Month: March 2006 (Page 3 of 3)

“There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance.” – From “Confidence,” the third, and perhaps final episode of Love Monkey

Michael Jordan missed 12,345 shots during NBA regular season games, yet one, taken during his days at the University of North Carolina, may be the reason he later attempted 24,537 shots and scored 32,292 points on the journey that made him arguably the games greatest player ever.

On March 29, 1982, Georgetown led North Carolina 62-61 in the NCAA Championship game. With 32 seconds left the Tar Heels call timeout. Legendary coach Dean Smith instructed his team to look inside for star James Worthy, and if that option wasn’t open, they’d swing the ball to a Freshman for a jump shot. When the ball landed in his hands, Michael Jordan was 16 feet from the hole. In one fluid, reflexive motion, he caught the pass, squared himself and arched the ball toward the basket till it snapped the twines he and his teammates would cut down in celebration minutes later.

I’ve always wondered,”what if Michael had missed?” Would he have had the self-confidence it took to become the NBA’s greatest player? I think that hitting that high-pressure shot at such an impressionable age made a huge difference. That moment crystallized his confidence and it never left him. He was never afraid to fail and as a result, he enjoyed unparalleled success. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career,” he once said. “I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Wikipedia describes self-confidence as having:
– the courage to talk in front of a large number of people
– the willingness to try something new
– the willingness to go against what others are thinking or doing
– the willingness to explore what has not been explored

I think the willingness to fail should be on that list… Are you willing to fail?

Recently I read a short Boston Globe piece on rock movies. Some of the best cited were “Stop Making Sense” (Talking Heads), “Gimme Shelter” (Stones) and “The Last Waltz,” which documented the last show ever by the band, um, The Band. Some of my favorites were not on the list.

Here’s my top 5 rock music movies:

5. Talking Heads “True Stories” – This quirky little story narrated by David Byrne is highlighted by a huge karaoke-like performance by a young john Goodman.

4. AC/DC “Let There Be Rock” – with the late Bon Scott and the Young brothers, Malcolm and Angus.

3. Pink Floyd: “The Wall” – Bob “I Don’t Like Monday’s” Geldof stars in this in this twisted montage of MTV visuals and a screaming soundtrack of Floyd at their commercial apex.

2. Spinal Tap: “This is Spinal Tap” – Rob Reiner directs and portrays a rock documentary filmmaker in this genre spoof. My favorite scene involves the guitar player explaining that he has the loudest amp because the dials, “go to 11.”

1. Led Zeppelin: “The Song Remains the Same” – The monster, featuring a 1973 show at Madison Square Garden. That film was in regular “midnight show” rotation when I was in college. It always brought a tear to my eye when Jimmy Page’s eyes turn psychedelic.

On my “to see” list are Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” which I DVR’d last night, Springsteen’s 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon in London, and Zep’s “How the West Was Won.”

What do you recommend?

“Clarence!” was the immediate almost reflexive response. Yeah, Megan knows Clarence because she’s seen Clarence and the other members of the legendary E Street Band. Tonight on the ride home from “Nana’s” house, she pulled “The Rising” out of my CD sleeve and requested her two favorite cuts; the title track and “Waitin’ for a Sunny Day.” I’ve tried to infuse some different music to my girls playlist of life, and to some degree I’ve succeeded. She loves Sloan and the Bottle Rockets, and she sides with Wilco over Son Volt. “Dad, can I get some of this stuff on my iPod?” Little does she know my entire online music collection resides on her computer.

It’s kind of a drag that many shows are 18+, because she can’t go to many of the good club shows some of my favorite bands play. However, she’s seen a few. Her first show with me was Lenny Kravitz and Pink at our Tweeter Center in 2002. In the summer of 2003 it was Sloan opening for Jet at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. Somewhere in there was KISS and Aerosmith… The Fall of 2003 was the high point… We ventured down to the Big Apple to see Bruce. After settling in at the Times Square Westin, we walked past the Ed Sullivan Theatre on our way to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. We got seated and like it was choreographed, “a live video of “Born to Run” flickered on all the big screens. “We’re going to see THAT,” I said proudly. I knew it was somewhat underwhelming for a kid of the hip-hop generation, but some artists and music are timeless, and I wanted to make sure she saw this one.

After seeing “Stomp,” shopping, and walking about 45 blocks to the Guggenheim, it was time for the main event. We jumped on the train and headed from Times Square to Shea Stadium in Queens. The Beatles played Shea, and the ball got by Buckner. Earlier in the summer, I scooped some infield dirt from Fenway Park when Jeff and I were there to see Bruce. At Shea, I walked over to first base and dropped some of it hoping to break a curse. I didn’t know it would take another year. We walked around the big yard as a soft rain fell. Then the lights did. It was the last show the band did that tour and they haven’t played since. Songs in bold were played only this show during the entire 2003 tour:

1. CODE OF SILENCE
2. The Rising
3. Lonesome Day
4. Roulette
5. Night
6. I WISH I WERE BLIND
7. Empty Sky
8. You’re Missing
9. Waitin on a Sunny Day
10. Johnny 99
11. Another Thin Line
12. Tunnel of Love
13. Because the Night
14. Badlands
15. Prove it all night
16. Mary’s place
17. BACK IN YOUR ARMS
18. Into the fire
19. LIGHT OF DAY
20. Bobby Jean
21. Born to Run
22. Seven nights to rock
23. HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED (w/ Bob Dylan)
24. My city of ruins
25. Land of Hopes and Dreams
26. Rosalita (w/ Willie Nile)
27. Dancing in the dark
28. Quarter to three
29. Twist and Shout (Soozie on lead)
30. BLOOD BROTHERS

At the end of the show the band held hands. Clarence was crying. I thought it was important to my daughter’s life that she see Bruce Springsteen and his band play. Even if just so she can say, someday, “Yeah, I saw Bruce.”

“Peter Pan” is one of Kyle’s favorite stories, although I’m not sure how deep he goes into the imagery of it. He really fears the tick-tock clock of the crocodile, but is it because of the bite or the symbolism that time is chasing all of us? “Finding Neverland” is the story of how playwright JM Barrie experienced “Peter Pan” through his relationship with a widow and her four young sons. The beautifully filmed story is about love, loss, and the inspiration of imagination. Words always get me, and the script is amazing. Here, Mr. Barrie, played by Johnny Depp, encourages the youngest member of the family to write:

J.M. Barrie: Write about anything. Write about your family, write about the talking whale!
Peter Llewelyn Davies: What whale?
J.M. Barrie: The one that’s trapped in your imagination and desperate to get out.

Many of the other memorable lines from “Finding Neverland” can be found in the Internet Movie Database.

If you haven’t yet, do see it. Go to Neverland.