I have just learned that one of my good friends misses “our time”. Nothing else needed to be said about that – my only response was that

My time is not only mine but my family’s, my wife, my daughters – not to mention the healthy one’s own time – I battle this balance daily. And I lose more than I win – so I am learning.

I have guides for myself – They are painless and yet excruciating some days to fulfill:

• Wake up and be happy that you did – you have a day to add something and possibly make up where you did not the day before.
• Treat people as you expect to be treated - This if put into various situations – is not so simple.
• Live life with passion – If you have no passion they you will not succeed. Point blank.Proven Fact
• Never go to bed mad – Settle it – even if it takes all night.
• Have conviction – Decide and act. Stand up and giv’er. There is nothing worse dealing with someone that can not make a decision or a choice.

All this to say is that one of my most proud friendships fell down into a place where neither of us could really help it until it was ready and – just maybe – maybe – It’s getting its footing back. We will see.

This is a thank you letter to Ben Harper and David Worthington. David Worthington is a great friend of mine who works for EMI Canada. He is by all counts one of my best friends and a stand up individual who believes in music for what it is, the sounds of people’s souls.

EMI sponsored a night at The Rehearsal Hall in Toronto, a special presentation for Bravo Television with Ben Harper on April 09 2006. It was an industry only event with invited friends and I was one of the lucky ones to have been invited. I believe the crowd was no more than 60 people and I was blown away by both the sound of the acoustics and Ben Harper’s magnetism. He played an incredible acoustic set with only his friend to accompany him. I have been an avid fan of Ben Harper for years ever since a friend at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville Quebec, Canada – by the name of Alistair Heath passed me his second CD “Welcome to The Cruel World”. Thank you Alistair – I will never forget that gesture.

If you have ever listened to an album, truly listened to it back to back uninterrupted with no judgement before then you can fully understand. When I say that this and many albums afterwards have deeply affected me it is not an exaggeration. Ben Harper’s music provides me a sense of great appreciation for a band and a person that can voluntarily share so much by putting thought to song.

This night was no different from any time I have seen him live.

As he played time stood still and when he talked he talked like any of of us would in the same situation. He speaks with truth and he feels with his heart and for that I am truly thankful

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To David Worthington – I can not thank you enough. The gift of sharing music crosses the boundaries of copyright and ownership and dollars and corporations that promote the artist. It is about the gift of giving to someone an outlet or voice that they may of had, have or wish to have and I can only speak for myself but I truly believe that when Ben Harper plays music the world hears his songs.