Crazy People Are Crazy

       A news report that was released on Friday captivated music fans around the world. With a tag-line like "John Lennon's Murderer Reveals Motive", who wouldn't be even a little interested? If you're at all like me, you grew up loving John Lennon. Every generation has. Lennon was just one of those historic characters that will never be forgotten.
      Lennon's life ranged from being in quite possibly the biggest "phenomenon" bands of all time (the Beatles), to being a highly respected, and sometimes feared (see "The U.S. vs. John Lennon") political figure that preached nothing but peace and love. John Lennon was so famous that when he spent a week in bed with his new wife, it became a front page headline called "Bed In For Peace".
     On December 8th, 1980 at 11 p.m., the international man of peace became a victim of mindless violence. John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota building where he was living in New York City by Mark David Chapman. It's impossible to imagine, at any level, how someone who devoted his life to preaching peace could end in such a non-peaceful way. An even more shocking fact is that at the time of the murder, Chapman showed no remorse; rather looking at the instance in a very "matter of fact" way. In initial reports, when the first witness on the scene arrived at Lennon's side he turned to Chapman (who was already sitting down on the sidewalk reading his copy of The Catcher in the Rye that he had been carrying around) and screamed "what have you done?", Chapman replied in a calm tone "I just shot John Lennon"
     Last Friday a report was released from numerous news vessels that Mark Chapman has released a statement as to why he killed the late great John Lennon. "I wasn't thinking clearly," Chapman said, according to a published transcript of the interview. "I made a horrible decision to end another human being's life, for reasons of selfishness." He added: "I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer, and murderers are not somebodies."
     So there you have it, one of the greatest artistic minds was taken from his wife, young children, and millions of adoring fans because one guy "wasn't thinking clearly" and wanted to become famous. Isn't it twisted that one crazy person can take so much from so many people. John Lennon, at merely the age of 40 and in great health, had so much ahead of him. Think what greatness he could achieve in life if he would be still alive today. The message here is: make the most out of the time you have, because you never know when your card is up. Live life for the moment. Memento mori.


p.s. Mark Chapman also stated that along with John Lennon, he had a list of people he wanted to kill. The list included actress Elizabeth Taylor and Johnny Carson. John Lennon was just "the top of the list"

Not the Life For Everyone

     Have you ever considered just packing up some clothes, hopping in your car and heading off away from trouble, away from responsibility, and away from all the constraints of your mundane life? Some would call them drifters, some would call them bums, but where I come from we have a special name for a few of them. They're called "Dead Heads". That's right, referring to the "Grateful Dead". Throughout the entire stretch from the mid 60's all the way into the early 90's, the Dead toured all over the country playing their own brand of down home, bluesy, counterculture music.
     Well, for the most part touring with the band were the fans. You may call them dedicated, most called them crazy, but they seemed to be happy. The fans seemed to be so entranced by the music, and the beauty of the peace among each other that they discovered, that they just left everything. They left their homes, they left their jobs, and most left their families.
      The Dead Heads toured all over with the band; going to shows, enjoying herbal remedies, and living peacefully among one another, living on love. Although this may seem a little odd to you, you should listen to what these people have to say. It's so alien to most of mainstream culture to not be tied down by everything in your life and to live totally free. These people may have been drifters, but maybe that's what it takes to be happy. You never know, there might be a Dead Head inside you too.