Point Made

Murder in the US of A It came up during a conversation with one of my friends. We were talking about this week's mass shooting incident. This is a touchy subject for us. He is a concealed carry gun owner. I am not. I believe in common sense gun control. He does not. I mentioned that the Texas Shooter could have killed more people if someone had not begun shooting at him. My point was that because the shooter had an automatic weapon he was able to kill 26 people and not even going inside the church. His answer was what about Chicago? I don't know what Chicago's homicide rate has to do with a mass shooting in Texas, but I said what about it. He answered more people were killed in Chicago that weekend than the Texas shooter killed in his attack on the church. I checked. The toll of people killed in the City of Chicago this year is 606. The death count, for the month November 2017, is twenty-one. I do not know where my pal got his number. Homicides for this quarter...

This change of season. This dryness of the air. The leaves falling all around me. Is this it again? Is this a revolution on the carousel of life. Fleeting glances of what appears  then is taken away. No matter how many times it spins A different person on the pony, the seat for two, the kangaroo. The same course. but a different way. It is what it is as it appears today. I got a story for you today. It's about a pickup truck, the parking lot outside the Kof C on the south side of Milwaukee and a guy named Doc. Put aside the country western song you think I'm writing for background music. My pal, Lee Nimmer and I went to Milwaukee for a gathering of top-notch Blues Harmonica Players. We were promised four hours of one of our favorite music genres. They certainly delivered, but that's another story. When we got to the parking lot on South 92nd Street, Lee spotted an open parking space and decided to back into it. When we got settled and before I got ...

Commentator : He enters the conversation with a whining voice that reminds you of the late Andy Rooney. Do you have that problem where you are going through your list of internet news sources, and you end up watching a U-tube video of a guy playing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" on his harmonica? (Full disclosure, I play Harmonica, and this guy was terrific .) Yeah, and it gets worse. I can't count the number of times, I've watched Simon be amazed, surprised, or moved to tears over some waif from Northern England, who appears to be the kind of woman / young girl, you wouldn't think could draw interest in front of a group in a small pub and yet she sings like an angel. Think Susan Boyle. And then there are the pop-up crowd videos. These feature the unexpecting shoppers at the mall who are serenaded by opera singers and symphony orchestras that appear and disappear like dust storms in the desert. And then suddenly, it's time for lunch, and t...

All Saints Day. Halloween. It makes no difference, we are talking about dead people. The saints, not the football team from New Orleans, Lousiana, but the hallowed people of the Catholic Church., who were lucky enough to be acting in a holy and often heroic manner when the right people were watching. Oh did I mention, being a member of the Catholic Church is mandatory? I don't believe anyone in the waiting room making out an application for membership, who was whipped, raped or burned at the stake for their faith while waiting for their membership card, ever became a saint. Halloween, it is said, might have been invented by a candy company, but I think that is just nasty gossip started by Hallmark, who was angry because no one got into the habit of sending their friends Halloween cards. It was actually created and popularized by Goodwill Industries. They were seeking new markets for the boatloads of donated old clothing, they can't get ri...

Only one more appearance . I will be playing the kind and misunderstood version of The Monster Frankenstein at the Hearthstone in Appleton. In addition, you can meet my friends Jekyll & Hyde, Dracula, Edgar Allen Poe and others. We wrap up this fun fundraiser on Friday, October 27th from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Yes, I'm aware that my lipstick is the wrong color, misapplied and otherwise off-putting, but in my defense, if you knew the lighting I was dealing with ... Far from the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd, the faint shade of fall finally visits us. I don't know about the landscape in your neighborhood, but the "color" seems to be a little late this year. I know it's fall because the NBA and the NHL started their seasons and The World Series begins this week. Oh, and then there all those roadside pop up stands that sell pumpkins.  Fall feathers on the wall. (Southwood)  Brogan & Tate,...

Forget the tongue in cheek references to high wind and paths of destruction that the Hurricane, dubbed Harvey, brought to Texas and Louisana. After all, hurricanes are an occurrence of nature and we can't really do anything to prevent them. (Unless you're one of those crazy science people who believe in man's influence on climate.) We simply rescue, rebuild and move on. ( Unless you live in Puerto Rico.)  As much as we like to think we can collectively fix everything, at the present time, we can't. Boxers will tell you that learning to absorb punishment is as important as learning how to deliver it. No, I want to say a few words about the other Harvey. Who has left another path of destruction which was uncovered recently? In this case, the destruction was directly in the lives of women that he harassed and allegedly raped. It is important that many of us men admit that our lives have not been without fault in this area. I will admit, I...

If you don't get the title, you're not reading or watching Game of Thrones. I've only read this story. It's a little like Tolstoy. I almost need a cheat sheet to keep the characters straight. Scary Stuff I have the privilege of playing The Monster Frankenstein for the next three Friday nights at the Hearthstone House in Appleton. I'm performing with a great cast of classic horror icons, Jekel and Hyde, Dracula, Edgar Allen Poe and The Invisible Man. We briefly introduce the character and the circumstances that made them so timeless. Also, you get to see one of the most unique historic homes in Wisconsin. Just like my eighth-grade class Photo, I'm in the back row in the middle Yellow Golf Balls Don't Help Mother Nature is being very kind to those of us that reside at the northern edge of the tension zone. We are going to play golf again this week, and if weather reports can be believed, I won't have to wear gloves o...