How Sweet It Is

This weekend, we visited a local eatery, Pizzeria Venti. We’re friends with the owners, who joined us for supper along with another friend.



When the night was over, we came back to the house, and our friend decided to camp out in our guest bedroom, as she and ThatManILove had been test-driving the wine.  I was the designated driver, so all was good, since I rarely imbibe.


This friend of ours is quite musical, and loves to sing. She made some off comment about the guitars, and I said, “If you ask him, he’ll probably play.”


She did.


And he did.


We started out with some James Taylor (of course) and progressed into worship music. It was fun, and washing. And what a joy to hear our friend sing. Before the weekend was over, we even broke out my Korg keyboard and amp and let her at it. Sweet stuff.


Simple pleasures, people. Simple pleasures.

Powered Down and Holding...

This is the ol’ I’m having trouble getting back to my blog whine.  Wah.  Okay, I’m done with that post, now on to bigger and better things.  (Quickest ever, huh?)

This is our first weekend por las casa with absolutely no plans.  A friend came in to see us, but basically, we’ve done not one thing but visit, and eat.  And visit, and eat.  And the guys have played guitars, and I’ve taken some pictures.  We’ve gone to the dog park.  ThatManILove’s about to put a burn on some salmon a la grill, our boys should make an appearance sometime this afternoon, and play some of their songs for our friend,  and then....we’re gonna eat. 

It’s been a restful, fun weekend.  Powered down, fun, quiet times. 

So good.

How about you?

It's About Time...

It's late tonight - we've had a full day. And ThatManILove and Younger Son are flying to Dallas tomorrow for a day trip.

I walk into our TV/music room and find them both playing guitars. And finally, Younger Son plays a couple of his songs and sings for us. We've heard him play, but this is a first, him singing for us.

His voice? Beautiful. His lyrics? Awesome.

I'm blown away. I've waited for this for a long time - I knew the apple didn't fall far from the tree - ThatManILove has a tremendous gift in writing and singing. It's sweet to see the manifestation of heritage in Younger Son.

It's a precious, precious thing I'm seeing tonight, and I'm so very grateful to the Lord for his giftings to the men of my house.

Free James Taylor Tickets Tanglewood!!!!

You’ve got about a week.

One week. Seven days. 24 hrs X 7 days. 60 minutes X 24 hrs X 7 days. You get the drill. Anyway...Just. One. Week.

One week to decide if you can hang at a James Taylor Concert in Lenox, Massachusetts in August. Free Tickets. To a sold out concert. If you remember, we went last year with our boys, and had a blast. (Yes, we went all the way to Massachusetts from Texas, so no griping about distance.) We built our entire vacation around this concert – and yeah, we love music, and especially James Taylor!

ThatManILove and I will be giving away 2 reserved seats for the August 29, 2009 Performance at The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. These seats are in Section 20, underneath cover, and are sweet seats. I’ve had them since February, but we’re not going to be able to go, after all. So, blogger friends, you might be the winner! You're responsible for transportation and lodging, all I'm providing is the tickets, but hey, that's a great deal!

I’ll hold the contest next Monday, July 27, 2009 – so you have plenty of time to spread the word amongst your friends that are close enough to attend this concert. This is an annual benefit concert that James Taylor does for Tanglewood– and this year, he’ll be joined by YoYo Ma and Sheryl Crow.

I can’t believe we’re not going!!

Watch for details, and tell your friends – a week from Monday, one lucky blogger will be singing “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You” when they win these tickets!

PS - Brother Scott has posted a tribute to one of his mentors over at his blog. Go visit!

Quiet In the Theatre, Please!

Some of you know that, despite his oilfield career and time spent in the sticks, ThatManILove is somewhat of a culture snob. He LOVES plays, independent movies, poetry, reading, art galleries, anything that has to do with the “Ahhts, Dahlink!”. It’s almost an obsession with him. His love for the arts has opened up a whole new world for me, and I love it.

Coming in to Denver, I saw on my boarding pass (at 5:30a.m., as we boarded the red-eye to Denver from Dallas) that Phantom of the Opera was showing that same night. ThatManILove took the liberty of purchasing tickets, and when I got to the hotel, room service awaited. (I know, I’m spoiled!) Room service cost us out the butt, with a $28 dollar delivery charge (from the restaurant in.the.hotel, people!)! And when ThatManILove figured out he tipped on top of that, he wasn't a happy camper. This menu should read "feed the body, nourish the soul, max out your credit card".

We enjoyed the weather, and walked to the theatre. Our seats were divine. We settled in to watch the play. Neither of us had ever seen it, though ThatManILove was very familiar with the story and had seen the movie. The set was amazing, as were the costumes.

Midway through the first half, I’m more than a little perplexed, but trying to keep it to myself. I just can’t get the flow of the story. And I’ve been to the opera in several cities, so I’m no dummy about it. I just chalked my inability to comprehend to the fact that I’d had little sleep, worry about my brother, intense meeting that day in Denver, etc. And, then…

That ManILove leaned over: Are you enjoying this?

Me (Oh, God. Is it that apparent? Was I wriggling around? Sighing? What?): Sure, honey!
TMIL: Do you understand what’s going on?
Me: Uh, yeah. I got it, I understand. (Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.)

TMIL: I'm glad you do. I know the story and I'm having a hard time following it. I don't know if they've abbreviated it, or they're having a hard time flowing or what, but something's off.

TMIL: This is horrible. Do you want to leave?

I was in shock. And then, horror of horrors, I started giggling. I mean, this was so out of sync for ThatManILove. He knew we were in trouble then. Our seats were such that he bundled me out of there, posthaste. By the time we cleared the door to the theatre and got to the elevator, tears were streaming down my face and he was laughing.

He cracks me up.

I now have a whole new appreciation for his appreciation of the arts. When it’s good, it is very very good. When it’s very bad, we are out of there! Woohoo, Dahlink!!

Marty Stuart Travis Tritt Concert Review

Well.

The election’s over, what is there to talk about?

Oh! The concert! The Marty Stuart Travis Tritt concert! At the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona! It rocked.

Tell me – can you be twenty-plus years older than your kids, go to a concert together, and all of you know all the words to all the songs? Music makes this family’s world go round, I promise, and it sure keeps us together, when we’re together! These young men are getting older by the minute and it’s times like these I treasure and will always remember.

Travis Tritt was awesome and worth the money, no doubt, but Marty Stuart was simply amazing. Travis has an amazing voice, which I knew from his recording, but in person, that boy has some pipes. And Marty Stuart? Oh, Lord. That man can play a mandolin like nobody’s business. He would play mandolin, then guitar, then mandolin, then sing. Travis mostly played acoustic guitar, absolutely phenomenally, and it was a gift just to be able to watch him pick. These guys flat burned up their instruments. Elder Son and Younger Son, both avid guitarists in their own right, were absolutely spellbound (as they sat on the first row, spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!).

Marty and Travis would sing harmony for each other, and it was beautiful. It was the best of the best of the best, unplugged. You can tell these guys are close friends, and they talked about their wives as they are precious jewels. (By the way, Marty is married to country legend Connie Smith.)

Both of these guys run true to their country roots, and are avid disciples of the old country traditions. They both played songs of their own, as well as covered those of other artists. They did a long, slow version of “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Stuart started out touring with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass at age 13, and later joined the Johnny Cash Band. He credits all his success to the people that mentored him along the way, which was greatly refreshing. You can tell Tritt is a lover of all types of music, but blues and country just shine in him. He’s an amazing artist in his own right, and has enjoyed mentors in the business, as well.

Elder Son was talking to the couple behind him, and it turned out the man was raised in Big Spring, and knew brother Scott and myself. So we had a little mini-reunion at the concert, which was a cool thing! Shout out to Robert if you’re reading this!

The historic Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix is really neat, and is a theatre in the round, with a rotating stage, that first opened in 1963. The owner came out and visited with everyone, and had his dog with him. Everybody loved that! The crowd was pretty eclectic, and covered all ages. The people sitting around us were very nice, but I think it blew people’s minds that we flew from Texas to Phoenix just to watch this show.

Believe me, a fairly intimate concert with Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt, with my two bestest favorite sons? Honey, you just can’t go wrong there.

You just can’t go wrong.

Cool Texas Video

Well. I feel like I’ve been everywhere in the last 10 days. But I find I’ve not been to some of these places – and in my own home state of Texas, at that!

Check this video out - Brian Burns Texas. Who knows, it may have you bustin' a move...well, down a Texas road, anyway.

What, Us? Run Late? To the James Taylor Concert?

These are shots enroute to the concert. We left Providence about an hour too late, and ended smack up in the middle of this. Somehow, I don't think James Taylor's going to wait on us.



Horrible traffic. Saw a cart path, but nah...been there, done that - and not even a week ago! After we parked, we had to trek about 1 1/2 miles to the concert. But we didn't get the tickets wet!





The James Taylor concert was phenomenal.

Here’s a review from one of the websites: "Five stars. This was a fabulous concert--great mix of songs, including ones from album recently recorded and due out in Sept. The backup band included extraordinary talent in the musicians. James Taylor performed longer than I would have imagined, with multiple encores. Really seemed to enjoy being "home" at Tanglewood. So too did the crowd enjoy seeing him. Worth every penny to get to hear it.”

I’ll have more pictures of that later, I forgot my transfer cable to my new Canon. (All these pix are from my little handheld camera.)

Since I seem to be into views this trip, this was our view this morning as we awakened in West Springfield, Massachusetts.


And our view when we got to our room at the Boston Marriott Cambridge.Now we’re heading out and about for more adventure!

That barge out in the middle of the Charles River is the fireworks barge. Tonight, fireworks will go off, synchronized to the William Tell Overture, played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra - less than one block from our hotel. It will be beautiful! And we will be crammed somewhere in 800,000 people. (What was I thinking?)

It's beautiful. It's raining. We're going exploring, more later!

These posts are going to be a day late, since we’re traveling. Bear with me. Cell phone coverage is minimal, regardless of what the commercials say.

MLH and I left Midland on Tuesday, driving towards Dallas. About 4 p.m ., we’re two hours into the drive, and Elder Son calls.

ES: Hey, Mom.


Janie: Yes?

ES: Younger Son just got out of work. Can you fly us into Dallas? That way, we’ll only have one car. I checked the flights, it’ll be cheaper than driving up and back in YS’ truck.

Turns out he was right. So, we flew the boys into Dallas, and after a short stop in Fort Worth to deliver some well files, we picked them up, and promptly went to eat a late supper at Pappas Steak House. It was great, and one of Elder Son’s friends met us there. She was a beautiful girl named Megan, with a great sense of humor. Case in point:

Waitress: Where are you from?


ES: I just flew in on a jet plane, and Megan came well recommended from an escort service.


Janie: ES!


Megan: Yes, rest assured, I’m the top girl at the agency. He’s paying out the butt, I promise.


All of this on our first meeting. Megan’s a sweetheart, from a small town near Dallas, and we all had a great time. (And no, she was not from an escort service – they met at one of ES’ gigs.)

Shortly thereafter, we went to our friends’ house to spend the night. We got up the next morning at 4:30 a.m., and made it to the airport by 5:15 a.m. – just in time to get US Airways to correct ES’ name on his ticket. (I had tried to get this corrected no less than 4 times on the great US Airways customer service number.) Finally, a nice lady helps us…and the minute she changes his name on the ticket, it puts him on standby. Craziness. Thankfully, she called ahead and cleared the way, we were able to board, and we arrived in Providence, RI yesterday afternoon at 1 p.m.




We checked into the Providence Renaissance Marriott, right downtown, and enjoyed the scenery for a while. The boys crashed, then went to the mall right next door. This was the view from our hotel room, and the building is the State Office in Providence, RI. Beautiful.


Our friends, Doug and Karen, wanted to go to Noank, CT, to find Doug’s great grandfather’s historic home. Noank is a small town, but we were able to find the house just by driving around. Every historic house has a name and the year on it – it was great! After we found it, Doug called his mom, who had never seen the house. She looked up some of her grandfather's paperwork, and found he had paid $400 for the lot in 1846, and built the house himself.









We then went to a restaurant called The Fisherman, and had appetizers and drinks. MLH and Doug were able to schmooze with the locals, which was fun. From there, we went to a place on the bay called Abbott’s Lobster In The Rough. And oh, my Lord. We ate tons of lobster while sitting on picnic tables overlooking the bay. It was awesome.
Yep, that was our order. Craziness. We had a lot of fun, but I was full and sleepy driving back.

Tomorrow, James Taylor. Oh, yeah, baby. I can hear him crooning now.


“In my mind, I’m going to Carolina…”

You No Change Tickets - You Pay - It Company Policy!

Sunday could not have been crazier. Here’s how it went…

9:34 a.m. - Younger Son calls to tell us he has to work Monday until 10 p.m. - the night before we fly out of DFW at 6:15 a.m. Mind you, I gave him all the dates, a month ago, just for the purpose of scheduling his work schedule. Now Elder Son and Younger Son are going to drive in, all night long, right up to the airport, and get on the plane...hopefully, in time.


9:52 a.m. - After much sighing and beating of chests, we resolve ourselves to the idea that our boys might be grown up enough to handle this...after all, they are 27 and 20, respectively. (Laugh all you will, you will be here someday, too. You thought 18 years of age was the end of your obligation and worry? Not on your best day.)

10:00 a.m. – MLH and I start finalizing hotel arrangements for the rest of our trip to Boston.

10:10 a.m. – I start wondering where ticket #5 and #6 of the James Taylor concert might be. Mild freak out. I’m looking for the Fedex envelope, I find it, and there are four tickets in there. I realize I’ve not yet received the 2 additional tickets, so I call the Tanglewood Music Center, which is a satellite of Boston Symphony Orchestra. Of course, it’s Sunday, so they’re not open.

10:15 a.m. – I start checking all my credit cards online, trying to find the purchase. Wouldn’t be a big deal, but THE CONCERT IS SOLD OUT…and the two tickets are for customer friends that belatedly decided to join the trip. It wouldn't be too bad if we could only come up with four tickets, but...the concert is the reason for the entire trip. We've just found other stuff to do the rest of the week.

10:30 a.m. – I’m checking the credit cards on MLH’s computer while MLH performs system checks and searches on my computer, trying to find the ticket confirmations. It is a freakin' pain to go back 4 months and check online records, just saying. Search: James Taylor. No go. Search: Tickets. No go. Search: Tanglewood. Nope. Search: Boston. Nope. Search: Janie is stupid and didn’t confirm the purchase 100%, and didn’t follow up when no tickets came in the mail. Bingo! Meanwhile, all we have booked, hotel-wise, are three nights worth of rooms for a 7 night stay.

11:00 a.m. – We give up on the tickets, go back to the hotel reservations, and we research and book for 3 more hours. We’re exhausted. I have a headache – I can’t believe I don’t have those 2 James Taylor tickets in my hand, and we’re scheduled to leave July 2. What a doofus. A stressed out one, at that.


12:00 noon - We're still working away, and I have to let the dogs out. Zoie goes to pee, and Zack is right behind her, smelling where she went. I come in, and tell MLH. He checks her, and sure enough, she's coming in heat. We have dog sitters, but none that can handle Mr. Determined Zack should he so decide to mount Zoie. What else can go wrong? We call all the boarding kennels, and of course, they're booked. We call TNT Kennels, and they're booked. MLH thinks of calling Andy, Zack's trainer, and he agrees that Zack can come over and play. Zoie will probably have anxiety attacks, but we can't take a chance on an inadvertent breeding. Whew...got that handled.

2:00 p.m. – Spend an hour looking at rental cars. How do we haul 6 people + luggage around Boston, Providence, and Newport? Two cars are cheaper than one big one. Where are our guests? Why aren’t they helping us figure all this crap out? Oh, yeah – they’re on another trip.

3:00 p.m. – Finally get out of the house to eat breakfast/lunch/supper. We’re exhausted.

4:30 p.m. – Back to the house, and back at the arrangements thing again. For some reason, I decide to look at the flights we booked on May 27th. The dates are wrong. I call in to US Airways, thinking I can pay a small fee, and change the flights to shorten the trip by one day.
Man. Was I wrong. The change will cost $150 per person (X 4 = $600) PLUS the change in airfare…a total of $3300. I talk, I cajole, I plead, I beg for mercy – all to no avail. I ask for a manager – and same story, second verse. I swear, they both were in India or something. I even pulled the “Southwest never does that, they just charge the change fee, and you’re good. “ “Well, ma’am, we’re not Southwest – we are US Airlines.” No crap. I am so frustrated, I cry. I don’t know why, it didn’t change a flipping thing. Even that made me mad - I never cry. Well, only at Mork and Mindy and McDonald's commercials.

Only one thing changed…the four of us will be staying one more day, while our customer friends will be going home as scheduled. And, thank God (He knew I was pushed to my limit!), some sweet Tanglewood member cancelled their reservations this morning, so I was able to pick up 2 more great seats for the James Taylor concert…at the regular price. I called MLH, and he was so excited – until he realized how much we overpaid the scalper in December for our four tickets.

Now, for the rental cars. Next trip, I’m paying a travel agent, I don't care what the cost is…they earn their money! And I know, good travelers are supposed to check every single detail, and double check them again...but...I was traveling!!!

It’s never boring around here!

The Guess Who Review

If you read my last blog, you’ll note I was a little hesitant about this past weekend’s plans. I’m not a fan of company gatherings, for the most part. But this one was…okay.

And when it came to The Guess Who concert, said company gathering turned downright excellent. My employer rented the entire Woodlands Pavilion (to tell you how big, Kanye West played there the night before), and solicited sponsors, and opened it up to all employees and their families, as well as customers and sponsors. All of the money raised was donated to various charities, which was way up my alley.

Our CEO told us that he had seen this show in Vegas, and it was excellent.

He.Did.Not.Lie.

We had a great time, our friends were ecstatic and we all swayed and sang to the music. There was a little dance floor opened up in front of the stage, and people were jamming. The libations were flowing, and the only thing missing was lighters in the air and a certain kind of smoke, if you get my drift. Grooooooovy, maaaaaaan. Raised Blackberries just don’t exude the same ambiance.

Garry Peterson, drummer/songwriter and one of the original co-founders of the band was joined by Jim Kale, another original co-founder, songwriter and bassist. Each of the band members told stories throughout the night, and were very entertaining. The Guess Who started up in the late sixties, and continued through the seventies.

I totally considered this a band of my time, but my fellow attendees at the concert were a bit older than MLH and I. They swore this was “their band, their era.” I don’t know about that…I knew every word of every song. They couldn’t believe it. MLH chalked it up to a couple of things: my brother Scott and I having an intense interest in music, plus growing up in the shadow of our older brother’s musical tastes. I chalk it up to Scott and I hanging with older running buddies throughout our high school years – most of them probably rock and rollers, at that. One of my friends kept saying, “Who knew you would know all the words to these songs? Who knew?” Well, heck, even I didn’t know I would! I couldn’t name a single The Guess Who song…until I got there.

And later, some of us were granted access to the VIP room, and given picture moments with the band. My friends ate that up, as well as the autographed CD’s they were presented.

And hey, Jim…this “American Woman” did not come “Undun”; matter of fact, she was “Laughing” and did the “Clap for the Wolfman”. Then, “These Eyes” vowed to “Share The Land”…before there is “No Time”.

If The Guess Who come to your town, go, see. Dance. Laugh.

If you knew them back in the day, you’ll reminisce. If not, you’ll enjoy.

Robert Keen, Robert Keen...

Last Sunday night found us at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, listening to Robert Earl Keen. Fifth row seats – what could be better?

Our sons love his music – one of the first songs Elder Son ever performed for us was Keen’s “That Bucking Song”. I’ll never forget it. Elder Son blew us away with his performance, and that night, we knew he was really serious about his music. Robert Earl Keen did the song at Bass, and blew us away again. The crowd ranged from teens to people in their 70’s…which speaks to the timelessness of Keen’s music. (Of course, being a good old boy from “Texas A&M University” didn’t hurt the attendance one bit – unless, of course, you were a Tech or UT Grad – many of whom were in the audience as well.) Robert Earl Keen is a flat-out entertainer, and one who possesses a great sense of humor.

I’ve heard different songs, over time, by Keen, though I’d not seen him in concert. Sunday night, his performance just rocked. The Bass Performance Hall was sold out and filled to the max. And REK never left the stage – though his band took a break – until the end of the show. He played and sang and entertained for almost 3 hours straight. And then, REK came back for an encore. Then, the show was over – we thought. They all came back, and did an acoustic set – just gathered up at the front of the stage, sans mikes, and got it on. It was simply amazing.

I can’t even say enough about the band – each musician is very accomplished in his own right. So, I’ll just review the one that blew everyone away: the lead guitarist, Rich Brotherton, was simply amazing. Just put a stringed instrument in his hands, and watch him go. In my opinion, Brotherton’s mastery of the guitar rivals that of one of my guitar heroes, Dan Tyminski with AKUS. Brotherton has played professionally since the age of 11, and after receiving his college degree in Music Theory and Composition from Colorado College, went and spent considerable time in Ireland learning from some of that country’s finest traditional musicians. And man, does it show. Brotherton enjoyed several solos (as did every musician in the REK Band) during this performance, and the audience went completely silent – until the end of the song, when they went crazy! Brotherton has also produced two of Keen’s albums, and has a recording studio in Austin.

Anyway – I say all that to say – if you get a chance, a Robert Earl Keen show is worth the money. Go. See. Be amazed. The man is a good ol’ boy entertainer, deluxe. And let me know what you think…but I betcha I already know.