BAD HABITS

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One of the toughest things for the Rhino to let go of is bad habits. They provide there own pleasure that creates its only rationalization for continuing.


Quitting smoking was a matter of money. I was up to a pack and half a day. When I got out of bed, cigarette. Every 20 minutes the urge for a cigarette was calling. Sometimes I might think, "you need to quit it makes you feel weak and you spend a good chunk of money on the habit. Finally after much resolve one morning I handed my last four cigarettes to my roommate and went cold turkey. While the physical craving left in about two days the psychological need was with me for a couple of weeks. For about two years there was a realization of the habit and its social pattern. After two years I stopped dreaming about smoking and now do not even see it as part of my life.


Recently beer has become this type of annoying habit. My average consumption is two or three a night. This is not a large amount but it has a cost and often can de-motivate and make the Rhino lazy. One of the hardest parts of stopping beer drinking is out in the clubs. When you go to a show or play music the expectation is that you are in a club to drink liquor. It feels unusual to me to order a coke or other soft drink.


Some people I know in the music profession have difficulty controlling the urge to drink. Alcohol is easily available to musicians and is a part of the environment they work in. Boredom, stage fright, and being social, can encourage the Rhino to drink. The problem seems to be when it is done repetitively. Soon, like smoking, drinking is part of the person and is a habit.


Like smoking, the Rhino has worked to cut back or quit drinking and has created kind of a stop- start behavior. The goal is to break the habit. Weather abstinence or cutting back, the Rhino is a much more productive animal when he does not drink beer on a regular basis. How bout you?

GETTING WHAT YOU WANT

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GETTING WHAT YOU WANT
How important is it to you to get what you want? It seems whoever you talk to they want something. This a familiar story to all. Some want money, some want fame, some want to be loved, and some want to win the game. The question is how important is it to realize your wants.

When you get out of bed in the morning what is the first thought. (Besides having to go to the bathroom) Are you thinking about how wonderful it is to participate in another day on earth or is there something missing that you think about and plot how to get. If you are not spending the day trying to fulfill that special want do you feel annoyed?

I find that wants become a distraction from thing that are in fact rewarding that present themselves throughout the day. When Steve Covey talks about planning for the week I find it a problem to give in to the important moment with enthusiasm. My wants become a bunched up sock on my three mile run. If a stop to take off my shoe to straighten the sock I lose the intensity of the work out. If I leave the sock bunched up the run becomes a painful and often less than fulfilling exercise.

What would life be like without wants? What if our main focus was our wants? Is there a balance between wants and other things that present themselves? Eckart Tolle, author of "The Power of Now" talks about being in the moment and that is enough. For me that is easy to say and still hard to do. How about you?

OUT IN PUBLIC

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Musicians, when you are out playing in public it takes being aware. There are many variables going on at the same time. If you go out to play open mikes you add to the list. If you go with your eyes straight ahead you will miss everything that makes an open mike a success.

The Club Owner Or Manager

This person may be a music fan or just someone who likes running a club where folks can gather. Either way you can be sure they are betting on the open mike bringing in musicians and there friends to buy food and drink and maybe come back to the club on non open mike nights.

Host

Could be just a sound man, a solo artist or band that (may or may not provide equipment.) The Host determines who plays when and makes sure the performer is heard properly. This person is usually picked by the owner or manager. The host often mentions good acts to open on other nights.

Club Staff

People who work in the club (bartenders, wait persons, buss help, kitchen etc) are the folks who make the club work. They are there on the open mike night but they get the job done on the other nights. Often club staff who enjoy open mikes are great cheerleaders to keep them going during the slow months in the summer. Great resource for how decisions are made.

Suppliers

People who supply food, booze, maintenance and other product delivery products to the bar. They make great sponsors. They are in the bar business.

Patrons

People who come to the club on open mike can be usually divided into two groups, those who came to hear the music and those who came to enjoy other aspects of the bar. Musicians always compete on open mike night with sports, darts, pool, poker, karaoke, etc. Weather they are happening right then or could be happening is something the club looks at when it decides whether to continue open mikes or not. Always being good to those who show at the bar for the music or otherwise creates a good vibe for the open mike. Of course encouraging friends and fans to go to the open mike and showing up on nights when you don't play makes sense.

Open mikes give musicians a chance to hone their skills on stage and off. They are a precious resource to a music community and should be nurtured by all who make up that group.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD THE ANSWER

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APPEARANCES

The Rhino will give you the answer to the credit card fraud he was subjected to (see blog entry below) but first a appearance update. If you live in the Denver metro area you will be able to see the Rhino this month. Just go to www.bighornmusic.com and push the appearance button. The first appearance will be on the Rhino’s birthday September 9 Sunday at 7pm:

Ironworks
12354 W Alameda Parkway
Lakewood, CO
303-985-5818


This will be the last open mike for the Ironworks so stop out and enjoy the many artists Warren Floyd, moderator has cultivated at the club. Can’t make it check my appearance button in a day or two I want to be sure the open mikes I play are still a go. The nice thing about open mikes is there is always time to talk and get to know each other. So, if I have met you before or you came to a show PLEASE reintroduce your self.


CREDIT CARD FRAUD

Here is an answer from the company that was misrepresented in the phishing scam that hit the Rhinos card. When they say 10’s of thousands were hit it sounds like a computer program. Banks have lured Americans into debit and credit cards. This is there problem and I would suggest their laibility. They should be responsible to replace cards and notify card member accounts in 48 hours.


If we can ever get the FBI to stop chasing terrorist, (The 21 century federal government excuse for ineffectiveness) They might make computer fraud a high priority. Here is the e-mail I received:


It appears that someone is using our donation number to fish for valid credit card numbers.
We have an online credit card donation site that we provide a link to from October to early January to receive donations from people that are eligible for the Arizona tax credit for donations to schools. (Most people make tax donations just before year-end, which explains the
timing.)

Since January, we removed the link from our school web site. On Aug. 14th, we received a $1.00 rejected donation, with no other activity from April until Sunday. It appears that tens of thousands of $1.00 transactions have been attempted, beginning yesterday. We canceled the donation account this morning as soon as we identified what was happening.


We have also gotten a half dozen calls from across the country from people who received a $1.00 charge with our name on it this morning. We are telling everyone who calls with a similar situation to cancel their card immediately.


That's about all that we know about at this time. I'll let you know if I find out anything more. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.