Posts Tagged ‘The Weepies’

SAY IT AIN’T SO…NO MORE WEEPIES

Tuesday, February 1st, 2022

    I guess the correct title for this blahg should be: “SAY IT AIN’T SO…NO MORE THE WEEPIES.” Scott January 2022Earlier in this month I posted my 2022 False Ducks Video Ramble, THE 2022 FALSE DUCKS VIDEO RAMBLE, in which I mentioned that Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, known collectively as The Weepies, have split up.  I hadn’t heard any news of the duo throughout 2021 so I checked their Facebook page earlier this month and read the following post: 

The Weepies final shows EVER are coming up in January 2022!

It’s been a time of big change all around for sure. Before the pandemic we realized we had to go our separate ways. We are both so grateful for the time we spent making music, putting it out into the world, and sharing it with all of you. It was magical, and we’re both forever changed and enriched by that time. As we move on to other creative projects we hope that you, like us, will treasure the era when we made music as The Weepies.

Thank you for the support through the years. We’ll see you in the days ahead.

All the best to all of you.

Deb & Steve

What a punch to the gut!  I checked out their Wikipedia entry and found that the following last line had been added: 

Talan and Tannen got married in 2007 and had their first son in October that year.They went on to have two more sons later. They later divorced, which was finalized on New Year’s Day 2020

Again, what a punch to the gut.  Readers of this blahg will know that I’m a huge fan of The Weepies and had seen them twice in concert in Toronto.  I wish them the best but I’m still deeply saddened by this news. 

   I guess the biggest thing for me, besides the fact that there won’t be any more new The Weepies albums, is that I won’t get to see Steve and Deb live together again.  Perhaps they’ll tour Canada again separately and I’ll probably go to their individual concerts but I’ll never see The Weepies live again.  I saw them twice in Toronto back in 2016 and 2018.  Here is a picture when they played The Drake in 2016:

The Weepies at the Drake in 2016

   I wanted to take some video of the concert but I couldn’t shut off the bright light on my cell phone.  I decided to record part of the concert from my pocket but I only managed to record part of the song “Jolene” sung by Steve and part of his next song about a Jig.  Here they are:

 

 

   I did manage to find the following video online that someone posted from that concert in Toronto.  This is The Weepies performing “Ever Said Goodbye”:

I wish had recorded more and especially some of Deb Talan’s great vocals.   She sang a couple of songs from her yet to be released CD “Lucky Girl” when she was in Toronto but I could only find the following video of one of those new songs, “Butterfly”, from her Detroit, Ohio concert two nights prior to the Toronto concert. 

  

   Here they are The Great Hall in 2018:

The Weepies at The Great Hall Toronto 2018

   I did record the entire audio of the recording and I thought I would post the entire concert here for download.  Here the link:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/o18w68858tn7zva/The_Weepies_-_2018-04-17_The_Great_Hall%252C_Toronto%252C_ON.rar/file

 

Here are a few individual samples.  First up here is “Hideaway”:

 

Next is Steve’s great version of “Sing Me To Sleep”:

 

Deb Talan closed the show with the following stirring version of “Stars”:

 

   I thought I would take the time to post some of their other live performances.  YouTube has many excellent videos of The Weepies in live performances so I thought I’d re-post some of them here so you can get a feeling of what we’ll all be missing out on now that they’ve separated.  First up is a rare slow tempo version of their song “Be My Thrill.”  This was previously done uptempo so I’ll offer up the official music video of that song followed by the slow tempo version.  The slow live version is from their appearance at the Oregon Zoo on August 20th, 2011. 

 

Also from 2011 is The Weepies performing “Gotta Have You” from their album “Say I Am You” at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA on August 17, 2011:

  

   Staying with 2011 here are The Weepies (Deb Talan, Steve Tannen, Jon Flaugher) performing “I Was Made for Sunny Days” on a beautiful summer evening at the Britt Festival, Southern Oregon – August 23, 2011.  I love  “I Was Made for Sunny Days” and find myself singing this infectious song:

 

   The Weepies went back again to the Troubador in West Hollywood, CA on August 14th, 2016 and here’s “The World Spins Madly On” from that concert: 

 

   Here is a compilation video of The Weepies at the Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, Washington on May 17, 2018.  It features the songs “Hideaway”, “Walk On”, “Crooked Smile”, “I Don’t Know Why”, “Old Coyote”, “My Little Love”, “Wish I Could Forget”, and “Sing Me To Sleep”:

 

   Here’s another compilation video from 2018 when The Weepies appeared at Sony Hall on December 16, 2018.  This compilation features clips from the songs “Walk On”, “Growing Up”, “Little Bird”, “All That I Want”, “Gotta Have You”, and “Sirens”:

 

   Jumping back to 2015, this is a full version of “Sirens” from their last album performed live at the State Theater, Falls Church, Virginia on June 21st, 2015:

 

   Another one from 2016, this time it’s a full version of “All That I Want” from their performance at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, MA on December 11, 2016:  

 

   The following is not a live performance but the official video of “Sunflower” incorporates video of a live performance by The Weepies at an unknown venue: 

 

   I wanted to post a couple of videos that I never got to hear The Weepies perform live but are fantastic songs and something rare and unique from them.  The first is “Mend” from the soundtrack of the movie, “Wish I Was Here”:

The second is from a compilation album of Springsteen’s Born To Run album recreated on ukulele by various artists.  I love Steve’s vocal here on “Backstreets”: 

 

   I am sure there are more live videos out there to be discovered.  I’ll keep on looking.  Farewell The Weepies.  I wish Steve and Deb the best. Thanks for all of the music!!

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STILL THINKING FOR MYSELF

Tuesday, August 10th, 2021

Scott - May 18, 2021    Recently I had to do a computer repair for my friend Bryan and it got me thinking about a blahg I wrote in 2012 when I had to do my own computer repair and was given some bad advice from a computer salesperson.  Needless to say, I didn’t take the salesperson’s advice and figured out for myself the repair, which he said couldn’t be done, and I was successful and got a blahg out of it.  The original blahg was ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF. It was a blahg not only about the computer repair but celebrating the fact that I had turned 50 and that I could still think for myself with positive results.  Next month, I will turn 59 and I’m still thinking for myself but my body has other ideas of it’s own when it comes to pain and arthritis.  Too early to write about that stuff here. 

   Before I get too far off topic, or into the topic, let me talk about the repair I did on Bryan’s laptop.  First, his laptop is a brick.  It’s a few years old and large and heavy and running Windows 10.  Spinning Blue Circle of DeathAfter a recent Windows update it would no longer load into Windows.  Bryan just kept getting the spinning blue wheel of death.  I know, I know, the image to the left is not a spinning blue wheel but it belongs to death so who am I to argue.  Bryan got the spinning blue wheel of death and his laptop would no longer load into Windows.  He asked for my help.  In the past, when he had the same error he was able to fix it himself so I knew that this time would be a bit of a challenge. 

   I took his laptop home and tried to load it up but I too got the spinning blue wheel.  I left it alone and eventually an error message similar to the one below was displayed:

LogonUI.exe error

That gave me a reference point to try and begin to fix the problem.  By the way, clicking OK or CANCEL did nothing and the same error eventually came up again.  Searching for different answers suggested trying to do a System Repair or a System Restore.  Of course if you can’t load into Windows then how do you get to these options.  There is another way. 

   What Windows doesn’t tell you is that getting into these extra options or even a Safe Mode of Windows is not like it used to be.  I remember with Windows XP and I believe Windows 7 all you needed to do was tap F4, F8, or some Fn’ key (get the play on words) and you would get some other options to boot your computer.  Pressing any of those keys didn’t help.  What I found was you had to power on the laptop then turn it off once it started to load into Windows.  Do this two times and on the third reboot, the Advanced Options loads.  Choose “Troubleshoot” then “Reset This PC” if you want to Reset PC without repairing or choose “Advanced Options” after “Troubleshoot” to get to “System Restore” or “Startup Repair”.  Unfortunately neither “System Restore” or “Startup Repair” worked for me. 

   It was at this point that some websites were suggesting getting into Safe Mode to try some other options.  So getting into Safe Mode is another set of instructions I had to research.  So, when you get into “Advanced Options” you have to choose  “Startup Settings”, Windows 10 then will say that you can restart your device to change advanced boot options, including enable Safe Mode. Press Restart. After Windows 10 restarts one more time, you get a screen that lets you choose boot options. Select 4 or F4 to start in Safe Mode.  Once I had Safe Mode, I was able to look at all of the options that other websites were suggesting. 

   The LogonUI.exe error message was very specific and some technical support sites were suggesting that I could rename the LogonUI.exe file to LogonUI.old and then copy a fresh version from a different directory and paste it into the Windows/System folder.  You can research that for yourself but I’ll tell you right away that you can’t do any of that from Safe Mode.  The suggestions tell you to enter Command Prompt in Safe Mode but these system files such as LogonUI.exe are protected.  I couldn’t even run a “chkdsk” (this is actually CheckDisk that verifies the logical integrity of the file system) because it too won’t run in Safe Mode. 

   In my previous blahg, ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF, I talked about a disk called a Hirens Boot CD.  It allows you to run a mini-version of Windows XP from the disk.  I still had that Hirens CD from 2012 and I was able to boot into the mini version of Windows XP and rename the LogonUI.exe and copy a fresh version over from a different folder and put it in the Windows/System folder.  Unfornately that didn’t change a thing.  I still would get the LogonUI.exe error when I tried to boot into Windows 10.  I even tried “chkdsk” while in the mini version of XP but that wouldn’t work either.  It was at this point that I put the laptop away for the night. 

   I thought about the problem the next day and all of the suggestions I had tried and that failed.  What am I doing wrong?I had emailed Bryan and he told me not to bother further and he was just going to remove everything and reinstall Windows 10 fresh.  I didn’t want to give up that easily.  It meant that I had to accept defeat and, like 2012, I wasn’t prepared to throw in the towel. It was a battle of wits against the computer with the computer taunting me and me wondering what it would take to get this computer working properly again. 

   The solution to the problem was easier than I thought.  I had eliminated all of the things that didn’t work and it was a matter of finding a method that would work.  I was sure that running “chkdsk” was the answer because usually “chkdsk” would find errors and repair them.  The problem was finding a way to get “chkdsk” to run in Safe Mode.  The quick answer is you can’t do that.  The error I was getting when trying to run “chkdsk” in Safe Mode was:

“A function call was made when the object was in an incorrect state for that function. A snapshot error occurred while scanning this drive. Run an offline fix.” 

By researching the “run an offline fix” phrase, I easily found a solution on the following website:  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/safe-mode-chkdskscan-wont-work/96e79025-ec52-448b-91f8-3fd4bc113313.

   Before you begin reading all the posts on that Forum, let me just draw your attention to a post by a user by the name of “Jason Dale” dated July 2, 2017.  His reply was almost four years after the Forum was created with the problem of trying to run “chkdsk” in Safe Mode.  Here’s what he posted: 

The /scan option might not be available in safe mode. Use chkdsk /f c: if a virtual disk (VM) or chkdsk /r c: if physical (if you don’t know, it’s probably physical). /r implies /f – /f fixes file system issues, /r repairs sectors. 

I know this is 4 years old but all these BS answers are frustrating. 

Focus on the direction to go into a Command Prompt in Safe Mode and type “chkdsk /f c:” (without the quotes).  The problem is that your system is using C:, and “chkdsk” can’t repair things that are in use.  You will get a message that looks like this: 

chkdsk response when you try to run in SafeMode

Answer Y for Yes and then reboot your system. CHKDSK will run before Windows starts so it can repair the drive before Windows starts using it.  That’s what I did.  Bryan’s laptop restarted and started to run “chkdsk”.  It was going to take some time so I walked away and watched television for an hour.  When I walked past the laptop, I tapped a key to wake it up and was very surprised to find that it had booted into regular Windows 10.  I shut it down and restarted it and it booted into Windows 10 again.  Success! 

   So what did I learn from this?  First, never give up, never surrender.  That’s a reference to a line from the movie “Galaxy Quest” in case you were wondering.  Second, stop overthinking.  All of the suggestions I tried were other people’s suggestions and were sending me down the wrong rabbit hole.  Third, think for yourself.  When I started thinking about “chkdsk” and believing it was the key then all I had to do was find the way to run it.  Then user “Jason Dale” may have offered me the right solution but I was the one who found it after placing my faith in the notion that there had to be a way run “chkdsk” outside of Safe Mode.  Think For Yourself.  I said 9 years ago and it’s still working for me today.  

   When I went back and re-read ADVICE FOR THE NEXT 50: THINK FOR YOURSELF, I discovered something else that I was recommending in that blahg besides thinking for yourself.  I talked about a singer I had discovered by watching the television series ‘Stargate Universe.’  I wrote that “one of the great talents I have discovered from watching Stargate Universe is the singer, Deb Talan.  In one episode, they used Deb Talan’s song ‘Comfort’… If you research Deb Talan you will learn she is a member of the group “The Weepies”.  I didn’t know that and I don’t know who they are but I’ve listened to a few of their tracks and I enjoy them… As always, if you like a singer, especially an independent artist who doesn’t get the airtime like some of those others who should go back to street singing, in my humble opinion, then go out and buy their CDs or attend their concerts…I don’t know if she’s going to come to Canada anytime soon but if she does, you can bet I’ll be there.”  Nine years later and I’m still listening to Deb Talan and I’m still listening to The Weepies.  In that time, they have released the album “Sirens” and Deb released her solo CD “Lucky Girl.”  They’ve also performed in Toronto twice and you can bet I was there. 

   On the album “Sirens” The Weepies did a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learnin’ To Fly.”  I was skeptical when I heard they were doing a version but I think it works for them, the way they did it.  Check it out: 

It’s funny that Deb Talan would revisit the flying motif on her album “Lucky Girl.”  Give a listen to “Losing My Fear Of Flying”: 

   I could go on an on about Deb Talan, Steven Tannen, and The Weepies but you need to think for yourself and see if they’re for you.  Here’s another track to try and convince you.  This is their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Back Streets” from the CD “Born To Uke.”  This time Steve’s taking lead vocal: 

The Weepies only did the one song for “Born To Uke” but if you like it, maybe you’ll like the entire CD.  Check it out…or don’t.  Think For Yourself.  Never stop.

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WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD? – PART 2

Monday, June 28th, 2021

    Unlike Mel Brooks’ “History of the World, Part 1,” some things having to do with the world do get a sequelScott - May 18, 2021.  The day before Christmas in 2012 I wrote a blahg with the title WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD? and thought I would not need to revisit the theme.  Little did I know that almost 9 years later I would be thinking about those words again…or rather uttering them out loud.   I thought it was time to ask the question again and to see if my solutions have held up or if I have better ones to offer.

   My blahg last time had to do with the Sandy Hook massacre and other world issues as well as the fact that someone had hacked my website and inserted malicious code.  Here’s what I offered up as solutions at that time:

So what can we do to make this world a better place?  Speak out!  Everyone has an opinion and a voice and it’s your duty to speak out against injustice and stupidity.  Many voices raised in song have done better to heal than those who sit at the back of the room and just mouth the lyrics…The last time I checked, we are all free to be.  Free to be whatever we wanted, believe what we wanted, worship how we wanted, love how we wanted.  You get the message…Look at your loved ones, your relatives, your friends, and tell me you wouldn’t want more time with them if it meant giving up your stubborn opinions.  I think we all know the answer to that.  Let’s move on…There are some good things in this world.  There is love and family and laughter and we need to embrace it during these troubling times.  I don’t want to be preachy but sometimes we forget to think of all we are blessed with.  

I could go on listing all of What's wrong with the world cartoonthe problems in the world and war and death and Covid 19 but I think everyone is tired of hearing about it.  I’d rather focus on the solutions. 

   News flash.  I don’t have any solutions.  I thought love, laughter, and happiness were the cure-alls but many people don’t have those in their lives.  Sometimes when I’m looking for an answer, I turn to music.  You know a lot of my blahgs are full of music and I thought I would look at some songs that give inspiration or hope or maybe offer up some suggestions that might lead to solutions. 

   I really like the artist, Sara Groves.  I discovered her from the soundtrack to the movie “The Ultimate Gift.”  If you want to see a really inspirational movie, check it out.  I’m not going to use her song “Something Changed”, from that movie, in this scenario because it’s more a religious experience and one person’s religion should be that one person’s religion.  I’ve been thinking more lately about her song “Roll To The Middle.”  Essentially the song is about a couple who just had a huge fight and the singer is wondering how they will get beyond the hurt.  Part of the lyrics go “All the complicated wars, they end pretty simple.  Here when the lights go down, we roll to the middle.”  Rolling to the middle is where we find compromise and begin to heal.  Here’s the video to that song: 

   

   I’m going to be a little sappy for a moment.  “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is uplifting as well.  It’s not about “What’s Wrong With The World?” but more about What’s Right.  I won’t go on about it but will instead offer up a live performance of Louis singing the song.  Not only is the song infectious but Louis’ smile could melt a hardened heart down to butter. 

 

   I’m going to sneak The Weepies in here.  Readers of my blahgs, if there are any, know that I’m a huge fan of Steven Tannen and Deb Talan, husband and wife team, better known as The Weepies.  The following video is for the song “The World Spins Madly On,” which is true but it fits the theme. 

The song that cheers me the most is their song, “I Was Made For Sunny Days.”  I used to hear this song piped into a local thrift store and found myself singing along.  I’ve seen The Weepies twice in concert but I can’t remember if they sang this song.  At the core is the theme that sunny days are better than grey days. 

 

   I could go on filling this blahg with songs that mean well and mean a lot to me but we might disagree on some of these.  The last song is one I think we can all agree on.  It’s just fun and it was part of our culture and our history.  If you don’t like the Monkees then look away but it doesn’t matter because they’re too busy singing to put anybody down. 

   Okay, okay, just one more.  I know you didn’t ask for it but if I’m going to put forward one more World song then it has to be the one that’s so basic in message that we shouldn’t forget.  It’s a Coca Cola commercial and I’m not a fan of the drink but the song “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” still packs a punch. 

   The world is full of hate and fear and confusion and depression and loathing and terrorism and nepotism and nimbyism (look it up) and shouting and crying and living and dying.  But those are all words.  Chop up the words and they’re just letters and those letters spell better things like loving and hope and resilience and caring and trust and future.  Try it for yourself.  Take all the bad words and twist them around to make good ones. 

   I was looking for something to end this blahg with that wasn’t a song.  I looked back through my own writing, even further back than the original blahg WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD?, and I found a poem that I wrote on March 25th, 1986.  Surprisingly, it’s about taking apart words to find an all purpose cure.  I don’t know what that cure is or what you’ll use it for but if you put in the effort to make positive change then the result is its own reward.  Try not to read too much into the poem.  I was 23 at the time and the following year I would be married and on another March 25th, being 1994, my son would be born.  Take apart the poem if you like and reuse the words.  Kinder words spread thicker than all the negative comments stacked together.

AN ALL PURPOSE CURE

Don’t think I
don’t care about
all the world’s illnesses
because I do and
I want to do something about them.

It’s not all physical
I know
but then all the answers
aren’t either.
It’s not all broken bodies
and worn out organs
and dead tissues
but then all the cures
aren’t whole.

      I think I’ve got a cure
that’ll better any problem
but it involves some work
and I’m not sure it
might not cure things
you want left as are.

If you could chop up this poem
and swallow it
letter by letter
maybe it would spell out
and all-purpose cure
and surprise you with
the good it can do

In this poem
is every letter you’d need
to help you
and if it could survive
minor digestion
then maybe you’ll be alright

I know it’s a chance
but just being alive
is one of those
and who knows
if it might not give you something to believe in;
but that’s relying on
intelligence being a disease – q.z.x.

.

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I’M PULLING FOR YOU DEB TALAN

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

      Well, I did it.  I broke my rule about social media and visited one of  Scott Henderson still thinks he's cool!those websites that I revile. If you know anything about me, and I hope you do after reading my blahgs, then you will know that I prefer anti-social media.  That means I’m on nothing other than my blahg.  My daughter Abbie is the same way and we constantly joke about “Twitter is for twits” and “if you want to find me, I’m in the phone book…not on Facebook.”  I know someone else has probably made those jokes before but I’m sure I originated them.  Moving on, I visited Facebook. 

The Weepies, Deb & Steve

The Weepies, Deb & Steve

     Before you start condemning me or lauding me, depending on your social media viewpoint, let me explain.  You should know from past blahgs that I’m a fan of The Weepies and the work of that musical group and their husband and wife team Steve Tannen & Deb Talan.   I’ve posted a few songs here and how moved I am by Deb Talan’s voice.  “Be My Thrill” was their last album back in 2010 and I try to check and see if there is anything new from them.  I constantly check out www.theweepies.com for information but there hasn’t been any news updates for them in a while.  So, last week I decided to search the internet for news related to The Weepies or Steve or Deb.  Boy did I get a shock.  I found a news story that stated that, back in December, Deb Talan had announced she had been diagnosed with stage 2 Breast Cancer.  Insert shock or mouth wide open picture or very sad face.

     From past blahgs, other than those that mention Deb or The Weepies, you will know that I lost my friend Roni Summer Wickens last year to breast cancer and learned that an old acquaintance, Sherry Cornwall, also lost her fight to a rare form of cancer.  I didn’t want to post too late here my admiration of Deb Talan and begin offering up my hopes and prayers that she’ll beat her cancer.  The news article that I read about Deb’s announcement also linked to The Weepies Facebook page.  There, I learned more about Deb’s brave struggle and saw some updated photos of her going through her chemotherapy.  On the Facebook page there was also a mailing address where you could “send Deb a love note or care package or a few words of encouragement via snail mail.”  I’m quoting that last part from their Facebook page.  Of course, I wanted to send Deb a letter.  I wanted her to know how much her music means to me but more importantly that I’m pulling for her.  Here’s the text of the letter I wrote: 

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

 Dear Deb,

 I hope this letter finds you in good spirits and better health.  It was with great shock last night that I read online that you were undergoing chemotherapy for stage 2 breast cancer.  I frequently check out www.theweepies.com looking for news of The Weepies but had not read any updates on there recently.  Yesterday, I decided to google any news of you or Steve and I found an article dated before Christmas about your cancer diagnosis.  I do not participate in social media sites like Face Book so I did not know there had been postings there about your diagnosis and your ongoing struggles with chemotherapy.  I broke my rule about visiting Face Book and read some of the postings and viewed some of the pictures.  My hopes are that you will persevere and you will beat your cancer.  I did not sleep well last night thinking about you and Steve and what you must be going through; you especially.  So, that’s why I’ve decided to write you this letter.

I am sure you have received letters from other fans and well-wishers but for me, this is a first.  I’ll be 52 this year and I live in Demorestville, Ontario, Canada…about two and half hours east of Toronto.  If you ask anyone, they will tell you I have very eclectic tastes in music.  I don’t listen to the radio much because it’s all top 40 around here from artists who might have some talent but their music is over-produced and their songs have no meaning.  On my Ipod I have a strange range of music from Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Judy Garland, Blossom Dearie, some Dixieland bands and the odd rock tune from John Mellencamp or Billy Joel and of course every Weepies song I could find.  I grew up on Billy Joel and when he stopped recording that was the time I stopped listening to conventional radio.  Luckily, Billy Joel performed in Toronto last month and I took my three children to see him.  I had not seen him perform in more than 20 years.  Let me tell you, I’d drive twice that far to go see The Weepies and I hope that will happen someday.

So how did a guy like me, with such varied tastes, become a fan of The Weepies?  It started with Stargate.  You are no doubt aware of the movie that spawned three great television series.  I particularly enjoyed Stargate Universe and during one episode, heard you on the soundtrack performing “Comfort.”  I enjoyed the song so much that I just had to research you more.  Thus my fascination with The Weepies began.  No local stores around here carry your CDs so I’ve either had to order them online or download from Itunes.  I began gathering all of your music and the music of The Weepies that I can find.  I even enjoy listening to “Gravity” and “Navigation” from PBS Kids when they randomly get played on my Ipod.  Sometimes it amazes me when one of your songs is played on television or in public.  I frequent a thrift store called “Value Village” in Belleville (25 minutes from my home) and they have piped in music.  One day, I was surprised to hear “I Was Made For Sunny Days” coming over the store’s speakers.  I remember saying, “Hey it’s The Weepies” out loud and getting looks from other shoppers.  The looks and stares continued when I began to sing along with the song.  Recently, I heard “Big Strong Girl” played at the end of a “Psych” television episode and I said aloud, again, “Hey, that’s Deb Talan.”  I like those moments.  I sang along during that song, too.

What is it about your songs that I enjoy?  First, you can understand the lyrics and the lyrics have meaning and connection.  I guess it’s not that easy to describe but I’d rather listen to your songs than anything else played on the radio.  I don’t want dance tunes or fluff but something that touches me or makes me want to sing along out loud and get stares.  I keep a personal blog on my website www.falseducks.com and a few times I’ve posted about your music or linked to a video on YouTube of some of your performances.  I’ve particularly enjoyed the slowed down ballad version of “Be My Thrill” that you’ve performed in concert.  I have too many favorites to mention and I always find a particular song to suit my mood.  Right now, I’m listening to “Same Changes” and next up it’ll be “Painting By Chagall.”  Steve’s well represented as well, as I enjoy his vocals on “Dating A Porn Star” “Love Doesn’t Last Too Long”, and “Living in Twilight.”  The “Be My Thrill” album was brilliant and I can’t wait to hear what comes next.

I just wanted to let you know how much your music means to me.  I don’t know how many 50+ year old fans you have but believe me, you’ve got one here.  I’m pulling for you Deb.  I wish nothing but the best for you and Steve and your children.  I know you’ll be back and my hope is that you’ll get up here to Canada.  And if you do, you’re welcome to come out to my house in Demorestville.  It’s rural and we have a great spot and the above ground pool will be open in a couple of months.

That phrase “The Music of Your Life” is so true, your music is the music of my life.  You’re going to get through this and the music will keep on coming.  I’m ready for it.

A Huge Fan,

Scott Henderson

     I know I could probably have written a better letter but it says what I want it to say.  I’m pulling for you Deb Talan.  I really mean that.  We lose so much in this world and it would be tragic to lose such a wonderful voice.  I might have been a little forward in writing the letter because I really don’t know anything about Deb or Steve or The Weepies but it doesn’t make my admiration any less genuine.  In fact, Deb sings a wonderful song called, appropriately, “Nobody Knows Me At All.”  Give it a listen: 


The lyrics are so true.  Nobody knows me at all.  If it wasn’t for this blahg, nobody would know about my musical tastes.  I’m not ever sure how well I really know my musical tastes.  This morning, I was reminded so much of what I wrote in that letter to Deb about understanding the lyrics and the lyrics having meaning and connection.  

Fred Eaglesmith's Drive-In Movie CDI have my Ipod on shuffle when I’m shaving and this morning a song by Fred Eaglesmith came into the rotation.  The song was “Crashin’ & Burnin’ ” from his ‘Drive-In Movie’ CD.  I highly recommend it because all of the songs are great and there’s a train theme running through many of the songs.  Sorry about that running through pun.  I know it was a bad pun but listen to the song, it’s very good: 


That’s what I mean about songs having meaning.  I still remember when I first heard Fred Eaglesmith.  I used to listen to a radio comedy show on CBC radio (that’s the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) called “Madly Off In All Directions”.  It’s usually a remote concert from some Canadian location hosted by Lorne Elliot.  On this particular show, they had Fred Eaglesmith as one of the artists and he sang a very funny song called “How’s Ernie?”  It’s a funny song about a guy reminiscing about his old girlfriend and the fact that he misses her father more than her.  That started me on listening to Fred’s music.  I’ve seen Fred Eaglesmith in concert a couple of times and the last time, at The Regent, in Picton, he performed “How’s Ernie?…much to my delight. 

I like music that has lyrics that I can remember or sing out loud.  If I had to think back to when it really all started then I’d have to say it began with my brother and Harry Chapin.  Harry Chapin's Greatest Stories LiveMy brother Tim had the Harry Chapin record, “Greatest Stories Live” and he played that record all the time until I was almost mad.  I had to trade him for that record to get him to stop playing it.  Fortunately, for me, the record began to grow on me and I eventually purchased every Chapin record I could find.  Chapin’s songs were essentially stories set to music and you could understand the lyrics.  As I’ve grown older, most of his songs take on more meaning for me.  Here’s a particularly endearing song that reminds me so much of my daughters.  It’s Harry Chapin’s “Tangled Up Puppet.” 

 

     There aren’t that many artists who can write great songs like that or even sing a song that will move you.  Harry Chapin and Fred Eaglesmith are among my favorites in that category but now I add Deb Talan to that list.  We lost Harry Chapin far too early and we just can’t lose Deb Talan.  Her talent and her voice is so rare these days that we should all be pulling for Deb.  Recently, as I mentioned in my letter to Deb, I heard her song “Big Strong Girl” played at the end of a ‘Psych’ television episode.  It was so moving and I want to close with that song. 


Deb Talan, you’re a big strong girl, you can get through this.  We need you to get through this.  I need you to get through this.  I’m pulling for you Deb Talan.

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IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU’RE TOO CLOSE.

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

     Recently, I caught my wife reading some of my blahgs.Scott Henderson still thinks he's cool!  There isn’t anything wrong with that so don’t read anything into my action of catching her doing something that is perfectly normal.  I was just taken aback is all.  In some sullen moments when I find my wife and I at distances, I think about the fact that she doesn’t even ready my blahg!  I guess I can’t use that argument anymore.  I guess I should also watch what I write here. 

     I haven’t anything to hide.  There is nothing in any of my blahgs that I am ashamed for having written.  I try to tell the truth here or offer my opinion on what’s happening or what interests me.  One fact:  I like The Weepies!  I’ve said that before and I’m listening to them now as I write this blahg.  Here they are live at the Brit Festival in Southern Orgeon on August 23, 2011: 

     The title of this blahg comes from that old bumper sticker you used to see on many cars.  IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU’RE TOO CLOSE.  The perception is that if you could read the bumper sticker then you were tailgating or following too close behind the vehicle in front of you and that could be a dangerous thing.  But I think there is another interpretation.  In the case of my blahg, if you can read this, you’re too close…to me.  That doesn’t mean you’re standing too close to me but rather the other definition of being close to me through relation or friendship.  You know who I am and what I’m all about.  That’s as close as you can really get to anyone. 

     I don’t have a problem with anyone who is close to me reading anything I write.  I guess I really have a problem with myself because I don’t write enough for people to read.  These blahgs have too much time passing between the reading of each.  I haven’t written any fiction in a long time.  I barely write my signature any more, for that matter.  My output has dwindled to reminder notes or shopping lists or appointment dates on the calendar.  The last thing I wrote of any meaning was a short verse in the Valentine’s Day card I gave to my wife.  That’s sad.  The verse wasn’t sad but the fact that I’m not writing any more is a low point.     

My collection of Christmas themed material, Proof For Believing

     I always believed I was a good writer and thought I had promise.  I have even self-published a volume of my Christmas themed material, “Proof For Believing”. Before that, I wrote a novel called “False Ducks” that sadly sits unpublished.  Everything stops after that.  Only these blahgs continue.  These blahgs were meant to be an outlet for my creativity and to be a forum for my previously written material.  But I’ve failed even at that.  I’ve barely posted here, anything of my own.  Certainly nothing new other than the blahg of the week or month. 

     I want to rectify some of that.  An Excerpt From My First Nothing BookI want to share some of my earlier writing.  When Jeanette and I first started as friends in 1984, she gave me a “Nothing Book”.  It’s basically a blank journal that I wrote poems in for two years.  Not all of them were winners but I wrote steadily.  I really like the second poem from this volume, “Almost Day 8,124”.  The title comes from the fact that this poem was written on the 8,124th day since I was born.  I was 22 and the “Almost” refers to the fact that I think it was the 8,124th day since my birth but the math could be wrong.  Click on the image to see a larger version of this handwritten ode.  Here it is in typed format:

                ALMOST DAY 8,124
 
Look where we have paced across
               the floor
and left a life-line that still shows through!
               September
was here and now it’s a cold and dry
               December
that blows away old nightmares.
The
   rest
       of
         the
            world could never
                             know
                          the
                 placidity
that exists in darkened rooms; left by
                 friends
vacationing in an austere moment of commercial
                 spirit.
The music plays sweeet and low,
            while the inhabited flats
                 burn down.
Who will sing for those who have passed
                 before us
                    or
for those, on returning from their holidays,
              who will
               discover,
         that while they loved strangers,
              their friends
              had been cremated?
 

      Yes, I know, the formatting is weird.  What’s with the indentation of some lines and not others?  Frankly, I don’t remember.  I think I was trying to prove to myself I could write modern poetry and thought that odd formatting was the key.  It’s not.  The words are the key.  Here’s another poem from the last page of that first Nothing Book.  This is “to write a last poem” that was written on March 3rd, 1987: 

                    to write a last poem
 
it’s all cracked
puffed up
read
 
by myself
over and over and
over
through
 
and done
to a crisp
precise
outline
of my mind
 
and the poems
in there
steady ready
to bust
 
like milkweed
to editor á editor
de editor á editor
again–but…
 
I think that’s clear
and about as sane
or poetic
as I want to be
 
’cause the volume
of work
I’ve worked on
is gone
  to death
done
  to death
by the absence
of a rhyming dictionary
                            in this limbo
                            of bein’ unpublished
 
 

     At least the formatting has settled down; except the last two lines.  Again, don’t ask for meaning.  I won’t bore you with poems from the beginning of the second Nothing Book because they follow shortly after the one above.  Here’s one from the middle of that second volume, “LTD.” written August 16th, 1989, two years after Jeanette and I had married:

                            LTD.
 
da flesh is only perfect twice:
 
birth and death
 
au natural and paste up
 
and all between
scarred by
 
razor burn or fisticuffs
mosquito bites or forward pass
 
minor surgery
 
bad deeds
bad poems
 
da realization
dat how ya should’ve lived
is all too clear
after yer face’s been molded
 

      The second Nothing Book is not full.  I ran out of steam or creativity or time or something I have to dredge up to be an excuse.  The last poem was written on March 10th, 2005.  Before that poem, I had last written a poem to my youngest daughter “a poem for abigail” on August 9th, 1999.  It had occurred to me that I had also written a poem about our eldest daughter “em” on October 7th, 1990 (the date of her birth) but I had never written anything about Noah.  So on March 10th, 2005, I wrote my last poem in the second Nothing Book.  Here it is:

                  noah
 
yer own voyage
will be longer
 
span great walls
 
take in ancient histories
 
write new ones
 
cast a different shadow
 
outside of mine
 

      That’s the last of the output.  I don’t believe I have written a poem since.  I wrote a few new short stories back in 2007 to include in “Proof For Believing” but no new poems.  I don’t know how to begin.  It takes all my efforts to write a blahg and the creativity of a poem doesn’t come to me.  Maybe I’m to close to the subject and I can’t write it anymore.  I did say that IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU’RE TOO CLOSE.  Maybe the opposite is true:  IF YOU CAN WRITE THIS, YOU’RE FAR ENOUGH AWAY.  I need to step back and look at my poetic career.  I was published a few times but that was in the late 1980s when I was trying hard.  I guess I just need to try harder. 

     I stepped away from this blahg and tried harder.  Here’s what I came up with, February 25th, 2013:

 
              if you can read this, you’re too close
 
 
step back
step up
have we got a show for you
the caged animal,
wild man of borneo,
writer with nothing to write
 
10 cents!
cheap at half the price
unless you’re paying by the word
then double that and add 30
like metric conversion
 
a drought’s a drought
water or words
I don’t know what’s better to drown in
 
I’ve looked too close
at the man behind the curtain,
the one in the mirror,
old dog with few tricks
still can beg
your pardon
excuses for not writing
dropping a line
drawing a conclusion
 
there’s truth in words
some say
truth in the words between us
on our own bumper stickers
tattooed on our auras
flashing the warning
beware the freak
calling for your attention
to a miserable creature
 
step up
one of a kind
 
if you’re too far away
you’ll miss the show
if you’re too close
there’s nothing to see
I’ll do a walk on
but my walk off is the show-stopper
into the horizon
dark like ink
where the new words are
…or the other wild things

    

     How’s that for a closer?

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MY 2012 CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

Monday, November 26th, 2012

     Today is November 25th and that means we start the 30 day slide into Christmas.  Santa ScottI love Christmas time.  It’s a great time full of music and great viewing opportunities.  I know I could go over the top listing everything but I’m going to try and stay on point and keep to the topic of this blahg.  I’m going to share with you what is on my Christmas Wish List for 2012. 

     Yesterday, my daughter Abbie and I put up our Christmas lights.  A Right View of My Christmas LightsIt was bitter cold and we had to stop a few times and come in and get warm.  Isn’t it amazing that every year you can’t remember the arrangement you had the previous year?  A Left View of My Christmas LightsWe had a few lights blown out but nothing major and a quick trip to town secured the replacement bulbs.  I’ve taken a few pictures of the light display.  Christmas Lights At The Front of My HouseThere’s a right view and left view.  Pick the appropriate view whether you are right brained or left.  And just to be confusing, I’ve added a shot of the front of our house with the lit bushes on either side of the door and the shooting star up above.  Click on any of the pictures to view a larger version.  So much for my Christmas lights.  They look better at night and maybe I’ll update those pictures with night pictures but with the light dusting of snow that we received over night, I thought these pictures would set the mood for this blahg.  (Writing this later this evening, I’ve added the night pictures below.  Click any of them to see a larger version)

 Another Night View of the Christmas Lights Another Night View of the Christmas LightsA Night View of the Front Christmas Lights

     What is on my Christmas Wish List?  Top of the list:  WORLD PEACE.  There used to be this little joke/tradition in my house when it came to Christmas or Birthdays.  I would ask my children what they wanted for Christmas or their Birthday.  WORLD PEACE - WHAT WE SHOULD ALL ASK FORIf their first answer was not World Peace then I would mockingly scold them and tell them that maybe they were only going to get one thing and they blew it by not asking for World Peace as their first choice.  It’s the perfect gift and there’s no batteries required.  I completely forgot about that tradition and a few years ago, I asked Abbie, whose Birthday is December 16th, what she wanted for her Birthday.  She answered right away:  World Peace.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I had forgotten and Abbie had not.  There’s hope for this new generation yet!  Seriously, Middle East, what is your problem?  If a child here in Canada can embrace the concept then what’s stopping you?  Add to my wish list that the current Ceasefire will work its way into a lasting Peace and spread across the globe. 

     I don’t have a very long wish list for Christmas and after WORLD PEACE everything else pales in comparison.  Maybe it’s safer to ask for other things because that top item on my list is hard to acquire and not likely to fit in my stocking.  If I can’t have WORLD PEACE then maybe I’ll be a little selfish and ask for Jean Arthur.  The Jean Arthur Drama CollectionI know she’s dead, and thanks for pointing that out, but I simply think she was one of the greatest actresses ever.  I recently purchased the Jean Arthur Drama Collection that was released in May of this year.  This is a follow-up to the Jean Arthur Comedy Collection that TCM (Turner Classic Movies) released last year.  It’s a great set and fills in the gap of her film output on DVD with some early 30s dramas.  I guess my wish list then, to be more specific, would be to have a couple of her very popular films finally released on DVD.  Specifically, “History Is Made At Night” (1937) & “The Devil And Miss Jones” (1941).   Directed By Billy Wilder DVD ReleaseWith the recent release of “Directed by Billy Wilder – TCM Vault Collection”, we have been treated to a DVD release of “A Foreign Affair” (1948).  That last TCM release also included Wilder’s “Five Graves To Cairo” which is a great previously unreleased film; even if it doesn’t star Jean Arthur. 

     So why ask for Jean Arthur?  Well, I can’t have WORLD PEACE so why not ask for something just as impossible?  I’ve been on this Jean Arthur kick this past year with these DVD releases.  I have all of the other DVD releases of Jean Arthur films so these new acquisitions have been welcome additions to my collection.  Jean Arthur, A BiofilmographyThere are no other Jean Arthur releases on the horizon so for my Christmas list I’ve asked for a book about Jean Arthur.  There are a couple books out there about Jean Arthur and this year saw the release of the second one:  “Jean Arthur: A Biofilmography”.  I know, that’s a new word to me too.  I wasn’t even aware that this book had been released.  Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody KnewIt certainly wasn’t on my radar but when I went to show my wife the book about Jean Arthur that I wanted, this one popped up.  It wasn’t the one I knew about and it’s not currently on my wish list.  I had previously read about “Jean Arthur:  The Actress Nobody Knew”.  The title sounds interesting and if I do get it for Christmas (Hint Hint) then I’ll read it and maybe post a review here. 

     Another great actress that I really enjoy is Judy Holliday.  Holliday is not necessarily on my Holiday wish list.  I just really like her work and she only really had eight starring features from 1949 to 1960.  She was a great comedienne  and could sing to boot.  She died too young at the age of 43 in 1965 of Cancer.  Her volume of work has been highly represented on DVD with the exception of 1956’s “Full of Life”.  That will all change next month when Sony will release the DVD on December 4th.  I’m not necessarily asking for this release because it is a Sony Manufacture on Demand DVD and I can’t get it in Canada unless I find an online source that will ship to Canada.  Perhaps TCM, but their shipping to Canada is outrageous.  Hey TCM, why is your shipping costs to Canada so outrageous?  Oh yeah, I asked them that and they sent some generic response that didn’t really answer my question. 

     Moving on.  The Weepies.  The Weepies?  Yes, The Weepies.  In a previous blahg, “Advice For The Next 50:  Think For Yourself”, I mentioned a great singer by the name of Deb Talan that I’ve been enjoying.  The Weepies, Deb Talan, along with her husband Steve Tannen, are members of the band The Weepies.  There may be others in the band but Steve and Deb are the front of the band.  In 2011 they released a new CD called “Be My Thrill”, which is what I’m adding to my wish list.  It’s an amazing CD and the title track is one of my favorites.  Give it a listen: 


This is a very upbeat tune but there’s a few Youtube videos of The Weepies performing this more as a ballad.  Here’s one of them performed at the Oregon Zoo in 2011: 

If that’s not enough, there’s a great acoustic version of this done by a couple of Youtube amateurs who I happen to think do a super job themselves: 

     Moving even more on but still on a musical note, I want to add another DVD to the list of things I’d like to own.  Peter, Paul and Mary-The Holiday ConcertBack in 1988, Peter, Paul and Mary gave a holiday concert in New York and it was aired later as a PBS special.  I managed to tape it from PBS years ago and I’ll tell you that I practically wore out the tape watching it every year; fast-forwarding through the PBS pledge breaks.  Last year, Shout Factory did the world a favor and released the concert on DVD.  They perform some great songs during this concert and at points there isn’t a dry eye in the house.  A great group from the 1960s who came at a time when the world was looking for peace.  How strange it is that we’re still looking for that peace today; or wishing for it.  I’ll keep wishing for it as my first wish and maybe I’ll be surprised with getting it one day…hopefully sooner than later. 

     I’ll close with that wish for peace and a video from that Peter, Paul, and Mary Concert that sums it all up:  “Light One Candle”.

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