Pockets full of sins
Waging wars
Purple saga
Foaming waves,
Sodom and Gomorrah
Beasts loosed upon the unsuspecting.
Spittle flying from lips
Heat consuming
Flames indulgent
Spoken fragmented lies
New York Transit
Breath coming in short gasps
Hushed moanings
Surging pressure
System overload
Inevitable breakdown.
Lying compass
Misdirection
Lost and searching
Destination
Nowhere.
Loaded weapon
Seeking solace
Melting snow
Desert sands as strong wind blows
Intersection
Crossroads
No navigation.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Quite A Monday We Have Had
Quite a day today for myself and darling bride Peggy.
Thru the efforts of one of our board members on the Riverside Park Summer Concert Series, we have secured our stage sponsor for the 2009 season. This will give our sponsor the naming rights for the stage during the entire 2009 season.
While we are awaiting official word to be given, I would like to at least post pictures of the partner of this sponsor on my page. Indeed, this man is Rupert Bonham of CBS' Survivor fame.
Today, he and his partner were in Rushville to present their sponsorship check and to have their photos taken to publicly announce their sponsorship for the 2009 season.
Not only was Rupert the perfect gentleman and quite the conversationalist, he was also very polite and allowed all of us there to have our picture taken with him. This was a very thrilling moment for Peggy and myself because Rupert has always been our favorite from all the seasons of Survivor and it was grand to finally get to meet this million dollar winner, shake his hand and have our picture taken with him.
Yes, indeed, quite a moment for us on our vacation!
Also, it occurred to me that up until now I had never posted a picture of my wife of over thirty years, Peggy, until today. So, yes, indeed, this is the woman who blessed my life all those many years ago when she said yes when I asked her to marry me.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Remembering Summer Heat- Part Nine
Creative ideas often sprang forth from us collectively as a band. Oft times as we were performing, an idea would occur to one of us and we would simply spring it on our audiences as well as ourselves, sometimes without discussion.
We had written a few original tunes as well. As the years have gone by, I've forgotten a few of those tunes, but I do remember two of them. One was "Quicksand Mother," which I always thought would have been a killer of a name for a band. The other one, which Jay and I wrote together was "Sounds From 46,000 B.C." Jay had worked out the melody, I wrote the lyrics. It was basically a Viet-Nam war protest song and a nuclear bomb war protest song at the same time. Funny thing about that tune, I spent a large amount of time picking out just the right words to get our message across in just three verses, and I felt I had done quite well. Jay did as well, but when it came time to perform the song, Jay pretty much winged the verses because he never quite got a grip on my lyrics. He had the chorus down pat, no problem, but he never did get the verses down, so to speak. Hell, it didn't matter, the band performed our song at each dance we played, so that was good enough for me, just to hear it playing each time we took the stage.
We had a great night going one particular evening, the audience was huge, truly one of the biggest ones that had ever played at the Community Building, and they were a truly receptive audience as well. The crowd hadn't thinned at all as we made it into our final one hour set. The band was so tight this particular night, the sounds we were playing were awesome. Jay's vocals were so good that night; I'm not sure he ever sounded better. I felt like I was right on it with the lighting effects that night as well. The guitars were melded together, the keyboards sounded awesome, and Jim's drumming was excellent. Denny was enjoying the night, smiling more than I think I had ever seen him. Mike seemed to have been transformed to a higher plane, his guitar work was mesmerizing.
As the magic hour of the end, 11 PM approached, I had a very creative idea that I thought would prove to be awesome. I walked over to Jay as we finished a song and told him my idea. "When the vocals are done in this next song, have the band keep playing, and let's start tearing down while the song is still going on, and tear down one instrument at a time. What do you think?"
Jay started laughing and looked at me and said, "Charlie, you crazy son of a bitch, I love it! Let's do it, man!" He walked over and gave the instructions to Mike and Denny and I walked over and told Jim.
I told Jim, "We'll tear everyone else down and leave you playing drums at the end, all by yourself." Jim, while a bit apprehensive, picked up on the groove we were in and agreed.
As the years have gone by, I don't remember how we did it, where we started or who we started with, but I remember Jay and I opened up the doors while the band played on, and we pulled the van up to one of those huge overhead garage doors, opened up the van doors, and began tearing down the stage and loading things up in the van.
The audience again crammed the stage to see just what the hell Summer Heat was up to this time, and several times during our teardown, we received approval in the form of applause from a large number of those in attendance.
As each part of the band was removed from the stage and their instruments and amps were loaded up, a few more of our audience walked out the doors, realizing the show was ending. This entire scene took place as our strobe light flashed away, and it was an electrical feeling, doing what we were doing, because it had never been done before, and it never would again, we knew. It had to have been one of the coolest things we had ever done to end our show, and again, it was purely a spur of the moment idea that came about and that we acted on collectively.
When Jim finished his impromptu drum solo, around 60 or so people remained in the audience, and the majority of them clapped and hollered out encouragement to us, although I have to admit we did have that usual handful of smart asses in attendance that had to make their rude comments, although they were pretty much silenced by the approval of everyone else in attendance.
It was such a magical time, such a great time to be alive and performing for people, and it seemed the longer we played together and worked together, the more our ideas grew and the creative forces just seemed to blossom for us.
Our second Greensburg High School dance was in the near future, and on that particular night, even though our creative forces would be in full bloom, the audience this particular night would not be quite so receptive.
to be continued.....
We had written a few original tunes as well. As the years have gone by, I've forgotten a few of those tunes, but I do remember two of them. One was "Quicksand Mother," which I always thought would have been a killer of a name for a band. The other one, which Jay and I wrote together was "Sounds From 46,000 B.C." Jay had worked out the melody, I wrote the lyrics. It was basically a Viet-Nam war protest song and a nuclear bomb war protest song at the same time. Funny thing about that tune, I spent a large amount of time picking out just the right words to get our message across in just three verses, and I felt I had done quite well. Jay did as well, but when it came time to perform the song, Jay pretty much winged the verses because he never quite got a grip on my lyrics. He had the chorus down pat, no problem, but he never did get the verses down, so to speak. Hell, it didn't matter, the band performed our song at each dance we played, so that was good enough for me, just to hear it playing each time we took the stage.
We had a great night going one particular evening, the audience was huge, truly one of the biggest ones that had ever played at the Community Building, and they were a truly receptive audience as well. The crowd hadn't thinned at all as we made it into our final one hour set. The band was so tight this particular night, the sounds we were playing were awesome. Jay's vocals were so good that night; I'm not sure he ever sounded better. I felt like I was right on it with the lighting effects that night as well. The guitars were melded together, the keyboards sounded awesome, and Jim's drumming was excellent. Denny was enjoying the night, smiling more than I think I had ever seen him. Mike seemed to have been transformed to a higher plane, his guitar work was mesmerizing.
As the magic hour of the end, 11 PM approached, I had a very creative idea that I thought would prove to be awesome. I walked over to Jay as we finished a song and told him my idea. "When the vocals are done in this next song, have the band keep playing, and let's start tearing down while the song is still going on, and tear down one instrument at a time. What do you think?"
Jay started laughing and looked at me and said, "Charlie, you crazy son of a bitch, I love it! Let's do it, man!" He walked over and gave the instructions to Mike and Denny and I walked over and told Jim.
I told Jim, "We'll tear everyone else down and leave you playing drums at the end, all by yourself." Jim, while a bit apprehensive, picked up on the groove we were in and agreed.
As the years have gone by, I don't remember how we did it, where we started or who we started with, but I remember Jay and I opened up the doors while the band played on, and we pulled the van up to one of those huge overhead garage doors, opened up the van doors, and began tearing down the stage and loading things up in the van.
The audience again crammed the stage to see just what the hell Summer Heat was up to this time, and several times during our teardown, we received approval in the form of applause from a large number of those in attendance.
As each part of the band was removed from the stage and their instruments and amps were loaded up, a few more of our audience walked out the doors, realizing the show was ending. This entire scene took place as our strobe light flashed away, and it was an electrical feeling, doing what we were doing, because it had never been done before, and it never would again, we knew. It had to have been one of the coolest things we had ever done to end our show, and again, it was purely a spur of the moment idea that came about and that we acted on collectively.
When Jim finished his impromptu drum solo, around 60 or so people remained in the audience, and the majority of them clapped and hollered out encouragement to us, although I have to admit we did have that usual handful of smart asses in attendance that had to make their rude comments, although they were pretty much silenced by the approval of everyone else in attendance.
It was such a magical time, such a great time to be alive and performing for people, and it seemed the longer we played together and worked together, the more our ideas grew and the creative forces just seemed to blossom for us.
Our second Greensburg High School dance was in the near future, and on that particular night, even though our creative forces would be in full bloom, the audience this particular night would not be quite so receptive.
to be continued.....
Friday, October 10, 2008
One Week Gone
The worst part of a two week vacation is watching one week go by and realizing that the vacation is half over. One week ago, Peggy and I left for Talladega, AL for the Nascar race this past Sunday. We spent two nights in Birmingham with our good friends Al and Tammy, who provided us with the ride down and the tickets for the race.
Al did a marathon job of driving after the race was over, and instead of stopping after a few hours of driving after leaving the track, he managed to drive straight thru all those miles and brought us safely back home at 4:45AM Monday. Needless to say, after being up well over 27 hours without sleep, Peg and I spent the day in bed resting up.
We've had a few mini trips, spent last night at the Argosy Casino and Hotel in Lawrenceburg (no, not a profitable trip, either) and we've got another week to go yet. Will we get to do everything we planned on? Hard to say at this point. All I know it's been a great vacation so far and hopefully next week will exceed all expectations for us as well.
We do have another overnighter to the Argosy coming up, this time including a free trip to the Prime Rib Buffet. Anyone who knows me knows that I dearly love prime rib.
Also, a dear friend of mine started his own blog this week, and here's hoping he gets it right this time. JBE, aka ems, aka Kingfish, has once again started blogging with a new page. I'm hoping he sticks with it this time around because he really is talented when he sits in front of a keyboard and shares his words.
Okay, with those words out, it's time for me to embark on week two of this glorious fall vacation.
Peace!
Al did a marathon job of driving after the race was over, and instead of stopping after a few hours of driving after leaving the track, he managed to drive straight thru all those miles and brought us safely back home at 4:45AM Monday. Needless to say, after being up well over 27 hours without sleep, Peg and I spent the day in bed resting up.
We've had a few mini trips, spent last night at the Argosy Casino and Hotel in Lawrenceburg (no, not a profitable trip, either) and we've got another week to go yet. Will we get to do everything we planned on? Hard to say at this point. All I know it's been a great vacation so far and hopefully next week will exceed all expectations for us as well.
We do have another overnighter to the Argosy coming up, this time including a free trip to the Prime Rib Buffet. Anyone who knows me knows that I dearly love prime rib.
Also, a dear friend of mine started his own blog this week, and here's hoping he gets it right this time. JBE, aka ems, aka Kingfish, has once again started blogging with a new page. I'm hoping he sticks with it this time around because he really is talented when he sits in front of a keyboard and shares his words.
Okay, with those words out, it's time for me to embark on week two of this glorious fall vacation.
Peace!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
America's got Talent 2008 Winner (Final) Results
As promised, here is the final results from AGT, October 1, 2008. It's rather lengthy, but it's worth watching. Congrats again to all who finished in the top five and to these two who have done such a great job.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
America's Got Talent Finale Results
After months of shows, over 200,000 auditions, tonight, the top five became one, as Neal E Boyd took the honor of being voted the best new act in America. He won by the closest margin in the shows short history, 1/2 of one percent. The act finishing in second place was none other than Eli Mattson.
I hope to find a video to post showing the final result being announced, and I'm sure I will, and it will be posted here when I find it.
Congratulations to Neal E Boyd, a truly remarkable talent.
Also congrats to Eli Mattson, who will no doubt be picked up by a major recording company and no doubt soon to be doing a tour of his own.
I hope to find a video to post showing the final result being announced, and I'm sure I will, and it will be posted here when I find it.
Congratulations to Neal E Boyd, a truly remarkable talent.
Also congrats to Eli Mattson, who will no doubt be picked up by a major recording company and no doubt soon to be doing a tour of his own.
It's That Wonderful Time Of Year Again
It's great to hear from folks when it's been a while since I've done any postings. Actually, it's just about that time of year again when the temps are cooler, the leaves are getting ready to change and the air simply just breathes better.
Yep, it's fall again and this one seems to be off to a great start.
As many of you know, my wonderful wife of over 30 years and myself love to vacation in the fall. This year is no exception. We are about to embark on our annual two week vacation.
This year we're starting off with a much anticipated trip to Talladega, Alabama and a Sunday attendance at the Talladega Superspeedway and the Talladega 500. We were invited to go with friends and that will make the trip an adventure with them as well. We leave Friday morning for Birmingham where we will be staying both Friday and Saturday nights. After the race Sunday, we start back and our driver tells me he'll drive until he's too tired to drive anymore and we'll stay wherever on Sunday night.
After we arrive back home Monday, we've got the remainder of two glorious fall weeks to enjoy as we see fit. There will be trip to the Argosy Casino down by the Ohio River and an overnight stay along with a trip to their prime rib buffet.
We usually make a trip to Nashville, Indiana and a visit to the Moonshine Leather shop and a visit with the owner Mike. We'll work in a trip over to the Brown County Winery and of course a sampling of their array of wines. That morning will start with breakfast at the Daily Grind and a cup of their fabulous Sledgehammer, which is not for the weak at heart because it is smack dab loaded with caffeine and in bunches to boot. It features a mug of dark roast coffee with a double shot of espresso in it. YUMMO!!!!
We'll make an annual pilgrimage to buy pumpkins and gourds from a lady that sells these items at her farm in Union County. A trip thru Whitewater Memorial State Park, a trip to Mounds State Recreational Area and Mounds State Recreational Area will also be done probably that same day.
A trip down to the Ohio River for a second time, but this time instead of going to a Casino, our trip will take us to Clifty Falls State Park for a dinner and a walk in the woods. Clifty Falls is where we stay each year for our anniversary, so a nice day visit there before our trip in late winter will be much anticipated as well.
Other than that, there will be other day trips, cookouts, bonfires and trips to our hottub as well as a Completion Party for those of us on the board for Riverside Park and our volunteers as well.
It will a time of love, renewal and fun, and it will be spent together in our favorite season of the year.
That two weeks will simply fly by, too.
Anyway, preparation for that vacation has kept me busy and away from postings, but I assure you, more is coming and I hope to keep these interesting, and for those of you who have been asking for another installment of "Remembering Summer Heat, I assure you part nine is indeed coming shortly.
Again, thanks for the interest, the questions, the comments and most of all, I thank all of you who are in my Faithful Few.
Peace!
Yep, it's fall again and this one seems to be off to a great start.
As many of you know, my wonderful wife of over 30 years and myself love to vacation in the fall. This year is no exception. We are about to embark on our annual two week vacation.
This year we're starting off with a much anticipated trip to Talladega, Alabama and a Sunday attendance at the Talladega Superspeedway and the Talladega 500. We were invited to go with friends and that will make the trip an adventure with them as well. We leave Friday morning for Birmingham where we will be staying both Friday and Saturday nights. After the race Sunday, we start back and our driver tells me he'll drive until he's too tired to drive anymore and we'll stay wherever on Sunday night.
After we arrive back home Monday, we've got the remainder of two glorious fall weeks to enjoy as we see fit. There will be trip to the Argosy Casino down by the Ohio River and an overnight stay along with a trip to their prime rib buffet.
We usually make a trip to Nashville, Indiana and a visit to the Moonshine Leather shop and a visit with the owner Mike. We'll work in a trip over to the Brown County Winery and of course a sampling of their array of wines. That morning will start with breakfast at the Daily Grind and a cup of their fabulous Sledgehammer, which is not for the weak at heart because it is smack dab loaded with caffeine and in bunches to boot. It features a mug of dark roast coffee with a double shot of espresso in it. YUMMO!!!!
We'll make an annual pilgrimage to buy pumpkins and gourds from a lady that sells these items at her farm in Union County. A trip thru Whitewater Memorial State Park, a trip to Mounds State Recreational Area and Mounds State Recreational Area will also be done probably that same day.
A trip down to the Ohio River for a second time, but this time instead of going to a Casino, our trip will take us to Clifty Falls State Park for a dinner and a walk in the woods. Clifty Falls is where we stay each year for our anniversary, so a nice day visit there before our trip in late winter will be much anticipated as well.
Other than that, there will be other day trips, cookouts, bonfires and trips to our hottub as well as a Completion Party for those of us on the board for Riverside Park and our volunteers as well.
It will a time of love, renewal and fun, and it will be spent together in our favorite season of the year.
That two weeks will simply fly by, too.
Anyway, preparation for that vacation has kept me busy and away from postings, but I assure you, more is coming and I hope to keep these interesting, and for those of you who have been asking for another installment of "Remembering Summer Heat, I assure you part nine is indeed coming shortly.
Again, thanks for the interest, the questions, the comments and most of all, I thank all of you who are in my Faithful Few.
Peace!
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