We trade game-day habits for music that still stings, moving from 70s “soft rock” to the art of tribute songs and a blunt take on Neil Young’s platform politics. Along the way, we face quitting smoking, stubborn weight, and an awkward line that teaches better restraint.
• why live sports lost their appeal and value
• what makes 70s pop writing durable and precise
• Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s lyric craft
• why Candle In The Wind and Vincent endure
• how platform boycotts reshape how we hear music
• the mess of citizenship, morality clauses and hypocrisy
• quitting smoking and the shock of midlife weight gain
• heat, steps, and realistic fitness trade-offs
• a daycare misstep, social fallout and owning mistakes
All Blade content is at bobtheblade.com

There are many reason why Robert Plant would tear up at the Kennedy Center in 2012 as the Queens of Ron-N-Roll do a version of Stairway to Heaven. And the beautiful poetry of Mick Jagger recited live in Poetry Corner. The yearly unwelcome visitors for six months in this small and quiet town in Arizona

Janice Joplin just wasn't around enough. The Queen, she's, you know, she's got gray hair, she's probably 75 years old, I saw her on some interview and she's hilarious. She came out of the 60s, 70s, 80s, all of that completely unscarred, unscathed. Who is the queen of rock and roll?

You know who's really cool and lives around here, and you see him all the time doing something or another. He's in commercials constantly, he's Alice Cooper. And I always laugh when I think of that cat because he's the guy that came up with this line that I love, and I'll always remember this line. Life is an AA meeting and a round of golf

I'm trying to get the ball across the plate, and the third baseman comes, he walks by me, he says, Where's your ass, man? You got no ass. You've lost your ass. And I said, haven't you? I'm trying to get the ball over the plate, man, and you're telling me I have no ass. You know, and and I said, I said, don't you know the story, man? When the older we get, the more we lose our ass. You know, it's different with women. You know, our whole metabolism slows down and all their fat in their body goes into their butt, you know, and all of our fat body goes into our stomach. And then I lifted my shirt up to them and said, There's my ass. Now back to third base, third baseman.

I'm gonna tell you, I did it right. I did. I sit here today, many, many years later, after being in radio, I was there 32 years, 32 years, something like that. I really believe I played every single song that I love so much in my life, somehow or another. 

Incomparable because each and every time I look at this one, she's perfect. The word is mesmerizing, which I will use until they come up with another one, besides "stunning". The most mesmerizing girl on TV and after 50 years she replaced (IT WAS CLOSE!) the former MosT Beautiful, a position she held until I turned into my sixties

Incomparable because each and every time I look at this one, she's perfect. The word is mesmerizing, which I will use until they come up with another one, besides "stunning". The most mesmerizing girl on TV and after 50 years she replaced (IT WAS CLOSE!) the former Mos Beautiful, a position she held until I turned into my sixties. I had a radio career, keep whatever you are drinking while on the air at least six feet from the console. The guy that spilled his tee and honey drink on there opened a world of history when the console roof was lifted to fix it.

Incomparable because each and every time I look at this one, she's perfect. The word is mesmerizing, which I will use until they come up with another one, besides "stunning". The most mesmerizing girl on TV and after 50 years she replaced (IT WAS CLOSE!) the former Mos Beautiful, a position she held until I turned into my sixties. I had a radio career, keep whatever you are drinking while on the air at least six feet from the console. The guy that spilled his tee and honey drink on there opened a world of history when the console roof was lifted to fix it.

Perhaps most entertaining is Blade's vehement rejection of hiking culture. When friends invite him to hit the trails in 105-degree Arizona heat, his response is an emphatic "hell no." Dismissing stated benefits like cardio and fresh air, Bob humorously suggests people only hike to find Sasquatch before cataloging the genuine dangers that await on mountain paths. His practical alternative? "Just drive up to some beautiful point... take a couple of shots, get out, look around... get back in the car and drive down the hill." Visit BobTheBlade.com for more unfiltered commentary on modern life's absurdities and subscribe to hear what unconventional topic Bob tackles next