 On meeting your idols |
Phy 
Mind Peach
Registration Date: 02-22-2007
Posts: 109
Location: Wisconsin, USA
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Tom Griswold has said for years that you should never meet your idols. It can be dicey under the best of circumstances.
I met Terry and the three-legged-dog cast a couple of summers ago in some guy's basement not far from where I live in southern Wisconsin. It was billed as an intimate, 25 person show in a basement studio. The concert was to be filmed by lo-fidelity for a prospective DVD. I was beyond psyched.
Before I left for the concert, I determined to myself that I'd stay cool about the whole thing. I was wrong on two levels.
The venue was very cool, the hosts were very pleasant and fun and gracious, and the fans were extremely interesting. However, everyone's mettle would be tested before the night was out.
Turns out, if you put that many people and those kinds of lights in an enclosed basement, it gets warm. We're talking Turkish bath warm. They cranked the A/C and tried various things, but it was what it was - very sticky.
Give 'em credit - Jeff Elbel put on a great solo opening act, and then the Dogs treated us to what somebody--I don't remember if it was Terry or Mike--called 'Sweatin' to the Oldies'. At one point, the Dogs were huddled under the one air vent over the stage like pigs in a poke. They played the full show as the first stop on that summer's tour, but I rather doubt we'll see that footage. Pity. It really was a fun show.
After the show, we all moved upstairs to some guy's wife's kitchen and dining room. I wasn't going to go all fanboi on them, but after the line died down, there was a window of opportunity before they left. Terry kindly autographed the brand new (and imo underrated) Island Dreams CD, and I timidly asked for a picture.
They swooped in like they knew what they were doing, the picture was snapped, and I was left standing in back, already snickering. So my one brush with the guys yields my dorkiest picture of all time:
http://tinyurl.com/3yc5mb
I should've stopped with the autograph for the sick. 
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Johne (Phy) Cook | Overlord, Ray Gun Revival magazine |
| http://raygunrevival.com/ | http://phywriter.com/
This post has been edited 3 time(s), it was last edited by Phy: 08-15-2007 10:52.
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08-15-2007 10:49 |
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servantsteve
Disjasked Lerna
Registration Date: 07-02-2002
Posts: 4,168
Location: Ole Virginny
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Nice picture. I try not to make idols out of anyone. Those three men are very talnted musicians, but they're sinners saved by grace just like the rest of us. You do them no favors by getting all nervous around them because you met them first by hearing them on a record. Steve Taylor wrote it best in his song "Hero." I'd put the lyrics here, but I'm too lazy to look them up.
BTW, welcome out of the dark musty mushroom infested corner of the basement you lurked from for years before mustering up the courage to post.
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This is where I put my signature.
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08-15-2007 11:18 |
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sprinklerhead
Ceremonial Kernel
Registration Date: 12-11-2003
Posts: 1,290
Location: Austin, TX
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| RE: On meeting your idols |
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I've met the guys several times and have not been disappointed. On the other hand, I had a chance to meet and hang out with another huge hero of mine over the course of about a year. That was one that I wish I hadn't met and gotten to know. There was some freaky stuff going on there. I would rather just have enjoyed the image in my mind and my memories.
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I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
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08-15-2007 11:20 |
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bereal
Ubique Epoque
Registration Date: 03-08-2004
Posts: 11,824
Location: "I still love Jesus, I'm just afraid of His followers." DwDunphy
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i've met the dogs quite a few times. they are great to hang out with, but lets remember they are human. there is no need to idolize them or anyone else in the spotlight. 
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Holy God break me, Holy Lord take me
Lay your crushing hand, Your mighty hand, On me gently
Your crushing hand, Your mighty hand, On me gently
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08-15-2007 14:01 |
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Jerry Davison
Woolly Eggwhisk
Registration Date: 03-30-2005
Posts: 846
Location: Atlanta, GA
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I not only had the pleasure of meeting Terry and working with him, but he graciously took me into his home for a few weeks while recording our second album. Let me tell you he is the real deal. It is one of my fondest and most cherished memories.
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08-15-2007 14:09 |
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Zudrak
Mind Peach
Registration Date: 07-20-2006
Posts: 145
Location: National Park, NJ
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| quote: |
Originally posted by bereal
there is no need to idolize them or anyone else in the spotlight. |
Great. Now I have to melt down the statue of Baal that I'd started re-shaping into a Lost Dogs statue. I had Mike, Terry, and Derri as the three heads of Cerberus, with Steve in front of the dog's body as the handler (since he "keeps the beat").
I'll make a hockey trophy out of it now, I guess.
| quote: |
Originally posted by MarkyMark77
To be sure.
It's weird meeting musicians whose music you love. I think that people get nervous, not because they've put them on a pedestal, but because you feel like you know them, and yet you do not know them at all. It's hard to know what to say to someone who has given you the soundtrack to your successes and failures, your triumphs and tragedies. I don't hold Mike Roe on a pedestal, but every time I talk to him after a show, I don't do it very well. 
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I was like that with Mike at the July 2006 show, but recovered for the 2007 show. I did not get a chance to talk to Terry in 2006, but I was able to do so this year and my only regret is that I did not get the chance to speak with him last year. They're all great guys.
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"My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
-Psalm 73:26
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08-15-2007 14:32 |
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MarkyMark77
Woolly Eggwhisk
Registration Date: 10-11-2002
Posts: 512
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| quote: |
I had Mike, Terry, and Derri as the three heads of Cerberus, with Steve in front of the dog's body as the handler (since he "keeps the beat").
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08-15-2007 14:40 |
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ladrtrk55
Luteous Llama
Registration Date: 03-09-2007
Posts: 365
Location: Navasota, Tx
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I met Greg Noll, the big-wave surfing pioneer, during a "legends" tour here at a Port A surfshop some years back.
He graciously autographed a poster for me and then I musta said something stupid and pizzed him off as we chatted. After we parted company, he just glared at me. I was afraid he was gonna wad me up into a ball like a piece of paper.
I too should have been satisfied with an 'autograph for the lame'.
Very wise advice, never meet your idols.
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Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, who will go for us?"
"Here I am, send me!"
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08-15-2007 14:46 |
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sprinklerhead
Ceremonial Kernel
Registration Date: 12-11-2003
Posts: 1,290
Location: Austin, TX
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If you have a problem idolizing Terry and the guys, you can do what I did. Catch Terry in line for the toilet. That really levels the playing field.
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I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
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08-15-2007 15:19 |
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Audiori J
Administrator
Registration Date: 11-27-2004
Posts: 7,728
Location: "Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I AM stuck in the middle with you." - Stealers Wheel
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After spending any time with the guys its hard not to see them as like a relative, like an Uncle or something. I think seeing their humanness allows you to give them a little Grace, especially when they are road weary.
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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~ Robert Frost
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08-15-2007 15:46 |
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Space Ghost
Ceremonial Kernel
Registration Date: 02-07-2003
Posts: 1,561
Location: the space between wonder and why
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| quote: |
Originally posted by larryl
after gene died, i decided i needed to tell those people what they have meant to me, and i have not regretted one instance. |
Great minds think alike. I was fortunate enough to tell Gene how much his work meant to me, and after he passed, it only reinforced my desire to do so at every opportunity. Terry Scott Taylor. Roger Hodgson of Supertramp. Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest. Even hockey player Brendan Shanahan the day after Mike Keenan traded him.
While I've not had the pleasure of meeting Geddy Lee, I did hear him say in an interview that when someone tells you "Your work has touched me deeply," that is a very powerful moment for both parties. I agree.
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A quality of justice
A quantity of light
A particle of mercy
Makes the color of right
Gravity and distance
Change the passage of light
Gravity and distance
Change the color of right
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08-15-2007 15:54 |
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MarkyMark77
Woolly Eggwhisk
Registration Date: 10-11-2002
Posts: 512
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| quote: |
| after gene died, idecided i needed to tell those people what they have meant to me, and i have not regretted one instance. |
I think that this is the point for me. I don't idolize anyone, but when someone does something that has a positive effect on me, I want to let them know it.
When I saw the Dogs in '94(?), my friend got Gene's e-mail address. I was so impressed at how, while he could have been packing up stuff, he talked at length with someone, and gave them his e-mail address. To me, that's what all this music stuff (and even this message board) is about : building relationships with people. I think that's why I'm on here so much. It's really cool (even with the occasional blow-up) to talk to all these people who share something that's important to me, which is music. </sap>
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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by MarkyMark77: 08-15-2007 16:00.
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08-15-2007 16:00 |
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dennis
Ubique Epoque
Registration Date: 09-19-2002
Posts: 13,303
Location: In not-quite earth, in not-quite heaven.
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| quote: |
Originally posted by bereal
i've met the dogs quite a few times. they are great to hang out with, but lets remember they are human. there is no need to idolize them or anyone else in the spotlight.
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So I shouldn't make animal sacrifices to my Berger Roy Al shrine? 
nada! Who do I worship now??? 
Help me Jebus!!!
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I'm talkin' bout the Vinyl , the Holy Vinyl.
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08-15-2007 16:23 |
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Ron E
Platyhelminth
Registration Date: 03-12-2002
Posts: 5,610
Location: Central Ontario Canada
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| quote: |
Originally posted by sprinklerhead
If you have a problem idolizing Terry and the guys, you can do what I did. Catch Terry in line for the toilet. That really levels the playing field. |
I nearly followed Mike into the bathroom to ask for an autograph but mostly as a joke, didn't do it, thought it would be funny though.
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The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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08-15-2007 19:18 |
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snowblind
Mind Peach
Registration Date: 01-29-2007
Posts: 150
Location: Georgia
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| quote: |
Originally posted by larryl
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Originally posted by Ron E
| quote: |
Originally posted by sprinklerhead
If you have a problem idolizing Terry and the guys, you can do what I did. Catch Terry in line for the toilet. That really levels the playing field. |
I nearly followed Mike into the bathroom to ask for an autograph but mostly as a joke, didn't do it, thought it would be funny though. |
that's how peawinkel met mike. |
I met Kerry Livgren at a Charlie Peacock concert years ago and I'm pretty sure I just mumbled something like... "music good". Also, I met Terry at Cstone back in '91 and, after reading some interview with him outlining his distaste for CCM industry, I tried to cheer him up, but he assured me he was fine. I felt like a dork. 
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08-15-2007 22:09 |
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ladrtrk55
Luteous Llama
Registration Date: 03-09-2007
Posts: 365
Location: Navasota, Tx
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| quote: |
Originally posted by snowblind
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Originally posted by larryl
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Originally posted by Ron E
| quote: |
Originally posted by sprinklerhead
If you have a problem idolizing Terry and the guys, you can do what I did. Catch Terry in line for the toilet. That really levels the playing field. |
I nearly followed Mike into the bathroom to ask for an autograph but mostly as a joke, didn't do it, thought it would be funny though. |
that's how peawinkel met mike. |
I met Kerry Livgren at a Charlie Peacock concert years ago and I'm pretty sure I just mumbled something like... "music good". Also, I met Terry at Cstone back in '91 and, after reading some interview with him outlining his distaste for CCM industry, I tried to cheer him up, but he assured me he was fine. I felt like a dork.
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That's pretty funny, only because that sounds like my usual MO.
I met Darrell Mansfield at CStone '90 and he was most gracious. Actually, he gave me no time to dork out as he was asking ME questions, instead of me torturing him with inane musings.
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Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, who will go for us?"
"Here I am, send me!"
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08-15-2007 22:23 |
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