The Bobby Rock Newsletter #19 (8-5-2021) - A 35th Anniversary Special!
The Bobby Rock Newsletter #19 (8-5-2021) - A 35th Anniversary Special!
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Hey Everyone -
Home in LA this week, partially distracted with the Olympics, and with all the recent changes to the Dodger's and Laker's rosters... not to mention the ongoing clusterfuck that IS Houston Texan's football! (I can foresee a bit of writing on the horizon re: my various sports fascinations.) Anyway, onward with this week's Newsletter. And again, thanks for the feedback on last week’s issue.  View from the office on this last run with Lita Ford In this issue:
_______________ 35-Year Anniversary of VVI Debut! Monday of this week marked the 35th Anniversary of the debut Vinnie Vincent Invasion record… the one that basically started it all for me. Thirty. Five. Years! Goddamn, that was a long time ago. And yet, there is still so much I vividly remember about those times: specifically surrounding the release of the record.  Here’s a brief excerpt about launch day from my memoir, The Boy Is Gonna Rock: + + + + + + + On August 2nd, 1986, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion self-titled debut record would see its official release. Man, there was a palpable vibe surrounding this record, especially in my hometown of Houston. Friends, family, and newfound fans converged upon the local record stores and snapped up copies of this thing like gallon jugs of water before a hurricane. To help matters along, at least on a local level, I had scheduled a record-release party at a Cactus Records, and a drum clinic at an H&H Music, right next door, on the same day. Both were well attended, and the drum clinic in particular would foreshadow a whole other career path I would pursue in short order. Beyond my little bubble in Houston, sales around the country were nice and steady, and magazine reviews on the record were consistently favorable. It seemed like every week I was jumping out to the newsstand and buying every single magazine that had any mention of the record. These were memorable times, for sure. + + + + + + + “Memorable times” is probably an understatement. Back then, it seemed like new things were much more savored, lauded, and appreciated by the public, largely because there were so fewer channels of consumption. You had MTV, your local radio station, a handful of preferred publications, and your favorite record store as the delivery frontrunners for what you saw and heard. This meant a finite amount of exposures, each of which you could more easily assimilate and appreciate. These days, digital tech and the internet gives us an infinite barrage of (typically) fleeting exposures, barely assimilated by splintering attention spans. Of course, “infinite” is a beautiful word, and I do love all of the turbo-charged technology and bottomless-pit access available these days. BUT—in terms of that “lightning in a bottle” excitement of concentrated reverence? I would say the 80s were probably the peak of it, and in a small way, that first VVI record offered a few thundering moments of such reverence for many. Ultimately, the record was arduous to make and polarizing for many, usually falling squarely in either the Love it or Hate it categories (for reasons I discuss in exhaustive detail in my book.) But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I still love the record and crank it up loud from time to time. So… if it’s been a hot minute, hop into your favorite digital warehouse…. or your iTunes archive… or onto YouTube… or wherever you can click to the fastest and take in a few fleeting minutes to enjoy the relaxing, chainsaw tones of the mighty VVI! And then raise your glass of wheatgrass juice and let’s toast to the big 3-5! _______________ Create, then Consume Here’s a quick tip from author/marketing guru Seth Godin that I’ve always taken to heart, and have often practiced. (Paraphrasing) He essentially advises that we step into “content creativity" mode prior to consuming outside content. In other words, take advantage of the fresh, uncluttered state of your mind upon awakening and do some creative work then… before venturing down the typical info rabbit hole of news, posts, blogs and, essentially, OPC: Other People's Content. This applies to anyone dealing with any form of creative work: authors, musicians, screenwriters, or graphic designers. While reading books, listening to music, watching films, or looking at other’s work is part of the learning/growing process in these respective endeavors, there is a time and a place for the study of outside influences. I say, try going inward at the top of your day. And you don’t even have to be a writer or “content creator” to do this. Creating a little solitude for reflection, or doing some journaling pre-OPC mode is always a good idea. I find that I’m in more of an authentic headspace, in touch with more of my own “organic” thoughts and ideas this way… which is a plus, even outside of my creative work. Scope it! _______________ Vitamin B-12 Crash Course B-12 deficiency is a real thing for all kinds of folks on all kinds of different eating regimens, and it’s of particular concern to those who are more plant-based, especially vegans (100% plant-based). I’ve heard about these concerns regularly over the past three decades and even did a post on the subject in the early days of my blog (2008). The post still holds up, but here’s the gist of it for those concerned or curious: + + + + + + + B-12 is a bacterial-created vitamin found primarily in soil and critical for proper neurological function and healthy arteries. In a perfect world, the microscopic soil particles which cling to raw garden vegetables (even after they have been washed) would provide all the B-12 we would ever need. We would even find an abundance of it in our mountain streams and well-water sources. However, given the current industrial production methodologies of our produce, along with the chlorination processes that most of our modern drinking water undergoes, we are clearly getting far less B-12 than we normally would. Yes, meat-eaters are likely to ingest a fair quantity of B-12 because farmed animals have eaten plants and/or a variety of other suspect ingredients with these particles either clinging to them or part of the ingredients. (And by the way, when it’s part of the ingredients, it’s usually a safe bet that its origin is from the bacterial contamination so prevalent in factory farm animal feed, which often includes other ground-up animals!) Of course, the overall ramifications of the meat-based diet far outweigh the benefits of picking up a little B-12. In fact, we require such a minuscule amount of B-12 that the organisms in our own mouths and intestines can often reproduce an abundance of it, so long as 1) we have some form of it coming in from our food and/or supplements and 2) we maintain a healthy enough internal environment As for dietary sources, enriched soy milk and breakfast cereals, as well as nutritional yeast, are some of the most reliable places to find B-12. Certain vegan “meat” products have a fair amount, as well. And remember, we only require a few micrograms a day. However, just to be on the safe side, I recommend that you simply dissolve a 2000 mcg. B-12 tablet under your tongue once a week. I’ve always used this brand, but I’m sure most any other will do:  By the way, the reason you would take such a high dose in a supplement is because the higher the dose, the less you absorb. So you would either take low doses consistently – 15 to 20 mcg. daily – or high doses less often. Taking one 2000 mcg. pill a week is a simpler solution. + + + + + + + To scope a bit more—including the assimilation science behind B-12—scope the rest of the article on the original post HERE. _______________
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