It is what?

July 30, 2020:

“It is what it is”. Every time I hear that phrase, I am reminded of the Todd Bertuzzi incident back in 2004 when he subsequently broke Steve Moore’s neck during a meaningless hockey game in retaliation for some overblown incident that occurred a few weeks earlier with his then teammate Marcus Näslund. When queried by reporters Todd Bertuzzi simply responded, “It is what it is”.

I only mention this because I’ve decided to get involved in a playoff hockey pool, and given the current Covid situation, I’m fairly certain anyone who has seen this year’s playoff setup would also agree that…well… “It is what it is”.

Of course, Mr. Bertuzzi wasn’t the first person to coin that phrase. In fact, the earliest reported reference dates back to 1949 when a columnist used those exact words to describe the State of Nebraska. Doesn’t say much for that sizable chunk of America, does it?

Overall though, that expression pretty well sums up the way this entire year is playing out. Everything from senior health to school graduations to unemployment and small business issues, as well as any close contact matters that crop up.

Online acting classes for example, are seriously lacking in the kind of personal interaction that is necessary to truly get to the root of a character’s impetus. Kind of sucks the fun right out of it actually. Music isn’t much different either. Sure, it’s a great opportunity to practice on one’s own and improve on certain weaknesses (which, in my case would be plentiful), but the problem (for me anyways) is that without a goal, a raison d’etre if you will, it’s difficult to stay motivated.

Someone once wrote a song (apparently, not Milli Vanilli) called “Blame it on the Rain”, but I’m blaming it on the sunshine instead (now that it has finally arrived), and of course, “The Fever” (which is clearly not a funny matter, but at some point we just have to grin and bear it. Don’t we?).

Speaking of which (grinning and bearing it that is), as a result of a gym injury last fall it has finally been decided (apprehensively on my part), that I will be requiring an operation on my left shoulder. The surgeon is recommending a sooner rather than later approach, and I expect that I will be out of commission for at least several weeks following this “Procedure”.

Reflecting on my post retirement aspirations and given of course all of these impediments (of which I am feeling a little melancholy about), I’m sensing it will definitely be a challenge to get back on track when and if I ever do heal up. Sounds like it might be a good time to work on my pilot script for that short rom/com Netflix series I’ve been thinking about (queue eye rolls here). Of course, I may be typing with only one hand so it’s probably going to be a while.

Getting back to the aforementioned hockey pool, the other day I was at my brother in law's place going through the player selection process for the draft and thought that it might be a great opportunity to get some input on the final version of the music video we're submitting for this country wide song contest (performed by Dan and I on the twelve string in a prior post). There are currently over fifteen hundred entries, so competition is precipitous. The crowd was a perfect mix of young and old, but alas, I have to acquiesce the response was a bit Meh.

I guess you could say, “It was what it was”.

Here is our entry. No Fixed Address performing Lies.

Until next time.