Throwing a "Thanks" Out There

People who really know me know how much I treasure the years I spent in Lakeland, Florida. I was fortunate to attend Florida Southern College between 1983 and 1986, graduating a semester early. And then I was further blessed to be able to work with Robert MacDonald on the Festival of Fine Arts for several years. During that time I made many friendships that I still treasure closely today. And whereas I didn't date a lot of women, the ones I did go out with were truly exceptional.

But there was one young woman who made a big impression on me. But I never got to know her as well as I would have liked. Her name was Darcy Cox. I don't even remember how we met. We didn't get to share much time together, but what struck me was her energy and positive attitude. Add a wonderful smile and laugh to that, and you have someone who just made me feel good to be around her. That kind of "feel good" that made me forget my stress and just escape the world. And she made me laugh, which not many people can do. And then she vanished. I found out later that she transferred out rather suddenly. Luckily, I did get to see her one more time to say goodbye. Sometimes I remember her and hope she's well, that the last 30 years have been good to her. I have so many other friends from that period that have thrived in life, I pray she has too.

Thank you for our time together, Darcy! I hope you are well. Prayers always your way.

Don't overlook people you casually come into contact with. You never know which one of these people will enrich your life. These days I particularly treasure my friendship at WH2140, both staff and other regular diners. There are people in my life that I value that I've never met face-to-face. Among all the crap that is social media, these friends are the positive side of it.

Even though I continue to frequently have nightmares of poisonous people in my past, God has given me many incredible people in my life. I pray that I never take them for granted.

Who do you treasure?

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My Music of the 80s - I Want My MTV!

Before I get started, I’d like to make a recommendation. Because I also love movies, when you mix the two, magic happens. But this is different. My recommendation is the documentary All Things Must Pass: the Rise and Fall of Tower Records. This film captures the feelings of anticipation and even rituals that music lovers used to go through in record stores. This was a wonderful experience that has now passed. I believe this is streaming on the various services. The last few years have seen the rise of some great music documentaries. I’ll let you know some of these in coming posts.

So here we go.

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Music

Crossing from the 70s into the 80s I was a college dropout playing in a local rock band in Tallahassee by night and doing whatever I could during the day to keep from having to move back with my parents. I decided I’d had enough and that I wanted to go to college for real. So I squeezed in junior college into my schedule to get my GPA out of the “laughing stock” category, and decided I wanted to go to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.

The late 70s bright some great music, particularly from a new genre labeled New Wave. The Jam, Talking Heads, The Police, Blondie, The Cars, Dave Edmunds, Devo, Joe Jackson, The Clash, The Tubes, The Boomtown Rats, and many others. This was especially flamed in 1981 with the launching of a little thing called MTV (back when the M stood for music, not morons). But my first introduction was to an artist who to me, was the greatest of them all: Elvis Costello.

Thanks to Skip Parvin, I was introduced with the first notes of ECs second album This Year’s Model. "I don't wanna kiss you, I don't wanna touch, I don't wanna see you 'cause I don't miss you that much” - “No Action”. This was the spring of 1978, around the time I graduated high school. I was sent out into the world, mind fully blown. I drank in the music of many of the artists I listed above, something new. At least newer.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great regular rock to be appreciated and loved. Three of my favorite Genesis albums were during that period. And new to the scene were bands like Dire Straits, Heart, Warren Zevon, Foreigner, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, XTC, Chuck Mangione, Bad Company, and others. Still vibrant were Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Supertramp, Yes, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and the decade ended with Pink Floyd’s The Wall and, sadly, the death of Keith Moon.

The 1980s were welcomed with some of the best albums from artists such as:

• Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) - David Bowie
• Duke - Genesis
• Black Sea - XTC
• Boy - U2 (debut album)
• Get Happy!! - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• Crocodiles - Echo and the Funnymen
• New Clear Days - the Vapors (debut album)
• One Step Closer - the Doobie Brothers
• Pretenders - The Pretenders (debut album)
• True Colours - Split Enz
• Vienna - Ultravox
• Shadows and Light - Joni Mitchell
• The River - Bruce Springsteen
• Seconds of Pleasure - Rockville
• Gaucho - Steely Dan
• Yesshows - Yes

Also during this time was the dawn of a young jazz guitarist from America’s midwest named Pat Metheny. Pat will go on to produce the most extensive and eclectic catalog of works of any musician in his or any other field. Not to mention winning a Grammy award for almost every album he releases. I didn’t discover him until later, but better late than never.

By the time I moved to Lakeland for college in 1983 I was finding that whereas there was still great music to be ingested, there wasn’t as much as in the 70s. Fewer new artists captured my attention and some old favorites were getting a little “long in the tooth”.

Luckily come R.E.M., Tears for Fears, The Fixx, Naked Eyes, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Alarm, Talk Talk, Everything But the Girl, Chris Isaak, The Style Council, Sade, Crowded House, Danny Wilson, Jane Siberry, and Michael Hedges. But from 1980 to 1989, the number of albums that I liked dropped, literally 50%. That downward trend would continue into the 90s and beyond.

Not only that, but it seemed that my tastes moved from “guitar rock” to “synth pop”. Not necessarily. I found that the synth bands I liked were long past the novelty aspect and were being quite orchestral with the keyboards. The songs were melody-centric not unlike the best songs of The Beatles.

On the other side of the synth movement, the bass guitarists of this decade really stepped up their game. No longer was the bass just a simple rhythm instrumental holding down the foundation of the songs. In many cases the bass took counterpointal lines to the melody or other instrumental. Chris Squire's work with Yes is the ideal example. Now was also a rise in the use of fretless basses. More commonly used in jazz music, now we had fretless players such as Pino Palladino, Tony Franklin, Tony Levin, and Jack Bruce of Cream.

Fortunately, Lakeland was in-between Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg. One hour on the interstate in either direction put my in one of those great cities. Especially in Tampa I found some small, independent record stores that carried a lot of imported and self-distributed albums. It was fairly easy to get my hands on the “odd” stuff. It certainly allowed me to keep up with my favorite artists.

So out of my dorm room wafted the “strange” sounds that often drew strange looks and snarls from other students. I was blessed enough to have a great roommate or at least a patient one. Also the guy in the neighboring room was very eclectic too.

For a decade that marked the decline of rock music for me, there as some damned fine music that I still listen too and dearly love. The music brings back many great memories of people and times that I consider the highlight of my life.

What about you? What stands out about 80s music? As time goes by I’ll be talking about some of these artists and albums a little more in-depth. Keep listening.

 Next: The 90s - Novocaine for the Soul

8 Unusual College Scholarships

by Kara Kovalchik and MentalFloss.com

Young people just don’t appreciate how easy they have it these days. Back when I was in high school, only the smartest or most athletic students were candidates for any type of college scholarship. Not anymore. Today’s students don’t have to be the best and the brightest to score some scratch – they can parlay a hobby, goofy talent or even a genetic luck of the draw into scholarship money. Take a gander at some of the more unusual opportunities that are available for eight subsets of the population (but first get the heck off my lawn.)

1. Dessert Enthusiasts
Is your sweet tooth serious enough to pursue a future as a pastry chef or chocolatier? The American Association of Candy Technologists offers an annual $5,000 scholarship to students enrolled at an accredited university who plan to major in food science and have a demonstrated interest in confectionary technology. Sounds like a great opportunity to expand both your waistline and your bank account!

2. Duck Callers
OK, this contest may border on the goofy, but the top prize is $1,500 in scholarship money, so if you’ve got a knack for calling ducks we say you’ve got nothing to lose but your dignity (and travel fare to Arkansas). The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest is open to any high school senior in the U.S. Participants have 90 seconds to demonstrate their best hail, feed, comeback and mating calls. The top three placers also receive commemorative jackets, so get quackin’, er c rackin’, because $1,500 isn’t exactly chicken feed. (Me, I’m still looking for that ever elusive Bad Pun Scholarship.)

3. Fire Safety Experts (or literate people with decent luck)
Fire sprinkler systems save lives, and they might just save your neck if you’re sweating that college tuition bill. The American Fire Sprinkler Association scholarship program is not based on financial need; all interested students need to do is read an essay about fire sprinklers and then take a 10 question multiple choice test. Get this – the test is “open book.” You can print out the essay before taking the test! Each correctly answered question enters you into a drawing for a $2,000 scholarship, so if you ace the test, you’ll have ten chances to win.

4. Bagpipe Major s at Carnegie Mellon

One of the least competitive scholarships in the U.S.—it’s not unusual for there to be zero applicants—is the Carnegie Mellon University Bagpipe Scholarship. It offers $7,000 per year to a student who intends to major in bagpiping. (Andrew Carnegie loved bagpipe music, you see, and even brought a personal piper with him from Scotland when he emigrated to the U.S.) On the plus side of this offer, you get a kilt subsidy. On the minus side, class is held in the basement of the building due to the vehement complaints from neighboring classrooms upstairs. (Sorry, no link available. Yeah, like any of you would’ve clicked on it anyway.)

5. Creative Students at David Letterman’s Alma Mater
Because David Letterman was a C student at Ball State University, he established a scholarship at his alma mater that is awarded to telecommunications majors based strictly on the creativity of a submitted project, rather than a student’s GPA. The top prize is $10,000; previous winners have included a satirical script based on the novel Pride and Prejudice and a stop-action animated film of a penguin climbing a beer bottle.

6. People Looking for Unique Prom Attire
If you don’t mind looking like a dweeb (a sticky dweeb, to boot) at your high school prom, you could earn yourself a $3,000 scholarship check from the folks who make Duck Brand Duct Tape. You and your date simply need to fashion your prom outfits completely out of duct tape and then submit a color photo for consideration. Oh, and you have to actually wear those outfits to the dance, too.

7. Aspiring Children’s Television Stars
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards three $10,000 scholarships annually in the name of the late, great Fred Rogers to college students pursuing a career in children’s media. Remember all those puppet shows you used to put on in the garage? Maybe that was an early indicator of your special talent…you are special, y’know.

8. Twins Who Don’t Hate Each Other
If you happen to be a twin and don’t mind spending an additional four years with your sibling, several schools offer scholarships for twins. Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, waives tuition for one twin when both enroll, Lake Erie College in Painsville, Ohio, offers half-off tuition for each twin, and Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has 45% discounts available on tuition for female twins only.

Memories, light the corners...

Journey: Personal - This weekend is my 30th high school reunion.I have a little trouble wrapping my mind around that. It's also been 22 years since graduated Florida Southern College. Anyway, this has prompted me to get in contact with some of the old crew. One of the ways I have been doing that is through Facebook.

It has been a wonderful tool not only for tracking down old classmates but relatives too. I found Mitch Wesley, my last remaining relative on my mother's side of the family. I also found Matt Champagne, whom I last saw in New York City, someplace in the midwest.

Originally I got into Facebook just as a social giggle at church. I took all of the Covenant emails I had on my home computer and sent invitations to join. I then created a page for Covenant. By now dozens have joined and many of us have a great time. Slowly, I'm adding high school and college friends too.

I won't be able to attend the reunion this weekend. But I'll be there in spirit and I'm marking the 40th down on my iCal right now.