Cleansing Waters of Lake Minnetonka

...so after my previous post mocking people who abuse sick leave, I get a butt-kicking case of the flu. Okay, ha ha, I can appreciate the irony. Well, after I got over that, I was healthy for approximately 48 hours before getting hit with a head cold that would bring down a bull elephant. I felt so bad all week I was seriously expecting Dustin Hoffman in a hazmat suit to come busting through my door. Remind me not to make anymore blog postings that tempt fate, okay?

We had a beautiful day on Thursday when it almost made it to 60 degrees, then BAM, we're right back in the twenties. I hate this time of year - you know the weather is about to break, you can feel it, you're ready, and Mother Nature puts the smack down on you. Regardless, I think I'll swing by the dealer this week and get the supplies to give the bike an oil change for when we turn the corner.

The title of this post is in reference to a confession I have to make that I hope won't damage my metalhead credentials too much: I am a huge Prince fan. This is probably due to the influence of my sisters, who are both huge fans. I forced my Mom to take me to see Purple Rain in the theater when I was ten (And yes, there are few things as awkward as being a ten-year-old boy, sitting next to your mother in a movie theater, watching a graphic sex scene starring Prince and Apollonia). Granted, his newer stuff has kinda gone off in a direction that I'm not following, but I think everything from Diamonds & Pearls and earlier is amazing. Unfortunately, the man lets his freak flag fly so high that most people never realize how talented of a musician he is. What got me thinking about this? Well, since I've been mostly in a 'guitar' state of mind lately, I was browsing one of the guitar forums and someone pointed me in the direction of this video from the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies. It's an all-star rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Prince is onstage with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison (who looks so much like his father it's eerie), and he absolutely destroys the place. It's some of the most amazing playing I've heard, which is saying something, seeing as I consider the original version to be one of Eric Clapton's finest moments. Shortly after this video was making the rounds on the Internet, Prince appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and tore it up again. I've never been fortunate enough to see him live, but I've heard he can do it with just about any instrument - he picks up a guitar and he's Hendrix. He goes to the drum kit and he's Keith Moon. Put him in from of a keyboard and he's Rick Wakeman. Not bad for a guy who's entirely self-taught. I find it funny that after the crash-and-burn of hair metal, one of the few people turning out quality guitar-driven rock is a guy who spent the better part of the hair-metal decade named after a squiggly symbol.

...and for some hilarious insight into the mind of His Royal Badness, I highly recommend checking out Kevin Smith's account of his brief time spent working for Prince at Paisley Park on the Evening With Kevin Smith DVD. (Someone has transcribed it here, but it's a much funnier to watch than to read).