Charlie Crowe: An Insider’s Take on the 2010 Guitar Superstar Contest (and What Led Me to It)

Charlie Crowe: An Insider’s Take on the 2010 Guitar Superstar Contest (and What Led Me to It)

Oh If I'd only Known

but I've no regrets.

Free is Good

I'm attaching a link to the Ning website for my CD Fedrick Not Fred.  Join, free--no strings, and you'll be able to stream the whole CD anytime you're on line.  Free is good.  And as FB friend of mine pointed out:  not profitable.  But sometimes sharing trumps profits.  Enjoy.
http://fedricknotfred.ning.com/

Wingspan Paul McCartney Hits and History

I gave up my e-mail address to Paul McCartney Productions to get a free mp3.  Now periodically I get updates on his World Tour.  Last night I got an email granting first dibs on tickets for the Mexico City concert.  It's too bad my lear jet is being serviced.  


Some of facebook friends saw McCartney and company this tour and rubbed it in my face unmercifully.  Actually I've seen Paul in concert.  Wings Across America in 1976 it was my first concert.  It was an incredible experience.  


Instead, I purchased Wingspan Hits and History last night.  It's a two disc set (who buys discs?) of 41 songs.  After listening once through I'm thinking it was a mistake.   A big part of my enjoyment, I now understand, is hearing the songs in the order I remember.  Besides the obvious nostalgia, it's fun hearing many tracks for the first time in decades.  

Good Day Sunshine

Beautiful.  Glorious.  Spring.
Throat still sore but achey joints are history.  Looking forward to a wonderful weekend.

Pain in the Ass

The scratchy throat I had coming home from East Texas turned into the full fledged flu by Monday morning.  I'm feeling progressively worse by the day.  Thank goodness for Tylenol and Benadryl.  I drug myself to Wally World this morning and picked up some Ojay and other stuff.  Dang, I get the flu shot every year.  This year I got two (including the one for H1N1) and never fails I get the flu anyway.  Poor, poor pitiful me.  Woe is me.

East Texas Weekend.

Back again for the bi-monthly visit with my folks.  Donny, who also lives in the area has been bragging about his afternoon crappie fishing--- maxing out with 25 keepers/day. Wouldn't you know, I come down and a cold front follows me.  March is like that.  All fickle and tempramental.  At least it won't impact our Saturday garage sale-ing.     

Action

Saturday.  I've resolved to deep cleaning and perhaps some yard work (see prior post).  Let's see if I follow through.

Zoom Zoom ZZZZzzzzz

The b'day weekend went as expected.  Fedrick breathed a sigh of relief.  Now he begins to work on goals.    Because that's what happens when one passes a major threshold.  One can't help but take stock and resolve to move ahead more productively.  So, it's back to the gym after work,  boycotting french fries, drinking V-8, eating Activia, remembering to turn off the lights and keep the house in some sembalance of order.

 For about a week. 

Near Perfect

Spring has come early.  Perfect temps and sunshine on my shoulder.  Worked out after work.

The Disappointment Didn't (or how blueberries can make even the most uninspired Event better)

It's the morning after the 'celebration' and a day before the actual event.  Last night's dinner menu included fried shrimp, french fries (I couldn't eat-due to cook using substitute salt), slaw and pinto beans, wierd I know with the pintos.  Desert included blueberries and cream and store bought cake.  The guest list included my nephews, sister, parents, aunt and uncle/aunt and uncle's friends, (?).  Someone put up an old birthday banner and someone taped together a child's party center piece.  That alone was sufficient to make me want to jump off a cliff.  My brother and his wife called from KY which distracted me from most of the rest the festivities. 

I'm happy it's over.  I've been dreading it for weeks.  The disappointment didn't disappoint.  Now to get through tomorrow.

Birthday Weekend

I will celebrate a birthday milestone this weekend in Tyler Texas with Ma and Pa and Sis and Nephews.  I asked that the occasion be kept low key.   This request suited my sister who is in charge by default.  I love her to death but her organizational abilities are challanged and she lacks originality.  That sounds harsh but it's simply a fact.  One she would agree with.

This last year has been transitional in some ways.  My heart attack three years ago gave me a different awareness of my place in the here and now.  This birthday has brought all that into sharp focus again and wacked me in the head besides.  I don't need a lot of hoop-la to know I'm blessed with good friends and family.

Glorious Sunny Sunday

It's too beautiful to be inside bogging on a desk top. I must go outside.   Today is the perfect day to frollick.

Do No Evil Ever

I saw Inside the Mind of Google, a One-Hour Documentary reported by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.  You may know, I'm a huge Google fan.  This show did give me reason to pause and re-think some of my here-to-fore fervor.  Almost two billion people world-wide use Google search EVERYDAY.  Google stores every one of these searches and associates it with the computer from which the search took place or if one is signed in to Google the search is assinged to the user.  People indirectly tell Google things they won't even tell their psychiatrist, priest or mate.  That's a lot of power.  Right now the company's privacy policy has world-wide respect (hence the 2 b searches).  But if Google corporate culture changed over time and they wanted to use their knowledge/ power ....hmmm.  I was waiting for Spring when Verizon is to get Nexus One but I may have to go with the iPhone after all.

Was a Sunny Day

"Was a sunny day
Not a cloud was in the sky....not a negative word was heard from the peoples passing by
Was a sunny day
All the birdies in the trees
And the radio singing songs all the favorite melodies

He was a navy man
Stationed at Newport News
She was a high school queen with nothing really left to lose.

Her name was Laura Liegh
She was his only girl
She called him Speedle but his christian name was Mr. Earl."
P. Simon

iMac New

I'm on my new iMac.  It's my first Apple.  I downloaded Picasa 3.6.1 because it already has a bunch of my pictures and I unabashedly love Google.  I accidently  downloaded it 7 times.  Opps.  And there is no right click delete.  As you can see, there is a learning curve.  But in my defense I've actually looked at a couple of tutorials.   But not the ones on downloading and deleting.  And not the one on fixing photos.  Bear with me.

AWOL

It's been some days since my last blog entry.  This blog is partly to blame.  The person who made  nonsensical comments on several of my blog entries in Chinese also provided a link which I blindly clicked.  This inane action on my part might have contributed to my motherboard coming to and abrupt end.  I don't know this to be actual fact but it just saying.....  So if you happen to read one my blogs and see a comment in Chinese do not click on the accompanying link. I'll be watching and delete these blogs as it happens but incase you see one before me please let me know and I'll take care of it.

AND DON't Click on it!!!!

Those audacious pharaceutical companies

I got this e-mail from my cousin Judy in San Diego:

I'm sure that you have seen pharmaceutical advertising in doctor's offices
on everything from tissues to note pads. 

Well, in my book, this one should get the prize....  


I e-mailed it to my Chinese doctor friend. He e-mailed back: 
  

"If the light stays on for more than 4 hours, call your erectrician." 

42 days to 50

I think turning fifty is gonna suck.  Bad.  Really.  Nice thing is I've reconnected with friends all the way back to before the stone age and I've seen them turn fifty on face book and they didn't self destruct immediately.  Still, it's gonna sucks.

Family Ties

My nephew Jeffrey turned 31 today.  We've been neighbors most of his life.  I've watched him grow into a man.  We both love books.  We both love every kind of food.  We have a lot in common.

This is a Tyler weekend.  When me arrived Ma had a ham dinner waiting for us and her trademark apple pie still hot out of the oven to celebrate Jeff's birthday.  Ma may be 79 but she still can cook like nobody's business.  Dad (79 also) seems to have a little more energy too.  Love my family.

Big Whammy

I woke up to the new yesterday that the the Democrats had lost the 60th Senate seat previously held by Edward Kennedy.  The news almost knocked the breath out of me.  I'm a heart attack survivor.  Cardio infraction is a big pre-existing condition.  Big.  It's not that I don't have current employment.  But what happens if I find myself out of work.  I'm 50 in a couple of months.  I'm not one to be pessimistic but the current political climate does not bode well for health care reform.  People are so scared of change.  Even if it's change for the better.  It's scary for me.  Not to mention the millions of uninsured.  Scary and sad.

Another Birthday

Diana invited me over for Mark's birthday lunch.  She'd prepared Helen Jo's Tex-Mex enchiladas, one of Mark's favorite dishes, mine too.   We also had iceberg lettuce salad with grape tomatoes which helped tone down some of the cheesy richness.   I contributed a chocolate pecan ice cream pie for dessert.  I also bought him a dumb birthday card from the dollar store and some teriyaki beef jerky, , we're all about food in our family.  This is his twenty ninth year.  Happy Birthday Mark.  

"I saw a film today, oh boy"

I helped celebrate a good friends birthday today.  First stop was a newly opened trendy Red Mango on Cedar Springs in Dallas.  I had tangomonium (small), a fat free and delicious yogurt.  Next stop was the Magnolia to watch Book of Eli ("Brothers Allen and Albert Hughes (From Hell, Dead Presidents) direct this post-apocalyptic future western about a lone warrior, Eli (Denzel Washington) who traverses the blasted American landscape on foot, fighting to protect a book he possesses. Meanwhile the despot of a small, makeshift town (Gary Oldman) is determined to seize it. The knowledge the book contains could be the very key to redemption for an unforgiving, violent society.")  


Tonight I've read the reviews.  They aren't pretty.  For me it felt like one of those video games my nephews used to play where the main character is  attempting to escape from a Nazi Prison Camp and blowing away every un-dead Nazi that comes along.   The reviewers seemed to relish in the fact that this was a comic book instead of a substantial cinematic achievement.   But it seems to me, every movie is a glorified comic book these days (ie Avatar, Vampires, etc, etc, etc.)   

Haiti & the World Mourns

Such a horrible tragedy.  And to make matters worse Pat Robertson said that Haiti had it coming.  I called the 700 Club 800 number 

1 (800) 759-0700

And I spoke to a 700 club representative.  I said the word was going around the internet that Pat Robertson said Haiti had it coming.  The spokes person said the secular media was causing the trouble and asked if I had seen the program.  I said I had not and she said that to put it in context that Pat Robertson said that in the 1700's Haiti wanted to extract the French so they made a pact with the devil.  I asked specifically who made the pact and she said that it was made by Haiti.  I asked if if was the entire population and she said yes the leadership and the people of Haiti made a deal with the devil to get the French out of the their country.  I asked if that was why this earthquake happened and she said that if one does not side with God then they side with the devil and yes retribution is the Lord's.  I asked her if she believed that a pact made in the 1700's would manifest itself in an earthquake today and she said yes.  I asked her if she believed this since she acted as if she was looking at a script and she said yes.  I asked her if I could put this conversation on the internet and she said no.  I asked her why not since it was an explanation for the tragedy and she hung up.

What?

Winter In N. TX

I've a faulty memory, some might call selective.  My memory is the primary reason I blog.  To re-ignite my dull synapses.  I've been remiss this last week so I will summarize.  Wednesday morning I woke up to plunging temperatures.  Thursday the Arctic cold front seem to envelope the entire country.  Friday and Saturday more of the same.  This is a Tyler weekend. This morning I layered so I could watch Cerberus  (my folks don't have a fence but he stays within the yard boundaries if watched).  The temperature was 15 degrees.  As has been observed by smart ass Eddie on my face book status, I am a total wimp when it comes to temperatures below 60 degrees.  Much of the rest of the country has the frigid temperatures and snow and ice too.  IN that regard we are lucky.  As a matter of fact the temp will continue to rise in N. TX and be in the sixties by Thursday.  As much as I complain about ugly N. TX it's a good place to winter in January/ February.  

Glorious Bastards & hiccups

I watched Glorias Bastards tonight with Diana, Mark and Jeffrey.  I liked it a lot.  Best Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction.  Very stylized, of course.  And fun and violent and bloody and crazy exciting.  Tarantino takes his time setting everything up and getting us acquainted with the characters.   The  actor who played "Jew Hunter" was amazing.