The Weather outside is frightening, it is
definitely one of those days best spent cuddled up on the couch with a
good book and a warm fire. Or, go skiing, or build a snowman with the
kids, or build some kids with the Mrs.. It’s kind of like a surprise
holiday,… with guilt! You were a fraidy-cat; not courageous enough to
drive the 24 kilometers to your Burlington office on the world’s
busiest highway. It’s only a foot of snow! Joe made it in!
Fight it!! Enjoy the day! You deserve it!
I’ve been thinking about retirement lately. I’m going to be 65 this year.
50
years of rock & roll is a long and winding road. But I’m sort of
like a light bulb; the music turns me on; I feel my most alive when I
am on the stage singing and playing my saxophone! Music is a beautiful
thing and I’m glad that I am a musician and not an NFL quarterback!
These and other gifted athletes are forced into early retirement, most,
before the age of 40, by their physical body. Great artists in their
own right, playing with passion and creativity! They can’t beat Father
Time. Where as, I, may continue to hone my craft as long as I continue
to desire to do so. The “desire to do so” is the important part. Many
people feel Picasso did his best work when he was in his 90’s so I
guess there’s still hope for me. I’m gonna keep on rockin’ till I get
it right!
I was recently asked by the folks at, buildering.net
(buildering is climbing or scaling tall urban structures such as The
CN Tower or The Eiffel Tower or London bridge), to recount an adventure
I had while on the road with King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar so I thought
I would reprint it for you here. Cheers Dell
Well,
it's kind of a long story but you say you would like to hear it........
I was playing in a band called "Crowbar" with King Biscuit Boy.... we
were playing at "Tipitinas" a rather infamous club in New Orleans. Some
folks bought me a drink at the end of the night (3 am). Turns out they
were shooting some swamp footage for a Cannon Film (Charles Bronson).
They were grips from L.A. and belonged to a somewhat secret group
called "Urban Assault" and they were going to scale the Mississippi
Bridge at dawn. They asked me to come along. I said “why don't I take a
cab to the top and I will play my sax as you come over the railing or
whatever". (thinking Hollywood video). There was a young, up and
coming, starlet with them. They said "if this little girl can do it so
can you". I was never one to turn down a dare (not to mention I was
3/4's drunk) so I agreed. We went back to their hotel room for some
refreshment and they changed their clothes. We headed to the
Mississippi River just as the sun was coming up. I had no idea what to
expect.
First we had to climb over a chain-link fence to get to the bridge property; this of course was all highly illegal.
I
was scared shitless at this point, but the Peruvian refreshments were
kicking in so I was ready for anything. There was a ladder going up
about 60 feet, surrounded by a steel cage. A heavy steel plate blocked
our way about 10 feet up, so we had to step out of the cage to get
around it. I was 3rd or 4th to go up and the fellow in front of me was
a big heavy man. He stepped on the steel plate and broke the lock that
was holding it. The 3 foot square swung down and hit me a glancing blow
to the head! This is a true story! I came back down the 3 or 4 rungs to
the ground and the others came down also. I was ok, bleeding a little,
but I like to bleed a little for Rock & Roll so we started back up.
60 feet up that ladder and on to a cat-walk heading towards the centre
of the bridge, up 3 or 4 flights of stairs and then another ladder,
more cat-walk, more ladder till we made it to the top. But we were
still on the New Orleans side of the bridge and had quite a long way to
go to get to the centre. Walking along on a steel-mesh walkway, open on
the sides, with little hand rails, looking a long ways down to the
river below, was very daunting! My mind was playing tricks on me and I
felt like I was being pulled hard to one side, like I should just throw
myself over!
We made it to the centre concrete support, had a
couple of "smokes", took some pictures and watched the various
watercrafts moving up and down the Great Mississippi River far below.
Then it was time to head back. I think it was even scarier going down!
They said they would send me some pictures but I never got any. This
was in 1987 so e-mail was not happening. I never saw them again.
Cheers
Sonny
sonnydelrio.com
