The Sunshine Man Diary — week of January 14, 2024
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Started reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. My edition is 70 pages.
I’m on page 19. Intriguing. A local ne’er-do-well named Mr. Hyde was running maniacally down a London street as a young girl was running in the opposite direction to fetch a doctor. They ran into each other at a corner and Mr. Hyde pretty well trampled the poor girl and attempted to flee the scene. As the unlucky girl screamed, a bystander collared Mr. Hyde. The locals were keen to exact their revenge on Mr. Hyde there and then but he negotiated a payment of 100 pounds sterling for the girl's family to assuage the gathering mob. Where this degenerate scoundrel found 100 pounds is a mystery.
A lawyer learned about all this and discovered a connection between this Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll—a friend of the lawyer. The lawyer intends to save his friend Dr. Jekyll from any unpleasantness involving this Mr. Hyde fellow. That should go well.
Instagram
I haven’t been on Facebook since 2020. I haven’t used Instagram ever. Other than watching zillions of videos, I’ve been beyond the reach of social media. As soon as I logged into Instagram I felt…the twinge. Instant stress. Not good! One of the first things I saw appeared to be someone getting hit by a car! I scrolled away as fast as I could only to land on 2 or 3 other videos of people getting hit by cars. What Hath God Wrought?
I found out how to follow The Doobie Brothers and the quality of the Instagram feed immediately improved.
I’m gonna share a bunch of clips of me playing guitar and bass on Instagram. 1 or 2 reels a day. My goal is to connect with a few thousand good souls out there.
The Sunshine Man logo
Continued to develop the The Sunshine Man logo this week. My favorites:
I used Procreate (a fantastic iPad app) with an Apple Pencil to design the latest images.
Song #3
The new tune is taking shape. Checklist:
By next weekend the vocals and horns will be all that’s left.
The Muse
Kenny Aronoff recorded his drums for 2 songs—including The Muse song—in early December. The drums sound fantastic. I’ll update Adventures in Songwriting soon.
Melodic Guitar Instrumental
Made a note to work up a new guitar instrumental song this year—something with a signature melody like Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover. Played along the lines of how David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson and/or Jimmy Page might play it.
Kenny A and I have recorded 3 instrumentals already. I aim to release 1 instrumental song every year for the next 10+ years.
Tina's Mixtape
In 1990, I met a girl named Tina. We romanced, laughed, played head games and yelled and screamed at each other a good bit.
She was bright, good-looking, artistic, funny, passionate, strong-willed, exotic.
Somewhere in there, Tina gave me a mixtape. It’s an all-time favorite gift. I played that tape 70 zillion times. I used to drive a lot and that tape was a fixture in the rotation.
I lost a box of stuff in the mail a few years ago and the mixtape might be lost. But I remember all or almost all of the track list off my heart. Look at what she gave me!
Side A
Sweet Thing, Van Morrison
Sweet Jane, The Cowboy Junkies
Heart of Gold, Neil Young
True Fine Love, Steve Miller
Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Creedence
Wishing Well, Bob Mould
Side B
Bright Side of the Road, Van Morrison
Helplessly Hoping, Crosby, Stills & Nash
Dreaming My Dreams With You, The Cowboy Junkies
Have You Ever Seen the Rain?, Creedence
Old Man, Neil Young
Sunspots, Bob Mould
Brown-Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
Blue Moon Revisited, The Cowboy Junkies
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World, Neil Young
She named the mixtape Femme Fatale.
Tina introduced me to Van Morrison's music at a time when it would make an impression. She gave me Van Morrison! Van Morrison! Van the Man!
Can I possibly communicate to you how much I love Van Morrison's music? I cannot. You’ll have to take my word for it. Here are a few more of Van's gems:
Jackie Wilson Said
Domino
Into the Mystic
And It Stoned Me
This Love of Mine
Moondance
Magic Time
Full Force Gale
Have I Told You Lately
Crazy Love
Tupelo Honey
The mixtape gift—many would consider it a trifle—expanded my awareness of reality through a handful of well-chosen songs.
She even spent the extra dough to get a high quality cassette.
Tina spotted my name on the marquee at a bar/restaurant where I was soon to be performing. We heard Don Henley’s Heart of the Matter for the first time when we were having lunch outside that day. It’s funny what you remember.
Tina, femme fatale, bless your soul wherever you are.
The Soul
Speaking of souls, my philosophy friend Steve and I tried to define the soul this week.
My best understanding is: a soul is the animating processes of a living organism that play out across time.
I say trees have souls. Birds have souls. Fish have souls. Steve wasn’t buying it.
The issue I’m a bit stuck on is how human beings appear to be able to go against their own nature. Man has freewill. He can choose to live according to his nature or attempt not to. But freewill is itself a feature of man's nature. So how can man utilize a natural capacity (e.g., freewill) against the force that drives his natural capacity (i.e., nature itself)?
A heavy tangle.
Enjoy the weekend!
