Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Cheese and slice, you get an amen for that one, so much talent has been robbed prematurley. Gods and fishes even Entwistle at his bloody age should have know better !!!! I'm still ****** at that one !!!

I know this guy who is "trying" to make it in the music business. But, he's always half in the bag. Once, I heard, his father woke him up and said "Aren't you doing this backwards? You're supposed to become famous first, then self destruct!"

If one can avoid self-destructing, there's a lot to be learned from an exploratory approach to one's own mind. Responsible drug use is something most people don't believe possible, regardless of which extreme they come to the argument from.

Sgt. Pepper's would not have happened without it's creators' experimentation with hemp...likewise the White Album and acid. It's also true that we wouldn't have had the Andrea True Connection, et al., without cocaine...

This is why I'm with William Burroughs: "Anyone who says there's no such thing as a bad drug is a fool."

And, as The Pills Brothers used to say: "There's times for usin' 'em, and times for ree-fusin' 'em."

I'm on the clean side of life myself (rare spirited boozing not withstanding ) but don't really have a problem with what anybody does as long as the harm is only to themselves....which is pretty rare in my experience. If someone lived in excess for part or their lives and cleaned themselves up great and I'm happy for them. Someone who does themselves great harm (needs a new liver, kidneys or just plain dies) gets no sympathy from me whether they are talented or not. It's like anything else....you have to pay to play.

I never understood how society rewards people who have led reckless lives but have "cleaned up" when nothing is ever mentioned of those who never need cleaning up and have always lived responsibly. Enough of the soapbox......

....the stock fretmarkers are fine for me and on all four of my Rics they seem to be placed with perfection .

Isn't it amazing those that end up cleaning themselves up think of themselves as unsung hero's,they tend to forget they were the ones who got themselves messed up in the first place.

brian always keeping it on topic! haha

I think it takes a lot of guts and work to clean up after a life of addiction, it is not a matter of having a weak will it is a sickness, many people don't want to believe that. Aerosmith, Clapton and many other famous and not so famous musicians have all been clean now for a number of years, I respect them highly for that.
I hope my 4003FL arrives with dots on the fret rather than between. I don't know what I'll do if the dots are not correct, even though i don't use them conciously all that much if they are between the frets that will definitely screw me up.

like I said...

I disagree, people have the choice to take drugs or not take them and that is the bottom line ! It is not a sickness ! People who screw themselves up by taking substances do not deserve a big pat on the back and a "well done" for kicking them. At best if someone gets cleaned up they should be thinking to themselves "that was a close one...I'd better not going to go down that road again". Self praise...fine, but dont be saying "hey! look how great I am for getting off heroin" etc etc. Everyone is aware of the pitfalls. Now where were we ? Ah stickers on the side fret dots.......

It's all part of society today that nobody takes responsibility. A sickness is cancer, MS, the flu, etc.

I should be thinner but I don't blame my extra weight on anything other than the fact that I enjoy cheeseburgers and like ice cream every now and then. My lifestyle is my choice as is that of an addict....they just like coke, heroin, meth, etc. instead. Maybe now they are clinically addicted but they made some choices that got them there.

It may be hard to kick the habit but it can be done and, like I said, I'm happy for those that have cleaned up but to lump it in as a sickness is insulting (IMO) and is just a way to lessen individual responsibility.

I do realize that medical journals may refer to addiction as a disease but that does mean that I buy the sales pitch.

I'll step off of my "high and mighty" podium again. I don't expect my opinions to change anyone's views and your's won't change mine .

As soon as my HMO covers rehab, then it will be a disease.

Some people can get high a few times or occasionally and stop, a few start on a downward spiral that ends in death if not stopped. Why is that? They lose the power of choice that most people have. People that get clean have to take responsibilty for getting clean or they don't, period, if they start to congratulate themselves they relapse, for the most part they are a humble lot and can't disclose their membership in any 12 step programs in public, many of your favorite madmen are members of 12 step programs. They also have to do a lot of work to stay that way, it's a one day at a time lifetime job for them to stay clean, and the AMA and APA recognizes addictions and alcoholism as illnesses. That is not an insult to anyone, it's a fact.

Every fact is an insult to someone...but I agree with you guys in the case of serious drug addictions...they do most definitely become indistinguishable from medical pathology.

Remember, though: some kooks in society might equate guitar collecting, but we here know it can be controlled so as to fit into an otherwise healthy lifestyle...

Then there's insisting on playing music in public when you know your chances of ever making a living at it are worse than those governing lottery tickets. Yeah...I admit it, I got that particular disease...

GAS or RAS?