February 22

Post 750, Day 53 of 2013
 - and 784 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Every once in a while, I get drawn into something that hits the 'replay' button from my childhood.

Most recently, it took the form of a contest for i am Fool to win a slot to open a show in one of the areas prestige performance spaces. The deal is this: Be unsigned, have original material, then submit a video. The video of the top five submitters (it ended up being six) with the most Facebook 'likes' gets the slot.

Now, if the best videos were shown, and the promoters simply picked the one they thought would make the best opener, I'd have nothing to write about today.

Instead, it is a popularity contest. I seriously doubt anybody but me (or, possibly other members of the bands in the contest) will watch all the videos. I didn't watch all of every video, but I watched every one of them at least part way through.

And now, roll the tape:

When I was in high school, there was a club in Flushing that had a weekly Battle of the Bands. The winner was the band with "the most applause." As it turns out, this meant the band who brought the most friends.

When my band played, there were whoops and screams. My band was a 6-piece band: drums and bass, guitar, sax and keyboards, and a lead singer (believe it or not, that was me). Every other band was bass and drums, and one or two guitars. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but my band brought more. And, by the testimony of friends and the members of other bands there, gave the strongest performance. By far.

Of the five bands there, we came in fourth. The fifth-place band was a three-piece group that hadn't even been able to finish their set without borrowing an amp from one of the other groups - they were not only terrible, but they were tone-deaf and were obviously playing as a 'goof'.

I heard from many of the other musicians, that they wouldn't mind their group losing to us.

But, outside of a band that showed up just to have played on a real stage, we had the fewest friends in the audience, although, if I may say so, not the fewest admirers. But it wasn't a battle of the bands, it was a battle of the fans: The biggest network wins.

I was angry. Everybody acknowledged the winner was, at most, the third-best band that played. But they brought the most people.

I swore then that I would never compete that way again.

Now, almost fifty years later, I feel the same way about the contest my band is in. Of the six entries, we are in third place as I write this, with one third less than the votes of the leader. The two groups ahead of us have videos of a live performance they gave where they placed first and second at a battle of the bands. They brag about their youth: Their average age is sixteen. The leader mentions that this is their first and only original song. We are seriously outgunned.

Sometimes, history repeats itself in the ugliest of ways.

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         209.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     207.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 2.0 lbs

Diet Comment

While the idea that cheaters never win may be wrong sometimes, it is, I think, always true when you are on a diet. My weight up big, and I'm not liking my own behavior. I have corrected today. We'll see if I can reverse the process, undo the damage.

Yesterday will count as my HCHC day this week, so I'll have to be good tomorrow.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Cocoa-kale-hemp-seed-protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (24g protein),  cinnamon, stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast with black beans on Spring Mix, baby spinach, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Spinach and scrambled eggs with salsa and a side of cauliflower 'mashed faux-tatoes'.

Snack

Hard-boiled eggs with guacamole and cole slaw, and Greek yogurt with blueberries and stevia-inulin blend.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  39 oz.   Water:  98+ oz.  

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!