Tonight, After 21 Years, I Passed the Audition
tonight i was with the surviving members of the band "the woods" (see my earlier blog about david enloe's passing).
we were rehearsing what is basically a christmas night "concert for george" version of "the concert for david". i am playing with them and some supporting friends (ron from the hanks on guitar and his brother david, former ruin and current tres chica sideman on another guitar) on david's song "sand" (from their '86 debut and only record).
i worked really hard for days to master the guitar intro, a solo and the lead vocal (turns out dave and ron had those covered, though i sneaked in one open G lick or two at the end). i stepped up to the mic, tuned to that blues tuning of open G, plugged into the guitar and it went like magic. it felt the way it should have felt 21 years ago (and probably didn't). it was like riding a wave i'd waited on for two decades.
in late '86 the woods held auditions for a fourth member. they'd always been a trio. i auditioned, felt ok about it, but i didn't get it. i'm probably 5 times the guitarist now i was then. i've put far more work into it in recent years. i was probably more of a star struck fan at the audition. of course, the audition in '86 introduced me to another guy who'd auditioned, ron. he and i formed the hanks the very next year. he was there playing with me tonight. it was such a natural gathering of some special friends.
tonight when i finished the song, terry anderson looked up over his drums and said about the same time as ron, "you passed the audition, 21 years late!" we all had a
good laugh, but right now i can say that was one of my best musical moments, there in that rehearsal room.
terry added "david was the one vote against you!" (regarding the audition in '86). we all found that quite funny, and we all laughed hard. of course, the joke is that david can't be here to verify if terry's lying or not ;)
if anyone's around, it's christmas night at the pourhouse in raleigh. terry and
david shared birthdays, december 25, 1956. doors at 9pm. the tribute's around 10pm.
several of david's old friends will take a turn at the mic or on guitar to help celebrate his music and life. it'll be a night to remember. some laughter and some tears without a doubt.
thank you david enloe. you brought us together then. and tonight, though you weren't there in body, you *were* there. i think we were all looking around at each other and realized it about the same time.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
another great guitarist gone - RIP David Enloe
i've written several emails in the last few weeks to old friends, new friends, people i hardly knew concerning my guitar hero david enloe. he was one of the two tremendous guitarists in the fabulous knobs (the other being keith taylor) and later of the woods, marti jones and don dixon's mid 80's touring band and with winston-salem's the carneys in the late 80s. it's hard to think of david without his lifelong musical pals terry anderson and jack cornell (most notably known collectively as "the woods").
it's no exaggeration that i saw 90% of all their eastern and central north carolina gigs from their inception in 1985 or so (after dan baird left the woodpeckers to reform the georgia satellites) until their breakup in 1993.
most of the correspondence involved phrases like "my guitar hero" as i wrote above, but also ones such as "jokester", "friend", "influence", "template for rock and roll cool". he was all these things. he was the middle enloe brother, steve being the eldest and my close ncsu college friend mark as the youngest. it was through mark that i met david in the fall of 1980. the fabulous knobs were the hottest act around then and over time, i got to know david through mark. i can't describe how honored i was that david even knew my name then. he was that much of a musical giant to me. i was just learning guitar that fall and i studied his fingers and stage presence probably more than i cracked my college books then. he put into motion, just by being himself, that talented man, so many friendships and musical careers. i could chart it out here if i had a chalk board and a way to draw it.
he died today, november 27, 2007 from complications due to advanced liver disease in raleigh at wake medical center. i visited him two weeks ago with close friends herbie saint (the hanks), bo hemphill and becky tilley mullen. he was extremely tired and looked exactly as ill as terry anderson and keith taylor had decribed in emails and blogs. so awful to see him suffer like that. but those guys and brother mark, jack cornell and others were so good to him up to the very end. we should all be so lucky to have friends like that in our time of need. david's mom passed away this spring and i know the blow is unimaginable to steve and mark. i can only send my prayers and offers of comfort, but it's going to take some time for them to process this. i know i could not think of work at all today. my thoughts were often sad, though i did have several musical memories come to mind. i'll post more when i can revisit this later in the week.
until then, here's the news story of his passing by the news and observer's david menconi (he kindly called me for some quotes, but i was so adrift it was hard getting anything coherent for him to use, but he did a good job).
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/796627.html
also his soul brother terry anderson's blog.
http://whassupta.blogspot.com/
and former roadie (and my old ragdads bandmate) bob davis' blog.
http://bd58.blogspot.com/
bless you david. shine on old friend. you've been in my heart for a long time and will surely be there now that you're on to a better place.
edit: 11.30.07 - david's burial is tomorrow in robbins, nc. i have a gig later that night in durham. definitely gonna play his song "sand" and maybe even "cat out of the bag" if i can show it to the guys. i've also put together a memorial page for him. go hear the mp3s of his terrific and timeless songs.
it's no exaggeration that i saw 90% of all their eastern and central north carolina gigs from their inception in 1985 or so (after dan baird left the woodpeckers to reform the georgia satellites) until their breakup in 1993.
most of the correspondence involved phrases like "my guitar hero" as i wrote above, but also ones such as "jokester", "friend", "influence", "template for rock and roll cool". he was all these things. he was the middle enloe brother, steve being the eldest and my close ncsu college friend mark as the youngest. it was through mark that i met david in the fall of 1980. the fabulous knobs were the hottest act around then and over time, i got to know david through mark. i can't describe how honored i was that david even knew my name then. he was that much of a musical giant to me. i was just learning guitar that fall and i studied his fingers and stage presence probably more than i cracked my college books then. he put into motion, just by being himself, that talented man, so many friendships and musical careers. i could chart it out here if i had a chalk board and a way to draw it.
he died today, november 27, 2007 from complications due to advanced liver disease in raleigh at wake medical center. i visited him two weeks ago with close friends herbie saint (the hanks), bo hemphill and becky tilley mullen. he was extremely tired and looked exactly as ill as terry anderson and keith taylor had decribed in emails and blogs. so awful to see him suffer like that. but those guys and brother mark, jack cornell and others were so good to him up to the very end. we should all be so lucky to have friends like that in our time of need. david's mom passed away this spring and i know the blow is unimaginable to steve and mark. i can only send my prayers and offers of comfort, but it's going to take some time for them to process this. i know i could not think of work at all today. my thoughts were often sad, though i did have several musical memories come to mind. i'll post more when i can revisit this later in the week.
until then, here's the news story of his passing by the news and observer's david menconi (he kindly called me for some quotes, but i was so adrift it was hard getting anything coherent for him to use, but he did a good job).
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/796627.html
also his soul brother terry anderson's blog.
http://whassupta.blogspot.com/
and former roadie (and my old ragdads bandmate) bob davis' blog.
http://bd58.blogspot.com/
bless you david. shine on old friend. you've been in my heart for a long time and will surely be there now that you're on to a better place.
edit: 11.30.07 - david's burial is tomorrow in robbins, nc. i have a gig later that night in durham. definitely gonna play his song "sand" and maybe even "cat out of the bag" if i can show it to the guys. i've also put together a memorial page for him. go hear the mp3s of his terrific and timeless songs.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Hurricane Fran: what I remember 10 years later / Elvis 29 years later
Glances From A Nervous Groom
september 6 marks ten years since hurricane fran arrived with its fury in north carolina. i was playing a gig at berkeley cafe in downtown raleigh. seems we weren't expecting the worst of it till the wee hours. so we continued to play. we were the opener and terry anderson's band was on stage. they were so loud we could not hear the wind or the trees and limbs falling on the street there at nash square. eventually, my roommate called the bar from home and asked if i was coming home! was sweet and mother hen-like of him (joe - who's nickname is "sloe" if you read this, thank you!)
normally, it would be a 5 minute drive from berkeley cafe to my home where mordecai and oakwood meet. but it took me 20 minutes to go that 2 or so miles. fallen trees and power lines on every street. i felt like a mouse in a maze.
the only business open was krispy kreme on peace st. i got two dozen doughnuts and that's what we ate pretty much for 24 hours. being bachelors, we didn't have much in the fridge.
i do recall we sat on the front porch for awhile, drinking beer (sloe had stocked up) watching the wind, rain and eerie green lights of the sky. i still remember the sound of distant transformers blowing up every few minutes.
we lost power for 2 or 3 days. we were lucky compared to some. many lost power for a week or more. and it was miserably hot. and i was really sick the next day from the beer and doughnuts!
----------------
while i'm on the subject of marking anniversaries, today is 29 years to the day that elvis left the building for the last time.
i was playing a version of baseball, called wiffleball, in my front yard in garner, nc when my sister's best friend lisa came to tell us. she was running and breathless. we ran straight into the house to see it on tv. we had just gotten cable, but there was no big cable news network then to my knowledge. i think the networks broke in with the news. it was a scorching hot and humid day in nc that afternoon and all the clips of memphis from that day seem like a boiler too. my main thought was "it's gonna be weird to live in a world without elvis." of course 29 years later, he's bigger than ever. just not among the living.
september 6 marks ten years since hurricane fran arrived with its fury in north carolina. i was playing a gig at berkeley cafe in downtown raleigh. seems we weren't expecting the worst of it till the wee hours. so we continued to play. we were the opener and terry anderson's band was on stage. they were so loud we could not hear the wind or the trees and limbs falling on the street there at nash square. eventually, my roommate called the bar from home and asked if i was coming home! was sweet and mother hen-like of him (joe - who's nickname is "sloe" if you read this, thank you!)
normally, it would be a 5 minute drive from berkeley cafe to my home where mordecai and oakwood meet. but it took me 20 minutes to go that 2 or so miles. fallen trees and power lines on every street. i felt like a mouse in a maze.
the only business open was krispy kreme on peace st. i got two dozen doughnuts and that's what we ate pretty much for 24 hours. being bachelors, we didn't have much in the fridge.
i do recall we sat on the front porch for awhile, drinking beer (sloe had stocked up) watching the wind, rain and eerie green lights of the sky. i still remember the sound of distant transformers blowing up every few minutes.
we lost power for 2 or 3 days. we were lucky compared to some. many lost power for a week or more. and it was miserably hot. and i was really sick the next day from the beer and doughnuts!
----------------
while i'm on the subject of marking anniversaries, today is 29 years to the day that elvis left the building for the last time.
i was playing a version of baseball, called wiffleball, in my front yard in garner, nc when my sister's best friend lisa came to tell us. she was running and breathless. we ran straight into the house to see it on tv. we had just gotten cable, but there was no big cable news network then to my knowledge. i think the networks broke in with the news. it was a scorching hot and humid day in nc that afternoon and all the clips of memphis from that day seem like a boiler too. my main thought was "it's gonna be weird to live in a world without elvis." of course 29 years later, he's bigger than ever. just not among the living.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Looking back 18 Years On: The Hanks
Glances From A Nervous Groom
18 years ago this summer, my first real club band the hanks played our 2nd headliner ever at the brewery, then raleigh's best rock club. tony madejczyk of the spectator magazine captured on video the whimsy and dizzing energy that was a hanks show from that era. many whiskers and grey hairs later, i submit to you via youtube, the summer of love ... ok, that one's taken. the summer of hank, 1988.
more music and images on the hanks (now reunited and playing a couple of times a year or whenever we feel like it) at http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalhanks
also, see this youtube of the followup band to the hanks (the ragdads). this is our farewell show. ron bartholomew was in this band as well.
18 years ago this summer, my first real club band the hanks played our 2nd headliner ever at the brewery, then raleigh's best rock club. tony madejczyk of the spectator magazine captured on video the whimsy and dizzing energy that was a hanks show from that era. many whiskers and grey hairs later, i submit to you via youtube, the summer of love ... ok, that one's taken. the summer of hank, 1988.
more music and images on the hanks (now reunited and playing a couple of times a year or whenever we feel like it) at http://www.myspace.com/theoriginalhanks
also, see this youtube of the followup band to the hanks (the ragdads). this is our farewell show. ron bartholomew was in this band as well.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
baseball has been very very good to me - memorial day 2006
just some random thoughts regarding baseball, both recently and forever.
i made my annual trip to the dc area to see the baltimore orioles play. this time it was a first for me ... vs. the new washington nationals at rfk stadium. though i was 40 years too late (his absolute peak was the '66 triple crown, mvp and world series champ season), i was still thrilled to be able to get a glimpse of former oriole and hall of famer frank robinson. even if it was as a 70 year old manager of the struggling nationals.
the o's lost both games i saw, but i still had a wonderful time at the park. i'm almost 45, but i still bring a glove with me to the games in hopes of snagging an errant foul ball. i caught two at camden yards over the years and a few in durham at the bulls games. in fact, i saw the bulls friday and saturday play the orioles' AAA team this weekend at their fabulous ballpark which is about a mile and a half from my home. my frequent traveling buddy and longtime friend brad magner usually find time to throw a few pitches back and forth on the lawn of the hotel each year. though i was primarily a second baseman in my prime (i played organized ball from age 9 to 18, and was part of the state championship team in high school in '78) i am now a 44 year old knuckleballer. wish i had come up with that pitch 25 years ago.
speaking of that high school championship team, i received word this morning that our catcher greg baker has died after a courageous battle with melanoma. he was a couple of years ahead of me so he was one of the "big guys" when i was growing up. i really looked up to him. i'd known him since jr. high school when he caught for that team and he was in the 9th grade and i was in the 7th. seems i was always one of the "little kids". but he was a giant. he was funny, had the prettiest girlfriend and was a damned fine ballplayer. some of those guys from that team were giants to me anyway. most of the older guys won the state championship when they were 13 or 14 when they were in the little tar heel league. so i knew by the time they made it to high school, they'd be an amazing team. and sure enough, when i was a sophomore and greg was a senior, we won it all on charlotte's home field. ironically, this was the same field the charlotte orioles played their double A ball. cal ripken had played there either that same year or the year before. as had hall of famer eddie murray when he was at that level. we all thought we'd make it to the big leagues. none of us did. but greg went on to be a policeman and detective and made his family proud.
i miss those guys and i'll miss greg. i hadn't seen him since our 20th reunion of the championship team in '98.
this weekend as i was playing soft toss, shagging flies and taking grounders with my buddy tom meltzer, greg was dying in a hospital. and i had no idea. but the night before i'd heard of his death, i'd thought of that team for some reason. maybe i was thinking of how graceful donald sanderford or larry newsome were in the outfield as i was huffing and puffing in the hot memorial day sun at jaycee park.
and i was trying to remember the lineup of that team. i finally typed the lineup into my computer for safekeeping. and of course, then the sad news arrived. my thoughts are with the baker family today and all of the people who had the pleasure to know him, grow up with him and love him.
i remember at that reunion, one of my summer league coaches by the name of c.a. tanner came to remember that wonderful summer with us. i learned this past weekend that he too passed away. another fine man. a national guardsman and a great singer. he used to sing the national anthem at several of our summer league games. while i pause to remember all of these fallen friends and heroes, i want to mention coach ward miller who died about ten years ago, far too young in his early 40's. surely one of the best coaches i'd ever had. maybe the best. he coached greg and i in junior high. he was a classy gentleman and always taught fundamental baseball to us and how to win and lose with class.
here's that 1978 garner high school trojan baseball team. if i've left anyone out, it's due to a faulty memory 28 years ago and i'll make corrections.
coach - brinkley wagstaff (who only coached this one year and left as champion)
C - greg baker
1B - david boyette
2B - david daughtry
SS - moe barbour
3B / LF - eric williams
LF - larry newsome
CF - donald sanderford
3B / 2B - ronnie parker
RF - wayne dail
P - walter stephens
P - roger jenkins
P - roger jernigan
P - steve wiggins
bench
3B / P - freddie elliot
2B - jeff hart
OF - ruff bailey
C - todd smitherman
1B - kerry cross
greg baker 1960 - 2006
i made my annual trip to the dc area to see the baltimore orioles play. this time it was a first for me ... vs. the new washington nationals at rfk stadium. though i was 40 years too late (his absolute peak was the '66 triple crown, mvp and world series champ season), i was still thrilled to be able to get a glimpse of former oriole and hall of famer frank robinson. even if it was as a 70 year old manager of the struggling nationals.
the o's lost both games i saw, but i still had a wonderful time at the park. i'm almost 45, but i still bring a glove with me to the games in hopes of snagging an errant foul ball. i caught two at camden yards over the years and a few in durham at the bulls games. in fact, i saw the bulls friday and saturday play the orioles' AAA team this weekend at their fabulous ballpark which is about a mile and a half from my home. my frequent traveling buddy and longtime friend brad magner usually find time to throw a few pitches back and forth on the lawn of the hotel each year. though i was primarily a second baseman in my prime (i played organized ball from age 9 to 18, and was part of the state championship team in high school in '78) i am now a 44 year old knuckleballer. wish i had come up with that pitch 25 years ago.
speaking of that high school championship team, i received word this morning that our catcher greg baker has died after a courageous battle with melanoma. he was a couple of years ahead of me so he was one of the "big guys" when i was growing up. i really looked up to him. i'd known him since jr. high school when he caught for that team and he was in the 9th grade and i was in the 7th. seems i was always one of the "little kids". but he was a giant. he was funny, had the prettiest girlfriend and was a damned fine ballplayer. some of those guys from that team were giants to me anyway. most of the older guys won the state championship when they were 13 or 14 when they were in the little tar heel league. so i knew by the time they made it to high school, they'd be an amazing team. and sure enough, when i was a sophomore and greg was a senior, we won it all on charlotte's home field. ironically, this was the same field the charlotte orioles played their double A ball. cal ripken had played there either that same year or the year before. as had hall of famer eddie murray when he was at that level. we all thought we'd make it to the big leagues. none of us did. but greg went on to be a policeman and detective and made his family proud.
i miss those guys and i'll miss greg. i hadn't seen him since our 20th reunion of the championship team in '98.
this weekend as i was playing soft toss, shagging flies and taking grounders with my buddy tom meltzer, greg was dying in a hospital. and i had no idea. but the night before i'd heard of his death, i'd thought of that team for some reason. maybe i was thinking of how graceful donald sanderford or larry newsome were in the outfield as i was huffing and puffing in the hot memorial day sun at jaycee park.
and i was trying to remember the lineup of that team. i finally typed the lineup into my computer for safekeeping. and of course, then the sad news arrived. my thoughts are with the baker family today and all of the people who had the pleasure to know him, grow up with him and love him.
i remember at that reunion, one of my summer league coaches by the name of c.a. tanner came to remember that wonderful summer with us. i learned this past weekend that he too passed away. another fine man. a national guardsman and a great singer. he used to sing the national anthem at several of our summer league games. while i pause to remember all of these fallen friends and heroes, i want to mention coach ward miller who died about ten years ago, far too young in his early 40's. surely one of the best coaches i'd ever had. maybe the best. he coached greg and i in junior high. he was a classy gentleman and always taught fundamental baseball to us and how to win and lose with class.
here's that 1978 garner high school trojan baseball team. if i've left anyone out, it's due to a faulty memory 28 years ago and i'll make corrections.
coach - brinkley wagstaff (who only coached this one year and left as champion)
C - greg baker
1B - david boyette
2B - david daughtry
SS - moe barbour
3B / LF - eric williams
LF - larry newsome
CF - donald sanderford
3B / 2B - ronnie parker
RF - wayne dail
P - walter stephens
P - roger jenkins
P - roger jernigan
P - steve wiggins
bench
3B / P - freddie elliot
2B - jeff hart
OF - ruff bailey
C - todd smitherman
1B - kerry cross
greg baker 1960 - 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
when you're lost in the rain in juarez and it's easter time too ...
actually atlanta. i just remembered this long forgotten little story from 1993.
back around '93 when i was playing in chris stamey's trio, we had two gigs booked in georgia. the first one was in atlanta and the second night was in athens. due to work, i had to drive down separately from chris. as i was coming into atlanta, i became lost and found myself somewhere near the carter center. and we were seeing the first sleet and ice which would almost cancel the next night's gig in athens. i just drove around and around. i was off the interstate, but i just was going in circles somehow. the only thing that cheered me was that i turned on the radio and i heard one of my songs! chris had gotten to town a good bit earlier and was in the studio talking to a dj. i'm sure this must have been a college station. he had kindly brought one of my discs to give to the station. afte the song, i heard chris' voice and my stress was lessened. very nice of him. he later covered one of my songs in a later band he had called alaska. was an obscure song called "love in return" on an EP i had out that year.
not sure why i thought of this, but made me remember how nice he was to me to help me out like that.
back around '93 when i was playing in chris stamey's trio, we had two gigs booked in georgia. the first one was in atlanta and the second night was in athens. due to work, i had to drive down separately from chris. as i was coming into atlanta, i became lost and found myself somewhere near the carter center. and we were seeing the first sleet and ice which would almost cancel the next night's gig in athens. i just drove around and around. i was off the interstate, but i just was going in circles somehow. the only thing that cheered me was that i turned on the radio and i heard one of my songs! chris had gotten to town a good bit earlier and was in the studio talking to a dj. i'm sure this must have been a college station. he had kindly brought one of my discs to give to the station. afte the song, i heard chris' voice and my stress was lessened. very nice of him. he later covered one of my songs in a later band he had called alaska. was an obscure song called "love in return" on an EP i had out that year.
not sure why i thought of this, but made me remember how nice he was to me to help me out like that.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Stand for Nothing and You'll Fall for Anything
some thoughts on the alito's appointment to the supreme court and the failed filibuster attempt by the democrats:
so only 32 of the senate's democrats were in favor of a filibuster.
as of this writing, i haven't reviewed the list of those who didn't vote for a filibuster, but i imagine most of them were the ones who were part of the gang of 14 who agreed to never filibuster except under extreme circumstances. well, the time for that exception has come and gone. a little foresight on their part would have been nice.
it's one thing to regret one's vote due to how it may affect one's seat politically. i argue it's a bigger regret to have a missed opportunity to save the country from an erosion of freedom. the freedoms that we are seeing fritter away are the very ones that are invoked when our government authorizes war or waxes patriotic on independence day. how anyone in washington or across the country can miss that sad irony is a tragic blindspot.
in a related note:
bush and the current crop of conservatives are allowing the terrorists to win by allowing this country to melt our freedoms from the inside out. it is so shortsighted to think by allowing spying and certain tenets of the partiot act, we are saving this country. we have a military to fight those fights. let them do their job when it's authorized. but don't give our freedoms away.
i think it can be argued that it's as bad as "negotiating with terrorists" (as in "we will not negotiate with terrorists" they are so fond of saying) in that the u.s. is in a way unilaterally allowing terrorists to dictate how we live. i do not advocate negotiating with terrorists, i want to make that clear. but his solution is on par with that as far as eroding what we have stood for all these years.
what's that famous saying?
"stand for nothing and you will fall for anything?"
well, don't look now, but we have lost our footing under the watch of bush and cheney and it will have dire long term consequences for our twilight years and the best years of our childrens' lives if the other branches of government and the people themselves do not put a check on this naked grab for power. the separation of powers was set up for just this kind of scenario.
so only 32 of the senate's democrats were in favor of a filibuster.
as of this writing, i haven't reviewed the list of those who didn't vote for a filibuster, but i imagine most of them were the ones who were part of the gang of 14 who agreed to never filibuster except under extreme circumstances. well, the time for that exception has come and gone. a little foresight on their part would have been nice.
it's one thing to regret one's vote due to how it may affect one's seat politically. i argue it's a bigger regret to have a missed opportunity to save the country from an erosion of freedom. the freedoms that we are seeing fritter away are the very ones that are invoked when our government authorizes war or waxes patriotic on independence day. how anyone in washington or across the country can miss that sad irony is a tragic blindspot.
in a related note:
bush and the current crop of conservatives are allowing the terrorists to win by allowing this country to melt our freedoms from the inside out. it is so shortsighted to think by allowing spying and certain tenets of the partiot act, we are saving this country. we have a military to fight those fights. let them do their job when it's authorized. but don't give our freedoms away.
i think it can be argued that it's as bad as "negotiating with terrorists" (as in "we will not negotiate with terrorists" they are so fond of saying) in that the u.s. is in a way unilaterally allowing terrorists to dictate how we live. i do not advocate negotiating with terrorists, i want to make that clear. but his solution is on par with that as far as eroding what we have stood for all these years.
what's that famous saying?
"stand for nothing and you will fall for anything?"
well, don't look now, but we have lost our footing under the watch of bush and cheney and it will have dire long term consequences for our twilight years and the best years of our childrens' lives if the other branches of government and the people themselves do not put a check on this naked grab for power. the separation of powers was set up for just this kind of scenario.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
some thoughts on the sounds of christmas and a great cd mix
god rest ye merry gentlemen.
first off, best of the season to you from me, my kitty gypsy and john, paul, george and ringo
i had a lazy christmas eve morning. i did most of my shopping for my 6 family members (i have no children, this is my mom & dad, sis and her family) on the 23rd. and i taught one guitar lesson as a makeup for my beloved 7 year old student lindley. she had her pageant on thursday so had to reschedule. so when that was over, i walked the two blocks to the guitar store to get some strings and just to putter around and say hello to the guys there.
on the way home (again, most everything i need is walking distance here at duke's east campus neighborhood), i took a shortcut through a vacant lot with a nice meadow-like carpet of grass and some willow trees. as i passed under the trees and reached for the gate handle at the end of the picket fence, i heard that familiar whirring sound of startled doves in flight. but here on christmas eve, it just had a deeper ring to it. doves are a common symbol of peace, but there sure doesn't seem to be much right now and our country seems more militant than it's ever been.
as i came back home, i checked a few email messages and read the baltimore orioles fan blog site for offseason rumours, deals, etc. but the best part of the day thus far was listening to some christmas cd's. my stand alone cd burner doesn't burn worth a damn so it's only really useful now as a 2-disc cd changer. i've found it fun to put in two fairly similar genres of music and hitting shuffle.
today's mix was:
The Chieftains: The Bells of Dublin
and
Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas (various on the Verve label)
and later in the day (in fact, on right now) another nice combination:
The Ventures Christmas Album
and
Booker T and the MG's Christmas album.
so i'm gonna relax maybe another hour, read some of the new tom petty bio or doris kearns goodwin's abraham lincoln bio. and then it's off to my folks' house in garner, nc for dinner and exhanging of gifts. and later i'll maybe watch "holiday inn" or "it's a wonderful life". very low key, but restful.
merry christmas, happy hannuka and happy new year.
first off, best of the season to you from me, my kitty gypsy and john, paul, george and ringo
i had a lazy christmas eve morning. i did most of my shopping for my 6 family members (i have no children, this is my mom & dad, sis and her family) on the 23rd. and i taught one guitar lesson as a makeup for my beloved 7 year old student lindley. she had her pageant on thursday so had to reschedule. so when that was over, i walked the two blocks to the guitar store to get some strings and just to putter around and say hello to the guys there.
on the way home (again, most everything i need is walking distance here at duke's east campus neighborhood), i took a shortcut through a vacant lot with a nice meadow-like carpet of grass and some willow trees. as i passed under the trees and reached for the gate handle at the end of the picket fence, i heard that familiar whirring sound of startled doves in flight. but here on christmas eve, it just had a deeper ring to it. doves are a common symbol of peace, but there sure doesn't seem to be much right now and our country seems more militant than it's ever been.
as i came back home, i checked a few email messages and read the baltimore orioles fan blog site for offseason rumours, deals, etc. but the best part of the day thus far was listening to some christmas cd's. my stand alone cd burner doesn't burn worth a damn so it's only really useful now as a 2-disc cd changer. i've found it fun to put in two fairly similar genres of music and hitting shuffle.
today's mix was:
The Chieftains: The Bells of Dublin
and
Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas (various on the Verve label)
and later in the day (in fact, on right now) another nice combination:
The Ventures Christmas Album
and
Booker T and the MG's Christmas album.
so i'm gonna relax maybe another hour, read some of the new tom petty bio or doris kearns goodwin's abraham lincoln bio. and then it's off to my folks' house in garner, nc for dinner and exhanging of gifts. and later i'll maybe watch "holiday inn" or "it's a wonderful life". very low key, but restful.
merry christmas, happy hannuka and happy new year.
Friday, December 09, 2005
The Oriole's Best Leaving Baltimore?
my favorite shortstop in the american league says he wants to be traded after only two years in charm city. after the biblically disastrous '05 campaign (pitching injuries, palmeiro's steroid scandal, sidney ponson's alcohol arrests, brian roberts' heinous arm injury), this is the last thing baltimore needs. part of me wants to shout "suck it up miquel tejada! your first 3 years of your 6 year contract are rebuilding years." sorry. you should have known that coming in. you guys will be contenders in '07 - '09. hang in there! on the other hand, maybe this is a warning shot across the bow that their most talented player is on the same page as baltimore's most knowledgeable fans. it's time to open the wallet and at least try to be in the same poker game as the yankees and red sox. 8 consecutive losing seasons is asking a lot of your fans to say the least.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
December 8, 1980 revisited - Losing Lennon
the whole night, in reflection was just plain eerie. was the night of my first exam at ncsu as a freshman. the movie that night at stewart theatre was hard days' night. the film cans got mixed up and we saw help instead. by the time the movie was over, he was dead and none of us knew it. i didn't have a radio in my car and i still didn't know till the next morning. i went to bed with happy beatle dreams in my head, all of them still alive, for one final night.
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