Virginia Breeze

I have been reading David Foster’s Autobiography Hit Man and enjoying it very much.  It’s been a long time since I read a book because of the medication I have to take and I was wondering if my reading days were over.  That’s a sad possibility for someone who used to enjoy getting lost in the printed page  as much as your blogging buddy.

But. . .   Good News!  I can still read.  And perhaps the first thing that I found of interest here  was the fact that David was born less than twelve months prior to me in 1949  and for this reason shares much of the history I have lived through.  He was around for the birth of Rock and Roll.   He was becoming a teen when the Beatles arrived.  Actually he was in London trying out his musical wings in the 60′s  when he looked up one night and saw the four Beatles dressed out in their Sargeant Pepper outfits sitting in a box above the audience.

He has perfect pitch and took piano lessons as a child.  He could have become a classical pianist but something about his upbringing led him to search for fame and fortune in a bigger way.  Perhaps it was his mother who started taking care of her parents when she was twelve or the fact that his room growing up was shared space with the washing machine in the basement.  Maybe it was the fact that his parents struggled financially to raise him and his five sisters.

His father died when he was still in his teens.   But before he died he talked with his son and basically gave him his blessing to follow his musical muse wherever it might lead.

I’ve just started the book and plan to report some of the highlights here as we go on through David’s adventures.

This one made me sit up straight early on. . .

David was driving home late at night soon after he moved to Los Angeles.   As he came over a hilltop he was confronted by “what appeared to be homeless man standing in the middle of the road in nothing but a pair of shorts.  His arms were spread wide sort of like Jesus.”

Our man hit him at forty miles an hour with his Chevy Suburban and sent him flying about ninety feet down the road.

I can only imagine how this must have impacted both of the participants in this drama.  But as things turned out the man did not die.  In fact David may have saved his life!  This is perhaps the only incident in recorded history of an individual hitting someone at high speed on a  highway and prolonging their life.

The individual who survived this abrupt flight was Ben Vereen.   He had been in a car accident earlier and was resting at his manager’s home when in a confused state he decided to walk back to his own place.  Later it was discovered that he had a subdural hematoma from his first accident and probably wouldn’t have survived the night if David and his Suburban hadn’t sent him back to the hospital for further x-rays.

The kiss of death takes on new meaning.   It’s an interesting tale David weaves and I’m looking forward to reading more about his dealings  with various artists.  I’m especially interested in reading what he has to say about his relationship with Andrea Bocelli.

Here’s David’s first hit Wildflower.  May we all  continue down the road.

Blake Shelton

Wild Flower – Blake Shelton – Funny videos are here

Ben Vereen

The original Chicken George in the 1977 mini-series Roots

Tags: ben vereen, ben vereen auto accident, david foster, david foster bio, david foster biography, david foster songs, hit man, wildflower song

Sometimes when I sit down to write a post I have very little idea about  the content.    It’s as if I’m waiting for someone to write the post so I can read it too.  Someone who is sitting in my brain. . .

Perhaps he’s a little chimp jumping up and down on a typewriter.   But I imagine him to be the ghost of a long dead writer or poet.

But that’s because I’m egotistical.  If I was more in tune with the true nature of this blog and it’s author the ape persona would come into focus more sharply and on a more regular basis.   I see heads nodding in agreement.

One of the reasons I admire Craig Ferguson, the late night CBS host so much, is that he is pretty much making things up on the fly in front of an audience for two minutes when he starts the show.   Beth says she thinks it is all planned ahead of time but I don’t think so.  The show is not live so he can bleep stuff out that doesn’t work but he still has to have enough to fill up the intro!

Here’s one of his more “rehearsed” monologues.

A lot of crazy stuff stays in and it’s funny sometimes just because it’s so lame.  It’s a lot like Saturday Night Live with just one guy showing up and doing it all.  If I write a post and don’t like it the thing can go away forever.   He can’t do that.  So the pressure is on to be funny and do it night after night.

I can’t imagine how anyone does this.  But he does it and he has a lot of fans.  And I think about him when I sit down to write a post (like now) and have no firm idea about the content.

I did want to tell everyone that I installed two new plugins.  One is called Sociable and it puts a list of social websites at the end of each post.  Hopefully these will be used.   Please use them!

And the other one is a Gravatar plugin.  It is a  “Thank you” to  my commenters who have been doing such a nice job.  Gravatars also improve the look of a blog in my opinion.   They make your blog look more like the  community of people it should be.

Sociable

http://yoast.com/wordpress/sociable/

Easy Gravatar

http://dougal.gunters.org/blog/2007/10/24/easy-gravatars

Both of these plugins were easy to install and get up to speed.   It looks to me like they are well supported too.

Tags: craig ferguson, funny comedian, new plugins for blog

Todd is one of my blogging buddies.   He lives out in South Dakota.  He lives close to nature.

And he has a vision.

The Moody Blues

Play Out and In

07-out-and-in

Nice photo Todd.

Tags: photo of the moon, Todd Mulske

Last weekend Beth and I went up to Lynchburg to help everyone celebrate Kate’s first birthday.  There are some photos around here somewhere of Kate in her cute little dress and head band.  She’s a charmer.  I hope her teeth grow closer together some day.  But right now they are new and exploring her mouth in different directions.

Somehow in spite of her teeth and her free flowing ears she manages to still be adorable.  You might say that I am prejudiced in this regard because I am her grandfather.  But Ron Dubin actually was the one who made a pronouncement in the comments.

“She is adorable”.   Ron is a professional photographer and his opinion is not to be taken lightly.

After the party we sat out on the lawn and watched the children play.  Kate’s mom, Sarah, turned to me at one point and said “It doesn’t get any better than this” and I smiled.   Warm breezes after cold winter mornings and children and grandchildren relaxing at your feet is probably a good definition of  “good as it gets”.

And then I looked over at Beth as she soaked in some of the warm rays and cool breezes.  She had made the cake and all the cupcakes for the party.  They were beautifully decorated.   And she was enjoying the moment at well.

I could tell she was happy with her new found family.  Sarah’s mom and sister lounged in the sun.  My son Jeremy asked me to throw a football and I was happy  to find muscles stretching and coming back to life.

Charlie,  Kate’s sister, was still reeling from the realization that not all birthdays focus on him.  And his cousin Abby who is devoted to him no doubt was learning that it pays to keep your eyes on the little guy when he has a tennis racket in his hand.

These are the riches of this life.  You cannot measure wealth in terms of your diminished IRA or the value of your home.  If you do you will miss the treasure that  is spilled all over your front lawn.

Time will bring so many changes to us.  We imagine the things that will not happen and are surprised by the things that spring upon us one day when we are looking the wrong way.

Yes Sarah.  It doesn’t get any better that this.  Later when we were driving back to Richmond I suddenly felt very sleepy.   Beth doesn’t like to drive at night but I pulled over and gave her the wheel.

She drove us home as darkness settled on the road and I listened to Wolfman Jack on the satellite radio and the sounds of the sixties.

I felt protected and warm.  A man doesn’t always have to lead.  If I could go back to the days when Woodstock rose and armies returned from foreign lands I would say “Thank you”.

We protect each other.  And we know how to enjoy life.   We share our energy, our strengths and our motivation to create a better world.

Newspaper headlines do not faze us.  Someday, in fact, we may have to do away with all the newspapers entirely if they don’t quit focusing  so much on the daily, mind-numbing tragedies all around us.

We know about those things.  We want to hear about life.

And so we communicate with each other in blog land.  We have found a place to share our lives.

Our lives happen here.

Tags: cold winter mornings, coming back to life, first birthday, grandchildren, grandfather, lynchburg, professional photographer, realization, warm breezes, warm rays, Wolfman, woodstock