Let me take a moment here and wax a bit philosophical. It seems that on a fairly regular basis lately I get notification of another death of a member of the arts community. Actor Bill Paxton died February 25 at the age of 61. The films in which he appeared include The Terminator, Weird Science, Aliens, Predator 2, True Lies, Apollo 13, Twister, and Titanic. He was a great actor and he will be missed.
Now I realize that death is a natural part of the life cycle but I am now at the point of my life where quite a number of these reports are concerning guys, generally speaking, of course, who are close to my age. I hope and trust that I have a good number of years to go before I shed this mortal coil but it has made me very grateful of the time that I have now.
This Spring, actually late April or early May, I honestly forget the exact date, will mark the 49th anniversary of my very first radio show. There are so many things about this industry and my job that make me grateful for the gift of life:
- The music that I have listened to;
- The artists that I have met and befriended;
- The concerts that I have attended.
Indeed, all of these things make me oh so grateful for the gift of life that I have so graciously been given by the Master Artist.
I have to be honest, I am a total media geek and proud of it. My wife can’t understand how I can write, listen to music and have the television on in the background at the same time. My response is how could you not. I guess what I mean is simply this, cherish your life. We don’t have any guarantee on how long we have so enjoy what you have while you have it. I know I will!
There are so many tunes to listen to, movies to watch, books to read and friends to enjoy. As I have said before and will say again, don’t settle for second best, there is so much great art out there, enjoy it. Speaking of which, if you’ve never listened to Iona,a band from the United Kingdom, check them out here. Dave Bainbridge is a keyboard player and guitarist who co-founded Iona along with Dave Fitzgerald. Iona is a Christian progressive and Celtic folk band. I really love this band and song.
