(I've decided that "Friday admiration" sound too stilted and stuck-up. Let's face it, I'm a sarcastic little person, so this new title really fits better. Besides, I don't truly admire a whole lot of people--but people who just don't suck is a much bigger spectrum.)

A weekly(ish) series where I talk briefly about somebody who I think is cool for one reason for another.

At around the age of twelve, I was digging through my grandmother's CD collection (back when CDs were a novelty!) and came across a CD called Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton. At the time, my snotty little adolescent mind classified it at fogey music and paid no more attention. I was too busy listening to Mariah Carey and Tevin Campbell (I know, I'm embarrassed now!). I don't really remember what my moment of realization was; I think it was hearing "Layla" on a classic rock station and hearing them actually say who it was. After that, Clapton became my first long-lasting musical obsession.

Who he is: Seriously? If you need me to answer that, you can get off my blog. Unless you're under the age of 15, and then maybe you have an excuse. But not much of one.

What he's done: Uh, been awesome for decades. Written and performed some of the coolest songs ever, beaten heroin addiction, beaten alcoholism (twice), survived the death of his son without reverting to drugs or alcohol, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, and continued to make amazing music.

Why I love him: There are so many of his songs that just totally bowl me over, no matter how many times I listen to them. I don't even mean just the obvious ones like "Tears In Heaven" and the ubiquitous "Wonderful Tonight" (which makes me laugh now, since he was pissed off at his wife when he wrote it). Even songs that he didn't write, he generally does them so well that I don't even hate the fact that they're covers (he did a cover of Bob Dylan's "Born In Time" that I just adore).

And no matter how many times I see him live (four so far, last time was a couple of months ago), I'm always riveted by how ridiculously fast his fingers move to coax sound out of a box with strings on it! I've been looking all over Youtube trying to find a perfect example, this one's pretty good (both the intro and the solo at about three minutes in).