Memorial Day, 2010

We must never forget their sacrifice.

Progress on the Tajmadog...

My friend Monty Love has spent a lot of hours working with me on building the ultimate doghouse.  You'll see more pictures when it's finished, but you get the idea...

Goldie Has Arrived!

Here is our new baby.  She's driving Sheila and the cats crazy!  She's also one of the cutest puppies you can imagine -- a thoroughbred golden retriever.  Let the entertainment continue...

Merlefest 2010

For the 21st consecutive season, I attended Merlefest, without a doubt the greatest music festival in the universe. Mary Ann could not get away from the store, so I invited Monty Love to go with me and we had a memorable time. I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful, new, young talent that shows up year after year. The committee that chooses the talent each year does a magnificent job. Worth checking out:

• Great Big Sea


• Scythian


• Taj Mahal


• Zac Brown Band


• Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers


• Brave Combo

New Arrival...

On Monday, I'll be picking out one of these little critters as a companion for Sheila. Let the fun begin!

Too Moving a Story to Pass Up...

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and being a typical man I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man. And as I played 'Amazing Grace' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full. As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

An Ed Sullivan Moment...

Today I received some mail that had an Ed Sullivan stamp.  I was reminded of a Sunday night in 1960, April 17th to be precise, when I appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show as part of the University of Rochester Glee Club.

During that time, one of the major sponsors of the Sullivan show was the Eastman Kodak Company.  They were also major supporters of the University of Rochester.  I suspect there was some connection between those two relationships that resulted in our glee club being invited to appear on that Easter Sunday evening.

We traveled to New York by bus.  Videotaping technology was young, but the show was actually half live and half videotaped.  We performed around 2:00 PM in front of a full house at the Ed Sullivan theater.  This is the same theater that is now used for the David Letterman Show.  Mahalia Jackson also was videotaped in the afternoon, so we got to meet her as well as Wayne & Shuster, a Canadian comedy team.

As the show was broadcast on Sunday evenings, they would intersperse the live sections with the videotaped segments, allowing them to change sets in the theater.  It really isn't a very big stage and could never accommodate multiple acts.  The result was that by the time the show was on, we were back in our hotel rooms enjoying the performance.  We were directed by Dr. Ward Woodbury, who was a wonderful choral director and a real perfectionist.  He went on in retirement to be director of the Florida Bach Festival for many, many years.

We all had to join the musician's union for one day in order to legally perform.  We got paid by Ed Sullivan Productions in the amount of $86.00.  It was a big deal to me and I recall holding onto the check for a long time before I deposited it.