The first musical I remember watching was when my sister Debi was in a show in Elementary School called The Electric Sunshine Man. The music still lives in my head all these years later, as I still know the first song’s chorus. In 1982, GB took Deb and me to see the movie version of… Read More Let’s go to the theater
When Grandma Bobi (GB) returned to Concord, I spent more time with her and Grandpa and learned about their music. They had albums of swing music. This was the first time I learned about this high-energy music from Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. I remember the song Yes! We Have No Bananas, In… Read More Bobi’s Music
It’s funny the things you can remember as you get older. For example, I can remember three albums that my parents had. They were Elton John’s Captain Fantastic, Barry Manilow’s Tryin’ To Get The Feeling, and the Carpenters. At the age of eight, these artists imprinted themselves on my brain, and to this day, I… Read More Albums of my childhood
In 1985, While in High School, our band director was contacted to see if he wanted to bring Maynard Ferguson to the school as a fundraiser, and when he asked the students, it was an instant yes! I had discovered Maynard’s music earlier in the year when the guys in the trumpet section introduced me… Read More Soundtracks of my past: Maynard Ferguson
On April 29, 1992, the riots erupted in Los Angeles, and I was working at the Disneyland Hotel in the Monorail Cafe. I remember hearing about what was happening and watching it in the cast member lunch room. Like everyone around me, I was glued to the TV all day and all night. As the… Read More Rick and the LA Riots
Last week, I saw that Barry Manilow was heading to Spokane for a one-night concert, his last in Spokane. I called Deb and asked if she wanted to get tickets for the three of us to see him as a Mother’s Day gift for Mom; she was all in. The last time we saw him… Read More Looks like we made it
Over the past two weeks, we had the opportunity to sell merchandise for the touring production of Hamilton, and we both loved it. It all started when I received an email asking if we wanted to help with the show heading to Spokane. My first thought was how they even knew who I was. And… Read More And me? I’m the damn fool who shot him
In the early 90s, while living in Santa Ana, I traveled by train twice, once to see Mom and another time to visit Grandma Bob’s brother in New York. The trip to visit Uncle Joe in New York was exciting. It would take three days to get there, and I could relax, listen to music,… Read More All aboard
It was May 25, 2002, and I was not feeling all that well. I thought I was getting sick. I worked at Nordstrom’s and worked a shift on Saturday, but I was exhausted, sweaty, and had stomach pain. On Sunday, I went to work, but I could hardly move my stomach pain way too much,… Read More You need to go to the ER, now
In September of 1991, I was lead at the Monorail Cafe at the Disneyland Hotel, and I read in the cast newspaper that they were closing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island to refurbish it for a new show. That winter, I thought it would be fun to see what the Rivers of… Read More I met a Disney Legend
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