Mara

People who take advantage of the unstaffed hours at the gym (you scan your card to unlock the door) to bring their small children in with them. Two kids, elementary school age, climbing all over everything, scattering dumbbells everywhere, and making enough noise to be heard above my headphones. It's a gym, not Romper Room. There is one guy who routinely brings his young son in, but that child sits quietly either reading or playing on his phone. Technically against policy but I have no problem with well-behaved kids.

It’s snobbery, pure and simple. Those that cast their votes for Eilish think doing so makes them look erudite and discerning and arty-farty. As if anyone gives half a shit about them. Quoting myself here, because I discovered today that Billie Eilish is the singer whose songs I always change the station for (I am a little behind the pop culture curve). Every time I heard snippets of her music, my thought was always, "she sounds like she's dead, whoever she is". Now I know.

Yup. Chantix did for me (both times), and any SSRI. (SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, may negatively impact bonerism but you won't care because they also banjax your sex drive), I dream vividly anyway but the dreams from those two drugs were just beyond weird. It did settle down after a bit, though. When you have these nightmares, are you aware you're dreaming? It's called lucid dreaming and supposedly you can train yourself to do it. The benefit of your dream self knowing that it's in a dream can let you somehow subconsciously take control of the dream. Oh, also not a psychiatrist/psychologist, and it's been years since I stayed in a Holiday Inn even.

It’s snobbery, pure and simple. Those that cast their votes for Eilish think doing so makes them look erudite and discerning and arty-farty. As if anyone gives half a shit about them.

Dear God, I will trade you Justin Bieber and all of the Kardashians for Neil Peart. Signed, Mara Dear Mara, Are you on crack? Not a f***ing chance in Hell (that lot aren’t welcome there either) or anywhere else! I can’t blame you for trying, though you know that’s nowhere near a fair swap. Signed, God

i remember you talking about Simon. Glad to hear he is still with you and doing good. Did you have two dogs? I did. Lost Lance to cancer three days after Christmas 2017. Now it’s Simon and Don, my SO (yes, the older guy - we’re officially shacked up!) has Zoe, who is five. So I do still have two dogs. Just once I want to have a vet visit without it being a triple digit score! I swear, Simon knows when my credit card balance (usually accrued via vet trips) is zeroed out. I joke that he’s my financial manager - he keeps me from spending money on frivolous things. Such is the price of having an elderly dog, though, and he is more than worth every penny.

You're going to let a new teenage driver get behind the wheel of that car? :o Yep. He’s a great kid. He’s also 6’7”, and he fits in it, which is important to me (and to him, I’m sure, if I asked him). And it’s paid off, and I’ve kept it in great condition, mechanically and cosmetically. I mean I totally understand why you’d ask, but...yeah. I thought about all of that already. He's gonna be a minority in that car! At least he would be in the south. We rented one back in 2013 to drive to Raleigh for Rush (2nd show, had to do it). I felt very Caucasian behind the wheel!

Yes, yes, what he said! It’s gonna happen....as soon as my dog quits spending my money!

My dog, Simon, only has bronchitis. (Long story, but he's nearing 16. He's got a significant heart murmur so I always worry about congestive heart failure starting. And he had some abnormal bone tissue growth in his lower limbs that usually indicates there's cancer going on somewhere in the body, though x-rays and ultrasound showed nada. So when he developed a slight cough, got kind of listless, and I found myself struggling to get calories into him, I worried. A lot. But....no sign of cancer on x-rays, good bloodwork, and heart sounds better than it did when he was first diagnosed with the murmur. So I will take the very treatable bronchitis).

I'm still listening to a lot of Rush as well during workouts. Yesterday I kept hitting repeat on "The Weapon". It's a favorite of mine anyway, in no small part because of the instrumental bridge. But now I am really listening to it. Not to give Geddy short shrift here or anything, but that section is so completely The Alex And Neil Show. You can listen to just the drums, or just the guitar, and be blown away by either one on its own merits....or be rendered speechless by the way the Neil and Alex complement each other. Damn, I will miss those moments. Not fair. And Keith Richards endures....

I was gonna make an anal sex joke....but f**k it

And you have to be alert for falling frozen iguanas: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/fl-ne-falling-iguanas-20200121-r5etdtenpvbjpgb4g72wzxcxba-story.html

Why do Norwegian battleships all have barcodes on the sides? ....so when the ships return to port, they can Scandinavian!

Good points. I like Godsmack and don’t think Erna meant any harm. Hopefully he’ll apologize for spouting off something he evidently got off the rumor mill. A member of another group I belong to (not Rush, it’s for nail polish fanatics, don’t ask!) suddenly disappeared from the boards where she had been one of the more active participants. It was odd that she vanished with no explanation, and one of the other members called her local police precinct for a wellness check. The cops found her semi-conscious and she’d been in a bad way for days. They got her to the hospital and she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme. She never left the hospital. She got palliative care and radiation and lived about another month. Here was an advanced case but until she collapsed the symptoms were either not manifest or were too subtle for alarm until she crashed. The people from the board who did visit her reported that she was comfortable, surprisingly alert, and able to converse lucidly until about her last week.

When anyone we have a longtime connection with dies, it’s often an uncomfortable reminder of our own mortality. While none of us here actually knew Neil personally, there are so many who felt that connection through the music and Neil’s writing. For me it’s a reminder of youth that somehow seems not so distant; my first Rush show was p/g and it seems like yesterday. But in fact it was well over 30 years ago.

I opened this thread thinking it was going to be one of those simpering "he's in a better place" platitudes too many people offer up (without having been asked) when someone dies. Thankfully it's not that! I don't have any trouble ignoring the profiteering; I am rarely on eBay and then only to check saved searches.

I don't think the sales uptick is from fellow Rushians - haven't we already bought every album by now? :) Some people will be buying the remasters ( I have all albums but not necessarily the remasters) and/or the versions mastered specifically for iTunes.

How have I never heard of Rush Camp? Neil should have his own postage stamp. I don't collect stamps, but I would buy a Neil Peart stamp.

Am I missing something here? Granted, I haven't skied in forever (since getting a concussion on my second trip skiing), but isn't snow one of the essential elements of a successful ski venture? I think that's why there aren't any ski resorts in the Bahamas. (And here you all were thinking it was the hurricanes). As for me - I've added another thing to my Shovel List. (The Shovel List, for those unfamiliar, is a list of things I hate so much I want to hit them repeatedly with a shovel until they cease to exist. The Shovel List is fluid; it can change daily or even hourly depending on my mood. I borrowed the term from an author whose main character was a spicy, sarcastic chick with a lengthy Shovel List herself). New Shovel List item: "Self-care". I am way past done reading sappy references, hearing sound bites, etc., to this insipid new-agey concept. shovel list. That’s a good one. Shovel lists are sanity savers! You can put people, things, words, phrases....anything you dislike on the shovel list. Then imagine actually beating those things to a pulp with a shovel. That is somewhat gratifying. Thanks for the tip. :ebert: I am also fond of saying I don't believe in stuff I don't like. Vegetables? I don't believe in them. Purchase order requests? Vacuum cleaners? Rain hats? Ditto.

No Rolling Stones fan here (and goddamn, but good for Mick he has cash and charisma because he is one ugly mother. In my teens I referred to him as “Liver Lips”) but even I have to disagree with that assessment. Replace Mick with Justin Bieber and you’ve got a dead bang on list of no-talents.

And we haven't even mentioned the bacon yet .... ;) or the soup. Did someone say, “Chicken”?

We probably will hear more from Geddy and Alex, but I expect it’s going to be at least several months or more before they open up. I don’t have to remind anyone here that Neil was their close friend; as much as we’re hurting, they are undoubtedly reeling. It will take some time before they’re ready to really talk. And too, they are also mindful that Neil has a wife and daughter, not to mention both parents, plus a brother and a sister who have suffered a devastating loss in the worst possible way. I am certain Alex and Geddy want to hold off for awhile out of respect for the immediate family.

Good luck Mara. I will admit that a Hellcat fits you like a glove. Thanks! Maybe I'll zip up to Summerville and give you a spin!

I think Doane Perry would be the exception. He was most definitely a close friend of Neil's and I think he posted what he did to reassure the legions of fans that Neil didn't spend the last 3-1/2 years of his life in unimaginable physical pain. I appreciate Doane's insight for what it is, and I don't think he could be lumped in with the rest of the attention whores.

I am not going to read this, I already heard enough about it from some other folks. I think the guy is just classless and a jerk. Let him get his promos another way. Why can't they just leave it be? Exactly! He and b..mouth are getting, and rightly so, lambasted in the comment section of that article article "B....mouth" would be...who? Blabbermouth. The music news site that posted the story. Ah. For a moment I thought - surely not Bill Banasciewicz (or however the f**k he spells it)!!!