A few months ago I was asked by Sanofi US to help them make the public more aware of the dangers of a serious heart disease called atrial fibrillation, or AFib. AFib is a type of irregular heartbeat that causes your heart to race and beat out of rhythm. I was happy to do this since I’ve had this disease for the past 15 years.
When I get an episode of atrial fibrillation, it feels like my heart is skipping a beat and if I don’t treat it, it gets nuts! My heart starts to beat real fast. Man, I feel like I’ve got a flounder in my chest! Crazy!
Very scary. And very dangerous if you don’t work with your doctor to manage it.
Many people ignore the symptoms, but being out of rhythm with AFib can cause really serious problems like permanent heart damage.
I’m really honored to have been asked to make the more public aware of this serious heart disease.
You’ll be hearing about my involvement in this real soon, but I wanted you all to know that I am in great shape and for all of you not to worry about me. I work with my doctor to take care of my AFib and I lead an active life.
I want to make others more aware of AFib and the importance of getting back in rhythm.
Check out www.GetBackInRhythm.com to learn more about the campaign!
Love from my heart,
Barry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm giving this one an online Standing-O.
Sanofi - Aventis is a phramaceutical firm that I had the priviledge of working with "back in the day" when I was drawing a regular salary. They have invented a number of drugs, both OTC and prescription including anti-allergy, treatment of auto-immune disorders, long-acting insulins for both types of diabetes, chemotherapy, and, as Barry's note indicates, heart conditions including atrial fibrillation.
I see a lot of people in entertainment try to get involved in advocacy for a health cause because they experienced it themselves. One of the earliest posts on this blog 3 (!!!) years ago was about my first "Hollywood Party" held in Beverly Hills - a fundraiser for an advocacy group. There are two kinds of these groups: the completely grass-roots type by well-meaning individuals who have had their lives changed but don't have a whole lot of knowledge on their subject and tend to go off the rails once in a while; and the individuals who want to organize, but at the same time know what they don't know and surround themselves with advisors who are true experts. Barry seems to be leaning toward the latter: Sanofi is a legitimate expert on the subject of AF and the information they produce is going to be solid enough to stake your life on.
Way to go, Barry! Good choices and commitments all around on this one!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
We Live On Borrowed Time
Sorry I haven't posted in so long, folks. I haven't gone anywhere. School starts in early August here and work picked up. (Which means I can pay bills and tuition.)
Barry, I just heard.
I am so sorry.
You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.
YBA
Barry, I just heard.
I am so sorry.
You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.
YBA
Monday, August 1, 2011
Barry Song Journal on YouTube #2
Great to see another episode, gang!
So how about bringing back Episode 1? There was nothing wrong with that, 'K?
(And no, it is NOT "almost rap". Hush. Now. Really.)
So how about bringing back Episode 1? There was nothing wrong with that, 'K?
(And no, it is NOT "almost rap". Hush. Now. Really.)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Winner Go Down - Amy Winehouse Dead at 27
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/stopthepresses/392228/police-singer-amy-winehouse-dies-at-age-27/
This is going to strike a chord with anyone even remotely familiar with Barry's record. Winehouse was mentioned briefly in "Winner Go Down". Although I don't think anyone "loved" to see this news. On the contrary, I think everyone familiar with her was rooting for her to have a positive, happy ending, just like "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". It would have been a welcome change from watching one tragedy after another in the entertainment news.
From the article above:
comic book graphic novel. Doesn't matter who the star is.
Now this is a departure. But it still sounds familiar. Right, Barry?
I think Barry and Enoch are wrong in "Winner Go Down". "They" (however you define it) don't "love to see" this. It's horrible to watch. Even for the seeming vultures in the media reporting the info because deep down they know, if not for the Grace of God (or whatever deity you acknowledge) it can happen to anyone.
Rest in peace, Amy.
This is going to strike a chord with anyone even remotely familiar with Barry's record. Winehouse was mentioned briefly in "Winner Go Down". Although I don't think anyone "loved" to see this news. On the contrary, I think everyone familiar with her was rooting for her to have a positive, happy ending, just like "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". It would have been a welcome change from watching one tragedy after another in the entertainment news.
From the article above:
Winehouse shot to fame in 2006 with the album "Back to Black," whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It won five Grammys and made Winehouse - with her black beehive hairdoand old-fashioned sailor tattoos - one of music's most recognizable stars. But her personal life, with its drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and destructive relationships, soon took over her career..I've heard the story a million times but I'm always still amazed when the "fame" story always follows the same plot, block by block, just like a macabre
Last month, Winehouse canceled her European comeback tour after she swayed and slurred her way through barely recognizable songs in her first show in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Booed and jeered off stage, she flew home and her management said she would take time off to recover.Even Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew would have been a better outcome. At least those souls have a chance.
"I didn't go out looking to be famous," Winehouse told the Associated Press when "Back to Black" was released. "I'm just a musician.".
Now this is a departure. But it still sounds familiar. Right, Barry?
But in the end, the music was overshadowed by fame, and by Winehouse's demons. Tabloids lapped up the erratic stage appearances, drunken fights, stints in hospital and rehab clinics. Performances became shambling, stumbling train wrecks, watched around the world on the Internet.The "Trainwreck" mention is too obvious.
She acknowledged struggling with eating disorders and told a newspaper that she had been diagnosed as manic depressive but refused to take medication.That explains almost everything. From what I understand from people in the field, the sense of "ten feet tall an bulletproof" - the feeling that you dont' need your medication anymore when you reach a high point, is actually a symptom of the disease. Ironic - and deadly - as hell.
I think Barry and Enoch are wrong in "Winner Go Down". "They" (however you define it) don't "love to see" this. It's horrible to watch. Even for the seeming vultures in the media reporting the info because deep down they know, if not for the Grace of God (or whatever deity you acknowledge) it can happen to anyone.
Rest in peace, Amy.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
15 Minutes: The Girl Wearing Yellow Down Front
"Letter From a Fan". The one song (almost) no one is talking about.
The one song about the one aspect of fame that we in the peanut gallery have something to say about because... it's us.
There are all kinds of ways a fan can react to this song. So far I've seen classic denial ("That's not me") relief ("Thank God that's not me"), and judgement ("I know people like that")
I think the reason we're not talking about it is because it puts us on the defensive. Enoch and Barry are acting out what they see when they look at us. The defensiveness comes in when (a) we don't like what we see in that portrayal, or (b) we know that what they seem to see is not what we intend, and we had no idea that's how we're coming across, or (c) we know in the bottom of our gut that the portrayal doesn't apply to us personally.
Everyone who heard "Letter From A Fan" first describes it as "creepy". It's not the words that make it creepy, it's Nataly Dawn's performance. First thing I thought of was the lullaby-like theme from Poltergeist. Hence why I wanted to sleep with the lights on - and the closet door open.
This song raised more questions than answers for me.
"Is this really what they (they = Barry, TPTB, any successful musician on a stage) see in their fan base?"
"Is this what they see/hear when they read a fan letter?"
"Do they think we're all obsessed?"
"Can they tell the difference between someone who is innocently venting, versus someone dealing with issues, versus, a serious, true threat?"
"Do we really sound like this, or is it a result of the pressure described in 'So Heavy, So High'?"
Let's take a look, phrase by phrase.
remember I sent you a picture
I know all the names in your band
I was the girl wearing yellow down front
I was the first one to stand
OK - is there a problem here? None that I can see, but I'm not the dude on stage. She's describing what stood out to her at the show, what she thinks will stand out to him. Lots of naivete - maybe. Sometimes dude on stage notices these things, so I've heard from a few of them.
it's silly to think you'd remember
it's silly pretending you'd care
but I want you to know I was there last night
I was there.....
Again, where's the problem? So far we've just got stream-of-consciousness naive fan going on. Even she can see she's being naive. But something in the music and performance created a similar creative response and the need to express it.
sometimes I think we're connected
Yeah, this is naivete too. But if you break it down, music *does* form a type of connection by inspiring an emotional response. So technically, it's accurate. But I doubt if our Chickieboo is looking at it that way.
I dreamed we were talking last night
Again, people dream of weird shit all the time. Pete dreamed of talking to Richard Attenborough's character from Jurassic Park once. That's how the brain works.
day to day stress just undoes me sometimes
but listening to you makes it right
Show me ONE fan who hasn't used their favorite music/musician as a stress relief.
[crickets]
I'm positive someday you'll see me
and love me just like it was planned
I feel all the sorrow you're trying to hide
you'll realize I understand
oh how I understand
Yeah, naivete again. I can think of some artists who chafe at this. Or blow it off. Again, we see that the music has created an emotional response, which means it was successful. But what does it mean for the artist? You can't tell if it's a kid being naive, or if it's someone who's going to steal rocks from your driveway. Or just write real-person fiction of the pornographic persuasion on your fan network. Maybe if you ignore it, it will go away?
So far, we're not hearing anything totally bizarre, word-wise. But something about the presentation, the tone, the inflection, you can't put your finger on it but the girl is just..... off.
Fascinating how the songs are almost mashed up. The fan POV is juxtaposed with the star's in "So Heavy, So High". He's in hell, just doesn't want to admint it yet.
another room
where the lights are too bright
I seem to remember stories about someone having tin foil in the hotel windows to make it dark enough to sleep during a hectic schedule. Very effective for keeping the room dark. Also effective for telling God and everyone what hotel and room you're in!!!
there's too many touching me
keep 'em away
Our boy is having a rough day. Even something innocent from a fan feels like a cheese grater. But the fan doesn't realize this, so they don't know to not take it personally if the star doesn't want to deal. Hence the final verse coming up.
just turn off the pager
I tell ya the well has run dry
too tired to sleep
too wired to try
And this is why I said in an earlier post that the employees aren't the slaves, the star is. He's "property". The "asset". The "talent". His protests are so much hot air to the real owners looking to make money from our Girl Wearing Yellow.
I've wondered from time to time, why would ANYONE want to work in this field as an artist? It's indentured servitude on a good day. For example the thousands of people auditioning for American Idol may as well wear "For Sale" signs and price tags. And if they think for a minute that Coke, and AT&T and Ford, as well as 19 Entertainment aren't going to claim a stake in their ass, they've got another surprise waiting.
The rest of "So Heavy, So High" expresses the same idea over and over in different words until the last verse of it:
hey I feel the moon breathin'
I hear electricity
I know the size of the sky
He's not feeling great here. I see someone suffering from galaxy-class sensory overload. He'd avoid this like the plague if his bargain allowed for it. He never banked on this being a success side-effect.
And our little Yellow fan doesn't know what to make of our star's behaviour
you never waved back at the airport
I covered your poster in mud
I cut out the eyes on the photo you signed
I wrote you a poem in blood....
Before anyone says, "OH, that's totally crazy, No one I know would do that", I would redirect you to a BMIFC convention in the early 1980s. I believe it was 1984 in Washington DC. (Someone please post a correction in the comments if I have that wrong.)
Barry was supposed to appear in person, but didn't. (I understand he was a day late.) The best word I can use to reflect the first-hand descriptions I heard was "postal". Posters defaced, fans packing and leaving early, cursing every step of the way. A series of angry confrontations with one Mr. Garry C Kief who probably wanted to be anywhere on the planet except that location.
Were all of these people certifiably insane? Or were they just venting? I'll bet my next paycheck that answer is in the eyes of the beholder.
There are so many different fans out there - some I've met, some I've been, some I've only heard about - that it is hard for the song to make sense. Everyone knows someone who has expressed the same emotions here at different times or places, but not all at once.
Here's how to make it make sense: everything for our star is running together. He can't differentiate many things from each other. Why should the fans be different? It's just more continuous noise. So imagine, if you will, that each line or phrase, or repetition (I was there... I was there... I was there) is not one fan, but a different one. All of these different people, personified by someone whose reality is blurring, as one not-quite-on-the-rails person.
This way in spite of the differences in style and POV, it comes together as one song, one perspective.
OK, back to #Manilow chat on #Twitter!
The one song about the one aspect of fame that we in the peanut gallery have something to say about because... it's us.
There are all kinds of ways a fan can react to this song. So far I've seen classic denial ("That's not me") relief ("Thank God that's not me"), and judgement ("I know people like that")
I think the reason we're not talking about it is because it puts us on the defensive. Enoch and Barry are acting out what they see when they look at us. The defensiveness comes in when (a) we don't like what we see in that portrayal, or (b) we know that what they seem to see is not what we intend, and we had no idea that's how we're coming across, or (c) we know in the bottom of our gut that the portrayal doesn't apply to us personally.
Everyone who heard "Letter From A Fan" first describes it as "creepy". It's not the words that make it creepy, it's Nataly Dawn's performance. First thing I thought of was the lullaby-like theme from Poltergeist. Hence why I wanted to sleep with the lights on - and the closet door open.
This song raised more questions than answers for me.
"Is this really what they (they = Barry, TPTB, any successful musician on a stage) see in their fan base?"
"Is this what they see/hear when they read a fan letter?"
"Do they think we're all obsessed?"
"Can they tell the difference between someone who is innocently venting, versus someone dealing with issues, versus, a serious, true threat?"
"Do we really sound like this, or is it a result of the pressure described in 'So Heavy, So High'?"
Let's take a look, phrase by phrase.
remember I sent you a picture
I know all the names in your band
I was the girl wearing yellow down front
I was the first one to stand
OK - is there a problem here? None that I can see, but I'm not the dude on stage. She's describing what stood out to her at the show, what she thinks will stand out to him. Lots of naivete - maybe. Sometimes dude on stage notices these things, so I've heard from a few of them.
it's silly to think you'd remember
it's silly pretending you'd care
but I want you to know I was there last night
I was there.....
Again, where's the problem? So far we've just got stream-of-consciousness naive fan going on. Even she can see she's being naive. But something in the music and performance created a similar creative response and the need to express it.
sometimes I think we're connected
Yeah, this is naivete too. But if you break it down, music *does* form a type of connection by inspiring an emotional response. So technically, it's accurate. But I doubt if our Chickieboo is looking at it that way.
I dreamed we were talking last night
Again, people dream of weird shit all the time. Pete dreamed of talking to Richard Attenborough's character from Jurassic Park once. That's how the brain works.
day to day stress just undoes me sometimes
but listening to you makes it right
Show me ONE fan who hasn't used their favorite music/musician as a stress relief.
[crickets]
I'm positive someday you'll see me
and love me just like it was planned
I feel all the sorrow you're trying to hide
you'll realize I understand
oh how I understand
Yeah, naivete again. I can think of some artists who chafe at this. Or blow it off. Again, we see that the music has created an emotional response, which means it was successful. But what does it mean for the artist? You can't tell if it's a kid being naive, or if it's someone who's going to steal rocks from your driveway. Or just write real-person fiction of the pornographic persuasion on your fan network. Maybe if you ignore it, it will go away?
So far, we're not hearing anything totally bizarre, word-wise. But something about the presentation, the tone, the inflection, you can't put your finger on it but the girl is just..... off.
Fascinating how the songs are almost mashed up. The fan POV is juxtaposed with the star's in "So Heavy, So High". He's in hell, just doesn't want to admint it yet.
another room
where the lights are too bright
I seem to remember stories about someone having tin foil in the hotel windows to make it dark enough to sleep during a hectic schedule. Very effective for keeping the room dark. Also effective for telling God and everyone what hotel and room you're in!!!
there's too many touching me
keep 'em away
Our boy is having a rough day. Even something innocent from a fan feels like a cheese grater. But the fan doesn't realize this, so they don't know to not take it personally if the star doesn't want to deal. Hence the final verse coming up.
just turn off the pager
I tell ya the well has run dry
too tired to sleep
too wired to try
And this is why I said in an earlier post that the employees aren't the slaves, the star is. He's "property". The "asset". The "talent". His protests are so much hot air to the real owners looking to make money from our Girl Wearing Yellow.
I've wondered from time to time, why would ANYONE want to work in this field as an artist? It's indentured servitude on a good day. For example the thousands of people auditioning for American Idol may as well wear "For Sale" signs and price tags. And if they think for a minute that Coke, and AT&T and Ford, as well as 19 Entertainment aren't going to claim a stake in their ass, they've got another surprise waiting.
The rest of "So Heavy, So High" expresses the same idea over and over in different words until the last verse of it:
hey I feel the moon breathin'
I hear electricity
I know the size of the sky
He's not feeling great here. I see someone suffering from galaxy-class sensory overload. He'd avoid this like the plague if his bargain allowed for it. He never banked on this being a success side-effect.
And our little Yellow fan doesn't know what to make of our star's behaviour
you never waved back at the airport
I covered your poster in mud
I cut out the eyes on the photo you signed
I wrote you a poem in blood....
Before anyone says, "OH, that's totally crazy, No one I know would do that", I would redirect you to a BMIFC convention in the early 1980s. I believe it was 1984 in Washington DC. (Someone please post a correction in the comments if I have that wrong.)
Barry was supposed to appear in person, but didn't. (I understand he was a day late.) The best word I can use to reflect the first-hand descriptions I heard was "postal". Posters defaced, fans packing and leaving early, cursing every step of the way. A series of angry confrontations with one Mr. Garry C Kief who probably wanted to be anywhere on the planet except that location.
Were all of these people certifiably insane? Or were they just venting? I'll bet my next paycheck that answer is in the eyes of the beholder.
There are so many different fans out there - some I've met, some I've been, some I've only heard about - that it is hard for the song to make sense. Everyone knows someone who has expressed the same emotions here at different times or places, but not all at once.
Here's how to make it make sense: everything for our star is running together. He can't differentiate many things from each other. Why should the fans be different? It's just more continuous noise. So imagine, if you will, that each line or phrase, or repetition (I was there... I was there... I was there) is not one fan, but a different one. All of these different people, personified by someone whose reality is blurring, as one not-quite-on-the-rails person.
This way in spite of the differences in style and POV, it comes together as one song, one perspective.
OK, back to #Manilow chat on #Twitter!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)