Recently, I was made aware of the NetGalley site (www.netgalley.com), where I could actually read books that had yet to be published. I created an account and began searching for a book to read. It didn’t take long to come across The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Visé. I requested to read it and was granted the opportunity.
I have been a fan of The Blues Brothers since it hit theaters. In my opinion, it remains one of the best movies of the 1980’s. I was aware that the characters were created on Saturday Night Live and that was all I really knew about how the film came to be. Looking back now, I guess I just assumed that it was something that Lorne Michaels gave his blessing to like Wayne’s World or the Coneheads movies. That wasn’t necessarily the case. As a matter of fact, it was quite a fight just to get the characters on the air!
As I dove into this book, I learned the backstories of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. It was interesting to walk along side them on the road as they rose to fame. I also loved reading about the other now famous names that they worked with prior to coming together at SNL, how they landed their gigs at 30 Rock, and the idea that eventually became The Blues Brothers.
The book does a fine job of also giving readers a look at the personal lives of Belushi and Aykroyd. It was hard to read about the struggles that Belushi had with drugs. I was unaware of the steps that he had taken to try to break free from them. Sadly, we all know that he eventually succumbed to them.
Making a movie is certainly not an easy thing. Throughout this book, you will learn how an idea led to a huge script that had to be cut down, how the amazing musicians were put together, and how many of the great R&B singers came to be a part of the film.
Blues Brothers fans will love this because of the familiar stories and the ones they haven’t heard. There is a good mixture of both. There were plenty of stories in the book that will make me watch particular scenes in the film a bit more closely because of things it revealed.
I truly enjoyed the book and will be rushing out to get a hard copy of it when it is available March 19, 2024. You can preorder it on Amazon now if you wish.
I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this before it was published. I look forward to my next read!
This is a book that I have seen come up more than once as a recommendation for me. I have seen many friends post about it, and I was on the fence about reading it. Then, my son’s speech therapist came over and said that it was a good read with a powerful ending. I decided to take a chance on it.
While I thought the ending was as powerful as the speech therapist did, I found it to be more of a book for female readers. I even told my wife that it reminded me of an episode of Desperate Housewives.
Here is the synopsis from Amazon:
“Expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered….[The Whispers] delivers a sucker-punch ending you’ll have to read twice to believe.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[An] electrifying…razor-sharp page-turner.” —Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
Featured in summer reading recommendations by Good Morning America, TIME, ELLE, The Washington Post & more
On Harlow Street, the well-to-do neighborhood couples and their children gather for a catered barbecue as the summer winds down; drinks continue late into the night.
Everything is fabulous until the picture-perfect hostess explodes in fury because her son disobeys her. Everyone at the party hears her exquisite veneer crack—loud and clear. Before long, that same young boy falls from his bedside window in the middle of the night. And then, his mother can only sit by her son’s hospital bed, where she refuses to speak to anyone, and his life hangs in the balance.
What happens next, over the course of a tense three days, as each of these women grapple with what led to that terrible night?
Exploring envy, women’s friendships, desire, and the intuitions that we silence, The Whispers is a chilling novel that marks Audrain as a major women’s fiction talent.
The Goodreads Synopsis gives you a bit more…
From the author of THE PUSH, a pageturner about four suburban families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens–and what is lost when good people make unconscionable choices
The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys’ best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives.
The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another. Set against the heartwrenching drama of what will happen to Xavier, who hangs between death and life, or a life changed forever, THE WHISPERS is a novel about what happens when we put our needs ahead of our children’s. Exploring the quiet sacrifices of motherhood, the intuitions that we silence, the complexities of our closest friendships, and the danger of envy, this is a novel about the reverberations of life’s most difficult decisions.
The story bounces between the four women and their families. At times I had to remind myself who was married to who (just like Desperate Housewives)! There were characters in this book that I just hated because of their actions (just like Desperate Housewives). At the same time, there were plenty of times that I just needed to know what happened next or why a character did something.
As I said, the ending was worth waiting for and everything the various reviews stated. Yet, while the main storyline is wrapped up, I found myself wondering about many of the sub-plots. What happened to that couple? How does that neighbor’s storyline tie up? I don’t know, maybe it is a good thing that I wanted more.
I admit that this book isn’t for everyone, and that is why I didn’t title this a “Book Recommendation.” However, I post this because I know of a few followers who might enjoy a nice book filled with drama and a good ending.
You may remember that we recently bought some new appliances at our house. When they were delivered, the guys who brought them cut the boxes up to get the appliances out. They also took the remnants of those boxes when they left.
For one brief moment, as our fridge was being delivered, I remembered my dad taking the box and cutting a hole in it for a door. He cut out a window and my brother and I had our own box fort. This memory came and went as they cut up the box.
My wife ordered a few things from Sam’s Club this week and they sent the items in a decent sized box. It did not take the kids long to “get in the boat” and take it for a ride …
Then they hid in their club house …
…which is where they played for quite some time!
Who needs toys when you have a huge box and a fantastic imagination?!
The fun lasted for a few hours … until Andrew found out that the box did not make a good trampoline.
I have posted this quote before, but it fits today (and hopefully will help). My grandfather once told me, “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere!” Despite the truth of that, I find my mind all over the place.
As you are aware, my youngest son recently had a second surgery for his laryngomalacia. He had a follow up visit with the ENT last week and the swelling was still there. The doc said that it should have been gone by now. They did a scope in the office and found that aside of the swelling, everything looked good.
The ENT then sent off a note to the pediatric sleep neurologist saying that he didn’t feel that Andrew’s apnea was something with his throat. He told her that he thought it might be something neurological. She thought that might be the case, too. Andrew actually had a visit with the pediatric neurologist this week. We walked away from that visit with more questions and some concerning possibilities.
He is already in speech because of the original delay. Now, he is dropping syllables in words, or changing them to a different letter. “Mommy” is now “monny.” “Daddy” is now “dah-eee.” The speech therapist had noticed that it seemed as though he was losing muscle tone in his face. The neurologist feels the same way.
It was a very long appointment. At one point, after reviewing the symptoms and giving him an exam, she said, “What am I missing?” She thought a bit more and presented the plan. We are at the point where we need to start ruling stuff out. There were many procedures ordered and we are going to be very busy.
He will have a 24 hour EEG, a brain MRI, generic blood workup, and yet another sleep study. The EEG will help rule out seizures. The brain MRI will help to rule out cerebral palsy. The sleep study will evaluate where his apnea is at and the possibility of another CPAP machine. The generic blood work is to rule out things like Fragile X syndrome and other possible genetic disorders. He will also see a specialist to rule out things like Muscular Dystrophy.
As a father, these things brought my stress levels sky high. Andrew has already been through so much. I don’t want to have to put him through any more, but we need to know what’s going on. Our neurologist applauded Sam and I for being proactive. Our medical backgrounds really made us question a lot, and she said that we are ahead of the game.
Sam keeps me balanced. I expressed my worries to her and she told me that we can’t worry about what we don’t know yet. There are a lot of possibilities, but until we have something to worry about, Sam and I will pray that all will be ok.
It helps me to write this down for a couple reasons. First, seeing it in front of me “gets it out.” Next, it allows me to fill folks in who are asking about what is going on. Finally, it allows me to expand the prayer chain. If you pray, can I ask that you keep this fine young man in yours?
This weekend was just wonderful! My Goddaughter and her fiancé got married on Saturday. I was honored to be able to DJ the wedding for them.
Before I tell you more, I want to give a little backstory. Just after we rang in the year 2020, and before Covid closed everything, I blogged about my Goddaughter and her mom. I think in order to fully understand what I was feeling this weekend, it is worth revisiting:
January 1, 2020
Today, we met one of my oldest and dearest friends for lunch. Margaret and I have been friends since junior high. We are both Italian. My folks loved her, and her folks loved me. I think they probably both thought that we would date or something, but that never happened. We both went to a few dances together, but that was about as close to “dating” as it got. We were just really good friends and that made us both happy. We were officers in band together, we dressed up as twins for Twin Day, she and I both took a senior picture together, and spent many hours on the phone. She was/is one of my best friends!
When her daughter, Marissa, was born she asked me to be her Godfather. I was honored to do it. A Godfather is a very important role for an Italian. When I got married the first time, sadly, I saw less and less of Margaret and my Goddaughter. Whenever I was supposed to get together with them, I was always informed that we couldn’t go or we had something to do with my ex’s family. (If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you are well aware of the narcissism that I dealt with and how miserable my life had become.)
After the divorce, Margaret was one of the first to reach out to me. She completely understood what was going on. Her forgiveness meant everything to me. I hurt her. I was hurt, too. I lost many years of our friendship, and I lost so many moments with my Goddaughter. After all of that, Margaret (and many other friends) had every right to just stop talking to me, but our friendship meant so much, that we have picked up where we left off.
When I attended my Goddaughter’s 21st birthday party, I pulled her aside and apologized for missing so many important things in her life. How do you explain that to someone? As I looked back on the past, my stomach was in knots. I was sickened to think of how I must have made so many people feel. She didn’t bat an eye, however, and told me she loved me and we all enjoyed a great evening! I remember driving home from her party crying my eyes out. It wasn’t fair to her that I missed so many things. It makes me angry to know that I missed so much, but I am also happy that I can try to make up for lost time with her!
Sam and I were going to see what Margaret and her husband, Walt, were doing on New Year’s Eve and found out she was working that night. So they met us at one of the nearby bars for lunch on New Year’s Day. We enjoyed some amazing burgers, and enjoyed good conversation. There is always a lot of laughter when we get together, story telling with wild hand gestures (it is the Italian in us!) and usually some profanity! It was truly a wonderful afternoon. We hope to be able to do it more often!
During lunch, Margaret said something that struck a chord. It was something that made me sad, and happy at the same time. She said, “I have seen you more and talked to you more in the past two years, that the entire time you were married.” This made me sad, because of what I touched on early – a great friendship almost destroyed as well as the relationship between my Goddaughter and me, all because of the stupidity of someone else. It made me happy to know that our friendship remains and will grow even stronger in the years ahead.
Shortly After That
My daughter Ella was born just over a month later. Margaret and Walt made the drive up to the hospital that night with Olive Garden dinners for Sam and me, and also a ton of soup and breadsticks for the hospital staff on our floor!
Ella loves her Aunt Margaret. Margaret has shown so much love to her and Andrew. Ella thanks God for her every night when she prays. Margaret refers to them as “my babies!” Thanks to technology, they love being able to video chat with her anytime!
Last week, Margaret and I got into one of those deep conversations. The years I missed came up. The deep regret that I hate thinking about . The “What Ifs” and such. We had been talking about my kids. She told me that she had always wanted to do that for my older boys, too! Thanks to my ex, that was never to be. All the hurt I felt about missing time with Marissa and I never really realized just how much hurt Margaret felt about missing time with my boys.
Sigh. On to happier stuff….
September 23, 2023
Saturday, I arrived at the breathtaking tree farm where the wedding was to be held. The first person I saw was the groom to be, Connor. He’s a great guy and I know that he is going to be a great husband. I asked him if he was nervous, and he said he was. Marissa and Connor have been together for 7 years. They are perfect together. I don’t remember what I told him, but I assured him all would go well.
When Marissa arrived, they shuffled Connor into the lodge area so he couldn’t see her. She came over and embraced me for a hug. She didn’t even have her dress on yet, and she was just stunning. We talked a briefly and then she was off to get ready.
I saw Margaret out in front of the lodge as I parked my father-in-law’s truck (which he let me borrow so I could fit everything in it!). She was busy putting out fires on the cell phone and with people at the venue.
It didn’t take me too long to get set up. It was hot, so I was glad I hadn’t arrived in my suit. I went to change and by then, we were about an hour and a half away from the ceremony. The families all came out and the photographers got pictures done before the ceremony, which you don’t see too often. But I get it, the sun was perfect and I know that they got some amazing pictures. I, however, only got two. One of Margaret and me, and the other with Marissa.
The ceremony was just wonderful. I was sitting next to Chris, a mutual friend of Margaret and me. She asked if I was going to need a tissue. I told her probably, but I passed her back the tissue pack. Once Marissa and her dad began walking down the aisle, I could feel those tears well up.
Their officiant knew both of them very well and shared some very funny stories. At the same time, he was very professional. Marissa and Connor each wrote their own vows. They read like a love story. Wow, the looks that they gave each other throughout the ceremony and the sharing of their vows….. It was a powerful example of true love. Again, I held back tears.
I’ve DJ’s many weddings, but this was the first where a grand entrance was timed down to the second! They entered to Natalie Cole’s This Will Be (An Everlasting Love). I had a cue sheet with the time and the lyrics along with the couples that were entering at that time. They had it timed perfectly.
After the grand entrance, Marissa and Connor had put together a dance for their first song. It was such a joy to watch these two execute their moves to perfection. I was glad that a little hiccup that could have meant me not having their song was an easy fix. In all my years doing weddings, this was only the third time the bride and groom had choreographed their first dance. It was beautiful.
It was after this that I saw Margaret become “that Italian mom.” Let me explain. No one had filled the glasses of the head table and when we went to do toasts, there was nothing to toast! They decided to let people eat and they would toast during dinner while someone filled glasses. That someone – was Margaret. She came busting out of the lodge with bottle of wine in each hand. She walked to every person with an empty glass and asked, “White or red?”
She was the first table called to eat after the head table. Yet, she was like the last in line to eat! I had to tell her to get a plate. She naturally swore at me and moved through the buffet line.
Toasts from the Best Man, Maid of Honor, and the fathers of both the Bride and Groom followed. The Best Man impressed me with a perfect line. He stated that he and Connor had been best friends forever. He stated that he was happy to give up that title, because Marissa would now forever be his best friend. Good stuff!
After dinner, Marissa danced with her dad and Connor danced with his mom. Then the dance floor opened for the night. Music was not an issue, as they had given me plenty of songs to choose from. There is never enough time to get through the entire list. There were plenty of requests and the crowd seemed to be having a good time.
I naturally brought out the groom and the groomsmen, who had no idea why I called them out to the floor. I passed out a cowboy hat, and Indian head dress, a policeman’s hat, a sailor hat, and a biker hat. I led them through some silly moves and we did the YMCA together. This is always silly and they guys had fun. I even got to embarrass myself as I walked through the crown lip synching “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis with my terrible Elvis wig.
There were so many things from the evening that I will remember, but the one thing that will stick with me forever is just how beautiful Marissa looked.
I am so happy for her. I am excited to hear about all the things that are ahead for her and Connor. Random thought: Is he now my Godson-in-law? I’d be ok with that.
On my hour drive home, there was a lot of time to think about the day. I smiled again as I recalled the vows, the first dance, the last dance, and more. I had to pull over when the sadness crept in with the memory of the lost time with her. I had to remind myself that that is all in the past, and there will be more happy days ahead. Plenty of happy days, I am sure of it!
Congratulations to Marissa and Connor. Your love for each other will carry you through the tough storms … and God will get you through the rest!
I admit to being someone who has used that phrase before. When I am asked why I like a particular song or singer, many times it is because of their amazing vocals. A couple years ago, I did a feature called “Tune Tuesday,” where I would feature a song I liked. I’m not sure why I stopped doing it. Maybe it needs to be brought back.
Anyway, this blog rerun is an old Tune Tuesday piece I wrote about a singer who celebrates a birthday today. Andrea Bocelli turns 65 years old today. He is proof that a beautiful melody and a beautiful voice are all you need sometimes. Why do I say that? Read on.
For that particular Tune Tuesday, I picked a song that Bocelli sings that I have NO IDEA what he is saying! That’s where looking up the lyrics helped. Join me and give Vieni Sul Mar a listen again in celebration of his birthday …
The great Bill Murray is 73 today. He is in some of my favorite films (Stripes, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, etc…). There are so many great stories about him and many make you wonder if they are true or not.
In celebration, I stumbled on some great quotes from Bill and thought I’d share:
“Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you’re donating blood.”
“This is not a dress rehearsal; this is your life.”
“The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30 percent of their ice cream.”
“People are like music. Some speak the truth, and others are just noise.”
“A movie like ‘Caddyshack,’ I can walk on a golf course, and some guy will be screaming entire scenes at me and expecting me to do it word for word with him. It’s like, ‘Fella. I did that once. I improvised that scene. I don’t remember how it goes.’ But I’m charmed by it. I’m not like, ‘Hey, knock it off’. It’s kind of cool.”
“I try to be available for life to happen to me. We’re in this life, and if you’re not available, the sort of ordinary time goes past, and you didn’t live it. But if you’re available, life gets huge. You’re really living it.”
“I made a lot of mistakes and realized I had to let them go. Don’t think about your errors or failures. Otherwise, you’ll never do a thing.”
“Every moment that you share someone else’s pain, feel what they feel, makes you more human.”
“The automatic things you do are basically those things that keep you from doing the better things you need to do.”
“I think we’re all sort of imprisoned by – or at least bound to – the choices we make… You want to say no at the right time, and you want to say yes more sparingly.”
“Just beat my record for most consecutive days without dying. The secret is to have a sense of yourself, your real self, your unique self. And not just once in a while, or once a day, but all through the day, the week and life.”
“The last time doesn’t exist. It’s only this time. And everything is going to be different this time. There’s only now.”
“Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.”
“Melancholy is kind of sweet sometimes, I think. It’s not a negative thing. It’s not a mean thing. It’s just something that happens in life, like autumn.”
“If you can consciously let yourself get taken and see where you go, that’s an exercise. That’s discipline. To follow the scent. Let yourself go and see what happens. That takes a bit of courage.”
“Friendship is so weird. You just pick a human you’ve met and you’re like, ‘Yep, I like this one,’ and you just do stuff with them.”
“Life is a game, and it’s much more fun if you play it as your own game, so stay light and loose and relaxed.”
There are plenty of books on Bill, should you be so inclined to read them:
Happy Birthday, Bill! Thanks for the laughs and words of wisdom.
Remember in the movie Ratatouille when the food critic tastes the ratatouille and he is immediately taken back to when he was a kid? I have always believed that this is totally possible and have had it happen to me on many occasions. It is true bliss when a food tastes so good that it conjures up a good memory.
On the other hand, there are also times where you look forward to eating something and are completely disappointed. That just happened to me this week.
On a recent trip to Sam’s Club, we loved seeing all of the Halloween decorations that were on display. With Halloween, they usually bring out the “Monster” cereals that I loved as a kid. We happened to see a display where they had packaged 3 of the well known flavors with a new flavor. My wife chuckled and said to buy it.
Count Chocula and Frankenberry were always my favorites. I couldn’t wait to crack open a box and eat it. The kids had tried the Count Chocula, so that was the one I tried first. It was the first disappointment.
As soon as I poured it into the bowl, I noticed that it smelled as good as I remembered. When I took a bite, though, it was a major let down. I felt like there was no taste whatsoever. I remember it tasting chocolatey – like a good bowl of Cocoa Puffs – but that was not the case. It was disgusting. I felt like the box would have tasted better.
I decided that maybe something with a bit more flavor might be better, so I tried the Frankenberry the next day. Again, the smell was as good as I remember, but there was barely a hint of “berry” to it. It was so bland.
What happened, General Mills?! I know that if the cereal tasted like this when I was a kid, I would not have been so excited to have a bowl as an adult. What a let down. I suppose from now on, I will look at the characters on the box and smile while I remember that it USED to be good.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, social media is great for catching up with old friends. However, I can honestly say that it cannot beat catching up in person.
In 1988, my radio career started at WKSG, Kiss-FM in Detroit. I met so many great people there, and many I am still friends with. A couple years before I was let go, the station hired a new Production Director.
Cam Smith was no stranger to radio. He was in radio long before that seed was planted in my mind. As a matter of fact, he worked at many of the stations (or in buildings) that I would eventually work at, too.
He’s been living in Florida for sometime and we reconnected on Facebook quite a few years back. He recently messaged me to tell me that he was coming up to Michigan and wanted to get together while he was in town. He gave me some dates to look at and we decided that today would work.
As I left the house this morning, my wife said, “How long do you think you’ll be gone?” I told her that Cam and I hadn’t seen each other in 30 years, so it could be a bit. She smiled and knew that would be the case.
We met at the Tim Horton’s close to my house. The only thing that’s changed is we’re both a bit greyer and he still has more hair than me! We grabbed coffee and a sandwich and the radio stories began to flow.
He had already met with many radio folks over the past few days. He was posting pictures on his Facebook page. It was fun to see many of them, as I worked with some of them, too. He got together with the WSAM/WKCQ – Saginaw gang as well as the WTRX-Flint folks. He told me some great stories that I had never heard before about the hijinks from those places and the talk incorporated many of the mutual radio people we had both worked with.
It was so great to sit and talk about our Kiss-FM Program director, Paul Christy. Paul, gave me my big break in radio and he was there when Cam was hired. There were many stories about Paul and a whole lot of laughs. We were both laughing so hard at times, I thought they might kick us out.
Our age has caught up with us, though. There were way too many times that we were like, “What was the name of that promotions guy who was there?” or “Do you remember that one listener who used to come out to all the car cruises?” Then at the same time, there were plenty of things that jogged my memory about things I had forgotten. Things like former station call letters or formats, old promos that ran, and sales people I had forgotten. There are things that we talked about that I have saved as MP3 that he’s never heard that I need to send him, so I’ll be going through the hard drives later this week.
The sad thing is that there is never enough time. I know we could have easily spent another 4 hours telling stories, but I had to leave and head to work. I couldn’t be happier to spend time sharing stories and reliving great memories. I hope it isn’t so long between visits next time and that maybe we can get more folks together to share with us.
What a great time! Thanks, Cam! It was so great to see you. Safe travels back home, buddy!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 