30 Days of Write

Jesus Christ Superstar--"Album Side 1" (mp3)

If you're new to this blog, welcome. If you've been on Spring Break, welcome back. You may notice that the old BOTG has been pretty active while you were gone, especially starting in the last days of March and continuing into these early days of April. In fact, you may notice that there has been a post every single day, even on days when we normally don't write anything. Yep, today is five for five.

Billy and I are working on a mutual challenge: to write a blog post for every day of the month of April.

I'm the one who instigated it. To get Billy to go along, it took only this:

BILLY: What's the minimum length?
BOB: 7 words.

So be it. They had better be 7 pretty good words. Looking over several months and the past two years, I noticed that we were starting to slip a little bit--at first we would put up over 20 posts a month, then 19, and most recently, 18 a month. So, yeah, we've been getting soft, going through the motions a little bit, putting in the bare minimum. I don't think we're running out of things to say--I hope not--just the time to say them.

What better way, what better time, than right now to recharge those old batteries? Coming off of a beautiful Easter, returning from a Spring Break, the dogwoods about to bloom, the grass growing like crazy, Tiger working on his putter again, Jesse trying to keep his gun in the holster, for all of us that instinctive desire to stick some things in the ground.

T.S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruelest month." I understand that poetically, especially as it captures the challenge of new growth trying to establish itself in a harsh, often cold, world. But ethnographically speaking, I think that most have a more positive outlook concerning April. For those of us who have a "school year" mentality, April allows us to see the light at the end. For those of you who work full time, the promise of warmer days, longer light, casual attitudes, the approach of summer all must hold their attractions as well.

And by the way, what better month to take the plunge as a "guest blogger," especially on one of the days when I have a post due. We've had two during our illustrious history; both were well received and help to explain 1) why we listen to old Van Morrison with new ears and 2) why we would never order a Michelob Ultra in a public setting. Let us know if you'd like to step in.

And so, it is in that spirit of hope, rebirth, promise, expectation, renewed conversations that we also rededicate ourselves to finding the bottom of the glass. We hope that you will join us each day this month, check in to see what broken tooth of childhood Billy will explore with his tongue, what irrevelant, out-of-date music Bob will dredge back up and try to make meaning out of.

There will be a little bit of additional pressure on Billy early on in the game. Tonight, we're going out for beers and to watch the finals of the NCAA tournament, so he may be getting fuzzy headed right about the time of day when he is usually cranking out his next post. I know how much you are counting on him. We'll see how he responds. I'm hopeful.

Oh, yeah. About the music at the top. It may seem a day too late. I hope not. Admittedly, I do bust out Jesus Christ Superstar during the Lenten season, but it is a gift that keeps on giving and it is my Easter gift to you. It's my old, scratchy, LP version transferred to MP3, but it still has the same power that it always did. Don't take this in a sacreligious way, but there has never been a Jesus like Ian Gillian (who I saw fronting Deep Purple a couple of years after this recording). I'm not sure the actual Son of God had the kind of pipes that Gillian has when he denounces the merchants in the temple.

I hope that as Billy and I push each other you, the readers, are the winners. If not, I hope you will let us know. And thanks, as always, for reading.

Note: it will slow this site down to nothing if I put all 4 sides of Jesus Christ Superstar up here. If you are interested in the other 3 sides, please let me know.