Goodbye, Spider

Spider Jones is not my real name. It's my rock'n'roll name, and I started using it over twenty years ago. Some people only know me as Spider Jones, and in some circles, "Jones!" is still the preferred greeting, even among those who do remember who I really am.

The Jones part of it was partially in honor of Brian Jones, the first guitar player in the Rolling Stones to drop out, so to speak. I always felt he would have taken the band in a different, perhaps more musical, direction. If you listen to the old records, there is no doubt that the sound changed dramatically as soon as Brian was gone. The word "jones" also has at least one other meaning, which was both descriptive at the time, and prophetic. Possibly because of the side effects of this second meaning, I am unable to recall why I picked "Spider" as my first name.

And now I find out that there is a real guy named Spider Jones. What's more he has a web site, he has written a book, he seems to have been a boxer at one time, and he has an inspiring story, which he will tell to your group in the form of a motivational speech. He also has a radio program and he co-hosts a television show about boxing.

He looks older than I am, so maybe he's been Spider Jones longer than I have, although I don't believe it's his real name, either. Certainly he must be more famous than I, even if I never heard of him. Also he does not look like anybody I want to mess with. In any case, I don't want to fight over this. I'll pick a new name.