Category: History

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Home Sweet Home

Saturday March 05TH 2011
Volume 3 / Number 16 / Edition 113

20 years ago this upcoming week I went on a roughly 10,000-mile trek as I returned home stateside from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

The trek began bright and early at 0326 local time on Saturday March 09TH 1991 at Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia. After a 7-hour and 7-minute flight westbound we touched down at Torrejon AB Spain (near Madrid). The layover was unexpectedly long – nearly 5½-hours. After that it was a 9-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean and into Dover AFB Delaware. After a long 21½-hour day of travel I was finally back in the U.S.A. for the first time in over 2 months. After a restful night at a nice hotel in Philadelphia we flew back to Miami and then returned to Homestead AFB on the morning of Sunday March 10TH 1991. We pretty much snuck onto the base with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. Future Gulf War returnees would be treated to celebrations and parades, but my group received nothing – aside from the rest of the month off in rest and recuperation to do whatever we felt like doing !

I felt like returning to my home-of-record up in the Washington D.C. area to spend a couple of weeks with my Dad, Mom, Brother, and two cats – and so I did. 3 days after returning to Homestead AFB from Saudi Arabia I drove 1,096 miles over 17 hours (spanning 2 days) up I-95 and back to my real home at the time. It was perhaps the greatest homecoming to my parent’s home that I’ve ever experienced in my entire lifetime – a Gulf War Veteran returning home.

People sometimes ask me what I did in the war. I actually had 2 separate jobs while serving in the desert. For 23 days I built fuel tanks. I wasn’t good at it. The 11 that I worked with thought that I was pretty much awful at it. I agreed. We parted ways. I eventually found my mad skills building BOMBS !  That’s what I did for 24 days. I loved it. I was also pretty good at it. I quickly realized that bombs were so much easier to make than fuel tanks. Who knew ?

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God History Life Music Radio

The Music Of My Life

Saturday February 19TH 2011
Volume 3 / Number 15 / Edition 112

As of this writing I’ve got 607 songs within my iTunes collection. I often refer to it as my coveted iTunes because it takes a special kind of song to make it onto my constantly evolving hit music hall-of-fame. It’s the music of my Life, and it’s what I listen to at home, at work, and at play.

I joined the iTunes revolution during the Summer of 2007 – a few days after my 40TH birthday. My brother and his wife bought me my very first iPod Shuffle, and they had it shipped to me back then. That was by request, as I was looking for a nice yet simple-to-use music player to store the music of my fantastic journey – the music that was playing on The Call.

Nowadays I’ve got 3 iPod Shuffles that I utilize daily. That original 1GB 2007 model is now my ’50-50 MIX’ – half music of my journey and half music of my life (going back to the late-1960s). It’s split right down the middle – 120 Christian and 120 Secular. It’s my ‘go-to’ Shuffle for the workplace.

My 2ND iPod Shuffle – a 2GB 2008 model personalized with my name on it – contains all of my Christian songs only – all 286 of them to date – pop, rock, and hip hop. This is a music genre that I didn’t even know existed before my journey began during the Summer of 2006.

And then there’s my 3RD iPod Shuffle – a 2GB 2010 4TH Generation model that my brother and his wife bought me as a Christmas gift just a few months ago. It’s got 40+ years of mainstream pop, rock, and dance hits on it going all the way back to the late-1960s. It’s the music of my life, and it’s the songs that I’ve chosen to represent its soundtrack.

Once upon a time I regularly presented ‘The Major’s MASSIVE Memories’ on my web site. Nowadays I’m creating fresh new memories on this journey to go with my lifetime of memories. My coveted iTunes is its soundtrack, as my new Life continues to move forward further into His light.

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Advertising Food History Life Music Television

Kellogg’s Honey & Nut Corn Flakes

Saturday January 29TH 2011
Volume 3 / Number 14 / Edition 111

Debuting in the U.S. about 31 years ago in 1980 was this delicious breakfast cereal from Kellogg’s. It was introduced to the market with a successful and long-running advertising campaign complete with its memorable jingle. It was probably one of the last great cereals that I enjoyed eating early in the morning before school. Right about the time that I entered High School I pretty much stopped eating cereal in the morning. It was a matter of time. Every morning I had to wake up, dress, deliver 100+ newspapers all throughout my neighbourhood, get ready for school, and then walk there (about a mile away).

It’s been about 30 years since I last enjoyed a bowl of cereal with milk. I don’t really miss it nowadays since I’ve gone so long without it. But if I bought a box of cereal and a gallon of milk tomorrow then perhaps I may just enjoy it all over again. Or maybe not. It would probably clash with my black coffee.

* Today Honey & Nut Corn Flakes is known simply as Crunchy Nut.

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History Music Radio

Huey Lewis & The News

Saturday December 18TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 13 / Edition 110

This past Wednesday night (December 15TH 2010) at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood Florida I saw the legendary Huey Lewis & The News LIVE in concert. They performed 17 songs over the course of 1 hour and 20 minutes. It would’ve been nicer if they had performed more of their big ’80s hits, as they left the stage with their fans clearly wanting more. Isn’t that the goal of rock stars and bands when they perform for their fans ?  Leave them wanting more ?

They performed 10 out of their 14 tracks from their current 2010 album “Soulsville” which you can purchase at Amazon.com. It’s their 1ST album since 2001 (“Plan B”).

They also performed the following 7 of their big ’80s hits:

– Do You Believe In Love (1982)
– Workin’ For A Livin’ (1982)
– Heart And Soul (1983)
– I Want A New Drug (1984)
– The Heart Of Rock & Roll (1984)
– The Power Of Love (1985)
– Back In Time (1985)

This was my 3RD Huey Lewis & The News concert. I previously saw them in February 2007 at the same Hard Rock Live – and also in October 1986 in London England at the historic Hammersmith Odeon. Bruce Hornsby & The Range opened for them in London.

MASSIVESMASH.COM HALL-OF-FAME INDUCTEE:
“Hip To Be Square” – Huey Lewis & The News (1986)