Willie Nelson and Marty Stuart’s Guitars

One of the people who come to mind instantly when you say anything about country music or the Grand Old Opry is Marty Stuart. He has been a performer for over 40 years – it wouldn’t take long to look up and find out, but I don’t see the need to at this point. I think you get my drift.

Trigger since 1969
Willie Nelson’s Guitar – Trigger

I remember reading that he left home at a very young age to come to Nashville and play guitar. He looks great and I love the suit he is wearing in this photo! He seems to have a variety of electric and acoustic guitars, like a epiphone pro-1 ultra that he has been seen performing with. Not like Willie Nelson who only plays his one and only acoustic guitar who he has called Trigger since he got it back in 1969, if my memory serves me correctly. Trigger seems to have an interesting story behind it. If you are into Willie Nelson at all – it is an entertaining story that can be found all over the Internet. I use Wikipedia a lot even though I have been warned time and time again about trusting what you read there. But honestly I don’t trust anything 100% of what I read or hear anyway.

Uptown

The first time I heard this on the radio I knew that it was going to be a hit! It’s been out for several months now and I still get excited when I hear it played. How anyone can listen to this and not want to get up and dance, I’ll never know!

Sia – Chandelier Official Video

The official director’s cut for the 4 time Grammy nominated hit “Chandelier” directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler. I wish I could hit this note and carry it as well as she does. A girl can dream can’t she!

Look of The Year, Interesting Online Beauty Contest!

My oldest daughter has always been interested in modeling, she is a looker, all blond hair, green eyed, large busted and all. When she was real young, three and four years of age, I had her in several beauty pageants and she always either placed or would win 1st prize, that all seems so long ago now.

Through out the years she has been told numerous times by people that she should check into modeling and it always makes her feel good, but she just never has proceeded with it. But last night she found a website of a company called Look of The Year, which advertises a unique online beauty for anybody, not just a chosen few! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and anyone who surfs their site, world wide, has the opportunity to be a judge, and cast a vote for the one that they believe is the most beautiful.

Sounds interesting and I can see where she would get a charge out of participating in something like this, she is going to register and search for the perfect picture to submit. I’ll keep you posted in what takes place.

Reality Shows – A Bunch Of Nonsense

For the most part I don’t mind once in a while watching one of the many court room judge television shows, but I can tell you that I never, ever watch Divorce Court (how very depressing is that show) nor will I watch Judge Judy. That is one scary woman with a lot of attitude and a lot of power bestowed all onto one menopausal woman.  I can’t imagine allowing myself to be put on national television in front of God and everyone, to be belittled by this wacky woman and have her try my case for any reason what so ever.  As far as going on national television during a divorce, are you frigging nuts or what?

I don’t know anyone personally that has made an appearance or knows anyone who has. I can tell you that when and if I ever do I will have so many questions for them that I really want answers to. I have a relative, through marraige, who made an appearance on the Jerry Springer show about 5 years ago. I never got to see the episode, but hubby did and wasn’t impressed. It was all 100% nonsense. Our relative made the whole thing up and was urged to act “over the top” by the folks that got them on the show. That was a real eye opener as to what is really going on with many of these “reality shows” that people are enjoying more and more these days. I say that if you want to see what goes on in a court room, then get your butt down to your local courtroom and spend the day in the various courtrooms there!

Walmart

When The Eagles released their CD, Long Road Out of Eden, they did a special deal with Wal-Mart so that only Wal-Mart carried the CD. At first I thought it was clever of Wal-Mart to grab onto something practically guaranteed to be a big hit and use it to drive traffic to their stores. But later on I was reading web articles and realized that The Eagles were the ones who benefited from the exclusive distribution arrangement. What really happened is that the traditional record studios charge a ton of money for publishing, advertising and distributing music. That’s how they make their money and they make a lot. In the end, whatever other people make off your music is money that you, the artist, do not make. So by using Wal-Mart to handle the advertising and distribution, The Eagles could basically self-publish their music and keep a whole lot of the money for themselves. Sounds like a win-win situation for both of them.

You hear stories about how Wal-Mart comes to town and run the little companies out of business. Well, it looks like the mighty Wal-Mart has decided to grab even more of their money away from banks and record companies. Even though the Government told them that they cannot be a bank, they are doing everything a bank does inside of their stores – from cashing checks to credit cards and debit cards, and sending wire transfers of money out of the country and down to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and everywhere else the immigrants came from and want to send money back to their families.

Elton John in Vegas

My folks are leaving next Wednesday for Las Vegas to attend the big annual convention for my dad’s company. They always have the convention in Las Vegas and wives are encouraged to go, as they host events that couples can attend and they also leave large blocks of time for networking or spending time on the Strip. Dad wants to surprise my mom with tickets to a show that she thinks he does not want to see. He told me that the truth is he would like to see the Elton John show, but he wants her to think otherwise so he can surprise her. They are going to be in Vegas for the convention until Sunday, but my dad decided to stay an extra night and have some fun. So they have several nights there to fill with entertainment.

Since they go to this convention every year, they have already seen a lot of the big shows. The Elton John show is new and only there for a short time, so he wasn’t sure he could even get tickets. I told him about the web site that I used last time I was in Vegas, www.BestofVegas.com and that if he wants tickets, this is the best site for buying them. All the top shows in Vegas are listed on the site and you can read show reviews, see clips of the different performances, and buy your tickets online. Elton John is one of the biggest Las Vegas Shows booked this year, and my folks are lucky that the convention coincides with Elton John’s appearances. My mom has been a huge fan of Elton John since she was a kid. Her favorite song is “Candle in the Wind.” When she hears that on the radio it makes her think of Princess Diana’s accidental death and it makes her cry. I think any song that can make you cry is a great testament to the strength of the song.

Monk, Reduced To ReRuns

private eye  I have been enjoying for the past few years the show on the USA channel about this poor/blessed man called MONK.  I remember the actor playing a part on the sitcom WINGS which was based in a small airport in Nan Tuckett, what a difference in characters for the actor Tony Shalhoub to play.

I’ve watched the show so much that Hubby has even gotten a soft spot for the obsessive-compulsive detective and now our youngest and some of his friends enjoy watching him when they get a chance.

Come to find out that even both my sisters have been MONK fans and have even read some of the books, which have been passed down to me to read, still waiting on the last one, hint, hint, sis!

If you haven’t seen the show check it out……Even though they stopped filming a few years ago, there are reruns galore of this outrageous hit TV show.

Monk is a detective afraid of the dark, a gumshoe afraid of gum. He has no problem cracking a case – as long as it doesn’t involve heights or germs, and is in close proximity to his apartment. Other than solving his wife’s murder, Monk would like nothing more than to gain back his position on the San Francisco police force, but can he pull himself together and get back to solving crimes full time?

Why Don’t Men Like Dr. Phil

I’ve never been much of an Oprah fan, I mean she has and does great things and in my opinion, she is a wonderful woman – I just never got into watching her talk show.  I know that she is responsible for Dr. Phil’s successful T.V. talk show, which I usually enjoy watching, if I am at home to watch it.

For a while there, he was boring me with what seemed to be nothing but unhappily married couples day after day, which I tired of quickly, and I know that at times he can appear very full of himself, but for the most part his show can, and does, stimulate my mind while being entertained, to boot!

I do notice that a good majority of men bash Dr. Phil and it really puzzles me.  Hubby even dislikes watching the show and carries on about how Dr. Phil isn’t really a shrink and isn’t licensed, and then he spouts off something about how he is really just a botanist,  I’m not sure where he came up with that info, and I’ve given up on trying to figure that one out.

So when it comes to watching a talk show that Hubby and I both enjoy, I must admit that the winner is ELLEN , hands down.

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Elvis and Me

I’ve always loved Elvis. He deserved a better wife than that girl-child he brought back from Germany!

To celebrate Elvis’ birthday this year, I searched for info on his favorite foods.

Elvis loved good down-home cooking like what his mother served him as a child. His tastes never strayed far from Southern-style cooking. Grits, black-eyed peas, ham and bacon, fried chicken, cornbread, mashed potatoes and homemade country gravy were just a few of his favorites.

Elvis did not like exotic or foreign foods. Most of the foods he consumed were basic hearty foods, the type Southern women cooked daily for their families.

At Graceland or at his home in Beverly Hills, Elvis specified what should be kept on hand in the kitchen. Must-haves included fresh lean ground round, hamburger buns, rolls, pickles, potatoes, onions, fudge cookies, assorted fresh fruit, canned sauerkraut, mustard and peanut butter. His refrigerator also contained at least three bottles of milk or half and half, thin-sliced lean bacon, vanilla and chocolate ice creams and freshly squeezed orange juice. Pepsi, Nesbitt’s Orange and Shasta Black Cherry were his favorite soft drinks.

When the King was in residence at Graceland, also on hand were ingredients for his favorite snacks — brownies and banana pudding. Both were made daily by the kitchen staff.

Elvis made the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich famous. He called it a “peanut butter and ‘nanner’ sandwich.” He would ask that they be prepared for him at all hours of the day and night.  I could do that for you, Elvis.