July 11
My objection to organized religion is the premature conclusion to ultimate truth that it represents . . . ~ Arthur C. Clarke
Continuing our two episode recollections of our most recent national holiday ~ Me
As long as we don’t die, this is going to be one hell of a story. ~ John Green
June 29
Dunking is something guys care more about than girls, There’s something about jumping that seems to fascinate guys. Girls are more, like, ‘As long as the ball goes in, who cares how you got it there?’ ~ Lisa Leslie
[A chance to watch my favorite summer sport – basketball? Alex hosted a Breakdown tournament so I went to see how our last year’s state tournament team was progressing. They will likely be favored to reach state again the next two years . . . ]
One time, I put up 40, 50 points dunking on Shawn Bradley. After the game, he brought his family over. He was like, ‘This is my wife. She wants to take a picture.’ I’m like, ‘Nice to meet you.’ I smile into the camera, take the picture, and then feel guilty about dunking on him so many times. ~ Shaquille O’Neal
[Cardinal coach Wendy Kohler is closing in on 700 career victories . . . ]
If I weren’t earning $3 million a year to dunk a basketball, most people on the street would run in the other direction if they saw me coming. ~ Charles Barkley
[Yes, she looks like she could still play the game herself . . . ]
I’m not a big sports fan, but I love it when they ‘slam dunk.’ That’s sexy. ~ Emma Bunton
[The Cardinals started 4 sophomores and a freshman last year. Hence, the expectations for the next two years are high . . . ]
I can jump high; I can dunk – nobody really believes that I can. ~ Christian Pulisic (5’10” U.S. soccer player)
[It was a good test. Delano is a better team than the one we played two years ago. When you watch the game close up from the end lines you realize how physical the girls’ game has become . . . ]
I can’t afford to do the highlight dunk and miss it because, if I do that, I’ll be sitting right on the bench beside the coaches. ~ Zion Williamson
I don’t think the Whataburger would dunk on the In-N-Out Burger, but I never really liked Whataburger or all the other burgers. McDonald’s is decent, I guess, but no, the In-N-Out Burger kills them all. ~ Dirk Nowitzki
[Since I can identify the other 4 Cardinals on the court, the shooter is likely point guard Allie Haabala . . . ]
I’m 6-foot-4. If my life depended on it, I could still dunk a basketball. Then I would need assistance from a first responder to get down from the rim. ~ Willie Geist
[The Cards led at the half – the games were played on running time . . . ]
When I was young, we were taught not to dunk. We were taught not to stand out from the rest of the team. It’s different now. ~ Yao Ming
[Four of the usual starters in this shot. All will be juniors this year except for the player in the right foreground who will be a sophomore. Allie Haabala is the shooter . . . ]
My first dunk ever was in middle school. We were playing, me and my church friends, and I dunked it, and I swear I could not sleep that night. ~ Jeremy Lin
[The shooter is junior-to-be Chloe Scholl. I stood next to her grandparents at the game. We remembered each other from a few years ago when their other granddaughters played on the hockey team . . . ]
When you can’t dunk anymore, you have to find a way to make it into the news. ~ Manu Ginobili
[The next game vs. Fargo Davies . . . ]
You look at today, it’s a different situation. You have a game that has been transformed into a game where almost every shot is either an outside shot – a three-point shot – or a dunk. ~ Oscar Robertson
[All-state selection junior-to-be Hadley Thul with the shot . . . ]
I apologize for being the voice of reason here, but this sports fan has almost zero interest in seeing women dunk a basketball. It’s a nice little novelty act that has a very short life span. ~ Jason Whitlock
[Hadley passing in to sophomore-to-be Kate Hennessy . . . ]
June 30
We’re in this entertainment business really to give the audience what they want. ~ Ice Cube
[Galaxy Road performing at Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
I feel like skateboarding is as much of a sport as a lifestyle, and an art form, so there’s so much that that transcends in terms of music, fashion, and entertainment. ~ Tony Hawk
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. ~ Frank Zappa
[The singer/guitar player is Aksel Krafnik . . . ]
Music is the soundtrack of your life. ~ Dick Clark
Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either. ~ Marshall McLuhan
All it takes is one song to bring back a thousand memories. ~ Unknown
There is a core group of eight Armadillos — Armstrong, Paul “Stretch” Diethelm, Billy Scherer, Pamela McNeill, Mike Zeleny, Jay O’Donnell, Pat Thorn and Mike Kreitzer — but every guest who plays with them is called an Armadillo, too.
The core band features musicians with a deep history with some great regional and national bands from their past including Greg “Gary D.” Armstrong on keys (GB Leighton, Bobby Vee, The Vees), Paul “Stretch” Diethelm on guitar (Jonny Lang, Slip Twister), Billy Scherer on vocals (Johnny Holm Band), Pamela McNeill on vocals (Pamela McNeill Band, Rumours and Dreams, Lamont Cranston) Mike Zeleny on bass (Airtight, Slip Twister). Jay O’Donnell on drums (The Britton Brothers, Slip Twister). Their 8 piece band also features a horn section with Pat Thorn on trumpet and Mike Kreitzer on saxophone. COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL and see what everybody has been talking about!
[The Legacy of the Lakes Gardens stage . . . ]
You can’t download a live musical experience. ~ Unknown
[Local Armadillo fans arriving en masse . . . ]
I just think, certainly for live music it should look as good as it sounds. ~ Adam Ant
[Filling in the various neighborhoods in the “gardens” . . . ]
I’m not much for dancing but for you I did. ~ Taylor Swift
[Yes, another Chamber of Commerce weather evening . . . ]
Music makes the people come together. ~ Madonna
[And food and beverages were available for the hungry and the thirsty . . . ]
So stop pretending you’re shy, just come on and dance, dance, dance, dance, oh. ~ Jonas Brothers
For those of you in the cheap seats I’d like ya to clap your hands to this one; the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry! ~ John Lennon
[Kelli Minnerath, executive director, Alexandria Education Foundation and Cardinal Athletic Foundation, welcomes the Armadillos and their fans . . . ]
We sometimes take photos (or record a video) so that we can later see what was happening while we were busy taking photos (or recording a video). ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana
[“And a thank you all for supporting the education foundation” . . . ]
It’s not a concert you are seeing, it’s a fashion show. ~ Freddie Mercury
[Chris Hawkey and Cassandra Ronnie on vocal chords, Jay O’Donnell on drums . . . ]
We will rock you. ~ Queen
[Paul “Stretch” Diethelm on guitar, Mike Kreitzer on saxophone, Mike Zeleny on bass, and Greg Armstrong on keyboards . . . ]
The middle of the road is for yellow lines and dead armadillos. ~ Jim Hightower
[“Stretch”!]
Armadillos make affectionate pets, if you need affection that much. ~ Will Cuppy
You know, sometimes you can’t just take an armadillo, put it in the barn, light it on fire and expect it to make licorice. ~ Dana Carvey
[And Pat Thorn on trumpet . . . ]
What joy when the insouciant armadillo glances at us and doesn’t quicken his trotting across the track into the palm brush. ~ Denise Levertov
Without the beat in the background, jazz basically sounds like an armadillo was let loose on the keyboard. ~ Bill Bailey
While other guitars may have more twang or an esoteric atmosphere, the Les Paul is like a T-Rex thampling everything in it’s path .. it can be subtle if you want it to be, but it works best if you have an ‘armadillo in your trousers’ and you want to articulate that. ~ Miles Zuniga
[They’re kind of everybody’s favorite band in this part of the world. And I can’t believe that as long as they have been together, there has never been a decent music video of them?]
Is God a man or a woman? God could be an armadillo. I have no idea. ~ Sherman Alexie
[Kreitzer covered the famous saxophone riff on “Baker Street.” Raphael Ravenscroft, a studio musician, was the saxophone player on the hit record. The story is when Gerry Rafferty sent him a check for his services on the record, the check bounced. So, Raphael performed his famous riff for no remuneration . . . ]
I know I’m smarter than an armadillo. ~ Lee Child
A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is … and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be … more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo see that this lovely young girl is still alive. ~ Robert A. Heinlein
In the woods, if you stopped, if you grew still, you’d hear a whole new set of sounds . . . armadillos snorkeling through dead leaves. ~ Tom Franklin
I do a lot of thrifting, but I don’t go shopping in a concerted way very often. I find things by accident that I can’t talk myself out of, like armadillo purses. ~ Mackenzie Davis
Khufu carefully picked out everything that ended with-o—Doritos, Oreos, and some chunks of meat. Buffalo? Armadillo? I was scared to even ask. ~ Rick Riordan
[And then the audience got in on the action . . . ]
We know that there are many animals on this continent not found in the Old World. These must have been carried from here to the ark, and then brought back afterwards. Were the peccary, armadillo, ant-eater, sloth, agouti, vampire-bat, marmoset, howling and prehensile-tailed monkey, the raccoon and muskrat carried by the angels from America to Asia? How did they get there? ~ Robert Ingersoll
[As with any audience, the level of dancing skills . . . varied . . . ]
It turned out to be a young Dasypus novemcinctus, a nine-banded armadillo, about the size of a small loaf of bread. Although they were becoming more common in Texas, I’d never seen one up close before. Anatomically speaking, it resembled the unhappy melding of an anteater (the face), a mule (the ears), and a tortoise (the carapace). I thought it overall an unlucky creature in the looks department, but Granddaddy once said that to apply a human definition of beauty to an animal that had managed to thrive for millions of years was both unscientific and foolish. ~ Jacqueline Kelly
Our shepherd had decided that the finest specialty of the area was armadillo, and there wasn’t a single Sunday that his wife failed to cook us up an armadillo – ~ Massimo Carlotto
Hastily, all alone, a glistening armadillo left the scene, rose-flecked, head down, tail down. ~ Elizabeth Bishop
The first thing about Dallas that you can’t get away from, particularly when I arrived, you’ve got no idea of the heat in this place. It’s over 100 degrees, and with that the humidity is ridiculous. I mean, people don’t live here, armadillos live here. ~ Chris Vance
One of my favorite books is ‘Armadillo Rodeo’, and I got the idea from traveling to Texas and seeing armadillos. ~ Jan Brett
. . . avocados, prickly pears and papayas used to be gulped down whole, seeds and all, by fridge-sized armadillos called glyptodonts. ~ Adam Leith Gollner
Fine, sure, go ahead. Weird, but I like it. ~ Conan O’Brien, on God green-lighting the Armadillo
What should you do if you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant? ~ George Carlin
[But if I were grading on an Olympic scoring system, the woman with the blue sleeveless top was the winner of the dance contest . . . ]
No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation. ~ Fran Lebowitz
Animals may be our friends, but they won’t pick you up at the airport. ~ Bobcat Goldthwait
[The conga line, once considered extinct, came back to life with the Armadillos . . . ]
There are no green mammals. ~ Weird Science
It’s extremely likely that the people who have never been exposed to a human who has leprosy, it’s very likely they got leprosy from exposure to an armadillo. ~ Anthony Fauci
I Sellotape whole tins of sardines to my face at night, attach two squeezed lemon rinds to my armadillo-skinned elbows, and put cucumber on my eyes. ~ Barry Humphries
If I had a cat I’d buy another one so I could kick one and then the other. ~ Greg Abbott
This was either “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” or the Fabulous Armadillos at the Legacy of the Lakes Gardens . . . ~ Me
With the advance of feudalism came the growth of iron armor, until, at last, a fighting-man resembled an armadillo. ~ John Boyle O’Reilly
July 2
If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first. ~ Mark Twain
[Our first breakfast of the season at the golf club . . . ]
I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. ~ Dean Martin
I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. ~ J. B. Priestley
[Yet another golfer who should be breakfasting instead . . . ]
Some mornings, it’s just not worth chewing through the leather straps. ~ Emo Philips
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. ~ Plato
[We were delighted to welcome back the internationally-awarded music duo, Patchouli, to Carlos Creek Winery . . . ]
Where words fail, music speaks. ~ Hans Christian Andersen
[Julie and Bruce historically played in Alex several times a year, but with gigs in Florida (in winter) and all seasonal points between, they are pretty much booked up everywhere now . . . ]
Without music, life would be a mistake. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
[All our best again to Julie and Bruce, after a tough year of Bruce fighting off cancer. His advice as a result is to always carry an extra 50 pounds, as he needed them all . . . ]
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ~ Victor Hugo
Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music. ~ Jimi Hendrix
In fine arts, when you make a painting, it’s just a painting. But if you make a painting in the entertainment industry, it can be an album cover or a t-shirt or a logo. ~ Andrew W. K.
I think sports has done a disservice for a lot of black kids thinking they can only be successful through athletics and entertainment. I want them to know they can be doctors, lawyers, teachers, fireman, police officers, etc. ~ Charles Barkley
[Local photographer and noted coffee roaster, Paul Trumm, shoots a photo . . . ]
Most entertainment is trying to get you. It’s tested, like toothpaste. ~ Albert Brooks
[The crowd wandered back outside after an afternoon rain . . . ]
Music is the one part of the entertainment business where you can’t fool anybody into buying a record. ~ Nile Rodgers
[The rain delay chased us all inside for half hour or so. But the big finish was back out on the wine patio . . . ]
July 3
Let’s put it this way: I don’t have a good work ethic. I have a real casual relationship with hours. I don’t understand why, in entertainment, the hours are as long as they are. It seems like everything takes forever, and no one can tell you why, exactly. ~ Janeane Garofalo
[Anthony Miltich at Lure Lakebar, hard by the shores of Lake Le Homme Dieu, on another perfect weather day in Vacationland USA . . . ]
Music is escapism, it’s entertainment. ~ Andy Taylor
[While the Super enjoyed an adult beverage, I snarfed down a few onion rings . . . ]
I never called my work an ‘art’. It’s part of show business, the business of building entertainment. ~ Walt Disney
[The lake was unbelievably busy with water craft . . . ]
Well, you know, in this crazy world of entertainment, I would say if you have a dream, you have to pursue it. ~ Caprice Bourret
I learned that the first technology appeared in the form of stone tools, 2.6 million years ago. First entertainment comes evidence from flutes that are 35,000 years old. And evidence for first design comes 75,000 years old – beads. And you can do the same with your genes and track them back in time. ~ Zeresenay Alemseged
Art is moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television. ~ Rita Mae Brown
July 4
Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself. ~ Henry David Thoreau
[Happy Independence Day! I am now and have always been a morning person . . . ]
How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature! ~ Arthur Conan Doyle
The next morning dawned bright and sweet, like ribbon candy. ~ Sarah Addison Allen
I love the smell of book ink in the morning. ~ Umberto Eco
I drink cup of sunlight every morning to brighten myself. ~ Debasish Mridha
Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep the head long on a level with the feet. ~ Henry David Thoreau
July 5
Pop culture and entertainment can be dismissed as surface, but it’s not. It’s the language we all speak, and it’s the connection point between people all over the world. ~ Bozoma Saint John
[Terrance and the band hit a grand slam as far as the audience was concerned . . . ]
I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you’re an idiot. ~ Steve Martin
[The musicians were all super . . . ]
Culture relates to objects and is a phenomenon of the world; entertainment relates to people and is a phenomenon of life. ~ Hannah Arendt
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~ Aldous Huxley
Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life. ~ Jean Paul
Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven
[Ruthie caught a couple bead necklaces . . . ]
Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it. ~ John Lennon
True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. ~ George Gershwin
I guess a good song is a good song is a good song, ya know. ~ George Thorogood
[Super fun night . . . ]
July 7
Storytelling is the oldest form of entertainment there is. From campfires and pictograms – the Lascaux cave paintings may be as much as twenty thousand years old – to tribal songs and epic ballads passed down from generation to generation, it is one of the most fundamental ways humans have of making sense of the world. ~ Maria Konnikova
I remember when I was first starting out in the late 50’s, and everybody at that time said rock ‘n roll was gonna die. I was 15 years old when I started, and I certainly didn’t believe that was true. I thought anything that feels this good and makes me want to tap my foot like this can’t be a passing fad like everybody says. Of course, they were wrong, and here we are in the 90’s and it’s alive and well, and getting programmed all over the country, and really all over the world. So it’s been a great journey. ~ Bobby Vee
remembering bobby vee
August 15-16, 2017
The Killer Vees, featuring Jeff, Tommy and Matt Vee along with Bobby’s long-time guitarist Ar J Stevens and pianist George Maurer will reunite at Theater L’ Homme Dieu one last time to say goodbye to their father, uncle, friend, mentor and band leader Bobby Vee. Complete with Bobby’s touring string section and cast members from Teen Idol: The Bobby Vee Story singing songs from their roles in the play as well as helping out on background vocals.
[We left for the theatre early because rain was on the way. We didn’t quite make it so we stayed in the car for a half hour or so until it quit . . . ]
Rock gives children, on a silver platter, with all the public authority of the entertainment industry, everything their parents always used to tell them they had to wait for until they grew up and would understand later. ~ Allan Bloom
Living ain’t easy, loving’s twice as tough. ~ Bobby Vee
[Interspersed throughout the show were videos of the life and times of Bobby Vee . . . ]
So remember when you tell those little white lies that the night has a thousand eyes. ~ Bobby Vee
[Theatre executive director Nicole Mulder does the introductions . . . ]
I once thought losing my confidence was the worst thing that could happen; then I lost my faith. ~ Bobby Vee
[DYK Bob Dylan once played piano for Bobby’s Vee band. He played then under the name Elston Gunnn (yes, 3 n’s), but he was subsequently let go because he could only play in the key of C . . . ]
Come back when you grow up girl, you’re still living in a paper doll world. ~ Bobby Vee
[Dylan thought of Vee as a brother because they were from the same part of the country . . . ]
You’re looking like a woman now, you’re mind hasn’t gotten the message somehow. ~ Bobby Vee
[Bob Dylan & Vee met again when Dylan was playing in Greenwich Village & Vee was at the Top of the Charts . . . ]
I punched my buddy in the nose after lunch, now I’m in trouble cause the dean saw the punch. ~ Bobby Vee
[Bobby’s nephew Matt on guitar and lead vocalist, and Bobby’s son Tommy on bass . . . ]
I see music as fluid architecture. ~ Joni Mitchell
[Bobby’s grandson Bennett Vee, lead guitar player on the far right, is now a regular . . . ]
I produced a song for Bobby Vee called Get The Message. ~ Jimmy Griffin
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die. ~ Paul Simon
[BTW, that’s Tommy’s brother Jeff on drums . . . ]
Music is the best means we have of digesting time. ~ W. H. Auden
The wise musicians are those who play what they can master. ~ Duke Ellington
[Matt’s 14-year old son Will joined in with the band on drums and later on guitar . . . ]
Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart. ~ Andres Segovia
[Proud papa looks on . . . ]
It was my 16th birthday – my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song, and I just knew that that was the only thing I could ever really do – write songs and sing them to people. ~ Stevie Nicks
He has Van Gogh’s ear for music. ~ Billy Wilder
[You rock, Killer Vees!]
My father used to sing to me in my mother’s womb. I think I can name about any tune in two beats. ~ Yancy Butler
[Apologies to Julie Velline – Matt’s wife and Will’s mom – here in the back, stage left (from this perspective), for not getting a better photo of her. She, a star in her right, sang with the band and did a couple (?) of solos. Spoiler alert: We retired to Alex 22 years ago. Thus, I know we have known Julie and Matt for that long because they were both working at Wells Fargo at the time – and Julie was our mortgage banker . . . ]
[A previous photo of Julie, with Matt, from a place long ago and far away . . . ]
Please write music like Wagner, only louder. ~ Samuel Goldwyn
[Another super show!]
Nobody with an IQ higher than emergency-room temperature could ever believe that ‘death panels’ would be appointed to nudge the elderly toward euthanasia. Yet for idle entertainment, it’s hard to beat Sarah Palin’s ignorant nattering on the subject. ~ Carl Hiaasen
Nevertheless, we do need insects, for they perform many useful functions. Without insects, for example, we would have no reliable way to spread certain diseases. ~ Dave Barry
Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise. ~ George Gershwin
Up Next: Back to cleaning up the back files . . .
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