Been sick.....but we watched the Arnel Pineda movie....

Howdy Bubba,

How's it hangin'?!  Well, I haven't written in a few days because I have been sick.  I think it must have been a 24 hour bug or something, but add the visit from "Aunt Flow," (if you catch my drift), and I pretty much slept all through Sunday and most of Monday.  I did have a doctor's appointment on Monday and told her that I wasn't feeling well, and that I had just met a friend's kids on Saturday who weren't feeling well.  So, apparently I must have caught whatever it was from those germ-riddled kids.

Luckily it was mild.  I felt mostly run down and tired out.  It didn't help matters that I was outside most of the day Saturday working on mowing the lawn and weeding, and then using the blower on our driveway.  Doctor said I probably overdid it, and got dehydrated a bit.  My allergies were NOT happy with me either.  So, all of those things combined just kicked me down.

I feel better today, but when I was at the doctor's, I had a fever of 99.5 degrees.  Not terrible, but enough to make me feel like crap.  Happy to report that "Aunt Flow" has gone away, my allergies have calmed down, and I no longer feel like I've been hit by a bus.  Yay.  Now I can get busy with life.

This coming weekend I'm heading to Michigan for a short weekend visit with my mom.  We'll stay at my sister's house (my mom gets a room, I get the couch).  We're leaving Friday around noon or so, and will be back Monday afternoon.  I don't know if I will have a chance to write to ya while I'm there, but Pete and I are leaving Tuesday for New Jersey---and we may go to New York City too---for the next week.  We're going to TES Fest.  It should be interesting.  Kink events always are!!

He mentioned maybe going to NYC to see a Broadway show, but it depends on the holiday traffic, and what's playing, and if we'll have time.  Pete loves to cram as much into a 24 hour day as he possibly can, and sometimes he gets annoyed when I say I need some down time to process everything in my brain.  He overwhelms me a lot with his "go go go" lifestyle.  I need to CHILL CHILL CHILL sometimes.  Otherwise I feel like a zombie going through the motions, and I don't enjoy the moment.

So it will be a busy couple of weeks for me, but I do hope you've got some July 4th plans with your friends or family---a nice cookout or something----some fireworks, some happy fun juice, and some good food.  That is what I wish for you.

Last night, Pete and I finally sat down to watch "Don't Stop Believin', One Man's Journey."  It's all about Arnel Pineda.  I'm not sure if you've seen it, but they did mention you...briefly.  Neal said, "He had some pretty big shoes to fill..." (referring to Arnel taking your place), and that was the ONLY thing he said about you.  Arnel, however, said to a fan who mentioned you, "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Steve Perry, and I am a huge fan of his too!"  I thought that was really nice.

But frankly, the film was rather MEH.  I mean, they could have easily made it a 60 minute thing, rather than 105 minutes...it lagged and got boring from the middle onward.  The editing was crappy too.  They had the discovery of Arnel, the unbelievable transformation of his coming to the states for his audition, etc., and then later on, they flashed back to his life BEFORE the audition.  Then they went forward again to a tour, another album, being sick a lot (poor kid), and then they went back AGAIN to his past, to talk about his alcoholism and drug usage before he became the lead singer of Journey.  Rather annoying to try and follow it as a story, the flow was really messed up.  A story is always told better when it is chronological, especially when it's a biography.

But I tell ya, that's the MOST I have EVER heard Ross Valory speak.  Seriously.  He was Mr. Chatter box, the whole time!  I found it rather revealing that he shook his head and waved his arms while telling about how much of a drag it was to fight over money and power when you're in a band.

The last word spoken in the video (as Neal of COURSE had the final solo all by himself...some celebration of Arnel there huh?), was "Goddammit," by Deen Castronovo, who swore through the whole thing like an idiot.  Not really very impressed with that guy at all.  I mean, sure I swear too, don't we all.  But come on, it's a documentary/biography in honor of Arnel.  Can't ya just be a little more decent for an hour or so?  Would it have killed him to talk like a normal person?

And why the hell did Neal feel the need for a guitar solo at the end of something that was about somebody ELSE?!  Sure, okay, he is the one who used the YouTube to find Arnel, we get it, but IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU NEAL!!!  Grrrrr....he really gets on my nerves.  At one point in the film he says something about how he felt bad for all the poor people in the Philippines, while at that very moment he posted on Facebook how he is still going after his ex-mother-in-law for $75K---knowing full well she's on a fixed income and doesn't HAVE $75K.  What a putz.

And if he felt so "badly" for the poor people, why then is ARNEL the one who started a foundation to help homeless kids in the Philippines get food and education and health care?!  Where is Neal's foundation to help the poor?!  He's so full of shit he stinks.

Oh!! And they even had John Toomey in the film....the bonehead who got all in my face once, yelling at me, about trying to bring a camera in to a concert, when it had already been approved by the PR company.  Well ain't that a hoot, Mr. Toomey, that everybody has a CELL PHONE CAMERA and can take VIDEO with them now, and there's not a THING you can do about it?!! hehehehe  I love having the last laugh.  What a douche bag.  It stated that he was road tour manager until 2010, so he's long gone, and for that I say, "Haleluyah."  Both he and Allen Craft can go bite some rocks now.

Anyway, so the film about Arnel would be rated as a 6 on a scale of 1-10, in my opinion.  It's a great story, no doubt about that.  The part that concentrated on him, and his emotional roller coaster ride, and the snippets of him singing---were really done well. The rest of it, not so much.  Did they really have to focus so much on him being sick all the time?  I don't think that was very accurate.  Jonathan helping him with his voice, though, was nice to see, and he had a voice coach hired for him too.  Neal didn't bother to do that at all.  He really didn't do much of anything for Arnel other than bring him here.

They also (interestingly) completely glossed over---skipped----the entire thing about you leaving the band though. Nobody mentioned anything about WHY or what happened exactly, Neal just said that Trial By Fire was "the tour that never happened."  It didn't happen because HE WOULDN'T GIVE YOU MORE TIME TO HEAL FROM YOUR HIP ACCIDENT before going on tour.  Dickweed.

Man, I really wish that it HAD happened, with you.  I really really love that album.  Think I'm gonna go listen to it now, actually.  Haven't heard it in awhile.

Okay, well, I gotta scoot.  Need to get some laundry done, so that I can pack some clothes for the weekend ahead, AND for the next weekend....since I only get one day of turnaround before being on the road to New Jersey.  So if you're anywhere near Michigan, New York City or the upper part of New Jersey, give me a call, we'll go out and see some stuff and just hang.  You've got my number.  Don't be a chicken shit, bubba, you know I won't bite---unless you ask me to nicely! WINK!!

Love you.  Have a great Fourth of July weekend...

---Rebecca