Day off thoughts

I don't have any kind of work today, and that's a rarity, so even though I don't have much new to write about, I reckoned I'd throw out a bunch of half-formed thoughts. Hey, it's my blog, and I'll dump on my stats if I wanna.
First, I really do have a fair number of "friends" in the entertainment industry. Everything from guys who wouldn't know me on the street, but know my name, and think somewhat fondly of me, to a few girls who know me intimately, and I know them well enough, as well, I suppose. So, I could talk about what all my friends are doing, and that would take up about 3 or 4 hundred posts. Here's the quandary in that: not everything all of my friends do turns me on. So, what do I do with my friend who changed direction from being a really good player in one style, but now plays really bad country folk? What do I do about my friend who was actually a talented actor, but now sings, terribly? What do I do with the friend who was a better writer than I'll ever be, but her passion is photography, and while she gets some accolades, I think everybody prefers the little blurbs under her photos to the photos themselves? In a slightly different tack, what about the friends that everybody but me likes what they're doing now, but I like what they used to do, better? I have one friend, who i know isn't reading this, who is an actor on Television, who used to do small roles in Indie films. His work on TV is responsible for 99.9% of his fanbase, and most folks don't even know about his past work, but I really wish, in my heart of hearts, that he's ditch all the money and fame to go back and do a great indie role for dirt wages. That's completely unfair of me, I know. So, I keep my big mouth shut. I do that about most of my friends' work. Whether I like it, or not. The exceptions are few, but I identify them fairly often. It's only when I think I'm on the same page as my friend. As a relatively damage-free counter-example: I've got a friend who puts out lots of stuff, and I enjoy most of it. Some i have talked about here. Some I have not, even though I sort of enjoyed it. Why? Because I enjoyed it almost solely because it was good to hear my friend have fun, because I know his life has had some hardships, but I didn't think that stuff had larger merit. Also, I haven't talked about some of the projects he's been involved in because he's doing a lot of paycheck work. Oh, I know he justifies it to himself that he enjoys it all, but I think I know where his heart truly lies. So, why bust him? What purpose could it possibly serve, especially because there's an off chance I could be wrong. Also, if I say who the guy is, which would be necessary to do, in explaining why I don't like the work, I'd be opening up a bunch of problems for both he and I- so I just don't talk about a lot of what he does, and I'm very careful about the stuff I do mention.
Sooo, next topic:
I'm going to see Off! and The Refused tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. I saw the Circle Jerks a few times, and  I saw a few of The Refused's other projects, but this will be somewhat special in that how many more chances will I get? Keith is getting pretty haggard, and The Refused have other lives to lead, so really how many more times? But, that's true of virtually any live performance, isn't it? Bands break up, people die, productions end, things aren't as financially rewarding as they need to be, in order to keep going. That's part of what makes live performance so very special to me. A CD, Mp3, video, Blu Ray, you name it- recorded media is captured and preserved, but live and in person is just that moment, then gone, possibly forever. That's why I savor every little moment I can, and why it's such a betrayal when a performance is "canned"- to explain- part of why my wife is my wife is that she finds some of my bad behaviour endearing. She loves this story. Back when Green Day were young up-and-comers they did a first major label tour- not quite arenas, but 3-4000 seat venues. I think they were trying to find their footing, but they mis-stepped badly the night I saw them. They just couldn't get it together. The crowd started to turn against them. Then, it became more and more noticeable that the music they were playing did not match the music we were hearing. Now, the crowd REALLY turned on them, and it looked like a riot was coming. Being the kind of guy I am, I dashed to the front, just in time to see Mike Dirnt off mic (as his harmony vocals sailed through the arena!) taunting the crowd near the stage about how he was going to come down and kick ass. I'm a loud guy, and not the smallest of guys ( at the time I was pretty healthy, like just below UFC type healthy) , so I was there shouting loud enough to be heard through the monitors- COME ON DOWN, THEN! COME ON, I'M RIGHT HERE! COME KICK MY ASS, PAL, COME ON! - and the band very quickly thereafter left the stage and retreated. No encore.  I don't think I ended the show, but I know that Mike heard me, and I know he saw me, and I know he wasn't in the mood to taunt the crowd any more after that. I reckoned that I made it into a moment, when Green Day had screwed it up badly. So, I even made a page in my Zine ( yeah, I am a bit of a stereotype of my time and age) where I gave detailed instructions as how mr Dirnt could find me, in case he ever wanted to make good his promise. That's what my wife loved- that, rather than have a moment ruined by some dick rock star who couldn't be bothered to be there in that moment, anyway, I made something out of it. (as in "You wanna make something out of it, pal?") I might be a little bit of a knucklehead, but I live my life. You see? While I don't think I'm up for that boxing match, these days- I still want to get as much out of each moment, no matter how ugly, as I can.