PHELPS AND A DAILY SMILE

My friends:
It's been a couple of weeks. A few pieces of news to share with you, PLUS, I've got something to say about a couple of things. First off, some news.

Last week, young son Jackson started to realize his rock and roll dream by playing a couple of songs at the Sand Creek Middle School 5/6 grade Variety Show. Jackson led his band, Frozen Sun, in rousing renditions of Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law", and AC/DC's TNT. We have some video tape of the show (not sure how I can get it online since it was done a a standard camcorder). Frozen Sun is made up of Jackson on guitar, his buddy C. J. on vocals, and this kid, Pete, on drums. At this point Jackson doesn't think he needs a bass player or a second guitarist, but as time goes on, he'll realize he needs, at least, a bass player. TNT came out alot better than Breaking the Law, but only cause the band didn't have alot of practice time. Nothing like seeing your 12-year-old son shaking his long, flowing, blonde hair around while flashing the devil's horns-hand sign on stage, and then hearing the crowd applaud at the end. He may now be the most popular kid in 6th Grade. May luck help us all. As the lyrics in TNT go, "Lock up your daughter/Lock up your wife/Lock up your backdoor and run for your life." Gird your loins, America, Frozen Sun is coming.

Last night at bowling, I threw 10 strikes in the first game and ended with a 286 (2 of them were of the 9-pin variety). then couldn't manage anything over 175. Talk about shooting your load all at once.

The new Ibanez SZ520 arrived yesterday and the shredding started in the house. As Jackson says, "Dad, that's a beautiful guitar." Shredalicious, baby!!

Now, onto my opinion section.

PHELPS AND THE BONG
If you read this blog, you'll already guess my opinion on this matter. Gold Medal winning swimmer, Michael Phelps, was photographed smoking a bong at a party. Here's my entire take on this. First off, when you're in the public eye, you've got to realize that there are going to be alot of people watching you and that you are under the microscope. Mike, close the door for goodness sake. Forget the fact that you are risking alot of endorsement money, and that you're supposed to be a role model. How about remembering these 2 words...CAMERA PHONE.

In my opinion, the camera phone is a bane to man's existence. We can't all be saints all of the time. And you have to realize that this little gem of technology allows for the "Scumbag Fringe" to take a picture of you in what may, or may not, be a compromising position. You wouldn't smoke that thing in front of a cop, right? Close the gosh darn door!! Would you go to a bar or restaurant and make out with another person while married, right? I mean, your chances of getting caught are increased exponentially with camera phones.

The lesson here is..."Know where you are, know who you're with, and if your actions seem somewhat shady, consider finding a private place to do said actions in. PRIVACY, my friends. Let's act smartly, shall we?

That being said, I hope the scumbag who took the picture and sold it to the Press, comes down with the Ebola virus and bleeds out of his/her eyes till dead, ya freakin' jerk. Phelps is under 25 years old, won how many Gold medals for America, and has to put up with assholes putting cameras all around him. I'm sorry, but legal or not, he's basically a kid. Let him let his hair down once in a while, huh? I also hope the companies that dropped their sponsorship of him go bankrupt. I'll bet the heads of those companies have done ALOT worse in their lives than smoke a little dope at a party. Here's a little message from Len Is Right. "SCREW YOU, YOU HYPOCRITICAL BASTARDS! YOU HOLIER-THAN-THOU SHITHEADS CAN KISS MY ASS. I'll actively boycott all of their products and stores from now on (once I get a list of which companies dumped him). Don't think I will? My grandfather got screwed out of his retirement pension by Sears, back in the 50's. Our family has boycotted their store for years. I relented for a time and bought a Craftsman drill 15 years ago. Then, I recently found out that they did this same thing to many other people in recent years. No more. THIS Tollerton will not shop at Sears again. I walk through their store to get to the rest of the mall, and I spit on the floor going in and coming out. Don't believe me? Come with me to Colonie Center someday and I'll be happy to do it for you.

OKAY LEN, STRESS IT DOWN A LITTLE
I've heard alot of people say that, "the things i do or say don't really have an impact on how the rest of the world turns. Oh no? I beg to differ. I think that even small actions or attitudes make an impact greater than you may think.

Check it out. Let's say I go to a restaurant and order a steak, cooked medium. Let's say the waiter brings it out and it's terribly overcooked. If the waiter says, "Jeez, I'm sorry, you're right, let me go get you another steak." You end up being appreciative and you go to the restaurant again. If the waiter says, "That's medium, sir, maybe next time you could ask for it Rare." Now, I get an attitude, call for the manager, complain about the steak, the waiter's glib response, and vow never to return to the restaurant again. I further tell anyone who'll listen what a shitty reataurant that is and warn people not to go there.

What if I'm having a crappy day and as I'm walking through a store or mall, someone bumps me, knocking a package out of my hand and just says, "Watch It." I get home and start yelling as soon as I come through the door, complaining about everything that's not right, thus affecting my family and everything they've got going on. Perhaps I blow off some good news from one of my kids and make him feel neglected or sad. If the person who bumped me were to have stopped, apologized and helped me pick up my things, making sure I was alright, when I get home, I say, "Wow I had a bad day, but I'm so happy to be home with you all. How was your day? Let's have a nice dinner."

You see? Just a small change in words or actions can have a ripple effect down the road that you couldn't even see or notice. Over the last 5 years, around Christmas time, I've gone out of my way (almost to a fault) to let people cut in front of me in traffic, or in a Cashier line, or to grab a parking spot. I figure I'm healthy enough to walk from a farther spot. I figure that the other person is in a major hurry or in a major need to get the last GI Joe with the Kung-Fu grip for little Egbert and maybe they need a break. Maybe by doing this, they'll go and have a nicer holiday and maybe they'll have a little more compassion or courtesy in their next encounter. Maybe by allowing them to get where they need, faster, they'll get to a necessary appointment on time and their world will be right, thus letting them give someone else a break. I know, I know, I'm assuming other people even think remotely like me. I'm jaded, I'm sure. But you know what? It's taken my stress level way down around the holidays. I end up smiling to alot more people and I feel better, instead of hateful.

SO, I HAVE A CHALLENGE FOR YOU!!! Try smiling at the next 10 or 20 people that you walk past. Just a smile. Or maybe a Hello. Something friendly. Maybe a small unseen gesture like rolling your neighbor's garbage can up to their house so they don't have to do it at the end of the day. Or maybe show some genuine concern when you see someone is feeling down. You might unwittingly bring a person out of a depression because they think that no one cares.

Hey, the dirt nap we take at the end is forever. And the world is going to go right on living and moving, whether you're here or not. 100 years down the road 99% of us will be forgotten to the point of the only record of your existence will be your birth and death records. Really, how many of you remember the neighbor of your parents who died when you were 3 years old? Not many. What I mean is, we're here for a short time, then we're gone forever. and unless you were a public figure, celebrity of sports or some other field, a serial killer or war criminal, chance are you'll be forgotten 20 years after you're gone. It's not the major imapct you make all the time. It's the little gesture that you might do, or the word of encouragement you may give that launches someone to do something great, or treat their family with love instead of anger. Think about it.

Take the LEN IS RIGHT CHALLENGE. Smile at the next 10 or 20 people you pass by. You'll probably never know what the effect is down the road. But I bet someone will get a positive feeling over it. The world will be a better place. Stress it down, my friends

You know that LEN IS RIGHT.
I love you, my Minions.
I am,
Len Tollerton