After seeing this book come up as a recommendation on Goodreads, Facebook and Tik Tok, I finally had the chance to read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.
I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to read it. I wasn’t sure I could get into the “sci-fi” of it. I kept seeing people saying how great it was and how it was the best book they had read all year, etc.. So when I saw it on the shelf at Goodwill for a buck, I figured I would pick it up.
It sat on my “To read” pile for a while before I began to read it, but I recently finished it. Before I give my thoughts, here is the Goodreads synopsis:
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.
“Are you happy with your life?”
Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”
In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?
And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human–a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad book. It certainly held my interest and I wanted to see how it all wrapped up. At times, I felt the scientific jargon was a bit over my head. I found myself reading a paragraph twice a couple times to be sure I got what was being said.
Honestly, as much as everyone loved this book, I didn’t feel it lived up to the hype. I went into it expecting to really be blown away by the story. I wasn’t. I’m not saying it was a waste of time to read, I just expected more based on the reviews and suggestions. If I had gone with my gut and what I felt before seeing all the hype, I probably wouldn’t have read it.
If I had to compare it to something, I would say it is like comparing it to your favorite TV show. I love the Twilight Zone, but there are episodes that just didn’t live up to those classic ones. This would compare to the “not so good” episodes.
Remember when the news was actually news? It seems to me that the word “newsworthy” means nothing today. It amazes me that there are some genuine news stories that need to be reported, but news outlets choose to offer nothing but “fluff.”
If they are not leading off with something geared toward scaring you to death (“Eating _____ could be killing you!”), they are reporting on a story that is days old (“Today we have a new development on the death of Gerald Ford…”). It always baffles me.
Every week I see on Facebook, MSN, or some other “news” outlet something about a new JFK conspiracy or a possible discovery of Amelia Earhart’s plane. If I could actually stomach it, I’d love to sit down and figure out how much time is spent on “fluff” during a 30 minute newscast.
Any time a story starts with, “A Florida man …” I tune out. It has become a joke really. Before writing this, I Googled “Florida man” and this is what came up:
Florida man wearing Batman pajamas thwarts burglary
Florida man stands trial for allegedly shooting date after arguing over dinner bill
Half naked Florida man crashed car into a jail
Florida man charged for attempting to cross Atlantic in giant hamster wheel
What is in the water down there in Florida!?
What brought about this rant? The fact that a restaurant logo and a celebrity engagement dominated every form of media over the last week or so.
How many times have companies changed logos in the past? Do a search on Burger King – there have been at least 4 logo changes that I remember. I doubt that hurt Whopper sales! I don’t care what the logo looks like. If the food still tastes the same, isn’t that what really matters? People are STILL talking about this … enough already!
Then there is travis and Taylor.
I’m glad that these two have found love together, but I don’t need to hear about it every day. Even before they got engaged, she was all over the TV and monopolizing the play by play of football games. This is NOT news. Way too much time is wasted discussing these two. The sad thing is that it will not stop any time soon. There will be stories about the centerpieces that they picked for the tables, her dress, what color the bridesmaid dresses are, and so on.
Even after the wedding it will continue. You and I will be subject to honeymoon pictures, what was in their hotel room fridge, and weekly updates on their life. Who sleeps on what side of the bed? Who gets to shower first in the morning? Blah Blah Blah!
It is SO annoying to me. What a society we’ve become …
I have been meaning to do a little interview with Eddie Deezen for a couple of years. I was always afraid to ask. You see, we’ve been friends on Facebook for some time and I’ve found that we share a lot in common. He has shared a lot of great personal stories about his interactions with other Hollywood celebrities, as well as some amazing trivia on just about everything.
I had noticed that he did a few podcasts with other Facebook friends and thought, “Maybe, he’ll allow me to ask him some questions for my blog.” As scared as I was to ask, Eddie said yes almost immediately. What follows in the transcript, if you will, of our chat. My questions are in bold and his answers follow.
Today is Eddie’s birthday, by the way, so what better way to celebrate than sharing a few minutes with him?
Keith: You and I have been Facebook friends now for almost 10 years. You have a very active social media presence. For fans like me, it is a wonderful way to connect with you. Like a true friendship, you share your life with us and you share your laughs with us. Many celebrities avoid social media or have someone run their page for them. What is it about social media (Facebook) makes you love it so much?
Eddie Deezen: I love Facebook. I am 100% pure Facebook. I know I could reach more fans and have more followers on other sites, on Facebook I am limited to just 5,000 fans. This is the only thing about Facebook I dislike. The 5,000 friend limit makes no sense to me. I am a compulsive writer and joke writer. I fill up notebook after notebook with my jokes and stuff. With Facebook I have an avenue of people to see my stuff. Before I joined Facebook in 2009, I would write jokes and stories and trivia to a list of about 200 friends. My Facebook friends are wonderful. I love them very much. Also, I get told by people who are not on my Facebook friends list that they read my posts too. So that makes me happy.
One of the things I look forward to on your Facebook posts is your personal stories about your movies, behind the scenes tid-bits, and your interaction with other actors. Many folks know you as Eugene from Grease. You have shared so many wonderful stories about John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (and others). Do you have a favorite Grease story you love to share?
My favorite Grease story would be how I got Grease in the first place. Ok, I went to my Grease audition in my little suit, with a bow tie and I put Vitalis or some greasy stuff in my hair (The movie was called “Grease”, so I figured Grease in my hair made sense). I went in to Paramount Studios (by the way, Paramount has always been my favorite studio) and the place was packed with guts in leather jackets and girls in poodle skirts and saddle shoes.
I read for Allan Carr the producer), Randal Kleiser (the director) and Joel Thurm ( the casting director). As I was talking to them and reading my two or three lines, I saw them nudging each other. I figured the nudges were a good sign. Anyway, a few days later, my agent calls and tells me I got the part. I was ecstatic, I called my parents and my friends and told them I was going to be in a movie with John Travolta and all.
Then, a few days later, my agent calls me and tells me “Eugene is a small role and the studio decided they’re going to cut out your role from the film”. Of course, I felt like jumping off a cliff. My agent said “We’re going to church to pray”. I swear to God, we go in, my agent gives me a match and tells me to light candies and pray at the alter. I prayed fervently to God. “Please God, let something good happen”. A few days later, the studio calls my agent and tells her they want me back in the movie.
True story. Divine intervention? Or just a lucky break? Who knows? I have wondered about this first 48 years now. You can believe whatever you want, but this really did happen..
That is a GREAT story! I’m glad you got back into the film! Speaking of Grease, you worked with comedy legend Sid Caesar. Did you have any interesting interactions with him?
Well, I was chauffeured home each night with Sid Caesar. I was carefully instructed “Don’t speak to Mr. Caesar unless he speaks to you first”. So I would sit in the back seat and Mr. Caesar would sit in the front seat and I would just sit silently as he spoke to our chauffeur. One day He turned around to me and said “So you’re the water boy, huh?”. I replied sarcastically “ Oh, is it okay if I speak?”. This was very rude of me, but I was a twenty year old kid. Very immature.
Mr. Caesar was a very intelligent man. I would listen to him pontificate about history and religion and stuff. Our chauffeur was named Kirk or Kurt. He was a nice guy.
One of my favorite movies of yours is 1941. What a cast for that movie! You had the chance to work with John Belushi. On Facebook, you have shared that Belushi was actually pretty quiet and was very nice to you. Can you elaborate on that?
John was always extremely kind and nice to me. I loved him so much. We had met previously in New York. He was at the premiere of my movie “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”. At the party after the premiere I sat with John and we chatted for about 15 minutes. He was serious and thoughtful. No jokes. He spoke earnestly. I loved seeing him on the set of “1941”
The last time I saw John was around 1980. I was just leaving a really bad audition. I felt bad and who comes walking down the street but John Belushi. He saw I was sad and said “What’s the matter, Eddie?”. I said, “ I just had a terrible audition, John. These guys hated me”. He replied “They’re assholes”. And he just walked away. That was the last time I ever saw John Belushi.
To John’s credit, he was probably right!
I wasn’t going to ask, but I’d kick myself if I didn’t ask you to share a bit about Murray Hamilton and the dummy from the Ferris Wheel scene….
Murray was a wonderful, very nice guy. We had many great talks up on that Ferris wheel. Murray was a big time smoker. He smoked three or four packs a day. So every once in a while he would have trouble breathing up there. Steven had a. Oxygen tank he kept for Murray. If Murray was having trouble breathing, Steven would let us down and Murray would take a few hits of oxygen.
One of my favorite holiday films is the Polar Express. Your work as the Know It All kid is just wonderful! How did you and Tom Hanks get along? Is he as nice as he seems?
Tom has always been my favorite movie star. The first day of the table read, there were a bunch of us all gathered to greet Tom. He was the biggest movie star in the world. He spots me in the bunch, walks up to me first and says, “Hi Eddie. I’m Tom”. No shit Sherlock.
He was a total pro. Never flubbed a line or missed a cue. One day I made a bad mistake. I screwed up a line or some such thing. Our director, Bob Zemeckis, said “cut”. “What happened, Eddie?”, he asked me. Before I could say anything, Tom cut in. “That was my fault”, he said. He took the blame for my mistake. He was like an older brother to me.
After we finished filming “The Polar Express”, he took me to three Dodger games at Dodger Stadium. We sat in his box seats. We sang the National Anthem and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” together. He was just as cool as you’d expect him to be.
That’s awesome. What an experience for you!
You got to work with Dick Shawn in an episode of Magnum PI.
He seemed like a pretty unique guy. His comedy was so different and manic at times. I don’t think there is anything I’ve seen him do that didn’t intrigue me. What was it like to work with him?
Dick Shawn was a wonderful, nice, lovely, friendly, terrific, and delightful guy. I loved working with him. My career was pretty much movies, not a whole lot of television. But that “Magnum P.I.” episode I did (“Squeeze Play”) was probably the best thing I ever did on tv. I loved the entire Magnum cast and crew. Dick Shawn was a marvelous comedian and a fantastic straight man too. I loved playing his nephew.
You also shared the screen with two of the hottest gals of the 1980’s: Heather Thomas in Zapped! and Morgan Fairchild in Mob Boss.
Correct me if I am wrong but don’t you have a story about kissing Morgan Fairchild?
Yes, I did a movie called “ Mob Boss” with Morgan. Ok, we had a scene where the nerdy guy (me) kisses the ultra-sexy woman. We embrace and kiss and my glasses are all steamed up. Well, before we did that scene, Morgan said to me, “Eddie, do you want to rehearse?”. YOU THINK?? So she held me and kissed me at different angles and straight on, Etc. By the way, Morgan was a marvelous kisser. Her lips were so soft. She was also the most lovely lady ever. I loved her so much. She was a fabulous comedienne. Great straight woman too.
It was so much fun to work with Heather Thomas, too. Heather was a doll. She was very cool and incredibly nice. The episode of “The Fall Guy” I did with her was very fun to shoot. I loved all the cast and crew of “The Fall Guy”.
As a voice over actor, you have appeared in countless cartoons and series.
I always love when I hear your voice on something my kids are watching. You showed up recently on an episode of Handy Manny and also on Oswald. Do you find voice acting to be easier than acting on screen or are the about the same? Do you prefer one over the other?
Well, I have never been great at memorizing lines. Now, on camera stuff, you have to learn your lines by heart. For “The Polar Express”, our director Bob Zemeckis, knew my problem, and he let me read my entire role using cue cards.
I enjoy voiceovers and doing cartoons because you can just read your role from a script, no memorization involved. But as a performer, you get a bigger rush doing a movie, because it’s fun seeing yourself onscreen.
A show that many folks don’t remember is the Weird Al Show from the late 90’s. Can you tell me how you got to play “Guy Boarded Up in the Wall?”
Yes, Weird Al is a marvelous, very nice guy. He also knew of my problem remembering lines and he wanted me on his show. So he created the “Man in the Wall” character. I was “ on camera” but I was behind a wall, so I could just read my lines. It was a very fun gig.
Your fans are well aware of your love for the Beatles and their music.
A while back, my blogger friend, Dave from A Sound Day ran a feature. He had some of us bloggers write about the Beatles and if they were still relevant today. I wrote my piece about songs I would use to introduce the band to someone. So, if YOU had to introduce someone who had never heard of the Beatles or their music, what 5 (or ten if you wish) songs would you play for them?
My favorite Beatles song is “A Hard Day’s Night”, so I would have to include that one. Now, you did not ask first my favorite Beatle songs, however, you asked first five or ten Beatle songs I would use to introduce a new fan to the Beatles. So here are my choices:
Love Me Do
She Loves You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
Help!
Yesterday
In My Life
Penny Lane
A Day in the Life
Strawberry Fields Forever
Let It Be
There are so many great Beatles tunes to choose from, and you have some classics there!
You and I share many of the same likes, the Beatles being one of them. However, you are also as big a Stooge Fan as I am. I have loved The Three Stooges since my dad introduced me to them as a kid. You have said often that Curly is your favorite.
It is hard NOT to like him. Is there any one thing in particular that makes him your favorite?
Yes, Curly Howard is my all- time favorite comedian. He was as great as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton physically. Plus, he was a hilarious verbal comedian, something Chaplin and Keaton were not. He made 97 shorts. About 70 or 80 are comedy classics. He was amazingly prolific. He was all finished and retired by the age of 42. 42!!!! He just wore himself out. He was spent and got progressively sicker. The poor guy was gone at the age of 48. 48!!!
You could really see how sick he was in his last few shorts. The world certainly got a lot less “funny” when he passed away. So, do you have a favorite Stooges Short?
My favorite Three Stooge shorts are “Punch Drunks” and “Micro-Phonies”
Those are both in my top ten Stooges shorts, too. One last question for you, my friend. Do you think Shemp gets a bum rap for following Curly?
Well, yes. Shemp is obviously anticlimactic because he followed Curly. That’s Iike following Elvis or Paul McCartney, anyone would suffer in comparison. That said, Shemp was a fair to good comedian. He was not great. He did not have Curly’s innate sense of humor or timing or sense of what makes a line funny or what makes a gag funny.
He had his great moments, yes, but he has a lot of very unfunny scenes too. Plus, his character was not as original or lovable or magical as Curly’s. I always love what Leonard Martin said about him- Shemp was an indisputably good comedian, but he never had Curly’s “otherworldliness.” A perfect word that captures it all. Curly was otherworldly.
I’d forgotten that you wrote a piece about Shemp for Mental Floss back in 2011. It’s a great piece that readers can see on the Mental Floss Site.
Eddie, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Thank you for your friendship. I truly hope to meet you in person one day. Maybe a trip to the Stoogeum in Pennsylvania one day? I wish you all the best and lots of happiness on your birthday, my friend! Cheers to another year of friendship and laughs!
Thanks Keith. I’m glad to answer these questions for you. You are a wonderful guy and I am proud to have you as a friend both on Facebook and in my life. That trip to the Stoogeum sounds like a plan on my bucket list, so let’s hope! See you on Facebook!
I need to once again extend a huge thank you to Eddie for taking the time to chat with me. If you are a fan, Eddie also does do personalized messages for birthdays and such on Cameo. I had him do one for my dad a year or so ago! You can check out the information on Eddie’s Cameo Page.
Happy Birthday, Eddie! May your day be filled with laughter and happiness!
There are times when I really miss having a real picture to hold on to. Back when MySpace and Facebook first got off the ground, we all seemed to post our pictures on those sites not knowing that over time, they would lose quality and become more pixilated. That’s the case with my photo today.
I thought I had a hard copy of this photo, but I was unable to find it. I also looked through some of my flash drives with no luck, so, I pulled this one off Facebook.
I post this one today because Joe Don Rooney (the guy to the right of me in this photo) celebrates his 49th birthday today. He was the group’s lead guitar player and sang a lot of the high harmonies on their songs. He played in Chely Wright’s band before he was in Rascal Flatts. He was once married to model and 2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Tiffany Fallon.
This photo was taken at DTE Energy Music theater in Michigan when Rascal Flatts came through on a summer tour. I would guess that they probably only had 2 albums out at the time, and I think they were they headliners of this tour.
Depending on the artist, the radio people either went first at the meet and greets or last. At this meet and greet, the fans got to go first and I always enjoyed watching them interact with an act. The guys were very gracious to them, signing autographs and posing for photos, and making sure to chat a little, too.
I am holding what looks like some sort of poster here. I am sure that I had stuff for them to sign for our St. Jude Auction at the radio station. A lot of times, the folks working with a band or artist want to keep things moving and simple. They had to keep them on schedule for the show. Whenever I mentioned that I had stuff for St. Jude, they allowed the artist to sign as much as they could to raise money.
I am sure that I met the guys a couple times. I may have to dig into the radio stuff to see if there is a better photo to post. Until I find one, this one will have to do ….
I have had this blog since 2018. There have been plenty of times when I have shared links to blogs on Facebook. I’ve never had an issue, until Tuesday.
On Tuesday, you may recall, I did a Happy Birthday post about singer Emily West. She and I are friends on Facebook, so I posted the link to the blog and tagged her in it. Less than 5 minutes after I posted it, Facebook removed the post. They sent me a notification and told me why.
First of all, they have never flagged a blog post as spa, before. Second, I didn’t “disguise a link to get clicks.” Lastly, I certainly didn’t “try to get likes, follows, shares or videos views in a misleading way.” It was a blog post. It certainly is no different from some of the links others post on there, and a whole lot less deceptive than some of the crap I see posted. Not to mention the countless “sponsored” posts they shove into my newsfeed.
This really rubbed me the wrong way. It was an innocent post with a song. What’s the deal? I requested a review, which you know isn’t going to do anything. No human is looking at it. I’m sure they have it go through some sort of computer AI thing and it will uphold the decision. Whatever.
I tried to report a friends account who had been hacked recently. The entire feed by the hacker was some scam about money or bitcoin or getting $7000 deposited into your account. I reported it, and they said it was perfectly ok. Unreal!
On another weird note, I got a message here on Word Press that my stats were “booming.” I decided to check it out. Yesterday, my blog was a hit in Germany apparently. I had 300 more hits than normal and the vast majority of them came from Germany. So, Hallo and Guten Tag to my German readers!
This Sunday (6/9) will mark 36 years since I graduated from high school. Coincidentally, I graduated from college with my Associates Degree 25 years later (11 years ago). I mention this because there have been so many graduation posts on Facebook over the last week or two. Many of my friends have been celebrating the college and high school graduations of their sons, daughters and grandchildren and they pictures and messages have been wonderful to read.
For the Friday Photo Flashback today, I share two photos from my high school graduation day. The first is one with my dad and me.
I remember when we took this photo thinking it was corny, but looking back at it now, I am so glad we took it. I’m sure there were plenty of times that my folks wondered if I’d ever get grades good enough to graduate! I had so much trouble with Algebra and often did the bare minimum in some of the classes that I hated (like Family Life – URGH). Luckily, there were plenty of classes that I took that I did like.
This photo is taken in our driveway just before I left to go to commencement. I was in band and we played before the ceremony started, so I had to be there early. That is my Ford Escort that my grandmother bought me for graduation. I laugh because of the stuff painted on it and the cat that is suction cupped to the back window. The Oops at the left rear bumper is where my friend Margaret slid into my car one winter morning (that’s a story in itself).
I truly love this photo of my dad and me.
The second photo is from later that evening, but before the ceremony. Our ceremony was held outdoors in the football stadium. The stage was set up in the center of the field and parents and family were seated in the stands to watch. The band set up on the track in front of the field. The first few numbers were played with all the seniors in place. When it was close to the start of the ceremony, the seniors left and lined up to walk into the stadium.
I remember all of the little things that happened in the month or two before graduation where the reality of school ending would hit me. One of those things was when we went to band class and there were songs that were played without us senior players. We sat and listened and it was hard. I loved playing music so much, I hated the fact that it was all coming to and end for me.
One of my favorite memories of that night was getting to conduct the band. There were a couple of us who did that. I picked a song called Tin Pan Alley, which was a medley of songs like I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover, Ain’t She Sweet, and Happy Days Are Here Again. It was a long song and I was surprised I was allowed to conduct that one.
I remember it was a tad breezy that night and at one point the conductor’s score flipped a few pages. Thank goodness I was familiar with the song and really didn’t need it. As I look at this photo I see many classmates that I am still in contact with. Our valedictorian, Debbie, who is playing trumpet in the white cap and gown played the trumpet solo that I had played when we did it in concert because I was conducting. Directly to the right of my left hand, you can see a leg in a pink cast. That’s Theresa, if memory serves me right, she fell and broke her ankle at the band banquet a few weeks prior to graduation.
What an amazing feeling to be in front of the band, and in control of the tempo and volume of a piece of music. We had a conducting class that year and many of us got to conduct warm up pieces before rehearsal began. I learned so much from this and I would love the opportunity to do that again.
You know what’s funny? After 36 years, I can remember exactly how that song goes. I remember all the transitions, the tempo changes, the drum and cymbal cues, and solos. I could probably sing it for you note for note.
Shortly after this, all of our band seniors got up, shook hands with Mr. Shaner (our director), and lined up with the rest of our class. For three years, we had been the ones playing Pomp and Circumstance on a loop as seniors walked down the aisles and to their seats. Now, it was our turn. What a surreal moment to be listening to it as we walked in and prepared to get our diplomas.
This came up in my Facebook memories this week and I thought it would be cool to share. In my Bible classes, the pastor/teacher always talks about how amazing the Bible is. The fact that it was preserved throughout history and we can hold it in our hands today and read those words in itself boggles my mind.
I’m a visual person. I am well aware of the various cross references throughout the whole of Scripture, but this image/chart really allows you to see just how many there are!
The Facebook post reads:
“This might be the most amazing data picture you see in a lifetime! It shows the 63,779 cross-references in the Bible. The white bars along the bottom represent each Bible chapter, Gen. 1 – Rev. 22. The line’s color shows the reference’s distance from the other. A cross-reference is a scripture that references another scripture. Had the Bible been written by one person or at one time this would still be amazing; however, the Bible was written by 40 authors over the span of 1500 years on 3 different continents.”
For two solid years Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has been hosting a monthly feature called “Turntable Talk.” Each month he provides a topic to me and other musical bloggers to write about. I have been honored to have participated in every one of them. Each of the participants look forward to not only writing our piece, but anxiously await reading the other contributions.
As I stated in a previous blog, this month is International Women’s Month. Dave offered us an easy topic to write about this month. His instructions state “we’re going to turn our tables and sights to the women of music. Pick one you like and write about her. Whoever you want (that might sound creepier than I intended it), singer, songwriter, band member, the lady on the ‘Breakfast in America’ cover, whoever.”
I wrote a blog that teased this topic earlier in the week. In that post, I said, “I really struggled to pick one (female singer). I even posted on Facebook asking my friends to offer up their three favorite singers. I guess I hoped that they would offer up someone that I hadn’t considered (and they did). The results surprised me. The singers that came up the most were (1) Stevie Nicks, (2) Etta James, and (3 – tie) Pink and Karen Carpenter. Etta was the only one that was in my list of considerations. After looking at the list (and the suggestions) I finally chose who I am writing about and NO ONE mentioned her.“
Along with Etta James, I featured a song from my other considerations: Ella Fitzgerald, Alison Krauss, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Dusty Springfield, Sarah Vaughn, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Linda Ronstandt, Pat Benatar, Peggy Lee, Jewel, and Keely Smith in that blog. So how did I finally come up with my choice?
My friend, Dawn, from high school actually helped me make my decision. She said, “There are so many talented vocalists, I’d have a hard time picking. if you’re going to write an impactful piece, I think you have to go with somebody you admire because they knocked down boundaries or overcame obstacles. That’s how I’d pick my vocalist.” That really struck me. Now, I am not saying that the ladies I mentioned already did not knock down boundaries or overcome obstacles – heck, Jewel was living in her van before she made it big!
My featured female singer is a talented woman named Diane Schuur.
I was introduced to Diane Schuur back in the late 80’s. I was talking about music with a gal I was dating at the time. We started talking about jazz singers and she asked if I had ever heard of Schuur. I hadn’t. If memory serves me correct, she loaned me a cassette (or maybe a CD) with some songs on it and I really enjoyed it.
One of her biographies online says this: “Diane Schuur is as eclectic as she is brilliant.” In my opinion, this statement could not be more true. While many of her songs would fall into the jazz category, she could easily be filed in the blues or pop categories, too. While preparing to write this, I picked a playlist on YouTube and it was fun to hear the different sounds of each of the songs.
My friend Dawn said to pick someone who “overcame obstacles.” Diane certainly has done that! She was born prematurely in 1953. She has been blind since birth because of Retinopathy of Prematurity. This disorder affected premature newborns who received high-oxygen therapy during neonatal intensive care. This was a standard practice until 1954.
She learned to play piano by ear. She would listen to Dinah Washington songs and began to pound out the melodies at age 3. Dinah was a big influence to Diane as she began singing her songs as a toddler and worked on her own vocal style. She once stated, “As far back as I can remember, singing was in my blood. My parents loved music, and I loved to sing. I was scatting at an early age.” She scats right up there with Ella and Mel Torme’! She also has perfect pitch!
Blindness was not her only obstacle. When she was a young adult, she began drinking and struggled with alcoholism. She also battled an eating disorder. Those obstacles were so much that she actually contemplated and attempted suicide. Thankfully, her brother-in-law stopped her from jumping out a third-story window. She got help and has been sober for several decades.
Diane got her big break when she was 22 years old. She auditioned for drummer/bandleader Ed Shaughnessy (of the Tonight Show Band) after he finished a concert with Doc Severinsen. Ed said, “this young blind girl comes in and sits down at the Fender Rhodes keyboard and starts singing the blues. Well, my hair stood on end!”
He hired her to be the vocalist in his orchestra. This led many other musicians to hear her. Those included Dizzy Gillespie and the great Stan Getz. Stan was so impressed that he became an advisor and coach to her. She stated that it was Stan who taught her that “less is more.” This was important because she had many critics that said she often “oversang” when she first started out. Stan once said, “She’s just like Sarah (Vaughn) or Ella (Fitzgerald) to me. She’s taking from the tradition, and what comes out is her own conception and advancement of the tradition.”
In 1985, she met B.B. King at a music festival in Tokyo. The two really hit it off and later made an album together entitled “Heart to Heart.” It was released in 1994 and it entered the Billboard Jazz Charts at number one!
In 1988, Frank Sinatra asked her to sing with him at a benefit concert when Liza Minnelli was unable to perform. She was a guest at Sinatra’s home and also performed at a concert with him and Quincy Jones. Frank gave her an abstract oil painting that he had created for her afterwards. When Frank passed away, Schuur recorded a tribute album for her late friends (Frank and Stan).
Other inspirations to Schuur include George Shearing, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles who are all blind as well. She has said that one of her fondest memories was performing with Ray Charles in 1998 for a PBS concert (some of which is available on YouTube).
Her career has brought her two Grammy awards – both for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (1986 & 1987). She is still recording and touring today. She says, “For the future I plan to continue my reading of American song, paying respect to celebrated writers and polishing the gems in the jazz tradition.”
I’ve never had the chance to see her in person, but there are some fantastic live albums available.
All About Jazz says, “Ms. Schuur surely is among the very best jazz vocalists, and she exemplifies, if not redefines the “diva” category with her warm, often humorous and relaxed interactions with the audience and the musicians. Her mere presence is enough to make for a memorable evening.” I hope to be able to see her perform one day.
I will include just a couple of my favorite cuts at the end of this blog, but before I do, I want to again thank Dave for hosting this monthly feature. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I love that with each topic, I am not only enjoying old favorites, but I am introduced to new songs and singers. Perhaps this blog is your introduction to Diane Schuur?
Here is a classic – Come Rain or Come Shine
Another favorite – All Right, OK, You Win!
I just love her take on Moonlight and Shadows
One more – Her swinging version of I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me
If you are a parent, you know that your children are always a good source of stories to share. Here are a few of mine from the past few days:
Tea Party Gone Bad
While Andrew took a nap recently, Ella and I were in the living room playing with her Disney Princess Barbie dolls. She brought me the Mulan Barbie and she had her Moana Barbie. She sat them both across from each other and then grabbed a tea pot and tea cups. She set them in front of each doll. She then brought over this mushroom/muffin looking toy (she obviously thought they looked more like muffins). This is when things went awry!
I started to make Mulan (who she had given to me) drink her tea. I made slurping sounds and then did a loud fake burp. This made her laugh. Then I did it again. More laughter. Then I made really loud slurping sounds and the cup ended up on Mulan’s head. She started to do the same thing to her Moana. I was laughing just as hard as she was, especially when she was making her fake burp sounds.
Pausing Pap
Andrew has been using CPAP for over a week. Here’s the thing, it is supposed to help him sleep better. However, because of his age and the limited masks that he can use, the one he has works – when it stays on. Basically, mom and dad are the ones who aren’t sleeping now. Sam and I find ourselves pulling it back on his head or fighting him to get it back on. It is a struggle.
We e-mailed his doctor about it and we’re gonna take a break for a day or two to see if that helps. The good thing is that his apnea is mild, and we were only anticipating him wearing it for less than a year. The doc told us, if he lets us put it on – use it. If not – don’t.
All in all, whether he is rested or not, he is still giving us plenty of smiles!
Toddler Vocabulary Lesson
Ella did the cutest thing the other day. We had misplaced the TV remote and I asked her to help me find it. She reached he hand up to her eyes like she was looking through binoculars and said:
“Daddy, I can’t find the remote. I will have to use my ‘oculars’ and look for it!”
Hardest Part of Parenting
As a father of four children, I have taken each of them in for shots more times than I can count. There is always that look of, “How could you let them hurt me like that, Daddy?” after they get poked. It kills me every time.
Last week, Ella had her three year old well visit. We noticed that she is bruising very easily. She jumps around a lot and (as most toddlers do) bumps into just about everything. The bruising concerns us a bit, so her primary doc wanted to run some bloodwork to make sure she is ok. Sam was with her at that appointment and she was told she could just go next door to the lab to get the blood draw.
Ella was extremely scared and voiced that numerous times. I guess they poked her a couple times and could not get the draw. They were going to try to do the other arm and Sam said, “No, we’ll do it another day.” Ella had been through enough. So, today, it was my turn to take her to get it done.
I had picked out a short sleeve short for her, but she wanted to wear a dress. There were no sleeves on it and so the tourniquet the wrapped on her arm bothered her a lot. She sat in my lap and said she was scared. I did what I could to keep her calm, but after the first poke, she moved and wound up blowing the vein. The tech decided to try the other arm. In my head, I decided I would let them try one time and if they didn’t get it, we’d leave.
They found a good vein, got the poke and Ella and I took deep breaths and counted to 5 (over and over). That helped a lot! Once they were done and pulled the needle out, she was still crying, but she looked at the techs who did the draw and said, “Thank you.” They offered her a pack of graham crackers, and she was all better.
Hopefully, the test results will be normal.
Heavenly Visitor?
I’ve never been one to believe in supernatural stuff, but today something happened that made the hair on my neck stand up. I’m still scratching my head over it.
When I woke up for work today, Sam asked me what my oldest son called my mom (he is the only one of my kids who knew my mom before she passed away). I told her that he always called her “grandma.” She asked further, “Did he ever call her Grammy?” He didn’t. My ex’s mom was “Grammy,” but my mom was always “Grandma.”
I asked her why she wanted to know. She proceeded to tell me that Ella had said something to her today and when Sam asked her where she heard it (or maybe it was who told her that), she replied, “My Grammie in heaven.” So this peaked my curiosity and I asked her what else she had told her. She said something about princesses, but Sam and I think she was just talking about the princesses that we got for that Tonie.
The longer I sat in the living room drinking my first cup of coffee, the more I wondered about what she said. I have no pictures of my mom hanging in the house. I don’t have photo albums that we can look through. All the physical photos I do have are in a box and the rest are digital. For some reason, this really bugged me. So I took it a step farther.
I grabbed my phone and opened up my Facebook page. I went to the photo albums and found one that contains pictures of my mom. I pulled up one from before she got sick and opened it on my phone. I showed Ella this picture:
It had been a few minutes and I was sure she had already forgotten our mention of my mom. I asked her, “Ella, who is this?” Without missing a beat, she said, “My Grammie in heaven.” I was dumbfounded. I truly don’t know that Ella has seen but one or two pictures of my mom, yet she recognized her immediately.
When we found out that we were going to have a baby, my wife bought a special onesie that brought me to tears.
Who am I to question whether or not mom and Ella still talk?
With a lack of motivation to write tonight, I was scrolling Facebook and found an interesting story a friend had posted. I thought it was worth sharing here.
I’m not 100% on the source, but from what I was able to find, the story was shared from someone named John Perricone. It seems that the story was shared on a website called Upworthy, which shares many positive stories. Here is the story:
Several years ago I invited a Buddhist monk to speak to my Senior elective class, and quite interestingly, as he entered the room, he didn’t say a word (that caught everyone’s attention). He just walked to the board and wrote this: “EVERYONE WANTS TO SAVE THE WORLD, BUT NO ONE WANTS TO HELP MOM DO THE DISHES.” We all laughed. But then he went on to say this to my students:
“Statistically, it’s highly unlikely that any of you will ever have the opportunity to run into a burning orphanage and rescue an infant. But, in the smallest gesture of kindness — a warm smile, holding the door for the person behind you, shoveling the driveway of the elderly person next door — you have committed an act of immeasurable profundity, because to each of us, our life is our universe.”
This is my hope for you for the New Year — that by your smallest acts of kindness, you will save an other’s world.
As we wrap up the first week of 2023, this is something we should all strive to do. I don’t have any New Year’s Resolutions this year, but I do hope to take advantage of the opportunity to be kind to others and perform more random acts of kindness.
You have no doubt heard it before, but it really is the perfect quote to end with ….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 