Red Barchetta: I Realized That Geddy Lee and Bono Look Alike

We gave Ben a drum set for Christmas because he wants to be a rock and roll guy when he grows up. At this point I don't see the harm in encouraging his every whim although I may come to regret it. As everyone agrees--it takes a village to raise a child. And in our village we are fortunate enough to have a couple of talented and Rush-obsessed drummers. While both are nice and undoubtedly want what's best for Ben and his unbridled enthusiasm for drumming, only one has been kind enough to loan us several Rush videos for the training of our prodigy.

My new enthusiasm for drums, drumming and drummers reminded me that in grade school when the band teacher from middle school came a-recruiting I decided that I wanted to play the drums but was unclear about how I would carry the whole drum set back and forth to school every day so I did not sign up. This was, incidentally, in the olden days before I learned that there is no such thing as a "stupid question" (a pedagogy which, by the way, I still don't fully subscribe to).

While I am grateful for the opportunity to watch these Rush movies with Ben, viewing them has brought about a rather unsettling revealation. The thing about Rush, you know, is that the drummer is the real star. I have always known that and I have always known that Geddy Lee (the singer) is an incredibly ugly person. But it was during my recent viewing of these Rush movies that I made a sickening realization. You might not want to read on because you will surely hate what you are about to see.



Now, I'm not saying they look alike. I'm just saying they are not as unalike as you might hope. That bothers me. And when I say "bothers" I mean something much closer to "horrifies."