Memories | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “Memories”

06 Dec 2013

The Day The Music Died

For those of us who love music… we likely all have music heroes.

There are those musicians who perform and write music that hits our psyche, those who make a certain time in our lives more than special. There are those musicians who have been present in our lives for a long-span of it, and continue to be part of the soundtrack of our lives over the rest of it.

Music is a thread for me that has been present in one way or another for as long as I can remember. I had music at my fingertips since I was old enough to play those yellow plastic 78 rpm records and 45 rpm records with the big hole in the middle on a little record player I had in my bedroom. I remember when my brother gave me his old “transistor radio” that actually allowed me to travel with music everywhere I went. It was the beginning of a discovery of the variety of music in the world. Easy listening, classical, country – you name it. In particular rock and roll was in its infancy stages when I was quite young. I was enamored with the same hits that all older teens were listening to, and wanted to play it every waking hour.

I learned about The Beatles there. In 1963 I had in my hand a $3.99 LP that my dad helped me buy from the local department store called “Introducing the Beatles”. A brown almost old fashioned themed cover on an odd label (V Jay) with 4 guys pictured on it that if they had shorter hair could have been the 4 Freshman, but they weren’t- they were significantly different.

From that moment on I was willing to consume all of the British invasion – take in every nuance of reference to the Merseybeat, to the mods and sods of English ruffians. But no matter what – the Beatles were my central soundtrack. Through the 60’s as I was growing up, they were growing up too. They were moving the culture of a generation of music, others were following. Even in the initial times of the late 60’s rock renaissance explosion, the Beatles were the royalty of the rock music that had become so diverse in such a short time.

So I here I am. Fifty years later. Still the fan of a group that has long since passed as music is depicted today. No wrecking ball, no electronic drums, no voice boxes.

What I miss terribly are all the years that we lost when John Lennon was assassinated so early in his life. Like many before him and many since, there was a lot of music to consume in such a short time. But imagine what it would be if he had survived to be the senior musician his famous writing partner has become. What would we have experienced?

That day in December 1980 will be indelibly in my mind. I was actually broadcasting on a local small town college radio station at the time. I spent the entire night with listeners who called in with disbelief as we listened to his music and remembered the day that made the music live for us. The music died that day. I still will remember it, hope many others do too.

13 Nov 2013

Your Favorite Pizza

Often enough I run into Internet articles that are all about pizza. What is the best kind, where you can find it, who has created a new version. Always with opinions on what makes a pizza good.

When I was a kid there was this great Italian-American part of town where you could find a variety of pizza. We used to call them pizza parlors. If you ordered take out they would put it on a cardboard wheel and then cut it, and then bag it with a paper bag that would often have a generic looking guy in a chefs hat that looked a little like Chef Boyardee – complete with the pinched fingers up in the air (for those of you in the US).

Amazingly even between all of those restaurants there was a variety of sauces and crusts, but the crusts were almost always very thin. Nearly always crispy arround the edges, and sometimes cracker thin even in the middle. But man they were tasty.

Which leads me to the point. All of us foodies and non-foodies that love pizza have an idea what makes up an ideal pizza pie. Crusts, sauces, toppings and just the general look of one. If you live in New York City it is different from Chicago, can you fold the slice, or do you need a fork to cut into the deep dish goodness?

What do you like?
What makes it your favorite?
Does it make a difference where you live as to what defines PIZZA to you? Tell me what you think.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged Favorite Foods, Favorite Pizza, Food, Italian American, Memories, Opinion, Pizza, pizza parlors

05 Nov 2013

A Simple Grain Of Sand

I have learned, never take a day for granted. My dad used to say “the world is your oyster”. There are plenty of pearls I suppose out there. But it all starts with a grain of sand.

Microscopic view of sand on the beach

Our lives have to mean something while we are here on earth. The one grain of truth can be shared to make a beautiful thing or can ignite hate and fear. One simple thought can generate the grace of the spirit or it could be something that contributes to the darkness of wasted time and an energy that leads nowhere.

So we have a choice, to make the best of each day whether it starts with the smallest things or is full of events that make up your life. Staying at home behind your doors and drowning in the circumstance of life can waste away the gift of the time we have and wear away at the spirit of our being.

So whatever life we have left ( a minute, a day, a year, many years?) is ours to do with what we want. Choose grace. Choose to let each grain of sand become a pearl that will last much longer than you will be allowed. It is what matters most I think. Of course that depends on your perspective.

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life, Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Acceptance, Faith, Grace, Happiness, Joy, Memories, Philosophy, Reality Check, Sprituality, The World is Your Oyster, tracks in the dust

27 Oct 2013

The Influence of Lou Reed

Lou Reed. Rest In Peace.

I know that I was not the kind of fanatic follower of Lou Reed. I mean I knew instantly that I heard Velvet Underground that he along with his compatriots were on to a sound that “needed” to happen at that time of rock history. I always thought the way that he made songs were those songs that spoke to the people who needed the opposite things from the pop-revolution that was flooding the airwaves back then. ( there are always those pioneers who change where music is going aren’t there?)

When a friend of mine brought “Transformer” over to my house and put it in the turn-table, we already had a love affair with the stuff that was called “glam-rock” at the time. Spiders from Mars, Mick Ronson, Mott the Hoople. Bowie was just changing things so much. But Lou Reeds Transformer album was just wildly different. Sure there was the Wild Side song… yeah we got that. But there was so much more magic in every song. I actually wore out my copy and finally gave it to someone to listen to and never got it back.

When I was in a band in high school, we used to play “Sweet Jane” – somehow reaching back to our roots. And we played the “live” version (from Rock N Roll Animal) with the Intro that was just a great instrumental piece on its own. It was our favorite song even when we were playing so many other more classic pop songs back then. There was a night that we played it in a big auditorium and our guitar player must have had it turned up to 11. The crowd loved it, even those kids that we knew didn’t really know who Lou Reed was. There was an edge to his music, to the subject matter he wrote about.

So my hat’s off to the late great Lou Reed, passing today at 71 years old. His passing really made me reflect on things: He was more of an influence in what I listened to then and what I listen to now that I guess I realized.

In Memoriam | Lou Reed Dead At 71 | 1942 – 2013 (jambase.com)

Posted in Doing Things That Will Change Your Life and tagged being remembered, David Bowie, Glam Rock, life is precious, Lou Reed, Lou Reeds Transformer, Memories, Mick Ronson, moments, Music, Rock music, Rolling Stone, Sweet Jane, Transformer, Velvet Underground, Wild Side

15 Oct 2013

Autumn Fishing Memories

It was the first days of autumn. I can still smell the mix of oil and gasoline from my dad’s Evenrude small engine. We carefully slipped into the aluminum boat and shuffled our tackle to the middle. With a couple of pulls of the cord the engine stuttered on and we were off.

There was a light mist on the lake, In the early morning there wasn’t a lot of wind for a fall day. The lake was more like a mirror and the trees surrounding them had begun to turn colors, bright orange and reds and burnt browns. The color of the trees extended onto the small lake like dashes of fire as the sun came up in the east. The small motor didn’t disturb the water much, but moved our small flat-backed canoe forward slowly across the small lake with an echo.

Headed for a small bay off the shore of a marshy area things were optimistic for a catch. My dad would say that there was a special place- off the shore where fish would congregate. I always thought that kind of funny because I had thought of fish in schools, but his term made it sound like they were lined up for Sunday church. Where the small fish were the bigger fish were bound to be nearby feeding on the minnows. The large mouthed fish we were after were not quick to hit the bait, but when they did they would pull hard.

As we settled into the marshy inlet we heard some splashes of wild life on the shore. A muskrat perhaps, or a raccoon hiding behind the tall cat-tailed marsh grass. Some swirls in the water proved that there was opportunity under the water for a morning of success and surprise.

It was a very special time. No matter what the catch. Special because we had shared our bacon and egg breakfast in the first light of dawn, we had dressed for the chill of morning knowing that as the sun rose the temperature would rise with it. The early day would give way to blue sky and a beautiful fall day – what we called Indian summer.

I cherish those days even now . I wish I had spent more of those kind of days with my kids. They were special then and decades later they are still there – in my recollections of a time that will ever be imprinted on the memory of my childhood.

I had some great times with my kids over the years and I hope they will remember them for the many years to come. My advice to you – to my kids. Embrace the memories, be conscious that they are there and soak them in. They’re worth more than most any riches you can accumulate in your life.