Ironhold

The reality of my situation is that between my maternal grandmother requiring additional care due to being mentally ill, my incredible social awkwardness (it turns out that autism-spectrum conditions run on my dad's side; I'm going in on the 13th to try and get tested), and a variety of other issues like the bit about missions, I was functionally on my own through most of my teenage years and my early 20s. My family and various others were there physically, but it often took extraordinary circumstances to get them to actually pay attention when I tried to tell them that I was dealing with various situations. In particular, if I had a complaint about my health, but they couldn't actually see anything wrong with me, they just assumed I was either faking a situation or exaggerating a minor condition. Instead, I basically faced the world alone, with a few friends here and there for support. I paid the price. My health - both mental and physical - is terrible, and in fact I have a physical deformity because my scoliosis was allowed to set in; I got it later than normal, and so no one believed me about the various aches and pains I was feeling. I made a great many bad judgment calls that hurt a number of people, including myself. These decisions haunt me. I'm trying to get better, but it's been a slow trek. It's only within the last few years that people around me have finally started to realize that I did in fact need them there when I was younger, that I'm in a bad place now because of it, and it's going to take professional help for me to get sorted.

When I was a teen, the stake pushed everyone to adopt the mantra of "all young men must go on missions, and all young women must only consider returned missionaries as marriage partners". So when I didn't go on a formal mission, far too many people didn't bother asking why and instead jumped to conclusions.

It may not be that the person is themselves doing something wrong, but rather that they're in a situation which is largely beyond their control and that they're longing for the before times when things were better and they might have had time to alter the course of everything. Remember, a lot of what I'm dealing with in life is because I chose to stay back home and help care for a mentally ill relative. That led to a lot of doors being closed for me and a lot of social isolation at church.

I remember a few years ago there was a Dear Abby bit that had me livid. The letter was from a woman who was on her second marriage, this time to a wealthy man who was a widower. The woman wanted diamond jewelry, and was frustrated that while he bought her jewelry, none of it was diamond. She figured that because he was spending all sorts of money on his kids but wouldn't get her diamonds, it meant that she was in second place as far as his attentions went. Abby responded by telling her to purchase her own diamonds. The thing is? In the letter the woman listed some of the ways she tried to tell her husband she wanted diamonds. ...Such as "leaving jewelry catalogs open to the pages depicting the jewelry she wanted" and "having his sister talk to him". In other words, indirect methods of communication rather than simply asking for anything. What both Abby and the woman missed is that the husband clearly knew she wanted jewelry, but that her indirect methods meant that he didn't get that she specifically wanted diamonds. In other words, the heart of the problem was that the woman and her husband weren't communicating effectively. Telling the woman to just get her own diamonds merely kicked that can down the road, and could have easily led to the marriage imploding. Instead, what the woman needed to do was sit down, take a look at other areas where she and her husband were seemingly miscommunicating, and take a hard look at what was leading to it. If it was *just* the issue of the diamond jewelry, then she should count her blessings and likely not press the matter further. But if it was multiple areas in which they were not communicating right, then it might be time for her to get with a neutral third party and broach the issue with an eye towards getting counseling.

There are people who feel that women are saintly, men are evil, and that's just the way it is. These people tend to be rather divorced from reality. It's a big part of why the whole Depp / Heard legal battle has gotten so many people freaked out, as it showed that Heard was as violent and abusive as she claimed Depp was and so destroyed a whole host of narratives, including "Listen and Believe".

I have a history of head trauma, and as part of it I have trouble remembering names. I've had to do a lot of apologizing to people because of it. Pronouns on top of names? Not happening unless I start keeping flash cards or note books.

My county is allowing people to claim exemptions if they have conditions that would make them more vulnerable to Covid. I'm heavy-set and have high blood pressure (my *resting* BP is 140 / 92), and so if I do get called up I can try to claim an exemption on this basis.

I've read Gene's 2001 autobiography "KISS and Make-Up". I bought Paul's autobiography at one point, but when I went to go looking for it I couldn't find it; best guess is that it must be one of the books that went to storage to make room when some family decided to come up for the holidays one year. I have some medical bills I need to square (I'm finally getting some checkups done after years of drama with my insurance provider) and so I'm going to have to hold off on getting Ace's autobiography. I don't think Peter has written one yet, and I doubt Vinnie would have been able to convince anyone to publish his after his rather massive fall from grace. Other recent autobiographies I've read include one from Bruce Campbell and one from NBC CEO Grant Tinker. I've got Kari Byron's autobiography that I'm working through, and I have a book written by Lee Iacoca to get to as well.

Generally speaking, every year there's at least one inductee who is seemingly selected because of their name and its potential ability to get people watching the actual induction ceremony. This year it's Dolly Parton, who actually *refused* to accept the nomination but was inducted anyway as she'd legitimately gotten enough votes. Actual figures in the world of rock and roll have been quite critical of this, ranging from classic acts like Chubby Checker whose admission is long overdue to modern figures like radio host Lou Brutus ("Hard Drive with Lou Brutus" and "Hard Drive XL") who have been in the industry long enough to see it happen time and time again. ** If I could select a full year's inductees all on my own? Non-Performer: Casey Kasem Early Influencer: Chubby Checker Sideman: Rudy Sarzo Inductees: The Runaways (putting Joan Jett in the Hall twice), Montrose (putting Sammy Hagar in the Hall twice), The Scorpions, Chic, Rainbow (putting Richie Blackmore in the Hall twice), UFO, Judas Priest I'd also introduce the "Significant Member" rule, where members who weren't in the "classic" or "famous" line-up but who made a significant contribution to the group and/or achieved fame in their own right would be inducted as well, especially retroactively. Under this rule, my above proposals would also mean that Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Rainbow) and Michael Schenker (Scorpions, UFO) would be in the Hall twice.

I'm an entertainment writer IRL. It's *literally* my job to know these things.

Founding line-up: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss. Ace and Peter both fell pretty hard into substance abuse. Musician Anton Fig, who you might recall as being part of David Letterman's house band, actually ghosted for him on much of the "Dynasty" album because Peter's ability to perform had deteriorated that badly. Peter eventually quit after Gene and Paul made him re-audition, and he was replaced by Eric Carr. Carr adopted the "Fox" gimmick and costume. Ace eventually quit the group in frustration a few years later, a consequence of his substance abuse issues and the resulting clash of egos. Vinnie Vincent had been working with the band as a studio musician, so he was chosen to be Ace's replacement. He adopted the "Warlock" gimmick and costume. However, Vinnie's character didn't get over with fans, and with MTV already making their brand of stage theatrics redundant the decision was made to drop the make-up. Vinnie was fired after a single album due to murky behind-the-scenes matters that nobody is really all that keen on talking about but likely involved some sort of royalty disputes. He was replaced by Mark St. John, who only performed with the group for a single album before he had to seek treatment for a rare form of arthritis. Bruce Kulick came in to replace St. John. Eric Carr developed stomach cancer, and the band members ordered him to bed rest, not realizing that the cancer was already at such a state that Eric was *literally* living for the band; he wasn't long for the world after that, something Paul has expressed deep regrets about. Eric Singer, who had worked with some of the band members before on side projects, was called in. Vinnie came back for one album pleading severe financial distress, only to be fired a second time over the same murky issues. It would later be discovered that Vinnie owed another record label a large sum of money after he'd abused his corporate line of credit. Ace and Peter worked their way back into the group for a few years, only to be shown the door again due to a series of personal disputes and arguments over compensation. Eric Singer would come back as drummer, but both St. John and Kulick were busy with side projects. Thus, former Black & Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer, who had been working as Gene's assistant and who had been involved with famous KISS cover group Cold Gin was tapped to round out the roster. Eric Singer has actually been behind the drums longer than Peter Criss ever was, while Thayer is coming up on outlasting Ace Frehley.

*Chubby Checker* is still waiting to get in, yet acts like Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Tupac, and Biggie got in on their first years of eligibility. Meanwhile, many acts who do get in find out that only select members are being inducted, regardless of overall contribution. For example, KISS refused to attend the ceremony because only the founding four members were inducted, as they felt that every member of the group should be in the Hall; this is a pretty big deal, as Gene Simmons & Vinnie Vincent hate each other yet Gene essentially stood up for Vinnie in this regards. It'd probably take several years at this point for the Hall to get back on track regarding bands and non-performers who have long since earned their spot yet have been forced to wait.

Front man for pseudo-punk group Green Day. Green Day was popular in the late 1990s, and their song "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" was an anthem at high school graduations in the early 2000s despite it being a break-up song. However, the band belly-flopped into politics in the mid-2000s with their "American Idiot" album, which included the vomitous "Wake Me Up When September Ends", a song so bad that most old-school punk rock fans officially excommunicated them from the punk scene. Despite this, Green Day was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on their very first year of eligibility to a great many protests. The band hasn't been relevant to the scene in almost a decade, there are maybe five songs from their entire catalog that classic and active rock stations will still bother to play, and few fans of actual punk will admit to owning anything newer than their early 2000s releases.

In late 1988 / early 1989, Orion Pictures contacted Al about having his own theatrical release. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHF_(film) The film, a slapstick comedy known as "UHF", opened during the infamous Summer of 1989, alongside such movies as: Tim Burton's "Batman" "Lethal Weapon 2" "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" "Dead Poet's Society" "Robocop 2" "James Bond: License To Kill" Et cetra. Vanity projects like "UHF" and Hulk Hogan's "No Holds Barred" were absolutely crushed at the box office. Al's 1988 "Even Worse" album and his rendition of "Peter and the Wolf" had been massively popular, but the lukewarm reception to his first Greatest Hits album and now "UHF" being a flop cost him his forward momentum. He would take a few months to collect himself, and then began work on what would be his 1992 comeback album "Off The Deep End". The album was such a success that Al was under pressure from his label to quickly produce a follow-up. A greatest hits album and "The Food Album", both hastily-done compilations of existing songs, were shoved out the door so that Al could put together "Alapalooza": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alapalooza . The album was very obviously done in haste, much as 1986's "Polka Party" had been, and so it met with mixed reactions from critics and fans alike. The same financial pressures that led to his label throwing so much material out the door in the wake of "Off The Deep End" led to them throwing even more out the door between 1993 and 1996, including an anthology boxed set, a second official greatest hits album, and "The TV Album" compilation. This sheer amount of product, combined with the smash success of "Bad Hair Day", caused "Alapalooza" to be quickly forgotten.

A cover version of the song was gaining popularity around the time the first "Jurassic Park" movie was released, which is why he used it for the parody. It's the same reason why he used "American Pie" as the basis for a parody song about Star Wars Episode I, as a then-recent cover of the song had put it back in the spotlight, and with the song as long as it was he felt it the perfect fit.

I was politely asked to let a sister take over as teacher because she needed experience with public speaking; English wasn't her first language, and so she lacked confidence in talking to others. I stayed in the class anyway, helping out as needed to make things easier for her.

It may also happen that it is for someone else to harvest the seeds you plant. Likewise, even if you "only" plant a single seed, there's no telling how great a plant will arise.

Once upon a time I spent about 18 months teaching the Gospel Principles class. Officially, I was to go through the book on an endless cycle to ensure that everyone got the full load of lessons before moving into regular Sunday school. In reality, I'd start each Sunday by asking if anyone had any questions, and several times it so happened that *answering* that question took the entire scheduled block. Other times it'd happen that I'd have to spend 2 - 3 Sundays on the same lesson because there was *that* much for someone new to try and comprehend, and they needed the help understanding it.

Speaking as someone with an MBA? All too often, the higher a person goes into academia, the more divorced they become from the world *outside* of academia. This is because they frequently end up insulated from life beyond the Ivory Tower, associating only with other academics who often have similar opinions and lifestyles. If they spend too much time like this, they can actually develop a contempt for people who don't have their same level of academic credentials, and may even be so arrogant as to declare that people who aren't on their "level" shouldn't even have the right to speak to them about various topics and should merely sit & listen to their "betters". Such a mindset appears to be especially prevalent in the humanities and social sciences. To be brutally honest, two of the most willfully ignorant people I ever encountered were individuals who had doctoral degrees in their respective fields (social sciences and theology, respectively). They treated their doctorates as shields of invulnerability, and refused to listen to even credible, reputable sources when it came to information that contradicted their personal biases about how the world worked.

This past Sunday the YSA branch I help out at did a somewhat awkward bit on Samuel and Saul. Don't know if this is where we should have been as I am reading the scriptures on my own schedule (one chapter of each of the four main works a week), but there we are.

It depends upon each person's individual narrative. For example, the other day a political cartoonist did a cartoon talking about all of the instances of left-wing violence over the last few years. People were screaming and otherwise losing control because they'd either never heard of any incidents of left-wing violence or were in denial that such incidents had happened. As far as they were concerned, only right-wing groups were engaging in violence.

It happens every few years. As it is, most hurricanes form where the Equator and Prime Meridian meet, which is off the coast of Africa, so that should tell you how the winds blow and how hard they can be.

Okay. The film, in and of itself, is tolerable, and even has a few moments of legitimate humor and sympathy. However... The film opens with a statement proclaiming that the movie is the exact same film that Andy from "Toy Story" saw in 1995 that made him so excited to get a Buzz Lightyear figure for his birthday. This creates several problems with in-franchise continuity, including the film having a contradictory backstory for Zerg and having an LGBT romance when virtually no Hollywood studio would have included an LGBT romance in a "family" movie in the mid-1990s. The movie makes such a mess of things that it's easy to spend the run time trying to reconcile the movie with everything else "Toy Story", and so it's not something I can ultimately recommend. I foresee this film going straight down the memory hole as far as most "Toy Story" fans are concerned.

Going to see "Lightyear" this afternoon for review purposes. We'll see how that goes.

16 June. Heavy winds from Africa, but they're coming from over the Sahara instead of the usual spawning point for Atlantic hurricanes. As a result, the Gulf of Mexico is getting blanketed with Saharan sand, with my area being affected as well. It's been miserable for those of us with allergies, and we're hoping that a potential rain storm this week actually does form so that the sky will be washed clean.