What happens when we die

[Karl]

Out of all the guys that have tried to interact or not interact with me on my posts or theirs, you two guys are the ones I relate to the most.

 

My guitar, an Alvarex, is not that important to me anymore. My rocking years are over. My composing years are over. I  lost  interest in it. Playing he Bluse kinda gets me going, but it fades like anything else if you don't stay with it. My relationship with my wife is the most important to me. She is a fine, honest, and dependable person.

 

You know how I know that she loves and likes me for me. I am all fucked up down there. Doesn't work for shit. She is 22 years younger than me and as hot as a toaster in McDonalds on a buy one and get one free Egg McMufin day. I make enough to live on, and she is part time employed. Nobody is going to rob the bank for our account because there's hardly enough in there to speak of. She'd live on the street with me if she got us there. :-)  She just loves and likes me. And I know it from her behaviors towards me.

I don't make any money currently, but my junk works just fine :-) Mind you that's what they said about my eyes 5 years ago 30/30 vision and now I'm reduced to glasses for TV and reading glasses.

 

I play guitar-not too well, but I get by. I have a Taylor big baby acoustic which sits by me at all time. Also have an electric thing which is much easier to play, but a lot louder through the Marshall amp. I play drums as well-sorta. Can play a fair few of the standards, but I get bored quickly. Been in a couple of start up bands chopping sticks for hours whilst they figure out how to play their guitars :-/ then played to an audience whilst they lost where they were and I grimaced for 10 hours filling the space with an impromptu drum solo, it was more like a minute, but gawd it felt longer. I like al, the really fancy prog rock stuff, but it's so far beyond me I might as well try brain surgery or quantum mechanics.

 

Anyway life is still good, we are debt free, my wife is in a decent wage and I shorted the pound with a bit of bullion. Tommorrow off to Scotland with 20 bikers for a few days.

[Jim D.]

I played solo most of my life. My style of playing is arpeggio with some rifs here and there....and straight chords. I have been invited to play with a band, but it was difficult to follow. I like to lead. And I didn't have the time to put in the practice. I put the time in to practice for me. It would just totally embarrase me to be if a band who got lost on stage. I could see you blowing drums solo and just out running the other players. I don't know if they should have been pissed, or grateful.

[Karl]

I played solo most of my life. My style of playing is arpeggio with some rifs here and there....and straight chords. I have been invited to play with a band, but it was difficult to follow. I like to lead. And I didn't have the time to put in the practice. I put the time in to practice for me. It would just totally embarrase me to be if a band who got lost on stage. I could see you blowing drums solo and just out running the other players. I don't know if they should have been pissed, or grateful.

They just stopped whilst I continued to kick out the beat. They had lost their way quite badly. I ran a solo and then gave them a stick count and got them back on track. It happens a lot if players are concentrating on their bit and ignoring the rest of the band. It's a must that you can play your instrument with the broader view. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes as long as the piece itself holds together. Once people get focused on their part, then the danger is that if they bum it, then they lose the thread completely. The drummer has to keep on going or the entire thing stops. The drummer is really the key to the whole thing-the structure over which everything else is draped.

 

You should give it a go JD.

[Jim D.]

One...Two...Three...Four   I want to hold your Hand....I want to hold your Haaaaaaaaaand!  I never knew if the drummer led, or the band led. Some songs are different. Some lead guitars start out like a drummer e.g. Day Tripper....

[Marblehead]

Yeah, Ringo had the ability to lead the band into a song.  And actually, I think it is better when either the drummer or the bassist leads, especially if the tempo is going to change during the song.

 

That's actually what caused the breakup of Cream.  Both Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker wanted to always lead.  Eric just wanted to play.  So he left the band and played.

[Jim D.]

I'm impressed MH. A little rock memorabilia. I liked the Cream sound because they had a full, heavy rock sound then. Then Mountain came along. Then the Who, Jimmie Hendrix, Led Zeplin.

 

When I go back and listen to Cream's music composition, it doesn't sound as full as did the Def Leopard sound, or early AD/DC sound. The difference is the availability of electronics and mixing, and layering of sound...more base...drums sounds are louder and isolated...more prominent. I really like Highway to Hell and the way Angus used D major Chord and A major Chord as riffs.

 

I have had very little training, maybe 6 months with a teacher who taught me how to read music...which I forgotten. But I would play A Chord, D Chord, and E Chord in first position and say to myself, this is a full heavy sound, I like it. Nowadays, those are the Chords played most often by guys like ZZ Top and such.

[Marblehead]

Don't get me wrong.  I do not play.  But I do listen.

 

I think I have a complete collection of Mountain's music.  Leslie West had a very unique way with his guitar.  Did you know they did a full album of Bob Dylan's music?  Something that will stand all by its self.

 

I actually burned out on The Who.  I think the same happened with Led Zeppelin.

 

Jimi Hendrix is a different story.  I love "Are You Experienced?" but much of the rest of his music wasn't that appealing to me.  Sure, top of the ranks guitarist and performed.  But he did a lot of music that he should not have done and associated with a lot of people he should not have associated with.

 

But yes, ZZ Top is a totally different kind of music.  Texas/Electric Blues. 

Edited July 8, 2016 by Marblehead

[Jim D.]

I did not know that Leslie West did Dylan songs. Do you know that Leslie had part of his left leg amputated. He's got Diabetes. Got to check out the Dylan songs done by him. Leslie's unique sound is about his amplifers. That's it.

 

Hendrix was not as good a guitar player as Jimmie Page. I liked Purple Haze, All along the Watch Tower. I never got into the Who accept trying to play the intro to Tommie.

 

I like Peter Framptom nowadays. Again more electronics, better sound, same solos. Check out Do You Feel Like We Do then and then today. So, much better as a remix. Watch Lines on my Face, Frampton...just beautifu remix.

 

I like Neil Young when he rocks hard and when he doesn't.

 

"The OutField,"  "White Snake"

 

I can't take the loud music for very long. Too much racket. Have to be in the mood. I can take about an hour. Concerts are out..too piercing.

 

What I watch on youtube is Daryl's House. Good....Good music. He has a good sound system and professional muscians to back him up. Still has the voice.

 

Joe Walsh has his own way of playing guitar.

[Marblehead]

I didn't know about Leslie's leg.

 

Sure, Jimmie Page - no denials.

 

I like Frampton but only short shots of him.  For me he gets boring too quickly.  Yes, "Fell Like We Do" is a great song.

 

And speaking of Neil - I really liked Crosby, Still & Nash.  Now, sure, Young is a great artist but when he joined CSN the band started falling apart.  Maybe personal conflicts, I don't know why.

 

I had to look up "The Outfield" as I had never heard of them.  They and White Snake became popular after I stopped listening to radio.

 

I don't go to concerts any more but I would go to a Bluegrass Festival and I still have thoughts of going out to Louisiana to a Zydeco Festival.

 

I didn't know what Daryl's House was - head to look it up.  Joe Walsh, sure.  I have his first two albums and then other stuff that he was a member of.  He never really stood out for me though.

[Marblehead]

BTW  That album of Dylan's songs is "Masters of War".

[Orion]

What happens when you die...

 

There is confusion and disorientation for a time as your spirit becomes re-acquainted with its non-material form, including the return of its eternal memories. It momentarily continues to experience the suffering of the body it left behind, like an after image, because it still thinks it is the person it just was, who is now dead. That personality is gone forever.

 

Once it remembers, it then undergoes the task of processing what happened during the recent life. Did it successfully complete the trials it set out to do? Its expiations and atonements (if any)?

 

A new workshop is then designed based on its level of attainment, the next level of progression it can take, anything it has to atone for, etc. This is accomplished with the help of its advisors and God. It's then reborn into the workshop of life which is designed to progress it closer toward perfection.

 

This is a crude way of describing it, but it's basically what happens.

[Karl]

One...Two...Three...Four   I want to hold your Hand....I want to hold your Haaaaaaaaaand!  I never knew if the drummer led, or the band led. Some songs are different. Some lead guitars start out like a drummer e.g. Day Tripper....

That's what I meant about having the wider view. The band is a unit with the audience. If the guitarists does an intro they aren't setting the tempo. The problem with a lot of bands is that the lead guitarist is a prima Donna and is constantly trying to usurp the rest of the band. Once the guitarists set the pace it all goes to bits. It's funny how the other musicians won't listen to the drummer because they have their practice pace in their heads.

 

At one time I played the drums for one song by a more professional band and really enjoyed the experience because I could pull/push the tempo and the band knew instantly how to follow. The drummer has to have an empathy with the audience and transmit it to the rest of the band. It's a terrific feeling when you get this right. You can throw in little surprises and watch the audience respond back.

[Jim D.]

That's my problem. I listen to my own tempo. The timing in Day Tripper seems easy to pick up with the lead guitarist starting off the song.

 

I thought you were going to be gone for 20 days on a bike trip? The threads died for a "hot second." But now you are back. Yeah!!!! The aggravation resumes.

 

What time is it there?

 

I looked up your guitar. It's decent.

[Marblehead]

When the guitar is unplugged it is dead and makes no more sound.

[Karl]

That's my problem. I listen to my own tempo. The timing in Day Tripper seems easy to pick up with the lead guitarist starting off the song.

 

I thought you were going to be gone for 20 days on a bike trip? The threads died for a "hot second." But now you are back. Yeah!!!! The aggravation resumes.

 

What time is it there?

 

I looked up your guitar. It's decent.

Not 20 days, 3 nights.

 

I'm in Scotland now. I know because it rained on the 5 hour ride up and I woke up to find more rain. The rest of the lads rode to Mallaig, took the ferry to Skye, then the bridge back. I didn't fancy 8 hours in the rain so rode down to rain soaked Oban. Took me just over 2.5 hours with a brief stop. I was soggy enough after that short trip, just waiting for the drowned rats to return. It's 17:31 and still raining. Tommorrow is forecast.....more rain and Monday......very wet again :-/

 

You have to get used to listening to the drummer. Think of it like watching the road instead of the windscreen wipers ....linking nicely with the weather.

 

Taylor's are nice, mines been all over Europe with me. Sometimes I play and sing if I'm asked. Trouble is I like alt rock, they expect Bob Dylan and get Kurt Cobain. I was in the local guitar shop-as you do- just browsing and I asked the owner which was his favourite acoustic. He picked out this really nice instrument and I glanced at the price tag-a very reasonable £450. I started playing it-fabulous thing, much better than anything I've ever used. I began thinking seriously about trading the Taylor in against, for the price it was totally stunning and I had definitely fallen in love with it. I was thinking through the best way to make a deal and I delay glanced in a disinterested way at the price tag and took an intake of breath, somehow I had missed a digit. It was £3450. No wonder it played so beautifully. Too good for my level of playing, but at £450 it would have been a Ferrari for Chevy volt money. Needless to say I still own the Taylor :-)°

[futuredaze]

I've been agnostic for many years, I think it is a mystery until it happens.

 

I have had several experiences and intuitive revelations which have given me some suggestions on what comes after.  It is still not 100% clear, but it basically involves shifting into a totally different reality based on past karma and our own skill of being aware and navigating reality.  Like many sages and shaman have said: life and death are one, and living helps us prepare for dying.

 

I still like to keep my agnosticism just so I don't become dogmatic and preachy.  Now that would be boring!  I like to be open to receiving new information which forces me to re-evaluate my beliefs.

[Jim D.]

Karl, I guess there were not bridges to hide under. What a bummer to be soaked. Not fun at all. What kind of bike to you ride. I am glad that you are staying in touch. I did miss your presence. When I told my wife that you were going to be gone 20 days, she did say that you would be staying over and could have access to the Internet. I replied, 'you think he would. I thought that he would be ridding with a group of guys that would be roughing it.'

 

I sang all my life starting at age 5 when my Aunt Sue, a semi-professional singer, encourged me to keep at it. I sang "Cry Me a River" to her. Artist was Johnny Ray. I bet MH remembers. I practiced guitar and singing daily for hours when I got into High School and well into my adult years. But when I could not hit those registers like I did when I was younger, I just concentrated on playing guitar.

 

Look at Paul McCartney when he sang "Maybe I'm Amazed" when he was with Wings. When he does concerts nowadays he stays away form reaching those notes for fear of cracking. I use to be able to sing two octives. Today half an octave.

 

I didn't want to hurt your feelings because you said that you play your guitar but not a well as you might want to. But I wanted to tell you that I use to play 100's of songs from the Kinks and Beatles to Ac/DC and Mountain...plus my own stuff. I sang to. But like I said not any more. I think the last time I sang was Karaoke in a Filipino Resturant...it was "Happy Together," The Turtles...and then again in a Nursing Home where I was the Social Services Director.That time I sang "Hook on a Feeling," B.J. Thomas, one of my favorites, and "Michele" Paul McCartney.

 

Karl, you add a balance to all of this...meaning all the young dudes want to be seen as "special" and on to something that no one else is on to. You, you bring practicality to all this etheral thinking.

[Karl]

KTM 990 SMT

 

I don't do 'roughing' these days. Hotels and B&B and a caravan at a pinch. It's raining again today and the posse is having a mini revolution and refusing to get another soaking.

 

Yesterday a rider in an organised group from USA had one of their party crash into a car. The impact slider off his knee cap. We watched the helicopter flying over our hotel on the way to hospital. That's always a bit sobering.

[Marblehead]

I sang all my life starting at age 5 when my Aunt Sue, a semi-professional singer, encourged me to keep at it. I sang "Cry Me a River" to her. Artist was Johnny Ray. I bet MH remembers.

 

Yes, I remember that.

[Jim D.]

"What dies is merely the identity, the identification of a collection of parts that we called a person..."  The rest is just conjecture.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Jim D.

[Jim D.]

Ever hear of the "Blob?" Well image that if you are wondering what happens to you when you die. Or visit a County Morgue. I have.

[Marblehead]

Conjecture.  Is that something like creating myths and fairy tales?

[Jim D.]

Nooooo! That's like using the SWAG Method to answer a question or problem. Scientific Wild Ass Guess!  I see a lot of that around here...you know here and there and everywhere.

[Marblehead]

I stand accused and accept full responsibility for all my SWAGging.

[Jim D.]

Nothing will happen when I die. I will be no longer.