On the Road with Dave and Paul

Joni Mitchell-"Circle Game"

"I've got AIDS, You've got Huntington's. That means one thing, buddy. ROAD TRIP!"

Yes, my friend Dave said it in those exact terms.

Heaven 17-"Geisha Boys and Temple Girls"

Our road trips had taken on almost epic status. Both of us had grown up without proper coping techniques for life. We had used anything and everything to escape. For that last years of our lives, that included rental cars and any highway that would have us (What, you think he'd take his beloved Lexis on a road trip, where would we fit our food?).

The Eagles-"Hotel California"

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim

I had to stop for the night

There she stood in the doorway;

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself,

'this could be heaven or this could be hell'

Over the years we drove all the way down and then up the Pacific Coast Highway (aka Highway 1). On the way we stopped over to stay at the beautiful Hotel California, Palm Springs, simply because we already knew the one in Santa Barbara and wanted to compare notes over the infamous lyrics of the song of the same name. I wouldn't miss this hotel if you  have never been. I've already booked a room for March 1st of next year.

Rent Motion Picture Soundtrack-"No Day Like Today"

Then there was the trip through the Texas Panhandle. This was probably our craziest road trip of all. Dave and I had never been to Texas, and we were undergoing a lot of personal stress. His twins had just been born, he had tested positive for AIDS, and my neurologist had made an early diagnosis of Huntington's Disease based on soft symptoms. In addition, I had just purchased a home with my girlfriend at the time. We needed to get away through a safe outlet, and we knew the best time was now before we both ended up escaping in a self-destructive way.

We were lucky. We had lovers who understood that as long as took care of our responsibilities it was a healthy outlet that would strengthen our home relationships more than if we ended up using and drinking.

So off to Texas we went, just because we could. We took an AA meeting guide and called Central Office in each town we reached. We managed to fit in a different meeting each day while on the road. It is very true when you read that the more you go, the more the meetings stay the same. The only difference was the accents of the people who welcomed us as visitors to their kind towns. We attended meetings on Indian Reservations, in the middle of the sticks, and even one where the majority of people were military members in uniform.

Counting Crows - "Big Yellow Taxi"

Of all the things that will stay with me on these road trips is the music. Dave worked in music studios as a career and he could explain why certain music sounded the way it did. Most importantly, he taught me that good music knows when to be quiet. Well, just like life.

Depeche Mode-"Master and Servant"

Take this song for example (it was one of several we discussed to death while our spouse's eyes glazed over). In the beginning there is this complete silence in between each of the three men's vocals. Only then does it even introduce musical instruments in the form of the emulator and then a synthesizer to add to the lead vocals. Dave thought this is where the multitude of remixes failed on this song. They took what made this song unique and turned it into just another generic remix by removing the build up. 

Is it any wonder now that these road trips with their resulting discussions were just as mentally helpful to our wives as to us? You see, this was just the tip of the iceberg. We would then list and name half a dozen of the remixes and then debate the failures and possibilities of each of them. 

Pet Shop Boys-"West End Girls (12" Dance Remix)"

This is another song that fails as a remix because the important buildup is destroyed as soon as the first note comes out of your stereo system. We would have our windows wide open and be singing to the PSB as naturally as most men sang to Eminem. No wonder we got so many strange looks in states like Alabama.

Speaking of road trips, we had just planned on driving up the coast to Washington State later in March while he was in between contracts. I think I'm going to pass and just watch something on the travel channel. Road trips aren't fun alone, and somehow I don't see Jane rocking it out to the Pet Shop Boy's "Always On My Mind"

Terry Jacks-"Season's in the Sun"

RIP My Friend

You have a safe trip now

Feeling Under Pressure

Good Afternoon Boys and Girls,


The clock just hit twelve noon as I sat down to type my first few letters here. Its good to have a new, fresh start after yesterday.


Did I sound whiney or what? I probably did because I was so tired of being sick and tired. One thing many people don't understand is that since Huntington's Disease affects the brain it also affects our thinking processes. We know its busted, that's the frustration. Yet we still want it to work right, as we often know what right is. So we fight it inside our brains.


Like me. Yesterday. I knew it isn't right to be so upset about walking three blocks and being inside a shop for 15 minutes. Yet I was petrified to go. Petrified as being on the upside down loop on a roller-coaster. I knew that the fear wasn't in proportion to the action, but that didn't help at all. It simply adds to the frustration.

You know that stupid feeling you get when you leave the house and forgot to check the coffee pot? You know you unplugged it, yet... that little voice is saying "Did you check it? Are you sure its unplugged?" Magnify that by 15 and you get an idea where I was yesterday every time I got up to leave the house.


This went on for nine hours! It took that long for me to throw Sparks on and get outside the house. Then one foot in front of the other and twenty-five minutes later I'm done and I'm home safe. Exhausted but safe.


Then comes the next day. Here I am. I want to go out one block. Yet again the fear is taking over, I can feel it in the back of my kneecaps. My legs are already pulled up in a protective angle. WTH?


All over what? The fact I need to go outside to smoke? You got it! So here we go all over again.

Joni Mitchell - "Circle Game"

Its days like yesterday and today when it doesn't seem so bad to know that some day I'm going to be 6 feet under. I'm not suicidal. don't get me wrong. I only mean that it will be nice not fighting myself.

Stop the Merry-Go-'Round. I want to get off!

The Eagles-Hotel California

So now I'm back home, and do I feel better? Hell no. Now I need to get out of the bedroom to the kitchen and that's now too much. So I'm going to relax, try to make the bed around the sleeping cat and really try to find something cheerful.


Frankie Goes to Hollywood will be our Triple feature today with three cover tunes from their brilliant album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. There isn't one bad tune on this album.


And before you ask - The answer is Yes, I did have a "Relax" T-Shirt and Yes, I knew what it meant. As long as the folks didn't know I was safe.  ;-)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood-"San Jose"

Frankie takes on Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run"

"Ferry Cross The Mersey" with brilliant visuals

Every time the music stops my head starts whirring and I feel the empty walls. Strange. 

Paul Oakenfold feat. Matt Goss - "Firefly"

Sophie Ellis Bextor-"Murder on the Dancefloor"
This is just a "fun" song.

I was reading on my Facebook earlier a friend talk about Queen  (Queen, Cash and Cooke) and it got me thinking about what musical geniuses they were. 

Queen-"Flash"

Queen-"Under Pressure" feat. David Bowie
Gotta love those visuals
R.I.P. Freddie Mercury

I'm throwing on one more by Frankie simply because I can't get it out of my head today. Although a heavy Christmas release, I first heard this as the last cut on the Pleasuredome CD (or was it on Peel). Either way, it is one of the most beautiful love songs I've heard in my 40 plus years on the face of this earth. 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood-"Power of Love"
Sit back, relax and forget about the camels for a few minutes.
Just listen to the lyrics.

On that note I'm going to leave you. The cat finally stopped making me pay for waking her up after making the bed, in other words after an hour of demanding payment in petting she fell asleep. 

This leaves me with several chores around the home to finish before I go out to a friend's house later tonight. So off to do the dishes and jump in the shower, while I can.

Now, if I only owned the BBC... ;)

G'Evening.

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