The Observation Deck

Going back to my old life style ... get up in the morning; shit/shower/shave; eat breakfast;off to work ... then back home; have dinner with my lovely bride; relax in our comfy chairs to watch "Dancing With the Stars;" then off to bed. (repeat.)(repeat.)(repeat.)(repeat.)(repeat.)

It's been an interesting 13 months here. Enjoyed meeting a lot wonderful people ... some of you will be lifelong friends. But it's really time to put my head back up my ass.

See you around town. Drop by the LOBC Kauffman Park hoops any Wednesday evening if you want to chat.

Peter Grossetti wrote:Going back to my old life style ... get up in the morning; shit/shower/shave; eat breakfast;off to work ... then back home; have dinner with my lovely bride; relax in our comfy chairs to watch "Dancing With the Stars"

Peter--

You are dancing with the stars.

"Then can I walk beside you? 
I have come here to lose the smog, 
And I feel to be a cog in something turning.

Well maybe it is just the time of year, 
Or maybe it's the time of man. 
I don't know who I am, 
But you know life is for learning.

We are stardust. 
We are golden. 
And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. 

We are stardust.
Billion year old carbon.
We are golden..
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

And you know--

"We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun.
We all shine on. Everyone. Come on."

You are a great dancer.

Betsy Voinovich

Rumor has it that "Dancing With the Stars" (just like Big Time Pro TV Wrestling matches) is scripted and winners predetermined. Day-to-day life here in The Wood is not ... though some may argue that the "Lakewood winners" are, in deed, preordained!

Thus ... I'm back!


"Oh boy, is this great!"
http://youtu.be/arZdeg_fL-I

Peter Grossetti wrote:I'm back!

Welcome back, Peter!



Matt

Peter Grossetti wrote:Rumor has it that "Dancing With the Stars" (just like Big Time Pro TV Wrestling matches) is scripted and winners predetermined. Day-to-day life here in The Wood is not ... though some may argue that the "Lakewood winners" are, in deed, preordained!

Thus ... I'm back!


"Oh boy, is this great!"
http://youtu.be/arZdeg_fL-I

Peter---

This week has been so busy this is the first chance I've had to join Matt (and others) in saying Welcome Back! Lovely to see you here.

Yeah some dances are scripted, some outcomes are preordained and then some things are more like this. One, then two, then three then ten then forty then two hundred. Who knows how far it will go... or who will start the next song. Probably you.



Betsy Voinovich

Matt - 20 years ago I looked like John Sebastian's twin brother.

Betsy - from Arlo Gurthrie's "Alice Restaurant":
..."the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may
know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar
situation, and if your in a situation like that there's only one thing
you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are, just
walk in say "Shrink, You can get anything you want, at Alice's
Restaurant." And walk out. You know, if one person, just one
person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take
him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may
think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And
three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singing a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think
it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a
day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's
Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a
movement. And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-
Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the
next time it comes around on the guitar." (pronounced gee-tar)
((cue Gary Rice))

Always worth the 19 minutes.


.

Having met Arlo m'self through my adventures at the Rock Hall, and having had some good conversation with him regarding my restoration of his dad's mandolin, among other (chuckle) topics, I think he would be chuckling big time right about now.

In fact, since this wonderful 'Deck (AKA Jimmy's Little Ant Farm) was pretty much Jim O'Bryan's conception (with the help of his friends too, of course) AND since Jimmy, to those same friends has often been referred to as "Obie", I've sometimes thought that some sort of parallel to "Officer Obie" in Arlo's song is hard for me to not think about at times.

By the way, check out Arlo's new song "When A Soldier Makes It Home". You can tell that Woody's bloodline is still strong.

Go Arlo go!

As Woody said "Take it easy, but take it!"

I personally learned that philosophy from a man named Pete Seeger long ago.

Let no one ever............stop you, shut you up OR down, or put you down.

Keep at something long enough, and one day you'll turn around and discover that you've done pretty well for yourself, thanks to many, and NO thanks to many more.

But, you've DONE it anyway... one way or the other.

To paraphrase Arlo, maybe we DO have a movement here...

...and you thought I just played the banjo for fun here as a town jester?

Think again.

Back to the banjo....

or today? the GEE-TAR!

I do know a bit about that machine too.

Welcome back Peter. Keep the relay going here.

I was born and raised just a mile down the road from Alice and Ray Brock's "church".

Arlo formed The Guthrie Center there in 1991. http://guthriecenter.org/

The Guthrie Center’s mission is to bring individuals together for cultural, educational, and spiritual exchange. The Center is dedicated to meeting the ongoing needs of the community by working together with other non-profit agencies to serve those in need. In doing so we hope to create an environment where individuals can come together to cultivate a deeper awareness of culture, humanity and the environment of which we are all a part. It is dedicated to all those around the world who believe that there is one truth and infinite ways to approach it.

I always through it would be cool to start a chapter here in The Wood!

Gary - Officer Obie (Stockbridge, Mass. Police Chief William Obenheim) used to umpire some of our baseball games. More than 40 years later, I distinctly remember being at bat and smelling the alcohol on his breath as he called balls and strikes. (How's THAT for youth supervision!!?! and we all pretty much turned out OK! )

Peter:

I think you just DID start a chapter here.

I also think that this Observer Project pretty much aligns up well with the Guthrie Center's mission statement as well.

...and we called Jimmy "Obie"?

Karma? Serendipity?

Peter I also think that you just might have knocked the ball out of the park here.

I think that we just may have a movement indeed.

Back to the GEE-TAR.