So…

my Blog posting has certainly realized itself a rare effort, lame and uninspired of late.

my only excuse has been the holidays and coaching an indoor and a Select Field Lacrosse team.

but, I did find the time to revisit a book that reminded me how much I have always favored alternative music, especially that from the ’80′s and early 90′s. in particular, I’ll have to mention and lift-up The Smiths. and, one of the best chronicles of their significant contribution was, and remains, Johnny Rogan’s Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance.

that was a powerful, charismatic, dynamic and  creative team. likely on-par with Lennon and Mccarthy (Beatles). and, their crushing falling-out was equally telling within the history of musical collaboration.

to wit…

Rogan has offered us an account of the rise and inevitably agonizing fall of English indie phenom The Smiths that is a must-read for any music fan that understands how this band forever changed the music industry by pioneering the alternative recording scene. the book dives deep offering us insight within the steady development of the bands brilliant four albums. you’ll also have an accurate insight into the lives and thinking that drove an unprecedented string of hit singles.

NOTE: what is a bit unusual is this is a partial rewrite of the original book. the first effort famously drove Morrissey, himself, to publicly state that he wished Rogan would “…perish in a car crash”.

charming. but, so Morrissey.

a must read. do it!

meanwhile, enjoy How Soon Is Now by, by (the very same) The Smiths. the tune was recoded in 1984, the year I graduated from University, and released in 1985, the year I stormed Southern California. originally released as a B-side single to William, It Was Really Nothing, it soon after found a home on the Smiths album, Hatful of Hollow. more recently it’s showed-up on the refreshed the eponymously named album, The Sound of the Smiths. I tell you all of this because I suspect you should be wondering.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

I’m having an admittedly tough day.

some of it has to do with the recent cyber-bullying Haley Anne recently endured (that’s the right word, endured). I had to question my prowess as a Dad to even let that sort of thing happen in her life. I still remember her, at three years old, stomping in a rain puddle, and exclaiming, “Daddy! That’s My Daddy! Hi Daddy!”, waiting outside the garage for me to pull-in, and home from work. She’s banned from Facebook and Twitter, and we’ve taken steps to block the evil from reaching her via iPhone.

and, of course, I’m taking heat from my Lacrosse Club for being over-the-top. but, I’ve formed a covenant with my players; I always do. and, they trust me. my job is to make them better, and then, great Lacrosse players. The Board of Directors can’t keep up with me. but, where is my responsibility? my heart is on my sleeve, all the time, and it’s taking a beating.

Joanne is displeased with me. all I want to do is make my girls happy. it doesn’t always work, so not often enough. so, I act like a Rhodesian Ridgeback. that’s an overly sensitive lot that has an unusually keen sense of fairness.

I had a young entrepreneur practically in tears this morning because he could not articulate a valid Return on Investment (ROI) for his business idea. it was so hard to show him the truth. big dreams break hard and painfully so. I see more of my own daughters in everyone every day and pray someone like me will be there ego guide them, in turn.

but, it’s me that happens to be the common denominator. I acknowledge that. my struggles are hardly Biblical. but, certainly the stuff of a parable, or two, eh.

it’s always the Kobayashi Maru. but, I do find a measure of solace in understanding that character and faith (including in myself) are best when tested.

just give me time, everyone. I promise to pull it all together, for good effect.

today I’m listening to Fall At Your Feet, by Crowded House.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

so…

I’ve been on a covert mission, that won’t be so secret later today.

the Feds are going after Bank of America, and that is for good cause.

with that effort more behind me, and less before me, I’ll be on the boat most of the weekend other than Lacrosse practice Sunday.

more about that later. but, I am having a blast with my Young Lions Pride.

meanwhile, I’ll trust all of you to have a great Labor Day weekend. Although we must rue the end of seersucker for the year, I’ll leave you with this low-technology visual tip (great opportunity realizes itself in the oddest forms).

we have a lot to celebrate. do it!

Model Especial for me.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

Husky throated Patricia Neal took her last breath on Martha’s Vineyard.

But, long before she did that she managed to live life akin to a Greek tragedy. This included a series of strokes beginning at age thirty nine and the loss of a seven year old daughter to measles. However, she also inspired many with her courage and keen sense of community.

But, she also had the female lead, opposite Gary Cooper, in the 1949 film version of Ayn Rand’s novel “The Fountainhead,” and was the original Mother on the Waltons.

As many readers of this blog are well aware, Ayn Rand shaped my early life both in business and outside of it. And, I spent many an hour between college classes at Radford University and varsity sports watching The Waltons. So, that help reinforce some of my views as well. In fact, many of my fellows within the Prudent Society of Optimistic Gentlemen share that same foundation.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork