the story has been told a million times.

the results have been listed a half million times.

but basically one day i was bored and disgruntled at work, i read online about Blogger.com, i created this thing in a matter of minutes and within two months hundreds of thousands of people were here.

from that came jobs, gifts, friends, babes, vacations, books, awards, opportunity, even the car i drive.

the busblog has been a wellspring that has never stopped flowing.

true, because of this reason or that, the content has mellowed and thus the popularity has waned, but every day there’s something new here and every day people come.

the lesson of this low-fi very basic blog that’s produced over 7,250 posts is that dreams can really come true

and that your life is yours to create.

you dont have to be good lookin, you dont even have to be all that talented, all you have to do is be dedicated (or obsessive), be genuine in your intentions, and trust the universe.

i cant tell you how blessed i feel because of this adventure that we have taken together. almost everything good thats come my way since college has direct roots to this url. its an embarrassment of riches.

and i thank you from the bottom of my heart.

happy birthday busblog

something that would be nothing if not for you, the loyal readers.

…that the busblog loves you

and i bet theyre very happy today

not only is the best band ever outta Montreal playing a sold out show in Madison Square Garden tonight

but its being broadcast on the You Tubes tonight at 10pm ET, 7PT

and Amazon is selling their new record The Suburbs for just $4 if alls you want is the MP3 version

but if you belong to eMusic you can also get it there.

which means this record is going to be heard by lots of people in the first week

people who will probably say man theres not a lot of music like this out there

and who will probably go see the band on tour this summer fall and winter.

which is why bands sign with labels in the first place (so the word gets out).

hes 24

when i was a kid i was the only black boy in school.

when in history class we talked about slavery it was the most uncomfortable thing ever.

now in history class when people talk about barack obama’s life story i can only imagine how the one black kid in school beams with pride.

when i was a kid i didnt even imagine that such a thing would happen in my lifetime. why? well because there werent even very many blacks on tv.

there were so few that Jet magazine used to list them all on the second to last page of their tiny weekly.

sure there were blacks on tv in sports, but they werent managers or head coaches. it took a while to see them as news anchors.

but a big time politician? let alone the president of the most powerful country in the world? impossible.

the cubs had a better chance of winning it all than that.

politics aside, policies aside… when i look at pictures of barack obama, i feel differently with him than i have any other president before him

because when i see him, i see the result of millions of americans who all stopped thinking that it was impossible. i see the representative of a nation who one day said ideas and the ability to make those ideas come true is what we are about, not the color of our skin or the color we think our leaders should be.

it gives me hope that other glass ceilings can also be broken in record time.

and then we can take on some truly serious problems.

like how we get the cubs that title.

photo: President Barack Obama on Air Force One credit: Pete Souza, White House flickr

was super fun. Gershwin doing the music from that old United Airlines commercial.

also Bernstein.

but one of the best parts (besides being able to legally bring in bottles of wine) was when the pianist improvised off of Beethoven’s Fifth, best known from “Clockwork Orange”.

she told the crowd that in olden times classical musicians would improve live all the time but nowadays its super rare.

no clue why its rare cuz it was, like i said, the best part.

the conductor, this dude Dudamel is only 29 and the LA Phil has named him their music director and our reviewer and the crowd were super into him, for good reason. he has so much fun up there and clearly knows the music inside out.

but what i liked about him is he conducts from the future. like if he really wants one section to nail it he will gesture to them a full beat before he wants it. so not only are the musicians ready for it, but so is the crowd. it gets everyone way into it.

it also must be hard to do. i was confused. but i was also a tad toasted.

as i plan to be shortly, shorties.

this time on the award winning Hero Complex blog because this time we talk about movies

yes the interview went well but i wont let it go to my head, i think Bruce just liked me because i too am part of the bald brotherhood.

read all about it on the LA Times food blog, the Daily Dish

but yes i was super nervous and yes he only let two news outlets interview him in LA and yes those were all my questions (whose else would they be?)

hes a great copy editor. he sits in front of me

see that watch. it’s gold. wanna know why its gold?

its gold because he has worked at the Times for 25 freakin YEARS!

didnt know people worked at one place that long did you?

me neither.

we’re very glad that Steve is here and i hope to see him here another 25 years.

congrats Steve!

the girl is cute, the dude had dimples and looked good in a tight jacket

so why not get married!

because you met on TV!

crazy thing is people try to stick together for dumber reasons even when theyre not on tv.

everyone knows of couples who either fight all the time or dont talk or who sleep in separate bedrooms

when i was an ice cream man guy in college i dated a girl whose mom would go to the library on mondays, stock up on books, and read all night on the downstairs couch and fall asleep there so she wouldnt have to sleep with her husband.

why were they still together? the kids were teens and knew of their parents unhappiness and would have been happier if their parents moved on with their lives. but it never happened. why?

people hate change. they hate it more than they hate the bleh that is their love life. they hate it so much they convince themselves that the dark period of being alone will be such a devastating valley that they refuse to walk into the sunshine that their rational mind knows is right ahead of them.

the devil you know conundrum in full effect.

this sweet sweet woman with beautiful daughters did not realize that her actions and library books were effecting her offspring in lifechanging ways. those girls grew up with a skewed perspective of what is possible with love and did some dramatic and unwise things as young women including dating ice cream men and marrying far too young because they figured “if love is so hard to find, and if real love is nearly impossible, then grab on to Whatever asap and hang on tight.”

im no expert on love. or the human condition. or other people’s love lives. but i am an expert of change.

i too despise what theyre slowly doing to my beloved Wrigley Field. i hate when businesses i once frequented are replaced. the Jungian psychology of being comfortable with “knowing” in my minds eye that a building is going to be around the corner with a familiar sign is destroyed when the corner is turned and things have changed.

but when it comes to love, real love, long lasting forever and ever love, the type of love that means everything, and fuels everything, and creates magic that last for generations – well that love is worth climbing every mountain and fording through every stream.

that love is worth putting your perspective partner through every test and exercise, and more importantly yourself through tough questions and tougher actions

which sometimes means you’ll be alone for a while.

miles davis was known for his amazing music

but i will submit that it was the silence in between the notes that made him legendary.

as depeche mode once suggested

enjoy the silence.

and pray for those who sleep on couches, those who propose on tv, and especially those who struggle with change.

from pastrami sandwhiches from the Canters truck. when we saw these very flexible people being flexible in the distance

Barnsdale Art Park keeping things interesting. as always.