Run Away!

This is how the military sounded the 'fall back' order in the old days (it must be true, I saw it on Monty Python). Either way fits just fine as far as I'm concerned. We're on our second day of running er, retreat, and enjoying it very much. It's a beautiful clear blue sky and mild temps today, but on the muddy side from the previous rains. So nice to have no urgent deadlines for a while! Feeling stronger every day as well after a visit from mr flu (I think that was his name). Odd, tho, symptoms were about feeling all beat up and low-grade fever. No intestinal or congestion, etc. In any case, just good to have to option of doing nothing all day!

Now tomorrow, New Years Eve, a different story, our friends will be up here, we'll all clean up and attend the big party in Kerrville at the Inn of the Hills. Big Band; Sentimental Journey Orchestra will provide the music, we'll share a table with nice folks from around the state who've been attending this little party for years (this is our second year). I should be ready for that!

Idiot America

Not a title I would use myself, but the title of a book by journalist Charles Pierce. If that name sounds familiar, it my be because he is often on the radio quiz show, "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"

As many of you know, I have been amazed at the shananagins of people and the way the media treats obvious nut jobs as if they are indeed experts of some kind. Well, Mr. Pierce lays if out. If it move units, it's going out. Move units can be sells books, DVDs, or just gets people to tune in.

It doesn't stop there, but that IS a good starting point.

All I can say folks is don't stop sending your kids to school. If they don't dumb them down, we NEED folks who can think for themselves; always, now and in the future!

A Prarie Home Critic

Garrison Keilor's radio program has been a regular feature in my home since it first aired what? 25 years ago? We enjoy the shows he puts together, and the gentle humor he uses on organized religion, like Lutherans and Unitarians. So, when a piece he published criticized UU's, I had to take a look. Normally if GK airs a gripe, it is a valid one.

Well, I looked at the article or blog (or whatever) and find myself disappointed in the man. All the time he poked fun at us, we thought it was 'cause he liked us.

It seems after doing a speaking appearance at a UU church in the Boston area, he found himself singing "sleep in heavenly peace" on the second verse of Silent Night instead of "Christ the Savior is born". I hope there was more to it than that, but he specifically mentioned that as a major source of irritation. I would prefer he had a run-in with an obnoxious atheist to trigger his ire at Unitarian Universalists.

I admit that I might not break my finger punching up his program after this, gods know, we've been tolerating his mediocre singing for years now, and the 'good parts' have been fewer and shorter for quite some time.

As for telling non-Christians to fark-off, it's a Christian holiday damit, I'm going to assume the best of GK; the man has taken the first step into the Grumpy Old Man phase of life.

New opportunities abound, Garrison, like 60 Minutes has been looking for a new Andy Rooney.

I'm not finished yet!

Ahh, it has been a while. 'Haven't had a chance to do much but try to get through the (wonderful) holiday busy season. It is a mixed blessing. Like many, I earn a fair percentage of my income the 4th quarter of each year. So, I guess I'll be all spiritual and the like when that quits being an issue!

TODAY: December 23. Usually things slow down by now, but not this year. Today was even more of an adventure than ordinarily:
Absent mindedness = Absent dollie (for piano moving downtown) "Playful Buck" adds to excitement at piano delivery on large NW estate. "Possum" truck starter brings the fun to new peeks (same location). Westhiemer Santas mildly amusing, but not as much fun as "regular guy" doing kung fu moves on street corner.

OK, I realize the headlines don't tell enough of the story, so I'll elaborate a bit.

Cubil and helper get downtown to recover large grand piano and discover we brought everything but a dolly to wheel it out. No problem, we had a piano on board, so we lifted it off it's dollies and used it. Just A LOT of extra lifting.

The playful buck story is a laugh riot. This huge estate has a "tame" deer running around. Well, it WAS tame until we tried to leave. Then it wanted to butt heads with me. After it chased us back in the house, we were told "if you ignore it, it will leave you alone". I don't know if you've ever tried to ignore a charging wild animal, but it's not as easy as it sounds. When I go back Saturday, I WILL have a plan.

On that same job, our truck starter decided to quit. This is while blocking the narrow paved drive from the house with all the other party trucks (and the house's owner) trapped. We started to call a tow truck and ask Rita to bring our emergency backup truck. Someone suggested we tap it with a hammer. I did, it worked again. We didn't turn off the engine the rest of the day.

I had to drive several miles down Westhiemer road, and at one point there were an army of sign holding Santas letting us know about various sales in progress. That was ok, but the civilian another mile latter doing the karate moves (for no one in particular) really made me laugh, and restarted my possum brain.

Odds and Ends

A couple of items of interest in the past day or two; at church, our speaker today (a very witty and intelligent man called Del Galt) made a mention in passing about a time when friends could debate a topic, and afterwards, smile and have coffee together.

This connects to a conversation I had with a friend earlier in the morning on the subject of polarizing politics. "What occurs to me," I said "is that two friends can have a heated argument about something neither of them has any control over, even to the point of beating the crap out of each other. And the world is just the same as it was before they spoke."

Makes me want to bring out Grannies admonition to stay away from religion and politics in polite company.

What's Going On?

Sing it Marvin.

Whenever I see a film about Nazi Germany or one of these countries in Africa where up is down and everyone is behaving like they live in a loony bin, it brings into focus what really counts on a macro level.

And that is one of the things we look at here (sometimes).

Germany's workings in the 1930's is a wonder in itself. It's easy to look back and pronounce Hitler insane, but remember, this is a whole modern country that embraced lies and distortions (and lived them out) for years.

These little nations in Africa, where neighbors are wiping out neighbors on a regular basis (in between starvation from droughts, etc.); we can rationalize this insanity all we want, smug that nothing like that can happen here.

Right?

I want to talk about levels of functionality. Sorry for sounding clinical, but that is the best word for it.

We like to interact with people who have it together, know what they want, care about fairness, and can guide their canoe down the middle of the river. These people don't get much attention in general, but god love 'em, they are the backbone of any family, community, or nation.

This is what I've liked about Obama, he gives thought-out answers to hard questions and not just some doctorinal spew. People that are attracted to that sort of being need to become the wave of change, not the wingnuts on T.V.

Let's look at the current state of our country. Who are the people getting the attention, making millions on their opinions, selling the books, etc? - Just the sort who might succeed at steering a quorum in a direction that could lead to a national insanity similar to what we've seen in the past.

I feel like I got a dose of that at the beginning of the Iraq invasion. Sorry, but I was very vocal and upset that my country was invading some small dictatorship on the other side of the world. This does not fit MY paradigm for what the United States is.

In a fit of patriotism, my fellow citizens fell right in line and the flag waving began.

Uttering descent in mixed company could lead to heated arguments, people withdrawing their children from your music school, or just a general avoidance of your company.

As a child, I remember this in the 60's when all the hoopla around our good work in Viet Nam began to fade. Anybody talking about peace was a dirty rotten traitor. Makes you wonder if there ever is any learning, or are we to just keep repeating the past?

We're All Celebrities

Years ago I had this great ah-ha that everyone is a celebrity in their own right. That's right, each of us is famous or well-know for something.
So, I began making a picture of each person I knew personally that was very good at something or known for a particular incident, etc.
When you get these made into 8X10 glossy photos, they DO begin to take on a level of self-importance. Hmm, maybe I AM on to something!?

At a customers home today, I noticed he had a wall FULL of autographed 8X10 photos. I asked Mr. S about it, his father in-law managed a music theater in the mid-west for several years, and made a point to get these autographed photos. I'm guessing these are probably worth some money, besides being a cool thing to have on the wall.

'wonder what my celebrity photos will bring?

50 Years From Now

We were talking at dinner tonight about the TV show Mad Men and how it serves as a reminder of how the "good old days" REALLY were. (The G.O.D. being the early 60's).

Every now and then you get our all-American family casually doing something we now find offensive or rude. For example, the Draper family is on an afternoon picnic in the park, they are about to leave, so Don drinks down his can of beer almost to the bottom, then heaves the can into the bushes. Mrs Draper takes the blanket off the ground, shakes it so the wax paper, and wrappers are off it (and on the ground), folds it neatly and carries it into the car.

And that is EXACTLY how it was in the 1960's.

I was there, I am an eye witness.

This small example does not touch on things like the treatment of women, and minorities by those in power (white men). By today's standards, the standard operating procedure of 1960 is unfathomable.

It brought to mind a question: What common behavior do you see in our society now that will likely be just as unbelievable to people in 2060?

Here is one that comes to mind; tens of thousands of cars, clogging city highways day and night, mostly with one person in them. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest there will be a far better way for people to get around in the future.

D I V E R S I T Y

Short post just to let you know I'm here and I'm looking and listening.

For instance, I noticed the other day in Details... that there is a pretty good mix of followers. Several humans, a dog, a bird, as well as a cat.

I don't know about you, but I feel pretty good about that.

What is True and Good?

I wanted to call this piece "It's all Bullshit" but realized it might turn off a few people.

I was having a conversation with a dear female friend of mine a year or two ago. This gal is a few years older than me, that makes her early 60's. Working, and viable, but not a spring chicken.

She has done well for herself in making a rewarding life, self-realized, etc. But she does not have a partner sharing it with her.

My friend, (we'll call her "Happy") explained she would be glad to have a man around to share it but there just has not been anyone the caliber she would want.

I understand that.

I replied "as we get older, our bullshit detector gets honed very fine, and unfortunately, BS is what makes the world go 'round." I realize I am suggesting that many guys are full of it, so let me make it clear: I'm suggestion many guys are full of it.

I wish this were not true, but it is.

Did you ever wonder why there is no radio station for older adults? It is because they don't respond to the advertising radio stations do for the consumer goods. Younger audiences however, do. So Boomers, be prepared; you're next. Classic Rock? Next on the chopping block!

Take your pick from our cultural buffet:

• Reality TV


• Virtual Reality


• Google ads suggesting you can shop for your reality

Enough of the negative. Let's talk about what is real.

I'm sitting out on the back deck, being bitten by bugs, and THAT is real. If I were to make a fire in the chiminara, THAT would be real. I have yet to have a fire take a break for a commercial interruption.

I would love to hear from YOU. What is REAL in your life? It requires filtering out a great deal of what is being offered out there. What do you rely on? How do you get it? What happens when you go without it?

Sharing the REAL You

After reading an article about the Extreme Honesty movement (I think that's what it was called), I want to celebrate the concept, by introducing one of those silly quizzes that cuts past the crap and gets to the things people REALLY want to know. Join with me gentle reader, liberate yourself with TOTAL HONESTY. (Sorry, I'll quite shouting now).

1. What is your full, real honest name?

2. How much money do you make?

3. How much did you weigh at your largest?

4. How much do you weigh now?

5. Who would you secretly like to ravish?

6. Who would you like to have flirt with you so you could shut him/her down?

7. Are you on anyone's enemies list?

8. Who's on yours?

9. What is the most embarrassing moment of your life? (give full details)

10. Do you keep a hoard of cash at your home?

11. What is your shoe size?

12. What is your address?

13. Has anyone ever hit you in the face with a cream pie?

Don't send this to 10 friends, just forward them to me for a comprehensive study. The findings will be published later this year, from my hideout in The Bahamas.

The New Revolution

(cue Rod Serling)

Meet Fred Cubil, being an old guy, and having lived through many a trend, fad, and/or evolution, he can't help being amazed at the way things change, but don't really. Case in Point:

In the 60's there was the counter-culture. This was made up of young people who were really paranoid of the government. There was a fellow named Richard Nixon in the White House, and it was widely believed (by the fear mongers) he was illegally spying on his "enemies", and generally up to no good.

The no good stuff centered around fear that storm troopers would be rounding up dissenters and placing them in "camps" in the middle of nowhere. The fact was that leading radical hippies WERE rounded up, booked on charges of possession (of a small amount of cannabis) and given long jail sentences. Counter-Culture leaders would call for "Revolution!"

Thankfully, this did not happen.

As you may know, through legal means, and really dedicated journalists, it was discovered that President Richard Nixon WAS illegally spying on his enemies, and was often up to no good.

Now, 40 years later, we have another movement, (headed by a different demographic,) that seems to be going in the same direction as the movement of 40 years ago. It will be interesting to see if that word comes up in regards to the paranoid feelings toward the government.

Revolution.

A quick observation on radical politics: Like the see-saws we played on as children, the further you get from the center, the less balance you possess (or offer).

The argument: "If (insert hated government official here) does (insert greatest fear here), then that will open the door to more (insert feared catastrophe here). This, in turn, will lead to (paint visual picture of Earth spinning off it's axes here). They must be STOPPED at any cost!"

These "If/Than" arguments only serve to inflame people that are on the brink anyway. I've been laughing at the foolishness of it, but it may be time to challenge pretzel logic.

Obama is Going To...

I, being of sound mind and body, try to keep out of personal political "debates" as much as possible for reasons like:

1. They Don't mean anything


2. They only cause friction among friends

Well, there's more, but those two reasons alone are enough to make me want to NOT talk politics with people in general. I do have my own thoughts on these earth shaking subjects, and do share them with people generally considered "safe" to talk to.

Being a Liberal (formerly known as a Moderate), I listen daily to AM radio to keep a finger on the pulse of others who don't think as I do. I'm sure Conservatives do the same...right? I must confess I can only last a few minutes because that's all it takes to get me laughing so hard I can no longer hear the person on the radio. I apologize for this, I will try to do better.

There is another reason I listen to Conservative Radio, and that is because of the Hitler Mustache thing. I know, there is a shortage of the little mustaches, as Neo-Cons have bought them out to paste on President Obama photos. In my mind, I paste them on the "gentlemen" and "ladies" of the airwaves, I won't name them, you know who I mean. Why is this important?

Well, to start, the Nazis of Germany were not Liberals, they were Conservatives. They had a message of "Restoring the Homeland to Greatness". The glory is always in the past. Their enemies were vilified in the media, etc.
I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that the great majority in the middle who could have done something but didn't, often didn't because they were laughing so hard at the foolish charges being laid by the young, new movement*. By the time they realized it was no laughing matter, it was too late.

*Who could possibly take such rubbish seriously?

Who's Under That Skin?

Don't cha love life's little ironies?

Case in point; 'Attended a meeting tonight at the suburban home of a fellow church member (our VP, BTW). This is in an upper-middle class subdivision. Discussion centered around several things, but in particular, issues of safety at the church parking lot in view of potentially unstable homeless individuals in the area. A good deal of speculative theory was exchanged, and a list of possible actions to be taken, keeping in mind the nature of the subject, our religious values, perception of those who felt threatened, etc.

I had to excuse myself for a job I was needed for, so left a few minutes early.

As spousal unit and myself began to get in our car, a rather large man suddenly appeared waving his arms and began bellowing at us. I was already in the car, he was on the passenger side. I jumped out of the car and got to the other side to see what was going on. He appeared irrational babbling about his driveway, then mentioned he had let the air out of my tire.

"You let the air out of my tire?" I was shocked.

"I didn't want you to just get in and drive away!"

He then attempted to tell me all the problems he was having with the people we just left.

"you let the air out of my tire?" I was still too dumbfounded to be afraid.

He sort of apologized and offered to refill it with a tank of air he had. I guess it was in the garage behind his Corvette. With that he disappeared in that direction.

I tried to see HOW flat the tire was in the dark, and after a couple of minutes, made the decision to drive to the nearest gas station to refill it.

We took it slow and got there without shredding the tire. It was on a main road, had some "interesting" characters hanging around. I'm pretty sure there were drug purchases going on there. It was kind of jammed up around the air pump, but the 3 interested parties were patient and everybody got their turn. I was last.

I looked over the car of the fellow ahead of me; it was rather pimped out, obviously a source of great pride. When he got through he (with great class) handed me the pump with a "here sir, do you need this?" Held down the hose so it didn't slap back while I filled up the tire.

The contrast was so great from the crazy man I had just left that I had to tell him the story.

"If he had a problem with his neighbor, why did he let the air out of YOUR tire?" he inquired. "He was just irrational" was all I could think of.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your mission (should you decide to accept it): When do you feel most secure in public? More insecure or threatened? What is it based on?

Costa Whata?

Just returned from a much anticipated tour of Costa Rica. Very cool, and even if there ARE people who do this sort of thing all the time, I felt it was the trip of a life-time. You've already heard about it (if you haven't been numerous times), so I won't go into all the stuff about how there was beauty everywhere, and friendly people, bla-bla.

Me, I, Cubil will cut to the chase and just report the things I learned while down there

(small crowd shows it's approval: a smatering of applause).

• organized commercial tours are not awful, in fact, they're pretty good!


• I feel closer to people from that part of the world


• There are some still Unattractive Americans out there *


• The food there is not totally foreign, but there are some Unidentified Frying Objects (and fresh fruits) to provide adventure of the gastronomic kind.
  

OK, I'll expand a bit-

The Commercial Tours (We used Caravan)... nice! Not just because of getting great value (you do), but you get to know people from all over the country for 10 days. As much as I enjoy planning things like this, leaving it up to experts didn't bother me one bit. It was fine NOT driving around the country trying to find things, it was fine that each day was planned to be more awesome than the day before. Now, hand me my walker, I need to go to the bathroom.

I got to practice my Spanish in a real world situation with people who don't speak English. I loved it! 'Got an insight into what it could be to really talk good one day! And yes, we mingled with real locals, not just the extras planted for our enjoyment along the route. As I said, it was cool. When we got back we grocery shopped at Fiesta and without thinking, I started a conversation (in Spanish) with an employee in produce about pineapples.**

On the U.A. issue, what I saw (from fellow travelers) wasn't ugly as much as a subtle rudity. More of a lack of sensitivity. And to be fair, I only saw it twice in 10 days.

When I'm away from home, I try to act like a good guest, and accept things as they come without rating everything. The incident I'm thinking of in particular happened on leaving (end of tour).

We were working towards finishing up with our guide (Sergio) when a fellow traveless (mid-age woman) started telling him about how they lived in xxxxxxxx and how he should look them up if he's ever there, the usual insincere crap people say. Then she goes "we'll put you up in a tent in the backyard, it has a very nice view of the bay". Thinking this is a big kidding thing, I join in with an inquiry about the quality of the tent.

It was Sergio's reaction that clued me to what it really was: This woman had a need to announce to him how much better she is than him. She didn't come back with "oh, I'm just teasing" followed by a sincere statement of appreciation. And worse, I seemed to be participating! For a while I told myself this woman simply was ignorant of social graces (and that IS true), but what is truer is: she was a bitch!

Later, I thanked Sergio and tried to give a sincere message of appreciation, but I could tell; he had written me off as "one of them".

'Didn't mean to make this post steer to the negative, it WAS a great trip I would do over in a heartbeat.

Isn't it funny how clear the one harsh moment stands out in the mind over 999 other terrific moments?

*formally known as "Ugly Americans"

** I now know impressive new things about picking ripe pineapples

Where Were You When?

In case you have not heard, this summer a couple of cool moments had a birthday.

1. First guys walked on the moon
2. Woodstock Music and Mud Festival

There may have been more, but if my local media outlet has done their job, they weren't important.
So let's play a game: I'll throw a few ideas out there, but feel free to pick your own Magic Historical Moment. Many of these moments revolve around somebody getting shot, but d0n't narrow it to just that. ANYTHING you feel was important to the history of history, give us your age, and what you were doing when you heard about it.

Here's an early one for me: I was 7 y.o. when John Glenn took America's first ride into space. I remember being disappointed because he did it one day shy of my birthday. Damn them all!

One more quick one: I was in the pool 23 y.o. recovering from a hernia operation when my next door neighbor told me Elvis was dead. My reaction was disbelief. He knew Elvis is my real daddy.

First Love, First Heartbreak

She was the kind of girl every parent could hate...

For their son to date.

I'd better watch it or this could become a bad poem.

On the subject of first loves, first heartbreaks, etc. A fellow blogger wrote about his, and that got me thinking about my own.


16 years old, not understood by my family (like every other 16 y.o.). You get the full attention of a cute girl and that (as they say) is that. We were the personification of young love. Total strangers would walk by as we sat on a park bench, point, and say: "They in Love!" (This is true).


Gave one another our virginity, it was almost like a (Bob Seger) song.


Or better yet, like a bi-polar drug info-mercial.

The highs were great, 'never felt anything like it. The lows just as awful.

I'll explain my opening statement. Why my parents wished she would go away.

1. From the wrong side of the tracks.
2. Italian (worse Sicilian).
3. She manipulated their son like a puppet on a string (and they couldn't)
4. Well, let's leave it at that. You get the idea.


The unspoken fear (I think. 'Don't know- it was unspoken) was that we would make little Cubils before we even finished high school. On THAT they (and I) should have been afraid. Very afraid.


But with vast reserves of that ignorant bliss I have mentioned in previous posts, we went at it like monkeys in heat: in the evenings in the hallway of her apartment building (about 30 times), while her mother was in the next room on the phone (just once), almost every morning before school started. And all without any kind of birth control (other than withdrawal. Did I mention she was Catholic?).

Our relationship ran through senior year of high school, and one year after that. It was a long drawn-out breakup.


File this one under events that should have defined my life, but didn't.


With the wisdom of hindsight, I finally learned a few things:

1. My first girlfriend was basically my mother
2. She didn't get pregnant because she was on drugs that messed with her cycle.
3. Relationships are very complicated.
4. On birth control from the student nurses I befriended in my apartment: "Who do you think you are Jesus Christ?"

Learning along the way, I did not date the same type girl over again. On the eve of partner and my 30th wedding anniversary, I am not any expert on the subject. Just a guy who has been shown a great deal of grace.

I could Have Sung All Night...

Ever go through one of those periods when you are waiting for a shift? Something to happen that changes your pattern. I've been in one of those waiting periods.

As several of my friends have died (or are dieing as we speak) I began to think of my bucket list. Ah, the touchstone of all: When I get to the end, will there be a bunch of ideas I thought of (but didn't follow up on)? It is said that in the end, we seldom regret what we did, but more often what we didn't do in this life. Well, I don't think I'll have that problem. (ha).

One of the things I have wanted to do for several years now is to sing in a large, amazing choir. I recently noticed, I am not doing this.

So, a couple of months ago I started searching for this choir I am fated to sing with. I'm too old for the Vienna Boys Choir, and the wrong belief for The Mormon Tabernacle. So I checked with Google. (hail Google! Someday someone will write a choir anthem for thee!).

I discovered there was a dandy outfit that rehearses just a few miles from my house. Well, whadda know? I contacted someone through their website, and was told I could come for an audition August 12. I put the date on my calendar and didn't think much about it after that.

Thanks to the bliss that is ignorance, I found the church on time, then the music department (it was a large church). I started meeting people and was greeted warmly. I just was given names, so a dozen or so faces and names were before me.

Then we went into a small... kind of a waiting room (I thought). There were 6 people in there that I assumed were also auditioning. I filled out a few lines on an application, then... pow! Up to sing.

I did alright, didn't embarrass myself or my family. They asked me to step out while they conferred. Then I realized they were the jury. Later I realized the jury was made up of the Director, assistant director, and the 4 section leaders. Holy Crap! Thank you ignorance!

I was then given a tour of the facilities where the group's concerts are given; a 1000 seat sanctuary with awesome acoustics. As we were walking back to the rehearsal space, I was being caught up with info on the last tour abroad (Italy, including the Vatican), and plans for the next tour (Ireland, 2011). I was also welcomed aboard by the director.

What had I stumbled on? The next 2 hours we rehearsed our tails off. This is a 90-120 voice professional Choral Society that often works with orchestras, etc.

So, mixed emotions: I feel blessed to have been accepted, and I feel like a Homer for not even understanding what I was up for.

Spirit and Finances

I have read and heard enough in the past year to be convinced that large hordes of people do not understand how to get ahead with money, finances and the like. The Christian media has picked up on this and people like Dave Ramsey and others have shown a large number of Believers how to get financially secure. It turns out there are a number of passages in the Bible that express opinions about borrowing and so forth. These are relevant to point out to people that hope to lead their lives according to "The Book".

I have been a fan to Mr. Ramsey for a few years now, and used his basic method to get out of debt. Yep, for more than a year, owed nobody, nothing. I highly recommend it to everyone, especially my friends I see struggling to crack the monthly nut.

Got a plan; 'working on a liberal religious version of the Dave Ramsey course to present to Unitarian Universalists. Mr. Ramsey and I agree that something as important as a person's finances should be rooted in something equally as important: His/Her highest values/beliefs.

Forks

I just read a wonderful story in the New York Times called Those Aren't Fighting Words Dear. It is the story of a man in a mid-life transition (meltdown) who's state of mind threatens to implode his family and turn everyone's life inside out. All the things we have seen in friends or family members from one partner or the other; he wants a divorce, miserable, lashing out, etc.

The author (the wife) told the tale of how she handled her side of the issue. Largely with the core understanding that satisfaction comes from within, and the phrase "I'm not buying it" followed by huge amounts of patience and self control. I would guess this woman has done a great deal of the personal work we all should do when we reach adult maturity.

Here's why this tale touched me so deeply.

I was this man about 10 years ago.

In my mid 40's I was ready to chuck my nearly 20 year marriage and go off with another woman. I felt we had reached the end of a road and it was not going anywhere no matter what. I don't know if the same chemistry runs through us at this mid-life stage as when we are teenagers, but if it isn't, it is close enough.

Don't get me wrong, I take full responsibility for my actions, even if I was a bit insane all the while.

When I sat my spouse down and dumped it all out, she was very upset. 'Triggered Flight or Fight response (she ran). We were both very upset, but somehow kept from being angry or blaming each other. We focused on the situation(s):

• What led us to that point.


• How we would get through today


• How it might resolve
  

We both made a vow to act from love and hope for the best. This might sound cliche' or like a platitude, but this is what we did in all sincerity.

For a period of several months, I continued to see the other woman, feeling split about being in love with her and confused about everything around that. To complicate things more, she (O.W.) was also married.

Like the woman in the NYT story, my partner was patient, and willing to wait, see, and accept the outcome, whatever it might be. There is a freeing force in having the worst thing you can imagine happen; it releases you from all the things you held back from saying, doing, being because frankly, you no longer have anything to lose.

This liberation helped us begin to see each other for who we are, instead of the projections we had created. It got us both in touch with our inner selves, goals, desires, feelings. We began to fall in love again. This did not change my feelings for the Other Woman, the confusion was carried along until something broke.

In the early summer of that year, a big-time New Thought conference was held in Austin. Both couples attended for 2 1/2 days. All the big names held workshops. The keynote speaker was Deepak Chopra. Friday night he spoke to us about reality and how the universe is standing by to help us create the world we desire to live in. I believe this is true, as it has never failed me in my life.

After the lecture, the lights went out and he took us on a long, guided meditation. During the experience I began to weep. I don't know what was happening to this day. But in the meditation I saw myself from a long, long distance off. My months-long powerful struggle seemed like nothing from there. When the lights came up and we were leaving, I told my partner that "something happened in there, and everything is going to be alright".

I still can't explain it, but I had clarity. Everything settled down, my wife and I stayed together, (O.W. divorced and married someone else) and are celebrating our 30th anniversary this month. We have gone on, day by day to create the life we have desired, are very happy with our choices and each other.

Thoughts from SWUUSI

Ah, here at the South West Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute, for my 24th time. This is the name we give for church camp. This is a very important part of being in this movement, as you spend a week with people who really care about giving and receiving the benefits of being a UU.

Just to share a couple of things that have struck me so far;

• Going through life without a spiritual practice is like speeding down a highway that goes nowhere.



• When you get a group of dedicated people together, you can't help being inspired.
  

The people who attend this conference never cease to amaze me. In the years that we've been here, I have seen children become adults, adults become parents, parents become grandparents, etc. It is an amazing process, one that reminds me that life will go on, everything will work out, to have faith is not a fancy form of denial, but an essential tool for thriving.

Reparations?

Sitting in a lecture series this week. The theme is The Way to Peace. Yesterdays talk was about reparations for slavery and past racial injustice. Good for stimulating the brain cells. My reaction to this concept is first: It is not possible, second; can't we just move on?

But that's easy for me to say.

Our speaker (a black woman professor), told a story where a southern white man discovered his ancestors owned people 4 generations ago. Horrified, he looked up their decendants, found them and apologized for the past. This does bring it on home the reality for everybody.

I remember being a teenager watching an NFL game with my maternal grandfather, a Mississippi man. A large black football player with his last name made a big play. I thought "how did that guy get the same name as my grandfather?" Grandpa said "I'll be darn, he's one of ours!" Again, bringing it on home.

My Summer Work-cation

Been away from the keyboard lately as life has me performing as a "human doing" rather than Being. Two things on my mind that are worth writing about. One is the unrest in Iran. Protesters being dealt with harshly by the rulers.

As I drove past a "click it or ticket" billboard (you know, the message being if we don't wear our seat belts the nice officer will write us a $200. citation) I thought of the people of Iran who wish to express dissatisfaction with the recent elections. They might be looking at billboards that say: "complain in vain" - years of torture and imprisonment await demonstrators". I'm sure whatever passes for ad agencies would put a cute little public service message together to help remind the masses to tow the line.

And two.

I played a little warm up for a Scientology meeting (of sorts) last weekend. It was just about 15 minutes to build up some energy, and then bang! into the program. Lady singer and I stayed behind to see what it might all be about.

Well, it turned out nothing earth-shaking, it was just a marketing ploy to get the faithful to come to Clearwater Florida to do their "work". I did learn they have a wonderful hotel to stay in, and the best processors on the planet. A long-time friend of mine is there now, he's one of those processors.

Friend and I have always largely agreed on many things, although currently we don't agree on politics. I meant the bigger things: life, the universe and everything. We have trod different paths, but have nonetheless arrived at many of the same conclusions.

FYI, I am not interested in Scientology, I have read a great deal of third-party information that offers a different story from the "church" presentation. I would never give over my judgement to someone else, no matter how much they claimed to be on my side.

The organizations that have done the greatest damage are the same ones that believe they are "saving" the world. No thanks.

Is Your Check Engine Light On?

I was catching up with an acquaintance the other day, in particular, asking about car problems she had been having. Excitedly, she said, "I got the major repairs done, and now for the first time in months, my check engine light is not on!".

Since we were in church, and I so often am inspired in church, I made a mental note:

Good title for sermon: Is your check engine light on?

We all keep lists of words and phrases right? My longest list is "good names for a band".

But back to the check engine light thing.

It's a great code because it says so much while saying so little.

Just like a Check Engine Light (from now on let's say even less: CEL).

What does it mean when when it suddenly comes on? Well, nobody knows, but it's how we react that tells the real tale. Let's face it; it could mean anything from:

We want you to come in to pay us money to Your engine is about to blow up.

If a personal check engine light comes on, what might it be?

Well, I read an interesting article this week on the subject of "What is Health?" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health/views/28essa.html

Great subject. Used to be when you were sick, you saw a doctor. Now they want you in to test a ton of things to see if they can find something wrong. Is it me or is this like the car? I used to bring in the car for reason:

• it doesn't start


• It doesn't stop


• It make screeching noises
  

You get the idea. Now it goes in when there is nothing actually wrong with it. I think it gets a massage and a manicure.

Here's another odd thing: it works this way with pets too. Oops, I mean animal companions.

Up until recently, my dogs annual medical bills were 6 times higher than my own. AND THEY ARE HEALTHY! Well, so am I.

I say healthy; one has Restless Leg Syndrome. There. I said it. Poor thing, she pretends she's scratching, but she's not fooling anyone. Don't laugh, my last dog died of it. Well, that and heart disease.

What were we talking about? Oh yes, your CEL. (5 points if you remember what that means).

Wouldn't Restless Leg Syndrome be a great name for a band?

Puppies and Kittens

Are Not What This Episode Is About.


In the on-going discussion of health care, death and dieing, I listened to a conservative pundit on the radio ridicule President Obama for saying we needed to think about changing our attitudes (as a culture) toward death. Throwing six-figures of life-prolonging technology and hospital stays at each person during their last year of life, is two things:

1. Not a dignified approach to death.

2. Unsustainable financially.

Let's see, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah . . . here!

I don't know if this Laura Ingram person was speaking for herself or the Conservative Movement in her shrill taunting of the president for bringing up the idea of a search for an alternative to our present approach to death. But it was clear that she and her loved ones were going to use every available means to assure they would continue to wake up in the morning. Or if not wake up, have a machine breath for their comatose bodies.


I'm a bit sensitive to this because in the final year of my mother's life, I had to make decisions like the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. This was when she first went into the nursing home and seemed as normal as anybody (well, for 2-3 minutes). At that time, it seemed she would live another 10 batty years.

Less than a year later her mental condition worsened, and that was enough to lead to a status of her not being really conscious for a several month period. Being immobile in bed created an infected bedsore of hellish proportions, and that was the cause of death.

At one point I had to decide to install a feeding tube since she was no longer eating. After much consideration, I signed off on it. In hindsight, I should have turned it down and moved her to hospice. This wouldn't have been a financial decision, but a moral one.

When death comes calling, our part is to greet it with dignity and courage.

Or leave the driving to someone that really understands what that means.

Gran Torino

NOT!

This Clint Eastwood film was recommended to me by a co-worker, a young man born in another land, living here since late teen-age. If you have seen the movie, you can probably guess why he liked it so much and wanted me to see it.

We all have memories of Clint's film life shooting bad guys, delivering lines that have wedged themselves into the lexicon. The advertising (of his greatest hits) on the DVD reminds you in case you were off the planet the past 30 years or so.

Sometimes the best way to see a film is to know as close to nothing about it as possible. In this case I was eminently qualified. I will not get into nitty-gritty with details, because I want to share the joy of surprise about it.

I will say this for it's themes; "Gran Torino" has:

Sin

Redemption

Salvation

Martyrdom

and a host of other broad, reaching lessons.


BONUS! My main man Jami Cullum sings the theme tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoLc43YuuTw

Mr Manners

A wise person once said "deliver criticism verbally, compliments in writing".

As The Green Movement gathers more and more steam (renewable of course), I would like to propose we promote a web-based Social Green Movement of our own; one that

• prohibits the use of name calling


• Encourages encouragement


• promotes speaking your mind in a way that does not diminish others


• Insists you use spell-check
  

Something I enjoy in reading the newspapers online is the comments. Something I hate about the comments is the unbridled language and attitude the posters use in relating to others.

Hey folks, here's my rule of thumb for civilized posting: Pretend you are posting to a loved one.

For you folks who can't relate to that, try this: Pretend you are posting to Mike Tyson with whom you will be sharing a jail cell for the next 3 months.

More Religion According to Cubil

You can always tell when a person has too much time on their hands, their thoughts start going esoteric. This often leads to trouble. Being currently under-employeed, this describes me.

'Woke up with a "This I Believe" thing going on (thanks a lot Amy!). So here we go.

Most of the reader know I have been in the Unitarian Universalist church for all my adult life. You might also know UU's are always defining themselves by what they do not believe. We find this far easier than nailing down a real personal theology. Yet this is what we are called to do.

I'll get the easy part out of the way first.

What I Don't Believe

The Bible is the flawless word of God
You Must Believe in Jesus or go to hell
God wants us to rank our fellow beings
The Earth is ours to conquer and subdue

Wow that list was a lot shorter than I thought it would be.

In case I didn't get my point across, let me say it like this: Mainstream Christian Doctrine is not on my support list. From that, feel free to assume the various wing-nuts that off-shoot the mainstream are also not on my support list.


Many people have a strong aversion to the concept of church or religion feel as I do, and wonder how people like myself continue to attend and support a church. I've spent many a decade wrestling with that same question.

What I Do Believe

We all are born with a mountain to climb
There are many paths up the mountain
The great religious concepts are timeless and of value

Churchy Terms

Here are some terms that run off many a non-believer. I've made friends with them by enlarging the context. You can also plug in your own substitute words to play in your head when you hear them. I believe as humans we are born seeking validation, and are in a struggle to find and be our true authentic selves.

Salvation - liberation from ignorance or illusion.
Redemption - The act that earns freedom
Prayer - To focus on a person, place or thing
Holy - A moment, a place, a person occupying a mindful reverence
God - A power greater than our own
I am not interested in creating a glossary here, there is a great one at http://www.religioustolerance.org/
Feel free to throw your nickel-ninetyeight in comments. Love me, hate me, but don't ignore me!

My Personal Theology

This thought has been banging around in my head for a while now, I've been wondering when it would complete itself where I could take a good look at it. Sometimes these things take their time.

It's a sort of unifying theory about God that explains all the contradictions, and oddities surrounding this timeless Superstar. Instead of going into a series of unrelated stories (as you have become accustom), I'll get right to it:

God is a job.

All this misconception about there being a supreme being or 3 supreme beings (what IS Diana Ross doing these days?) or whatever, are all right, and all wrong.

This explains the weird behavior in so much of the old scripture; God flying off the handle smiting whole races regarding multi-cultural ism, God sending an angel to beat up people, playing favorites, etc. That was just the guy who had the gig back then. I suspect he eventually reincarnated into Tony Soprano.

We've always known this, but somehow missed it.

Like when you start getting too bossy? And your friend says "who died and made you God?"

Although I have been a member of the Unitarian Church all my life, I am ready to accept the Trinity now. I see it as an improvement to turn the God gig into an intergenerational committee. Hopefully if they get a hothead in the chair, the other two can calm him/her down some.

The Pagans are probably on the right track, a whole bureaucracy of gods. This appeals because then we wouldn't have to be concerned about having one God so powerful that we couldn't afford for her to fail.

Even the Obama administration couldn't bail out that problem.

Great Moments in Rock

Everyone can talk about something they have witnessed that stuck with them. Usually it's some superstars getting together to save the world or something, that's cool.

I maintain great moments happen in rock all the time by people not at all well known.

One came to me from my dim and distant past (most of the people I knew then are dead or in the nursing home).

The band was a group I moved to Austin to start right after getting married (1973). I can't tell you the name of it, we could not agree what to call it, so we each referred to it by the name we liked best (hoping the others would like it). I called it Jack Frost. Like many bands, we spent most of our time rehearsing in our living room. Yes, like the Monkees, we lived together - 8 people in a 2 bedroom house. Hang on, I'm getting to the "great rock moment in a minute or two.

We got our first job playing a homecoming dance for Waco High School. I was the point man, 'played guitar, organ, electric piano, saxophone, flute, and sang a bit. On our first gig, we were doing a song with twin lead guitars ("Blind Eye" by Wishbone Ash if you must know). When it came time for the twin guitars to do their thing, me and the real guitarist came simultaneously charging out to the front of the stage as if we had done this on the last 14 shows, when in reality, we never practiced it (in our cramped living/practice room? No way!) Didn't discuss it, or even think about it until "it" happened. We happen to glance at one another on the way out and traded grins. "This IS rock and Roll" Thought I...

About 10 years later I was emcee at a punk rock concert at a downtown park. A young group not unlike my own in 1973 took the 'stage' (flat spot actually). Their twin guitars came charging out with mucho gusto... and pulled their stacked amplifiers over in a tremendous crash. The guitar player's cables were too short! A 'great moment' thwarted by a tiny miscalculation. Fortunately punks thrive on this sort of thing...

More Death and Dieing

Catchy title huh? Although this may have run off my reader, I'll admit now I'm mostly writing for myself. Today was a rough one for the celebrity world, Farrah and MJ both checked out. One expected, one sudden and without warning.

Something similar happened yesterday. A long-time friend and colleague also checked out suddenly without warning. Ironically the day before we were talking about all we had been through with our mothers in the last 2 years. Attempting to manage their slow baby steps toward transition.

Even though the slow dieing process is tough on everyone, it gives you time to get used to the idea. When someone just quites breathing like my friend DL, it just sends a shock wave out over everyone. This, of course isn't something we get to choose, but if we did, I'll admit, I would rather take a little time.

Several years ago, another friend was one of the first I knew to get AIDS while working on a cruise ship. There was a kind of going away party for him at a local nightclub (while he still had the strength to attend). After thanking me for coming, he said, "Bil the one good thing about this disease is that it gives you time to put your house in order".

I guess that is the one good thing.

Another One Bites the...

This may be my year for really dealing with the mortality issue. A long-time friend and colleague died while I was on the way to his house this morning. Just yesterday he was telling me how he was over the cancer and on his way to new horizons...

His wife described the event as "he just stopped breathing".

I was there when the ambulance drove away. I asked M how it looked. She said "they don't tell you anything, I just have to go to the hospital and find out".

When she got there she found out he was DOA.

I once stopped breathing. Funny thing breath, it's one of the things you can't go long without.

I had a bad case of bronchitis, had been coughing for days. One night after bedtime, I got up for the bathroom, and started coughing on my way. Suddenly, after a long coughing exhale, I found I couldn't breath (inhale) again. This is very similar to drowning, but without the water.

My first impulse was to run outside (as if there were more air out there).
Then I realized my body would be laying out in front of the house. The neighbors would stare, it would be a big show, etc. I decided to stay put.

Then I thought of a story I read where a man needed an emergency trake. In the story this was performed by sticking a Bic pen in his neck. I briefly considered this.

Then rejected it.

I was about to pass out, so I decided to lay on the floor, so I wouldn't bump my head when I went out. My forehead was touching the carpet, I was on my knees. I relaxed, waiting to go black. . .

When suddenly air filled my lungs! I was breathing again!

We went to the hospital to check on it. A total waste of time. They kept asking me if I swallowed something, I kept saying no, I cough alot though. They took x-rays, sent me around to different people on duty. No help, no answers.

About a year later I was telling this story to a friend who worked in Respiratory Therapy.
He said "oh, sounds like spastic bronchs". This is when you irritate your bronchs till they just irritate you back (by not responding).

The whole experience made me want to wear a tag that says: Do not bring to emergency room unless

A: bleeding to death (must be sewn up)

B: Broken bone(s) are sticking through my skin

RIP Donnie

TV Nowhere

Is there anybody out there?

I don't know how it is at your house, but at mine we are not watching much television since the "digital changeover". It's not that I'm too cheap to buy the converter (I am too cheap to buy a digital TV), I paid good money (well the gob'ment did) for a converter box which proudly sits upstairs on the bedroom set. I currently gets channel 2, 2a, and 12 channels of foreign programing. And that's it.

Oh, I also did my part for the economy by buying a gadget that plugs into my laptop to make it receive broadcast TV. So now downstairs I can watch 9 different religious networks and a infomercial channel. Does upstairs and downstairs exist in different dimensions?

We switched to seeing our programs on DVDs from Netflix about a year ago, and like it just fine. Although I am missing those quality news programs *

And our beloved channel 8 (PBS) It was sort of like cable.

I've always been fascinated by the concept of "pay TV". To me it rings like "Blueberry Milk". I've never paid to have the boob-toob shine in my home, never seriously considered it. I do look when staying in a hotel, why not? Now and then something shows up that is not bad to pretty good.

AND the hotel is paying...

*bring up laugh track here

How I'm Spending F -Day

I decided this year the best way to really enjoy this treasured national holiday (Father's Day) is hire some kids to hang out with me for the day. You know, go out drinkin' and stuff.

So I checked Craigs List and sure enough there were more kids available than you can shake a stick at. I got this little guy for the day without giving up any cash, I just tuned their piano...

Ok, it cost me extra for him to call me "dad" in front of people.

Now I just need one more ( a girl), it's hard to do this and not look like a pervert. I promise, they will just drink Shirley Temples (they still call them that).

Look for us on Alabama, well be doing a pub crawl due south.

What is your name again?

You know how you get a red convertible and the next day it seems you see red convertibles everywhere? I don't know what that's called, but I'm sure they have a name for it. I'm on one of those jags now, and I want off!

My problem is with folks not doing much in the way of getting their job right. I'm seeing an epidemic of this almost everywhere I look. I'll explain how it started:

We decided to buy a house, fix it up, and rent it. You know, start a little passive income for the later years. Found one, made the deal, hooked up the financing, and then a week and a half before the closing, suddenly got told we didn't qualify for the loan after all! Odd, a few weeks ago they loved us, now we don't cut it.

Conversations with people in the business reveled this loan officer wasn't following the new rules that went into effect May 1. It's all complicated real estate gobbledy gook, and I'll spare you the details. Point is, he wasn't up on his rules-of-the-lending-road. Hey, we all make mistakes right?

Except when you're in business and your mistake costs your client a bunch of money, then it's liable. The wheels just started turning on this, I'll let you know how it shakes out.

I just hung up the phone with an on-line music products company. I ordered an item 2 weeks ago, it never came. I did get 2 emails yesterday saying the card was declined, thank you very much. They had things so wrong I don't even know where to begin correcting them. To their credit, a nice man came on the phone line and one by one fixed all the screw-ups, saw to it the card was approved, and second-day shipped at no charge.

Now THAT guy understands customer service!

How about that airline that sent peoples kids to the wrong destination?
The Nevada Senator? Forgetabboutit!

I tell you the stories on this are off the charts...
(Sorry... I started channeling Rodney Dangerfield there)

I'm not looking for perfecshon, but when you trace the steps for many of these incidents, you find one error laid over another until it looks like a (mental) pile of smashed cars on the freeway.
In spite of the great technology, instant communication, advanced business systems, we get pummeled daily by people with a lack of desire to do a good job.

Want to really stand out?
Whatever business you are in?

Check your work before you turn it in, if it has errors, correct them. When someone is talking to you, stop what you're doing, thinking about, etc. and just listen to them. Repeat what they asked of you (for verification).This will make you a hero in any environment.

My Visit to the State Penn

I've only been behind bars twice, both times on piano related business. Once in the Harris County jail, and again today in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana.

I did some checking earlier this week, as the name rang a bell, but didn't really know anything about it. Turns out it is a giant place that has been in existence for 150 years. Many of those years known for brutality and prisoner on prisoner violence. I expected the worst.

As it turned out, my time there (about 2 and a half hours) was pleasant. Well, it was hot waiting for my escort to show up at the front gate, but in all not bad for a prison. It's hard to tell the inmates are convicts, the ones I saw just wore street clothes. You would not mistake them for the guards, they were all in dark uniform.

Just going through the entry and exit procedures were enough to give one pause. My vehicle was really patted down by guys who wore t-shirt proclaiming them the "shakedown crew". Then I was sent into a building to stand in the "dog booth". I thought I had mis-heard. But sure enough, I stood in a booth while a fan forced my air into the face of a drug dog (next to the booth). Since he didn't bark or go nuts, I was allowed in. I suspect you would not want to get in there right after burning a doobie.

My tools were held for obvious reasons, the saw, files, etc. I was told if I were to bring in a screw driver and it got lifted, they would likely have to retrieve it from someone's back...

The grounds were beautiful, the convicts I met were nice guys, that I enjoyed meeting and talking with. The show is tomorrow night, I will go back at around 10pm to pull the piano, so I'll see the place day and night. Let you know what that's like...

David Carradine and Choking the Chicken

As a young person, I always enjoyed the Kung Fu series, me and my friends would seldom miss it. The star, David Carradine seemed like a cool guy and was well respected off stage by peers and critics alike.

So what's the deal?

Being found dead in a closet with one's genitals tied by a rope (did I forget naked?) is MY #2 least favored way to die *. I came to this conclusion many years ago during the last auto-erotic fad in the 70's: A Rice U. student was found hanging in a tree on campus with his pants around his knees. I wasn't yet a parent at the time, but I felt for this guy's parents. You have this kid, he's attending one of the finest schools in the country, and now they're cutting him down from a tree where he was attempting to get his jollies. GET ME RE-WRITE!

I have to finish this, I have to get a note off to Leonard Nimoy. I will beg him PLEASE do not mess with this stuff. It turns you into a punch line for years to come.

Or at least be sure to use a spotter.

* #1 is being found in bed with a dead bear

Obama Urges Folks to get their piano tuned

I've been noticing this form in internet marketing. I was tempted to use it in Craigslist, I may still. I think it's funny. In the several decades of being in business, we've used (without their knowledge or permission) Mr. T: "Get your piano tuned fool!",

Ronald Reagan: "America's pianos are tuned by Tune America", and a number of funny photos of people I never knew the name of.

So add me to the guys telling you "Obama urges Mothers to go back to school"

or

"Obama urges homeowners to refinance"

how about

"Obama urges everyone to sell out rock concerts that use large grand pianos"

The Last Time I Saw Richard...

Wasn't in Detroit '68, but in Austin at UT a couple of Springs ago. It had been close to 3 years since I had done any work for the show, when I got a call to bring the piano for the UT 40 Acres event (an outdoor festival on campus). It was a nice reunion with the band, they are all nice cats. Leader Wayne and I operated with the understanding we were both there to do and be the best for the show. Lucky for us both, Wayne's well-known temper had never been directed towards me.
The hours-long sound check was over, everything proved to be ready, and it was Showtime!

The days of L.R. standing on pianos were over, he appeared on crutches. Crippled, but still looking and sounding good. Then the horror started.

After the long vamp, he started testing the piano, and something was not right!
The notes were all sustaining like the pedal was stuck. Oh no! I checked everything I could check, but it was in the electronics and I could not figure out the source of the problem. Wayne said "grab the keyboard and put it on top of the grand".
That was done but now L.R. could not reach it. He also could not stand for even one song.
Now somebody said "get a trunk, he'll have to sit on it". I grabbed an amp case and put it on it's side. Now we had Little Richard propped high on a trunk with his feet dangling down. I quickly wondered which hip he would break when he toppled over, when suddenly, one of UT's finest (by this I mean students) showed up with a bonified stool. We pulled L.R. off the makeshift trunk-seat and plopped him on the stool. and the show rocked on...

Well, afterwards I knew I was in for it. I didn't hide or avoid, I went to Wayne and apologized. To my utter amazement, he said "hey don't worry about it, these things happen", gave me a hug and said "take care, we'll look for you next time".

I'd like to thank the gods (or whom it may concern) for a classy ending to a long rock and roll road trip. Below is a video of that same show, right before the excrement hit the wind tunnel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493bewScSs0

The First Time I Worked for Little Richard

The original title of this piece is The First and Last Time I Worked for Little Richard. The first story got too long, so the second part I'll publish later.
---------------------------------------------------
By the sound of the title, you probably think I worked one Little Richard Show, but it was closer to 20 over a long number of years. It occurred today that perhaps the most interesting of all these was the first one and the last.
By "worked for" I mean I supplied the piano (and prep for the piano) on his shows. This is going back to the early '90's.

The first show I had a call for was in Galveston for a summer event at Moody Gardens. They might have been opening their latest pyramid or some such thing.
The concert was on the airport runway next to the Moody complex and stared Blood Sweat & Tears, Dr. John, and (The Beautiful) Little Richard.

This was my first L.R. show and I was excited, after all, this man is a god (in Rock and Roll), and has been a major influence on everyone who ever picked up a guitar (or rock piano).

Not to drag this out, it was an all day deal with multiple sound checks, etc. and when evening came and the concert started, well, let's put it like this: They were planning for 8,000... 800 showed up. That is a lot of empty runway space.

Musically, the shows were terrific. BS&T I had not seen since my 16th birthday sounded better than I remembered. Dr John, who I had been a big fan of since his first album was also great with a 5 piece horn section.

It began to get weird after the BS&T show ended. I went up to do a final check on the piano, and some goons told me I had to leave. Now. I tried to explain I had a job to do, but they countered with if I didn't leave, the show would be canceled and it would be my fault.

I left.

From then on it was like a totalitarian dictatorship transferred in from behind the Iron Curtain. These guys who looked like secret service agents went around ordering everyone around, muttering into walkie-talkies and threatened the meager audience that L.R. would not come out if they all didn't back up 9 feet from the stage... it was all pretty crazy.

Finally it was Little Richard Time! After giving us all time (about 10 minutes) to admire His Beauty (by standing on my piano and posing) he sat down and did his show. Which was good except:

• he claimed he saw people video taping him and so threatened them with his goons.
• He complained bitterly about how much he hated the piano.

Yep, in front of friends and family (mine, not his) he bitched about what a piece of crap the gleaming white grand piano was and how he was going to chop it into firewood, etc.

I wanted to fall through my a** hole and disappear. I had fantasies of getting a picture with him and the whole nine yards. Now I was caught between shame and humiliation.

When the ordeal was finally over, I ran up on the stage to check it - none of the things he claimed were true! WTF?! I thought...

I got a lot of good-natured kidding from my buddies "Bil, Little Richard wants to see you in his trailer". I wrote letters of apology/explanation to the producers (the agent appreciated that). Then heard the rest of the story: After finding out 90% of the expected audience didn't show, L. Richard was looking for an out. All the trouble making was about him being pissed at the low turnout.

Here's the kicker:

4 days later I got a call from his bandleader asking me to come work for them at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Obama Survey

"Did you get your Obama Survey yet?" I was asked. She was holding an envelope that had come in the mail marked "Obama Agenda Survey".

"My what?" I replied.

She went right into it: "Every American has to fill one of these out or pay a $5,000. fine."

I asked "what's in it?"

"They want to know what all you have so that when they're ready for it, they can come take it."

"We must be on different mailing lists" was my only explanation. If I thought I could get away with it I would have said I was on the list of people they would give your stuff TO. But this lady (mentally) lives out where the buses don't run so I didn't antagonize her.

My wonder though is ??? Are there people really saying things like this in the Republican party? Or is this just what she took away from what she thought she heard?

I don't watch Fox news or listen to the radio nut jobs anymore, they make me embarrassed for all involved. The Right Wing "Pundits" get to distort anything, anyway they like because they are expressing their opinion. I'm all for that, but shouldn't there be a disclaimer somewhere that reminds the audience of that? I get the feeling many think they are listening to a newscast.

Children of the Recession?

'Been seeing the TV "news" programs featuring this title, and the first thing I thought of was the pitch meeting. "Let's see, what can we do? . . . done the financial crises to death. . . we need something with Innocent Children suffering. . . I've got it! Children suffering in the financial crises!"

So here they were, kids who had to be told they had to cut down from going to the mall 3 X per week. "Gonna have to wait a bit til Dad gets a new job to buy those $160 sport shoes. Some teens were even told THEY would have to get a job to buy their own toys, etc.

With rare exception, I did not hear anything that truly broke my heart, and I'm a softy when it's the real thing.

If this is sacrifice, I must have come up in the depression and didn't know it. Anybody remember the mid-to-late 60's?

I started earning my own money working after school when I was 11 (I lied and told the super market boss I was 13). 'Made a buck an hour, worked as much as 20 hours a week. Talk about wet behind the ears! I didn't have any idea what was going on... But I figured it out.

I read a great quote last week: "The easiest way to teach your children about money is don't have any".