Rock-tober 03, 2015

There's this guy I've known for years named Kelvin, and he's an interesting character. According to him, his parents explained how his full name carried the weight of royalty: "Your first name is Kelvin, after Lord William Thomson Kelvin. Your middle name is Isaac, after Sir Isaac Newton. And your last name is Budd, after the 'King of Beers'." When I heard this, whatever I was drinking at the time was promptly expelled through my nose.

Years ago, I was on a trip with Kelvin and two other guys to Andros Island in the Bahamas to do some construction work. There are no direct flights to Andros so you get to Nassau any way you can and take a tiny puddle jumper over. Our puddle jumper flight was uneventful until we're far enough offshore to not see any land from horizon to horizon. That's when the navigation system failed. Being seated up front, I'm the first to see the flashing amber alarm. I nudge the pilot and point to the flashing light. He tries resetting it. No dice. He tries the backup system. No dice. Did I mention that Kelvin isn't a fan of flying? Kelvin, seated in the back of the plane, was now acutely aware of all the activity at the front of the plane. I heard him clearly over the loud drone of the plane's engine, "Oh, Lord, we're going down! This plane is gonna crash in flames! But we won't be forgotten. Our names will be remembered, and they'll sing songs about us!" This dude was preparing himself for a full on, effin' Viking funeral.

Well, you're reading this post so we obviously managed to find our way and land safely on Andros, but to this day we'll still remind Kelvin about his disappointment in missing out on a highly memorable death. Truth be told, I can't really blame him. There's a song that says, "It's better to burn out than to fade away," but that's another post. I just think there's a bit of viking in a lot of us. If done properly, you live your life to the absolute fullest and cash out like you just broke the bank at Monte Carlo. You go out in a blaze of glory.

"Blaze of Glory" was the first single off Jon Bon Jovi's first solo album, Blaze of Glory. The album hit Gold in the UK and 2x Platinum in the US. The single fared even better. It hit number 1 on multiple charts, won a Golden Globe and American Music Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. More than that, it's a personal anthem for those determined to "not go gentle into that good night." I've got to remember to ask Kelvin if he has this album...