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It practically gallops!

Harold and Fumar

There’s a guy in North Carolina who might be my brother from another mother, or at least my cousin from another aunt and uncle. I found Chris Ayers’ blog because of a clever comment he made about “1776″ on Twitter. Obviously, I heartily concur with his opinion. (For the uninitiated, “1776″ is the best musical ever made about the Declaration of Independence.) Chris writes about his love of improv and performs in Raleigh with a group called ComedyWorx.

This time of year makes me think about my own love of improv. Friday was the eighth anniversary of my first performance with Einstein Simplified. Back in those days we performed through the nasty cigarette smoke at Manhattan’s, which closed on Saturday. Within a year, our group moved to the better performance space at Patrick Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Saloon, which is owned by the same folks as Manhattan’s. Thankfully, our shows became smoke-free in 2007 when the state banned smoking in restaurants. I never returned to Manhattan’s, which continued to allow smoking because they restricted admission to those 21 and up. In hindsight, I wonder why I tolerated the smoke pollution for as long as I did. I have no intention of booking any future gigs where smoking is permitted.

June 30, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Third Person Point of View

“What do you call your son at home?” asked one of the attendees at Monday’s JavaTweetUp at jAVERDE Coffee Company. “Frank Jr.,” was my reply. I mentioned that my mother, however, prefers to call him IV, as in the Roman numeral for four.

The other Twitter users mentioned that it was similar to Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen, who is known as IV. My mother’s point of reference is an old-time public relations executive named Ivy Lee. After leaving his job with Nelson Rockefeller, my father went to work for the firm of T.J. Ross & Associates, which was previously known as Ivy Lee and T.J. Ross.

So why do I call my son Frank Jr. instead of Frank the fourth? It goes back to something my father told me and I never questioned. He said that only royalty continues to enumerate their descendants after the deaths of the elders. In other words, once his father died, my father became Frank Sr. When I was born the following year, I was Frank Jr. When my father died, I became Frank Sr. When my son was born seven years later , he was Frank Jr.

I went through a phase in high school when I used the suffix III on things like my library card and the first gasoline credit card I had. Although most sources seem to say that my son and I can call ourselves whatever we want, Miss Manners tends to agree with what my dad taught me.

June 29, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Let the Church Say Amen

St. John Neumann Church in Farragut, TN Once in a while the urge strikes me to do some Catholic tourism. For example, I visited the Romanesque building at St. John Neumann Church when it was brand new but my wife and son had never seen it. Yesterday we had an opportunity to head out to Farragut for the 10:30 a.m. Mass.

Fr. Patrick Garrity used his part of his homily to give the congregation a status update on his first five months as pastor at the parish. He pointed out that the church is not a building. The church is the people. However, they still have a couple of immediate construction projects on tap. Although beautiful, the cavernous church does not have good acoustics. However they are working on improving the sound system. For now, the music is played slowly in an effort to compensate. The only song that sounded good to me was the meditation song after Communion, which was sung by the choir without the congregation.

They should finally break ground for a rectory in about two weeks. The Town of Farragut rezoned a corner of the property as residential, which will allow the rectory to be considered a home instead of a commercial building. It will house two priests with space and facilities for a elderly retired priest to join them in the future. There will be two guest rooms upstairs, one of which will be left unfinished for the time being.

The location of the rectory will necessitate the demolition of the old parish office. A new office and youth center will be built between the church and school. Fr. Garrity mentioned that someone complained to him about the building expenses and incorrectly claimed that the new rectory would cost $800,000. It won’t be anywhere near that much. From what I’ve heard, that figure is actually much closer to the reported cost of the Bishop’s new residence.

Fr. Garrity is working on repopulating several committees that will be charged with updating their various by-laws. He wants to create more opportunities for the parishioners to gather. He mentioned a possible ice cream social or perhaps a monthly lunch for senior citizens. He wants it to be during the day so they don’t have to drive at night.

June 28, 2010 | Filed Under Catholic | 3 Comments 

Over the Rainbow Flag

The festivals in New York and Los Angeles get more attention but shouldn’t the Knoxville Pride Fest be the preeminent event of its type in the nation? After all, which other city has its parade on an actual Gay Street?

Similar festivities occur all across the country. I remember seeing people headed to a pride festival in Anchorage when I visited there in June, 2001. Why this time of year? There’s a very good chance it’s because Judy Garland died on my birthday. Well, she didn’t die because it was my birthday, that’s just a coincidence. My eighth birthday party was winding down when my family heard the news report that the star of “The Wizard of Oz” had died. At that age, even straight kids love “The Wizard of Oz.” Back in those days, the movie could only be seen once a year on television. There were no VCRs or DVDs.

A few days later, on the day of Judy’s funeral, some fans were reportedly mourning her at a bar on Christopher Street. The police raided the place and “a rampage” followed. The disturbances lasted several nights and are now commemorated annually with events such as LA Pride presented by Christopher Street West in West Hollywood.

The staff at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home needed every last minute to prepare for the viewing of Judy’s body. I just read an amazing account of the extraordinary measures that had to be taken to make her remains presentable. Although Judy died in London, she is buried in Westchester County, New York. According to Google, her grave is 6.1 miles from my childhood home. No, I haven’t stopped by yet.

June 27, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

The Surreal Thing

Although Stacey Campfield is a state representative for my end of Knox County, there is a chance that you have heard about him. He made the news for wearing a wrestling mask to a football game on Halloween. Years earlier he tried to join the Legislature’s Black Caucus. He should turn up soon on an episode of “Penn & Teller: BS!”

Stacey Campfield campaign poster On Thursday a bunch of Campfield campaign posters popped up in the areas I frequent. I was surprised that he borrowed the highly-recognizable Spencerian script and Dynamic Ribbon Device of the Coca-Cola logo. Maybe I was expecting him to co-opt the Campbell’s Soup or Smithfield Ham logos instead.

June 26, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Remember the Time

When Michael Jackson died a year ago, I wrote about the time I shook hands with the King of Pop. I can’t believe I had forgotten about another close encounter with him. An email from a friend brought the memory rushing back.

I had been invited to a press preview of the “Back to the Future: The Ride” at Universal Studios Hollywood. I brought my daughter along as my guest. Almost all the other people there were local radio and television folks. The one celebrity we recall meeting was Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who chatted with us about his upcoming role in “The Lion King.”

One of the names on the guest list was Michael Jackson. The event organizers told me they were expecting the then-KABC talk show host with the same name. I was standing near the check-in table when the music megastar walked through the entrance of the pipe-and-drape VIP area. They weren’t prepared for a VVIP such as MJ. Somebody immediately escorted him and his guests into the building so they could go on the ride before all the media rabble. It wasn’t the last time people confused the two. One year ago fans gathered at the radio host’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame instead of the singer’s.

My friend Pam Baker’s story is more interesting. Here is the email she sent out today:

It’s hard to believe that it’s been one year since the death of Michael Jackson. It’s a day that I will never forget… it was my first week at K-EARTH 101. A little personal story about Michael:
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When I worked at Disneyland, I got a call from security informing me that Michael Jackson was coming to the Park on New Year’s Eve (one of the busiest days of the year). We all had to kick into high gear to make sure that his visit was perfect. Michael Eisner was even driving in to see Michael. I had heard that he was a vegetarian and had a personal chef, so we were concerned that we wouldn’t have the right food for him. When he arrived, my assistant and I asked him what he wanted to eat. We almost fell over when he said, “Disneyland food!” He ate popcorn, Fantasia ice cream, green salad with ranch dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, pickles, a variety of foods from one of the Main Street restaurants. He was quiet, but a gentleman, and very sweet and generous. He said “thank you” a lot! The fans went crazy in the Park and there was a near riot on Main Street but he took photos with fans and signed autographs until it became unsafe. He was like a child at heart — a sweet soul.

June 25, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Bring Your Kiddies, Bring Your Wife

“When we’re ready to get married, Mr. Met is going to be at the wedding,” she said. I was dumbfounded. Mr. Met does weddings? Apparently so. Thankfully, I am likely to be on the guest list whenever the special day arrives. “He’s cheaper in the off-season,” by the way.

The concept of hiring a mascot to perform at your wedding astounded me. A quick Internet search uncovered a wedding where Albert the Alligator stole the show. I imagine that Mr. Met, as the most visible sports mascot in the nation’s largest media market, could easily price himself out of the range of most fans. Instead he probably makes a healthy income by going to weddings and bar mitzvahs on a regular basis. Granted he’s wearing a huge baseball on his head, but based on the YouTube videos I watched, Mr. Met seems to actually enjoy himself.

June 24, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

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