Is Neal for real??

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/journey-valentines-day-resonate-video/

Stephen,

Neal Schon is unbelievably OBTUSE, isn't he?  It's Valentines' Day....his WIFE, the one he CHEATED ON with this reality show bimbo, is probably having a lot of broken hearted pain right now.  Why would he deliberately release a "sexy make out" video between himself and his new "flavor of the month" on a day that most women revere as special---based on trust, honesty and love???  Does he have ANY CLUE AT ALL that his actions continue to cause PAIN in the woman---oops, I mean WOMEN----he previously married???  Good LORD I really want to smack that man upside the head a few hundred times.

It's just flippin' COMMON GARDAMNED SENSE for CRIPES SAKE.  Doesn't he GET IT??

There has to be some kind of abusive history or bad relationship with his own mother or something in his past, and/or in his childhood....has he ever matured FROM childhood I wonder...there has to be SOME psychological reason that he is deliberately mean and nasty to those who are closest to him like that.  I mean, is he just an egomaniac who feels he doesn't "need" anyone?  Was he scarred as a boy by an abusive mother?  There just HAS to be some nugget of REASON why he behaves like this.

Ok, so as a performer in the music business, and former almost-brother of this man, Neal Schon, I am sure you'd probably say, "The production manager decrees the release dates of new songs..." or some such stuff.  And hey, you are probably right, there are other things I cannot see or even imagine behind the scenes that you know much more about than I would.  But if YOUR production manager told YOU that "Oh Sherrie" could only be released on the day the two of you broke up, would you OBJECT to that idea, or would you just say, "Ok, whatever you say dude?"  My gut says, you would object.  Let's just pretend I'm right about that, even if I'm not.  Humor me.

So, then it stands to reason that Neal might actually have had the chutzpah to say, "Hey man, that seems kinda harsh...let's wait a week or so...or let's do it a week BEFORE Valentines' Day...so I don't look like a total SCHMUCK to the whole world who knows I'm an adulterer, a liar, and a rotten husband."

If I ever, EVER, cross paths with Neal Schon again...I swear I'm going to beat his stupid ass.  Seriously. Now, I am NOT (I repeat) NOT a violent person---you should know that about me by now.  But, I am so damned ANGRY at him for this right now,  I wanna break all of his fingers.  Let's see him play a guitar after THAT!!  I'd do it for all women in the universe who have been cheated on, lied to, abused either emotionally, verbally or even physically, by loser-men who can't seem to lead their lives by anything else except their PENIS.

Well, I cannot bring myself to watch this video.  I'm sure the song itself is probably pretty good, and I am feeling mixed emotions about it.  I mean, on one hand, it's GREAT for Arnel and Ross....the only two members of the band who have YET to become public assholes for all the world to see.  Sure, they might be assholes in private, but KEEP IT THERE FELLAS, nobody wants to know it, because they deal with assholes every damned DAY at their jobs, in their families, on the highways, you name it.  The LAST PLACE anyone wants to find an asshole, is involved with the MUSIC that they love, and listen to in order to RELAX and FORGET ABOUT THE ASSHOLES IN THE WORLD for awhile.

Okay, Stephen, I know I'm a rather judgmental person sometimes....(Noooo, MOI?!).....but it just burns my ass.  And okay, sure, I've been with a few married men myself too, NOT PUBLICLY, but okay, I'm not an angel either.  I forgive Neal for being a stupid human.  Everybody is in THAT same boat at least, but SOME OF US have SCRUPLES, and LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES.

The guy is causing Journey to become the Titanic of classic rock bands.  It's sinking fast, because of his stupidity and egomania.  You may say, "Yep, that's KARMA baby..." and I would shake your hand and say, "Ya damned right it is."  But, at the same time, (with my chronic "save the world" syndrome plaguing me even now), I somehow want to reach out and grab Neal by the NADS, twist 'em real tight, and give him a lecture he'll never forget.

Perhaps, when the sexually transmitted disease finally rears its ugly head in his pants, (and you KNOW there's gotta be at least ONE lurking in the shadows), maybe THEN he'll learn that he should actually learn to respect women, and learn that he should stay faithful to a woman he marries, and that he should get OVER the ignorant "I'm a rock star" bullshit that he seems STUCK IN at the maturity level of 18.

....................personal note............when my dad was a total asshole to my mom, by cheating on her for many years, (they were married 24 years, he cheated on her for at least 22), and when I found out that he had a CHILD with the other woman, (during the divorce proceedings)---and that I have a HALF BROTHER that I've never known----I was furious to the point where I wanted to hire and pay a bunch of my college football buddies, big guys, to corner him in an alley somewhere, and beat him to within an inch of his life.  Not to kill him or anything, (because his sorry ass was not worth going to jail over), but to MAIM him to the point where he learns not to mess with me, my mom, or ANYONE in my family, ever again.  However, one of those big guy friends of mine, (who is still a friend and married one of my best friends later on), talked me out of it.  He's the one who told me all about KARMA.

I was 22 at the time.  I would never EVER do such a thing, to anyone, for any reason...now that I am older and more mature, and understand much better that Karma actually does work.  But, the anger I held on to for my own dad sometimes comes to the surface in situations such as these, with people I feel love for, or feel close to---and Journey is like my extended family sort of, ya know?  They've been in my life since I was 10 years old.  I feel like I KNOW each and every one of you guys, on some level, (though in reality I realize that I don't know any of you at all).  But if "Uncle Neal" doesn't stop acting like a total NIMROD, he's gonna lose not only his own family and friends, but his FANS too.

It's great for YOU, however....because this video, no matter HOW great the song is, will always be TAINTED by this whole mess.  It's gonna make YOU come out smelling like a massive huge ROSE.

Hey, I know you are not perfect, Stephen----and God knows I'm nowhere near it either-----but, I love you, and I love Neal, and I love Journey.  That's why I get so passionate about stuff like this.  I CARE ABOUT YOU GUYS, even if you ARE a bunch of jerks.  You might be the biggest asshole of them all, I have no clue, but to ME, you're an awesome person, a highly sensitive person, a classy person who cares about other people----to ME, you're someone I admire, trust, and believe in, and feel inspired by. It may all be smoke and mirrors, but I prefer not to know if it is.  I like my illusion of who you are, though I feel it may be more accurate than you might admit...you may have been a jerk in the past, we all have those moments....but NOW....well, you've grown...you've changed...you've strived for higher ground, you've re-invented yourself, you've shown respect, maturity, and INTEGRITY to the boys in the band even after they screwed you.  They claim YOU chose to leave, but the truth is, they FORCED you to quit, and we all know it.  You might have jumped off the nearest bridge if you didn't go away and "retire,"and we the fans, all know that too.

If you guys behave like bad boys, though---you will, like every other human being on the planet---learn that such behavior has very bad consequences.  Be an asshole in private if you must, we the fans will never know, and who cares what you do behind closed doors as long as the music is awesome?  But if you do the asshole dance in public, then I am sorry to say, part of the price of being famous is, you've RESIGNED YOURSELF to public scrutiny, and it WILL come.

Judgmental though I may be, I'm not without compassion.  I'm not without empathy.  I feel for Neal, I want to help him somehow, he's on such a self-destructive, negative path...maybe not with drugs like Whitney or Winehouse....but with women---fo' SHIZZLE.  Karma's clock is ticking, and Neal's days are numbered as "the rock star."  Somebody needs to remind him of that.

Maybe you, as his former brother, could do or say something that would help him??  I don't know that you would even CARE to, and I couldn't really say I'd blame you if you didn't.  But, it just kills me to think that he's literally throwing all credibility as a MAN into the toilet, just because he CAN, and comes out trying to be this "cool rock star," when in reality, it just makes him look like an immature BRAT who needs a good ass-whoopin'.

Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

I love you. Treat that woman of yours WELL, or I might just bite YOUR face off someday too.   But I only do it because I love you, and I want you ALL to be happy, and healthy, and WISER as humans.  I don't know how anyone can or would be able to get through that thick skull of Neal's, but somebody at least should give it a TRY, don't you think???

Somebody should at LEAST feel some compassion for his soon-to-be-ex-wife, for being snubbed, hurt, humiliated and embarrassed publicly, AGAIN, by the same man, on Valentines' Day.

If it's a bad thing to want you guys all to straighten up and fly right, then to hell with it, I'm guilty as charged.

So sue me.  I have no remorse.

Love, Rebecca