"... on the shoulders of giants..."

I have some thoughts today after watching the Michael Jackson memorial on TV this morning. Overall I thought it was well and tastefully done. The tributes were touching, sweet and appropriate. The one low point in my opinion was the speech given by the Reverend Al Sharpton, self-appointed, self-anointed blowhard. He claimed that Michael was "... the Jackie Robinson of entertainment" and that Michael had opened the doors of the entertainment world for African-Americans. Hogwash. He also intimated that because of MJ, Barack Obama was able to be elected president! Outrageous!

As I have said many times, I was, am, and will always be a fan of Michael. He was twice inducted in the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a brilliant writer, arranger, singer, dancer, producer. He was an innovator and his influence on popular music is undeniable. He was a generous philanthropist. Yes, he was strange, eccentric even a little weird. He was acquitted of every child abuse/molestation charge ever brought against him. And the family that he "paid off" rather than go to court already had a history of trying to extort celebrities.

So back to Sharpton's claim... Here are the names of only a few black pioneers who I believe really did open the doors he spoke of: Billie Holliday, Count Basie, Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, James Brown (whose dance moves Michael nicked in great detail when he was a little boy), Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Diana Ross, even Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson. I believe Michael himself would agree and freely admit that he stood on the shoulders of these greats and that perhaps rather they opened the doors for him! I will miss him; all music lovers will.

Language acquisition

As a language guy I love to observe all types of language acquisition, especially our beautiful granddaughter, Ellena. The other day at our house she wanted something. She took me into the kitchen and said she wanted a "pockable". I told her I didn't know what that was and asked her to repeat it. She said again, "pockable". I still didn't get it so she tried a new tactic. She said, "Pockable, up high, Papa's house!" She wanted a Popsicle from our freezer. I was amazed at how she persisted to make me understand by expanding her pronunciation of the word to including specific location. You can't tell me this girl is not very bright!

Papa's birthday

I had a great birthday on June 5th. It happened that Wendy's husband Chad had a business meeting in Tucson and Wendy was able to come visit also. It was fun to have them in town. We went over to Carlie and Trevor's for a BBQ on Saturday and on Sunday I invited everybody over for dinner (thank you, Costco lasagna!). Pat was already at Tina's but Carlie and Trevor with Ellena, Scott and Sarah (and her step-dad Gordon), friends Brandy and David and their 2 boys, and of course Rachel and I were all there. We had cake and ice cream and they all chipped in and got me a new Ipod! I was surprised. Mine was stolen in February when we were burglarized. So I took it to Illinois and Jon helped me download a bunch of songs (now I have nearly 800). Rachel and I pulled out to head for the airport in Mesa the next morning at 3AM! Fun and busy weekend.

Illinois

Pat, Rachel and I just returned from a wonderful visit to Illinois to see Tina, Jon and our grandkids. We did so many activities. Some highlights were a trip to a FABULOUS children's museum in Normal, Ill. A day trip to Arthur (Amish country) where we saw horse-drawn buggies, had a cherry phosphate and got drenched in the rain (the weather while we were there was very mild if a bit humid). We saw the movie "Up" (I recommend it). We spent an afternoon at their local water park complete with water slide and lazy river. We played board games, cards, Wii, rode bikes, saw fireflies, read books, ate frozen custard, barbecued, shopped... In fact, we had to pack light to be able to fit all the material (for quilts and blankets) and the clothes for Ellena that we had to bring back. It was ver fun. And they will be coming out to visit this Christmas. Hooray!

Old school phone use...

Here are some of my musings about current cellular communication as compared to what my generation grew up with...
These are phrases that you never overheard someone say while on the phone back in the strictly "land line" days: 1. "I'll just text you." 2. "I'll look it up on the web." 3. (From the person dialing to the person answering): "Where are you?" 4. (Heard after dialing a local number): "Oh, I'm on vacation in Florida." 4. "Hold it, someone's clicking in." 5. "Oh, it's Mike. I'll call you back." 6. "I'm over on my minutes." 7. "Just send me the picture." 8. "Smile..!" And finally, 10. "I gotta go. I'm down to one bar."
Feel free to add any of your own!

Geckos

On summer nights at our house, we see a LOT of geckos. Mostly they hang out on the outside of our kitchen window screen (also the ceiling of our entryway). They wait for the bugs to light that are attracted by the light from the inside and then POUNCE! The amazing things are how many bugs they can eat at a "sitting" and how fast they can move.

"Huh?"

Yesterday was a long, lazy day and it was great! We had no church meetings to attend as it was our churches annual General Conference which can be seen on cable and satellite channels. Pat made cinnamon rolls and Scott and Sarah came over (twice!) and also Carlie, Trevor and baby Ellena. We laid around and nibbled on stuff all day while we watched conference, movies and played the Wii. I never even took a shower, just laid around in sweats.
I was feeling full and sort of gross. And guys my age many times have the problem of a slowly-expanding waistline anyway. So I commented to no one in particular, "Man, I have seen Big and Tall shops. Pretty soon I will have to start shopping at the "Short and Fat" stores. To which Rachel replied, "You're not that short..."