Oh, well, twist my arm, then.
Regarding the election, I can't keep it straight as to the color designations. Red - Blue - Democrat - Republican??? Who came up with that and why can't I remember which is which? And if Tom Tancredo had won the Governor's race what color would we be then? Do they have a color designated for the American Constitution Party? Lavender? Chartreuse? How 'bout Orange - Bronco color? I guess it would have to be White, as the other two parties have Red and Blue.
Well, whichever color Colorado is now, I'm personally Blue over the election. I did not want to see The Hickenlooper elected as our Governor. The only good thing about it is that I do have a rather interesting photo of me tying The Hick's bow tie backstage at a Gridiron show a couple years ago. I don't have that one posted here but I do have a shot of me with the Gov-elect at http://bobhaworth.com/photo4.html (He's tall!)
I'm no Republican, but I sure didn't want to see the Dems hold sway in our state. It was hard for me to bring myself to vote for Ken Buck, but it didn't matter. Now we're stuck with liberal Michael Bennet in the Senate. Oooo - Bennet in the Senate - the root of a song.
Locally, we have a State Rep. named Max Tyler (Dem) who I was actively campaigning against (yes - AGAINST, as opposed to campaining FOR his opponent). Max butted into our HOA affairs with some negative comments earlier in the year. Stuff he had no knowledge of and no business commenting on. So I wanted him out, but NO! He got elected.
And then on the propositions and amendments, every single one of them except one went opposite from the way we voted. Am I that out of touch with the rest of the world? The two that disappointed me the most (can't remember the amendment numbers) were the one that would have disallowed the state from mandating that I buy health insurance and then the one that would have defined a "person" as at the point of conception, rather than at birth. Like I said - I guess I'm just out of touch.
Be that as it may, I'm glad to be done with the whole thing. It got to the point where I didn't want to answer the phone, although it was good to hear from Pat Boone and Mitt Romney again. And how do they do that robo-call stuff? Pat even said "Hello, Robert" when he called. (Although when I met him in Branson a few years ago, I introduced myself as "Bob" - oh well, close enough.) We have call waiting and, not wanting to lose any important business calls, if I heard that signal while I was talking to someone else, I would have to put them on hold to go listen to "Hi - this is So-And-So and I want your vote." SHUT UP!!! And thankfully, now they all have.
As Bob Shane used to say, "If God had wanted us to vote he would have given us candidates." And then the line I used to use: "The word politics comes from two Greek root words: Poli (which means 'many') and Ticks (blood-sucking insects)." Ain't it the truth!!!
Gigs? I'm working on a couple public things in the Denver area - nothin' major - just local venues that I've heard about recently. What I'm really looking for is an opportunity to feature a band I put together for one gig last spring. We call ourselves "Fathers and Sons" and we are. The band is two fathers, myself and Harry Olsson, and our sons, Graham and Harry Jr. Harry Sr. is a fine guitarist here in Golden that I've worked with occasionally and his son is an excellent bassist. Of course Graham plays drums and I do what I do. We played a Father's Day show earlier this year and it was so much fun that I really want to do it some more. It's just that nobody has money for a 4-piece folk-variety band that plays mostly my original music.
Otherwise, I'm really enjoying this little niche market that I've created playing at retirement homes. This year I was booked for over 250 shows, sometimes doing 3 or 4 shows a day. And thanks to Meri's marketing skills I already have over 100 shows on the books for next year. Check my schedule page on this website for dates, times and locations. Most of the places where I play invite friends and families, and you're more than welcome to show up at any of my shows.
The only one that might be awkward is my monthly visits to Hospice of St. John. There I walk from room to room with my guitar and harmonicas and sing for the terminally ill. It's always sad when I go back each month to find that one of our favorite people has passed.
We have one lady who's been there for several months now. Her name is Mary and she's blind. Her husband, Mike, is also blind. They are huge folk music fans and when I get to Mary's room she always has my repertoire selected - always three songs. Mike usually records the visits because Mary likes to sing along - and she has a good voice too. Mike and Mary have asked that I sing "On The Wings Of A Snow White Dove" at her memorial service, which could be any day now. That will be hard for me.
So Ron - we really missed seeing you this year. The gaff with the Mtn. Music Fest was disappointing. If you hear of any venues or events that would be appropriate for my music down your way let me know and I'll have Meri put on her schmooze voice and give them a call. Christmas is coming (ooo - there's a song title I haven't thought of for a year) and I do put on a wonderful Holiday show.
But hey - can we first get through Thanksgiving before we start on the Christmas stuff? Our local Walmart and Lowes stores had Christmas decorations on the shelf in September this year! And because of all the election broo-haw-haw I missed Ramadan - dang! But now I probably ought to start planning for Ground Hog Day. We decorate big for that one!
Have a great weekend! It's still summer in Colorado and I'm going out for a swim in our pool - yes literally!
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