Archive | January, 2014

Listeria – In Memoriam

31 Jan

This is the season of awards shows, and people tune in for all kinds of reasons. To see who is going to win what. To see who is going to wear what. To see who is going to say what. I watch the shows like everyone else does, but I am looking for something else. I am fascinated by the “In Memoriam” part. It is interesting to see how they are going to pay tribute to the people who have passed away in the past year. Who will get the most applause? Who will be shown in a film clip rather than in a photograph? Who passed away that I did not know about? Who will be left out?

That last question is always the most controversial. It would be impossible to show everyone, and difficult decisions have to be made. Inevitably, people are going to get mad. I even wrote a post about people who I thought were mistakenly left out of an Academy Awards presentation.

With all of that being said, I have decided to provide my own “In Memoriam” for the people who passed away in 2013. To accomplish this, I bought a copy of Farewell, a LIFE publication honoring the deceased. It is filled with people who I know a lot about and people who I have never heard of. As the great decision maker of who should be honored in the SBI World, there will some left out just like on the awards show. However, these are the ones who I want to remember.Candle

You will have to imagine the music in the background.

In no particular order:

Margaret Thatcher – The Iron Lady. I read somewhere that the Steely Dan song “Peg” was about her. I wonder if that is true.

Helen Thomas – the White House reporter who covered every president from Kennedy to Obama.

David Frost – the interviewer who gained widespread fame for his sessions with Richard Nixon.

Dr. Joyce Brothers – the television counselor who paved the way for all of the others. She got her start on television by winning The $64,000 Question.Joyce Brothers

Roger Ebert – the movie critic who gave us “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”.

Annette Funicello – the original sweetheart of the Mouseketeers. She also became the sweetheart of beach movies. My dad and I saw her perform at the Super Bowl.

Esther Williams – the champion swimmer who became the queen of water-based movie extravaganzas. She was one of my mom’s favorites.

Jean Stapleton – the actress who served as the foil for Archie Bunker.Jean Stapleton

Bonnie Franklin – the mother on One Day at a Time, one of the many socially conscious sitcoms of the 1970s.

Karen Black – the actress who was in one of my favorite movies, Nashville.

Jonathan Winters – the genius comedian who is a hoot in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Harry Reems – the porn star who became a household name after appearing in Deep Throat, one of the most famous porn movies ever made.Harry Reems

Bobby “Blue” Bland – the blues singer who recorded, in my mind, the definitive version of “Stormy Monday”.

Patty Andrews – the last surviving member of The Andrews Sisters. If you have ever heard “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, then you have heard them at their best.

Patti Page – the singer of “The Tennessee Waltz”, one of my state’s official songs.

George Jones – the Possum. In my opinion, he is the greatest country singer to ever live. Unfortunately, his life was not as smooth as his voice.George Jones 2

J.J. Cale – the writer of “After Midnight”, “Cocaine” and a bunch of other great songs.

Lou Reed – the iconic singer who led The Velvet Underground and invited everyone to walk on the wild side.

Stan Musial – the Man. He was one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Earl Weaver – the baseball manager best known for being thrown out of games. He was also a lover of the Earl Weaver Special, the three run home run.Earl Weaver

Art Donovan – the Baltimore Colt who gained more fame from his appearances of NFL Films.

Pat Summerall – the voice of the NFL who was also a fair placekicker.

Elmore Leonard – the writer who could create great characters and put great words in their mouths. His work was the inspiration for Justified, currently my favorite television show.Elmore Leonard

That is the completion of this blog’s “In Memoriam tribute”. Who would you put on the list?

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A Flaw in My System

29 Jan

Like everyone else in the world, I have numerous flaws. However, one of them flared up recently and caused consternation in our home.Flaw

Nothing frustrates me more than people who have difficulties driving. It is my opinion that someone who has a license to operate a motorized vehicle should actually know how to operate that vehicle. As I write this, examples of what I am talking about keep popping into my head. All people have to do is follow the lines and the signs, but that does not happen all of the time. For instance:

When a person pulls into a turning lane, the entirety of their car should be in the turning lane. In other words, they should not block the regular lane with the back-end of the car.

When a light turns green, a person should go. After all, that is what green means. It does not mean stare at the light for 10 seconds to make sure it is green. It does not mean finish a meal before moving.

When a speed limit is posted, it is alright to travel at that speed. I understand if people do not want to drive over the speed limit, but a limit of 55 means that is the optimal speed for that road. In other words, 35 is not optimal.

When a driver comes to a stop sign, they should stop. If there is not stop sign, then they should not stop. There is a crossroads in our neighborhood that is a two-way stop. People will invariably try to make it a four-way stop.

That is a short list, but it is a good example of things that frustrate me when I encounter them. The same thing probably happens to a lot of people, but my flaw is that I let it get to me. I fly off the handle and do something just as stupid as I think they are doing.

The other night, I was faced with one of these examples and lost control of myself for a few seconds. The people in the other car did not receive the brunt of my frustrations. All I succeeded in doing is scaring my stepdaughter. It was a dumb thing to do, and I have to work to make sure that it never happens again. I know that I cannot stop the frustration, but I can stop my reaction to it.

It is not an excuse, but this behavior comes naturally to me. When I was a kid, my dad was driving me and Larry to a football game. I was in the passenger seat, and Larry was in the back reading the newspaper. Traffic was heavy on the interstate, and a guy changed lanes. By doing that, he cut my dad off.

Immediately, my dad hit his horn. There is nothing unusual about that. The unusual part came when my dad stayed on his horn. For what seemed like miles, my dad laid on the horn until we thought it would eventually give out. It never did. In the back seat, Larry started laughing. My dad had totally lost control.

Finally, the man got over into the next lane. Obviously, he knew my dad was mad and was going to let us drive by. However, that was not my dad’s plan. He pulled beside of the guy and was going to do a little yelling and screaming at him. As he tried to roll the window down, I had my hand on the button and was keeping it up.

When my dad could not get the window to go down, he started yelling at the car. Larry was almost in the floor with the newspaper over his head. He was not embarrassed. He was dying of laughter. I was laughing because my dad could not get the window down. The man in the other car was not laughing because his wife was screaming at him. She was accomplishing what my dad could not.

Eventually, we went on, and my dad calmed down. A few minutes later, it was like nothing ever happened. That is the way I am. I get frustrated at a driver. I do something crazy. Then, I am over it. I have to learn that other people do not get over it as fast. I have to learn that other people do not find it funny like Larry and I did. It has been 30 years, and we still laugh at that story.

When I was a kid, I had a terrible temper, but I was able to push that temper back as I got older. The road rage that is one of my flaws is the last remnant of that temper. It has to be pushed back, too. The last thing I want is to scare the people I love.

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My iPod Has Issues – Grammy Edition

27 Jan

The Grammy Awards are on and taking my focus away from the blog. Between Twitter and the television, I am being inundated with information. Lorde has black fingers. Daft Punk has cool headgear. According to my wife, Keith Urban has a messed up haircut. Katy Perry tried to emulate the witchy aura of Stevie Nicks. All I can say is that she is no Stevie Nicks.Stevie Nicks

With my mind cluttered with the world of music, I may as well go ahead and add more music to it. That means putting the iPod on shuffle and teeing it up. I don’t know how many of these people won a Grammy, but being included on the playlist should make up for any previous snubs.

“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” by Valerie Wellington

“Cindy” by Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan

“Ballad of the Alamo” by Marty Robbins

“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith

“Workin’ for MCA” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

“I Threw It All Away” by Bob Dylan

“I See You Baby” by Groove Armada

“Highway to Hell” by AC/DC

“Rhiannon” by Stevie Nicks

“Pearl Necklace” by ZZ Top

“Immune” by Godsmack

“Don’t Bring Me Down” by The Animals

“Montana” by Sons of the Pioneers

“The Theme to Route 66” by Nelson Riddle

“Ecstasy of Gold” bu Ennio Morricone

“Oh, What a Night” by The Dells

“Save My Soul” by Blues Saraceno

“The Day Begins” by The Moody Blues

“I Don’t Trust Nobody” by George Thorogood

“Still…You Turn Me On” by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

I would like to see all of them on stage at the Grammy Awards.

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Watching the Blob – A True Learning Experience

25 Jan

The other night, I was skimming through the television guide and came across The Blob, the 1950s Sci-Fi/Horror movie. I have never seen a 1950s Sci-Fi/Horror movie that I did not like, so I tuned in to see what this one was all about. I had heard of it but, honestly, had gotten it mixed up with The Thing, which starred James Arness in the title role.

The movie was almost over when I turned it on. A group of people were trapped in a diner as the Blob engulfed it. Police and a group of teenagers were watching helplessly. It was typical 1950s Sci-Fi/Horror fare. That is when I started noticing some things that I did not anticipate.

The young man trapped in the diner was taking charge of the situation and seemed to be a major character in the movie. Then, the realization hit that he looked familiar. He looked like a young Steve McQueen. Hitting the Info button, I found out that it was Steven McQueen. I never knew that he was in The Blob or that he ever went by Steven.

With that information out of the way, I settled in to see what was going to happen to Steven and the rest of the group. There was a little kid; the owner of the diner; a woman who looked like the owner’s wife; and Steven’s girlfriend. At some point, the girlfriend said something, and I thought, “I have heard that voice before.”

It was Aneta Corsaut, who played Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show.

Here is the cute couple.The Blob

For those who do not know, The Andy Griffith Show is my favorite show of all time. I own a model of Mayberry and was a member of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club. Heck, I even shook hands with Don Knotts. As you can probably tell, seeing Helen Crump in The Blob was pretty cool.

That is when I started thinking. Helen Crump went from being Steve McQueen’s girlfriend in high school to being Opie’s teacher in Mayberry, North Carolina. She also went from being Steve McQueen’s girlfriend to Andy Taylor’s wife.

Getting back to the movie, the people trapped in the diner are saved when Steven figures out that the Blob is afraid of the cold. He sprays it with a fire extinguisher and yells to the guys outside that they need to get more extinguishers. the high school principal hops into a hot rod with some juvenile delinquent looking dudes and heads to the school. This brings us to the most dramatic scene that I saw.

As they rush to the schoolhouse door, the principal cannot find his keys. Everyone looks at each other trying to figure out what to do. Nevermind that a cop is standing there with a gun and could shoot the lock open. Instead, the principal picks up and rock and stares at it. With lives at stake, should he dare break the glass to open the door? After a dramatic pause, he does, and the schoolhouse gang comes to the rescue.

The people trapped in the diner are saved, and the Blob is completely frozen. Steve realizes it is not dead, and the police officer tells him that the military is going to take it to the Arctic.

Police Officer: At least we’ve got it stopped.

Steve: Yeah, as long as the Arctic stays cold.

I am sure this movie had some deep, underlying meaning from the time period. Probably something about how authority figures should listen to young people and not view them as a bunch of troublemakers. However, I learned a few more things.

1. You never know where life is going to lead. One day you are dating Steve McQueen, and the next day you are marrying Andy Taylor.

2. For many reasons, 1950s diners do not last forever. We have a great one in my town that could be on its way out. I promise that there will be a future post about that.

3. In the 1950s, juvenile delinquents drove some nice cars. These hot rods were top of the line.

4. Like them or not, principals have to make tough decisions – like saving lives instead of saving a pane of glass.

5. If Al Gore is right about global warming, then we are screwed. Stop worrying about a heat wave and start worrying about the return of the Blob!The Blob Ending

That dot landing behind the big question mark could thaw out at any time.

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Movie Wisdom – Sheb Wooley Edition

23 Jan

In the olden days, albums were sold on television. They would play snippets of a few songs and scroll song titles over the screen. The performer would appear and lip synch a few words. Those commercials fascinated me, and I begged my parents to send a check to the address on the screen.

One of those ads was for a singer named Ben Colder, the country music version of Weird Al Yankovic. He sung parodies of country music’s biggest hits. My parents agreed to buy a few albums, but they never bought anything for me by Ben Colder. It is still a disappointment.

Years later, I learned that Ben Colder was not really Ben Colder. He was Sheb Wooley, and he had done a lot more things than sing parody songs.Sheb Wooley

Sheb Wooley was a true Renaissance Man. He had a huge hit in the 1950s with “The Purple People Eater” and acted in a bunch of movies. However, he was not just in a bunch of movies. He was in a bunch of great movies. Sheb Wooley was one of those character actors who popped up everywhere.

To make up for the fact that I never got a Ben Colder record, we will examine the movies of Sheb Wooley to see if we can find a few bits of wisdom. As before, the quotes must come from movies that I have seen.

From High Noon

People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it. Maybe because down deep they don’t care.

It takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man.

It takes a pretty smart man to know when to back away.

From Johnny Guitar

A man who can’t hold on to a glass should drink like a baby from a bottle.

There’s only two things in this world that a ‘real man’ needs: a cup of coffee and a good smoke.

From Giant

Money isn’t everything.

Well, there’s one thing you got to say for cattle… boy, you put your brand on one of them, you’re gonna know where it’s at!

From Rio Bravo

Sorry don’t get it done.

From The War Wagon

That’s what I’ve always said the world needs… more simple understanding to bring people together!

From The Outlaw Josey Wales

Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.

It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues.

Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.

Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’, boy.

Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.

From Silverado

Some people think because they’re stronger, or meaner, that they can push you around. I’ve seen a lot of that. But it’s only true if you let it be. The world is what you make of it.

A grown man can’t have a little boy with him everywhere he goes.

The world is what you make of it, friend. If it doesn’t fit, you make alterations.

From Hoosiers

If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we’re gonna be winners.

Sun don’t shine on the same dog’s ass everyday.

There you have it. The world according to Sheb Wooley movies.

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Hanging On

21 Jan

Monday was unseasonably warm in this part of the world. That has changed drastically in the past 24 hours, but the fact remains that Monday was a nice day. My nephew and I went to a movie, and, as I waited for him, I took a stroll through the yard. I studied the woods behind our house and noticed the contours of the land. It is a lot easier to see with the foliage off the trees.

That is when I began studying one tree in particular. My wife had mentioned it before, but this was the first time that I really looked at it. The tree is not in the woods. It stands alone in the yard. However, it stands out because the dead foliage is still hanging on.Yard Tree

How are the leaves still hanging on? We have had storms, rain, strong winds. Yet, the dead leaves remain.

Why are the leaves hanging on? Are they waiting to resurrect with the coming of Spring? Will they not have to fall off to make room for new leaves?

I know a few botanists, but I am not one. This could be a type of tree that does this every year. It could be a freak of nature. I do not know the answers to any of that, but the leaves on the tree made me think about people.

We tend to hang on to things. We hang on to life to the very end. We hang on to memories, both good and bad. We hang on to anger and hang on to grudges. We hang on to pain. We also hang on to love and happiness. We hang on to those fleeting moments when everything is perfect. I suppose all of that means that we hang on to the past because that is what makes us who we are.

I used to hang on to a lot of things and keep them bottled up in my mind. I hung on to mistakes and lucky breaks. I hung on to pain that I caused and pain that was caused me. I hung on to those empty moments when I thought there was nothing in my future. I hung on to the darkness that protected me from the world.

I do not hang on to those things anymore. At some point, all of those old feelings slipped away, and my mind focused on the present and the future. All of the pain and the scars vanished into thin air. The best part is that I know when that point was. It was when my wife said, “Yes.”

At that moment, the heavy burden of the past went away, and I did not have to hang on anymore. No matter how many mistakes I made. No matter what happened, either good or bad. They all led me to that moment and where I was supposed to be.

Everyone hangs on to something, and I hope that, at some point, they are able to let the leaves fall. I did, and new leaves, new life has arrived.

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Free at Last

20 Jan

I promise that an original post is coming soon. However, I thought it fitting to reblog this post on this holiday.

Rick's avatarSBI: A Thinning Crowd

We have been celebrating Martin Luther King Day. Obviously, he made it his mission to help the oppressed in this country, and, to understand his struggle and the struggle of others, everyone should visit the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. When I think about Martin Luther King, many things come to mind, but his speeches stand out. His voice. His style. His cadence. Like all great speakers, he could mesmerize his audience and draw them into his message. It was this ability that made the rest of his works possible.

He made many speeches, but two stand out among the rest. King’s last speech shows the weariness of a long struggle and seems to offer a prophecy about his death. Interestingly, he wasn’t going to speak that night but went at the last minute.Martin Luther King

The speech that left an impression in the minds of most Americans and in the pages of history…

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Terror on the Plateau

18 Jan

This is the fifth anniversary of a night that I will never forget. I wrote a post about that night and felt it would be fitting to reblog it.

Rick's avatarSBI: A Thinning Crowd

I recently wrote about my battle with the forces of nature while supporting my favorite basketball team. That event took place in 2008, but another event just as terrifying took place the next season.

In January 2009, I headed out with my friends, Jeff and McDonald, to watch the University of Tennessee play basketball against South Carolina. Being a night game, we got a late start and knew that we would have a late night return. We didn’t realize that we would be lucky to get home at all.

After a victory by the home team, we walked out of the arena and into a night that was damp but not cold, the type of night that we had driven through many times. Jeff, who was driving, hit Interstate 40 while we listened to the post game show on the radio. We were all hungry but decided to drive until the show was over. Having…

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Cancun – Descending Into the Polar Vortex

17 Jan

While in Cancun, we kept hearing about the Polar Vortex, this huge weather system that was bringing frigid temperatures into Tennessee and everywhere else. First, I wondered where the term Polar Vortex come from? Do meteorologists sit around and come up with sinister sounding names for weather systems. In the old days, I thought it was an Arctic Blast. Second, we knew that at some point we were going to have to go home, and that meant going from the 80 degree average of Cancun to something completely different.

We woke up bright and early on the day of our leaving and prepared to make the trip to the airport. We dressed as we had dressed each day because we did not take any coats. My wife said that we wouldn’t need coats in Cancun. Unfortunately, we would need them in Tennessee. Luckily, I packed a pair of long pants to wear.

We took the ride to the airport and got dropped off into chaos. There was a huge crowd of people trying to check in. It was made up of people like us who were scheduled to leave that day, but it was also made up of people who were supposed to leave earlier and were trapped by cancelled flights. We talked to some people from Boston who had been trying to get home for a couple of days. This Polar Vortex thing was so powerful that it cancelled flights in Mexico.

We must have hit the sweet spot because our flight was on time. That gave us a chance to study the airport. There was basically a duty-free mall. There was a Johnny Rocket’s. There was also some dude dressed up like the Mask. Put together, it was kind of surreal.

We flew out of Cancun and made it to Charlotte. There we had to go through the hassle that is customs. Apparently, the United States does not trust the capabilities of other nations. We had to get our bags and have them rescanned. Once that was done, we made our way into the terminal. It was chaos all over again. Flights were cancelled. People were huddled in corners. Those who were coming in on delayed flights were barely missing their connections.

Once again, we were lucky. Our flight to Nashville was only 30 minutes late. However, the way people were dressed gave us an idea of what was happening outside. Heavy coats and hats were the norm. In fact, we stood out with our short-sleeved shirts.

The flight to Nashville was a little rough, and my window seat offered a glimpse of what we were descending into. As we got closer to the ground, the area just looked cold. Hardly any cars were out. The sides of the roads were white with ice. I can’t describe what cold looks like, but I know it when I see it.

Walking through the terminal, our summer clothes were looking really strange. However, we planned ahead. The guy picking us up brought heavy coats for us to put on. Despite those coats, walking outside took our breath away. The last time we were outside it was 80 degrees. Suddenly, we were hitting air that was 6 degrees. As we walked to the car, I tried to keep warm by thinking of this.Cancun - Poolside

And this.Cancun - Volleyball

And this.Cancun 216

Despite the temperature, we were glad to be home. One thing we all agree on is that it is good to travel, but it is also good to return home. It was also good that my mom had made up a big pot of soup.

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Cancun – Dispelling My Ignorance

15 Jan

When my wife came up with the idea for this vacation, she had a certain vision in her mind. It was a vision of lying by the pool with the sunshine overhead. On our last full day in Cancun, this vision was fulfilled.Cancun - Poolside

We had a prime spot by the pool and basked in the sun as a waitress brought drinks to us. We read magazines and listened to music. My stepdaughter played volleyball in the water and on the beach. It was a day that vacations are made of.

After the day by the pool, we went back to the room to rest and get ready for dinner. We got cleaned up and went the steakhouse that we had visited on the first night. The place where they called me Ricardo. We had a good meal with a few drinks. Overall, it was a relaxing experience.

It was also one of the first times I have ever done anything like that. I try to learn something new as often as I can, and I learned something in Cancun. I learned the difference between a vacation and a trip.

When I was growing up, my family went on trips. We packed up the car and drove across the country. Along the way, we didn’t do much relaxing. We stayed in roadside hotels, and, each morning, we hopped in the car to drive. My dad used to refer to a late start as “burning daylight.” We saw all kinds of sights, and I am lucky enough to have visited each of the 50 states.

I wouldn’t trade those trips and those experiences for anything. However, I have missed out on the experience of a vacation. I can count on one hand the times I have gone to a beach town and stayed in one spot. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed this vacation. It was a new experience, and I am all about new experiences.

It was interesting to see what people do on a vacation, and everyone at the resort seemed to do the same thing. They played by the pool during the day. They went to the room and dressed up. Then, they went out to dinner. There were probably a few variations to that theme, but they weren’t noticeable.

I am not sure where I am headed with this stream of thought, but there are a few things that I know. I am glad that we went on this vacation, and I hope there are more in our future. I am also glad that I have experienced road trips because there are a lot of interesting things out there to see.

I used to look down on vacations as a waste of time because I was ignorant to what they are really about. They are about getting away from the daily grind and recharging your personal battery. That is not a waste.

I am sure other people have thought that avoiding the beach to go on road trips is just as wasteful. They are just as ignorant as I was. Trips take you to different parts of the world and help you understand what the world is all about.

Ultimately, there is room in life for both. Vacations and trips can coexist. Some time can be spent relaxing, and some time can be spent exploring. Both can be fulfilling and fun. We just have to open our minds and realize it. That’s what I learned in Cancun.

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