A long strange trip indeed, Highlander, and I've enjoyed every moment of our banter together...fare thee and thy lady Mari well, my friend, as you depart these shores for jokes as yet untold.

And before you sign-off, Highlander, allow me to be the first to say congratulations on reaching 700 posted parodies. You've earned your place in Valhalla with honor.

just take a couple of weeks off and you be bursting with new ideas

Oh, no, Say it isn't so, Rick! :(

You burned out at 700. I burned out at 45 lol. Methinks you will be back after a break. 555

I'm going to guess that Rick has not made an iron-clad eternal resolution to never write and post another song parody on AmiRight, but that he's now going to concentrate on writing & performing his own songs and simply spend less time writing and posting parodies. Perhaps he'll occasionally participate in some of the ABC and "specialty" contests, too.

Rick's bio on his AmiRight author's page does say that parody-writing is at the end of his list of musical activities, after all --- I think he's simply refocusing his time and effort towards composing and performing more of his own original muslc, that's all.

I'd guess that if Rick got an irresistible parody idea at some point in the future, he might decide it would be fun and kind of nostalgic to pay a visit to old AmiRight to share it with his friends.

I'm sure the parody bug will not let Rick alone. Once bitten, forever writes.

Rick, you and your parodies kick ass. We'll miss your frequent submissions, but will look forward to your less frequent ones...

Let's have a 555 salute for one of the great ones! You're nearly in Babe Ruth territory, dude!

Thanks, all. Johnny probably has me pegged more than I do. I found it increasingly hard to come up with new ideas, and when I did, it seemed like the reactions were getting more negative or apathetic. (Worn out my welcome?) I was having trouble coming up with a zinger for 700, and suddenly this one came, and it seemed like a good cap on an amazing run. I have decided to return to writing more originals, along with piano pieces, woodwind arrangements, and the medium I consider to be my forte, recording. As Tom Lehrer once said, "What good are laurels if you can't rest on them?" Of course, Joni Mitchell once said, "It always seems to go, you don't know what you've got till it's gone". Johnny, I know you understand the duality of my feelings. I'll be checking up on everybody, and who knows? Inspiration may strike the minute someone else reaches 699!

I do understand the duality of your Geminian feelings, Rick, and so do I.

My wife and I attended closing night of the Tom Lehrer musical "Tomfoolery" at Acme Theater in Maynard, Mass. (neighboring town to my hometown of Concord), this past Saturday night, March 5th. I thought of you that evening! The show was hysterically funny, both because of Tom Lehrer's brilliant songs and because of the lively and talented cast. The director's concept was to do the show as an episode of "Laugh-In", that old 60's/70's comedy-variety TV show starring Dan Rown and Dick Martin in beautiful downtown Burbank. For example: the director had an actress playing Ruth Buzzi's old-gal-on-the-park-bench and an actor playing Arte Johnson's old-guy-who-always-hit-on-that-old-gal, and the two of them sang and danced to "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park"! The four women in the cast wore nun's habit-headdresses and sang and danced "The Vatican Rag" (BIG crowd-pleaser, that one was!), and the finale of the show had the entire cast on-stage singing and dancing to "We Will All Go Together When We Go". Hilarious show !

Here's a link to that show:
http://acmetheater.com/tomfoolery.asp

Aww, Rick. We'll certainly miss you all. Let's hope that it's just that old muse taking a vacation....I hate when that happens to me. But, the parody, along with the music, made it seem so.......final. :(

Inspiration comes, and inspiration goes... but I bet with Mari as a muse to amuse, there'll be plenty of music made, even if fewer parodies. 0.7k is a serious target to hit. I mean, seven *hundred* songs? Reckon you're doing a JD and letting me catch up after passing, though ;-) Guess I'll still see you around...

down here in the double digits, where 100 seems an unlikely goal, 700 is a staggering body of work - down here, inspiration has to be found before it can be lost - but you're right, if you're not loving it, you end up compromising yourself - I'm sure we'll see you back - btw, perfect OS to choose, and the 555 goes without saying

5's Rick - Except for one thing..... Surely you don't expect us to BELIEVE that you're quitting! After all - it's pretty much your fault that I'm here! "Hey Bob - did you submit it yet?" "Hey Bob? Whacha doin' next week?" "Ok Rick, I promise", "Yes, Rick, I will" Just don't force it - let the muse come as it will - or not (Personally speaking, I might make 700 - if I live past 100...

Sad to see ya go, Rick....as one of the Amiright aristocracy, you've always been an inspiration..."This Old Band" remains one of my all time faves...come and visit when you feel like it. 555

Wow. 700 parodies. I can only imagine. For a while, anyway. (This must be how Sammy Sosa feels when he looks at Barry Bonds, not that I'm accusing you of steroid use.) Congratulations on an amazing milestone.

Congratulations on 700 parodies, Rick. In honor of your milestone, I just posted my 70th, after a dryspell of some 12 months, and 70 seems like a nice figure to end on for me. Thanks to you and Mari for turning me onto Am I Right. I had a blast trying to keep up with you - but you outgunned me, Hoss.

Rick - Beautiful piece...sad to see you go...but as usual you told the story well, and I understand. We all go through "times and places" - I remember when I first came on this site how shakey my personal situation was...looking back I can say coming on board helped pull me back together again - And you were one of the first ones to toss me a line to grab on to. Will always be grateful for that. Hope that you will still be performing on some "Open Mic" nights at Espresso - partly for greedy reasons...I was hoping to make a trek up North sometime after Tax Season and making a stop there to maybe do a number or two and enjoy you & Mari and the other wonderful performers there. You know, I was intent on being brief here...you know, "succinct"..."concise"..."To the point"...the opposite of "rambling, long-winded, and wordy "...I swear...I really was...

Wow, 700 parodies...that's pretty impressive! (I just read Michael Pacholek's 600th not too long ago.) This one's really good. Whether or not you write any new parodies, I'm sure I'll enjoy the ones you've written up to this point. ;)

Good job, Rick.