They Can't Take That Away

We had one of those times tonight when both girls had an event and there was no way we could attend both. Jolie was singing in a district 4th grade performance at her school, and Jeslyn had her first night as a member of the competition gymnastics program at SCATS. Originally I was going to take Jeslyn to gymnastics and Jan , Jen and Jeff were going to watch Jolie sing, but Jan decided to switch because the performance was outside and it was very windy. Jolie told me it was each 4th grade doing their own songs, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to that. She was wrong, as it was about 300 4th graders from all over the Fountain Valley school district who had all learned the same songs. Jolie's school was the host and so they were the last in, and she was right up in front by the microphone where I had a perfect view of her. They started with a rendition of the original "We Are the World" and it touched me deeply, given the lines of the chorus and the multi-ethnic nature of the group. In fact, that song was originally going to be the focus of my comments, that is, until near the end of the program.

They sang "America the Beautiful" and some folk songs, and then there was an announcement that there would be two more songs.

I didn't recognize the next song from the introduction, and took a deep breath when they started, "if tomorrow all the things were gone.....", and just at that moment Jennifer touched me on the shoulder, because she knew how much the song meant to me. My thoughts raced back to the days of September 11, 2001, and the awful events of that day. The following Sunday I was part of a duet that got up in church and sang, "God Bless the USA" and it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Watching my 10-year old granddaughter sing the song with her classmates was every bit as memorable, if not more, for so many reasons. Just the fact it was public school kids singing "God Bless the USA" was meaningful enough. Also, it was probably my imagination, but it seemed to me that, while Jolie knew all the words and sang fervently on all the songs, she really poured her heart into this one. I don't know if she had been told how much the song meant to Grampa, but it seemed as if she had. I was thankful that I am still close enough to my daughter that she knew and cared how much the song would touch me. I told her that if she made a CD of the event, I would like a copy. And I know if she does, I will get one (putting friends and family on notice, you may be subjected into a viewing of said video).

A couple of months ago, I gave up political comments for lent, and my blood pressure was so grateful that I have continued that practice. But I have no reservations in saying,

I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I'll gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today.

Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land...God Bless the USA.

With thanks to Glenn, Don, Joe and Timothy

Haven't blogged in almost 3 months. The creative juices seem to have beem muted by a variety of things, most notably tax season. Now, 200 tax returns later, it's time to see if I can still do this.

First of all, tax season was amazing. I knew I would enjoy the added income, but I had no idea I would enjoy the interaction with my new clients to the degree that I did. I think I'm going to write a series of blogs on individual clients and the remarkable stories they have.

Since Christmas, we've known how we were going to celebrate the end of tax season. Our kids got us tickets to see the Eagles at Hollywood Bowl, and that was the light at the end of our tax tunnel. We were originally going to the Friday night concert and Jeff and Jen on Saturday, but switched with the when Jeff wound up playing the guitar at church for the weekend. So, Saturday night it was. As it turns out, traffic caused the kids to miss the first half hour of the concert Friday, including "Hotel California", so we vowed to not let that happen to us. We also didn't want to drive back after the concert, so we used points to book a room at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, which overlooks Hollywood Boulevard and is about a half mile from the bowl. That also solved our parking problem, since there is a shuttle to the bowl that departs from the back side of the hotel.

We left about noon on Saturday, and had lunch at the Northwoods Inn. This was a nostalgic trip for us--when we lived in Pasadena, the NI in San Gabriel was our special date place, and the one in La Mirada helped us bring back some memories. Got to the hotel about an hour earlier than check in, but since we are such "high rollers" with Marriott, we were checked in. Our room looked down at the Kodak (Academy Awards) Theater and we could also see Disneys El Capitan Theatre with many limos parked in front for the premiere of "Oceans".

Boarded the shuttle around 6, got there and seated about an hour early for the concert. Jan read her paperback while I people-watched, but never spied anybody famous!

Starting with their a capella "There are Stars in the Southern Sky", the Eagles then treated me to 3 1/2 of the greatest hours of my life. They sang many songs from their new "Long Road out of Eden" CD, and nearly all of their old ones. It appeared my favorites were also the most popular with the crowd as a whole. I think one of the most special things was that they didn't try to trick up their classics with new arrangements. (I found myself thinking of Rick Nelson's "Garden Party", when he talks about how unpopular his Madison Square Garden concert was because he didn't play any of his old stuff, and concluded that "if you can't please everyone then you got to please yourself). All of the songs sounded just as they did when originally recorded--only better. "Hotel California" started with a haunting trumpet solo intro, but it was faithful enough to the original so that all in the crowd knew what was coming. "Lyin' Eyes", my second favorite, was apparently written in two days as they watched some of the patrons of the club they were playing in 1975. Which points out another thing I liked--they basically played and sang, without the need to introduce the details behind the writing of each song.
Despite Glenn Frey's jokingly welcoming us to the Eagles "Assisted Living Tour" it was obvious that all were still at the top of their game, both vocally and musically. We heard Joe Walsh's hits also, and he was very much a crowd favorite. There was video backup for many of the songs, and they had for the most part been put together with some thought, tho there were a couple that appeared to have video for video's sake alone. The best videos were probably the ones for "Boys of Summer," and "Dirty Laundry".
All in all, it was as close to a perfect night as it could be. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a little more space to sit than the sardine-like confines of the Bowl's bleachers. The only thing I could think of that they didn't sing were the Glenn Frey songs from his Miami Vice period ("You Belong to the City", etc) and they didn't sing "Get Over It" from Hell Freezes Over. They finished around 10:30, came back for the obligatory encore and played right up until the 11 oclock curfew. They had saved "Take It Easy," for that, along with another Joe Walsh guitar extravaganza. Finally, the guy next to Jan said, "I can't think of anything they haven't sung." I said, "the concert's never over until the 'fat lady' sings "Desperado"." Sure enough, Don Henley closed the night with that traditional classic ending.
I sometimes forget this fact, but remember it every time I make it to a concert by the great ones: The staying power of a great musical group is not based on what they do in the studio, but the way they are able to entertain in a live performance. The Eagles 35-year run underscores that truth.
It was nice to be able to just go to the hotel on the shuttle and not drive the 1 hour home that night. We checked out about 9 this morning, in time to make it home to the 1030 service at the best church in Orange County. That's also a pretty good "live" experience.