Jackass. What a wonderful expression. My friend Jim introduced the true meaning of the word to me several years ago. He would repeatedly call everyone he saw a jackass. To me the word said so much, held so much emotion. Very deep. Since then, I've used it, abused it, and made it my own. The band has nicknames that only we share between us. Mine is "Jackass". "Hey, Jackass, what are we playing next?" or, " Hey, Jackass, what time are we meeting for rehearsal?", that sort of thing. Sometimes Rob calls me Cuban or Cuban Jackass. It's lovely. (Jay and I, though, for some strange reason, refer to each other on the phone as "Playa", but only when we're on the phone.) Jay's nickname is "Corky" because he's portly, and sometimes I swear he is retarded. Rob's is "Red Neck", 'nuff said. Karen is "BB'" for British Bulldog. I referred to her as this once on a telephone radio interview for a station in Daytona Beach while we were road tripping it through Alabama. Sometimes Jay calls her "Dutchess" but that's because he's a "Corky". Now if you had the look of Michael Stipe crossed with Powder, what would your nickname be? We call Chris "Baby Alfred", and I think it suites him perfectly. He got it as a baby from his mom. I love that little minx, Baby Alfred. So back to me, I'm "Jackass". My cell phone's message every time I turn it on says, "Hello Jackass", and that's alright with me. See, jackass is like "Good Fellas", it's what we are, how we are, the way we view the world, and our place in it. A jackass is someone who makes mistakes, knows he's going to make mistakes, accepts himself as being that way, never takes himself or life too seriously, and thus gets by with a smile. That's me: I'm a jackass and proud of it. Now a REAL jackass is a jerk. We don't like that. Take care. Later ... jackass, Butch