion led the way off Omaha Beach, Father Lacy continued to tend their wounded and the wounded of other units. For his actions that day Father Lacy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest decoration for valor, after the Medal of Honor, in the United States Army. "

Life Lessons

Good article in this week's Sports Illustrated written by Tony Dungy on Michael Vick. I am all for giving people second chances-God does (the power of Confession). If I was an owner of an NFL team or GM-I would still be hesitant of signing him. Mike and Mike brought up an interesting spin on this as well-how is it different for guys who are convicted of abuse or who have wedlock children any different? Granted what Vick did was on a major and publicized scale, but is it really all that different? The moral issue is the one that comes into affect here-how do you want to be viewed with the team's fans and the public-don't forget for whatever team takes a chance on Vick would have to deal with PETA (not many people would want to do that). It would be nice to see Vick get on with a team and turn his life around. Dungy makes some good points that can not only be applied to Vick, but to everyone and getting second chances in life as well-and we only have God to thank for all the second chances He gives us in life.

""What you learn in life is the same thing you learn in football," I told Michael, who was scheduled to be released from prison this Wednesday to serve the final two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement. "You have losses, and you have to rebound from them. The key thing is, How do you bounce back from a defeat?"

Waymon Tisdale 1964-2009
"You don't change because things come in your life. You get better because things come in your life."

Carpenter back on the Mound

It was nice to see Chris Carpenter make a successful return last night from the DL and pitch 5 strong innings shutting the Small Bears down and leading the Redbirds to a 2-1 victory last night. Now let's not get too excited-it was only 5 innings and roughly 70 pitches, BUT it will hopefully provide some stability and if Wainwright is back to form then the pitching staff should look as formidable as it did the first month of the season.

"I know that if I'm healthy then my ability has a chance to come out, and I have a chance to give my team a chance to win," Carpenter said. "Unfortunately I haven't been healthy a whole lot. And that's all that concerns me." ..."My stuff has always been the same," Carpenter said. —To be honest, the biggest concern was if (the nerve) was going to have the ability to get strong and fire again. Fortunately, it has. It takes a lot of work. And I continue to do that in between starts and everything else. It's a never-ending process."...


As for the offense....all I can say is it will be nice to have Ludwick and Ankiel back in the line-up. It looks as if Rasmus is slowly turning the corner (he has a history for starting slow) and if Barston (Brian Barden/Joe Thurston) can get out of the rookie funk they are and at least bat .27o then the offense should start to produce.

"When people say, 'How is Albert (Pujols) a great player?' you give examples. When someone asks, 'How is Chris Carpenter a great pitcher?' you can use this as an example. You can't do what he did tonight unless you're great," La Russa said.

"If I prepare myself, my stuff is good and I'm going to get outs," Carpenter said. "That is a fact."..."He's the nastiest pitcher I've faced all year," said Cubs first baseman and cleanup hitter Derrek Lee....

Let's sweep those Small Bears tonight!

Congrats to Albert for being named the #1 player in MLB by Sporting News.

Technology and the "Fall of Communication"

Now, I am not going to go into a big rant about how Communication has changed over the years from Abraham to now where we have instant communication-texting, blogging (Yes, call me a hypocrite), and tweeting (not Tweety Bird), etc. With that said in a ways communication can enhance people's lives-making them easier and more efficient, but sometimes doing it the old fashioned way is the easiest and most efficient-like making a phone call, etc. Too make a long point short, as great as this new-wave of communication and technology is, it has also led to the lack of or downfall of simple speech, grammar, and communication of people. This article "Defining Discourse Down" points out the problem of communication and how he defines it as "Discourse" as we know what communication is today.

"When has any debate in the last 150 years evoked memories of Lincoln-Douglas? And how is Twitter versus America’s most remarkable letter-writing first family a fair fight?...It’s not that we are all suddenly morons. This is not going to be some elitist rant on “if only everyone could be smart like me and my friends.” Likewise, the problem is not the banality of the world around us. There is plenty to discuss, dissect, and disagree on. The problem is not even that television has robbed us of the ability to communicate in complete sentences (though it certainly hasn’t helped). The problem with our discourse—are you ready for this brilliant insight?—is that some people are jerks and some people are too nice...."

This is a very interesting read and makes some good points.

Nice to see the Cardinals actually get a lead and win the game last night. Pineioro hopefully showed the rest of the pitching staff, that when you don't walk batter and serve up meatballs, good things happen to pitchers-a complete game 9 IP, NO WALKS, 5 K's, and 17 groundball outs-a 4 pitch 4th inning, and retired the last 14 batters. Hopefully with Carpenter coming back tonight we can get the ship back sailing in the right direction-and with Ankiel coming back as well. Go get em Redbirds!