September 29, 2025
Anyway you slice it, we are all trapped by borders. The border between countries, the border between cultures and especially the borders between each other. That is the synopsis for my long gestating Mickey Free tale. Here's how Dan The Man sees the movie poster for that story.
Here's my POV of a scene I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
Flag Drummers Going Solo
When Kathy, Uno and I were in Flagstaff earlier this month, we walked downtown for dinner, and sat outside on the patio of Charly's Pub & Grill next to the historic Weatherford Hotel. It was about five on a Friday night and we soon heard a live band starting up on the plaza which was maybe 100 yards behind us, and around a corner. Being an old band guy (heavy on the "old") I couldn't help but critique their musical efforts and the tunes they chose to play. My first, casual impression was that the drummer was a tad weak and clunky but some of the guitar work was inspired. As their set wore on, I became a bit more impressed that they were attempting to do Motown tunes which can be difficult for garage bands because the singing is often complicated. I thought to myself, well, they obviously have a couple young ladies who can belt out a tune. After we finished eating we walked toward the plaza to see who was making all the hub bub and as the shrubbery gave way to the sunken, semi-amphitheater stage I was stunned to see there was no band! Only a lone drummer with a bank of computers behind him! It was 99% AI!
You can file this experience under the I-Never-Thought-I'd-Live-Long-Enough-to-Witness-This-Travesty! Ha. What's next? Flying cars?
"There are drummers who play so much stuff, it's murky. You're playing over everybody. You'e not listening. Music is like a conversation. We talk and then we listen."
—Sheila E.
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