It's All One and That Other Bay

So we're on this exciting trip, a fun trip with people i really like. Right now I'm typing on an iPad the fam gave me (Dexter is at 80% usage)but without an app to download photos. Tried to lighten the carry on weight of baggage with the ONE principle. This is what we always try to do with carry on -no check in but even so our bags were really heavy. The ONE principle relates to packing everything in sets of one. I applied this to my bags- still heavy. One pair of socks, one book, one cap, one computer, one bowling ball. Airport security makes my kids very nervous. They become so worked up about taking off their shoes that when the time arrives they immediately drop trousers. Got it all covered I guess. Also the walkways to the airplanes are crazy dangerous with what we approach with great caution -the anklers: ankle killers. Marked in yellow, the submerged wheel? tracks draw me in wanting me to break my ankles. Secret way to get back at annoying customers? I compare this to a barista who steams your milk to 225 degrees or the guy at Jamba Juice who gives you an extra creamy smoothie. Maria dislikes turbulance. Dexter likes it. Oliver can watch everything out the window while I observe my fellows curiosities, fears and joys. While everyone sleeps to the voices of This American Life, I am thinking about our drive from Orlando to where we are now, Pensicola, one quiet night before we continue on.

We also made a short stay in Tampa (less than  a 2 hour drive) and visited Aunty Jeanette.  Have to say it was nicer than I thought it would be (another case of underestimation; wish I would stop!). Although there are many areas of  new ugly development, there is a lot of cool stuff and places to visit (worth a return). We visited in Ybor City and Old Hyde Park and found manatees near the Tampa Electric Company, which unfortunately was closed for manatee loving visitors. It is an oddly fascinating situation where you have a power plant of where manatees congregate for the warm water during the winter months. Instead of perceiving these wonderful mammals as nuisance creatures several agencies including the power company created a safe haven for the manatees (as well as a profitable tourist industry for the city).  Aunty Jeanette always full of vim and vigor was delightful to spend time with, and in all the best ways she's pretty nutty. I wouldn't mind having her spirit.

                                                 universal manatee file photo

Gatorland

swimming and creeping along

$10 dare to get under a waterfall

the gang

Gatorland. Orlando. Visiting old friends Marcail and Blythe Rose (and Cherry Vanilla). If you can ignore Cherry digging out a box of See's from our luggage and eating half the box, we were alesl in good shape and of fine spirits.  So let's remove these thoughts of puking dogs in different beds and carpets, and concentrate on how the kids picked up where they left off; in the eternal land of goofy.

Pictured above is Ollie's opulent stylings in the airport hotel after 3 Saturday flights.  In Orlando it was easy to ease into comfort at Marcail's with a lush pool setting and a home we are familiar with.  Two summers ago Dexter came out here on his own.

Gatorland was cool!  I thought it might be a place where the gators were all packed in (and with a nod to a tank of juveniles and a corny gator show-where this was the case) but most of the inhabitants had a wide berth to exist in close to their natural habitat.  I think I made a friend (well, maybe he wanted to eat me or saw me as someone who might feed him) but peering over a bridge I saw a mighty big fella who slowly followed me- our eyes recognizing our kindred reptilian spirits. After 15 minutes of coexistence and knowing that i needed to return to my human partners, I and walked away.  Looking back he was gone. He, and his eye (I won't forget that eye) is pictured four pictures down.

kids at play

egrets everywhere

                                                         

my friend. i love you.

Dexter feeding friends with large heads 

Up to Date

I didneet right eylerier but my jobe chainged at wear i worke.  it seams that the compony i worke for didneet gett there contracht reeneweded.  so ther was a chans that i woodneet catche on with the new teem.  okiy ether wiy - cauz worss sceenaro woode be that i coud goe see the Avenjirs 500 tymes.  stil  i didneet waantI to leaf the nise plase i worked at.  Kepted it qwhyit bekause i didneet wante to worriy any of my frans and familees.

So i aplyed and intrvewd and hopped for the bess. Goode newz- lass weeke i gott the jobe. it will be dffrent: moor suprveesin an moor unyfoormity (goodebye roome dekorrashens).  but the new compony I wille worke for is showin goode fayth by providin a heffty paye raiz.  I figur that I will adjest quik!  Heck, even david bowie gave up the dragg.  So so longe ziggy starrdust. Helo goldin yers.

Consyderin that the compony i worked for (pitty boes) only gave me a 30 sense raiz in 3+ yers, had terribel communickashin and is screwin my family outt of benefitts they promissed me jest a weeke ago, i  can say wittoutt a dobt, Pitty Boes is the worst company that I have ever worked for.  i'm still employed by them through the end of the month but at that point, my spelling will be spot on.

                                                            completely not a random picture

IT WAS...

 May 19 2012. Cailin graduated from USF (Bachelor of Science: Organizational Behavior & Leadership). We reveled in how brightly she was. Her future is full of hope and promise. The ceremony marks this for Cai and her classmates.  After, our family and friends continued to make this the best of days. In Redwood City with a feast from Kathy and Bob, hosted by Ann and John, a lot of people came around to be around. 

With John Flynn bringing by Sequoia,a bald eagle that he has taken care of for over 20 years (Sequoia only trusts John) provided a genuine surprise appearance.  Cailin's graduation! Big Bob's birthday! Giants win! Then, in a makeshift baseball-like game that accepted all comers from the age of six (Marley) to a neighbor of 84 walking her dog, we played from mid afternoon to the evening hours, when darkness finally brought the game to a close.  In that time, fifteen of us may have been playing/viewing/lounging but only one 84 year old decided to trash talk (playfully) me; "you're the big talker. I want to see you hit". 

Ben, in his alter ego of librarian stepped up and back to his Little League days and crushed some pitches, as did Jeremiah. Of course the biggest hit, even amongst these sluggers and the Great Eagle was of course, Cailin. Congratulations!

Gravel and Silk

                                              

                                                                       

                                            that's Bobbie in the middle and in the video,center


The craggy gravel voiced Levon Helm and the smooth, almost spoken style of Bobbie Smith may seem far apart but I've always loved their voices.  Wherever I am I will stop, loiter and listen when a song plays with their vocals.  Both were in service to the material,  not over singing or with showy vocal calisthenics. While Levon's voice is jarring at first listen, its distinctive qualities stand out as warm, full and southern.  In a group that produced as much an American sound as any rock band, Levon was the lone American with his Canadian band mates that made up the Band.  Their love of the blues, rockabilly and southern soul showcased with three excellent vocalists; Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel made a lasting and influential mark in music history.

I also enjoyed his records, guest vocals on Los Lobos records, the material from the reformed Band minus Robbie Robertson and Richard Manuel.  Helm was also a fine mandolin player and a drummer who pushed the rhythm without any solos or set drum pieces.  I would be happy to write about the great vocals and songs of Richard Manuel and the bouncy Rick Danko (who wrote my favorite song about coffee; Java Blues -the only pick me up that's here to stay). Or how Garth Hudson couldn't join the band unless it was sold to his parents as he being hired as their music teacher!  It was a mix of distinct voices harmonizing, contrasting and crashing together that made the Band unique.  After recovering from cancer (unfortunately not a full recovery) and some financial woes, Helm was able to enjoy the last five years with many musicians eager for his company and to honor his contributions.

Levon Helm and Bobbie Smith of the Spinners were always overshadowed by a larger presence in their groups - and for the most part, they seemed happy enough to give up the spotlight.  In the last years of the Band, the members found themselves in the shadow of Robbie Robertson, the primary songwriter who was focused on his next career as an actor and soundtrack scorer for Martin Scorcese, the director of the Last Waltz, the concert film of the Band's last concert.  This was evident in the film where Scorcese frames Robertson as not one of five, but the one the other four surround.  Helm wrote that he didn't like the way the Band played in that concert but there's nothing lacking in his performance that i can see. It might be that drug abuse has effected Richard Manuel moving his performance to the background- perhaps Helm felt that by presenting his friend Manuel in this lasting image, the film did more harm than good.  And maybe that says much more about Levon Helm.

Bobbie Smith is cool!. His vocals make it easy to not notice how effortlessly he guides a song to where it needs to go- communicating feeling while rocking the rhythm.  He delivers an understated performance but always soulful and genuine.  Most people will recognize the Spinners song, Ill Be Around and that vocal is Bobbie's.  He too existed in the shadow of an overwhelming prescence; usually a gospel slinging lead singer , Phillipe Wynne or later, John Edwards.  Often, Smith would set the tempo and then move aside for Wynne or Edwards to drive the crowd crazy.

The clip is grainy, the setting is overdone (an awards show) but it shows Bobbie in his smooth graceful splendor.  Smith movements are so perfect and fluid.  In his time, you sang and performed the choreography.  The Spinners are still out there touring but only Bobbie Smith and Henry Fambrough are still in the group.

The Spinners were another group that had three excellent vocalists, part of the Philadelphia sound, although the members were from Detroit spending some unsuccessful years on the Motown label.  It wasn't until they moved to the Atlantic label and their association with producer Thom Bell did they find their voice.
Some of their outfits (it was the 70's after all) were loud but their stage moves were always fun.
Maria and I once saw the group in the late '80's and after the show saw the members leaving Kimball's East in Emeryville out through the parking lot.  I was shocked to see that my fave, Bobbie was smoking a cigarette but we followed (stalked the Spinners!) in our car as they walked across the street to their hotel.

Levon Helm died last month.
Bobbie Smith won't live forever.
Their sounds will always be with me, and their recordings will still satisfy many as long as there are recordings and memories.

This piece is dedicated to the young man who asked me once what i was playing, for it was music his father used to play when he was a child.  On that day, sitting in the cafe, it made him happy to hear Dizzy Gillespie.  Whenever I listen to Levon or Bobbie, I'm feeling fine.







Below are two YouTube links

 the spinners
levon helm/theband