Orracle and Family

Orracle and Family

Friday, June 20, 2008

Living Live! On DRUGS!

It is sad that I have had only one post since my last Living Live but face it, it is summer and I am a busy boy. Grandma is here this week from Seattle so I have been pretty occupied trying to work and still find time to visit with her.

Today's Living Live! takes us to one of my first concerts. My official first was the Del Fuegos, Georgia Sattelites and Tom Petty at the Met Center in Bloomington. Shortly after that, I wanted to see Huey Lewis. Who didn't? (Probably Al). Anyway - the Fore! tour was on and I bought tickets. This video is circa 1985 so very similar to what I saw then. I remembered Delbert McClinton opened for him. Amazing that he still has a career even though he was a nobody then and to many still is.

Here is Huey doing I Want A New Drug....BTW, is that Michael J Fox on Sax?


Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Jottings...

So many things on my mind and not one of them worthy of their own post!!

NUMBER 1: Basketball. Finally KG gets a ring. He deserves it after all of the years in MN and how hard he played night after night. He is a class act, stays out of trouble and was good for our community here. He even thanked "'Sota" last night in his interview with Tafoya. That brings me to Kobe. He sucks. Anyone can get 30 points if they don't pass the ball and take 50 shots. He is nothing but a big crybaby. Good for him to taste total anihilation last night! The Celtics winning is just more proof that Kevin McHale should have been let go of years ago. Thinking about it more, Boston should praise Minnesota. They got Randy Moss (indirectly) and a great football team, David Ortiz (another rockstar we did not need) and a world series win and now KG. Add that to the gifts we've given Dallas (the Dallas Stars and 3 super bowls courtesy of The Jeff Diamond trade for Herschel Walker). If there was a hall of shame for bad trades, the main building should be named "The Minnesota Wing".

NUMBER 2: Grandma Jensen. We flew grandma in from Seattle. All I can say is that I hope I can remember half the life stories she remembers not only of herself but of every one of her 5 kids and their grandkids, etc. She is 87 and while she is moving a little slower, she she can remember stories. I should be recording them. Hindsight wins again.

NUMBER 3: Small victories. Life is better with them. I have been fighting a battle with a VP at work over a fundamental decision. I have won. It feels good but I always feel bad for having dragged that person's style and bad decisions in front of the world. After 8 years here and not always standing up against those that were making yet another mess, I am glad I did this time. I just hope too many work relationships were not completely ruined in the process.

That's it. Nothing big here. Just small news. But at least small news lets you know that I am still alive and kickin. Until next time.....

Monday, June 9, 2008

Living Live!

Today's Living Live is a twist. Everyone knows my love of Garth Brooks. I have another side that loves a good cover. I would love to see a greatest covers collection come out some day. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are the ultimate cover band. In fact, their fame is predicated solely on covering other guys songs.

This recording is not very good but has them covering the greatest Garth song ever, Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old) (even Al agrees with that).


Thursday, June 5, 2008

This one time, at band camp....

Well, we are back from our week at band camp. Technically, not band camp but close enough. Jess, Jake and I played chapparone to the 103 middle schoolers of the New Richmond Middle School Marching Tigers on the 9 day journey. The itinerary looked like this:

Day 1: Depart NR, drive all night to Cleveland.
Day 2: Perform field show and march in 3 mile parade. Visit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Drive all night to Jacksonville, FL.
Day 3: Perform for Mandarin Middle School (1568 students) in Jacksonville, FL. Bring kids to Blizzard Beach where I am certain we left an oil slick. We all were starting to stink!
Day 4: Drive to St. Petersburg. Do a field show and perform again on the field for the Tampa Bay Rays. Awesome! Head back to Orlando to get to the Magic Kingdom. March in Spectromagic Parade for 55,000.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom all day with another parade, the daytime Share a Dream Come True with roughly 38,000 onlookers.
Day 6: Drive East to Kennedy Space Center. Perform field show and tour center. Go to Cocoa Beach for fun, sun and a BBQ.
Day 7: Load busses at 6:30 AM. Character breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Leave AK for EPCOT at noon. Stay remainder of day at EPCOT with the 1 mile+ parade around Showcase Lagoon. Approximate viewers was 45,000. Load busses at 11 and leave for Memphis.
Day 8: Memphis - with performance for Elvis and tour of Graceland. See Mud Island in the Mississippi River. Head to Interstate BBQ (Best in Memphis and has been on every food TV show) for BBQ and peach cobbler. YUM! Drive all night to Madison.
Day 9: Perform at Wisconny State Capitol in Madison and tour. Head for New Richmond

I have to say, despite the smelly people, 4 nights on busses and very little sleep, it was a fantastic trip. Here are 2 of my favorite photos. The first is a lucky chance that I saw Ashlie on the big screen at Tropicana Field as the jumbo screen was behind us. The other is the band at Kennedy Space Center. This was a once in a lifetime trip for many of the kids. It showed on their faces and I am so proud to have been a part of it. GREAT JOB New Richmond Tigers!!






The ORRacle!

The ORRacle!