Archive May 2010
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Ronnie James Dio 7.10.1942 - 5.16.2010
- By: Mo Morrissey
- On: 05/16/2010 23:54:42
- In: Music and Entertainment
- Comments: 0
There has not been a great wealth of writing done here as of late. Sometimes I just find it hard to pull together enough emotional energy to put more than 140-characters together with which to communicate to the outside world. Today is a little different and this is an actual blog entry.
I was taken aback this evening to learn that one of my childhood favorites had passed away.
Ronnie James Dio died this morning from stomach cancer at the age of 67. Dio meant a lot to me for more than a few reasons. I enjoyed his music - in fact, "The Last In Line" tour was the first concert I had ever attended. I was one of the 8000 at the Providence Civic Center that August evening in 1984. I went with my very first friend, Dave, who at the age of 32 passed away of natural causes. One of the few living links to my childhood and to my friend Dave died today.
Dio may never receive the attention of the music world - at the age of 40, it came as a surprise to learn that he had announced he had cancer last year. Not one word in the mainstream press as to his condition. Sure, we hear about Brittney's mental catastrophes and Jon & Kate - media darlings all - but nothing about Ronnie. I can be so plugged in on so many levels, but that connection to my own history has lapsed. Had it not been for a casual and cursory glance through my Facebook connections would I have even learned of his passing. However, he holds a special place in my heart.
Back in the 1980's, concert shirts, and specifically the baseball style shirts, were the rage. I remember wearing that shirt - heather grey, with black sleeves, the "Last In Line" album over on the front with tour dates on the back - for the better part of a week and a half...every day. Those who knew me then can attest. I remember the waning weeks of the summer, the last few before starting the first great transition of my life - from Junior High School into High School, at a new school in another town, away from all the people I had known in elementary school - enjoying the summer, enjoying the time away from school and enjoying life. I had the safety of the neighborhood, the people I had always known, and everything I had always known. It was probably the last time in my life, I knew exactly what to expect.
I was taken aback this evening to learn that one of my childhood favorites had passed away.
Ronnie James Dio died this morning from stomach cancer at the age of 67. Dio meant a lot to me for more than a few reasons. I enjoyed his music - in fact, "The Last In Line" tour was the first concert I had ever attended. I was one of the 8000 at the Providence Civic Center that August evening in 1984. I went with my very first friend, Dave, who at the age of 32 passed away of natural causes. One of the few living links to my childhood and to my friend Dave died today.Dio may never receive the attention of the music world - at the age of 40, it came as a surprise to learn that he had announced he had cancer last year. Not one word in the mainstream press as to his condition. Sure, we hear about Brittney's mental catastrophes and Jon & Kate - media darlings all - but nothing about Ronnie. I can be so plugged in on so many levels, but that connection to my own history has lapsed. Had it not been for a casual and cursory glance through my Facebook connections would I have even learned of his passing. However, he holds a special place in my heart.
Back in the 1980's, concert shirts, and specifically the baseball style shirts, were the rage. I remember wearing that shirt - heather grey, with black sleeves, the "Last In Line" album over on the front with tour dates on the back - for the better part of a week and a half...every day. Those who knew me then can attest. I remember the waning weeks of the summer, the last few before starting the first great transition of my life - from Junior High School into High School, at a new school in another town, away from all the people I had known in elementary school - enjoying the summer, enjoying the time away from school and enjoying life. I had the safety of the neighborhood, the people I had always known, and everything I had always known. It was probably the last time in my life, I knew exactly what to expect.
And so with Ronnie James Dio's passing today, yet another brick in the wall of my childhood has come loose. Every time I think the last piece is gone, another one crumbles. As I get older, those connections to those summer days in 1984 grow fewer and those which remain seem more tenuous.
My beloved grandmother passed away in 1998 and at that point it seemed like the last remaining connection to my childhood had passed away. The Halloween parties in her barn, the Christmas family-get-togethers, the minutiae that we tend to take for granted. Then in 2002, that horrible phone call I got from my father telling me that Dave had had "an accident." As it turns out, it was a cerebral accident. He had heard through the grapevine and I processed it as an auto accident - I remembered those teenage times, riding through the streets of my hometown in his Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme as a passenger sitting on nothing more than a milk crate - and it made sense. Only afterward when I realized what had really happened did it make no sense at all. Then in 2008 it came time for my father to be called to the great beyond, and that significant piece of my life passed with him. This was a man who was always there for me, asked for so little, and in return probably got what he had asked for.
I am a father now, and I think of what my life means to those around me. Someday it shall be my children and possibly their children considering their own mortality at my passing. Some day, many years from now, their musical heroes will pass away. I hope to God not, but perhaps their childhood friends will pass much too soon and they will feel this sense of loss.
For now, though, it is my own feelings of sadness which find me writing. Oddly enough, it is not for the loss of an artist - his music will live on and his memory will survive - it is for my own childhood and the memories his music holds for me and that time which it represents that has suffered. Reminding me yet again that time is fleeting and how important it is to remain close to those who knew you when you were young.
Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio. You are missed. He shared a birthday with my mother - they were born the same day in 1942. My mom is alive and well, although time has taken it's toll. Take a moment to remember those who are still in your life and who still remember you as a child. They grow fewer as the years grow longer.
Doctor Moz is in the house
- By: Mo Morrissey
- On: 05/14/2010 21:18:06
- In: Sports
- Comments: 0
If you've got an issue, then we have a prescription cure for it. So this week, Dr. Moz will be discussing some common ailments in professional sports.
Passive Aggressive Disorder. This is a pattern of negativistic traits and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance. It is characterized by the failure to accept responsibility and to attack authority figures. A fine example would be the failure of an organization to disqualify an award recipient of an ill-gotten accolade and to instead thrust upon others to recast their original decision. Whereupon those called upon to cast judgement act in a passive aggressive manner by acting against the organization who put them in the position to begin with. It is a difficult situation to treat, as there's always a rational sounding reason why it is someone else's fault.
Encopresis. This is a disorder in which one vacates his bowels in places other than the toilet. For instance, when someone talks out of their butt and winds up dropping a heaping load of feces on an unexpecting public. This will commonly happen when the leader of an organization which is successful in spite of itself, cannot seem to figure out how to get out of his own way and he realizes he's incompetent to the task. He may wind up making the right choice, but doesn't know why and will likely experience encopresis while trying to explain the decision. This condition can often be cured by removing one's cranium from his rectum. Although in the most extreme cases, the individual may ultimately be removed from his position.
Failure to Thrive. Our last disorder today is the failure to meet expectations. This is manifested by the failure to close out a lesser-performing opponent despite three opportunities to do so leaving only a sudden death performance once this lesser-performing opponent levels the playing field...er ice. Another high profile example of this would be the failure of a high profile player to overcome adversity and allow a lesser team to take control of destiny, going on a roller coaster ride of exceptional performance to inferior performance and to eventually allowing his opponent to claim victory. This often leads to passive-aggressive disorder mentioned above.
With care and attention, any of these disorders can be treated effectively. Those affected need severe aversive therapy including but not limited to public outrage, boycott, and the most effective means by which therapy becomes effective is to simply hit the individual with some blunt object...repeatedly.
Narcolepsy. We all know someone at work who all of a sudden just falls asleep. Here you were thinking that the meeting was pretty darn boring but my gosh, when he was called upon to make a presentation he is just sitting there sleeping. Even kids fall asleep at inappropriate times. This ailment can usually be counteracted by Anti-social Personality Disorder, but this has nasty side effects.
Anti-social Personality Disorder. This is a condition in which those affected possess an antipathy for social gatherings and positive communications while acting out. For instance, upon hearing news critical of one co-worker, one co-worker will challenge the other co-workers to fisticuffs. This will often change the behavior of those co-workers such that they will engage in passive aggressive behavior and antisocial personality behaviors. The good news is that this can be cured by showing those afflicted by this a little love.
Psychological Projection. Going back to Freudian theory, psychological projection is the denial of one's own failures and ascribing them to someone else. For instance, let's take the General Manager of a baseball team. This is the person responsible for managing the team payroll budget, signing players, and generally the operations of the organization. When this person's team continually fails to meet these expectations, one means by which this person manages his own self image is through psychological projection. This manifests itself through the pointing of the finger of blame and through the termination of those under him, because clearly it was the on field machinations of this person that resulted in a 12-23 record 35-games into the season. This allows the general manager to replace the "under performing" underling with another individual who has clearly demonstrated his capacity in delivering results and to replace a .422 manager with a .477 manager.
Passive Aggressive Disorder. This is a pattern of negativistic traits and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance. It is characterized by the failure to accept responsibility and to attack authority figures. A fine example would be the failure of an organization to disqualify an award recipient of an ill-gotten accolade and to instead thrust upon others to recast their original decision. Whereupon those called upon to cast judgement act in a passive aggressive manner by acting against the organization who put them in the position to begin with. It is a difficult situation to treat, as there's always a rational sounding reason why it is someone else's fault.
Encopresis. This is a disorder in which one vacates his bowels in places other than the toilet. For instance, when someone talks out of their butt and winds up dropping a heaping load of feces on an unexpecting public. This will commonly happen when the leader of an organization which is successful in spite of itself, cannot seem to figure out how to get out of his own way and he realizes he's incompetent to the task. He may wind up making the right choice, but doesn't know why and will likely experience encopresis while trying to explain the decision. This condition can often be cured by removing one's cranium from his rectum. Although in the most extreme cases, the individual may ultimately be removed from his position.Failure to Thrive. Our last disorder today is the failure to meet expectations. This is manifested by the failure to close out a lesser-performing opponent despite three opportunities to do so leaving only a sudden death performance once this lesser-performing opponent levels the playing field...er ice. Another high profile example of this would be the failure of a high profile player to overcome adversity and allow a lesser team to take control of destiny, going on a roller coaster ride of exceptional performance to inferior performance and to eventually allowing his opponent to claim victory. This often leads to passive-aggressive disorder mentioned above.
With care and attention, any of these disorders can be treated effectively. Those affected need severe aversive therapy including but not limited to public outrage, boycott, and the most effective means by which therapy becomes effective is to simply hit the individual with some blunt object...repeatedly.
