Hair bands

   I noticed yesterday, when my Yahoo! home page popped up, that actress Tura Satana had passed away at the age of 72.  Her claim to fame was a cult classic by Russ Meyer called "Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!", which was made back in 1965.  Now, I had never heard of her, or the movie, but, my curiosity was piqued, as there is the hair band, Faster Pussycat...so, I googled them, and sure enough, they named themselves after that movie!
   Faster Pussycat was best known for their 1989 hit "House of Pain".  I was talking to Mario about this, as he put in a new stereo in my truck (my old one gave up on me) this morning...and he immediately said 'yeh, I have that one on my I-pod'.  So do I now, along with a couple of their other 'classics'.  They had kind of a raw Aerosmith sound about them, with a funky bass line going on.  Kim and I bought tickets to see them, on one of their resurrection tours, back in 1995.  The night before the performance, their lead singer, Taime Downe, o.d.'d on heroin...he didn't die, just sick enough that he could not be here to entertain us...
    This led Mario and I to discuss other 'hair bands' that we've seen.  I mentioned that Kim and I had seen Britny Fox and Jackyl at a bar called 'The Cell Block' in Ben Salem, Pa.  It was right off of Rt. 1, and, as the name implies, a pretty tough joint.  We had a blast.  Kim caught a guitar pic thrown by one of Britny Fox's guitarists and after the show, I was able to get the band members of Jackyl to autograph my copy of their new CD...a landmark moment in my life and, as Kim used to like to joke, a great resume builder...Mario talked about seeing Tesla and Great White.  Oh yes, saw Tesla at The Trocadero in Philly (go to thetroc.com and click on venue, history - this place was built in 1870!).  It turned out to be the night they recorded a live CD.  Saw Great White at Red Rocks ampitheatre in Colorado - probably the greatest concert venue I've been too.  So beautiful, cut right out of the red rocks in the Rocky Mountain foothills just west of Denver.  They played with the Scorpions and Mr. Big - it poured so hard while the Scorpions were playing, but it did not stop them.  I think I've said this before, but Kim's all time favorite hair band was Cinderella, a Philly band made big by Jon Bon Jovi.  We saw them twice.
        Certain songs bring back vivid memories...is it that way for you too?  Some that bring back old memories of Kim and I are 'Learning to Fly' by Pink Floyd of a special time we shared at Kutztown University...'Amanda' by Boston, a song we'd pull over and slow dance to, where ever we happened to be...Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" remind me of times we reconnected in 8th grade and 11th grade...Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" bring back memories of the beach, in the mid-80's..."Radar Love" by Golden Earring of speeding through Canada on our long tour of the northeast...David Bowie...gosh, just about any David Bowie brings back memories of the times we saw him, going to the Lehigh Parkway...Some of Kim's recent favorite bands were Neon Trees, Train, Anberlin, Blue October, Paper Tongues, One Republic and the Script...and now, whenever I hear any of these bands...I can remember Kimmy enjoying their songs and smiling (but she'd never sing in front of me..).

          Earlier today, we took Kimmy's truck back and rolled up the banner.  What a nice tribute Sean and the Toros made for Kim - she got her chance to say thank you...Sean and I talked about how dissappointing it was that we would not have baseball in Tucson this year...Come on Tucson, if we can't compete in Spring Training, at least let us have some AAA baseball again!  Pitchers and catchers report next week already...But I am so grateful to Sean for not only engineering Kim's banner and truck, but financing it, too.  Again, this wonderful community we live in just keeps on giving.
         The bambini's did well in school today.  Mrs. Schrantz reported that Tonio got an E+ on a paper he wrote about why it would be so cool to have a penguin as a pet...one who could catch its own tilapia.  Cody brought his friend Alec over and they played Wii and jumped their bikes out front with our neighbor, Alex.  Later, we settled in to watch one of Kim's favorites, The Wedding Singer, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore (she absolutely loved their chemistry, especially in 50 First Dates)...
         ...and as I tried to find the once again elusive sleep, I thought of one of the Andreaisms I've adopted - there are so many others out there worse off then me, facing similiar challenges - in fact, when people say 'I can't believe how well you are doing', I tell them about the less fortunate.  Andrea and Mario recently ran across an old classmate, who has fallen on hard times, raising several children as a single mom, living in a crime ridden apartment complex and battling depression, barely able to take care of her kids, living in squalor... we all have our ups and downs to deal with...so rather than laying in bed at night and weeping about it, I count my blessings and think about all that I am thankful for...
Love,
    Dave

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33