Post here when your My Effin Life book arrives and what you think after reading!

[ytserush]

12 hours ago, Weatherman said:

Biggest surprises:

 

3) Alex drunkenly destroying the hotel room in England for no reason sounded suspiciously similar to his felony charges at the Florida resort 

Haven't gotten that far yet but he covered that part in his live readings.  Florida was the first thing that came to mind too.

[thizzellewashington]

I was a little surprised at how big a factor cocaine was. I guess I'd always been under the impression that the three of them largely avoided hard drugs and that was credited as a reason for their longevity. But it never got to be a REAL problem in the band.

 

I finished the audiobook yesterday. The stuff about Neil at the end was pretty heavy. But I'm glad to hear that he revisited Rush's albums near the end of his life and felt good about them. I know how much he hated looking back at the past so it was nice to hear that he was able to do that and be proud of what he did.

[Timbale]

I have yet to read it...I am the patient sort who is imagining it will show up under the xmas tree...but I've been paying attention to the chatter around it.

 

The coke stuff is surprising to me, too.  I will always remember listening to the ESL version of YYZ in the car with a friend on a road trip - totally cranked - and when the band kicked back in after the drum solo, my buddy said "there's no way Geddy didn't just do a line of coke...listen to how intense his playing is right here".  I totally shrugged that one off as impossible.  Blowing my mind that he may very well have been using those moments to...use.

[BigMontanaSKY]

I'd like to humanize addicts by mentioning this- for some occupations, the stresses of the job do cause people to become addicted.

 

A relative of mine got heavily into methamphetamine abuse when he took a job that meant long work hours and long drives.

 

 

 

 

[Lurkst]

I'm pleased to report that My Effin' Life has made #1 in the UK book charts 

 

(Like most Rush albums it will probably nosedive out of the top 10 after a week  But still a commendable effort).

 

I got ahold of it this weekend. It's much more solid than I was expecting, beautifully produced but a weighty tome. Fall asleep reading it in bed and you're liable to do yourself an injury!

I wasn't expecting the extent of photographs throughout, they have done a great job of enhancing the story, and I've only read a couple of chapters.

 

Flicking through it though, as a proud Ayrshireman I was delighted to see the book ends with Ged looking out to the Firth of Clyde 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Lurkst

[thizzellewashington]

3 hours ago, BigMontanaSKY said:

I'd like to humanize addicts by mentioning this- for some occupations, the stresses of the job do cause people to become addicted.

 

A relative of mine got heavily into methamphetamine abuse when he took a job that meant long work hours and long drives.

 

 

 

 

To be clear, I wasn't judging anybody. Just a little surprised.

[BigMontanaSKY]

8 hours ago, Lurkst said:

I'm pleased to report that My Effin' Life has made #1 in the UK book charts 

 

(Like most Rush albums it will probably nosedive out of the top 10 after a week  But still a commendable effort).

 

I got ahold of it this weekend. It's much more solid than I was expecting, beautifully produced but a weighty tome. Fall asleep reading it in bed and you're liable to do yourself an injury!

I wasn't expecting the extent of photographs throughout, they have done a great job of enhancing the story, and I've only read a couple of chapters.

 

Flicking through it though, as a proud Ayrshireman I was delighted to see the book ends with Ged looking out to the Firth of Clyde 

 

 

 

 

 

Great photo.

 

The popularity of this book means the influence of Rush will be discussed again- they were the reason so many younger musicians put effort into actually making it in the music industry, versus just being "weekend warriors".

 

I'm personally enjoying the walk down memory lane provided by the book and book tour.

[Slim]

Just saw this on Instagram a few minutes ago. I assume the spelling mistake isn't interntional.

 

 

[Holdyourfireal]

On 11/26/2023 at 5:42 PM, BigMontanaSKY said:

I'd like to humanize addicts by mentioning this- for some occupations, the stresses of the job do cause people to become addicted.

 

A relative of mine got heavily into methamphetamine abuse when he took a job that meant long work hours and long drives.

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds like an idiot just like my brother in law.

[Rush Didact]

3 hours ago, Holdyourfireal said:

 

Sounds like an idiot just like my brother in law.

 

What a disgusting thing to say to someone.

[BigMontanaSKY]

Now would be a good time to trot out a Rush anecdote I've known for decades-

 

A local radio DJ where I grew up got to meet Geddy Lee (a scheduled interview to promote an album)-he said Geddy was personable and fun to talk to, unlike some recording artists.

 

Important to note, this was year ago before the Internet changed the music industry. Rock musicians were often rude, late or unreachable. 

 

We are fortunate that Geddy Lee chose to write this book and do a spoken word tour. 

[grep]

I think that Geddy Lee is famous.

[BigMontanaSKY]

9 hours ago, grep said:

I think that Geddy Lee is famous.

He's famous and wealthy, and he chose to help others via a book and a tour during a time where North Americans are historically alienated from each other.

 

If he's interested he could run for public office in Canada. That would be wild.

[Weatherman]

I've been torturing my young wife with the audiobook on our long cross-country drive this month.

She's 29 and has little idea who Rush is. But she's actually enjoying Ged's narration -- not the album recording bits, but the human interest anecdotes. She liked Chapter 3 (Holocaust history), and the part about drugs. 

I'm also interspersing songs with the chapters. So far, her favorites include Time Stand Still, Turn the Page, Tom Sawyer, and the Overture/Syrinx parts of 2112. She's a fantasy nerd so I think she'll ultimately come around to full fandom. It might take another couple years. 

There's hope for millennials yet! 

 

[Holdyourfireal]

19 hours ago, Rush Didact said:

 

What a disgusting thing to say to someone.

Let me know when you have to totally change your life and take in two children because their parents would rather do meth. You know what you are if you decide to try meth at 50 something years old? A scumbag.

[Principled Man]

23 hours ago, Holdyourfireal said:

Sounds like an idiot just like my brother in law.

 

Insulting a Rush Forum member's relative is a really good way to ostracize yourself here.

 

If you want to preach about the immorality and dangers of doing drugs, then make your own thread about it.  You DON'T insult people here.    

 

[grep]

12 hours ago, Holdyourfireal said:

Let me know when you have to totally change your life and take in two children because their parents would rather do meth. You know what you are if you decide to try meth at 50 something years old? A scumbag.

I'm not going to get into the trading insults aspect of the thread here.

But this is worth commenting on.  I totally agree - there's a time in your life when you're responsible only for yourself. So, whatever.

But if you have responsibility for the welfare of others, stay off of anything that will cause you to fail them. Wanna smoke some grass or have a bunch of drinks?  Not bad unless it's excess.  

It's well documented that people often get hooked on meth and the other shit from the first try.  Stay the f**k away from that shit.

[BastillePark]

I got an email today from the Backstage Club that they were selling some signed copies. By the time I looked a while later they were sold out. I wouldn't have bought one anyway but was curious  to know the price.

[Rush Didact]

$40 US.

 

I thought about buying one, but decided not to. The book itself is enough for me.

[thizzellewashington]

Damn, I would have bought a signed copy if they were only $40.

[HalfwayToGone]

On 11/30/2023 at 1:51 AM, Holdyourfireal said:

Let me know when you have to totally change your life and take in two children because their parents would rather do meth. You know what you are if you decide to try meth at 50 something years old? A scumbag.

It sucks that you had to step up and deal with someone else’s kids.  After all, I’m sure the parents had every intention of becoming hopelessly messed up in their middle age just to make your life worse.  And I’m sure no one who raised either parent had anything to do with their development of judgement or impulse control as adults.  And I’m sure they tried meth at 50 because their life was absolutely perfect at the time, not because they were somehow damaged or failed by those who are supposed to care about/help them in childhood or earlier in their adulthood.

[BigMontanaSKY]

Without going into great detail- drugs were a "social scene" thing back in the day.

 

I have relatives that are very prim and proper now, but- they partied in youth.

 

At some point, they cleaned up, put on business attire and stopped the chemically enhanced existence parade. 

 

It happens. We all grow up.

 

Back on topic, all the promo for the book makes it sound like Geddy had to babysit some people in the Rush world, which is fairly amusing. 

[Slim]

Something that I found quite striking, from the later part of the book.

 

Spoiler

This is one of the images from the book. Geddy and Alex in their dressing room after the very last Rush gig.

 

I'm posting it here because it illustrates something that's apparent from Geddy's book - the degree to which Neil, by the end of the band, is isolated from the other two. By this time he travels to the gigs separately, he has his own dressing room. And he even does the end of tour party separately from Geddy and Alex, as well.

 

 

[grep]

2 hours ago, Slim said:

Something that I found quite striking, from the later part of the book.

 

  Hide contents

This is one of the images from the book. Geddy and Alex in their dressing room after the very last Rush gig.

 

I'm posting it here because it illustrates something that's apparent from Geddy's book - the degree to which Neil, by the end of the band, is isolated from the other two. By this time he travels to the gigs separately, he has his own dressing room. And he even does the end of tour party separately from Geddy and Alex, as well.

 

 

Yeah, that.

Ged and Al wee celebrating a great show and a great run at their party.  Their crowd was thinking 'man, is it really over?'.

Neil's party was celebrating all of it being over.   His crowd was welcoming him back.

[zepphead]

Just back from a week of winter sun in Gran Canaria. I took the book in audible format with us, and the Missus and I listened to it in the evenings, getting through the entire thing. 

A few comments:-

- Having Geddy do the narration (and in places Alex) really brought it to life for me.

- The early sections detailing his family's ordeal during the war years was harrowing, but key to the whole book.

- The drug taking was unsurprising for the times, but strangely I just didn't expect it from Rush.

- The final section detailing detailing Neil's diagnosis and eventual passing, got me real emotional.

- Overall a tremendous listen (i've never done an audio book before). But I will also read the hard copy.

- I was somewhat underwhelmed with the 'lost demos'.

 

Can't wait for the Wolverhampton gig now!