– It’s not even 3:30 in the afternoon as I begin compiling these ‘Mini Thoughts’.
– But it’s already Thursday night for me.
– That’s because Friday morning will begin sooner than normal for me.
– I just set my alarm clock for 3:45 AM.
– I hope to be on the road no later than 4:45 AM.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the road tomorrow.
– That’s about 58% of the way to northeast of Dallas Texas.
– I’m really lookin’ forward to it !
– Last night I attended only my 3RD memorial service of my entire life.
– It was for a good friend and coworker.
– The service was done nice, and a few people stood up to speak of Kevin.
– If I could do it all over again then I would get up and speak too.
– It’s just one of those missed opportunities that I now regret.
– I’m learning to not miss so many of these opportunities in this new Life.
– It was an open casket viewing, but I didn’t go up to view Kevin.
– I’d rather remember Kevin as the dude that was full of life and laughter.
– The last time I saw a lifeless body in an open casket it was my Granddad.
– It’s an image that I can’t get out of my mind – 15 years later.
– This past Tuesday night I attended my 2ND Toastmasters meeting.
– I had a fun time – and an important role – as the vote counter.
– Joining Toastmasters was a wise idea for my own professional development.
– It’ll help me out in conquering one of my greatest weaknesses – speaking.
– It’ll enhance my professional career as well as my personal Life.
– Thank You Travis for leading me to Toastmasters !
– I am planning to continue the blogging during my entire vacation.
– The weekly ‘Disco Party’ is still on track for tomorrow night.
– I’ve got a gem from 35 years ago from a dude that called himself ‘Disco Tex’.
– Then on the ‘Retro’ on Sat. night I’ve got a bubblegum pop smash from 1996.
– Then on Sun. morning it’s my takeaways from a church service I’m attending.
– This church in Allen Texas looks amazingly similar to Life Pointe Church.
– So that’s what’s happenin’ with me on this Thursday night (and beyond).
– Keep it locked in – same blog time – same blog station.
– This blog post was transcribed.
Category: History
Long before The Jonas Brothers, ‘N Sync, The Backstreet Boys, Hanson, New Kids On The Block, Leif Garrett, and David Cassidy there lived another HUGE teen pop idol that all of the young girls swarmed after. I’m talking of course about the incomparable Neil Sedaka.
From the age of 19 until the age of 24 (1958 to 1963) young Neil racked up an amazing 14 TOP 40 hits including the # 1 smash “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” and the TOP 5 smash “Calendar Girl”. But then the American music landscape radically changed in the mid-1960s, and young Neil was no longer the hot thing. (He wasn’t British for one thing.)
Fast forward more than 15 years after his initial debut, and Neil Sedaka started hanging out with Elton John who was at the peak of his long career. Elton helped to pull Neil out of his extended slump, and Neil returned to the top of the pop charts as a middle-aged dude. He took his classic “Laughter In The Rain” straight to # 1 at the start of February of 1975, and just 8 months later in October of 1975 his funky “Bad Blood” (with Elton on back-up vocals) hit # 1.
Here now is that very funky middle-aged version of Neil Sedaka from 1975:
Kool & The Gang have been together for longer than I’ve been on this Earth – over 45 years. They’ve been known as Kool & The Gang for the past 40 years. In fact their very first radio single in 1969 was titled “Kool & The Gang”, and it was from their debut album “Kool & The Gang”. They got more creative – more funkier – and more rambunctious as the years and the decades rolled on. Their biggest success occurred during the early-to-mid-1980s when they racked-up 10 TOP 10 hits. But a full decade before that they scored this early TOP 5 funky Disco smash that had the whole nation movin’ to the “Jungle Boogie”.
– For the first time ever I’ve got 2 systems connected to the ‘Net simultaneously.
– I bought a ‘Wireless-N USB 2.0 Adapter‘ for my antique laptop.
– That’s the laptop that was my main system before I bought my new desktop.
– It’s so old that wireless technology was a mere option when it was new.
– Now I can access the Internet whereever there’s Wi-Fi.
– OK so I’m about 5 years behind the times here – at least I arrived.
– This suddenly rejuvenated laptop is going on a long road trip with me !
– Next Thursday night at this time I’ll be on vacation.
– I’m actually working for about 5 hours next Thursday morning.
– After that I’m off for the rest of the month.
– I return back to work to celebrate my 22ND anniversary at the air base.
– I’ve got an early departure time to hit the road next Friday morning.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the first day of my road trip.
– I can’t wait to get out on that open road.
– Late this morning I ventured over to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for Lunch.
– I rarely eat cheeseburgers nowadays, but when I do Beef’s is the place.
– They also serve up some mightly tasty buffalo wings !
– Pretty much everything that I’ve ordered there was hot and delicious.
– Well the cold air from the north is advecting our area as I type this.
– Once the skies clear out our temperatures will tumble rapidly.
– I’m forecasting a low of 56° for Homestead from 6 AM to 7 AM on Friday.
– But wind chills will actually be closer to 50° !
– Tomorrow (Friday) we will struggle to reach 75°.
– It’ll be another chilly morning on Saturday.
– I can’t wait until I can walk around my neighbourhood in it !
– That’s right – I’m doin’ a ‘Walk-A-Thon’ on Saturday morning.
– This Saturday night on the ‘Retro’ I’ve got a funky Neil Sedaka from 1975.
– But first before that we’re gonna do the “Jungle Boogie” at the ‘Disco Party’.
– Be sure not to miss those weekend shenanigans.
– Those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– I thank you for checking them out, and I’ll see ya back here tomorrow.
– In the meantime – REMEMBER THIS !
CountUp 