Friday Follies...
Some way to begin a weekend...with the passing of LES PAUL at the age of 94!
But like everyone we've come to admire...you just know that SOME DAY...it's gonna happen.
Now, I'll be the first to tell you that my Dad LOVED his music, as did I, and it was a wonderful treat to grow up listening to it.
We used to watch him on TV whenever he, and his wife Mary Ford appeared.
Les was the man who basically brought the solid body guitar (Gibson) to prominence (after Fender and Rickenbacher), and ALSO was the FIRST person to use studio OVERDUBS in his music.
Hard to imagine ANYONE in music today that doesn't use BOTH...no matter WHAT the genre.
Here's the WIKI link to his life and times:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
This is a very fascinating read, and brings some interesting facts about his life to light.
I used to have a black Les Paul copy made by Univox...and that as a sweet sounding axe.
Unfortunately, the neck warped and it's gone now...but I still miss it.
Still have my electric hollow-body folk guitar, though...in case I get nostalgic...lol.
** Last night I watched another episode on TLC of Police Women of Broward County, and this is one of the best "reality" shows on the tube these days...it's not all about the job (which for me is always fun to watch), but about their personal feelings and lives.
And right after that show, over on Military Channel was a NEW show called SPECIAL OPS MISSION, where a former Ranger is given a "situation" and has to face numerous people of an OPFOR (opposing force) to achieve the goal set before him. They use "simunition" rounds to mark hits taken, and the OPFOR people are ALSO former RECONDOS, AFSOC, and SEALS personnel. It's a nail-biting show that takes you INSIDE the world of covert ops. That as one helluva hour ...I enjoyed every minute of it, and can't wait for the next episode.
Here's a link to the website with vid caps from the show:
http://military.discovery.com/videos/special-ops-mission/
If you've ever watched SURVIVORMAN or MAN VS WILD, you'll like the show (and get a peek into the world of operators that do this 24/7/365 around the globe to protect OUR security).
Who would have thought that THURSDAY NIGHT would become my favorite night for TV?
** And while you're reading about Les and Mary...you're probably wondering WHAT you're going to be doing with ALL that spare time when the kids go BACK TO SCHOOL....(I can hear the cheering from here).
Well, even if the kids are grown and gone, you might want to consider some books that I've found helpful, insightful, and just plain enlightening over the years. I'm not going to into detail about all of them...just check out AMAZON or BORDERS...or just plain google them up and you'll get an idea of the synopsis of them.
And some of these tomes have been around for a LONG time...
-- The Bible.
Yeah, I know most of you know the story and how it "ends", and maybe even seen the movie, but there are some parts that CRY OUT to be re-read. Take the book of Revelation...or the book of Proverbs...good stuff in there.
Actually, you should take the time to read as much as you can about other religious beliefs as well, and that would include the Book of Mormon, The Koran, and even the Talmud. And spend some time reading up on the different types of PHILOSOPHY as well. There are books out there that describe the various authors of specific philosophical beliefs.
I guarantee you will find more SIMILARITIES among these books than differences.
-- Sun Tzu: The Art of War.
His work of warfare (no matter what the scale) can be applicable to a person's everyday life...make no mistake about it.
-- Glenn Beck: Common Sense (includes Thomas Paine's Common Sense)
-- Larry Elder: Ten Things You Can't Say In America.
-- John Mc Whorter: Losing the Race - Self Sabotage in Black America.
-- John Mc Whorter: Doing Our Own Thing (the degradation of language and music)
-- Bill O'Reilly: A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity.
-- Bill O'Reilly Culture Warrior.
-- Wayne LaPierre:Guns, Crime and Freedom.
(and his follow up book)
-- Wayne LaPierre: Guns, Freedom and Terrorism.
Both are EXCELLENT READS and present FACTS...not fiction about guns in America.
-- Wilfred Funk: Word Origins (1950)
-- Joseph Campbell: The Power of Myth.
(This book will explain movie sagas like LOTR and SW MUCH better than you can imagine)
-- David Ellwood: Poor Support (Poverty in the American family-1988)
-- Charlres Sykes: Dumbing Down Our Kids (1995)
-- Chuck Colson & Jack Eckerd: Why America Doesn't Work (1991)
-- Donald Bartlett & James B. Steele: America: What Went Wrong (1992)
-- Plato: Plato's Republic
-- Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged (and) The Fountainhead
-- Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto
(this book clues you in on the clueless)
-- Shelby Foote: The Civil War
-- Studs Terkel: Working
-- Ben Franklin: Autobiography
--Larry Burkett: The Coming Economic Earthquake (1991)
And those are just the "cream of the crop" in my NON-FICTION section.
There are several novels that bear reading as well.
-- Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird
-- Fletcher Knebel & Charles Bailey: Seven Days In May
-- Neville Shute: On The Beach
-- Ernest Gann: Fate Is The Hunter
And there are a LOT more that recently have been published that I just haven't had the time (nor money) to go out and read.
So there you go....lots of fun reads to keep the lemonade flowing, the eyes aching, the midnight oil burning, and the mind thinking.
Let me know what YOU find captivating in the world of the written word...maybe I already have it (but forgot to mention it), and maybe I might want to grab me a copy and it...that's how we ALL become more enlightened anyway, isn't it?
In the meantime, be well, behave, be good, and above all...
Stay safe out there, America.