A time for reflection and remembrance this evening. One of my best golf buddies just lost his son this past week to mental illness. RIP, David.

    16 days later
    7 days later

    Two songs tonight, both related.

    The first is Wayman Tisdale and his remake of Barry White's "Never gonna give you up" with Toby Kieth on the vocals, Wayman on the bass guitar, back in 2008, his final album before he passed away. The song below is from his album last album, "Rebound".

    Then, as fate would have it, Wayman was diagnosed with osterosarcoma, after a cancerous tumor was found in his leg after an accident in which he fell down a flight of stairs and ended up breaking his leg back in early 2007.

    Prior to that, Wayman was the first college basketball player in collegiate history to be honored by the Associated Press as first-team All-American during each of his first three seasons as at the University of Oklahoma. He also won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 men's basketball olympic team. He placed 2nd in the 1985 NBA draft, right behind Patrick Ewing who went 1st. During his 12 years in the NBA, Wayman averaged 15 points and 6 rebounds per game. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2009.

    While playing in the NBA during the latter part of his pro career, Tisdale found time in the offseason to focus more on his musical talents as a bass guitarist in the smooth jazz genre, recording two albums before officially retiring from the NBA in 1997, and then went on to spend the remainder of his life pursuing his musical career. His discography would go on to produce 6 more feature albums in the smooth jazz genre post-retirement.

    Wayman's cancer diagnosis came in the spring of 2007. It was a rare form of cancer, and the first round of chemo didn't work. He ended up having his right leg partially amputated, and roughly 2 years later, despite further treatments, he passed away at the age of 44.

    The link below is his friend, Toby Kieth, who collaborated with him on the Barry White remake back in 2008, paying tribute to his friend who passed away at much too young an age.

    Wayman passed away precisely 9 years and a week ago, May 15th, 2009.

    6 days later

    dyno Thank you to all who served, particularly those who did not make it home...I can't believe You actually politicized Memorial Day...Were you this pissed about Bill Clinton and his cowardly avoidance of the military???

      dyno by coward, you mean like Cassius Clay? A true draft dodger.

      • ode replied to this.

          LBlack14 yeah and he paid the price didn't he....Guys like Trump, Bush, Clinton, etc...don't.

          Ali's fight vs. Ernie Terrell is a part of his legacy...I remember learning about this as a young adult and it having a real impact on me, the "what's my name fight". I guess we will keep having to learn that lesson!

              ode excuse me, I guess he was Muhammed Ali at the time he refused. Tomato, tomoto.

                PA-PLAYA

                Nice video of Norman Brown with After the Storm.

                George Benson is my favorite guitarist. Have you heard Nothin' But A Party with Brown and Benson? Brown tells George Benson on the track while he's playing that he's his hero. You can hear Benson afterwards say "what?" on it. A cool moment.

                  5 days later
                  7 days later

                  sdandrea1 Davy Jones used to live in our little town until he passed away. He had a Dive equipment shop called...Davy Jones' Locker.

                    4 days later

                    Son Nick has 2 days of practice in Connecticut, then Wednesday-Friday practice with Dee Snider. Saturday him and the Dee Snider ( formally Twisted Sister) are off to Tel Aviv, then Barcelona for Rockfest, Norway and then home for week.
                    Lucky kid, should be cool. Going to find out if there is a live Barcelona stream.