Chamblee54

There is this Neil Young show, performed in San Francisco in 1978. And no, I don’t know which Neil is uglier, Boortz or Young. Its a good thing Diamond ( Jewish Elvis) is handsome,and can write.
There have always been mixed feelings about Neil Young. In 1972, after “Goldrush” and CSNY, his album was greatly anticipated. I got “Harvest” the first chance I got, and thought that it sucked. A few more albums came out, some better than others. It did not help that some hipsters thought that Mr. Young walked on water.
Then one night in 1978, I went by a house, and was told to drive to the radio station immediately. Mr. Young had a show at the Omni that night, it was far from sold out, and there was a man with a shoebox of tickets in the radio station parking lot. Never mind that the seats were in Alabama, I was in the same room as Neil Young.
And he was great.
He had these huge comic book speakers, and these guys in star wars costumes that swarmed over the stage to adjust the equipment. He played VERY LOUD. Sometimes having seats in Alabama is a good thing.
There is something artificial about a studio arteest who cannot pull the weight onstage. Donna Summer comes to mind ( Easter Sunday 1978). The flip side is, a performer who pulls it off in front of an audience is real. That night at the Omni, Neil Young justified a lifetime of pretentious records.




Sometimes it really is better to give it away.
One of my hobbies is gathering stones. I believe there is even a line in the Bible about “ a time to gather stones together”.
Three years ago, I was out of work, and had plenty of time to gather stones. I also drove a beat up Buick, and could pile the pebbles in the trunk without a care. The shock absorbers did not appreciate this.
I built a stone circle and a pyramid, and had lots of rocks left over. Too slack to build flower beds, the drought gave me a good excuse not to persue that approach to stone usage.
The granite and sandstone looked good in the golden sunrise. Then, there was a message on the bulletin board about someone who wanted to build a medicine wheel.
I am fortunate to have a job, and not need to hustle these objects. To give them away freely, expecting nothing in return felt so good. I got my enjoyment when I brought them home. And I get more enjoyment when I give them away.
After my friend left, I took some newspapers up to a recycle box. I looked beside a tree that had fallen, and saw a piece of granite the size of a football. The collection is already starting to replenish.