Big Leather Couch

81 years young today!

With his bride of 56 years

With his grand-kids

The kooky Marini/Clifford Clan

A tiny plug here for this week's show on Music On The Couch. Not only were both my guests (Paul Thorn and Kelly Richey) excellent musicians, they both proved to be incredibly insightful, interesting people. They both talk about their philosophies on life and how they are both trying to help others in many ways.

Not many days left until Christmas and I am further behind this year than I have been in many many years.

Christmas cards are almost ready and should be out the door by Thursday - fingers crossed

Have a few more gifts to purchase and that should be done this week - fingers crossed

We have Nancy's family's Christmas celebration this Saturday. Should be a fun time.

Then Sunday morning, breakfast for about 10 kids...a little tradition we began two years ago, inviting some of Peter and Ernie's friends over. That afternoon we will have our Christmas meal with Peter and (hopefully) Ernie.

Next Wednesday morning we wake and get on the road by 6am to Boynton Beach, Fl and Mom Joan and Dad Vince. Nancy and I will drive the 14 hours straight through.

While there we will get to hang with my best friend Andy and his wife Janice and my fraternity big-brother Mike and his wife Lucille. Mike and Lucille live close to mom and dad and Andy and Janice are coming down for a week (their plans were finalized when they realized we would be down there...very cool).

Hoping the weather will be nice...it looks to be in the 70's when we get there...so I can fall into the ocean. If the water is too cold for that, I will at least have the chance to go for a walk with sand in my toes and 10-billion gallons of salt air invading my lungs and reviving my insides.

Dad is doing well with his radiation treatments. he says he is a little tired but that seems to be from the shot they gave him a few months ago to put the cancer into remission so he could enjoy the cruise.

I will not be around much through the end of the year. Work is insane right now and with my vacation I have put even more pressure on myself to get it all done.

We get back home on the 30th and it looks like I will be flying back out to Los Angeles on the 2nd or the 3rd for about 7-9 days.

My last Music On The Couch show for the year is this Monday and then I will be off-air until January 10th.

One last comment here today...even though he might never see it I want to say that it still bothers me that Matt-Man and I had a falling out over something silly this past year. Maybe in 2011 we can put this situation aside and repair the friendship we had built prior to that.

Today is the day designated to honor the Veterans of our Military. At the same time we honor those currently serving.

These brave men and women should be honored every day of the year and for many of us, that is the case. I have not traveled by air in a while, but whenever I do, if I see a Service person in uniform I go out of my way to thank them and shake their hand.

The U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

Many (most) calendars note today as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day...but the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.

My grandfather, Ernest was a Veteran of WWI and Dad Vince is a Veteran of the Korean War. Dad wrote extensively in his memoirs MAIL CALL a soldier's worst nightmare & RECALL the rest of my story, and as I have said before, that part of the book was a complete surprise to me. I knew he had served (I used to wear his "Ike" Jacket when I was a teen) but he never talked about his time there. I now know why.

Grandpa Ernest was a Commander of his American Legion post and he was so proud of this. He would attend the funeral of any member in his full dress uniform.

They are both huge in my eyes...as are all of the men and women who served and continue to serve.

Thank you for your service, one and all..to those gone before us, may you have found your rewards. For those serving today, come home to your loved ones safe and whole.

Also, please remember I contributed to a wonderful feature honoring some blues musicians who served in the military and is featured on AMERICAN BLUES NEWS

Before we can begin the new week, a review is in order...

• Saw Annie Fitzgerald at the Java Cabana on Friday in an increbily intimate setting and she was fantastic - CHECK
• Then headed to Beale Street to see the Eric Hughes Band at Wet Willies - CHECK
• 2 gallons of gravy made - CHECK
• 27 meatballs made - CHECK
• 12 Italian sausages made - CHECK
• Replaced Wireless Router as ours had crapped out of Friday - CHECK
• Returning the two adapters for the TiVos as the old ones worked - CHECK
• Correcting the clerk when she tried to refund all the money and not just part - CHECK
• Finding out the original clerk had not charged me for one of the two adapters - CHECK
• Just glad that whole thing is over - CHECK
• Finding out the Oncologist Radiologist (I got that part wrong) is confident dad will react great to the radiation they will begin as soon as the cruise is over - CHECK
• Deciding to go to Florida to be with Mom Joan and Dad Vince as they will not be able to go to San Antonio for Christmas - CHECK 

phew...think that is it..OH WAIT

• Heading to the The Levitt Shell this evening to see Keith Sykes with his band including Leo Goff (I suggest you take a few minutes and learn about one of my new friends - his history is rich), Reba Russell and Josh Roberts (guitarist for the Reba Russell band). A beautiful evening under the stars with fantastic music and a beautiful lady beside me - CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK

Sunday was fantabuloso! Everyone had a grand time and there were lots of laughs.

it was wonderful to sit with these great folks without them having to be rushing to get back on stage.

unfortunately a couple of people could not join us due to last minute obligations and an illness...

Also unfortunately, we were having such a good time I totally forgot about my camera..so no pics (bad me)

A guitar came out for a little while, but I had promised no one had to play for their meal and Eric came from a gig so he was not in the mood to play!

For those who did not get my email --- gee, did I mention this already? But I did not make the cut into the second round of the FoodBuzz contest. I guess I really did not work hard enough...

Oh well...

Please add Dad Vince to your prayers at night. He will be getting radiation over the next weeks as he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

F**K I hate that F**KING WORD!!!!

Good news is that it is contained, so the prognosis is good.

To my male friends...you need to get your doctor to run a PSA test with your blood work especially after 50...EARLY DETECTION is the key

Dad..you are one strong S.O.B. and you will be getting on that ship with us in 8 weeks...Love you

Yesterday on FaceBook I was involved in a conversation regarding this years inductee list for the Rock and Roll hall Of Fame and it once again brings my call to change the name of the place.

You CAN NOT induct Donna Summer into a Rock and Roll Hall OF Fame. Beastie Boys? Love em...Rock and Roll? Nope...

Rush snubbed again...dumb...

When will the committee take their heads out of their collective a**es and stop the tomfoolery?

If you want to allow people like Summers and Madonna and the Beasties in, change the name of the place to the Music Hall Of Fame.

And then, OK...open it up to the last of the genres which seems to not be involved...classical music.

BUT you can not continue calling it the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME and have these artists included.

Jann Wenner is now the force there in Cleveland and I for one am glad he began Rolling Stone Magazine, but Jann, seriously...your personal taste in music is not and should not be the defining nature of this Hall.

Monday I got hit with a migraine and left work.  Slept until about an hour before show time and then did the show.  During my second segment my internet went down!  Thankfully, my guest stayed around and we were able to complete the show.

Unfortunately, there is a five minute gap there.  I am trying to see if there is a way to delete that gap in the archives, but as I am not a PREMIUM host (meaning I pay money - not happening now), I am not sure that will happen..so if you download the show...fast forward when the gap comes, because there is more interview and more music to be heard.

Today...is the migraine hangover day....sucks, but I am at work.

Thanks for coming by and making a comment...those of you who remain here are special indeed.

My friend and fraternity brother Bruce Byers is a photographer by trade, passion, talent. This is from an email I received yesterday:

Since 2006 I have taken a side track into the world of Non-Profits. It has been a real eye opener as I have traveled into Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, China, The West Bank documenting the great work of the doctors who are helping children without much in their lives.

This Fall I go back into Bangladesh with Hope Foundation and Smilebangladesh.org

They will be doing cleft repair on children in the area of Cox's Bazar in southern
Bangladesh. My documentation of their work brings the stories of these children
back home.

I have set up a project on:

www.crowdrise.com/medicalmissions

To help fund raise to make my work possible.

Donations can also be made to Smile Bangladesh by sending them to me directly and
I will make sure they receive the funds.

I know this is a hard time for everyone and it is the connections you might have that will help the most. Of course funds help a lot, but also frequent flyer miles, supplies, equipment and connections to sponsors goes a long way too.

Thank you for passing it on.

Missions so far www.brucebyers.com/missions

If you know a non-profit that could use photography please also pass on my info.


I promised I would put this up here and hopefully generate some interest...if you would like to pass this on to your readers, please do so. Bruce is doing some very special work - check out the link to his missions.

These are the things that get under my skin...you know those instances where you want to pick up a ball peen hammer and start to do some drum rolls on people's heads...

No call backs...you know, you call someone...take the time to leave a message and days later..nada...no call back nothing. If I take the time to reach out to you, you darn well better at least acknowledge my attempt.

People who sit in the office and have personal phone calls constantly. I have to listen to their drivel and live in their world. I do not care if your best friend is having problems. I do not care about the new house you are buying. I do care that, at the end of the day, I have to ask about an email about a work situation I sent to you 5 hours ago and you decided to do nothing with it.

People who think they can make plans and you will rearrange your days because of it. If you need me to do something for you, do not wait until the day before to ask and then do not get all offended when I tell you I already have plans that I am not willing to change.

Constant invitations to farm your land or kill people for you or go fishing. When you first asked, I explained I do not do those applications...why are you still asking me for things or inviting me to play?

Interrupters. You know...you are having a conversation with someone or are in the middle of typing or even on the phone and you are interrupted, because the interrupter is just too dang important to wait two minutes..or even to say 'excuse me'.

Blogger. I schedule a post and when I wake the next day I look to see the status has reverted to DRAFT. NO, I set a schedule for it dang it all!

Those are just a few of those things that make me want to scream!

Dad Vince had an angioplasty scheduled yesterday. Luckily, the stress-test that caused this to be scheduled was a false-positive test and there were no blockages. Stay strong dad!

Nancy comes home tomorrow and is not scheduled to travel for a while now. This is wonderful news. I love my alone time...I do, but 6 weeks of alone time is really way too much. No plans for the weekend right now except to hang and enjoy each other...let's see if those plans are changed by someone.

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Please send some good thoughts my son Matt's way. He has a hernia operation on Monday. Not a huge operation, but any operation is a scary thing...

So Monday was a decent day. Work did not kick my a** too much. I got home and received a huge kiss from the Lady who owns my heart.

I got ready for Music On The Couch and the show went off pretty well IMHO.

One of the interesting things is that for the most part there were only 4-5 people in the chat room. I knew one or two of my regulars would not be there, JAY from "Cynical B**tard" was there the entire show

Dad's book has been met with enthusiasm by those who know him. I have been shown some emails he has received from people who have read the book. This one is from someone who Dad knows via the community he lives in and the board.

Take out the clock and the 'real time' premise and the finale of 24 was non-stop action which I thoroughly enjoyed. They certainly left the door open for the talked about 2-hour movie (each hour will be one day as opposed to the 'minute by minute' concept the show was formulated under).

The finale of LOST, also made me smile. I know there are many discussions over the ending but this viewer thought they did a heck of a job wrapping it all up.

Let's set something straight right now, just because this guy is a relative does not mean I am sucking up to him or anything, but in the course of the last 18 hours I learned things about Dad Vince that I had never known.

Basically, taking the "New Music Monday" theme from here on The Couch and moving to a broadcast medium. I hope y'all find time to listen, either live or in archives or from iTunes (where the shows will be made available)...and I can get back to doing radio once again.

I will continue to be a part of The Dr. Blogstein Radio Happy Hour each Tuesday evening at 9:00pm Eastern time, as I thoroughly enjoy the show and the excitement we present each week.

I am in the middle of a project for Mom Joan and Dad Vince, where I am scanning all of their slides in preparation of creating a DVD for them to have as a memory of their life.

The continuing saga of digitizing my music continues. As I sit here writing, music is being transferred over and my iTunes library continues to grow (currently at over 7,000 songs - with the final total be be at least 10 times that much).

Once I am done with the DVD for mom and dad, I have the wedding DVD to produce. I have a few hundred pictures from the wedding and honeymoon and three individual videos of our first dance to edit.

I also began transferring the VHS tapes I have of Matt's life last year and I need to complete that task to ensure my son has his life to share with his future off-spring.

All are intense projects and I know they will not all be completed this calendar year, but I want to spend time trying to get as much done as possible.

Nancy and I are talking about a trip up north this coming summer so I can show her my life before I moved here. I want to show her my New York, the beaches of Long Island that I miss so much and to allow her to meet the friends and relatives who were not able to make it down for our wedding.

We also have the Blogfest in Atlanta in July this summer.

Will we be able to do both? Time and finances will tell that story...

Do you have plans for your blog for 2010? What about your personal life? These are not Resolutions...because that is a BS concept in my mind...

When you really want to change something in your life, you do not wait for a certain date to make it happen...you just do it...

Having goals is important. Striving to achieve those goals is what keeps us all focused on the future.

This week on the
Radio Happy Hour:



Funny guys Dave Ahdoot and Ethan Fixell created an internet phenomenon, challenging pairs of women to double date them, and documenting the hilarious results for YouTubers everywhere.

www.daveandethan.com



Prentice is the morning DJ at X1FM, an innovative new way to enjoy music on internet radio. A fusion of audio and visual, X1FM emanates from San Diego, CA.

www.x1fm.com

Also this week:

• Collette McLafferty, lead singer of edibleRed, cohosts
  

• Co-host Vinny Bond sits on his Big Leather Couch to chat live with the listeners

• The Burl of Annie and Burl Live works behind the scenes as pro-doucher

• Shawn Amos tests our Pop Culture IQ
  

• and we’ll take your calls at 646-652-4804

LIVE BROADCAST: January 5, 2010 @ 9 PM ET

PODCAST AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD: Immediately following the live broadcast

CLICK HERE! –> All from this link <–CLICK HERE!


Become a Radio Happy Hour subscriber

for free !

Take two...I began to write off the cuff just now and got about two paragraphs in and had no idea where I was going - or why I had even started the words I put on the screen.

We are all ready - well almost all ready - for our Yard Sale this Saturday.

Took out a 4-line ad in the local paper for Thursday and Saturday...

Have signs that will go up on the main roads at either end of the road we live off...The garage is set up with shelves containing items of like price... Buckets of sporting equipment all at different price levels...Clothing for sale...Electronics...Furniture...

Now we need some decent weather - i.e. no rain, and people! LOL

Anything that is left at the end of the day will end up on a Salvation Army or Goodwill Truck.

Big doings in the Mayer household...

John Mayer will kick off a North American tour beginning February 8th in Charleston, SC and feature special guest, Michael Franti & Spearhead in support of his about to drop Battle Studies.

Tickets for the majority of dates are planned to go on sale to the general public on Nov. 21.

Something very cool on this day after Veteran's Day, Fuse TV today announced that their “Fuse Presents: John Mayer Live From the Beacon Theatre,” broadcast will now be sent to U.S. troops and their families by AFN, The American Forces Network, to reach those stationed in 175 countries and on 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea.

Mayer’s performance will air live on Fuse, in HD and SD, on November 17th at 9pm ET in the U.S. and will be simulcast live that night via AFN Radio. Additionally, AFN Television’s “Spectrum” channel will air the concert on December 6, 2009 at 8pm and on New Year’s Eve.

I have begun a new project. Mom Joan and Dad Vince sent me over 500 slides that encompasses most of their life together.

I am scanning and creating a slide show that will be burned to DVD for them. This is a massive project that will take a few months to get done and then I can continue on working on the wedding DVD I am scripting.

On top of that, I am still digitizing the music, working on the cassette collection at the moment.

Then I will re-tackle the vinyl...good thing I quit smoking since this all will take me quite a while and eventually I want to be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor.


See y'all tomorrow folks!