Peace and Love

I Believe the way I do for a reason, I have lived my lifetime trying to do good in this world, as, I'm sure you have too. I don't understand the hate that I read from those that I once knew. We grew up in an age that was about trying to find love and peace.

I have had God at my side to help me from being mean or hating anyone for any reason. It is hard to see the real truth without the filter He provides me with. Just because we don't agree with one or the other doesn't make either of us wrong or bad people, it makes us human. Hating one another make us inhumane.

Times have changed I have seen people cursing someone for no real reason. People that are supposed to protect us taking advantage of their position to put themselves above the law. All I seem to see and hear is bad things. The thing is that we don’t hear about the good because that doesn’t sell for the advertisers, so it’s not in the papers or on the news. We live in a time that has instant broadcasting of events. All that they put out is the negative news. I do assure you that there is more good than bad, keep your faith and look to Him for the answers.

No wonder we are polarized in this country, we don’t talk to each other anymore we just snap or tweet and text each other. You can’t understand the pain or the love that someone is conveying with the words on a page. When you look into someone’s eyes and tell them how you feel they know what you mean, mad, sad or lovingly because you convey it with emotion that a written word does not have the capability of.

So take a step back or take a breath before you react. Remember to turn the other cheek or shake the dust from your sandals and keep moving.  After all, we all came from Adam.

My family, when I was small, was a very tightknit family. We would see either my father's mother and father or my mother's mother and father at least once a month if not more. My father's mother and father worked for the city of Water Valley in Mississippi. It was a small town and a wonderful place to explore as small child.

My grandfather did the maintenance and custodial duties for the courthouse across the street from the jailhouse that they also oversaw for the city. My grandmother cooked and my grandfather took care of the other duties for the jailhouse. You might think that the lessons a small child could learn in such a place would be bad or even haunting memories. It was just the opposite. I can remember loved ones coming to see their family that were incarcerated in the jailhouse and it seemed to me that they were very loving and caring people.

I know that my grandfather and grandmother were extremely loving and caring toward us. I remember one morning, in particular, I was just waking up when I heard our little dog, Rusty, a Pekingese and chihuahua mix breed scratching and whining on the bed across from me. There was a young girl in the bed that I did not know then and she was still sleeping. As quietly as I could I begged my little dog to come to me and leave her alone. My little puppy came to me and we fell back asleep in our bed.

When I finally got up and was having breakfast I met the young lady who was sleeping across from me and, as far as I can remember, she was an orphan and had run away from the orphanage. The church that my grandmother went to was trying to place her in a home. She was staying with most of the parishioners until they could find a permanent solution for her. I heard her explaining to my grandmother that she woke up hearing a sweet little voice calling to a puppy to leave her alone and let her sleep. My grandmother cautioned me not to be too inquisitive. Turns out that the girl had had an extremely hard life and had lost her parents at a very young age and it might be a hurtful reminder for her of those things.

Just as in any story, there is the good with the bad. One day, while we were playing in the main room of the living quarters of the jailhouse, an ambulance pulled up and brought someone into the house and lay them into my grandmother and grandfather's bed. Even though it wasn't meant for us to overhear, I heard my cousin Sonny telling my grandmother that his wife did not know yet that they had lost their baby and she was still under heavy sedation and that she would soon be coming out of it and they would have to tell her. I remember thinking lost their baby, then why aren't we out looking for it. Maybe we can find it before anything bad happens. About that time I could hear my cousin's wife moaning and calling for Sonny and her baby, Sonny tried to tell her to rest and not get excited. She seemed even more agitated as Sonny tried to direct the conversation away from the baby and finally, he told her that they lost the baby. I never heard screams of terror and heartbreak as I did that day. I still feel it within my soul the pain that she had, even though I was too young to understand, it hurt me deeply.

It was meant for me to understand and to hear and grow with the memory of that day within my mind and heart. You see I went through the same thing with my wife when we lost the only chance of having a child in our life. When I heard it I had that same feeling that I had before, even though I could not scream and cry to keep my wife calm and help her through this. I was totally horrified and saddened more than I had ever experienced. I think God gave me a gift that day in the jailhouse in Water Valley. He was telling me then that it would be all right to let the pain out and keep the love for my wife within.

Yes, it was one of the best places in the world to learn how to be a man. That jailhouse has always had a very special place in my heart. Not just because we could play in the parking lot of the courthouse and the backyard of the jailhouse, it was because of the love that surrounded us in those days no matter what house we were in.

I have said time and time again that I travel a different path than most. The path that was put before me, I chose it of my own free will and I will answer for the times that I strayed from the path and followed the path of the world. I and I alone must bear the burden that I have chosen. There have been many of you that have walked along with me for various stages of my life's path. Your company along my way was enjoyable and I was truly grateful for having you there. My wife and my family have followed me along my path, sometimes not so happily, but they followed me in the good times and the bad.

I have also followed along with a lot of you on your life's path and He who gave us our path also put forth different paths for each one of us at various times. We lose those that were following along with us and gain others that cross our paths and we keep losing and gaining many friends along our journey. Some of those would be extremely important. Others were just there when we needed them. The very special ones left a piece of themselves with us and we gave a piece of ourselves to them when they left.

I sometimes think that some of them were there just to keep us company from being lonely or we were there to keep them company. I hope out of the thousands of people I have met in my lifetime that at least one of them can say, ”he was a good soul and I'm glad he passed my way”. I have walked my path with many people that I did not even know their name, but they were a part of what makes up who I am, each and every step taken was taken with purpose and most of them were taken with good intentions in mind.

Unfortunately, every step that I took may not have been good. I just hope that I did not lead anyone off the path He had given them. I have read and tried to keep the knowledge of those that came before me. Those that actually traveled with He who gave us our paths left us with writings that give us the truth, if we are only willing to accept the truth of what our path should and should not be.

For those that accept His teachings and follow what was laid before us as our path, keep in mind, He gave us the choice to follow or not. He also gave us a better choice than that of the world. So when you give someone the knowledge of His gifts and a path He will lay before them, it is not your choice it is theirs.

Whatever happened to those kids?

I looked in the mirror the other day and I saw a strange old man with white sideburns looking back at me. I asked this old man what had happened to the young boy that used to look back at me. The old man said nothing. I asked my wife what happened to those kids that used to live here. She told me to sit down and have my breakfast.

I ate quietly and thought I must find these kids that were so happy and full of life that I once knew. What could've made them go away. Had I done something to make them unhappy? I walked by the playground that is next to the junior high school that they both went to and I could almost hear the kids laughing and playing on the playground and in the schoolyard. What happened to all the houses, they were all gone, not a one was still there.

The trees were still there, even the old tulip poplar tree that bent in the wind of the many thunderstorms we used to have was still standing where it stood when my house was still there. I looked down the street to see if I could find my friend’s houses but alas they were all gone too. The roar of a jet aircraft overhead from people coming and going to our airport was still there.

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What happened to all the kids in this neighborhood that I used to play with? Where had they gone, had something come and picked them up and moved them all away? What could cause this kind of devastation and leave me here all alone in my memories and thoughts of times gone by?

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I could tell you where all those kids went that used to play in the street, play softball at the park or go to that junior high school to learn, I could have told you, but it just seems, that those kids are so far away now, it is hard to see their shining faces looking back at me. Why did they go away and will they ever come back, is this the way it has to be.

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My wife filled my cup of coffee and awakened me from my thought and she told me that those kids had all grown old just like us. It makes me wonder if she doesn't understand that I seem to be the only one that has grown old because when these old man's eyes gaze upon her he sees the lovely young girl that walked down the aisle and took him as her husband so many years ago. Surely she can see how puzzled I am looking back at her because she hasn't aged a day to me.

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October is always been a bad time of year for my family this one is no exception, for some strange reason a lot of my family has died in the month of October. I usually go into a depressive funk this time of year because of those I have lost in this month. This year has been an exception and I'm glad to say that even though things haven't gone my way this year and October hasn't been any better I have had a pleasant October this year.

My favorite holiday has always been Halloween

it's not just because Candy is dandy even though it truly is. I have always loved the replaying of old comical horror movies from the 30s 40s 50s and even the 60s I have made it a tradition of sitting and watching such classics as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein and even newer classics such as Halloween town, the ghost and Mr. chicken and so many more mixed in with some of my really scary favorite such as, the uninvited, the thing from another world and forbidden planet just to mention a few of my favorites. It's hard to make a good movie that people consider classics but just consider trying to make a scary comedy movie that makes it into the classic arena. One of the unsung heroes of my scary but comical movies was one of the movies that helped inspire the more modern of the genre’s the Ghostbusters they even had somewhat similar names.

Ghost Breakers with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard who also starred in The Cat and the Canary which help boost the popularity of funny old dark house movies.

There are so many of these movies to choose from that are good but don't have that special spark that makes them classics Abbott and Costello were truly gifted in making this kind of movie they not only made Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein but also Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy and the invisible man which I consider to be three of the best horror comedy classics.

Not all of the comedy classics were from the horror genre, a  science-fiction picture that I put alongside of these that was created for American international pictures that not only reaches a comedy classic horror movie pinnacle it happened when they were trying to make a serious sci-fi movie and something happened during the production that made it one of the funniest movies ever made by American international pictures and it too is one of my classic picks for Halloween.

I have always been drawn to the comical movies and even the comedy television shows. W am talking to you about comedy Halloween movies so now let's talk about those that were television series that also fit within the genre the two favorites of everyone will be the Munsters and the Addams family.

I too was also a huge fan of these two television shows their campy but unique take on the horror genre was absolutely hilarious. Some of the greatest comedic actors from television and movies made guest appearances along with the talented stars such as Yvonne De Carlo, Fred Gwynne, Howell Lewis, Butch Patrick, John Astin Caroline Jones Ted Cassidy Jackie Coogan Lisa Lauren can Weatherwax Blossom Rock and Felix Sila. Not only did the comedy stars take to the genre but such great horror stars as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starred in these parties of their alter egos Dracula and Frankenstein.

I know I have told you before that I felt a kinship to Frankenstein's monster because I felt that way from the sixth grade till about the eighth grade because I was so much taller and bigger than all of the other kids that I went to school with. I did not understand that being different than meant being special until I grew up and as we said in the 60s found myself.

These and other classic movies were an escape from being made fun of and being bullied because of my size I to because I was bullied started bullied others to make myself feel better. I grew quickly out of that phase because I did not like making anyone feel pain be it mental or physical. I had way too much pain growing up to dish out the same things that I was feeling I grew empathetic toward others and their pain which made me feel what they felt and I never liked pain.

Even today these strange but funny movies are a haven for me to release my anguish and problems and let them fly away with the laughter and the happiness that they bring me. I once tried to tell a friend of mine Daniel Roebuck who is an actor what their work meant to me he didn't understand and I didn't know how to put it into words. He thought that I meant I put them on a different level than I do normal people and he explained to me that they were just normal people making a living and raising a family. He didn't understand that I know that and I respect that as much as I do their acting careers. I wish I could tell him and others what it means to be able to sink yourself into a movie to the point that you forget about your daily troubles and white troubles might come my way tomorrow and just have a laugh or two with friends or family in the theater or at home, when the pressures of the world are weighing you down. The gift that they gave me during my childhood by doing their jobs was immense.

I never saw Frankenstein's monster as a monster, I saw him as a misunderstood creature that because of the circumstances of his birth was put up on and finally destroyed by those that did not understand him. So many times in life I have been misunderstood and people have taken my words or actions as to mean harm or distress to them and believe me that is the furthers of my intentions toward anyone or anything.

I don't want anyone to think that the only thing that I watch horror movies are comedies it is not the movies that I watch are from all genres but I do have a habit of watching seasonal movies at holiday times such as Christmas movies during Christmas and Halloween movies during Halloween. That doesn't mean that I don't watch the occasional movie out of its seasonal sequence because I do. I do however like the occasional romantic comedy in the wintertime rather than the Springtime just because a young man's fancy seeks romance not only in the spring of the year and I have also been known to watch a movie about a

winter wonderland during the summer because it's just so stinking hot sometimes.

I also like one of the 20 worst movies ever made more than anything else in the world gives called the ghost of dragstrip hollow and it has a lot of redeeming qualities but one of my favorites is when the monster in the picture removes his mask to reveal one of the best monster makers of the 1950s Paul Blaisdell. The movie is also the ending of the 1950s black and white teenage schlock movies into the 1960s beach party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

The passing of the baton from one generation of actors to another is sometimes more than just an emotional it can be extremely painful for those who are left behind Paul Blaisdell was one of those that the industry seems to abandon after American international pictures changed its direction and that was a loss to all of us who loved the monsters in our closets after watching one of his creations frighten us.

So just remember the knock on your door this Halloween isn't from some space alien wanting to suck out your brains it's most likely the kid down the street wanting his share of your candy.

He He He!

 

Most of my friends and relatives think that they know what traveling East Tennessee has to offer, but there are hidden gems that beckon the traveler that you may not have ever known. Sometimes you just want something more than theme parks or the go kart tracks of Pigeon Forge or even the shopping of Gatlinburg. You need something educational or different to engage your mind and body, exactly like the place I'm going to tell you about that my wife and I experienced today. You may or may not have heard of it but I don't think you really realize the significance of this particular tourist destination. It is both a dig site and a natural history Museum and, as a matter of fact, one of the largest archaeological dig sites east of the Mississippi River.

The museum explains in detail the work that goes on at a fossil dig site and gives the visitor a firsthand look at what happens and how fossils are found at a dig site. The dig site, like most dig sites in the U.S., is only operated during the fair weather months and must be closed down and protected from precipitation and extreme weather to preserve what has not been uncovered yet. The museum however is open year-round.

Not only is this the largest dig site that exists east of the Mississippi, it has been rumored that they may even have found a new species of mastodon never before catalogued. This dig site is from the Miocene-era and those scientists that have examined and surveyed the area for the fossils think that an underground limestone cave collapsed, created a sinkhole, and trapped such animals as saber tooth cat, tapir, alligators, rhinos, short faced bear, red pandas, and mastodons.

This is like seeing one of the natural wonders of the world when looking at the jaw of one of the mastodons that has been unearthed. The incredible size of this creature is more than half the size of a normal elephant of today. Watching the students and their professors taking great pains to put these fossils back together so that we can see whole skeletons of the animals that they have found is just remarkable.

You must find an area that is perfect for the fossil to be preserved, because there are so many factors as to why you don't find as many fossils as you would think, the acidity of the ground, the moisture content of the ground, the type of rocks and even the climate of the area can determine whether the remains of animals over 4.5 to 7,000,000 years old can last long enough to be dug up and preserved by these scientists. Only one percent of this dig site has been excavated thus far, so it is still an active site.

We even saw how they were closing down the dig site because they are preparing the dig site for winter. If you left a dig site of this importance open to the ravages of winter without preparing it, you would lose some of the fossils that you are trying to remove, so instead of keeping it open during harsh weather they close it down and cover it and prepare it for inclement weather to come. This way they are saving most, if not all, of the fossils within this remarkable dig site.

The caverns below the watering hole of these mammals that used it for food and water were also what preserved them so well for future generations to study. It seems while feeding and drinking at least one or more of these limestone caverns collapsed underneath a heard of mastodons preserving their bones and fossilized them for our scientists to study today.

Just to give you a for instance, one of the bear skeletons found in this amazing dig site, when standing on all fours, would've been 6 foot tall or over. That would dwarf the black bears of the Smoky Mountains and would've made them almost 3 times larger than our North American black bear of the Smokies. Before man had taken his first breath these animals perished and were quickly covered over with various sediments that help preserve their bones.

I'm not going to give you any more spoilers of what they have found because the size and quantity of their find will blow your socks off. I will tell you that our guide John was knowledgeable and professional and I absolutely would recommend this to anyone visiting East Tennessee.

Gray Fossil Site and Museum is located near Johnson City in upper East Tennessee at 1212 Suncrest Dr., Gray, TN 37615 and the phone number is (423)439 – 3659. Operating hours are Tuesday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM, Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sundays from 1 PM to 5 PM.  They are closed on holidays. Prices are extremely reasonable, self-guided general admission is five dollars each, guided Museum tour and dig site tour is eight dollars. Members receive free unlimited admission for one year. You can check at the desk for membership pricing or online. Discounts can be had for groups larger than 10 with a reservation.

Goodbye to my Batman

Generations of young boys have played and mimicked their heroes. When we were young boys we portrayed ourselves as Batman and Robin as we played throughout our neighborhood, keeping Gotham's villains from taking over. I'm sure those in our neighborhood remember Keith Shaw and me riding our bikes with our Batman T-shirts and towels tied to our neck as we played Batman and Robin.

Our Batman and Robin were different than the comic books and the Batman movies that have appeared in recent years because our generation’s television programs were more innocent than what is being portrayed on television and movie screens today. I, for one, am thankful that the Batman than I remember was happier,friendlier and, yes, campier than anything done today.

I have heard younger people say that the acting was terrible and that it was too silly, boy, do I disagree. Some of the greatest actors of the 40s, 50's and 60's appeared on the 1960's Batman television show. Some of these actors were for the first time introduced to a completely new generation of children which spawned the rebirth of their careers at a time that Hollywood and television had turned its back on older actors and actresses. Many of the older critically acclaimed actors were doing their best to get cameos in the new Batman movie or even on the Batman TV series in hopes that it would spark a new beginning for their careers.

 I do understand that Batman the TV show of the 60's could not be made the same way for television today as it was back then. As I see it, the actors that portray Batman today, I can't help but feel that there's something missing, something that's just not there. I think back to the days that I couldn't wait a whole week to see my Batman and then the network got it, they understood what it meant to my generation of young boys and they actually put a television show on two nights a week. I was born in 1956 that makes me 61 years old and I do not remember ever seeing a show scheduled for two nights a week other than the 1960's Batman. The thing that is missing today is the innocence of youth that was still intact in the 1960's.

There is always someone that is the number one actor in a TV show or movie which, by the way, my Batman had movies and a television show. That actor usually is well-known and respected in the industry. The actor that played my Batman was known and respected but not so much to the public at that time, so when these two actors came to play the dynamic duo they had no idea that they would be remembered so fondly some fifty-something years later. I have gone to autograph shows to get as many of the autographs and meet the people that were on my Batman. I have collected at least seven or eight autographs from these actors. I even told the person that played my Batman about how my best friend at the time Keith Shaw and I went with my parents to the drive-in movies to see the new Batman movie. The drive-in movie theater was giving out a black and white 8 x 10 glossy picture to each car that came to the movie on this particular day but it was only one picture per car so of course, my parents gave it to my friend. I told him how I cried because I didn't have a picture of Batman, but now not only do I have a picture and autograph, I have one of my fondest memories of meeting Adam West, my hero, and my Batman.

It was such an honor to meet Adam West and many of the cast of that original 1960's TV show Batman. Unlike the 1960's we now can own every single episode of that original Batman TV show without commercials. Adam West embodied what was good about the Batman he played. He has done many voiceovers for cartoons over the years and done parodies of that original TV show where he played Batman, but he has always kept a campy dignity surrounding the persona of the Batman he portrayed that the young boys of my generation loved so dearly. Adam West had a place in all of our young hearts and all of our minds and even our dreams and hopes for the future. Adam West is one of those actors that will never be totally missed because his body of work lives on through the magic of reruns, videotape, DVD's and Blu-ray's, but there is a much greater magic within those young boys of my generation and that's the undying gratitude and love of the fun and adventure that he gave us that still lives on through us today and forever.

Even though the bat signal has gone dark we wish you Godspeed and Bat thrusters on full, Adam West to your next adventure. 

September 19, 1928-June 9, 2017

I have grown up in some very strange times that confuse me about what freedom is all about. I was born in the mid-50s and I'm still kicking as they say, but I must tell you not as high as I used to. 

I remember when if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock she was ostracized by the community and abandoned by her family. Now it's not only preferred by the masses that she keeps it, but they try and legislate her right to choose.  I have never thought killing an unborn Child should be used as a form of birth control so I'm not confused about why people feel so strongly about abortion, but what I am confused about is the changes in what is considered right and wrong in this case. I am also highly confused about why someone's right to choose to keep a baby or not keeping a baby is considered so horrible. I would understand it if they gave a better alternative then Abortion to the poor girl who is going through so much emotion and heartache. I have never heard of a group of the right to life organizations building orphanages or making adoption organizations for this specific purpose. I see people so profoundly entrenched in a faith that would condone the murdering of doctors that perform abortions and not give alternative choices to those that seek abortions because they think it is their only recourse to an unwanted pregnancy. When you give someone a choice you have to give them a better choice than they are looking at. You have to give them a choice that gives them dignity in that choice and you have to make it readily available to them without any consequences otherwise you don't give that person a choice.

I also don't understand the phrase that guns don't kill people. Yes, I agree that a gun on a shelf never touched will hurt no one. The thing that I don't understand is how you can’t see that if there was never a gun on the shelf we wouldn't be having this conversation. I do however believe in the privilege for everyone to own a firearm if they are law-abiding and mentally competent to do so. The other thing I don't understand is all of those people who rightly owned guns and have no malice in their hearts for anyone want absolutely everyone in the world to own a gun. I know people that I am glad that they own a gun most of them are police officers and law enforcement personnel. I also have appreciated and love the right and privilege to hunt however I have never been a sports Hunter, when I go hunting it is for food and not the thrill of killing. As a matter of fact, I pray and give thanks to God for the animal that I harvest and also feel some anguish for killing one of God's creatures. Yes, you can call me a bleeding heart because I do have one and I intend to defend my family because they are my heart. We have seen too many mentally ill people obtain guns legally I feel that this must stop. My right to owning a weapon does not trump any one's right to safety however I personally feel that my right to own a firearm is not the problem I feel that our laws are not being enforced properly and if you are on a terrorist watch list you should never be able to legally purchase a gun in the United States. If you are not mentally stable enough to own a firearm you should not be able to legally purchase a firearm in the United States. The excuse that criminals can find a gun illegally is not only absurd it is inhumane to use such an excuse to justify anyone killing someone in a country that is free minded people can come together and create the proper solutions without taking away anyone's freedom.

I also believe in the right of choice of just about anything and everything. Yes, I do believe you have the choice to be stupid, but I believe the only stupid choice is to close your mind down and not consider everyone and what they have to say. I don't think that our government is perfect and I definitely don't think the candidates running for president are our best choices. I do however think that they represent what our country has come to in these days of no compromise and no compassion. It's okay to be hateful to one another in a political campaign and its okay to call your neighbor stupid or ignorant or uneducated because he likes the opposite candidate to your choice. I see a country and a great division and the choices that we may have made this rip in the fabric of America, not to leave out those of you who say I don't vote so it's not my fault, it's more your fault that it is those that vote. A wise man once said that no one from a foreign land could set foot on this nation and destroy the ideas and the democracy that we have created, he said that it would have to come from within the United States itself, if we were to lose this great country that we have made and fought for these many years. The divisions in our country have always been this wide and we have been able to build bridges of compromise across the divisions of political ideology, religion, and philosophy to keep this country running straight and narrow toward a positive future. Every time someone has put obstacles in our way we have been able to remove those obstacles because we work together and compromised and made this country a better place for every single human being occupying our land. I see just as I did in the 60s people of color feeling as if they are being targeted by the very government that we instituted to protect them and no one should ever have that feeling. I am a white male and definitely over 21 and 

I have felt discriminated against my entire life because I did not come from an affluent family, no my family didn't have money and they didn't have power so everyone thought they could roll right over the top of me without any opposition. Those of you that know me know that's not the case. I tried to stand up for what is right and that doesn't mean that I think that everything is in black and white everything has a colorful story to its core and I try to see the entire picture before I make my decisions.

I met a gentleman just the other day that explained to me that he learned better with his hands than he ever did with his eyes, in other words, he had trouble reading.  I guess I'm getting ahead of my story here, so let me start from the beginning.

I knew from a very early age I saw the world differently than others. I could take things apart and put them back together much easier than I could read a book. I remember sitting down on the couch with my mother going over my spelling words[G1] .  I would misspell them knowing that I had all of the letters in the word but did not put them in their proper order or I would try and spell the word before or after that particular word. Things just didn't look the same to me as they did to my mother. I learned that if I concentrated with all my might and everything that was within me on each letter and each word in its own turn I could see them as others saw them. If I lost concentration or didn't try hard enough things would look almost backward to me. I would try to read the assigned books that we had for each class each year.  It would take me so long to read one book out of the 5 to 10 that we were supposed to read that I started using Cliff notes and I could barely keep up.  I guess my teachers probably thought I was not very smart.[G2] [G3] 

It wasn't until I got into junior high and high school that I figured out that people read a book with two minds, one that spoke the words and the other mind was like a movie that went on in your head showing you the picture of what was going on according to what you were reading. I had to concentrate so hard on being able to read each word in each sentence that I was losing the ability to comprehend it as just a fictional book and to enjoy it. It took me much longer than high school to figure out how to do that. Yes, I could read comic books because of the pictures, and the fact that the words were not in huge paragraphs, they were just what the character was saying or doing in that particular frame and that made it much easier for me to understand. It wasn't until I started reading Disney news magazines that I could glimpse that movie within my mind of what I was reading and I could concentrate as much on one side of the equation as I could the other. It was still extremely hard and time consuming for me. I made a major breakthrough when I started reading J.K. Rowling’s series about Harry Potter. I had watched the movies so I had the foresight of the movies to help me with the picture going on in my mind of what I was reading.  It was like an epiphany for me to actually see in my mind’s eye for the very first time complete scenes and complete stories of what I was reading on the page.  It was wonderful to finally understand how someone could enjoy reading a book because I never could until then.

The gentleman that I had met was telling me the story of myself. He said that he had dyslexia and I believe with all my heart, even though it's never been diagnosed, that that is what I have. He explained to me that he learned so much more quickly by touch than he ever did by reading anything and that was my story. He explained to me how this dyslexia would come and go according to how much concentration he put into it at the time, keeping his mind and his eyesight straight. It's exactly how I have to do things. I jokingly shook his hand and said: [G4] “hello long-lost brother”.  He laughed too because he knew what I meant. I told him of the story about an actor who had written a screenplay about a wrestler and he wanted to do a read through with his friends. He called on me to read a particular part and I told him that I was embarrassed about it but that reading was hard for me. He looked at me and he said “you have dyslexia, don't you” and I kind of took a step back and realized that for the first time I admitted it in public. He said, [G5] “that's okay, I will give you a few minutes to read over your lines and help you with them”. This made me determined to find a way to beat my affliction and enjoy reading.

I now understand that there are so many actors, writers and others that enjoy the written word that has dyslexia. I have never had anyone help me with my affliction[G6] . Teachers nor doctors really understand it when I was in school. I have gone it alone and tried to understand and find out how to read and enjoy reading without having to concentrate so hard. Even though it is easier now than it ever has been, it is still extremely hard work for me to read.  I have now read and finished a few books from cover to cover.  I never could do that before.  I love the Harry Potter series and love to read them. I read and now write blogs, as well as other literature and I can actually say I read and enjoy it.[G7] 

I can remember people telling me that they had just bought a huge novel a few weeks ago and they had read it from cover to cover and at that time I'm thinking, you're a liar, how can you read a book like that in just weeks. It takes me months, if not years to get through a book that thick. Now I can get through a standard novel within about 60 days, maybe sometimes a little longer, but in a reasonable length of time so that I don't forget what happened at the beginning of the book by the time I get to the end of the book. To me, that is a miracle and, yes, I do mean a miracle. I love to write, I love to read and, by doing so, it has opened up an entire world to me that used to be closed. I always read the short synopsis of books but there were always those books out there that I'd always wanted to read, like books about my hero Walt Disney or A.A. Milne’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and I just couldn't. It wasn't that I didn't try because I did but just calling out words is not reading. It was difficult to concentrate so hard to keep everything in its proper alignment so that you could read a couple of words or a sentence and then have to concentrate again to read the next line but you didn't have the strength of mind to carry on.

Just to give you an inkling of how hard it was, have you ever tried to make an object move with your mind and you’re concentrating so hard to get it to move, [G8] you get a headache. That is what I went through, that is why school was so hard for me.  I don't know if it's age or if it was the trying over and over again that helped me defeat my problem. Don't get me wrong, I have not completely defeated it because if I do not concentrate on what I'm reading I will transpose letters, words and even sentences, so you see, I still have to work at it. It's so much easier today than when I was a child in school. It's as if someone turned the light on in the room and I can see the written page.

So you see the man (at the beginning of my story) that learned with his hands better than from a book, he and I have something in common, we both have dyslexia. This is a story that teachers and doctors alike should be aware of because, as a kid, you don’t know you have this problem, and you are not able to explain it to anyone.  Many children have probably gone undiagnosed just because they could not tell anyone what was wrong.

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Hey Hey They are the Monkees

  I really don't know how critics get their credentials. I was just listening to NPR where a critic and writer of the history of rock 'n roll was reviewing the Monkees 50th. His review was basically listing facts about how the Monkees got the best writers in the industry to write for them and I took away from it that his conclusion was that's why they had such a great sound. I could not believe my ears! He even said that he had no frame of reference toward the Monkees when they originally came out, because he was into the underground sound at that time that had just gotten started. His review showed that he had no frame of reference for the Monkees television show at all.

I have made the statement that we were from the Ed Sullivan generation because we would listen to music that was so different like the acts that Ed Sullivan had on his show, from Beverly Sills to Janis Joplin, from Perry Como to Mick Jagger, not to mention the Beatles, who the TV executives of the time wanted the Monkees to emulate. The television show the Monkees auditioned as many young men as they possibly could and they came up with four young men that seemed to have nothing in common or you might say that they were all from different backgrounds. That, in most cases, might spell disaster for the chemistry with actors on a sitcom. The TV show the Monkees however was not a sitcom, it was not a musical variety show, it was something the likes of American television had never seen before. You might say the television show the Monkees was a gumbo of a mixture of British and American pop culture in a soup base that had some of the best songwriters in the world simmering into an extremely good pop rock band.

  I myself loved the Monkees, their hijinks and off-the-wall acting wasn't meant to be the great American drama and it wasn't. It was entertaining to the kids of that day. The music that was presented by the Monkees to sing was fantastic. It was from the best songwriters around, of that there is no doubt. I however want to make this perfectly clear to everyone, if you would have put this same music in front of a mediocre group of young men who had no talent and didn't care, it would have been horrible. I do not think that you could have any better chemistry for a band as you did with Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz. I don't care what was going on behind the scenes, I don't care if they didn't like each other, I don't care about the lawsuits, that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is the simple fact that this group of young men came together and became a part of rock 'n roll history. Say what you want to, they were a good part of rock 'n roll history.

  The music that they put out had at least seven number one hits as far as I can remember. You can say what you want to about them having great songwriters which they did, but my contention is if they had not been a good band, they would not have been able to secure one number one hit let alone seven. All of this in just three or four years during and after their TV show. I, for one, believe that there was magic in the chemistry they produced on TV and stage.

Just to give you a for instance, there is a video circulating on YouTube from just a couple of years ago that shows Paul McCartney and his band, walking down the halls to the stage of one of their concerts, singing “Here we come,  walking down the street, we get the funniest looks from everyone we meet, Hey Hey we’re the Monkees…..”. I ask you, what greater tribute to the Monkees could there be than  Paul McCartney knowing one of their songs and singing it with his band for the fun of it.

I would also like to say that the songs they sang are caught in our minds forever. How many of you out there remember all the words to at least one of the Monkees’ songs. I personally know the words to at least three of their songs.

  It just makes me mad when someone thinks they have the right to review a group and still say that they have no point of reference of that group's heyday. This person listened to their music in retrospect today to review it in the context of what they know now. You can never have that appreciation for a piece of art if you never heard it when it came out. I'm telling you right now I love the Monkees television show. I had all of their albums and I also listened to the underground sound of the 60’s. I am part of the Ed Sullivan generation, I listened to almost every kind of music there was from the time I was a child till today and I'm 60 years old and I have never been able to understand how a reviewer can review a concert or review an album and come up with a totally different opinion of that music than those that appreciate it. I also believe that if you look at the modern abstract art and you don't get it you're not the person that should review it.

  He also kind of skipped over reviewing the movie Head that the Monkees put out after their TV show had ended, by saying that there are those that will defend it. I will not defend it, other than to say that looking at it today I see what they were striving for but the Monkees were never a psychedelic band, they're acting in the Monkees show was never part of the drug culture,  it was pop rock culture. I put the blame own it not being a hit, which it wasn't, on the directors and producers, especially the director who had absolutely no clue. Am I saying that I dislike Head, yes I probably am, but it is a part of rock 'n roll history and I'm sure there are people out there that did enjoy it, but I was thoroughly disappointed with that attempt.

  The Monkees shortly thereafter disappeared except for the occasional reunion concerts and the passing of Davy Jones seemed to have put an end to the concerts till here recently. Both Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz have gotten together again for at least one last Monkees romp and I am happy about it.

For all those we’ve lost in 2016

When we lose an actor we don’t just lose that person, we also lose all of the characters they would have given us.  When we lose a musician or singer we lose the beautiful sounds that were yet to come.  When we lose a songwriter we lose those wonderful lyrics that will never be.  When we lose a writer we lose the stories that will never be told.  When we lose those historic icons of history we lose the possibilities that they might have achieved.  When we lose an athlete we lose the victories that might have been.  When we lose a soldier we lose a hero.  When we lose those we love we lose the possibility of telling them one last time how much we love them. 

                For all those we’ve lost in 2016 we will never lose the feeling of how much we will miss you

The Call of the Mountain

The Call of the Mountain

I walk the trails that lead through these mountains and I feel our ancestors that walked these trails before me. I hear the echoes of the birds in flight calling their mates from the other side of the mountains from days gone by. I can hear echoes in time of bears feasting upon the fruits that the mountain gives to its woodland creatures.

I hear the voice of the Cherokee who were the first to speak to the mountain and called this place home. I feel the winds that have blown through these mountains and carried the voices of the early settlers through its valleys to the tips of its chimney tops.

This land we call the Appalachians is a gift from God for His creations. It is up to us to talk to the mountain and keep it company for it has been there for us in good and bad times, keeping us fed, and blessed with its abundance of riches. We have quenched our thirst in the streams that come from the winter snows on its caps and, with the power of her fast-moving streams coming from its highest points,

We powered our mills to grind the grain that makes our bread that we farmed in the valleys around our beautiful mountains. Our ancestors settled within the borders of these mountains we call the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. We have not only worked this land to feed our families, we have also bled from our hearts into the very dirt and rocks that make up these mountains.

We have borne our children and buried our parents within its soil. It is not just a tourist attraction for those that live in distant places, this is where we call home. The history and the ministry that lay before us in these mountains is our destiny and we would have it no other way, for we are mountain strong.

Good by Debby

God is calling a generation of people home. I see so many of those that I admired and watched on a flickering screen in the dark movie theater or on my television set in my own home. He is also calling home those that I have never seen before. I feel the loss of every single man woman and child that has been called to our father side whether I knew them are not.

It is only human nature to hurt so much more when you feel that you knew them. Family members or people that you grew up with seem to hurt the most. I have always had a special bond in my heart for those that made the movies that gave me my escape from the harsh realities of daily life, almost as if they were part of my family.

Losing Carrie Fisher was a heartfelt blow to me. Now losing her mother Debbie Reynolds has torn a chunk from my heart, because I actually spoke with her and touched her hand. She was so giving a person and I hope I don't bore you but I would like to share a little of the story of our meeting.

It wasn't a one-on-one meeting where we were having coffee and cake or anything like that. It wasn't ultra-personal at all. Debbie Reynolds had come to pigeon Forge to announce that she was opening a movie memorabilia Museum and did a show at a theater in Pigeon Forge. After the show she stayed around and talked about the fact that she had purchased amazing amounts of movie memorabilia when the studios were closing their back lots and liquidating all of their assets. She also signed autographs and spoke to each one of us that had stayed personally. If you've never seen the news clips of what Debbie Reynolds purchasing her collection at those auctions when the big studios were closing down their back lots and liquidating their assets, let me just tell you two things that are so rare that she had it boggles my mind. She had Carmen Miranda tutti-frutti hat and she also had the one-of-a-kind ruby slippers that were made with the toes curled up like elf style ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

Not only did she have rare Hollywood treasures, she was also a rare Hollywood treasure. You see Debbie Reynolds was not only a part of the royalty of Hollywood she also was an admirer. She could step back and look at the movies and appreciate everything about them like I can or you can. She even tried to get the heads of the studios to open up the studios to the public and charge admission so that the back lots and the studios could remain intact for future generations. But as progress always has, it never looks at what the past can do for us. Progress in this country is always been a bulldozer that destroys everything in its path.

Because of Debbie Reynolds many Hollywood props and even clothing that the stars wore was saved from being destroyed the museum in pigeon Forge never happened, because that's when our economy collapsed. Unfortunately Ms. Reynolds had to sell her massive collection. I only wish that she could have seen her dream come true of allowing the public to enjoy the history of movie making as much as she did.

We have come to the final scene of the movie and the life that was Debbie Reynolds and like the character she played in the unsinkable Molly Brown she has left us with a treasure of movies that will keep her alive for generations to come.

God bless the Reynolds and Fisher families and comfort them I know their pain is great, because the two people they lost were great themselves.

Goodbye Carrie Fisher

Today there was a massive disturbance in the force, as if a billion or more hearts were broken all at the same time. Princess Leia a.k.a. Carrie Fisher left the bonds of this world to become an angel in God's heaven. Those of us geeks that loved the performances of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in the three best Star Wars movies had our hearts broken with the passing of the actress that will always be a legend in our hearts and minds. She did not have a varied acting career, but she was an entertainer all of her life, because she came from entertainment royalty. She was the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher who were 1940s and 50s Hollywood royalty.

I don't think there's a person that went to see the first Star Wars movie that did not fall in love with the feisty girl dressed in white with a funny hairdo, at least any of the boys that went to see it. Star Wars will be missing a huge part of its being from now on. Her last line in Star Wars, The Force Awakens, was a passing of the baton to a new generation of actors, as she said, "may the force be with you". I can't help but think and pray for her and her family and paraphrasing the line she spoke may God be with her and her family.

I own several replicas from Star Wars, from a light saber, to R2-D2 and a millennium falcon, because Star Wars was the movie that changed cinematography for a whole generation of moviegoers. The acting and the storylines in the original Star Wars trilogy was the catapult for the technological leap in moviemaking and yet that was not the thing that put it in the depths of our hearts as moviegoers, it was three young previously unknown actors that won of our hearts and not the least of them was Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.

I regret out of all the people I have met that I never got to meet her, I did however meet her mother at a show she put on in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and I hope neither one of them would mind if I say that I actually could see both of them on the stage that night, because I saw so much of her daughter in Debbie Reynolds on that stage. After returning home from seeing Debbie Reynolds I was curious so I put on Star Wars A New Hope and I especially watched Carrie Fisher's performance and I was right, I saw a lot of Debbie Reynolds in Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia .

These people that we hold so dear that we call actors, I wonder if they know how much they mean to us, they come into our lives to give us hope and an escape from reality for a couple of hours in a darkened movie theater. I wish I had had the chance to tell Carrie Fisher thank you for all you do. I don't think most actors really understand how much they do for us and yes, I do know that they are only human beings that have their frailties and are trying to make it from one day to the next. There is always that inspiration, that glimmer of hope and the expectation of excitement that these people we call actors give us and we love them for it.

It's not as if a member of my family has died or someone that was really close to me has passed away. Even with saying that it still feels extremely sad to lose someone that has brightened my existence with the things that they had said and done and written. It's hard to imagine a world without these wonderful people that have given of their time to entertain us and give us a smile.

I have always prayed for everyone to be blessed by God and for those that need comfort or need His help, but I pray that God would bless this lady who has given us each a blessing with the work she has left and for God to comfort her family today and the days that come because no matter how much I or my fellow geeks will miss her I'm sure her family is hurting so much more. God receive this angel into your flock and comfort her mother and family who need you the most.