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October 31, 2006
Candy Day
When I was a kid (which was quite a long time ago) I used to think of Halloween as “candy day.” That’s all it meant to me.
I was raised in one of those old-fashioned households where mom controlled everything we ate. She cooked all the dinners, made the school lunches, and was there to supervise the snacks when we came home from school.
Candy was definitely a “once in a great while” treat. True, we could buy a bag of Sugar Daddies for a nickel, but we had to earn that nickel ourselves, we never got an allowance. (My Dad’s reasoning was: why should I pay you to exist? You work, you get to eat. You do some extra work, you get paid. A little. Maybe.)
So once a year, my siblings and I would adopt various ghost, pirate, or monster costumes, and systematically roam the neighborhood in search of as much free candy as we could find. If someone dared give us an apple, we became quietly indignant.
The glory years were when I was old enough to escort my younger brothers and sisters (I am the oldest of six) but not too young to trick or treat myself. We would go to as many houses as we could before our legs gave out. We each ended up with our own personal mountain of candy, which took days to finish. We usually wound up with an upset tummy, but we endured and persevered until the candy mountain was vanquished, and we began the long, hungry wait for the next October 31.
This window of opportunity only lasted a few years, after which I became too old and too cool (well, too old anyway) to indulge in such childish balderdash.
Never in my childhood did I attach any satanic or evil connotation to Halloween. Sure, we dressed like ghosts, goblins and witches, and we said, “boo,” but no one was worried that we were falling into Satan worship or delving into witchcraft. We would go out trick-or-treating and then go to church the next Sunday, occasionally trying to smuggle a few pieces of candy into Sunday School.
I’ll be working in the studio tonight, and I probably won’t get any trick or treaters. We live out in the country, where the houses are too far apart. Not worth the effort.
Sheryl will be going to Oviedo to help our friend Asli (the blind rocket scientist) hand out Halloween candy. Our friend Spike (of “Sandz of Time”) will be trying to scare the kids by dressing up as a Scotsman, complete with kilt and authentic accent.
Nothing satanic about that. I think.
Happy Halloween. Christmas is coming!
BOO!!!
Posted by leon at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2006
Let’s Put On a Show!
Things have been crazy around here, to put it mildly.
We are getting ready for the “Evening with Nashville Hit Makers” show at the Emma Parrish Theater in Titusville on Friday, October 27th.
It promises to be a great show, and it better be, considering everything Sheryl has gone through in helping put it all together.
I will spare you all the details, since for one thing I can’t remember them all, and secondly, it would serve no purpose to relay them all.
All I will say is, if you’re wondering whether you should come see the show, I would say, “Yes. You must come to the show. Definitely. And bring several friends as well. It’s well worth the price of admission.”
I hope to resurface next week, and start adding to this blog on a regular basis once again. There is so much going on out there, I don’t even have to resort to being snarky.
I may give in to the temptation to be a little snarky every once in a while, though.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you at the show!
Posted by leon at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2006
Nashville Hitmakers
As I write this, I’m listening to Sheryl, Lathan Hudson, Austin Church and Bill Rice along with host Java John on TropicWaveRadio.
Java John has a daily program called the “Acoustic Record” and today he is featuring the “Nashville Hitmakers.”
There’s no way to adequately describe what I’m hearing. Great songs, great stories, funny jokes. As they say, “you had to be there.”
Fortunately, I’m recording this as we go along.
If you’re anywhere near Brevard County, you need to come see the Nashville Hitmakers when they appear together at the Emma Parish Theater in Titusville Florida, on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 7PM.
The event is called “An Evening With Nashville HitMakers.”
Here’s a link to a video preview:
Please contact us if you have any questions. We'll see you there!
Sheryl on the "Acoustic Record"
Posted by leon at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2006
Cool Jazz and Other Stuff
The cool weather may finally be here. It was 62 degrees when Sheryl and I went out to walk Buddy this morning. Why, that’s almost cold!
Got a lot of work waiting to be done in the studio this week. I’m afraid to start mentioning names since I may leave somebody out. You never know who might be reading this thing. (HI, Sandy!)
I can tell you that I will be working on a Christmas song, country songs, Broadway show tunes, as well as cover tunes from just about every decade since the 1930’s. I certainly never get bored with music.
This Friday I get to play Jazz and Blues with the tremendously talented Sybil Gage, at Mangroves in Cape Canaveral. This lady is a real entertainer; she knows how to put on a show. The first night I got to perform with her is one I will never forget.
So for the next two Friday nights, October 13th and 20th, we get to do it again. 7-10PM.
The contact information for Mangroves:
6615 N Atlantic Ave
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
(321) 783-4548
cocoabeach.com
The music will be great! (The food is pretty good, too!)
Posted by leon at 02:30 PM | Comments (1)
October 05, 2006
Buried, But Happy
Well, back on September 29th, I said I’d try to get back to regular writing.
I obviously didn’t make it.
I can’t think of a time when I’ve had so many things going on at once: Live performances with different artists (including Sheryl this weekend in Lake Wales), several different project in the studio, teaching a Sunday School class on Worship, teaching some piano classes, putting up a new website, talking to people about BurnLounge. And the list goes on.
It’s an exciting time, but a bit exhausting.
Sheryl came home from California last Monday, and now we’re getting ready for our trip to Lake Wales to perform for two nights at the Highlander.
Maybe next week things will ease up a bit. Then again, maybe not!
Posted by leon at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)