Beer, Beards, and Being Offended

Lately there has been a flood of offenses hitting the shores lately.  Gay marriage has been legalize.  The Confederate Battle Flag has been banned.  Dukes of Hazard pulled from rerun TV.  Marijuana legalization continues to made strides one prescription pot card at a time.

So, what does the bearded bullshitter have to say about it?  Well, for starters, lets talk beer.

Beards, Bullshit, and Baltimore... My take on current events.

Some of you saw this post on facebook already and wanted to share it. Due to privacy settings only friends could see the post. So, for those that want to share it... here you go.

FYI - No beers would consumed during the writing of this post nor were any beards harmed in the process. That said, put your muck-boots on, here comes the bullshit...

What's happening in Baltimore is a result of a much larger systemic problem in this country. The city is weak because its communities are weak. It's communities are weak because its families are week. We are raising generations that don't understand what it means to be part of a strong family. We ship our elderly off to retirement homes and expect them to care for them.. We ship our youth off to school and daycare and expect them to raise them. When the going gets tough society's answer is to quit and turn to divorce, or not even bother and crank out kid after kid with little thought to what happens next. To top it off, family these days is seen as a weakness and a liability rather than a source of strength.

Sadly communities are quickly becoming obsolete because of the digital era. Why worry about your neighbor when you can talk to your friends halfway around the world online? Why do community service when you can hangout on facebook, skype, etc? Why worry about home when you can jump in the car and drive an hour away.


Want to end poverty? Build wealth from one generation to the next.
Want to end hunger? Take care of each other and those around you.
Want to end hatred? Stop tolerating a culture which condones and encourages violence.


This has nothing to do with color, creed, or class. This is a systemic problem that cuts across the socio-economic strata. We are a country of broken homes and broken children. Those broken children become broken adults. How can we expect the rioting youth of Baltimore to know any better when they have no role models to look up to? The same could be said for Ferguson, Sandy Hook, and Boston. These tragic events all have one thing in common: brokenness and instability.


I don't care what you believe, we can all agree that unity builds stability.
I don't care where you came from, right now we're all Americans.
I don't care what color your skin in, we're all human.
I don't care who you marry, as long as you marry for the right reasons.


Fixing problems like this don't start in Washington DC or state capitals. Petitioning, picketing, protesting, or posting doesn't change anything. Fixing these problems starts in the home. Strong families, regardless of gender makeup, build strong communities. Strong communities, regardless of race, build strong cities. Strong cities build strong states, and in turn a strong country.

I say all this not because I think I'm better than the rioting youth of Baltimore. I'm just as guilty as the next person on almost every point made in my little rant. I'm not free of guilt in this matter. And you know what, neither are you. It's easy to sit back and poke fun at what's going on in Baltimore with stupid memes. It's easy to ride the high horse and look down at them for being "hoodlums" and "thugs." I'm not saying they're not. What I'm saying is this is a systemic problem... a cancer... a plague that is not unique to Baltimore but more common than many of us are willing to admit.

Until we all start looking in the mirror and asking some really hard questions, things aren't going to change. As long as we let families and communities crumble, things aren't going to change. As long as we continue to stand idly by expecting the government to take care of our poor and our hungry, things aren't going to change. As long as we continue to ignore our roles and responsibilities as parents, friends, and community members, things aren't going to change.

So, what can you do? Simply put, pay it forward. Extend a helping hand to the next person in need. Could be something simple as helping a friend move. Could be something more. Who knows. All I know is I wake up every morning with two goals: be a better person than I was yesterday; and leave the world a better place when I go to bed then I found it when I woke up. I've been slacking lately. I need to do more.

That makes me part of the problem.

Beer, Beards, and Beginnings

Beer, Beards, and Beginnings

It’s a new year.  I’m still trying to wrap my head around the purpose of this blog.  I’ve probably written and delated a few hundred pages worth of ramblings that will never see the light of day.  There are times I just ramble, other times I vent, and sometimes I just start at the vast white blank space and nothing comes out.

I can look back.  It’s easy to do.  Sadly I feel I do that too much.  I allow my past to be an anchor.  My default is to carry the baggage of past mistakes and attempt to use it as motivation to make tomorrow better.  Sadly it doesn’t work that way.  The frustrating part is even when I try to let go, there are things I can’t let go of.  Rule of thumb, if you have kids and want to teach them something valuable teach them fiscal responsibility at a young age.  While you’re at it, tell them to live a debt free life.  Not only will this instill a value and ethic for work and possessions that is lost on current generations, but it will also prevent past mistakes from haunting them for the rest of their life.  I would love to undo some financial mistakes I made in my teens and 20’s.  Sadly I’ll be dealing with them till I die.   I digress.  The point of this post was to focus on beginnings.

I can look ahead.  This is a bit tougher.  In some respects I look ahead with a healthy optimism.  Aside from the aforementioned debt, I believe I am smart enough and talented enough to do anything I set my mind to.  My head is full of ideas.  I’m a servant leader and an entrepreneur.  I love taking things I already enjoy doing and finding ways to make money from them. Those that know me know how much I love music and that I have plans to turn it into a business.  Aside from the hurdle of money (see how that becomes a damn anchor?) I think the idea is solid gold.  It’s something that, as every other door closes in my face, has stayed with me through recent history.

So, beginnings.  It’s 2015.  I have a few goals, some more personal than other, but in general I am striving to simply be better. I want to be a better person tomorrow than I was yesterday.  Small steps.  I want to avoid the grandiose goals that are unobtainable.  I also want to avoid setting numbers on the goals.  While a quantifiable goal is motivation for others, it’s pressure to me.  Sometimes I lose sight of the process because I think the goal is unobtainable.  This is very true in the face of temporary or circumstantial setbacks.  So the goal for my goals, wait, is that redundant?  Anyway, my goals are a little more abstract.  I want to improve myself in mind, body, heart, and spirit.  There are many things I enjoy that I’ve neglected the past few years.  I love to hike.  I love to visit museums.  I love to read.  I love to think, meditate, and contemplate.  All of these things feed me in different ways.  I hope I can grow physically, emotionally, inflectionally, and spiritually this year.  Simple?  Yes.  Too simple?  I don’t think so.  Obtainable?  In small steps, yes.  I hope this time next year I can look back and say I am better person because of the journey I took in 2015.

Beer, Beards, and Bands… A brief insight into the evolution of my involvement with music

Beer of the moment: Yuengling Traditional Lager - Pottsville, PA

Oh, and someone snuck a sidecar of Jameson into the shot.

Anyone that knows me knows how important music is to me.  It’s an integral part of my life.  I might even go so far as to say that I have an internal soundtrack that plays in my head when I’m not actively listening to music.

When I was younger I grew up in a household that loved listening to classical music.  Even as child I knew the powerhouses like Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Chopin.  The Boston Pops were the go-to ensemble along with countless CDs and tapes (remember those?) of various classical mixes.

Shortly after moving from the Poconos to South Central PA I started the 5^th grade.  At this time I was given the option to pick an instrument to play.  Being a lover of brass it was a no-brainer for me to pick the trumpet.  I probably never practiced as much as I should have, but over the years I played in concert band, the orchestra, and jazz band.  Making the transition from a consumer of music to a player of music gave me a whole new perspective, and respect, for musicians.

About the same time this was going on I got into helping with the setup and teardown for the concerts.  This eventually morphed into me becoming the unofficial auditorium technical assistant.  I would help out during my free periods getting the auditorium ready for everything from concerts to assemblies.  This was especially fun when I was finally trusted with things like microphones and lights.  My natural aptitude for technical things carried over into the realm of sound, light, and stagecraft.

Local Band Chris Woodward and Shindiggin'

The next phase of my connection with music came in college.  I had given up on the trumpet (and sold it) so I was limited in my ability to play music.  Also, having not practiced singing since Junior High Men’s Ensemble, my voice was not worthy of being heard on stage.  I still had a yearning to be connected though.  When I was presented with an opportunity to stack the deck in my favor while transferring colleges I weaseled my way out of Speech 101 and Communications 101 by bumping up to Radio Production and Radio Practicum.  This allowed me to ‘play’ music as well as get an inside look at radio station operations. I went from having a one hour show one year, to having a two hour show the next, to having a three hour show.  For the most part everyone loved my show and it was a fun and rewarding experience.  Not to mention I got to learn a lot about station ops, electronics, and editing.  I was able to create all my own liners which was a lot of fun.  This of course was still in the analog days before computers.  Being able to work a board and a bank of CD players was something I found challenging and I enjoyed every second of it.  My last year in the station was the first year they got a computer for the DJ booth.  Given the success and popularity of my show I was given first crack at programming it.  I adapted my show format for the computer and created various folders for it to draw from based on my own pattern for picking music.  I’m sure it would be crude by today’s standards, but 15 years ago I made it work.

While I all this was going on, I was also getting involved with the college’s theater.  Having been a sound, light, and stage tech in high school it wasn’t a far jump to find my way backstage in college.  I was able to put my experience and knowledge to use rigging speakers for background music and effects, rigging lights, and even helping with scene construction.  The cross-pollination between my radio class and the theater program was a product of a small communications department.  My circle of friends also included a number of people involved in both theater and radio.

A shot of Frank Ballard and his band from stage right.

Outside of school I had many friends who were musicians.  Finally old enough to get into bars I found myself in a new section of the entertainment world.  I slowly evolved from just going to shows as a fan, to helping teardown, to helping setup and teardown, to eventually running the mixer for both solo artists and bands.  This is when my mantra of “will roadie for beer” started.  It’s also something that has never changed.  No matter where I’ve lived I’ve always found a way to connect with the local music scene.

In recent years, through my connection with local music, I’ve managed to get opportunities to work with a variety of regional bands and even some Top 40 artists.  I can say, with only a few exceptions, they’ve all been a pleasure to meet and work with.  The number of stories I’ve accumulated over the last few years makes for great memories.  I’m never one to brag though.  At least I try not to.  I know not everyone has the chance to meet their radio idols let alone hang out with them or even share a drink with them.  Because of that I’m not one to ask for autographs and only very rarely ask for a photograph.  I think that’s one reason why I get the opportunities I do.  To me they are just another person doing something they love.  For me, it’s behind the scenes. For them it’s front and center in the spot light.  At the end of the night we’re both backstage.  I approach them are real people rather than fawning over them and pawing at them like so many “fans” do day in and day out.  So, when people ask me why I do what I do, that’s why. It’s a chance to meet other people who love music as much as I do, and sometimes more which is hard to believe.

So, there you have it.  That’s the evolutionary story of my connection with music.  I love music. It’s a part of me. I listen to it. I play it when I DJ. I help create it when I’m working crew.  Even now I have a classical music mix playing in the background while I write.  My love of music spans almost all genres too.  Currently my niche is within Country Music.  A lot of the people I’ve met and worked with are country artists.  My default stations on the radio are country as well.  I wasn’t always a country fan, but that’s a different story for a different beer.

A parting shot:

A selfie with Frankie Ballard in the greenroom backstage.

One of the few times I've ever asked an artist for a photo.

Also, I needed an excuse to work the beard into this post.

It's just me drinking a beer and discussing random shit. It'll be just like philosophy class only without the college loan debt.

… and that's how it all started.

Welcome to the home of BEER, BEARDS, & BULLSHIT. Your semi-infrequent, somewhat delusional, mildly infuriating, and downright distasteful philosophical ramblings of your everyday unemployed single ginger gentleman.

What else do you expect me to do with an arts degree?

More later… I need a beer.