The last time I flew somewhere, it was to Atlanta in July. The week I was there, my mom got fired from her job of eighteen years and my brother got engaged.

Today, I was in the air en route to Cincinnati for a work conference when “The Earthquake” hit. It was when I landed that a fellow passenger relayed the news to her flying companions. And here is an eerie side note from my personal experience.

I arrived at the airport with an hour to spare before my flight. For some reason, this was not a good day to go thru the TSA Security Checkpoint. I got the full “take off your braces, give me your shoe, we have to re-test the canes” treatment. It took about 30 minutes. Once that was over, I had about 25 minutes to get to my gate. As I arrived, after buying a soda and a candy bar, the gate attendant said over the mic that the “pilots would like to leave early so I didn’t even sit down at the gate, I walked straight to the attendant and boarded.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 1:47. We were off the ground and in tne air by 1:40. According to NBC News the quake hit at 1;52. I find it a bit eerie that, had DELTA been running on time or late (and let’s face it, DELTA usually runs late), I probably would have been inside a very small plane (12 rows of seats…and guess who was in row 12?) on the Tarmac when the quake hit.

While part of me is a bit bummed I missed the first “Big Quake” to hit VA in 114 years, I’m relieved I was in the air, oblivious to everything when it happened.

I hope everyone is okay and no one was hurt or had major damage. Bonus: Richmond’s “The Diamond” baseball stadium was shown on Cincinnati’s local NBC affiliate. Bet that’s a first!

I hope the aftershocks are few and barely noticeable. I’m in my hotel room, happy I managed to get out of town before all of the flights got pushed back.

My next trip out of Richmond is to Atlanta in October. I wonder what’s gonna happen then?

Thanks for reading,
Barry

As a rule, most of us don’t recall the dreams we have when we wake up to start our day. Oh, you may recall a brief snippet as you stir and reach for the alarm, but by the time you see your face in the bathroom mirror, almost all is forgotten, and you go about your routine.

This is something different.

Between 2:00 and 4:00am on Friday, I had a dream that was so vivid and lifelike that I remembered all of it in minute detail. I felt like I had lived the experience, so much so that when I awoke from it, I felt a stark sense of loss.

The images and dialogue were swimming around in my head to the point of distraction all day Friday. I knew I was going to write something about it, but I wasn’t exactly sure what form it was going to take. I don’t write fiction very well. It always comes off sounding a bit forced. So, what I’ve decided to post here is the dream as I recall it. I probably will revisit this and flesh it out a bit, creating a back story of sorts, but I thought I would share what has rolled around in my head for the last 36 hours.

____________________________

“Remember Angie Dutton”

The weather is late Fall/early Winter. The reason I know this is because I can see my breath as I walk. It’s still daylight but getting dark quickly.

I enter a huge farmhouse. It is drafty and cold. I’m supposed to be here but I don’t know why. The farm house is divided into many rather large rooms, and I make my way inside and sit down in the first room. It has two small couches and three tall wooden chairs. I sit on one of the couches and close my eyes.

Not sure how much time has passed, I’m awakened by the noise of kids laughing and running into the room. Two kids, maybe ages 6 and 8, are scooped up by a woman now sitting across from me, on the other couch. She kisses each of them on the cheek and they go to what appears to be a front desk.

Where am I? Is this a hotel of some sort? Am I simply waiting fir someone to arrive?

I only hear snippets of the conversation at the front desk, but I do manage to discern the phrase “…glad the visit went well!” From that, I gather I’m at a doctor’s office, but I still don’t know why.

I leave the front entrance room that had the couches, and, after walking a bit, find a kitchen. I pour a cup of coffee into a mug waiting on the counter. I make a point of drinking deeply from the mug and clasping both hands around it for warmth. I let the heat envelope my face and I close my eyes for a moment.

I open them and see…her. I don’t know who ‘she’ is yet, but, instinctively, I am drawn to her. Is ‘she’ the reason I’m here, the one I’m waiting for?

First impressions: she’s a thin, tall brunette with streaks of red in her hair that only appear when the blinking fluorescent lights of the farmhouse hit it a certain way. She’s obviously been running errands for a while because, even though night has descended, she has a pair of big-framed sunglasses resting on the top of her head. Wearing dark blue jeans, a black leather jacket unzipped to reveal a black tank top.

And then there were the tattoos.

As she entered the farmhouse, I could see from my vantage point in the kitchen that she had several tattoos. She had three green snakes, one starting on her left shoulder that ran to  just below her left clavicle, then another snake tattoo began there where the first ended, this one going from her left clavicle to her center, just below her neck. The third snake began at this point and ran over to her right clavicle, ending on the back of her right shoulder, mirroring the left so that when you saw her from the front, it appeared as if she were wearing a necklace around her neck.

In the center of her chest, below the snake tattoo, right on her sternum, she had the tattoo of the bloom of a dark red rose, its stem showed two thorns before it disappeared into her cleavage.

As she entered, she was talking loudly, seemingly to herself,  in fragments.

“I would never! No…I would NOT!”

This goes on as she walks directly to the kitchen. The counter is L-shaped, the long side of the L has the sink, coffee pot and microwave. That’s where I’m standing as she walks past and turns to lean on the short side of the counter (which is empty and clear of any appliances of any sort) to face me.

“I would never let my kid do that!” she says to me, indignantly. I don’t even know what “that” is, but I answer her.

“Wait, do you even have a kid?”

She laughs and uses her hands to lift herself onto the counter. “No, but still, I wouldn’t let my kid do that.”

Now we are face to face with very little room between us. I am locked on her deep fiery brown eyes as I answer her again.

“And, your many tattoos show that you always did what your parents wanted and ALWAYS respected authority?”

She doesn’t voice an answer. Instead she wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me in even closer. It’s at this moment that I notice she’s not wearing any makeup, yet she’s still gorgeous. She kisses me on my neck, and in a suddenly quiet voice she almost whispers, “Remember me.”  It wasn’t a question, asking “Hey, do you remember me?” This was a plea.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and we face one another again. “What’s your name?” I whisper.

“I’m Angie.” She kisses me on the left cheek. “Angie Dutton.” She kisses me on my right cheek. “Remember me,” she says, almost near tears. We share a deep long kiss. I wrap my arms around her in a hug. I then spin her around slowly, all the while transfixed on her eyes, so that our views are reversed. I’m standing with my back to the counter And she’s where I was a moment ago.

“Remember me”, she says one last time before she unwraps herself from me. She looks at me for a moment longer, then turns to go.

“WAIT! Don’t go!” Stammering, I try to make my point, all the while watching her back as she is leaving. “I’ll remember you, I swear. But I want to know more. You’re the reason I’m here….wherever ‘here’ is! STOP!”

She stops walking toward the door.

“Just turn around. Let me see your face one more time,” I ask, my voice almost breaking.

She turns around and looks at me without saying a word. She flashes me a smile then takes the sunglasses from atop her head. She puts them on and blows me a dramatic kiss before stepping out into the pitch black night.

I stand there, stunned for a moment. Then I run for the door. I make my way outside and the cold knocks me back. I can’t see anything. She’s gone. There’s no car, no sound of her boots on the frozen ground. She’s disappeared.

Was she an apparition? Was she a twisted tattooed angel? I’ll probably never know.

But I’ll always remember Angie Dutton.

___________________________

[Story is almost completely from a dream I had early on Friday 05.13.11. Text was transcribed early in the morning on 05.14.11. This post was written using iPad, with final edits done using my PC before posting.]

Thanks for reading,
–Barry

The first thing I noticed about Mister Heisler, or as I always knew him, Kurt’s dad, was his booming voice. When he laughed, he truly filled the room. He had a strong presence and reminded me of Bill Kurtis, who was a host of many TV programs on A&E.

Kurt was one of Mister Heisler’s sons. More importantly, Kurt became one of my very closest friends during my senior year in high school (1992). The two of us were part of a group that we dubbed The Hearts Club, which also included high school pals Tony and Patrick. Sometimes Jenne, Becca and Kim would join in the fun, but more often than not, it was simply the four of us.

One night in the summer of 1993, The Hearts Club gathered for a very special evening, even if none of us knew it at the time. Whereas most nights when we arrived at the Heisler house, we would exchange hellos and small talk with Kurt’s parents, on this night, The Hearts Club would have a new honorary member.

I’m not sure who had the idea of asking Kurt’s dad William to sit in on our card game. It may have been his wife, Dotty, it may have even been Kurt. I do remember that it didn’t take much convincing for us to deal in a fifth player. Before the game however, we were treated to a host of card tricks and sleight of hand, with Mr. Heisler holding court, having fun showing tricks to Kurt’s friends, even though I guessed that Kurt had seen these over and over again for years.

Most memorably though, Mr. Heisler laughed loudly and heartily.

The game was fun and I remember all of us having a good time. I don’t recall who actually won at hearts that nite, only that it wasn’t me (I hardly ever won). That’s unimportant though. As we left Kurt’s house that night, everyone said “we must do this again sometime”.

But we never did.

I only knew William Heisler in the snippets of daily life that Kurt would share when we hung out all the time, and from that one might around a card table. Not surprisingly though, he made a lasting impression on me that I never forgot.

So long Mr.Heisler. You will be missed and remembered by many.

If you wish, make a donation to the American Cancer Society in memory of William Heisler.

Thanks for reading,
Barry

Now playing at Richmond’s Firehouse Theatre is Bruce Graham’s ‘Something Intangible’ the somewhat fictionalized telling of the Disney brother’s life story. Instead of Mickey Mouse, there’s Petey Pup. Instead of ‘Fantasia’, here we have ‘Grandioso’, and instead of Walt and Roy Disney, we have Tony and Dale Winston. Tony is almost maniacal in his wish to just ‘get it right’, no matter if it means going thousands of dollars over budget and weeks past a deadline. Dale, the older brother and the ‘dime a dozen account’, wants to help his brother achieve his artistic dreams, he just wishes it could be done on budget.

The brother’s differences are clearly defined. Tony [Adrian Rieder] is almost like a pinball onstage, bouncing around his small office, climbing tables and chairs, doing whatever it takes to express the vision that he sees in his head, struggling to prove to his cautious brother that he has an idea for a full length film that will give him the respect he so craves and needs.

Billy Christopher Maupin, as Dale, gives one of the most subtle, understated and wondrous performances I have seen in quite a while. He says more with an aching look or a heavy sigh than some actors say with a two page monologue.

If an achingly subtle performance isn’t enough to pique your interest in this production, fear not. There are plenty of laughs. Frank Creasy appears in a dual role, one being the studio exec who must approve the financing for Tony’s crazy film that has classical music and almost no dialogue, Creasy’s other role as the gregarious Austrian conductor Meyerhoff is the real crowd pleaser though. Meyerhoff dominates the second act and provides much needed comic relief before things get overwrought or too dark.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Lauren Leinhaas-Cook as Sonia, Dale’s analyst, a movie lover who dares Dale to admit how he really feels about his brother. Jay Welch plays Leo, an up and coming animator on Tony’s staff. Tony berates Leo at almost every turn, painting the genius in a none too flattering light.

My one quibble with this play is with the script. It’s obvious that this is about Disney, but, where is the line drawn between fact and fiction? I wish the story delved a bit deeper and dealt with some of the darker tendencies that drove Disney. That would have been a very intriguing path to send these characters down, but the script only hints at those topics slightly, and then it quickly moves on to the next laugh.

The script leaves a bit to be desired, but the cast are the reason to see this production during this final weekend. Maupin proves that less can be oh so much more, and Creasy’s Meyerhoff proves that more can be just right.

_______________

Something Intangible, directed by Bill Patton. At The Firehouse Theatre Thursday April 14 thru Saturday April 16. Ticket info here.

–Barry
04.11.11

This will not be your average review, but then Lady GaGa is not your average artist, so I think that’s fitting. What follows is a bit of background on how exactly I became a GaGa fan, and then the complete story of how I went from having a normal week to, just 48 hours later, being part of a sold out crowd at one of the most unique shows I will ever see. So, here’s that story, in four parts.

Part I: Prologue. Spin that record baby…

In 2007, I became a member of The Police online fan club in order to get tickets to their reunion tour. Once that tour wrapped up in August 2008, the fan club sent out DVDs that were ‘fan club exclusives’, with behind the scenes footage, some live snippets and such, of The Police Reunion Tour. It was a very good DVD. At the end of that documentary, the DVD included music videos by four bands. I don’t recall who the other three artists were, but one of those four videos [it may have even been the last of the four] was Lady GaGa’s ‘Just Dance’. As I watched, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, or her. Is she a singer? Is she simply a dancer for the video? Who is this? Damn that song is catchy! All of those thoughts ran thru my head as I watched the video, then watched it again…and again.

In February 2009, I was out with my friends Jenne, Jesi, and Matt. While Jenne and Jesi were off looking for something, Matt and I struck up a conversation about Lady GaGa, who had just announced a show in Richmond. I said I really liked ‘Just Dance’ but I didn’t have her CD yet. Matt said ‘The rest of the album is really really good. You should get it.’ By the next day, I downloaded her debut ‘The Fame’ and, by the end of that week, I bought a ticket to her Richmond show. So, in no small way, I have Matt Koval to thank for making me a fan of GaGa. Thanks Matt. Once again, you were right on the mark, and way ahead of the curve.

Fast forward two years. A few days ago, [February 15] Jesi found herself in Richmond unexpectedly so we met for dinner after I got off work. I had not seen her in months, so it was great to reconnect with her and catch up. One of the first things she said as I sat down was, ‘Okay, if GaGa plays within 100 miles of where I live, you have to go with me, deal?’ ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I had tried to see her September 2010 show in Charlottesville but couldn’t get a ride, so I’ll see GaGa with you, absolutely.’

Completely by chance on Monday night this week, I went on Pollstar.com to check tour dates for a few artists. I checked upcoming dates for Lady GaGa, not expecting her to be on tour. [I thought the Monster Ball Tour ended in late 2010]. Not only was she on tour, she was playing DC on Thursday! That’s Thursday this week! I thought about it for a minute. It’s gonna be sold out, so that means second market tickets [Stub Hub, Craigslist etc.]. Jesi probably won’t be able to afford it. Hell, can I afford it? Ah well, I’ll ask her but I doubt seriously we’ll be able to make this happen.

I sent Jesi a message via Facebook, fully expecting a reply of ‘That would be cool, but too short notice, I have to work, I’m out of town, it’s too expensive…’ and that would be the end of it. Instead I got a reply of ‘Cool LET’S GO, and I CAN AFFORD IT!!’ So, the search began in earnest on Tuesday morning for GaGa tickets.

Jesi found some cheaper than I was able to. They were well above face value, but they didn’t break the bank either. So, we had our tickets. I looked into how I was gonna find a way up to DC. That’s when I found out all I could about MegaBus.

Part II: Journey to DC. Don’t be scared, I’ve done this before…

I found out MegaBus goes to DC from Richmond seven times a day. I bought a ticket leaving at 1:50 Thursday afternoon, arriving in DC at four, and a return ticket to Richmond leaving very early Friday morning. Total price round trip was $12.50. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was willing to sacrifice some comfort for a trip by myself to DC, especially to see Jesi and GaGa.

Jesi suggested she meet me and we just hang out in the city rather than going back to her house in Arlington before the show. So, I wasn’t going to be at a house until after the Lady GaGa show, which meant I was going to pack the lightest I ever have for an overnite trip: Toothbrush, wallet, phone, bus ticket and concert ticket. I didn’t even bring my iPod because I didn’t want to have to worry about storing my noise canceling headphones while at the show. Didn’t take a book for the same reason. It was a true first for me, and I found not having baggage of any kind sort of liberating.

The bus actually arrived in DC a little early. It was a great trip in a very clean bus with excellent staff. I cannot recommend them enough for an inexpensive east coast trip. The bus stop was in the heart of DC’s Chinatown, so I crossed the street and waited for Jesi at Starbucks. Within twenty minutes, Jesi arrived, and the fun was about to begin.

We went to the Spy Museum since we had some time to kill before the doors opened at The Verizon Center, but the admission price was twenty bucks, plus, I didn’t want to have to rush through the museum if we were pressed for time, so we decided against it.

So, we decided to move to Plan B: Drinks!

We walked to Gordon Biersch, a very upscale appearing restaurant. Feeling a bit under dressed in jeans, [me, not Jesi. She looked great in a purple crushed velvet dress] we stayed because they had begun their happy hour. Jesi got an appletini, I got a whiskey sour since the waiter couldn’t guarantee they had Grey Goose vodka available [I didn’t want to chance it] and we talked over drinks. I was also hoping to catch up with two other dear friends I knew would be at the GaGa show, Kurt and Sarah. I’ve known Kurt since high school and I’ve always had a lot in common with Sarah, especially when it comes to music. The fact that Kurt, who only listened to 60s era music, folk and singer songwriter genre things when we were in high school was now a huge fan of Lady GaGa and attending his second show with Sarah…that kind of blew my mind, but then, I don’t think the me from 1992 would expect to see me at a show like this either. People change. I knew Kurt and Sarah were gonna be at this show because Sarah won tickets from a radio station in Baltimore. Only thing was, her tickets were at Will Call so, she wouldn’t know where she was sitting until around 6 that evening and, with the floor area being General Admission, I knew that if her seats were on the floor, we wouldn’t see her as she would spend the time before the doors to the venue opened waiting in line with the other ‘monsters’, prepping for a mad rush to the floor area and staking out a spot.

Around six, Jesi and I decided to order dinner, and soon after, I got a text from Sarah, ‘We’re here [at the venue]. GA!’ I knew that meant her seats were on the floor, so we wouldn’t meet up before the show. Maybe after.

Just after seven, Jesi and I paid the check and made our way to Verizon Center. If I didn’t know where to go, it would have been easy to find my way: Simply follow the ones in wigs, leather and heels.

Part III: The Monster Ball. That girl is a monster…

I must mention a word or two about the opener, Scissor Sisters. I didn’t even know they were on the bill until Sarah told me on Wednesday so, it was a nice bonus. I had heard of them when they co-wrote some songs with Elton John for a program on the IFC channel, but I wasn’t very familiar with their catalog. After a few songs, Jesi and I were saying they reminded us of Human League, Thompson Twins…very 80s euro-pop sounding stuff. Then on song four, Jesi leaned in and said ‘ERASURE!!’ ‘That’s it!‘ I said back. They are the 21st Century version of Erasure. I mean that as a compliment. They were fun, high energy and a great warm up for the madness about to descend.

After about a forty minute set from Scissor Sisters, they left the stage. In a peculiar move, the house lights never came up past a dim glow, so it was still very dark in the arena as the crews prepared GaGa’s set behind curtains. Jesi and I were in section 416 on the upper level, stage right. It ended up being a great view. You could see the full stage and also had a great view of the screens so you could see the closeups. The pre-show music that played before Lady GaGa took the stage was all Michael Jackson, which was a nice flashback. Hearing the bass line from ‘Billie Jean’ pulsating through an arena made me smile.

Then…the Monster Ball began.

After an intro featuring on screen black and white images, GaGa sang ‘Dance in the Dark’ completely in silhouette. It was a striking effect and had the legions of fans screaming, even though no one had actually ‘seen’ GaGa yet.

Before we go any further, here is the set list:

1.Intro

2.Dance in the Dark
3.Glitter and Grease
4.Just Dance
5.Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
6.The Fame
7.LoveGame
8.Happy Birthday
9.Boys Boys Boys
10.Money Honey
11.Telephone
12.You and I
13.So Happy I Could Die
14.Monster
15.Teeth
16.Alejandro
17.Poker Face
18.Paparazzi
Encore:
19.Bad Romance
20.Born This Way

Lady GaGa is an artist truly made for the ‘big’ stage. She has the presence to hold an audience’s attention, no matter if they are in the front row, or up in the nosebleeds. When she is onstage, all eyes are on her…and she knows it! She made a point of saying she doesn’t lip sync, and would never lip sync. That’s true when it comes to her lead vocals, but her background vocals are sampled from the albums. which I really have no issue with. She has a great, commanding voice. The use of sampled background vocals simply helps flesh out the song.

This show is for grown ups. I say that not from a prudish point of view, just as a statement. I saw many young pre-teen girls in attendance with parents and, while on the one hand, Lady GaGa can be, and is, a very positive voice of Independence and acceptance for young women to look up to, I am not sure if I would want a twelve year old watching some of the more than suggestive choreography, or hearing some of the banter concerning sex. Yes, Madonna did similar things years ago, but Lady GaGa takes it to another level. I don’t mean that as a negative thing at all, I think it’s great that she is so direct and up front about a usually taboo subject. I just think that this is a show for grown ups.

She’s known primarily as a dance/techno artist and, those songs were present in abundance, but I really think Lady GaGa is at her best when she is at her piano belting out a ballad, whether it’s ‘Brown Eyes’ from her debut CD, ‘The Fame’, ‘Speechless’ from 2009’s ‘The Fame Monster or the new song she played Thursday night, ‘You and I’. I am usually not a fan of an artist playing something that the crowd doesn’t know yet in concert. I want to hear songs I know, not the new stuff you’re working on that’s not out yet. However, I was impressed by this new song and her passionate performance. And, just in case you think the word ‘ballad’ equals ‘boring’, the song ended with her piano turned into a fire pit!

The costume changes were numerous. Some were done right onstage, some were done offstage while a movie played, or her band played an extended solo. I give her credit for keeping the audience interested while she wasn’t onstage. I must add that her backing band is basically a heavy metal outfit. They were very impressive and gave some of the dance numbers a heavy metal flavor.

Case in point: The song ‘Teeth’ from ‘The Fame Monster’ album. never really resonated with me on record. It wasn’t bad, but it was not a song that I revisited often on the iPod. In concert however, ‘Teeth’ was a center piece for GaGa and her guitarist. to perform a Robert Plant/Jimmy Page type call and response. It was unexpected, and it was absolutely riveting. GaGa writhing around the stage in a black bikini screaming ‘Show me your teeth!!’ and her guitarist answering with a screaming riff.

Then came the highlight of the night for me: Alejandro.

When it comes to GaGa, in my book, I think her best work, the piece of music that people will be playing fifty years from now and dissecting, is ‘Bad Romance.’ It’s a pop music masterpiece. ‘Alejandro’ was the followup single to ‘Bad Romance’ and, when I bought The Fame Monster, I liked ‘Alejandro, but it was no ‘Bad Romance’ in my book. Seeing it live in concert has changed my opinion of that song considerably.

The imagery used onstage for ‘Alejandro’ was a huge Christ statue. Okay, yeah, Madonna did this on the ‘Like A Prayer’ video. Seen it. No big deal. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the statue started bleeding. I’m not talking about a slight drip of blood, it started gushing blood! GaGa’s neck, chest and midriff were suddenly covered in fake red blood…and I stood there [I stood for the entire show] awestruck. ‘This is almost like a fucking KISShow!’ I said out loud though I knew no one heard me. I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. Jesi, being very catholic, I wasn’t sure if she was uncomfortable for clearly enjoying this moment that must have seemed almost sacrilege, or if she felt guilty for liking it, but I was floored.

‘That was pretty incredible!’ I said to Jesi after the song ended. I think Jesi’s response was ‘Wow!’

I’m not sure where the picture below was taken, but it was one I found on the Internet that came closest to the image I saw. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I could simply put this picture up as my only comment about the show and be done with it.

If you’re a fan of spectacle, as I am, if you are a fan of GWAR, Alice Cooper or KISS, as I am, then you simply have to admire that image, and realize that the degrees of separation between KISS and GaGa are not very far at all. That was the overwhelming feeling I came away with at show’s end. Though the music is very different from most everything else I listen to, the reason I like GaGa so much is because she knows what she wants, she knows her fans, and she doesn’t care who she offends in the process, as long as her fans like it. That’s a page right out of the Gene Simmons Book of Rock, and I can’t help but love her for that.

After ‘Paparazzi’ ended, and the encores awaited, I wondered what the order of the encores would be. I knew we would hear ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Born This Way’ I just didn’t know what would come first. The fact that she closed the evening’s performance with ‘Born This Way’ didn’t surprise me, but it’s the only part of the evening I would’ve changed. It’s really hard to follow ‘Bad Romance’ with anything. ‘Born This Way’ isn’t a bad song, I just think it pales in direct comparison with her masterpiece ‘Bad Romance.’ She sang ‘Born This Way’ acapella for a verse and chorus. It was something she did when she ended her Richmond show with ‘Poker Face’ acapella before the dance beat returned and they played the version on the record. With ‘Born This Way’, I think the singers need to find their footing on the acapella portion, the harmonies were a bit unsure and I was really hoping the night wouldn’t end with this version of the song. I was not only happy when the dance intro to ‘Born This Way’ blared from the speakers, I was relieved.

The night ended with the reaffirming lyric of acceptance that is ‘Born This Way’, and then all of the little monsters made their way out into the night.

Jesi and I learned something upon our exit: The Verizon Center does not have a cab stand, so it’s basically up to you to flag one down. As we made our way outside, it was raining [leaving Richmond wearing my heavy coat was a good choice]. We attempted to grab a cab for about ten minutes before making our way to the Monaco Hotel, partly because Jesi’s aunt is a Vice President for the hotel chain, but primarily because it had an overhang that would get us out of the rain.

Jesi called Red Top Cab and, twenty minutes later, we were en route to her abode in Arlington. We had a drink of carbonated fruit juice, talked for a bit and finally, around one o’clock in the morning, we called it a night. She showed me to my room, I popped a Benadryl [she has two cats, and I am allergic] and I slept for a bit.

See, because I am slightly crazy, or maybe just way too dedicated to my job, I was catching a 6:30am bus back to Richmond that morning.

Part IV: Journey Home. I’m kinda busy…

At 5:00am, I heard Jesi’s alarm sound from across the hall, and I was up. We both looked and felt like, well, like we had gotten about three hours sleep. We left her house at 5:30, stopped off at 7-11 so I could buy breakfast [a Pepsi and a honeybun] and made it to the bus stop by 6:00. Since Starbucks was not even open yet, Jesi had to double park so we said our goodbyes in the rain at the bus stop. Thanks again Jesi for rising so early to make sure I got home okay. After Jesi and her car, whom she refers to as Rupert, parted, I waited in the rain for the bus to arrive.

My bus arrived around 6:20. I boarded, quickly ate my honeybun, had a few gulps of the Pepsi, and then promptly closed my eyes, intent on sleeping for the ride home. I remember the bus leaving the DC bus station, and I remember peaking out to see the sunrise sometime after seven, but I didn’t really wake up until I looked up to see Richmond’s minor league ballpark, The Diamond. And it was only 8:13! My ticket said that the bus would be arriving around 8:50, so I knew my mom, who was meeting me to drive me right to work, would not have left the house yet. I texted her, ‘Passing the Diamond!’ Then I called her to make sure she knew I would be at the outdoor stop across from Main Street Station way ahead of schedule.

My bus arrived around 8:20, and shortly after 8:30, mom arrived. On the ride to work, I changed clothes. That was a first. My work bag was in the backseat from Thursday afternoon and, I had the forethought to put deodorant and a brush in the bag that morning so I would have it on Friday. As I exited the car, I did a check in the mirror to make sure I looked somewhat presentable and not like I had been on a bus since before sunrise.

By 9:15 I was at my desk and working, wired and getting stuff accomplished. I had a very productive day, especially considering it started in a different city and I was running solely on adrenaline and caffeine.

Admittedly, I did find my way to bed before 10:00 Friday night, and caught up on sleep. All the while, the images from the previous twenty four hours danced around my head.

To Jesi, thank you so much for being part of this wonderful adventure. Thanks for hosting me and making sure I got to my bus home on time. I hope we do something like this again soon!

To you dear reader, thank you for reading this true tale. If you take nothing else away from this story, know that when GaGa is in your town, you don’t want to miss her! It’s a truly unique and unforgettable experience; one that left me ‘Speechless.’

–Barry
02.26.11

No sooner did I mention that I had not seen any shows yet this year, then the calendar suddenly starts to fill up. The fun starts this week:

Thursday night [February 10] I will be returning to my high school to see an original production entitled “This Moves Me”

This play, so I have been told, focuses on music, so when I got a postcard mailer last week I was at the very least intrigued. I wasn’t sure I would be able to work out transportation, but things all came together and I am genuinely looking forward to what this original piece is all about, Plus, it gives another chance to see my friend and high school Drama teacher Baugher once again. So it should be a fun evening.

After that, on Friday nite I will be seeing the one and only David Allen Coe at The Hat Factory with Eddie. I just found out about this show last week, and after checking with the staff of the venue to make sure they have some sort of handicapped seating for this standing room only show, [they do], I bought tickets and I really can’t wait for a rowdy, loud good time.

On Saturday [February 12] I will be seeing Godspell. This is a play that Midlothian High performed the year after I graduated. I saw it then but don’t recall very much. I’ve heard some great things about the cast, plus seeing the show with some great people will make for a fun evening.

A bit further down the road: On May 15 I will be seeing The Flaming Lips here in town at The National. I saw them in 2007 at The NorVa and they were amazing. Truly they are one of the few bands on par with KISS when it comes to putting on a spectacle.I don’t know if tickets are still left, but if there are still some available, BUY ONE!! This is a show you do not want to miss! I read that for the band’s 05.19 show in Atlanta, they will be performing the entire ‘Soft Bulliten’ album. No news on if something similar will happen for the Richmond show, but it does promise to be F-U-N!!

Last week I bought two tickets to see Taylor Swift in Washington, DC August 3rd. She’s playing two shows [starting August 2nd] at Verizon Center. Both shows sold out within two hours and, I’ve read that there is talk of adding a third show for August 4th. Ticket prices are priced about one-third higher than they were for her tour last year, but that doesn’t matter. These tickets are still going so fast that most fans are forced to use StubHub to buy tickets at three and four times face value. On the one hand, I am happy that the presale password for her tickets is available for free when you join her email list, but on the other hand, I wish you could pay a bit more than face value to be guaranteed a good seat. That’s another discussion for another day.

So I will be busy this weekend, seeing some theatre and hearing some classic country tunes. Reviews will be posted soon.

Thanks for reading.
Barry

Hello. It’s been a while since I last wrote something here. That was in early December. After that came the mad rush that was ‘The Holidaze’ and then after that was the month of January, famously my profession’s busiest month of the year. So, most nights over the past month, I have arrived home from work tired and exhausted. hoping something on television could hold my interest for a bit, never even thinking about the energy required to write. I think that mood has passed though, and now I decided to post some musings on what has happened so far in 2011.

* On Sunday January 2, Eddie and I attended the Redskins season finale against the New York Giants. We had great upper level seats that gave you a full view of the field. As usual, the Skins found a way to lose a game that they could’ve won, but nonetheless, Eddie and I had a great time, despite the performance on the field and the fact that for the last hour of the game our limbs were complete blocks of ice/

I had a great time, and Eddie wants to do it again next season. We might, although I still believe that football is a game best watched on your couch with instant replay and a beverage in hand [that doesn’t cost eight dollars]. We’ll do it again, only next time, we’ll shoot for September/October instead of January.

* I don’t usually write here about work, but I want to take a second to state, for the record, that my boss is one of my favorite people, and that I truly admire and enjoy those whom I work with. This month has been crazy, as expected. The friends I work with help keep me sane and allow me to look forward to coming to work everyday to face whatever challenges may lay in wait.

*Keith Olbermann was fired by MSNBC. I’m still bummed about this and I really miss his show. I hope he lands somewhere soon.

* The Decemberists released a new album this month, ‘The King Is Dead’, and much to my dismay, it is currently number one on the Billboard Album Chart [The Top 200]. Congrats to them on a great album and on reaching #1! They are on tour right now, but so far no dates in Virginia. Hopefully when the weather warms up they add some more dates and I’ll go see them.

* Speaking of shows and tours, I haven’t seen any shows yet this year. Not really much out there that interests me at the moment. I am seeing both of Taylor Swift’s shows in Atlanta in July, and I plan on seeing one of her shows in DC n August, but I’ll write much more about that later. Eddie and I had talked about seeing Brad Paisley in Roanoke next month, but it’s on a weekday, and it is a long drive for one show so, that idea never really got past the talking stage. Anyway, when I start seeing shows, I’ll write about them here.

* One thing I have done several times this month is go to the movies, so here are some mini-reviews of what I have seen.

   True Grit — Saw this New Year’s Eve afternoon. Very enjoyable film. Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon get top billing, but the true star of this movie is Hailee Steinfeld, as Mattie Ross. I was thrilled when I read that she received an Oscar nom for her role. Much deserved. I’ll be rooting for her.

   The Fighter — Probably the most realistic depiction of boxing I’ve seen since Raging Bull. Christian Bale is a tour de force and is at times very tough to watch on screen. If you enjoy an underdog story without sap, this is a must see. Nicest surprise of this movie was seeing Melissa Leo [someone I enjoyed when I first saw her on the TV show ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ in the early 1990s] be completely transformed into mom Alice Ward. Stellar cast and a fantastic story.

   The King’s Speech — OK, I am going out on a limb here and say that the cast and writers of this film will wear out a path between their Oscar seats and the podium come Oscar night. Colin Firth once again embodies a role so well that I forgot it was him onscreen. Some moviegoers are turned off by British films, and I really don’t know why. This film has no explosions, no violence, no sex, but what is does have is a great script, a cast of A-List actors and, like The Fighter, it’s a true story. A great film that I probably will see again before Oscar night, just because it is that good. Thanks to Dana and Annette for seeing this movie with me. The company helped make for a fantastic movie-going experience.

   Black Swan — Whereas the other movies I mentioned are truly no-brainers when it comes to Oscar nods, Black Swan is something different. It is a very intense psychotic thriller that you are either going to love and never forget [that’s how I feel] or you’re truly not going to understand and wonder aloud why this film is up for eight Oscars [that’s how the other eight people who were in the theatre when I saw the film felt, and their snickering and loud protests made their feelings no secret]. I was mesmerized by this disturbing portrayal by Natalie Portman of a dancer’s battle with her inner demons. Those of you who know me know that I have liked Mila Kunis since I saw her on That 70s Show, and in this film, she leaves no doubt that she is going to be a breakout movie star. Black Swan is definitely not for everyone, but if you enjoy thrillers where the line between reality and madness is blurred, this is an unforgettable film.

So that’s my 2011 so far. I’m looking forward to the Super Bowl, NASCAR and, above all Baseball Season. There will be more posts about those things in the weeks to come.

Thanks as always for reading.
Barry

Author’s Note: I originally told this story to a few friends in an email in November 1995 when The Beatles Anthology was airing on ABC Television. That email is nowhere to be found, so I decided to rewrite the tale here, with another fifteen years of nostalgia and hindsight.

In the summer of 1979, I was about to turn six years old. In my six year old world, there were a few very important things that my world focused on: First of course were my parents and brother Brian; second was the band KISS. Apart from food, the list pretty much stopped there. I discovered KISS two years before, and I listened to all of the KISS albums I had up to that point, almost on a daily basis.

Summers when I was young always involved my grandparents. My brother and I always spent a week with my father’s parents while my mom and dad went on a small vacation of their own. My dad’s parents, Bill and Ocie Hall were extremely active for seniors, so they took my brother [who was almost four in summer 1979] and my cousin Henry [two years older than me] on day trips to Yorktown, Jamestown and several trips to ‘The Mall’. They did that last bit because my hometown of Staunton, Va didn’t really have a mall yet, and I know Henry’s home city of Amelia didn’t have a mall in 1979. They may not have even had a mall in 1989 but I’m not sure.

So, we had a fun week every year with Grandma and Granddaddy Hall because we were almost always busy. So busy in fact that my brother and I didn’t really have time to fight one another, something we used to do often when jockeying for space and attention.

Not as routinely, but usually for at least a few days every summer, my brother and I would spend time with my mother’s parents, Ruby and Jon Vaden. Whereas my dad’s parents were active, at this point in their lives, my mom’s parents had become very sedentary. They had their routine, and it usually involved a very early dinner, and then the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and that was followed by crime dramas. I remember Granddaddy Vaden liked Kojak, Columbo and the like.

What that meant for a soon to be six year old in a relatively large house with many bedrooms was that there was plenty of time to go exploring around the house, since my grandparents were going to be in the front room watching TV…and I knew even at that young age, that you did not dare interrupt Granddaddy Vaden while he was watching TV. Don’t misunderstand, I loved both sets of grandparents dearly, but since my mom’s parents were not nearly as active, it gave me an excuse to get into mischief.

One night that summer of 1979, I went upstairs in the house and went into what used to be my Aunt Dale’s bedroom when she was a child. It was the bedroom that was designated as mine during these summer visits, and, it was obvious that not much had changed since Dale used it as a bedroom. This is where I made a truly life-changing discovery.

Keep in mind that, wherever I went, if I was going to be spending the night, I took along my record player and several albums and 45s. That summer, I was listening to KISS’ latest record, Dynasty. I spent many hours listening and staring at this album cover:

While that record played in the background, I found a yellow round foot stool. Since it didn’t have a back, I couldn’t use it as a chair, even though I tried. Me being my normally clumsy self, I fell off the stool. I fell one way, the stool fell over on its side in the opposite direction. The fall didn’t scare me, I was more than used to falling. What did surprise me though was that, when the stool fell, I heard something rattling around inside. So. the obvious next move was to remove the top –even though I didn’t have anyone’s permission to do so–to see what was inside.

Waiting inside this nondescript foot stool were about seven or eight 45s by this band called The Beatles. I had no idea who the band was, I didn’t know the titles…all I knew was that in my hand was undiscovered music! The first single I picked up was ‘Twist And Shout / There’s A Place on the Tollie label. I put on ‘Twist and Shout’. I picked it, if I’m being honest, because it had ‘Shout’ in the title, like one of my favorite KISS songs, ‘Shout It Out Loud.’

As the needle dropped and the record spun, my world opened up, and my life changed forever.

I think I played Twist and Shout three or four times before turning the single over to listen to There’s A Place, which is still one of my favorites. Before I go any further, here’s a list of the singles that I found that evening. I think I have most of the A and B sides matched up right, but my memory may be wrong on some.

*Twist And Shout /There’s A Place
*Please Please Me/ From Me To You
*I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There
*Help!/I’m Down
*Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is
*We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper
*Ballad of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe

These 45s were in pretty good shape, considering when I found them, some had been in a foot stool for 15 years. All of them had some pops and crackles, but none skipped. The only record that was warped badly was ‘Ballad of John and Yoko’ and that was okay. I was too young to know what the lyrics were describing and it wasn’t as catchy on first listen as the songs I would later find out came to make up ‘Beatlemania’. Some of the records had the letters ‘DV’ in pencil on the label, circled. That let me know that these records were my aunt Dale’s, and she bought them when she was only just a few years older than I was at the moment I found them. Add to this the fact that, when I was all of three years old, she let me listen to her ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ and Steve Miller records and, it’s no wonder she’s always been the person I call ‘My Cool Aunt’, because as much as I love my other relatives, she really was the only older influence in my life that ‘got’ rock and roll, and I wanted to tap into that as much as possible. That understanding all came as I grew up. When I was that young though, she was just ‘cool’, and that needed no further explanation.

I played those records for the rest of my stay at grandma’s, and I think she was just happy to hear something besides KISS coming from my temporary bedroom. On my last morning there, as I was awaiting my parents’ arrival, I began packing up my record player and began stowing the Beatles 45s back in the foot stool. As I was doing this, grandma stuck her head in the bedroom and said, ‘You know those records you found? You can take them home if you want. All they’ve been doing is sitting there for years. You can have ’em.’

I couldn’t thank her fast enough. That small gesture remains one of the most important moments of my life, and one of the best ‘gifts’ anyone has ever bestowed upon me. I saw Granddaddy Vaden in the kitchen as I was getting ready to leave. I don’t remember him being very talkative, but as I sat at the kitchen table with him that morning he said simply, ‘I’m glad you like the records,’ and left it at that. I know that I saw him again during Christmas 1979, but that’s the last conversation that I have in my head. He died in April 1980.

When my parents arrived I couldn’t wait to tell them about this new group I discovered, and please be careful taking the records because none of them have sleeves and please don’t scratch them because they don’t skip…

By this age of almost six, I was already a drummer, having started on my mom’s kitchen pots and pans and by 1977 graduating to a paper drum kit. So, once Dad realized I was now into The Beatles, he called me Ringo for weeks. Once we got back home to Staunton that night, dad showed me a song book called ‘Meet The Beatles.’ It was a songbook for guitar and piano of The Beatles first US album, complete with pull out ‘info cards and pictures’ of the band, all still in tact and in near mint condition. Dad never used it because he played accordion and well, even he admitted that most of The Beatles stuff didn’t sound that good on accordion. He gave me the book later that summer. It’s still one of my prized possessions, and still in near mint condition.

I think for my birthday in September 1980, I got a vinyl copy of Rubber Soul [US Version]. Apart from that, The Beatles to me were still those six unwarped 45s, and, as singles go, that’s a pretty great foundation to begin discovering a band. I wasn’t really in a hurry to find out everything The Beatles did yet, I was happy with those songs and I loved those songs. I think my dad knew that as I got older, I would explore their music more in depth, but he didn’t force it on me. It was a great, wonderful time.

My morning ritual in elementary school involved my mom coming in my room to wake me up, and then setting out my clothes for the school day. As I lifted my head to start my day on the morning of December 9, mom said quietly ‘John Lennon was killed last night.’ It didn’t register at first, then she added, ‘of The Beatles.’

That’s when it felt like I had been slapped in the face.

I ran to my dresser and looked at the song book and pointed at his face on the songbook cover and asked ‘That one? He’s the one who…’ Mom nodded so I didn’t finish the sentence. I don’t remember crying at that moment, but I do remember just wondering why.

When I got to school, everything seemed normal and so I fell into my routine. When you’re in second grade, sometimes being able to forget is a nice attribute. It wasn’t until lunch time, when the second and third graders went to the cafeteria, that the morning’s news affected my school day. I remember seeing a teacher crying at her lunch table. I went up to her and without even saying hello I asked her, ‘Are you crying because of The Beatle who was killed last night?’ She looked up at me and said ‘Yes, how do you know about The Beatles?’ ‘I have some of there records and I like them,’ I said.

I’m sure that we said more to each other, but that’s what I still remember. I remember feeling very grown up because I was one of the few who knew why most of the grown ups in my world were upset that day. It’s a feeling I’ve never forgotten.

It’s been thirty years since that day. That’s hard to believe. Since that day, I’ve lost all my grandparents and my father. But there’s something about that day, December 8, every year, that still feels like a slap in the face and, for a moment, I’m still that kid walking around the lunch room. Maybe it’s because I was so young when it happened. I mean, the previous April I had been to my Granddaddy Vaden’s funeral, but that loss didn’t resonate with me simply because I was not old enough to ‘get to know’ my grandfather as more than just the man in the easy chair watching Kojak. But with John Lennon, I had heard his voice on record every day for fifteen months. I never knew him as a person, and I would always have the records, but the fact that he was now suddenly gone…that was probably my first lesson that not only old people die. Anyone can die, at any time.

I’ve seen the movies, read the books and of course bought all the records, so now I know a lot about John Lennon. On this anniversary, I will play his music, remember my grandparents, and remember the sheer euphoria of hearing that opening riff and Lennon’s “Well shake it up baby now…’ for the first time.

Very few moments in life will ever top that.

 In the summer of 1994, my mother and her family were going through my grandmother’s estate. Aunt Dale and I were up in the bedroom where she used to sleep as a child, and where I discovered The Beatles through her 45s. She said out loud to no one as we were going through some boxes in a closet, ‘Ya know, that foot stool over there…there used to be some records in there. I wonder whatever happened to them.’

‘I have no idea Aunt Dale, I wish I did.’

Thanks for reading, and special thanks to Aunt Dale. I still have your records…and you can’t have ’em back! 😉

‘There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed…’

–Barry
12.07.10

I ask your indulgence in advance.

I think it’s finally over. Meaning, I finally truly believe I am ‘over’ The Girl [first mentioned in this blog here and then more recently here.

Let me explain.

There was a time in the not too distant past when my world revolved around any sort of communication the two of us had. Even if it was an all too brief phone call, or a text message, or, on all too rare occasions, an actual visit. For a long while she was the fuel that ran my day. She probably never knew this, or at least she probably didn’t know the extent of how often her face and voice were in the center of my thoughts.

She was, and still is, an incredible woman. That fact will never change. She just no longer spins my world, or sends me running to the phone when the message notification buzzer sounds off. I can now go weeks, even months without ‘needing’ to text her, or hear from her. Had someone told me that would happen as recent as Summer 2009, I would have never dreamed it was possible.

But it is.

The Girl sent me a text the other day, out of the blue. She’s graduating in early December. And, if she happens to be reading this [which is highly unlikely, given her reaction to the only other piece of mine I know she’s read], I want to say sincerely that she has earned any and all success that comes her way. She went back to school four years ago and now, after many long nights and nervous days, she’s about to graduate. I mean it when I say that is an incredibly awesome feat and I am very proud of her, as I have always been.

I’m also proud of myself. This book is ‘finally..no, really’ closed for good. After many lessons learned and a few regrets, I’m happy to report that the bruised ego is healing and the wounds are beginning to scar over.

For all that it was, and all that it wasn’t, I learned a hell of a whole lot. And, since I’m in a good mood, I’ll close with a lyric that seems to sum up how I feel about all of it tonite: ‘I’m the greatest lover that you never had, [and for that] I’m just about glad.’

Thanks for reading this, and to a few of you, thanks for listening to me talk…and talk…and talk about The Girl through the years. It meant a lot at the time, and it still does.

–Barry