Friday is here again and the most interesting thing to talk about is the weather. It's been shitty. It's humid all the time and overcast. Fall weather is supposed to be clear and not humid at all, but this year sucks. Apart from the weather there ain't much goin' on. Jon the bass player eventually called me and explained why he has quit. It seems the problem was Rick who Jon was picking up from his house on the way here. It was terribly nice of him to do it and he never complained to me about it even though it was out of his way by about 20 minutes. It seems that Rick was always late getting out of the house which caused Jon to have to waste even more of his time waiting around for Rick to come outside. 

This has been going on for months apparently and the final straw was last week when Jon was in a hurry and Rick absentmindedly left his phone behind. Jon dumped him back here and that was the end of that. Now I like Rick a lot, but he's one of these cats who will take a mile if you give him an inch. Rick hasn't had a car for about a year I guess and Jon has been picking him up and taking him home for all these sessions here. Rick said he was getting a car, but he never did. While Jon was picking him up he didn't need one, and he would never get one as long as that free ride stayed in place. 

I get it. Rick's a superstar and he shouldn't have to drive himself anywhere, set up his drums or worry about anything like that. All Rick wants to do is sit down and play the drums. Unfortunately Rick doesn't have the wherewithal to afford any of these luxuries, so when someone like Jon comes along Rick will take advantage of his generosity.

There's a difference though. Jon was happy to pick Rick up and take him home but Rick being Rick, didn't seem to care how much time he was adding on to the journey by being incapable of being on time. I told Rick that Jon had to go out of his way to pick him up, but Rick didn't really understand I think.

It's a shame, but that's not uncommon in the rock and roll eco system. For my part, I was unaware of any of this until Jon abruptly quit. I would actually welcome a break from playing guitar for a while. I have developed a kind of repetitive strain injury in both of my shoulders. It used to be the right one but now the left one is hurting as well. It's annoying but it will get better quicker if I give it a rest. I can still play keyboards and drums, which I've been doing. 

Next week I'm going to start editing up some footage from a few years back. I was discovering all kinds of things yesterday while I was looking for something else, so I will put some new videos together that I shot for some old songs, but forgot that I had. Sometimes I video stuff and then hate what it looks like. When I find it again a few years later I realize it isn't as bad as I thought. I look younger for a start. 

Anyhoo, that's what's happening here. If you want the news or commentary, there are a gazillion bloggers, pundits, influencers and imbeciles who will dissect that stupidity for you. I'm going to have a pleasant weekend even if the weather is gonna be weird. I hope you have the same.

Happy Friday  

This video was shot on a lava field and in an ocean pool in Kona Hawaii. I need to go back.