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Archive for the tag “groove”

Bob & Barack

Image  Our President recently bestowed the ” The Presidential Medal of Freedom ” to one of our favorite balladeers Bob Dylan. In his seventy one years Bob has received Grammies, a Academy award,and a Golden Globe. He is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, The Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a Pulitzer Prize and those are just the ones he wears on his Green Jacket.

      The following are the words from our President as he speaks of giving Bobby D. his award : ” Here’s what I love about Dylan. He was exactly as you’d expect he would be. He wouldn’t come to rehearsal, usually. All these guys are practicing before the set in the evening. He didn’t want to take a picture with me, usually the talent is dying to take a picture with me and Michelle before the show, he didn’t show up for that. He came in and played “Times they Are A-Changing”. A beautiful rendition. The guy is so steeped in that stuff that he can just come up with some new arrangement, and the song sounds so completely different. Finishes the song, steps off stage- I’m sitting right in the front row-comes up, shakes my hand, sort of tips his head, gives me just a little grin, and then leaves. And that was it-then he left. That was our only interaction with him. And I thought: That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right? You don’t want him to be all cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the whole enterprise. So that was a real treat.”

      Well said and I agree with the Prez that we want Bob to be Bob and let Minnie Pearl be Minnie Pearl. Groove.

Grooving at Dodger Stadium

Grooving at Dodger Stadium

My kids have always loved baseball probably because I do too. The look on their faces as we turn the corner and see the field at Dodger stadium is the same look as they had when they were young opening presents on Xmas morn. Though they have seen this field dozens of times – it is always the same: a look of wonderment, hope, and pure delight.

Recently at a night game my daughter Lily spotted a strange light emitting a soft yellow glow from the far reaches of the parking lot behind right field. As it turns out it comes from a lantern that was erected in 1965 inside a Japanese garden that was built by the O’ Malley family during the construction of Dodger Stadium in 1962. A Japanese sportswriter legend named  Sotaro Suzuki was invited to the grand opening of the stadium and he was so taken with its magnificence that he commissioned a stone lantern to commemorate the lasting connection between The Dodgers and the nation of Japan. One can visit this place and imagine Walter O’Malley meditating on the single bench clearing his large head with visions of the fleet-footed Maury Wills stealing bag after bag and reaching harmony and the ultimate serene mode of consciousness with the thought of Sandy Koufax’s curveball.

So next time you find yourself in the far reaches of parking lot six look to the Garden and remember that Tommy Lasorda was given the Order of the Rising Sun and bow to the Enlightenment that is Dodger Stadium.

Sterlfest

He adorns himself in satin, crushed velvet , and taffeta. He does not speak hard or dry of word,nor has a voice of pored gravel. He brings light, groove, and an aura of a knight who is on top of his game and is exempt from hands that hold us down. I speak of the Great Sterling Brandt and the honorable fifth annual Sterlfest  August 24th and 25th down at La Fonda Mexico.

This journey is for the Uplifters and those who are fond of the smile and laughter. Make your plans and prepare for the Good time because it will be coming at you with the vigor and strength of a freight train off the rails, off the charts, and with the understanding that mistakes are the portals of discovery.

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