Dwayne the Bathtub I'm Dwowning (Part Two - Brush With Death #3 of 2015)

          So I lived comfortably from Saturday August 22 through Wednesday August 26. Then I woke up in the morning of Thursday August 27th. I walked to the bathroom for my morning whiz. I walked back to my bedroom and felt like I had walked 500 miles. Now, I am not the most active guy, but I can usually handle that seven step walk quite easily. I sat on my bed, but could not breathe. At first, I thought it was just in my head because I had a lengthy breathing test before I left the hospital.  I could not catch my breath, so I decided I needed some help. I knew I couldn't drive to the hospital that I had just been in so I chose to go to a closer hospital. In hindsight, I should have called 911 as I remember wondering if I could even drive when I got in the car. I made the trip to the hospital and had to lean on the counter of the emergency room receptionist desk to keep standing up. I could barely get enough air out to say my name loud enough so she could hear it. I was in the Emergency Room in seconds. This entire time I thought that this was it for me. I was never going to blog again.
                            

The Emergency Room folks hooked me up to to an intravenous tube of Lasix. Apparently, Lasix is a diuretic used to treat fluid retention. I had only heard about it in Horse Racing, so I imagined it had to be good for me. My lungs had filled up with fluid  and I had congestive heart failure. I wasn't sure what was going to happen with this Lasix stuff, but I soon learned where the phrase "pee like a racehorse" came from. I had to jump out of the bed and grab my pee container right away. I got everything in position, but my little fella seemed to have shrunk while I thought I was dying. I didn't have the proper angle and my liquids flew over the top of the container and hit the seat next to the bed. I tried to reach it in order to wipe it up, but I couldn't reach because of my intravenous hookup.

   


A nice old doctor calmed me down and let me know that I wasn't going to die and I did not need any surgery.  After I peed for about three hours, I started to feel better. I assumed I would be back home by dinner time. Then some soft-talking doctor came in and said I was going to be admitted to a room and might be there a few days. Needless to say, I did not like him.  In my mind, I assumed the soft-talker was wrong and I would be home in two days maximum. Friday came and went and I still wasn't going home. I remember texting a friend because I was so sad and mad about not being able to leave and go home. It was a long and emotional evening.

AND THEN BRITTNEY CAME INTO MY LIFE...
    Brittney was my main nurse and single-handedly provided me with my will to continue living. After we talked a couple of times, I didn't care how long they had me stay there. It might seem odd, but that was one of the best weekends of my year. In fact, I told her I would like to come back for a weekend during the Holidays. I believe it was Sunday morning when I woke up and saw her in my doorway. With the bright lights shining behind her, she looked like an angel. I asked her if I was in Heaven. She told me no, I was still in Nashua. It was unbelievable. She could give me shots or draw blood and nothing hurt at all. Sunday came and I heard the news that I was going to be discharged later that day. I was so sad. I did not want to leave anymore.
(This cartoon is for my sexist, shallow male fans that enjoy
this type of thing. This in no way reflects my feelings for
Nurse Brittney)

Let's take a quick break from Brittney before this all seems obsessive and borderline creepy.

     I had a live Fantasy Football Draft on that Sunday that I was in the hospital. I called in and my friend put me on speaker phone and I was able to make my first four picks from my hospital room. That is something that I never imagined doing and should make for an interesting memory next year.
PS  My team stinks

Okay enough of that, back to Brittney!
           
   
     (In the dream world I very briefly created for Brittney and I, this would be the song that I wrote
for her. It is very healthy, and not weird at all, to have an active Dream World.)
  
     Now I don't want you to think I only enjoyed her because of her angelic looks. She is also an excellent nurse, very professional and caring. And you can't teach one person how to restore the will to live in another person and she has that ability. It was like magic. My heart continues to get stronger and there will always be a piece of it that belongs to Brittney.

My favorite memory of my second hospital stay that does not have to do with Brittney follows:

     My bartender and great friend, Adrissi, came to visit me at the hospital. She happened to be there when the sun was going down. The sun was shining right onto my hospital bed. She asked if I wanted her to adjust the window blinds because she is very caring that way. The string for the blinds were too high for her to reach. In her short-ish skirt she climbed onto a chair to reach the string. She kept adjusting the blinds and I kept saying "that's too much" or "that's not enough." Eventually, she realized I was just enjoying her standing on the chair and she turned around and wagged her finger at me and said "you are a naughty, naughty boy." This was another great test for my heart.

Rhythm of the Night (Part One - Brush With Death #2 of 2015)

          My story begins on Saturday August 15, 2015. When I woke up, I had planned a day of watching the local Roller Derby team with some friends. In the morning I received a text from a friend requesting a ride to his bank. When I picked him up it turns out he was not feeling well. We ended up going to the Emergency Room. It turned into quite a lengthy visit, but my friend received the care he needed and is doing well now. I missed the Roller Derby, but the hospital trip seemed a little more important. Some people think my priorities are all screwed up, but I got this situation correct.
     The next day I assumed I had picked up countless germs and diseases by spending the previous day in the hospital. I developed a cough and sore throat and then an earache took over. On Wednesday August 19th, I called my doctor for an appointment. They did not have any appointments available that day so they referred me to one of those Convenient Urgent Care places. They did the usual blood pressure and listening to my heart. The doctor asked if I had heart problems which I did not. He said it didn't sound "right." They hooked me up to an EKG machine. The doctor said that also was not normal. He faxed the results of that test to a local hospital. The hospital instructed the doctor to send me directly to them. I was in a state of disbelief as outside of my aching ear, I felt the same as I always did. After a few of my statements that I was fine, the doctor said he would get an ambulance to take me to the hospital if I wasn't going to drive myself there. It was then I realized that he wasn't kidding and I really needed to go to a hospital to have my heart looked at. I may not have driven straight to the hospital because I felt fine, but I did go that day.

     I have been very lucky in my life and have had little to no experience in hospitals. No stitches, broken bones, diseases, or serious illnesses. (knocking on wood currently).  The hospital staff did a bunch of tests and determined I had an irregular heartbeat, specifically called Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB). I found it weird that I had something called "AFIB" as I have spent most of my life lying and making up stuff. Still I expected this to be a quick visit as I felt fine. I was not happy when I was told I would have to stay overnight. I slept in my jeans just in case they changed their mind and decided to send me home. They did not.
     Made it through my first overnight stay in a hospital. It wasn't much fun. The next day was full of tests and I was rewarded at the end of the day with having my heart shocked back into its correct rhythm. I lost the rest of my sparse chest hair during this procedure, which was okay because it made it easier to see the rectangular imprint on my chest where the electroshock paddle thing was. I never had been "put under" as they say, but I sure liked it! I was quite high afterwards. I may have tormented the nurse who took care of me after this procedure. There might have been some inappropriate questions and comments, but I was under a lot of stress. She got me back by setting the alarm on my bed so it would go off when I left the bed. That scared the heck out of me when I got up to close my window blind. It was a very funny prank to pull on a guy that just had a heart procedure. After I survived that, I realized I was going to be okay.

Tidbits I learned from my first hospital stay:

- the hospital treats water like gold when they don't know what it wrong with you. It took two hours of begging to get half a Dixie cup of water in that place.

- it is not nice to yell out "Man, I couldn't take another bite of this blueberry muffin!" when your hospital roommate is on a "liquid only" diet.

- Sometimes weird things happen. One of my overnight nurses had a first name of "Almedina."
My brother and I have a good friend named "Al Medina."  how cool is that? (see photo)

- now that my heart is back in it's proper rhythm, I have noticed I am a much better dancer and I am not behind a beat when I clap my hands at concerts!  All of these years I suffered! Who knew??
(I have to apologize to my friend Crystal, who tried to make me look good dancing and I always let her down. Little did we know it was because my heart was out of rhythm)

     I was discharged from the hospital on Friday August 21st. I was free to live my life in perfect rhythm.

     The next part of my story is coming soon.

                              

Circling Through Life

          My time spent at the lovely Holiday Inn in Nashua, NH is over.  Sixteen weeks on the road, but back home now. I wrote the following in the hotel then kind of lost sight of it with moving back home and assorted other items. The info is a little dated, but I figured I should get it out to my loyal readers and then get started on my next masterpiece. It is nice to be back in the comforts of my own home surrounded by all of my junk.  I sure do miss that maid service though!
     B.B. King passed away of Thursday May 14, 2015.  After the news sunk in, I needed to play some B.B. to hear his voice and distinct guitar-playing.  Sadly, the part of my house where I store the bulk of my cd's is unreachable due to the repairs going on inside my home from the horrific roof collapse back in February. Thankfully, I don't always return my cd's immediately back to the stand where they belong. I was able to track down two renegade B.B. discs in a random pile of cd's, which was quite fortuitous. They have been with me ever since.  I have "Live At The Apollo" from 1991 and "Let The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan" from 1999.  These two discs have helped me through my B.B. grieving process.
     The following day, we suffered another loss.  Football placekicker Garo Yepremian expired.  His fame came during the 1970's and as a kid, I had no idea what a "Garo Yepremian" was.  His name was odd, he looked odd and threw the oddest pass in football history. The fact that he threw this pass in the Super Bowl in 1973 just adds to his legacy. His team, the Miami Dolphins, won that Super in spite of his pass.  I learned two new things about Mr. Yepremian last week:
1) after all of his fame and success with the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1978, he went on to play one season with my beloved New Orleans Saints in 1979 (that is where his fame and success ended).
2) he was born in Larnaca, Cyprus which is an island somewhere. His family home had no indoor plumbing and they kept warm by burning olive pits. They also made some mean Dirty Martinis.
     Somehow over the years, I forgot how much I loved Kelly LeBrock in the mid-1980's.  I don't think I am alone when I say her talent was under-appreciated.  Her work in the back to back films "The Woman in Red" and "Weird Science" can holdup against any two films of the great actresses of our day. The fact that she does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an injustice of epic proportions.
     Okay, that's it for new.  Look for a fresh blog entry coming out soon!!
   

Weekend With Larrys

 

Recently, I spent some weekend time with two of my friends named Larry. They don't really know each other, but they may have met once years ago. They both entered my life around the same time in the late 80's or early 90's.  A couple of Friday's ago, I went to see one of my Larry's play with his band in Leominster, MA. I have always needed nicknames for my Larrys, so my friends could tell them apart when I spoke about them.  This particular Larry was originally known as "Larry Lasagna" due to the fact that his actual last name contains many of the same letters as the word "lasagna." He is currently known as "Guitar Larry" which is probably a more suitable nickname, as he is a fantastic guitar player.

     I met this Larry at the Stormy Monday bar located in the old Country Gourmet restaurant in Merrimack, NH.  The Country Gourmet was located where Buckley's restaurant is today. Larry played there with a band called the "Swanky Moes" and I cannot guess how many times I went there to see them, or how many people I forced to come with me. I also can't imagine my total bar tab there, as I used to like drinking beer back then.  We developed a nice friendship through our musical connection. Sadly, the Swanky Moes split up and followed different musical paths throughout the region. I gave Larry my number to call me if he started up a new band. Now this was in the old days before MySpace, Facebook, text messaging etc... I wasn't sure if I would ever hear from my friend Larry.  Days turned into weeks and weeks into years, until one day I came home and had a voicemail message from Larry on my home phone!  The clouds lifted off of my musical life and I was back in business as a groupie!

     Over the years, I have gone to see Larry play all over New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I love his guitar playing and the songs he likes to play. All of the times I have seen him have been enjoyable. We have had some memorable moments as well.  We gave hair-styling tips to a young woman at the Strange Brew.  There is a good chance she never went out in public again after that exchange. I witnessed a woman willingly get spanked for her birthday for three hours in Lowell, MA while the band played on. Larry saved me from an ill-advised romantic interlude in Goffstown, NH with a woman with a nice sweater. Larry's guitar playing makes the ladies crazy! I think what might be our fondest memory however, is when I went to see him at a restaurant/lounge/hotel in Rochester, NH.


Not only did I get to listen to him play, but I expertly ordered the ham steak dinner while I was there. Easily the greatest ham steak dinner of my life. It even came with freshly canned pineapple. No lie, one of the best meals of my life and  I owe it all to Larry.
 

Larry & Mark

Now my friend Larry has reunited with his Swanky Moes band mates and formed the L&M Rhythm Kings.  It would not be right to talk this much about Larry and not mention his sidekick, Mark.  He is another great guy, great musician, and someone I am happy to call my friend.

       

I saw my other friend Larry on the Saturday afternoon, following the Friday night that I saw the Larry described here already.  There was no more difficult way to describe that.    This Larry is simply referred to as "Old Larry" or my "OLD friend Larry" within my inner circle.
   

I met this Larry at a job soon after college. My boss told all of her staff that we were getting a new employee who just left the Air Force. I was expecting a young, clean-cut guy to be joining our team, but instead we got a guy who already had completed a full career in the Air Force. I didn't know if he ever saw active duty, but I was fairly certain he was involved in the majority of skirmishes that our country was ever part of. We initially became friends due to our mutual love of the Boston Celtics. Eventually, we discovered we enjoyed a lot of the same music as well.  Since then we have gone to many concerts together and exchanged a bunch of CD's. I should also mention that this Larry also played in a band called "The Delrays," a few decades ago. The only song I remember from the cassette he played for me, was of him singing "Proud Mary." I don't think Mary, or anyone else would have been proud of his vocals. It wasn't all bad however. He met his lovely wife Barbara while part of this band. They have been together ever since.

     Despite a little age difference, we have managed to have lots of fun and laughter over the years.  One of my favorite gags that I pulled on him was when he was looking for work years after we worked together, and I setup an interview for him where I was working at the time.  He left his Winter coat in the lobby when he went in for the interview. While he was in there, I filled up the sleeves of his coat with crumpled up paper. When he came out of the interview and tried to put his coat on, he couldn't get his arms in the sleeves!  It was the funniest thing I ever saw! Eventually, he pulled all of the paper out and got his coat on. I am not sure if the interviewer saw his struggle with the coat, but he did not get hired.

 He got me back though a few years later though.  One of my friends seeded and worked on putting in a lawn for me. That night Larry came over to visit. He always had a hard time backing out of my long driveway, so he decided to turn around on the lawn.  I yelled at him from the front door and he just cranked up "Fun,Fun,Fun" by the Beach Boys and gave me the middle finger as he drove on the lawn.  He still denies this happened, but it did.  I certainly wouldn't put it in my Blog if it wasn't true.

   
I have learned many things from Old Larry.  He has shown me incredible generosity and thoughtfulness over the years. He is also a tremendous friend-keeper.  The guy has friends all over the country and has a great ability to keep in contact with them. Larry has also shown me that you can survive a personal tragedy and still carry on with your life for all of the other people around you that need you. I am in that group that need him. He has amazing inner strength.
   


Larry is also ultra-talented in the world of fly tying. I knew nothing about this art of tying flies for fly fishing, but I learned a lot from him. His work has appeared in many books.  For me, the most impressive thing is that he actually had a postage stamp made with one of his flies pictured on it!  Is that nuts? I say yes.

     So those are my two Larrys. I love both of these great guys.  There are lots of things I don't have, but I am blessed to have many good friends like these two dudes.



   

Baseball Been Berry Berry Good To Me

          Special thanks to Garrett Morris and Saturday Night Live for the title of this blog. Back in 1978, Garrett debuted his fictional character "Chico Escuela" who was a New York Mets player from the Dominican Republic. An interesting fact from the first night they used this character is that the musical guest for that show was the Grateful Dead!  Who knew that?  I did not. Anyhow, Chico's catchphrase was "baseball been berry berry good to me." Sammy Sosa from the Cubs used to use that line in interviews when he was still cute and lovable. Now he is a cheating scoundrel, who lied to me and the rest of the world about his steroid use.  Him and that stinking Mark McGwire spending a whole Summer kissing and hugging each other and hitting mammoth home runs in between putting needles in their buttocks.  I am so glad none of my beloved New York Yankees ever got involved with that stuff.
                     
    Baseball's Opening Day is Monday April 6th.  Opening Day should be a National Holiday.  It is always a great day.  ESPN has baseball games on all day long. For that one day, every team has the look of a championship contender. Then, a short seven months later, a World Series champion is crowned!  Come on, let's play ball!

 
                
     I am a lifelong New York Yankees fan. A big part of the fun of being a Yankees fan is the rivalry that exists with the Boston Red Sox. Neither team did very well last season. In fact, I think the Red Sox finished in last place in the AL East.  With the new season starting, I figured I should give you a poorly researched preview of the Yankees and Red Sox squads.  We will start with the Yankees because I don't despise all of them like I do the entire Red Sox roster.

     So all you need to know about this year's Yankees is they no longer have Derek Jeter, but they do have Alex Rodriguez. Like the rest of the country, I am not an Alex fan, but I would like to see him hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. I would settle for 15 and 50 if I have to.  One of the fun parts of my Mom's later years, is that she became an Alex fan.  She found him to be the most compelling and entertaining baseball player in the league. I never could find out why? I guess that was part of the fun. My Mom and Dad were both from the Bronx, NY and that is where I got my love of the Yankees.  They used to take us to Yankee Stadium while I was a youth growing up on the mean streets of Long Island, NY.  My Uncle Armand was the greatest Yankee fan and helped me stay a Yankees fan even after my family and I moved to New Hampshire. Okay, so there is a short Gary as a Yankees fan history.
     Let's take a look at some of this year's Yankees roster:

First baseman - Mark Teixeira - has a bad wrist. something about a torn sheath? what the heck does that mean? was once a good player
Second baseman - Stephen Drew - former Red Sox dink. will be lucky if his batting average reaches Karen Carpenter's death weight
Shortstop - Didi Gregorius - gets to take over Derek Jeter's position. good luck. only positive is his name reminds me of Eva Longoria and that makes me smile
Third Baseman - Chase Headley - seems okay
Catcher - Brian McCann - I like him. He is good. He can catch and hit.
Left Fielder - Brett Gardner - love him. plays hard.  could play in any era and be mediocre.
Center Fielder - Jacoby Ellsbury - former Red Sox dink. can be great when not injured. with all of his money he should try and buy a dab of personality.
Right Fielder - Carlos Beltran - thought he retired two years ago. they should have let him go and kept Ichiro. At least Ichiro was freaking cool.
Designated Hitter - Alex Rodriguez - the circus is back in town!  Is he eligible for Comeback Player of the Year?

**  I am not discussing the Yankees or Red Sox pitching staffs.  Both teams have lots of questions in their starting rotations and both should have good bullpens. My guess is the Sox starters will be better than Yankees and Yankees bullpen will be better than the Red Sox.

And now for the Red Sox bastards:

First Baseman - Mike Napoli - liked him when he was on the Texas Rangers.
Second Baseman - Dustin Pedroia - had a nice career for a little guy.  every year he looks more and more like an extra from the set of "Deliverance."
Shortstop - Xander Bogaerts - is this the year he becomes the greatest hitter to ever play the game?
Don't Bogaerts That Hype My Friend...
Third Baseman - Pedro Sandoval - don't hate him.  great nickname "Kung Fu Panda." respect him for same reason I respected David Wells, they both are fat successful athletes.
Left Fielder - Hanley Ramirez - pretty sure I saw him play in Manchester, NH as a minor leaguer.
Center Fielder - Mookie Betts - loved Mookie Wilson.  think this guy could be great. hope he is not
Right Fielder -  Shane Victorino - the greatest Hawaiian right fielder in baseball history. ask him he will tell you.
Catcher - Don't Know - should have been Christian Vasquez, but his arm is wrecked forever
Designated Hitter - David Ortiz - will lead league in nonsensical rants and inappropriate language for the 12th straight season.  What's not to love about that? "This is my freaking blog!"

**  My prediction for the two teams is this:
The Yankees won't be as bad as they look on paper.  They will win some games and lose some games.
The Red Sox will win the World Series.  Who can't figure that out? They finish in last place one season, then win the World Series the next season.  Last year they finished last so it is easy to predict that the World Series trophy is coming back to Boston.  Cleanup the duck boats!

** Something new to share with your friends - on the final day of the regular season, all of the games will start at the same time! This could make for one tense and exciting day of baseball as teams battle for playoff berths!

**  Baseball joke for the season:
Why did Confucius think baseball was such a funny game?
Because man with four balls no can walk

Enjoy America's Pastime!!

            

Valley Street Redemption

       

This week marked the one year anniversary of one of my best friend's experiencing a life-changing event. Without getting into details, he had to spend five days in the local jail. You know, the clink, the big house, slammer, pokey, con college, hoosegow, etc...

As a good friend, I thought it would be nice to visit him during his brief stay. I also thought it would be nice to bring a gift. Naturally, my first idea was a cake with a file in it, but over the years I have started to realize that my first idea is usually awful. So, I decided to bring him the Drew Brees autobiography instead. After all, who is more admired and inspiring than Drew Brees?  Only Pope Francis, that's who.

     The day was sunny and windy and cold as I drove to the jail.  Thankfully, I had never been there before and had a little trouble finding it. I found a nice parking spot and with my book under my arm, headed towards the entrance.  Surprisingly the door was locked and I needed to buzz in.  A gruff sounding man badgered me with questions as to why I was there. I had as many questions for him as he had for me, so he ended up buzzing me in. I was in for another surprise. The front door weighed about 300 pounds and I struggled to open it. I think the strong wind was working against me as well, but I can't be sure. One thing is for sure, God forbid I was ever in there, they wouldn't need to lock me in a cell.  I could barely get through an unlocked door.

                 


I walked into the "lobby."  A woman bellowed "Can I help you with something?"  In an embarrassingly high voice, I told her I was there to see a friend. She told me that I would need to write a letter to request to be added to the visitor list. I told her my friend would not be staying there long enough to receive a letter. Cleverly, I asked if I could write my letter there and just hand it to her. She said absolutely not, the letter needed to be postmarked. Not giving up, I asked if I could leave my book with her at the desk.  She said "We do not deliver gifts here!" In my head, I had a few more ideas, but I happened to glance around and there was no one in there that looked like they might be on my side. I decided to give up before they locked me up.  Dejectedly, I walked back out the 300 pound door with my book still under my arm. My friend would never even know I tried to visit him until he got back on the outside.
 

 My friend is free again and living a clean, wholesome life.  He is a great guy with a bright future. Now I don't want anybody to think I am making light of our penal system (yup, just typed "penal" without giggling.) I have always lived by the famous words of 1970's TV undercover detective, Tony Baretta:  "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time."  So let this be a lesson for all of my fans, keep your nose clean and don't make me go through something like this again. It was very upsetting for me.

One Weak Beam Away...

          Monday February 16, 2015 started out just like many other Mondays.  I had started writing my blog about the Grammy Awards and got about half of it done. Later that evening, I went to 7 Star Pizza to see my friends and watch Monday Night Raw. Around midnight, 7 Star owner, Nick, was talking about grabbing a flashlight and going up to clear some snow off of his roof when he got home. I think he was just kidding. We both laughed. I had a shot of Jagermeister for last call with my friend Jack.  Then I hugged my friends and went home.
     I got home around 1:30am and ate half of the turkey sub that I brought home. Then I fell asleep. Around 3am I heard a loud bang which woke me up. I thought maybe some ice had fallen off of the roof.  Then I heard some more loud noises that made me sit up in my bed. I realized something odd was taking place so I thought I should get out of my house. Getting dressed quickly, I ran out thru the living room to the front door.  I heard many more loud noises on my way out and determined my roof was collapsing.
   I jumped into my car and got it off the driveway just in case the whole place came down. For the first time in my life I needed to call 911 which I did. The firemen arrived in a few minutes. The first fireman out of the truck looked exactly like Channing Tatum.  It was ridiculous. I thought I was getting Punk'd. Thankfully the rest of the guys in the truck were average looking and I felt better about myself. We waited in our vehicles for the town Building Inspector to show up.  The wait lasted about 45 minutes. This night featured a temperature of -10 degrees with a wind chill that brought it down to -40 degrees.  Not the best night to determine that you need to relieve yourself or risk your bladder exploding. I received permission from the firemen to unfurl my hose and relieve myself in the howling wind. They turned the fire engine lights off so I wouldn't get stage fright while trying to complete this endeavor.  These were good men.
     The Building Inspector eventually got to the house and took a look around. he determined my home was uninhabitable due to the roof issues.  He slapped some big UNSAFE signs on my place and that was that.  I called my great friend Peter Smith, and he took me in from the cold and let me stay at his place and warm up. This wasn't the first time he has helped me at a time of need. My brother took me into his home for the next week while I worked on getting my home repairs in order and deal with the stress brought on from my brush with death.
     The day after the horrifying incident, plumber extraordinaire, Dave Pollock, met me at my house and winterized it for me in order to save all of my pipes from bursting. He worked like a dog that morning. I wanted to help the poor guy, but I wasn't wearing gloves and I was wearing sneakers, not boots. Next, I called Construction Guru, Dave Courtemanche, for advice on where to find a good contractor to help bring my home back to life. Needless to say, he found me a good guy to help me.
     I met with the contractor the next day and he explained to me that my home originally had a flat roof and that the peaked roof that collapsed was an addition to the original roof. He was amazed that the original roof stayed strong and was not damaged in any way. He told me that original roof saved my life. His exact quote was "you were one weak beam away from being squashed like a bug.                                        

A Year In Music As Reviewed By A Mentally Young 51 Year Old Caucasian in 2014

   
 So we are going to take a look at some of the music I enjoyed in 2014.  There will be many areas of the musical world that will not be mentioned here.  Basically, I will be mentioning catchy Pop tunes and semi-obscure songs that I can share with friends and family.  The only common thread I can find in my semi-obscure songs is that most of them make the listener want to remain still.  I find that important in my music as I don't like to move around too much,

FAVORITE POP SONGS

I don't claim to know all about the 2014 Pop music scene, but I know enough for this blog. It is safe to say that Pop music was dominated by females in 2014.  My three favorite Pop songs from last year were all by females.  Also, I liked a few songs from Iggy Azalea, who seemed to be all over the place in 2014.  Here are my favorite pop songs from last year:

1)  "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj = I was immediately sold on this song as soon as I saw them perform it on one of the MTV Award shows.  It has everything I like in a song, plus some things I didn't even know I liked in a song.  Two thumbs up!

                 
2) "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor = what a catchy tune and fun lyrics!  video perfect too!
3) "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift = love everything about her!  hugely talented.

Honorable Mention goes to the band Magic for their song "Rude."  They aren't female, but they did throw together a memorable song from 2014. Also, have to mention they are a Canadian reggae band. Who knew there was even such a thing?

SEMI-OBSCURE SONGS THAT GARY LIKES FROM 2014

"Dangerous" by Big Data = This was absolutely my favorite song of 2014.  The fact that the video is sexy and disturbing at the same time, only added to the allure.
               

Below are other favorites:

"Beware the Dog" by The Griswolds
"Take It As It Comes" by J Roddy Walston & the Business
"Scare Away The Dark" by Passenger
"Budapest" by George Ezra
"West Coast" by Lana Del Rey
"Drive In Movies" by Ray LaMontagne
"Habits" by Tove Lo
"Sunken Ship" by Will Dailey
"Water Fountain" by Tune-Yards
"Come Up Man" by G Love & Special Sauce



SEMI-OBSCURE SONGS THAT GARY LIKES THAT MAY HAVE COME OUT IN 2013


"Three Headed Woman" by Boy & Bear
"Emmylou" by First Aid Kit
"So American" by Portugal. The Man
"Take Me To Church" by Hozier
"Cool Kids" by Echosmith

LOCAL CD's RELEASED IN 2014 BY BANDS I TALK ABOUT CONSTANTLY

"Good Luck" by Girls Guns and Glory
"Love Whip Blues" by Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers
"Fake It 'Till You Make A Hit" by Pat and the Hats

BEST CD BY A DISTANT RELATIVE RELEASED IN 2014

In  2014, I found out from my Aunt Pat that her grandson, or my cousin Jodie's son, is a drummer in an up and coming band from the Nashville, TN area.  His name is James Alan.  They put out an EP this year that I think is excellent.  The name is below and I included a video of one of their songs.

"Won't Be Long" by Wabash

                     
SONG I LIKE TO PLAY AT START OF EVERY NEW YEAR

"Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann

You will know this song/speech, as soon as you hear it.  Something about it always puts my brain in a good place.  Once per year is probably not enough to hear it.
           
                     

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 Inductees

       

The 2015 class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees contains some of my all-time favorite solo artists and bands.  The eight inductees are Bill Withers, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Green Day, Ringo Starr, Lou Reed, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and the 5 Royales.  I thought it would be fun to share some thoughts on each of these artists.




Bill Withers - A few of his most popular songs are "Lean On Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", and "Use Me".  "Ain't No Sunshine" has always been so much fun to sing with when it gets to the part "I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,  I know, Hey, oughtta leave young thing alone, But ain't no sunshine when she's gone."

Stevie Vaughan & Double Trouble - I actually didn't know they weren't already in the Hall until about a year ago.  Stevie entered my life around 1984 when my brother brought the "Couldn't Stand the Weather" album into our house.  The song that hooked me for life was "Cold Shot."  I have been known to destroy that tune at karaoke from time to time.  If you have never seen his concert recorded in Toronto at the El Mocambo in 1983, you should.  It came out in the early 90's and for me it solidified that Stevie was a one of a kind talent.  An amazing performance for sure.  I also credit him for helping me discover other great Blues music over the years.  One of my favorites of all-time for sure.

                     

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "I Love Rock and Roll" from 1982, one of the great singles since I have been on the planet.  Strange memory I have of this song is my high school friend, Mike Provost, singing this to me in the Merrimack High School store.  I wish I could shake the memory, but I can't.  I guess it could be worse.  He is a good guy.  Anyway, Joan Jett could bring it.  "I Hate Myself For Loving You" is another classic.  She also reminded me of Leather Tuscadero from the "Happy Days" television show and I was always a big fan of both Leather and Pinky Tuscadero.   "Aaaaaaaa"

Green Day - Can it be that these guys have been around 25 years?  Yes, they have with their 1990 album "39/Smooth" on an independent record label.  Their major label debut was "Dookie in 1994.  "When I Come Around" and "Basket Case" were hits from that album.   Since then they have consistently put out strong music.   My niece is a big fan and that is a good enough reason for me to endorse them!

Ringo Starr - the last of the Beatles to be inducted into the Hall as an individual.  I love Ringo.  The world loves Ringo.  He had his share of individual hits such as "It Don't Come Easy" and "You're Sixteen."  He is also responsible for one of the three songs that can easily make me cry.  His song "Photograph" gets to me every time I hear it.  The other two songs are "Nightshift" by the Commodores and the immortal "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks.

Lou Reed - I have more Lou Reed albums than a normal person should have.  Lou is responsible for my favorite Rock song of all-time.  "Sweet Jane" recorded by the Velvet Underground, of which Lou was a prominent part before he went solo, has been on my favorite list for many years.  Most people probably know him from "Walk on the Wild Side" which I imagine was his biggest hit by far.  It was also an unlikely hit in hindsight, but the music business is a fickle mistress.  Possibly my favorite recording of his is "Live Take No Prisoners" album.  He throws some between songs banter on that recording that was not heard before or since.  Entertaining from start to finish.

                 

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - I have to be honest, I have seen his name before over the years, but not familiar with his music. Thanks to the interweb, I found out he was from Chicago and was a big Blues fan.  He was a singer and harmonica player.  Paul learned from such greats as Muddy Waters and Little Walter.  He and his band played at the original Woodstock.  They are also credited with spreading Blues music to lots of people that never would have been exposed to it.  I am a fan of anyone that creates interest in the Blues.  Next up for me is checking out some of his music.





The 5 Royales - These guys are not so well known compared to most of the people mentioned above.  Let me tell you how I got into them.  I have seen lots of Blues bands over the years.  Each time you see a band they play something that you don't know, but instantly love it.  I like to research those songs when I get home from the show and find out where they came from.  Well, I can tell you that many times the results of my research led me to the 5 Royales.  So, I had to look into them.  They were at their best in the 1950's through the mid 1960's.  I scooped up one of their Greatest hits cd's and loved it all.  Then, I found a marked down box set of five cd's of their music and now I think I have nearly every song these guys recorded.  Some of my favorite songs are "I Like It Like That" and "Baby, Don't Do It."  The Shirelles had a big hit with the 5 Royales song "Dedicated to the One I Love" and James Brown recorded their song "Think".   These guys are a fine example of "so much music, so little time."  I am glad I found these guys and have their music in my life now.

                    


Congratulations to the 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees!  Thank you for the music and the memories.