Miss Mary's Misadventures

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Willie Nelson, in concert

Desert Diamond Casino off of I-19 south of Tucson

My beloved gave me a wonderful gift for Valentines Day – tickets to a Willie Nelson concert. In my misspent youth, I went to several Willie Nelson concerts. It was the 70’s and I lived in Texas. God, I miss Molly Ivins.

I haven’t been to a proper concert in years. The last concert was in 1995 when we saw Arlo Guthrie in the auditorium of the Lake Geneva High School. So, I was completely unprepared for the crowd that was waiting to see Willie. Quite a geriatric group – most needed walkers or canes. Few had their own teeth, but we overlooked that point. The overwhelming smell of Bengay and Pickles lingered over the crowd.

Willie and his audience approached each other like an old couple. Thrilled to see each other, lots of ground to cover, little patience and all of us stiff. Willie too was cold and distant, not warmed to the crowd. His beautiful tenor voice is gone, his guitar licks a memory.

He began with his traditional set – from the 70’s – Whiskey River, Funny How Time Slips away, Crazy. Difficult riffs were left to the rhythm guitarist. Bobby played along gamely. But the crowd needed prodding. Some of the crowd clapped along – but the older bits of the crowd discouraging them. I was surprised that most of the crowd could not sing along – they seemed not to know the lyrics. The “traditional” clapping bits of the songs were only known by half of the crowd. Willie tried to engage us, but the crowd resisted.

Slowly, over the evening we warmed up to each other. By the time he hit Good-hearted woman, the crowd was finally with him and he had caught up to his band. The man can bring a song home, I can tell you. New songs were mixed with old standards. The old standards were arranged to hide his failing voice, but I didn’t mind. I enjoyed each and every gift of music he could give me.

I was surprised that his touring group included Paul English and his sister, Bobby, on the piano - the same as 1976, the last time I saw him in concert! He was announced as a “Living Legend” – sad but true. But I loved it.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Bob Early remembers Don Bolles

We took Monkey Girl to Phoenix today to interview Bob Early. It was a very interesting interview. Bob is a big man with a warm handshake. He knew Don Bolles (MG's current documentary subject) very well. He had great stories and loved to laugh.

It was shocking to hear how much the American Press has abdicated their democratic responsibility. In the 1970's, the Arizona Republic was a haven for investigative reporters, now it is just ghost of what it was.

It is strange to hear about the 1970's. I remember it as such an optimistic time. It seemed like it changed mid-70's. Hearing about it changing in 1976 from another source was a jolt.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

I think my first habit should be getting up in the morning. I seems to need more and more sleep, which is disturbing. I wonder if my sleep apnea is once again ruining my night's sleep. Perhaps I should try to increase my c-pap's output again and see if that helps. I really don't want to do yet another sleep study.

The new mattress is wonderful. I am grateful for having a happy body when I wake up. Relaxed and pain free, I am a new woman. But, I still need 10 hours of sleep in order to function. Why? I do think that sleep is the key to my health, but waking up at a reasonable time is the key to my productivity.

I think I will take on the task of getting up into 7am. Not terribly early, not too late for a strong start to the day. First task, an alarm clock that doesn't make me crazy learning how to set it!

Friday, January 5, 2007