MAN! I swear. It's crazy stuff down here. I sort of forgot to put in the last post from yesterday that yet ANOTHER person from my past has said hello. Greg Weist, who I first met in 7th grade, is alive and well in the SF Valley. I last saw him many years ago at a Christmas party at his house that was--well--THAT particular night was not a good night for a couple of reasons but I'll move on and not relive it. But anyway--it was cool to hear from "The Big Ox". We used that term to describe him because he was a BIG BOY when we first met him. I think he was already 6 feet tall in 7th grade. I remember DISTINCTLY the first day I ever saw him--a transplant from Arizona--and sat behind me in Mrs. Honzay's English class. I remember turning around in my seat and looking at him, and he gave me a dirty look and pushed up his glasses on his nose and sort of scowled at his desk. I swear I can see it in my head like it was yesterday. Anyway--Greg and I fast became best friends and had many adventures together in junior high and high school, our lives centered around I think three incredibly important things--FOOD, GIRLS, and MUSIC. Make that four. Add on Maynard Ferguson. We were freaks about Maynard Ferguson. Don't know who Maynard Ferguson is? Oh...well...go to www.maynardferguson.com to learn more. BIG inspiration in my life. Right up there with William Shatner!! :-) Geez...now that I'm sitting here thinking about it--Greg and I did a TON of stuff together when we were kids. Obviously band and orchestra gigs, but we toured to Mexico twice with the Boys' Club Youth Band, once to La Paz and the other time to Mazatlan, I had my first beer with Greg in the back of the bus in downtown La Paz (Tecate Beer--it tasted like SWILL), we learned how to drive "illegally" on West Drive by the Rose Bowl with a mutual friend who should have known better, we almost got mugged one summer night but were "saved" by a car load of guys that went way out of their way to turn around and come back and sit with us until the "threat" passed us..........man....I'm regugitating things I haven't thought of in a long long time. I better stop. I may say something I'll regret. HAHAHAHA!!! Some things better left unsaid--ohhhhhhhh yeah. ANYWAY...
Great to hear from him.
AND...I just got some intel that a former GREAT friend of mine, Tom Corbin, THE LOUDEST TUBA PLAYER I'VE EVER HEARD IN MY FREAKIN' LIFE, is on my radar. Need to track that boy down. He used to come pick me up every morning to go to school in our senior year--him in his old beat up I think it was a Duster but I can't remember, and he always had some weird chick in the car that carpooled as well. Didn't say much. I think she was Goth--about 20 years prior to Goth being popular. Nice enough. Just...unsettling. I also was in my first traffic accident with Tom--he was pulling out of my driveway and car slammed into us. That was fun. Got a mild concussion out of that particular accident.
No wonder there's so much crap wrong with me!!! :-) Anyway...TC...I'm hunting you down brother. Oh....hold the door...another memory just hit me...I better watch the term "hunting down" with TC. I believe rumor had it that after high school he actually disappeared and became a real bounty hunter. Which I believe. 'Cuz TC was sort of a bad ass in high school. NICE. But bad ass. And I remember my mom really liked him. Weird.
OK...I really need to get back to work. I have a ton to do--until next time--thanks for reading and putting up with my friends!! :-)
NOW GET OUTTA HERE!!! GIT!!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sometimes...you just get surprised
Hey there--what's HATTENIN'? I'm just chilling here at homestead, sipping on a glass of finely aged water, sort of pinching myself, because I have heard from over the last few hours some really cool people. First, I heard from my long-time friend Lou "Just GIVE me a reason" Tartadian, a fellow trombone player from my high school and junior college days. He's also the guy that one day when cleaning out my closet at my house in Pasadena, that I realized he was in Little League with me and his mom was friends with MY mom. GET OUTTA TOWN! We knew each other, yet, strangely, we didn't. I can't even remember what team he was on--but hopefully it was the evil green MG team (Meguirre's Glass). Led by the infamous STONE BROTHERS, I knew they were bad, but proven the day I was playing first base coach for the JC's and watched one of the Stone brothers give my friend from school John Jones a deliberate sign to pitch one AT one of our batters. FUNNY WHAT YOU CAN REMEMBER, HANH!?!?! Rat bastards. ANYWAY....so it was ULTRA cool to hear from Lou. Lou was part of the gang of me, John, Jim, Lou (the core) and then others. We'd bowl, play raquetball (me in biker shorts playing racquetball...holy crap...the thought almost made ME barf), hang...LOTS of really really cool memories. Lou actually was a great friend because he listened to me whine AD NAUSEUM about my girl problems back when I was in junior college.
SPEAKING OF WHICH...I also heard after a two year silence from one of those "problems" (but I really do mean that very lovingly--time and maturity goes a long way to put the past into focus--and really, it was IIIIIIIIIII that was the problem)--Maria Cacciotti. Yeah--even got a couple of pics of her and her sister Paula who now lives in the Country of Northern Mexico--oooo, sorry, I meant, the Country of Texas. I actually like Texas a lot, but truthfully--it really is another country down there. Did some touring down there with VK--not sure I ever want to go back. BUT NO MATTER--we're not talking about Texas. Maria has a family of her own, doing well, and it was stupendous to hear from her again. Funny how life turns out. The way my life went and where I ended up--I'm pretty sure I'm where I'm supposed to be. But you know when you're young, and you think and dream. I remember distinctly having an aversion to dancing. And Maria would joke many, many moons ago that we'd end up getting married and she'd have to force me to dance at our reception. It was always good for a yuckyuck between us. Ended up marrying someone who--LIKE A FREAKIN' ECHO--said the exact same thing. AND ENDED UP FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH IT. She FORCED me, against my will, kicking and screaming, to dance to that love song from "Robin Hood", "Everything I Do...Blah Blah Blah, I Do It For Meatloaf". WHATEVER that song was. Yeah...we danced to that...and I had to freakin' dip her at the end and everyone sitting there at our reception--like 400 people rolled 800 sets of eyes at the CORNINESS of the moment. That is, until I stood up and gave my patented pissed off look, at which time we were the recepients of MASSIVE and THUNDEROUS ovations.
Yeah. Whatever Turner. But anyway--mucho coolio to hear from Maria. She had quite the impact on my life. I just wish she would have taught me how to take care of my hair better. I have probably the worst hair imaginable for our prom picture. I might as well had stuck my head in a Cuisinfrickenart blender and called it good. For the love of all that is holy...so I apologize to you Maria should you be reading this. You deserved someone with better hair.
She got him actually. His name...oh crap...I can't remember now...Glenn something. SEKINS? No no no...that's a captain for Orange County Fire. Glenn....Glennnnnnn...hmmm...I remember I hated him. Why can't I remember his name. Anyway...he had nice hair.
I really shouldn't have partied so much in college--I sort of drifted away there for a minute...
SO WHERE WAS I???
Oh yes...speaking of ovations...uhhhhhhhhh...we'll get back to that...I can't remember what the hell I wanted to say.
(insert Jeopardy music whilst I stare at my computer monitor)....
Well, if any of you want something to do, come on down to the Corps at Crest Drum and Bugle Corps show at Mt. Sac College in the fine city of Walnut, conveniently located just off the 57 freeway at Temple St. Featuring a lot of corps in competition, including TWO of which I wrote the drill for...Impulse (currently undefeated in Division III competition), and So Cal Dream, a "old people" corps. I'll of course be providing the in-between corps entertainment as the VOICE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Come on down...and sit with me in the press box for a spell...and then leave because I really don't like visitors. You make me want to talk and laugh and giggle and act stupid, and then I forget that I'm actually running a show.
So about those ovations--what the HELL was I going to say? It was funny. DANG IT!!! I hate my gray cells.
OK--that's it. I'm out. I have a million things to do and about enough time to do about 10 of them, so I need to be like a baby and head out.
GET IT!?!?
Head out?? Yeah? Be like a tree and leave.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Be like peanut butter........wait for it....AND JAM!!!
COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
Wait...what did Biff say...."HEY, WHY DON'T YOU BE LIKE A TREE.....AND GET OUTTA HERE?!??" LOL!! Did you know that the guy that played Biff was a drum major for his high school band and played tuba? DID YOU?!?!?! Did you also know I went to a talent scout in 1984, and he told me I looked like I could be cast in a movie by a friend of his that would be about Vietnam, and then a couple of years later, "Platoon" was released? DID YOU???? Did you know my mom got to meet one of my idols--WILLIAM SHATNER--and shake his hand, and then didn't want to tell me because she knew I'd go ballistic? DID YOU???? She told me obviously. And then? I was calm. After the policeman told me to cool it. And the fire trucks drove away. And we promised to repay the neighbors for their house that I torched. BUT I WAS CALM.
OK...I really need to go. This stream of consciousness thing is really starting to freak me out...HEY GUYS!!! Thanks for reading. It really blows me away to know who the heck keeps checking up on me.
I should be worried.
Actually...I'm sort of creeped out by it.
NOW GIT...GIT OUTTA HERE!! :-)
SPEAKING OF WHICH...I also heard after a two year silence from one of those "problems" (but I really do mean that very lovingly--time and maturity goes a long way to put the past into focus--and really, it was IIIIIIIIIII that was the problem)--Maria Cacciotti. Yeah--even got a couple of pics of her and her sister Paula who now lives in the Country of Northern Mexico--oooo, sorry, I meant, the Country of Texas. I actually like Texas a lot, but truthfully--it really is another country down there. Did some touring down there with VK--not sure I ever want to go back. BUT NO MATTER--we're not talking about Texas. Maria has a family of her own, doing well, and it was stupendous to hear from her again. Funny how life turns out. The way my life went and where I ended up--I'm pretty sure I'm where I'm supposed to be. But you know when you're young, and you think and dream. I remember distinctly having an aversion to dancing. And Maria would joke many, many moons ago that we'd end up getting married and she'd have to force me to dance at our reception. It was always good for a yuckyuck between us. Ended up marrying someone who--LIKE A FREAKIN' ECHO--said the exact same thing. AND ENDED UP FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH IT. She FORCED me, against my will, kicking and screaming, to dance to that love song from "Robin Hood", "Everything I Do...Blah Blah Blah, I Do It For Meatloaf". WHATEVER that song was. Yeah...we danced to that...and I had to freakin' dip her at the end and everyone sitting there at our reception--like 400 people rolled 800 sets of eyes at the CORNINESS of the moment. That is, until I stood up and gave my patented pissed off look, at which time we were the recepients of MASSIVE and THUNDEROUS ovations.
Yeah. Whatever Turner. But anyway--mucho coolio to hear from Maria. She had quite the impact on my life. I just wish she would have taught me how to take care of my hair better. I have probably the worst hair imaginable for our prom picture. I might as well had stuck my head in a Cuisinfrickenart blender and called it good. For the love of all that is holy...so I apologize to you Maria should you be reading this. You deserved someone with better hair.
She got him actually. His name...oh crap...I can't remember now...Glenn something. SEKINS? No no no...that's a captain for Orange County Fire. Glenn....Glennnnnnn...hmmm...I remember I hated him. Why can't I remember his name. Anyway...he had nice hair.
I really shouldn't have partied so much in college--I sort of drifted away there for a minute...
SO WHERE WAS I???
Oh yes...speaking of ovations...uhhhhhhhhh...we'll get back to that...I can't remember what the hell I wanted to say.
(insert Jeopardy music whilst I stare at my computer monitor)....
Well, if any of you want something to do, come on down to the Corps at Crest Drum and Bugle Corps show at Mt. Sac College in the fine city of Walnut, conveniently located just off the 57 freeway at Temple St. Featuring a lot of corps in competition, including TWO of which I wrote the drill for...Impulse (currently undefeated in Division III competition), and So Cal Dream, a "old people" corps. I'll of course be providing the in-between corps entertainment as the VOICE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Come on down...and sit with me in the press box for a spell...and then leave because I really don't like visitors. You make me want to talk and laugh and giggle and act stupid, and then I forget that I'm actually running a show.
So about those ovations--what the HELL was I going to say? It was funny. DANG IT!!! I hate my gray cells.
OK--that's it. I'm out. I have a million things to do and about enough time to do about 10 of them, so I need to be like a baby and head out.
GET IT!?!?
Head out?? Yeah? Be like a tree and leave.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Be like peanut butter........wait for it....AND JAM!!!
COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
Wait...what did Biff say...."HEY, WHY DON'T YOU BE LIKE A TREE.....AND GET OUTTA HERE?!??" LOL!! Did you know that the guy that played Biff was a drum major for his high school band and played tuba? DID YOU?!?!?! Did you also know I went to a talent scout in 1984, and he told me I looked like I could be cast in a movie by a friend of his that would be about Vietnam, and then a couple of years later, "Platoon" was released? DID YOU???? Did you know my mom got to meet one of my idols--WILLIAM SHATNER--and shake his hand, and then didn't want to tell me because she knew I'd go ballistic? DID YOU???? She told me obviously. And then? I was calm. After the policeman told me to cool it. And the fire trucks drove away. And we promised to repay the neighbors for their house that I torched. BUT I WAS CALM.
OK...I really need to go. This stream of consciousness thing is really starting to freak me out...HEY GUYS!!! Thanks for reading. It really blows me away to know who the heck keeps checking up on me.
I should be worried.
Actually...I'm sort of creeped out by it.
NOW GIT...GIT OUTTA HERE!! :-)
Monday, June 18, 2007
Well, a nice surprise for us drum corps fans. These links are to the first, second and third parts of The Cadets show that was performed at what apparently is a parent's night performance. The videos speak for themselves...what a great hornline, rocking drums, decent guard...and the WORST most ANNOYING narration I have ever heard out of any outdoor performance group. Truly astounding....and poorly written in my estimation as well...and hiding behind this crappy narration is a very very talented hornline. And some pretty cool drill if I do say so myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTdM3hUBjos - Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkkpiF1QYD0 - Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggGcGz_XsTc - Part III
I went to lunch today to a new place called Padera Bakery (Pandera?). Whatever. It was so-so. But I went with the normal I.T. guys that I hang around with. Cool bunch of guys. Kind of an interesting cross between geekiness, anal retentiveness, and funny ass stories. So, I can sort of relate. Other than the anal retentiveness part. I'm just a slob.
But anyway, we had a new dude come eat with us today because, well, we're popular and people like to hang with us. And so all six of us are sitting at this table and it's your typical sandwich place--but brand new. They literally opened last week, so it's all nice and shiny and the employees are all perfect and "How can I help you?" and "May I serve the next guest in line?" are thrown around with abandon. So I'm sitting there at this table, munching on something called a Turkey Bacon Bravo...decent...not anything you can't get for a few bucks cheaper out of the vending machine, but whatever...and I'm listening to the ambient sounds that surround me. I can hear the nerds sitting behind me to the left yapping about "....well, we need to increase the rate at which we are able to continue with the procurement of the necessary developmental..." Oh SHUT UP. I heard the 3 yr old to my right scream at the top of her lungs "Mommy...Mommy...MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!". But I didn't tell her to shut up because she's a kid. But I did throw a roll at the mom. And I heard old "Justin" 4 or 5 booths away, yelling into a cell phone, "It's Justin. No...Justin. Duuuuuude...it's JUSTIN. JUSTIN DUDE. Dude. JUSTIN." I'm going to kill you Justin if you say you're name again. Or maybe it was Jerrod. WTF.
So anyway...I'm sitting there, not really engaged in conversation, shoving the food with great glee into my gullet, chewing away, sort of scanning the room, randomly thinking about drill design, dispatchers, training, my car, terrorist attacks, illegal immigration...and I start hearing a voice that I recognize. And for an instant, I'm transfixed. From whence does this voice come? For whom does this voice belong? WTF IS HE SAYING?!?!? And I'm perplexed. For I have heard this voice before, and it was from my past, but I knew not how to identify the voice. It was striking a Bb Major Chord in my head, but it was slightly out of tune...if you get my metaphorical allergorical ancedotal syllogism. Yeah...me too...WTF?!?!?!
So...I scan my immediate surroundings, and find the voice to emanating from the piehole of the "new guy" that joined us for lunch. He was rattling on in some fashion or another about prospecting and gold dust and mining and permits and what not. And I'm thinking, "Dude--I have no life. You're worse. WTF does that make you?" But the VOICE. THE VOICE I SAY!! It was driving me mad. So since I had identified the owner of the voice, I then took another gigantic chunk of turkey-bacon goodness and shoved it into my mouth, began to mastigate, and closed my eyes. And that voice was still there. And then...
Like a lightning bolt, it hit me. My eyes shot open as my jaw came to a halt, unchewed bread and turkey parts lining my mouth, cheek and chin, and I realized who I was listening to...
...I was listening to Laskey, The Security Guard...at Walleyworld.
WHO!?!?!?!?
JOHN CANDY, you simpletons. JOHN CANDY, one of the great comedic geniuses of our time. JOHN CANDY, that big lovable oaf who stuck his hand between the butt cheeks of Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." JOHN CANDY, who played everybody's favorite whacky "Uncle Buck". That was it. I was listening to an exact replica of John Candy's voice.
And then I opened my eyes.
And the voice was emanating from a lanky 6ft 5 computer dude. But it was WEIRD!!! REALLY WEIRD.
Speaking of weird, I'm so tired I can barely stand up. So--I'm signing off now. Drum corps is in full swing by the way. Impulse and Capital Sound, two of the three corps I wrote for, are undefeated. COOL!! So far, so good.
Til next time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTdM3hUBjos - Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkkpiF1QYD0 - Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggGcGz_XsTc - Part III
I went to lunch today to a new place called Padera Bakery (Pandera?). Whatever. It was so-so. But I went with the normal I.T. guys that I hang around with. Cool bunch of guys. Kind of an interesting cross between geekiness, anal retentiveness, and funny ass stories. So, I can sort of relate. Other than the anal retentiveness part. I'm just a slob.
But anyway, we had a new dude come eat with us today because, well, we're popular and people like to hang with us. And so all six of us are sitting at this table and it's your typical sandwich place--but brand new. They literally opened last week, so it's all nice and shiny and the employees are all perfect and "How can I help you?" and "May I serve the next guest in line?" are thrown around with abandon. So I'm sitting there at this table, munching on something called a Turkey Bacon Bravo...decent...not anything you can't get for a few bucks cheaper out of the vending machine, but whatever...and I'm listening to the ambient sounds that surround me. I can hear the nerds sitting behind me to the left yapping about "....well, we need to increase the rate at which we are able to continue with the procurement of the necessary developmental..." Oh SHUT UP. I heard the 3 yr old to my right scream at the top of her lungs "Mommy...Mommy...MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!". But I didn't tell her to shut up because she's a kid. But I did throw a roll at the mom. And I heard old "Justin" 4 or 5 booths away, yelling into a cell phone, "It's Justin. No...Justin. Duuuuuude...it's JUSTIN. JUSTIN DUDE. Dude. JUSTIN." I'm going to kill you Justin if you say you're name again. Or maybe it was Jerrod. WTF.
So anyway...I'm sitting there, not really engaged in conversation, shoving the food with great glee into my gullet, chewing away, sort of scanning the room, randomly thinking about drill design, dispatchers, training, my car, terrorist attacks, illegal immigration...and I start hearing a voice that I recognize. And for an instant, I'm transfixed. From whence does this voice come? For whom does this voice belong? WTF IS HE SAYING?!?!? And I'm perplexed. For I have heard this voice before, and it was from my past, but I knew not how to identify the voice. It was striking a Bb Major Chord in my head, but it was slightly out of tune...if you get my metaphorical allergorical ancedotal syllogism. Yeah...me too...WTF?!?!?!
So...I scan my immediate surroundings, and find the voice to emanating from the piehole of the "new guy" that joined us for lunch. He was rattling on in some fashion or another about prospecting and gold dust and mining and permits and what not. And I'm thinking, "Dude--I have no life. You're worse. WTF does that make you?" But the VOICE. THE VOICE I SAY!! It was driving me mad. So since I had identified the owner of the voice, I then took another gigantic chunk of turkey-bacon goodness and shoved it into my mouth, began to mastigate, and closed my eyes. And that voice was still there. And then...
Like a lightning bolt, it hit me. My eyes shot open as my jaw came to a halt, unchewed bread and turkey parts lining my mouth, cheek and chin, and I realized who I was listening to...
...I was listening to Laskey, The Security Guard...at Walleyworld.
WHO!?!?!?!?
JOHN CANDY, you simpletons. JOHN CANDY, one of the great comedic geniuses of our time. JOHN CANDY, that big lovable oaf who stuck his hand between the butt cheeks of Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." JOHN CANDY, who played everybody's favorite whacky "Uncle Buck". That was it. I was listening to an exact replica of John Candy's voice.
And then I opened my eyes.
And the voice was emanating from a lanky 6ft 5 computer dude. But it was WEIRD!!! REALLY WEIRD.
Speaking of weird, I'm so tired I can barely stand up. So--I'm signing off now. Drum corps is in full swing by the way. Impulse and Capital Sound, two of the three corps I wrote for, are undefeated. COOL!! So far, so good.
Til next time...
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Hey there...
Just checking into ye' old blog--haven't said "Hey" and "now get outta here" for quite awhile to you fine folks that check up on me . I'm hanging in there. Just busier than I ever thought possible. I've had some cool things happen over the last few weeks since last posting--and I've had some pretty crappy things happen as well. Situation you read about earlier with family members has been partially resolved. Other issues NOT resolved. Probably NEVER will be resolved. Sad.
I have lots more to write--but be that as it may, I can't now. But I am alive and I'm doing ok.
Now go. Be off with you.
I have lots more to write--but be that as it may, I can't now. But I am alive and I'm doing ok.
Now go. Be off with you.
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