Saturday, June 10, 2006
'for I was hungry and you gave Me food**
.The Salvation Army. What comes to mind when you hear these words? First might be those bell ringing Santa Helpers at Christmas time. Next could very well be that monthly letter you get asking for some money.
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Both of those ideas involve us giving of our money. Probably next on the lists would come the services the Army provides. Like food kitchens, camp for kids, clothes for people who can't pay, lots of help at disaster times, a temporary place to stay for the homeless, and of course the Salvation Army Thrift Store.
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The picture shows where I spent my lunch hour and more yesterday. It is the Salvation Army of Conroe, Texas, building. Every day a meal is served to those in need, the hungry, unemployed, homeless, and, well a lot of unfortunate persons.
[Matthew 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'**]
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Sunday morning breakfasts are also served. These are something really special.
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Our church, the First Baptist Church of Conroe, Texas, cooks one meal a month; then another group from the church serve. This is the bunch serving today. From left to right are Patti, Annette, Dinnie, Warren, and Ellen. I was taking the picture. Warren and I served while the ladies filled the plates and cups.
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Yesterday's menu was Frito Pie, green beans, bread, and cookies. When this picture was taken, we had run out of red punch. Warren was walking around with a pitcher of red punch and a pitcher of ice for refills.
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We estimate that there were about 90 people eating and around 110 plates were served. Several had seconds. Everyone was supposed to sign in; I think most did.
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There was one baby only a couple of weeks old, a few children, several families, and a lot of men and women by themselves. Quite a few were taking a lunch hour from their work. I would categorize everyone of these in the lowest income bracket, if they were able to get work at all.
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All those eating were very polite and appreciative of their meal. Frito Pie is a winner everywhere. I like mine at a ball game, warm and ready to right out of the Frito bag.
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We cleaned up pretty quick when it was over. The ladies cleaned the kitchen up. They packed the leftover food and Annette took it back to the church.
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Warren cleaned the tables and mopped; I swept the floors and took out the garbage. We all felt like the time we had spent was so worth while. It is good to be retired and have time for things like this.
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Just some old guys and gals giving a little back to the community.
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[Don't forget the 'Name the Picture Contest' from yesterday]
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STATUS CHECK:
ToDo: Help friend John by driving his 1937 Ford pickup to the Conroe Airport. He will bring his 1932 Ford coupe.
One of the service companies there is having an open house and has asked for as many old Fords as our club can bring.
Adi still hasn't finished the tire work on my 1950 so it will stay home.
John is retired from being the Conroe Regional Airport Manager.
The corporation will serve a barbecue dinner for lunch, we are included in that.
Mrs. Jim will meet me there at noon.
I will take my Sunday school lesson to finish up for teaching Sunday.
**Matthew 25:34-46
34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'
45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
46 "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Labels: Church, Eating, SA, Things to know
Friday, June 09, 2006
Name This Photo Contest
.Ok, a task and a question:
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A. Caption: Choose a caption for this picture.
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B. Location: Where was it taken?
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Contest Rules:
- Leave your answers in a comment.
- You may enter several times; your last answer in each category counts.
- Contest entries must be submitted by 12:00 AM, Tuesday morning, June 20 (my clock, not necessarily the posted date of your comment).
- Your spouse or special friend may enter even if she/he does not have a Blogger account of their own. He/she can use your Blogger account and note that he/she is your better/other half. Or get an account, it only takes a minute. Or enter anonymous.
- If you enter anonymous, please tell who you are, i.e. name, so you can have recognition if you win.
- Judging on the caption category will take place from Tuesday through midnight Thursday. I will provide a ballot for you to vote on. A special e-mail address will be provided for e-mailing your vote. No one may vote for their own or their spouse/special friend's caption.
- I may have a voting machine up and running for a fun vote.
- I will take care of the location answers.
- These rules are subject to change.
- There will be not prize for the best location answer, just recognition.
- In case of a tie, duplicate prizes will be awarded.
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Special mention will be awarded for your optional short tale. It could be a guess as to how this place got this way, or what has happened here, etc.
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STATUS REPORT
Blood pressure/heart rate . . . 113/59/65 at 12:31 AM Friday, June 9,2006
ToDo: May not walk with Adi, have to go to town; there I will stop at the church for a teacher book, go to the Salvation Army to help serve a noon meal (approximately 130 homeless or unfortunate in the Conroe, Texas area), go to WalMart and the bank, come home and work on SS lesson to teach this Sunday.
Some trivia: Go to Web Crawler [search engine](link) and search the Web on Horatio sanz i'm carol mpg; JIM'S LITTLE BLOG will show up as the eighth find of 33.
[contest]
Thursday, June 08, 2006
God is scrounging around for 70 more virgins!! Zarqawi (of Al Qaeda in Iraq) Is Killed br / In American Airstrike North of Baghdad - New York Times
And now I hear they are blaming Pres George W. Bush for this!
Another Keyboardist bites the dust -- Houston-born musician Billy Preston dies at 59
Last week it was Vince Welnick (link) (my blog link) It must be a hard life. A lot of musicians I know can't get a full time job playing, they do it by getting a gig and a gig there.
We all know the names of the big stars, most of them got a break someplace along the way. The Johnny Cash movie portrayed this great's tough times.
Billy Preston was born in Houston, then he moved to Los Angeles in at age two, and was playing the keyboard at age three, and played for Mahalia Jackson at age ten. (Houston Chronicle)
He was well know and like by those he accompanied, including Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Little Richard, Eric Clapton, Luther Vandross, ending in 2006 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers . He specialized in prime blues (not R&B), gospel, and rock music.
Preston began writing music in earnest in the 1970's, having five hits in the Top 40. You probably remember Nothing From Nothing and maybe (I don't) Will It Go Round in Circles. He co-wrote You Are So Beautiful in 1975 with Joe Cocker. (Ibid chron.com)
"Billy Preston, the exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own hit singles including ''Outta Space" and ''Nothing From Nothing,'' died Tuesday, [June 6, at age] 59." A.P. release in NY Times (link)
It seems Billy lived a hard life, a lot of musicians do. His problems included a kidney transplant in 2002, some addicitions, and a short prison term.
Maybe Susie wants to fill his shoes. Remember, she plays her own composition for the Sermon on the Mount on her keyboard from memory, singing as she plays.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Post tramatic 666 day reprocussions! Don't get tattooed on 6-6-06!
just above his collar.
.He got it yesterday on 6-6-06.
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That was a nasty trick that tatto artist played.
Flip the picture to see how it reads upside down.
You guessed it, 666.
[Family] [Fun] [Humor] [Religion] [666] [tattoo]
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Not a 666 post about the mark of the beast
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She was fairly spoiled from her generous supervisors at her work. She always got all the best marks, fives. Mrs. Jim is an excellent worker, I always award her with high marks.
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I come from industry, where things are dog-eat-dog. Really good evaluations are hard to come by. Everyone can't be superior.
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Take her (Mrs. Jim's) cooking. I haven't eaten so good since the hogs ate my little borther!
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Sister, Lois is about the only person I can think of who knows (or she should know) who would say that just to shock people. Yes, it was my dad (link).
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Dad did and said other silly things to catch people's attention. He would tell my mom that apples go best with a cigarette, yet he didn't smoke. Dad's favorite poem was "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Saddle the pig and we'll all get on." I think he liked pigs.
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I raised pigs two years for FFA. The first year I had a litter of eight, the second was nine. Bernie Lemaster used to teach us how to pick good breeding hogs.
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For sure we should count the t**s the boar hog had. This is a trait Bernie, our Ag teacher, said would carry over to the female pigs too. Most of the farmers those days raised their own sows, then bought or borrowed or rented a boar hog not related to be daddy.
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We can all think of the problems a moma hog would have with, say, only six milking spiggots and eight baby pigs to feed. Starvation by the numbers two. We won't go into the left hind t*t stuff, which is rumored to not be as bountiful as the rest.
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There is a saying that something or someone is usless as the t**s on a boar hog. Mr. Lemaster was just waiting for someone to say that in Ag class. Then we all would get a lecture on selection of boar hogs.
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Mr. Lemaster also taught us how to keep accurate records. We learned to assemble profit centers (if I remember the terminology correctly). He said the farmers raised grain, fed some to livestock and sold some, they raised hay and fed some and sold some. The same went for chickens. Some got sold as fryers, others were kept for egg production.
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A good farmer keeps records on the costs of the grain fed and other expenses. If the price of beef isn't high enough, it would be money ahead to just sell all the grain and forget the cattle or chickens. Also was there any more profit to be had by keeping chickens for laying eggs or just maybe it would be better to sell all them for fryers.
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Business people know their profit centers. Stores measure profit by the square foot, knowing which place in the store and for what items are the highest profit.
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Big business will sell off a subsidiary if it isn't making a big enough profit. Sometimes business will spin off a very profitable subsidiary just to raise more money than could be obtained by selling a dud.
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Bernie went to work in his later years for the bank. Mrs. Jim and I attended a Nebraska football game from a couple of his tickets once. He was a nice man, and a nice man to know for things like football tickets.
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Mr. Lemaster would get all fives on my evaluation. I won't be evaluating him though, he passed away some time ago.
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I have spent too much white space already on this blog today, I won't have time to report on Mrs. Jim's evaluation. Maybe someday I will come back and do that.
Revelation 13:11-18 says: (the number is in verse 18)(John is writing what has been revealed to him, hence the book title, Revelation.)
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11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
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[Family]
[Fun]
[Humor]
[Religion]
Labels: annual performance evaluation
Monday, June 05, 2006
Family Reunion II -- A Meeting of Five Cousins -- New Hope Baptist Church Homecoming
The five cousinsMema's first cousins are all in their 80s. One drives her Ford pickup (rather fast on those back Louisiana roads, I must say) everywhere.
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From left to right is Viola (Mema, Mrs. Jim's mother), Gracie (a cousin by marriage), Louvenia, Oma, and Ethel. All of them were born and grew up in Central Louisiana. They all still live there, except for Mema, who lives in Texas near us. All are widowed.
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We met at the New Hope Baptist Church in Elmer, Louisiana, for Homecoming 2006. Only Mema had been able to come to the family reunion the week before in North Louisiana, so this was a second reunion for them.
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Adi wonders if she will get to eat with us
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Mema, Mrs. Jim, Adi, and I drove over to Alexandria, Louisiana, Saturday morning. That is about a five hour drive. On the way we ate at the Boiling Pot in Sulfur [not Sulfer ], La. Things just weren't as good there as when we were there before. In fact, our food wasn't very warm at all.
We visited Mema's brother, Lonnie, on the way up. Mema and Lonnie are the only survivors of the eight children. We had a nice get-to-gether with him. Lonnie's health did not permit him to attend the reunion the week before. Mema gave him her doggie bag chicken and sausage gumbo left over from the boiling pot. It was a lot better hot, Mrs. Jim tasted it.
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After our nice we proceeded to Mema's home in Alexandria. On the way we stopped at the Woodman of the World camp to check it out a little for next year's reunion. Mrs. Jim didn't sign any contracts for it.
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Mema's home was doing fine, one neighbor was parking his van in the driveway and another was mowing her yard. The lady across the street came over and we had a nice visit with her. She has fine neighbors.
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We spent the night at the new Comfort Inn on West Bolton. It was really nice. We ate the included continental breakfast and went to Emanuel Baptist church. I got my coffee and headed to a men's Sunday school class.
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Then I heard Mema fussing in the hall. She said we would be late for the Homecoming at new hope if we stayed. We couldn't convince her it was only a half hour drive. So we left. Of course we got there a good hour before the church service (Homecoming service this time).
[This photographer is overpaid].
The service was good, the guest minister, Dr. Joe Kite, gave a fiery sermon. He is about a year older than me, both of us slightly younger than Methuselah. He had a keen sense of humor. Since he didn't know us, he looked our way a lot; sure he didn't want to miss an opportunity for a convert. The piano player played like church music should be played in a Louisiana country church. Her grandmother was a cousin of some sorts to the five cousins.
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They took up three offerings, the first was for cemetery maintence. That's part of what Homecoming is for, to raise money for the cemetery maintenance fund. Both Mema and Mrs. Jim contributed. The next offering was taken by the children. Most everyone's pocket change ended up in a bucket, earmarked for a mission project. I don't think there was much money left then for the regular offering, but they had it too.
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After the service there was a pot luck dinner. Everything from beans to potato salad, mashed (cooked first) carrots to deviled eggs, and King Ranch chicken to barbecued brisket. None of the chocolate pie Mrs. Jim brought was left.
Mrs. Jim's grandparents are buried here
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After we ate a lot of us went over to the cemetery. All of the cousins went along with some of their kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. We drove over to where Mema's parents were buried. Mema was getting worn out, so she didn't get out of the car.
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Mrs. Jim's father is buried here
Her mother will be buried here beside him someday
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After visiting the graves we went to Gracies home. Gracie, Ethel and all of us visited for a couple of hours.
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Our trip home was uneventful. We didn't need the St. Christopher statue we haven't bought yet. No blowouts or anything. Mrs. Jim and I trade off driving, she drives mostly when I get sleepy.
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Our car enjoyed that $2.7x gasoline (premium). We missed the final fillup so had to do that for $3.01 in Conroe, Texas.
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And the ladies really enjoyed their day, even though it wasn't a planned reunion.
[family]
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Have a Safe Trip -- On the Road Again -- A bigger moon this time -- Still no St. Christopher
Last time we were this way we had troubles.
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First, we need another
Adi can . . .
[click here for a large picture]
Adi can (still) balance a treat on her nose. Then on command, flip it and catch it in mid air. She is all wet this day, it was sort of a reward for her bath.
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Now, back to the travels. St. Christopher** didn't come with us, but maybe he should. The last time we were coming home from Louisiana, about 10:30 on a Sunday night, we had a blowout.
That was the same night Britmum (blog) got stuck in the river bottom sand in Arizona. The moon was just a sliver then. This trip, it is approaching full. Maybe that will help since we left St. Christopher wherever he lies.
Mrs. Jim said things were going our way, with lots of prayers, a good friend to come get us almost by midnight, and a wrecker driver to work late at night on a holiday weekend (Memorial Day).
You would think with tires not even six months old there wouldn't be blowouts. We had one, 20 miles from Conroe, outside of Cleveland a little bit, right at Fostoria, Texas.
Don't come looking for Fostoria. There aren't any stores or residential sections, not even a post office. Yahoo Maps (link) has it sitting by the railroad. I have been to their stock car race track one time.
Mrs. Jim was driving. The car started making a bad noise, she slowed down, the noise slowed, she pulled over and we looked. The tread was rolling separately now from the wheel and a little of the sidewall.
Friend, Charlie (my golfing bud) came the 37 miles in about 45 minutes after we called him. All he had to do was put his shoes on. Later, we found out he forgot to pick up his wallet. No driving license with him, nobody cared.
The wrecker driver came just after we had loaded up Charlie's Suburban. Adi, Mema, Mrs. Jim and a whole trunk full of our stuff. We had spent the night before out in the woods after the family reunion, in a group camp, complete with men's and women's bunking rooms. Besides our clothing there was a lot of paper goods and leftover things from the picnic.
We met the wrecker driver at the NTB tire store where he unloaded our car in a parking spot. Charlie then took Mema home first, then Mrs. Jim, Adi, and I rode with Charlie back home. We got in about 1:20 a.m.
Good things, the boogers didn't get us sitting out there in the dark on that two lane road and the tire was replaced free, except for $34 for disposal fees, shop fees, and a road hazard warranty for the new tire.
Bad things, the wrecker bill was $124 and we didn't see one Highway Patrolman (DPS) or sheriff or constable and nobody stopped. If someone had stopped, we would have been really scared.
We could have bought this St. Christopher for $9.99 plus shipping?**
**source, an e-Bay offering description:
ST. CHRISTOPHER STATUE
8" Tall made of a NICE Resin on WOOD
CHRISTOPHER "STORY"
Also known as Kester; Kitts; Offero
Memorial: 25 July
Profile: 3rd century martyr under Decius. Little else is known for sure. His fame derives from the pious legend of him being a "Christ-bearer" (= Christopher).
He was a powerfully built man who wandered the world in search of novelty and adventure. He came upon a hermit who lived beside a dangerous stream and served others by guiding them to safe places to cross. He gave Offero instruction in the truth of God. Offero took the hermit's place, but instead of guiding travellers, he carried them safely across the stream.
One day he carried a small child across the stream; the child's weight nearly crushed him. When they arrived on the other side, the child revealed himself as Christ, and he was so heavy because he bore the weight of the world on himself. He then baptised Offero with water from the stream.
Christopher's service at the stream led to his patronage of things related to travel and travellers, people who carry things, etc. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Born at Canaan as Offero
Died martyred c.251
Name Meaning: Christ-bearer (= Christopher)
Patronage:
archers, automobile drivers, automobilists, bachelors, boatmen, bus drivers, cab drivers, floods, fruit dealers, fullers, hailstorms, holy death, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, motorists, porters, Rab Croatia, sailors, storms, sudden death, taxi drivers, toothache, transportation, transportation workers, travellers, truck drivers, truckers, watermen
Grateful Dead's last keyboardist dies - The curse continues?
"Welnick was the last in a long line of Grateful Dead keyboardists, several of whom died prematurely, leading some of the group's fans to conclude that the position came with a curse."
Vince Welnick (link) was either 51 or 55, Vince had been saying 51. He died Friday, June 2. The keyboard player will be missed but I'm sure there are others just waiting to fill his shoes. Surely they know about the supposed curse.
He was "inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Grateful Dead)in 1994." (Ibid)
I really don't think I would like this job. My daughter, Susie, plays the keyboard. Should I tell her there is an open position?
Probably not. She could look cute up there with those guys, but I think her heart is in her compositions.
Susie has composed music to go with the entire Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. (link) She doesn't read music she has come up with, but plays it from memory. She also recites the Sermon on the Mount, memorized from her heart also. It takes a little over an hour for her to play and recite the whold thing. Way to go Susie!
BTW--this is one reason she isn't keeping up with her blog. Blog writing keeps her from working on her music and practicing.
O.k., enough about all except Vince. Read the Yahoo article to start. Next, go to the Vince Welnick, Rest in Peace site (link). Finish by Googling Vince to study up on his life achievements and problems.
