WOW! tonight I had to drop of a guitar at a Club/Bar, and seen my old drummer for the first time in 7 years, didn't even recognize him. He looked like he was in his 90's and homeless. Back in the day he had an IQ that could open any door, pharmaceutical companies wanting him, had a free ride to anywhere in the field of Physics. Seeing him tonight, freaked me out, he couldn't recall things we did in High School, nor much else. The guy is and always was wealthy, actually.........,Very Wealthy.
I'm gonna say, he did get into the pharmaceutical business, as his teeth were rotten to the gums. WTF?

drugs? severe health issues? emotional/psychological crisis?

He could be sick and on medications. There are certain medications that will attack teeth and gums after taking it for a very long time. Just saying.

or, you could just ask him hows he doing.

g

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. But maybe this forum is not really the right place to discuss that.

agreed. i think more people could use some more empathy in this world.

yes, empathy seems to be in very short supply today's world. and here's the ' missing in how's.

@ Rick Dalton was your friend selling drugs, using them or both and what's his name?

A lot of us have no clue how we age. I recently had a little re-union with some friends I hadn't seen in ages. One guy I hadn't actually seen in 15 or more years. I interacted with this fellow only via online social media occasionally and we used to go clubbing with him way back in the day. So this is the first time I have actually seen him the real person in person in a very long time.

And we are sitting there having pints and the usual stuff comes up in conversation where everyone talks about the good old days and what we used to do when we were young and I realize the guy is mixing up names and dates and years and I keep wondering, "man I know I have been told I have a bad memory but this is nuts. His brain is fried". Meanwhile, I am fairly sure, when he got back to his house, he probably said the same thing about me. Don't underestimate how crazy age makes you. :-)

That's sad. Sorry to hear about your friend. Sometimes it's beyond our control where life takes us.

"my drummer" like "it's" your guitar.Human friendship is beautiful.
WTF are you talking about that here and not with him?

So, some people make bad life decisions. That doesn't mean they're not worthy of respect.

Anyone of us might have wound up in serious trouble, but we happen to have been lucky. Don't disrespect people who weren't as lucky as you.

Well, that got a lot of attention. For One, we had a partially nice visit, 4 hours, with a little zoning out, he had...,probably 5 beers, and I'm sure he was primed before he arrived. I had a Soda, as I was there on business. Two, where he's living is notorious for alcohol consumption and meth.

I'm just gonna go with my gut and call em as i see em......, Meth, as this guy always prided his appearance and would have dental work done, as needed. Know what I mean? I've seen/lived thought the meth wars, mid to late 90's, everyone was cooking, made proud of their scares from anhydrous ammonia, a few thought they made, one up if they were missing a finger or two, from freeing them, with this s..t.
As for health issues, I didn't touch with him on that, for the fact. we where heavy into herbal and spiritual solutions and he'd of consulted me.

As for Not posting such a topic....., Hey! I live in the real world and if you are offended, hit the unsubscribe/unparticipate button. I'm sure g00gling images of meth and teeth, would push you over the edge, and you'd demand g00gle remove these offending images. Not gonna happen. The Mod's want to remove this thread....., Fine!

As for aging, sure and it blows my mind, see it everyday, some age well, some not so well.

Heres the deal (for those that cant read between the lines)
If it walks like a Duck....., Well, you know the rest of that phrase.
As for methamphetamine, and other addictive drugs, they damages the dopamine receptors, making it hard to feel pleasure, without another fix.
OK Class is over for the day.

Did you hear about "the cliff"? It happens around 55 to 60. You basically keep going until you go over "the cliff" and you fall off the edge and hit the bottom. After that, one of two things happen to you.

a) you either wind up looking okay and you are fine ...

b) you wind up looking like a car ran you over and you wind up looking nothing like the person that you looked like before you went over the cliff.

happens to both men and women.

laugh a little. is covid man. You will get a heart attack if you dont..

I was expecting this first post to go somewhere else. About the drummer's drumming, or his gear, or... well, you know.

The So Much Gear forum gets the (2nd) most eyeballs on GS, but it might not be the most appropriate one for this topic. Nevertheless, it's too bad about your friend -- I'm assuming he's your friend and not just your drummer -- and I hope things take a turn for the better.

@ telecode I hate how society gender polarizes behaviors that could lead to not aging well, like promiscuity. Men get high fives for their body counts and women get demeaned.

@ Rick Dalton I hate that about your friend and healthy aging is about conscious lifestyle choices as much as it is about genes.

Yikes! I have heard these types of stories before. Sadly, drugs & alcohol can take a severe toll on the body. Substance abuse causes the body to age at a much faster rate than those who don't abuse.

It sounds like your friend took a turn to methamphetamines. Crystal Meth, crack perhaps. One of the tell tale signs amongst Meth users is severe tooth decay. This condition is also known as meth mouth, just google search the images.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

If the men in your life do that, you need to hang out with different men. And I hate that, too, but how is it relevant?

@ Brent Hahn I wish I had a good man and some good men in my life, what I state(d) comes from what I learned growing up that was learned from how the women I was raised by grew up.

Tha would be "like "it's" your guitarist or guitar player"
Sure I'd love too help, he's a brother. I grew-up in and still am in the Bad Lands, same with him. Intervention can and does get you...., Ah! Dead Once youre labeled...., Say a narc, even though youre not, your days can be numbered. I'm sure you seen such movies? Tell ya, I've lived it. My Tribe calls me, Dances with Wolves, Cant touch on why, use your imagination. I'm not a pillar of society (was once) society's lost, though I am a pillar, of my Friend and Family. I know how to handle this, it'll end good or it'll go south...., Real Fast. First I need to figure into the equation, the said person, governor's an municipality (Dilemma One). (Dilemma Two) He is an pillar of society, Then there's the peer pressure and influences, in said municipality, so It would have to look like he went on his three month (well earned vacation to Florida). I've another Friend from the same town, thats been Alcohol free for 4 years...., Thank You. of-course he never had an drug issue, because he idealize me from when he was a youngster and knew that would not fly. I'm not trying to sound, Holier Than Thou....., Just Fact.

So, next thing would be, the beatings some of the influences/some would be...,old friends, some I do not know, but may have to also endure. This is not a joke and you my Friend, would probably not survive in my world, and sure why not get smartazz out that "my world" clueless.
Anyway I laid most the night, figuring, How to resolve this, as I mentioned..., I know exactly what it is.

Funny, We've had that saying "Take em to the Train Station", for 70, 80 years, that I recall. Though in this part's..., it's called "The Black Jack's".

Note...., DO NOT Quote This Post.

take the guy by the hand and ask him if he needs help, if he would accept it and then find the appropriate institutions that can give him the help he needs - it's called a friendship service (without falling prey to a helper syndrome), something which can be expect from a real buddy or friend!

This is the correct answer. But the OP states "Intervention can and does get you...., Ah! Dead". So doesn't seem too likely to happen, in this case.

Probably not. This place I pretty much grew up there, split in 81, dropped in a few times over the years to see old friends, find a few that never really were, (as in learning of the one's that where in one stealing thousands of $ of my gear) Pretty much a sh!thole. So glad a moved on down the line.
I've noticed many from there have be dropping like fly's over the last couple years, O.D or found frozen from passing out, that kind of crap. I've helped a couple true friends from there get treatment, big game changer for them and they remind me of it. One knows who their friend are, when the they in touch and come by to visit..., NOT to have something worked on.
This place (GS) I see so many that are so unfriendly or spiteful, must just be the times we live in.

is this what Arizona sounds like these days? I can dig it!!

Like what? Empathetic? No, it's nothing like that

Sorry, obviously I meant to reference the track, not your comment (although what you said was also very nice). That's just me not being in control of my own computer screen...ha ha!! No really technology hates me.

Ah, sorry for missing that, but thanks for the compliment! No, Arizona (Phoenix-metro) sounds nothing like that! Think tired old lackluster out of key overplayed tribute and classic rock bands nobody wants to hear except the wannabe rock star musicians fantasizing about being their long lost heros....

But I don't wanna think that!

drums can be replaced, but what if it were the bass?