If you're like me you sometimes create catch phrases. My newest one has potential. Imagine you are with a co-worker discussing work and the conversations goes something like this:

Tim: FYI, that report needs to be on the Vice President's desk by 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Tom: FY-No!

If you have a catch phrase and would like to share, leave a comment.

In 2003 I had an opportunity to go to the Insight Bowl held at Bank One (now Chase) Ballpark in Phoenix. By upgrading my four nose-bleed tickets for one in the bleachers on the field on the visitor's side I found myself in the middle of thousands of fans who traveled from Blacksburg, Virginia to cheer their Hokies on to victory. Virginia Tech fell short in a truly amazing game 49-52. I remember being impressed at the closeness and loyalty these fans exhibited. It is that closeness and loyalty that will get them through their current challenge.

A musician friend, Ted Goddard, invited me and Valerie to experience Prince Shell a few months ago. He is a legendary player in the world of music. His concert was delightful and set in the intimate surroundings of Johnny's Uptown on Camelback and Central.

Prince passed away last week.



Here is the obituary from azcentral.com:
Eutrice Ulysses "Prince" Shell, accomplished musician, was born in
Lott, Texas on December 31, 1928 to Simmie Lee and Johnnie Shell. He died on April 11 in a Scottsdale nursing home. He began playing piano as a child and later studied valve trombone at Chicago's
DuSable High School with music educator and band director Walter Dyett. Shell honed his arranging skills while a member of the Tennessee State Collegians big-band at Tennessee State University and also at the Navy School of Music. During his service in the Air Force, Shell became "chief arranger" for the Strategic Air Command Band at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. He performed and toured with Gene Ammons and Gene McDaniels, and became the house pianist at Chicago's original Regal Theater where he appeared with Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and others. Shell teamed up with Jesse Jackson and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1970 to arrange for and record their Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir for Chess Records. Sun Ra and other nationally known musicians have performed and recorded his arrangements, and his works have been featured in concerts at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. Shell was a spiritual man and follower of Sant Mat, remembered by many as a humble and self-effacing friend and musical mentor. He will be interred with full honors at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.

R.I.P.

Meld, knock, pluck, Schneider, deadwood, kibitz? If only we knew the vocabulary (as well as the rules) when the family sat down recently in Austin to attempt to play rummy-something-or-other. We all knew a rule or two but no one knew all the rules. As a result, it evolved into a game where each hand had a different set of rules. It was a blast, however, and was made more interesting by Nate trying to watch the Sopranos a few feet away. He was constantly, and patiently, adjusting the volume as the noise of the game rose and fell.

Here is a great rummy rules site for next time.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. died yesterday. Writer, social critic, POW, Tralfamadorian, Vonnegut was a friend of Billy Pilgrim, Kilgore Trout and millions of others. Thanks for helping us get through it all.



See: vonnegut.com
photo: www.samizdat.qc.ca