Let it be Thursday Blog Day, right here in Blogville, in the state of Blogsylvania. I guess that should actually be the state of Blogesota, but Blogsylvania just sounds better. Today’s installment will be one of those classic rambling messes, since I don’t have any one big single piece of information to share, but the glue that will eventually hold it together will be a few more pertinent questions from readers. So let’s begin…

I’ll start on the “Bats, Balls, & Burnouts” front, where no news is good news. I emailed my author’s rep, Bridget, to get an update and see where we are in the process and her reply was along the lines of “Our layout team is working with your interior images right now, to make sure they are all good enough quality to use. If you don’t hear from me soon, that’s good news. Hopefully we’ll have some layout proofs for you to see by late next week.”

First of all, the technical term “interior images” means “photos” and not necessarily photos of the interior of anything. They’re just in the interior of the book. Secondly, if I have any kind of proofs to look at by the end of next week, that would be awesome. Also amazing. I got kind of excited reading that, if by “kind of” you mean totally, really, very excited. Yikes. So here’s hoping it all stays quiet for a few more days and I don’t get the bad news that some of the photos I’ve submitted don’t pass muster.

Speaking of photos, though, I think I mentioned how I needed a release from anyone who appears in a photo. I probably mentioned that here a couple of times. Such a rule does not apply to blogs, so some classic photos I won’t be able to use in the book will instead be shown here. Like this one. It’s a classic from Labor Day in 2005. As this photo was taken, by Auto Imagery, the win light had just come on in our lane in the final round of the U.S. Nationals. After we’d won the Skoal Showdown the day before. Kind of a big rush of emotion, as you can plainly see. Probably, well actually almost definitely, the single biggest “hard to even fathom” rush of emotions I’ve ever felt. It was surreal.

And…  I’m not even in the photo. Del liked me to shoot the video from the side and slightly behind the car, kneeling down, so he could see the rear tire wrinkle, frame by frame. In that spot, I was almost never in the “reaction shot” of the starting line celebration. A few times, yes, but mostly not. If you look under the right arm of the guy in the blue ESPN t-shirt, you can sorta kinda make out the chest of my Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen shirt.

Of course, with Wilk he liked me to stand directly behind the car, which was a totally different approach but it got me in almost every photo taken of the LRS Ford. Like this one from Seattle, during the first of our three wins in a row there. As you can see, I’m getting absolutely zero air. My feet are firmly planted on the ground. Neighbor Dave, however, is getting big air and by doing so he’s magically “taller” than me. Well done, Neighbor. And fun times.

You can also see why I couldn’t use either photo. Too many people to count, much less get releases from.

You know what? I’m hungry. It’s lunch time. Time to eat! I’ll be back in a few minutes. Talk amongst yourselves. (Theme music plays…)

That was a quick and tasty salad, left over from last night’s carryout Italian dinner. Hit the spot.

And hey, while I was eating an email came in from Bridget at Outskirts Press. Good news! My “interior images” all passed their resolution exams. We’re good to go there.

Bad news, on my front, is that I found a few more typos in the manuscript. I think the plan is to make those corrections when we get to the proof stage. Easier to find them and correct them when we have actual page numbers to guide us. She also said I should indeed be seeing the first layout proofs very soon. Possibly as early as next week. Yeah, baby!

Speaking of books, I posted on Facebook that since I’ve spent the last year-plus writing an autobiography, I felt like it was time to read one. So I purchased and read Phil Collins’ new book, with the awesome title of “Not Dead Yet.”

What a revelation his book was. He was very diplomatic about everyone in the book other than the guy named Phil Collins. As the book went on, he seemed to get harder and harder on himself. He’s completely open about his failed marriages, his problems with addictions, and every other thing he needed to get off his chest. The book alternates from being heartwarming to heartbreaking, with segments that are enlightening and humorous thrown if for good measure.

I’ve been a big fan of his since he was just “that drummer” behind a huge kit of drums at the back of the stage, while Peter Gabriel did the singing for Genesis. As a matter of true fact, the first time I saw Genesis was at the Ambassador Theater in St. Louis, in the late fall of 1974. It was the “Lamb Lies Down” tour, which means I was fortunate enough to see Genesis with Gabriel on vocals. That’s a great memory.

What was odd about that concert was the fact they played “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (a double album) in its entirety, despite the fact there had been some production delays and it wasn’t even out yet! To help us along, since it was one big story of a concept album, they put a copy of the liner notes (which attempted to explain the bizarre story of our hero Rael) on every seat, so we could do our homework and hopefully make some sense of it all. Mostly, I was just blown away by the incredible musicianship and the great depth of the songs. Plus the drummer. He was pretty good, too.

I couldn’t help but do some comparisons between our two books, and I’m happy to say mine stands up to the test pretty well. Phil’s method of writing the whole thing in the present tense, whether he’s eight years old or 58, is a bit odd at first, but you get used to it quickly. It just takes a bit of “adaptation” in the early chapters. I don’t think I’ve ever read an autobiography where everything is in the present tense, as if it’s happening as you read it, before. My book is in the more traditional past tense, because it’s about stuff from the past. I read Phil’s book in just three sittings, and each time I picked it up I was excited to read more, so that’s kind of indicative of how much I liked it.

And now to some questions, one of which ties in neatly to the segment above.

Christy in Wisconsin asked, “I know you’re a big Rush fan, and a big music fan in general. What’s the best concert you ever saw?”

The answer will probably surprise a lot of people. Many of the 25+ Rush shows I’ve seen would rank near the top. Many of the dozen or so Genesis shows would, as well. But in terms of sheer brilliance, perfect sound, great staging, and flawless delivery, I’d have to go with Supertramp during their early “Crime of the Century” tour. I saw them at the Fox Theater in St. Louis, and the best word I could come up with to describe it would be “perfect” and I don’t throw that word around lightly. Bloody well right!

Other notable concerts include the first Genesis tour after Phil moved out front as the singer. He brought in his buddy Bill Bruford, who was in Yes, to play the drums. Then there was the night I saw Mott The Hoople (their big hit was “All The Young Dudes”) and the opening act was Queen. Or the first time I saw Kansas. I was really impressed by Phil Collins’ drumming in Genesis, and he got better over the years to where he was one of the best drummers I’d ever seen, but the first time I saw Kansas I was completely and utterly blown away by Phil Ehart. That night, I turned to whoever I took to the show at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, and said, “I’ve never seen a drummer that good before. Heck, I’ve never seen or heard drumming like that before.”  Of course, I hadn’t seen Neil Peart yet, at that point.

Carl, from Texas, asked, “I see you guys have a new MLS team in the Twin Cities. Are you going to go to any of the games?”

We do indeed. Minnesota United begin play in Major League Soccer this weekend, out in Portland against the Timbers. They’re building their own stadium in the Midway area of St. Paul, but until it’s done they’ll play home matches at TCF Bank Stadium, the home of the U of M Golden Gophers football team. Yes, we’re excited to go to a few games, but we’ll probably wait for it to warm up a little more. And then there’s the whole thing about them being an expansion team, which means they might not technically, accurately, be considered “very good” this first year. Go Loons!

And finally, Brandon from Connecticut asked, “Now that you’ve been out of it for more than a year, how much do you miss NHRA Drag Racing?”

The simple answer is “a lot” but I’ll flesh that out a little more. I really miss most of the people, and I have no replacement for the emotional involvement with the team. The concept of “winning or losing as a team” has almost always been central to my life, no matter the sport. I’ve rarely been completely out of sports, since the day I was born. So I miss that. Do I miss the airports and hotels? Not so much, but as time moves on I feel less negative about that. I was really kind of beaten down by the travel when I made up my mind to retire from it and write the book. I still don’t see doing it full-time ever again, but I no longer feel that dread of thinking about getting on another plane.

But, I think it’s an indication of how much I miss it that I watched every Funny Car run from Phoenix, last weekend, on NHRA All Access.

So there you have it. Our first blog in March of 2017. There will never again be a first “Bob’s Blog” installment in March of 2017. Wrap your head around that fact!

Barbara is out in Spokane again this week, but she’ll be home Friday night and the weather here is supposed to be really nice this weekend. I see a few long walks in our future. Can’t wait for her to get home.

Bob Wilber, at your service and answering questions.