Our generation music

 I’m going to devote some time and space to the Beatles not because they are the greatest musicians or our time, or the greatest singers or the tallest or the best looking but they had just enough of everything to make them the most iconic, the most influential, the most prolific and the most memorable rock and role band of all time.

When the Beatles appeared on Sullivan apparently crime stood still and I know I did. I remember coming into the tv room, standing across from our little black and white TV and just standing there transfixed. Starring at these guys and this phenomenon they were creating with all these screaming girls and thinking, these guys are doing something right and I want to be just like them. In the immortal words of Chris Rock, I wanted to Be a Beatle. I spent hours lying awake with the radio just waiting and waiting and waiting to here the next Beatle song. I had Rae he’d just the right age where the Beatles were like the big kids just a few years old than I but young enough to model after and I had just enough money to buy my first album, Meet The Beatles. I rode my bike to the record store in Tenafly, bought the record, they were 299 for mono and 399 for stereo, and rode one handed home.

Our generation music 2

 Fast songs!

When it came to music there were basically two types: slow songs or fast songs. There may have been more but, especially on the dance floor, nothing else mattered. So when it came to fast songs I’ll narrow it down to three. The Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler https://youtu.be/h6Uht69h8Is, Do you love me by the Contours https://youtu.be/uRsoWlYMO-4  and probably the greatest song of all time… Louie Louie by The Kingsmen https://youtu.be/xKt75jUuKJY . Not that anyone else will ever read this but go ahead, name some better songs. Once I learned how to play the guitar, yes barely, but once I figured it out I came to realize that almost every great song in Rock and Roll or Country is based upon the transition of three or four Chords. Namely C, F and G. Louie Louie: CCC, FF, GGG, FF or for a slow song throw in an A minor. In the Still CCC of the the Night A Minor, Darlin I held you F, Held you so tight G. Million and millions of dollars made learning how to mix up those chords with just the right poetic thoughts.

I don’t remember how I got to canteen or the names of any of the girls I danced with but I do remember the music. But as meaningful as those songs were and are they would soon give way to a whole new genre. A whole new way of dressing, talking, thinking and seeing ourselves, not as kids but as a whole new generation. The generation. The Baby Boomers! Every song on the radio, advertisement on TV, every TV show for that matter started catering to us. And to kick things off Ed Sullivan introduced us to The Beatles!

My generation of Music

 My generation has done a lot of stuff. Some good. Some not so good but among the good, Our Music is the Best!

Right now as I start writing this I’m listening to the Soundtrack to Fantasia so that is not the most conducive to reminiscing about our music of the 60’s but I will begin anyway.  

Ours was the age of the 45 rpm. The Single. A song that had such gravitas that we just had to hear it. We’d listen to the top rock on our AM Radio and hope that they would play it soon. Then there was the countdown where we would listen to see where it ranked on that all important top 40. Cousin Brucie or  Big Dan Ingram would do the countdown with riveting commentary in between that would just keep you captivated and on the edge of your seat. You couldn’t possibly buy all these records and stack them on your 45 record player where the little mechanical arms would magically play them one after the next. No, you had to listen and somehow sort them out by your own priorities. Was it fun? Was is loud? Was it fast? Or did it speak to your heart? Your vision of love? And when that song came on at the Canteen Dance and you could feel it all through your body would you have the courage to ask her to dance? Or stand and watch others pretending you really didn’t care? Each and every song was a personal challenge; To dance to show that you could do the Twist or the Slop or the Watusi. And the Slow songs most of all… who would you ask? Would she say yes? Or would she say no?… leaving you to slink away dejected and pretending that you really didn’t care. How many couples wound up getting married after high school all because she said yes to Earth Angel or In the Still of the Night? Shoo doop an shoobedo oh oh oh… in the still of the night. Many many years later when I was happily married with children and their music invaded and replaced??? Our music. I often asked how is this new generation going to fall in love without the music that helps make it happen? Romance. Romance is the feeling of love. It’s the anticipation, the wanting, longing, needing and finding, almost the finding of love. Much of romance is the search. The journey towards the destination. Love is the endurance of the the notion. Very few songs are inspired, written, sung or played about the state of love most are written in its quest or loss. Keeping the house clean, paying the bills, raising kids that talk back… that takes True Love!

Now back to my generations’ music. Yes the soundtrack of our life. Starting with Earth Angel by the Penguins, https://youtu.be/VJcGi4-n_Yw  ,in the Sill of the Night by the Five Satins https://youtu.be/MRb1-SAAIzs . If you found someone to dance with you begin with the slow courtship with one hand up to hold hers and your other to wrap around her waist. If that was ok you might progress to the full embrace with both arms around her and hers around your neck. She would nestle into your shoulder and you to absorb her sent of perfume and the softness of her sweater. Chaperones we’re posted around the dance floor. Always watching, always ready to cut in. There were other boys ready to do the same. Midway through the song just when you might think you’re melting into a mutual abyss there could come that tap tap tap on your shoulder. Somebody wants to Cut In. So yet another challenge and choice to make. The fast songs of the day were also a moment of truth. Continued…

Pardee Physical Therapy Karen Winch

 

I’m a pretty active guy up until a couple of months ago I was hiking about 30 miles a week; Big Glassy weekdays and Mountains to Sea in Pisgah on weekends. Well all of that came to a screeching halt after I rode my mountain bike to the Sideways Farm Brewery on the rough gravelled Ecusta Trail. Apparently those bouncy 20 miles shook up some dormant arthritis in my lower lumbar that jumped up and put a chokehold on my sciatic nerve.

My wife sent me to the doctor, the doctor sent me to Southeastern Orthopedic and Southeastern put me in Physical Therapy. By and large the experience in PT has been positive. Various stretches to help me alleviate sciatica and a condition I now have called Drop Foot. Each of the 3 PT’s have been pleasant to work with and, speaking of stretches, it is apparent that they are stretched to the limit, having to deal with two or more patients at a time. I want to use this review to send a special shout out of appreciation to Karen W. She has a very friendly and assertive way about her and radiates energy and optimism. With 25 years of experience, she approaches the job on a more personal level. She not only walked me through each exercise but, using a skeleton model, explained the body mechanics of how and why we were doing each move. She provided me with follow up handouts and actually referred me to  the book, Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill. While I have huge respect, appreciation and admiration for everyone in the health care field I believe that those who go above and beyond deserve special recognition. Many Thanks Again!

 What are the five stages of grief?

Denial

Feeling numb is common in the early days after a bereavement. Some people at first carry on as if nothing has happened. Even if we know with our heads that someone has died it can be hard to believe that someone important is not coming back. It’s also very common to feel the presence of someone who has died, hear their voice or even see them. 

Shock feels like a numbness, a fog, a disbelief. It is the body’s way of protecting us from early pain. It can last days or weeks with the bereaved unable to cry. Others are unable to stop crying. Both are natural reactions to grief.

Anger

Anger is a completely natural emotion, and very natural after someone dies. Death can seem cruel and unfair, especially when you feel someone has died before their time or you had plans for the future together. It’s also common to feel angry towards the person who has died, or angry at ourselves for things we did or didn’t do before their death.

Bargaining

When we are in pain, it’s sometimes hard to accept that there’s nothing we can do to change things. Bargaining is when we start to make deals with ourselves, or perhaps with God if you’re religious. We want to believe that if we act in particular ways we will feel better. It’s also common to find ourselves going over and over things that happened in the past and asking a lot of ‘what if’ questions, wishing we could go back and change things in the hope things could have turned out differently.

Depression

Sadness and longing are what we think of most often when we think about grief. This pain can be very intense and come in waves over many months or years. Life can feel like it no longer holds any meaning which can be very scary.

Acceptance

Grief comes in waves and it can feel like nothing will ever be right again. But gradually most people find that the pain eases, and it is possible to accept what has happened. We may never ‘get over’ the death of someone precious, but we can learn to live again, while keeping the memories of those we have lost close to us.

It only hurts when I laugh

 Wednesday I went to physical therapy and after a little conversation and review of my recent EMG Nerve Conduction Test it turns out I don’t have any. The nerve that pulls my feet up is dead. Eric, my PT, pulled the plug on the e-stim machine that had been trying to ‘wake up that nerve’. So now, with one little ray of hope faded, I did a few more obligatory stretches and was sent home. I told my PT that if I knew the purpose of an exercise and it would help me, I would do the shit out of it. But he offered no magic bullet so Foot Drop it is and this is the new me. Yippie!

I went home pretty exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, went upstairs to lie down but soon I heard my iPhone buzz and it was John asking if I wanted to go for a beer. Hell yes! So he picked me up and in a few minutes we were talking about stuff and laughing here and there. John has really proven to be a great friend and probably now more than ever. Admittedly blunt, he can say things that might rattle you but I just think he’s funny. We agree on a lot of basic values and where we don’t agree I just laugh and learn. He drove me home and I soon shared a bit of gossip with Tess that will remain private for the moment.

Later that night Tess and I were watching America’s Got Talent, a show that I have really come to appreciate for its humanitarian qualities. Some people truly do have talents that often remain buried because they do not fit the mold. Tonight was a young lady who could barely state her name and place because her stutter and stammer were so debilitating. She then sang a song she had written that was so stunning, so beautiful and pure, that it brought tears of wonder and joy to our eyes.

We paused the program and I took Zeke out for his walk. We went down the side grass strip just across the street. We’ve done it a million times. Even in my tottering state it’s an easy walk. Zeke likes to stop and smell the roses or whatever aromas there are embedded in the grass and he, at times, just likes to Stop! Often he will Stop and just lie down on the sidewalk, like what’s the big hurry? I then go into a series of strategies including waiting him out, then tugging upward with verbal persuasion and many times just tucking him under my arm and carrying him on our way. But tonight I was on the sidewalk and he was just a few feet above me on the grassy knoll. Come on Zeke, I gave a tug. But when the tug resistance slipped I instantly knew I was in trouble. He looked at me with those little brown eyes and immediately realized he was free. Whatcha gonna do now Daddy? He gleamed.  Hence began a long night of elderly Keystone Cops. It was 10 pm, dark and quiet. I knew he wouldn’t actually run away he just wanted play a game of keep away. It’s a fun game we love to play in the house but out here, not so much. I quickly tottered home on my cane. I didn’t want to leave him but it was only yards away so I could keep him in my sights. I got the keys to Tess’s car because my keys were upstairs. Zeke loves to go for a ride so maybe I can do this before Tess finds out, I hoped. What’s going on? I heard her voice. Nothing! I backed out and drove the hundred feet down to Zeke inviting him to go for a ride to Little Ingles but he wasn’t buying it. Meanwhile Tess came out on the front steps and asked again What is  going on!? No problem honey I lied, please go back inside. But Tess was not buying that. So ultimately  both of us were down the street, in my car, negotiating with Zeke who was frolicking around me grinning ear to ear while calling out in his Wooo Wooo Wooo bark with great earnest and delight. Always staying close at hand but never close enough for me to catch. Oh yeah, he was stark naked in his neatly trimmed doggy fur, which allowed him to slip right out of his handsome bright green safety harness now laying useless to the side. While making quite a racket, I was almost hoping someone would come outside. It’s a whole different world now that we don’t have David and Debbie or Kim and George. Little Pete and Tess are all by themselves. So we worked our plan. Tess would offer him a Paul Newman peanut butter treat and Pete would try to grab him while distracted. Easier said than done and this is where it hurts. Momma offered the treat but fell onto the street. Daddy said I’ll get you but his leg shot through with lightning and he fell trying to pick her up. Suddenly there we were, two little old people sprawled out on the asphalt wondering what just happened??? I just had to laugh at the thought.  As we struggled to get back up into the car I noticed that Zeke had gone over to lie down on the sidewalk to watch. Well the process of getting back into the car was quite cumbersome and time consuming but somewhere during this part of the drama little Zeke decided that he did want to go for a ride after all, came back over to the car and helped me jump him into the back seat. Now, with Zeke safely on board we were able to get Tess in the front seat and drive the 100 feet back to our parking spot on the side of the house. We got back inside our little home sweet home.  Be it ever so humble, we knew, I knew, we had just dodged a bullet. I got a glass of wine, three young ladies sang an original country song, ‘You can have him back Jolene’ and were awarded the Golden Buzzer from all four judges and Terry Cruze. Zeke had long gone upstairs to get in my bed where I soon followed. He was happy as a clam nestled in his blankets while daddy resumed our routine of tossing him a chewy every time he whimpers. I took a few pain meds meds to help me drift off to dreamland thinking….Getting old is quite an adventure. It only hurts when I laugh. 😂

Google Review-Duckworths Grill Charlotte

 ‘‘Twas the night before Christmas and many cupboards were bare but Duckworth’s stayed open in hopes we’d eat there… and we did and it was Fantastic!  Very close to Rea Farms Hyatt where we are staying, we will look forward to our next trip to Charlotte so we can back to dine here. I had the rack of  baby back ribs with broccoli and cauliflower which was simply outstanding so we will look forward to sampling more menu options on our next visit.

https://goo.gl/maps/wWy5xmAhvu5ucbb66

Google Review - Farm Burger

 Ever since the spread of MacDonalds, the hamburger is probably the most ubiquitous food on the American menu and yet… and yet it’s actually very hard to find a really good hamburger. Well I think we found one at Farm Burger. A great burger prepared Rare, Medium or Well Done, that choice right there eliminates every fast food burger joint from Big Macs to Burger King and Hardee’s. So Farm Burger will be our first choice if we are looking for a high quality burger, with real potato sizzling crispy fries and a nice cold local craft beer to slosh it all down.

Dolly Parton I will Always Love You

http://www.cmt.com/news/1657965/dolly-parton-shares-inspiration-of-i-will-always-love-you/

 I was trying to get away on my own because I had promised to stay with Porter’s show for five years. I had been there for seven,” she said. “And we fought a lot. We were very much alike. We were both stubborn. We both believed that we knew what was best for us. Well, he believed he knew what was best for me, too, and I believed that I knew more what was best for me at that time. So, needless to say, there was a lot of grief and heartache there, and he just wasn’t listening to my reasoning for my going.”

She continued, “I thought, ’He’s never going to listen. He’s just going to bitch every day that I go in to talk about this.’ So I thought, ’Well, why don’t you do what you do best? Why don’t you just write this song?’ Because I knew at that time I was going to go, no matter what. So I went home and out of a very emotional place in me at that time, I wrote the song, ’I Will Always Love You.'”

One of the greatest cinematic moments combined with the greatest song of all time… 

Dolly Parton Stairway to heaven

Who knew?
For me this rendition of Stairway, originally by the hardest of hard rockers of the 60’s Led Zeppelin, performed by The Queen of Country Music, Dolly Parton, speaks to the universality of music and how it speaks to all of us in different ways. People often want to pigeon hole artists into one camp or another while the Artist is much more of a conduit for creative forces and much more inclined to see the inner beauty of the art than the genre. 

July 9, 2002: Dolly Parton releases a cover of Carl Thomas Dean's favorite song

Parton included an unexpected cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" on her 2002 Halos & Horns album in honor of Dean. "I do songs that I just love," she said in an interview. "My husband has such an odd taste in music, and he loves Led Zeppelin. He's been a 'Led Head' from day one and also loves bluegrass and big-band music. 'Stairway to Heaven' was always Carl's favorite."

Parton said that it became a tune she enjoyed as well: "It was kind of like 'our song' because at romantic times or sweet times, we'd just be riding around in the car and if that would come on, Lord, he'd just knock us out of the car turning it up full blast."

 I feel the same way about Jesus. 

Jesus did not roam this earth to say he was the only light, the truth and the way, he was a path, a beacon a role model, an advocate and a reminder. He was a humanitarian. He loved mankind and or the goodness within us and tried to point out and cast out the bad. Blessed are the meek, the poor, the enslaved yearning to be free. As for violence he said to live by the sword is to die by the sword. Blessed are the peacemakers. Love thy neighbor as thyself and love thine enemy. If a man should take your coat, give him your cloak as well. As for judgement he said judge not and As for revenge he said to turn the other cheek and forgive them they know not what they do. 
Sadly so much of the beauty and grace that Jesus taught has been obscured if not lost in today’s version of Christianity. The Stairway to heaven is not a moment of being Saved and forgiven, it is a process of learning and working and growing in the right direction. Not the quest for personal power and wealth but the path of caring for others. However you treat the least of your sisters and brothers is how you are treating me.

Heaven let your light shine down

 Dolly Parton said and sang it 🎶

And then came the Collective Soul 

"Shine"

Give me a word,

Give me a sign.

Show me where to look,

Tell me what will I find?

What will I find?

Lay me on the ground,

Or fly me in the sky.

Show me where to look,

Tell me what will I find?

What will I find?

Whoa, heaven let your light shine down 

Whoa, heaven let your light shine down 

Whoa, heaven let your light shine down 

Whoa, heaven let your light shine down 

Love is in the water,

Love is in the air.

Show me where to look,

Tell me will love be there?

Love be there?

Teach me how to speak,

Teach me how to share.

Teach me where to go,

Tell me will love be there?

Love be there?

Before you leave.. I think these guys did a great job!

IReieve TENS/EMS YouTube Review

 

Great video! I’m on the verge of buying one but I wonder if you would answer just a few questions? I have Drop Foot, no dorsiflex in my left foot and numb on the surface but with intense pain. They’re going to do an ELECTROMYOGRAPHY this week. They are using an e-stim machine during my PT and they refer to the Russian setting. They turn it on and ask me to try to flex when I feel the tingling.

I am in tremendous pain. I’m taking up to 9 Advils a day and a prescription. I would like to avoid surgery but there are moments when I would do anything to stop this pain. So far they say I have arthritis in L3-4-5. I feel the pain and numbness in my peroneal nerve down my shin. I know I’ve said a lot here but do you think that this iRelieve unit will help me with Pain and or Recovery? Many many thanks for your quality video and many more thanks if you respond.

The Father - IMDB Review

 I think you see things in different ways as your own life experiences evolve. My wife and I found this movie to be heartwarming and believable even though it bears no resemblance to our own lives. None except for being parents of an adult daughter and our ability to emphasize with the What if? As in what if our marriage hadn’t worked and we tried to move on and one of us, The Father, lost touch with our daughter despite the fact that we really loved her?

I think the story was well written and acted with several unexpected turns. Despite the ups and downs they managed to arrive at a Hollywood Happy Ending which we love. Kristen was a work obsessed yuppie, not unlike her father and Kelsey was a silver greying senior who did a great job in his portrayal of The Father, who realizes the error of his ways but nonetheless wanted to make up for them.

Foot RX Running - Google Review

I recently developed sciatica which went straight down my leg and landed in my foot. More than anything else in the moment I needed a pair of comfortable shoes. Foot RX associate Murdoch listened to my concerns, measured my feet and brought out a pair of the brand Topo which fit like a glove. I walked around the store while Murdoch attended to other customers. It was Saturday mid morning, very busy and yet I felt like I was getting the utmost personalized care. I explained that I might need an orthotic and Murdoch provided an excellent description of  what a Pedorthist does and how to make an appointment if/when I choose to do so. I send my highest compliments to Foot Rx and to Murdoch for his customer service. I will definitely be back again.

https://www.footrxrunning.com/

I got new shoes TOPO https://www.topoathletic.com/mens-st-4?color=80  at foot RX. Murdoch was very helpful I got a pair of Topo soft sneaker type shoes. I’m using the super feet insert he said that they’re Pedorthists, Joe Quinlan or Scott Socha can create an orthotic in about an hire for about 200.

Marriage Vows

On occasion I think about our wedding vows. I think about how simple they are. So brief, concise and to the point. The vows we took were traditional. We didn’t decide to write our own vows, which had become a very trendy thing to do. We simply wanted to say our feelings out loud in front of our parents, family and friends, to declare out loud what we had discovered in our hearts and to make it real. To make our love something more than anything either one of us had felt before and to make our love tangible and durable, unique and precious beyond any other.

Your Dad, Papa, walked us through the ceremony. At the time I knew that was very special but now many years later, I have an even deeper appreciation for what that must have meant to him, to preside over the union of his only daughter to this “short man from New Jersey”. There were months when I wanted to capture our vows in writing.

I don’t know now looking back if we ever actually had them in writing since we didn’t write our own and since Papa lead us through the ceremony but, since they were the traditional, here they are again:

 I, Peter, take thee, Tess, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

What a deep and meaningful work of art those simple words are as the days, weeks, months and years go on. The words never change but the true meaning and weight of them do daily. As the joke goes, I thought it was multiple choice… but it is not. These vows, within their simple phrases, carry the weight of the world. A weight one never knows until it is upon you. It’s to this and for this that I want to say Tess, I love you. You have stayed by my side for richer and for poorer. Days when even our smallest checks would bounce and where we would pawn our little TV to get through the weekend. Living in a little brick house with two kids, two dogs and no air conditioning. You loved me. We’ve had a couple of colds and the flu but suddenly here I am very weak and disabled. I can’t hike or bike or feel independent and strong, no I’m humbled with pain and can barely walk and yet you are here for me. We are no longer poor, no fear of bounced checks or pawning things to get through the weekend but it has not made a change in our lifestyle, our values or in what we both feel is important. You have a good heart. You are a good person, a good mother and a good friend. It is for all these things and everything we’ve shared that I still can say I love you. It has more meaning than even when we took our vows and it is more unique and more precious now than ever before.

Happy Birthday ❤️