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Baseball - As a Cubs' fan, I'm accustomed to bad baseball and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Between injuries, slumping hitters, and a combustible bullpen, Lou Pinella has a rough go to get to the playoffs. They definitely need to exorcise the ghost of Felix Heredia from the bullpen and return Geovany Soto to his All-Star form from last year to have a shot. They better move fast as the window is closing quickly on this team's championship chances. If the Cubs do not reach the World Series this year, I'll blame Sammy Sosa... er um, I mean Milton Bradley for failing to deliver on his promises. [One man doesn't usually lead a team to glory, but one man can definitely keep the team from reaching it if he sets out to.] They overpaid by giving him 3 years to completely trash this team with his poor attitude, umpire baiting, and phantom injuries. [When you can make Carlos Zambrano look sane, you've got issues.] When the Cubs are out of the division race by September 1st, I will find more enjoyment reading about the history and lore of the game. Besides that will be all that's left if they continue to "police" performance enhancing drugs so poorly.

Golf - It's like taking a long walk with a short stick (except when you have a cart...). Of course, it's a great excuse to get outside and look at trees. (Especially since I seem to hit so many of them in a round.)

Reading - Mostly about the subjects above, though I really like some self-help reading and just about anything from W.P. Kinsella.

I also have a pet bulldog named Magilla. He is simple, aggressive, and direct. I could stand to learn a thing or two from him.

Otherwise, I do my best to keep an open (but not empty) mind.

ROCK

Deep Purple, Yes, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, AC/DC, The Outfield, Rainbow, Scorpions, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Grateful Dead, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Moody Blues.

ALTERNATIVE/COLLEGE ROCK

R.E.M., XTC, Smithereens, Judybats, Midnight Oil, U2, Ben Folds Five, Guadalcanal Diary, The Fixx, Bob Mould, The Wonder Stuff, Lush, Charlatans UK, Husker Du, Crowded House, Jayhawks, Sugar, Game Theory, Elliott Smith, They Might Be Giants, Jane's Addiction, INXS, The Cure, The Rave-ups, Peter Gabriel, Wednesday Week, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Elvis Costello.

HARD ROCK/METAL

Loudness, King's X, Raven, Motorhead, Angra, Dreamscape, Saxon, TNT, Running Wild, Fastway, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Blitzkrieg, Satan, Slayer, Witch Cross, Warlord, Madison, Riot, Malice, Dio, Gaskin, Anthrax, Galactic Cowboys, Lizzy Borden, Impellitteri, Rob Rock, Cerebus, Grave Digger, Helloween, Edguy, Hammerfall, Blind Fury, Yngwie Malmsteen, Alcatrazz, Killer Dwarfs, Tokyo Blade, XYZ, Saber Tiger, XYZ-A, Anthem, Skid Row, Laaz Rockit, Pyramaze.

JAZZ

Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny Group, Oregon, Marc Johnson, John Coltrane, David Sancious, Special EFX, Acoustic Alchemy, Spyro Gyra, Wayne Shorter, Al DiMeola, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Courtney Pine, and because I have nowhere else to catalog them, Tangerine Dream and Ronnie Montrose. I also really enjoy Stevie Wonder, Seal, and the music of Motown.

CLASSICAL

Performances of works by Copland, Stravinsky, Elgar, and Khachaturian.

CURRENT LISTENING

Ravem - Walk Through Fire, Chickenfoot - s/t, Van Halen - Fair Warning, Aerosmith - Rocks, Sunstorm - House of Dreams, Yes - Magnification, Manitou - Deadlock, Loudness - Disillusion, Magnet - Worldwide Sensation, Jon Anderson - Song of Seven.

DESERT ISLAND DISCS - In No Particular Order

Marvelous3 - Hey Album, Robert Plant - Now and Zen, R.E.M. - Automatic for the People, Rush - Power Windows, XTC - Skylarking, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Pat Metheny - We Live Here, Bela Fleck - 3 Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell, Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time, Raven - Rock Until You Drop...though always subject to change.

A quick note to independent artists who send friend requests is to please check to see if your music fits somewhere in the range of my likes or dislikes. (Hint: if it isn't rock or jazz based, I probably won't like it.) No offense, but I really don't like hip-hop, true country, or extreme hardcore musical styles... mostly because I can't relate. If you're going to try to "convert" me in one of these styles, at least be considerate enough to tell me what I should be listening for. (Another hint: make sure this is a musical detail).

I'm not into high art or high concept movies so much. I'm only a generation removed from the car chase and the buddy cop formula films. I don't pick up on subtleties too well, and I like to do my thinking at work or at home after work...not in my theatre seat.

The last movie I saw was I LOVE YOU, MAN. I probably need to get out more.

Desert Island DVD's - In No Particular Order . . .

Coming to America, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, American Pie, Major League, Midnight Run, Toy Story, This Is Spinal Tap, Three O'Clock High, Bull Durham and the infamous Planes, Trains, & Automobiles.

I'm more of a radio guy, and really like talk radio. I listen to SCORE programs like Boers & Bernstein and The ME Show (WSCR 670 AM Chicago). I also like WGN (720 AM Chicago) personalities Steve & Johnny (sp), Nick Digilio, and Garry Lee Wright. I'm new to the concept of Podcasts, but my good friend Eric Reinke hosts one called Mind of the Muse. What is interesting are the various forms of spirituality inherent in such a title. While Eric's muse is based in Christianity, he freely talks without judgment to artists of all backgrounds and beliefs. (Including an interview with yours truly about HEALING SONGS, my sideman work, and my cd collection...) Check it out for yourself at...

Also worth checking out, Jazz Transfusion (Sunday nights, from 11pm - 1 am on WXRT 93.1 FM), BLAZE radio (Monday mornings from 12 am - 4 am on WDCB 90.9 FM), and LOVELINE (which is limping along now that Adam Corolla is gone).

Cromartie, Warren w/Robert Whiting. "Slugging It Out in Japan" Simon & Schuster 1990.

A biography covering the former Major League centerfielder and his jump from the Montreal Expos to the Tokyo Giants. There are many books that describe the culture shock in moving from the United States to a foreign country; but Cromartie's experiences are told in a straightforward non-academic way. It is also fun to read about his impressions of his former Expos teammates as well as the conversion he underwent to became a star in the Japanese leagues. I also have to give props as Cromartie namechecks both Geddy Lee (Rush) and Phil Collins (Genesis) as friends and baseball fans. Who knew Cro played drums?

Whiting, Robert. "The Samurai Way of Baseball" Grand Central Publishing. 2005

This gives us the bios and back stories of the Japanese players who've come to the American game. Particular emphasis is placed on the winners (Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Hideo Nomo) and the losers (Hideki Irabu) though the real interest in this book is seeing the reversal of history. Particularly in that American ballplayers originally went to Japan because they either ran out of Major League opportunities, or for the money. Now the Japanese are coming to MLB for the money and opportunities not readily available in Japanese baseball. It bookends his earlier work "You Gotta Have Wa" nicely.

Whiting, Robert. "Tokyo Underworld" Vintage 2000.

Whiting tells of the growth and expanding wealth in Japan through the story of Nick Zappetti, an American con man. Zappetti opens "Niccola's" a pizzeria that becomes "the" nightspot in the Roppongi district of Tokyo with ex-pats, ballplayers, and entertainers. Though for all the success Niccola's generates, Zappetti is eventually outgunned and outgamed by competitors, the Yakuza, the court system, and even the Japanese government. Zappetti's change in fortunes runs concurrently with Japan's rise to the top of the economic heap.

Whiting, Robert. "You Gotta Have Wa" MacMillan 1989.

Whiting gives us a look into the relationship between Japan and the United States through the game of baseball. More than simply a compare/contrast piece, Whiting discusses the outcomes of American players in the Japanese game, most notably professionals Reggie Smith, Bob Horner, Warren Cromartie, and Randy Bass who had to come to grips with not only the differences in culture but also in the game. Though this book is as much to the movie "Mr. Baseball", as the Ripper Owens story with Judas Priest was to the movie "Rock Star".

Chandler, Steve "The Story of You" Career Press 2006.

Chandler wrote a book several years back called 17 LIES THAT ARE HOLDING YOU BACK AND THE TRUTH THAT WILL SET YOU FREE. This one takes a look at the role those lies take in our personal experiences. We tend to internalize and make them part of our story. We are the hero or the victim, depending on the story. The thing is that we get locked into our beliefs so much that we would rather accept our limitations to keep the story congruent to the past than to learn or expand our horizons. One point of confusion however is in the idea that if we "are enough", then what is the impetus to improve? Though my early summation (I'm about 1/2 to 2/3 through it) is that we don't want to be seen as vulerable.

I also enjoy reading the Chicago Sun-Times (the best comic section of any Midwestern paper, ever). I follow comic strips like Pearls Before Swine, Arlo & Janis, Drabble, LuAnn, Lucky Cow, Sally Forth, Edge City, and Clear Blue Water. I also read magazines like Guitar One, Guitar World (and Acoustic & Bass editions), Maxim, Stuff, Men's Health, Psychology Today, and assorted professional journals devoted to educational issues, practices, and applications.