The Best off Davy Jones...Some of My Favorite Songs

I wanted to add a part two to my memorium to Davy Jones..a few of my favorite songs he did, and my own parting farewell... Hope you enjoy.

My first is a beautiful song from The Monkees Headquarters album...a beautiful song called "Shades Of Grey" Peter and Davy singing a beautiful song about growing up and moving on...

My second choice is a song from the album Pool It, this was Davy, Micky and Peter making their comeback. This was a great song with Micky singing the lead, but it was something Davy had plenty of and that was Heart and Soul...

The third and fouth are my tributes to Davy...the first is a scene from the movie Four Weddings and A Funeral. This poem is entitles "Funeral Blues" and the author is W.H. Auden

And lastly, a song I love from the TV show "Brothers and Sisters", a lovely song called The Parting Glass...so long Davy Jones

The Loss of A Monkee or Growing Up

Today I heard about the death of Davy Jones from The Monkees. As a little girl I watched the show and it was one of my favorite. I feel a sadness for the loss for another part of my childhood, first Whitney Houston and now Davy.
When we grow up we know our childhood will eventually end, but when it's through death it hurts just a little more. Davy was the cute Monkee, he had the accent and the boyish looks, that girls loved. In reading the words of his band mates you can tell it is hurting them as well. Davy, Micky, Michael and Peter were funny, good musicians, and America's answer to The Beatles.
My heart goes out to his family and his friends. The man who taught Axl Rose to dance and make Marcia Brady happy is gone...the daydream is over but Davy we still believe. Good night.

Television: Then and Now

So, I just finished watching my favorite new show...which used to be an old show...Hawaii Five-O...for those who don't remember the original show, it ended in 1980. The year of my birth. It was alright, but far too over dramatic, the revamped version has a few things to please the younger demographic...faster cars, sexy actors, and a postcard in every episode. This got me to thinking, I have a list of TV shows that I am going to mention...some from the 80's, some from the 90's and some from the 00's...feel free to comment, or add any shows I have forgotten.

Family Ties: It introduced us all to Michael J. Fox....enough said!
The Cosby Show: Influential as hell..a doctor and a lawyer, raising their family, and never forgetting their hertiage, and never forgetting how to laugh.
ALF: Come on, he was an alien, granted he liked to eat cats, but who doesn't have a flaw or two?
Hill Street Blues: The grandfather of the cop shows! "Let's all be safe out there"
CHiPs: Cause show me a man who didn't want to be Ponch, and I'll show you a man who is lying to himself.
Mork and Mindy...Robin Williams!
Happy Days...The Fonz!!! or and a guy you might have heard of..Ron Howard
St. Elsewhere...Amazing medical drama....before Grey's, before ER, there was this show...Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel...granted the ending was a bit of a gyp.
Dinosaurs: Say it with me...you know you remember it...."NOT THE MAMA!!"
The Entire TGIF lineup: Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, Full House, and a little known show called Hi Honey! I'm Home....i mention the latter for only one main reason (AJ McLean)
ER: The birth of George Clooney and the overlooked Anthony Edwards (We love you Goose)
NYPD Blue: If you did not cry when Jimmy Smits died...you have no heart!
Chicago Hope: A little known medical drama....but it had Mandy Patinkin...it had Inigo Montoya, good enough for me.
Cheers: Where Everybody Knows Your Name!
M*A*S*H: One hell of a show...and who didn't get choked up with Col. Blake died
               and now a few honorable mentions for me
Brothers and Sisters: Great show, Sally Field as Nora Walker..If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor, check it out.
Frasier: Gotta love Niles
NCIS: I love Gibbs!!
Moonlight.....Mick St. John,...yummy!
Three Rivers....never got the chance it deserved!

                 and there are a thousand more... what are some of your favorites?

My Trip to Disney World Or One Hell of a Spring Break

Well, kids, I am taking you on a trip back to 2001, before the horror of 9/11, before my life took a personal turn, and before all the stuff that has tried to take over me happiness took over. My friend Nicole and I spent a fun-filled week at Disney World.  This was in March of 2001 when we took this lovely trip, as a matter of fact the day we flew home was St. Patrick's Day. We drove up to her house in New Jersey, and that was an eye-opener to me, because coming from the South, and not really knowing what an Italian family was like, I learned very quickly. I met her grandmother, who was the definition of a feisty woman (may she RIP), met her mother and her aunt and got treated to a true Italian dinner..and the food, let me tell you something..THAT was food!
When we flew out of Atlantic City, NJ it was my first flight, and I will admit I was nervous. I sat by the wing, and as we made the hour and 20 minute flight, I will say that I would stare out onto the wing and thoughts of William Shatner and The Twilight Zone went through my mind. The flight was smooth, and before I knew it we had landed at the Orlando airport, then we waited, and waited and waited for our shuttle bus to get to our resort.
When it finally showed up, we headed to our resort, the Caribbean Beach Resort, a amazingly beautiful resort, where a man dressed as Prince Charming greeted us and welcomed us to Disney World...he was pretty damn good looking, I remember. We checked in, and since our room wasn't ready, we headed into the park.
Now, I am a kid at heart, always have been, always will be. When I stepped onto Main Street USA, I would by lying if I said I didn't have tears in my eyes. That first day, I ate at a Cosmic Cafe, braved a Haunted Mansion, sat at Casey's Corner, and rode a Riverboat to Tom Sawyer's Island. Then that night, I ate inside a Mayan Temple...I highly recommend the San Angel Inn! Plates as big as your head!
While we are on that subject...Oh the food! The food was amazing! From the Prime Time Cafe to Mama Melrose's, from Gepetto's to the Le Cellier Steakhouse...to the breakfast at Ohana...the food was amazing!!
Then the rides...from Dumbo to Dinosaur....everything for the wild-at-heart, the young-at-heart, and the ones who are a little of everything. Only ride that I still cannot stand is "It's A Small World"....I warn you now, sing that song to me and I will go Mob Wives on your ass, hahaha!
The shopping, the entire thing was the greatest week I had ever had. Having a friend like Nicole with me, made it better too. We got pictures taken with Mickey, watched the Muppets in 3-D, watched Goofy pass out from heat stroke, got faces painted...all of it. It was the best week ever.
It's been almost 12 years since we went, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that week, and live it again.  Here is a song that reminds me of my trip and also begs the question...what if Disney World was heaven?

The Best Days Of Our Lives Or When I Was Young

So tonight, at the request of my friend Nicole, I am doing a lighthearted post. A post about when I was a young girl and the crushes I had in those days. Today I found myself watching an old episode of Boy Meets World where Eric and Jack are staring at an old Backstreet Boys poster and Eric says, "I have to get out of here because the cute one is staring at me." Jack replies, "You think Howie is the cute one? I thought Nick was the cute one."...Well, Jack and Eric you were both correct.
When I was 16, I heard Backstreet Boys for the first time, I had never seen them before, only heard them, and from the first note, I was hooked. I have a lot of friends who were the same way. We loved them...well no, we lusted them. I can admit for me I wasn't in love, I was in lust. Yes kiddies...dare I say, it was a sin, but in the words of Billy Joel...."I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun..."
As I sit here and remember the trip Nicole and I made to Disney World, me wearing my Backstreet Boys t-shirts and my do rag...looking for people who had met them or working with Kevin in the early days, and we did meet a few. It was a good trip...that will be in an upcoming post.
Right now, I am thinking of all the teen idols we have loved and lost over time, and why we loved them. Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, NSYNC (sorry, but they do fit), Boyzone, Westlife, New Edition, Boyz II Men, 5ive, O-Town in music. The two Coreys, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp, Leonardo Di Caprio, Kirk Cameron, Leif Garrett, Davy Jones, The Jackson 5, The Osmonds, Heath Ledger, etc. The list is endless. Some of these people have tragically died, others just simply faded away and some are just as strong today as they were then.
Queen once wrote a song called "Days of Our Lives" and in it, it speaks on growing up, but never forgetting the good things, the good times. And so with this post I want to end with lyrics from Paul Simon...."Preserve your memories, there all that's left you."

Finding The Evil In People or How I Finally Walked Away

Well tonight's topic is going to be an interesting one. I have a story for you kids, now stop me if you've head this one okay?  You have a "friend" or so you think, and this friend only wants to be around you if you do exactly what they want, exactly as they do, they have all the right answers and you will benefit from their wisdom...sound familiar?
Now, these people, these evil people who want nothing more than to steal you away from yourself are everywhere. You maybe even know some of them now, they might have been friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, bosses, classmates, as you can see the list can go on forever. Now, I would like to add part two to this tale...what if the person at the start of this story gives you a lovely ultimatum...you need to lose everyone I don't like, or I won't be your friend anymore. Now, then, kiddies, what would you do then?
This should be an easy answer for you. It was for me, I walked away. More like ran away, because if I wanted someone to dictate my life I'd bring Julius Caesar back from the dead. Seeing the bad in someone is not something anyone wants to be, but it's there. Not everyone is evil, not by any means, but some people, they show it better.
My advice...Forrest Gump it.! Run, as fast as you can. Save yourself so that you can come back.

Compassion Isn't Dead...It Just Needs to Come Out of Hibernation

Sitting in my SDV class today, I heard the story of a boy in my class. A nice, quite kid named Chris. He is deaf, and he is transgendered. As I sat, listening to his interperter tell his story I was almost moved to tears. Here is this young man, who knew from the time he was a small child that he was a girl in a boy's body. He began his talk by asking a simple question....Is being transgendered a choice? A few select idiots raised their hands, while I shook my head. I sat hearing this boy talk about how he had been sucidal, how he hasn't told his parents, because of how they would react.
I held back the tears as I listened, and then I had a thought...and I'd like to share that thought with whomever is reading this.
Compaasion is a word so few people really understand. They assume to know, but we all know what they say about that, 'Never assume, it just makes an ass out of u and me." But, as we know there are a lot of people who live by the motto, 'Always Assume"  Now, we are all human, we make assumptions everyday. So, what do we do about this? Admit our transgressions and move on? Or, admit, repent, and learn? I am all for learning, but that is just me.
Compassion is a learned art, much like painting, writing, patting your head and rubbing your tummy...Haha...okay, maybe not the last one. But, you understand where I am going with this. So, here was this boy, telling us his story, telling us his life, and I felt compassion for him, empathy for him, and a desire to want to beat the hell out of the six morons who called it a choice. So, remember, compassion isn't dead...but hibernation time is over. Wake up people!

How One Weekend Can Change A Life or How I Stopped Believeing Cynical People

This past weekend I attended my first Sci-Fi Convention. As a closet nerd, I never let anyone know that I wanted to be Leia, how I truly believed Captain Picard and Kirk did seek out the new lives and the new civilizations they searched for, and how I truly believe several of America's politicians might actually be Cylons. The guest of honor at this convention was a man by the name of Jeremy Bulloch, this distinguished Englishman was an Shakespearean actor, appeared in several James Bond movies, and had acted on British stages; but for the Sci-Fi geeks, he is quite simply....Boba Fett: The Bounty Hunter (I'd watch that over Dog anyday, wouldn't you?).
This man, spoke for two hours on life, acting, and everything. Before he began, he asked for four volunteers, and before I knew it my hand had shot up like a bullet out of a gun. And as he called my name, I smiled and walked up. I acted onstage with Boba Fett, and then 15 minutes later got the best advice I could have ever asked for.
When I told him that I had dreams of acting, dreams of teaching acting, and what to do when people try to destroy that dream..he quite simply looked at me and said, "Don't Quit." Two words, just two words and it changed me so profoundly. About, an hour later, standing in the Dealer's Room I happened to meet a woman and her daughter, both wiccan, one an empath and the other a psychic/medium. The older woman, amazingly decked out in Steampunk, walked up to "ground" my friend, and then to ground myself.
As she placed her hands on my head and began to ground me, I had the feeling of wanting to faint, but at the same time, felt an incredible sense of power course through me. Afterwards, she leaned in and whispered three more sentances that continued the change I had felt only an hour before, "You have so much bright light around you. You are beautiful. You are smart."
How could these people, whom I had just met, suddenly make me see the truth?
Why did I just tell you this? Because it changed me for the better, it made me see the cynical people in my life...people who claimed to be friends...it made me see them for what they really are. They are liars. The worst kind of liars, the kind that make you forget your strength, your power, your beauty all to make themselves feel better. I had people who I thought were my friends, thought they wanted the best for me,. but it was a ruse. This person, no names mentioned here, was a liar, a cynic of the highest degree. As a healer, I hoped this person would change, but it would never happen.
Liars are everywhere, they wear a thousand disguises, they smile to your face and then stab you in the back. The worst people are the ones who use "logic" as a way to shut down. Emotions are my logic, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I will never change that. Ladies and Gentlemen, all it took was the words of a space aged bounty hunter and a steampunk empath to change my views.