music

There’s a Kind of Hush

All over the World….

I was so much in love with Herman of the Herman’s Hermit’s when I was 14. I wrote him a love letter when I was only 13. Probably went something like “I love you, please wait for me” since I had never even kissed a boy & was just out of my training bra.

  • What young teen couldn’t love Herman?

By the next year Herman’s Hermits were coming to Detroit in concert. I just had to meet Herman. I broke out in an excited sweat when I saw that there was to be a press conference for the Hermits consisting mostly of school kids interviewing them for their school newspaper before their concert to which my friend & I were attending. I begged my grams, who worked for the Editor at the Detroit Free Press, to talk to Loraine Alterman a reporter for their teen/entertainment page to see if she could get me into that venue. I used to go down to the paper during summer vacation once in a while & met various photographers & reporters. It was so exciting.

  • All the guys lined up behind the table getting ready to leave after the interview. We naturally tried to rush them.

Loraine not only got me in, but let me write a byline about the experience for their page by posting it as a “letter.” She was great & such a sweet person too, always smiling. She ended up writing for Rolling Stone which is where she met her future husband Peter Boyle in 1977 til his death in 2006. He was a wonderful actor & must have been a great guy too. Supposedly John Lennon was their best man at the wedding. Small world. I used to hang with someone that John got released from jail many years ago, as well Yoko Ono was one of my first followers, coincidentally, on Twitter years ago when I only posted my art & photography.

Man…name dropping like hell right now but it really is a small world.

  • Looks as aged as the Declaration of Independence & pretty dorky too.

Fast forward 40 years… I hear that Peter Noone was going to be the headline at the Dearborn Homecoming, which is what they call their summer festival. I knew he might want some of the photos I had of the group so I decid to go up there before the show one hot August night. I was dressed like a sweaty slob & no makeup & told someone at the stage I wanted to drop off the photos for Peter so I could just go home to my air conditioning.

You know how badly the thrill was gone for me to do that? If I was in my right “fan-girl” mind I would have put on my nicest outfit, fixed my hair & done my makeup but no. I just go over to “drop off some photos with one of his people.” So I get there my plan all set & his stage hand says…”NO…stay for the show & give it to him yourself afterwards. So I stay for the show & thoroughly enjoyed it too, but it might have been the heat stroke.

  • Peter Noone started to sign his autograph when I stopped him short.

Peter was prepared for autographs & a meet & greet with his fans behind a table that I soon approached with my folder of 8 X 10’s which I told him I wanted him to have. He was in a hurry, opened the folder & started to sign his autograph “Herman” for me. I stopped him saying “no these are for you to keep.” He said that he appreciated it but asked if I could send them digitally to him instead so he wrote his email address on the folder, which I still have because after all it’s still an autograph. The next day I emailed the photos & he thanked me & that was that.

Now if I was still a “fan-girl” how great would that be to have your crush’s personal email address! I was laughing to myself thinking OMG, what I wouldn’t have given for this kind of access to him 40 years ago. I actually thought he’d gotten better looking as he matured.

Hope you enjoy a song that he & his daughter Natalie sing every year at the UK Unity Telethon called “The Angels Are Crying in Heaven Tonight.” The refrain states that the angels are crying because they can’t understand why we can’t find the light. I can’t either.

Prayers Needed

in the name of Jesus!

I have hesitated to post anything since Halloween.  I had mentioned that a family member was in the hospital at that time.  It’s my youngest brother and the prognosis is not good.  Apparently he is in late stage Liver failure and it’s more than likely due to his lifestyle when he was younger.  I know he does drink regularly but many people do and don’t have this happen to them.

He has been a heavy drinker most of his adult life especially when he was in the lead singer in a Heavy Metal Band many years ago with a lifestyle that went with it.  They played in many of the rock and roll clubs in Detroit and the suburbs.

My brother is on the left.

I was originally told that my brother was injured when he lifted something heavy and tore his esophagus.  This happened due to the thinning and weakening of the membranes making bleeding a huge danger.  He must have already been quite ill for some time but never said anything, as many of us don’t until it’s too late.  I have heard of cirrhosis of the liver before but never knew that it actually can make your body sort of deteriorate where you have bleeding all through your body, sometimes severe enough to cause death.  I have been reading up on this condition to find out as much as I can.

He had emergency surgery on November 1st for esophageal bleeding, was in the hospital approximately one week recuperating and having more tests, was released and collapsed a few days later at home in a much worse condition with more widespread bleeding.  He was in a coma for approximately 11 or 12 days and started waking up a few days ago.  He has been in ICU because it does not look good, he could pass at any time.  He was just taken off the ventilator a few days ago when I was there on Thanksgiving and it broke my heart to see my brother with tubes all over his body knowing any time might be the last time and having him plead with me to bring him back home.

He has no energy and kept saying “help me” and “take me home with you” in the tiniest whisper changing from lucid one minute to not making any sense the next.  The nurse told me this was common due to high blood ammonia from the liver.  When I had to leave due to the 2 hour drive back home before dark, he kept saying “don’t go.”  Until a pretty nurse came into the room, then I could leave.

One of my daughter-in-laws was able to feed him a tiny amount of thickened liquid yesterday as well.  He has a feeding tube and is not supposed to have much by mouth right now, anything can cause this bleeding again but since they can’t just have him stay this way in ICU, they are trying to see if he can tolerate stuff so they can eventually get him out of there and he can actually come back home.

One of the nurses said if he can get through this crisis and follow Doctors orders there might be a possibility to get on a transplant list if he gets stronger.  If I qualify I would not hesitate to donate part of my liver.  My liver tests looked good a couple months ago.  I have hardly ever drank, smoked or took drugs my entire life so I am hoping that it’s a possibility though age is also a qualifying factor.  I forget the older you get the less valuable your life becomes in our society.

 

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Planets or Bubbles?

I was hurling through space the other day, one of my usual “out of body” experiences I like to do so I can be reminded of just how small and insignificant me and my problems really are in the grand scheme of things.

Bubbles make all things better, even space!

Bubbles make all things clean again!

Daily Prompt: Strike a Chord

I come from a musical family.  I think many of us do before the invention of TV and radio and it sapped most of us of any wish to try our hand at learning an instrument even if simply because it takes effort on our part.  Passive listening is so much easier.

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My first experience playing piano with my father

2brosjamming
Two brothers jamming.

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Dreams of stardom in my Go-go boots

Daily Prompt: We Got the Beat

I do come from a musical family on both sides.

My mother’s side it’s mostly piano and organ.  My Aunt Ruth used to be the church organist for a while back in the 1940’s in Detroit.

My father’s side is mostly string, guitar and banjo.  I remember some really awesome hootenannies with my dad’s relatives when we went “down south.”  Back in the day, most people did play some kind of instrument.  My parents were beatniks and while most of his relatives were country, my dad favored folk music and used to play some of the clubs in metro Detroit in the 1960’s.

I have never been great at any musical instrument and only sang with a few people back in the day in reviews, festivals and on stage with Ron Coden for some teen happening before he starting hosting the children’s program “Hot Fudge.”

My instrument of choice was always the guitar but I also used to play the banjo and mandolin as well as the piano.

I have no photos of me entertaining as a musician.

So I’m posting a retro picture my hubby took of me practicing sometime in the 1970’s.  Love my go-go boots!

PoGirlPlayingGuitar

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up

Made me think of the old group, “Up With People.”  Very big for a short time.  Most people laughed at their upbeat message. 

If you want to get high on life, click on the youtube.com video link and read some of the comments while you are at it!