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Checking the boxes on Lewy body dementia

I feel a kinship with the Lewy Body Dementia Association staffers. I’ve written for their website. I’ve laughed with them, shot hoops with them, gone to Vegas (Lewy conference) with them, worked with them to raise money for research and awareness.

They’ve been good folks. Now they’ve come out with a checklist that is giving me a headache.

But it’s not their fault.

The LBDA checklist is good. But probably because I have Lewy body dementia and I am trying to cover same dementia. Things get complicated. With a Lewy on your back.

So the source of my headache? I decided to fill in the boxes on the 2-page list of symptoms. Do I shuffle when I walk? Yes. Not all the time though. Do I have a weak voice? Yes. Sometimes. Do I have hallucinations? Yes, but rarely. Does my handwriting/typing suffer or change. Yes but well controlled with medication.

And on and on with the symptoms with me checking about 90 percent of the 40 or so boxes but I was left with a desire to add more context beyond checking a box.

LBDA recommends that you take it to the doctor where you could then give context to each of these two dozen or so symptoms. Again great idea. But by then you may have forgotten the nuances . For example, do I drool? Depends on what’s cooking, no, sorry couldn’t resist. Real answer, rarely.

So, anyway, my headache came on when I saw that i was checking nearly every box and appeared near death. When in reality, I feel OK much of the time. I am definitely not criticizing this great idea but i have one slight suggestion to make it more useful.

It’s easy as 1-2-3.

Below is a partial piece of the checklist which I have quickly filled in with my 1-2-3 grading system.

The 1 means frequently; the 2 means occasionally and 3 means seldomly or rarely. Leave blank if never.

And that’s it. I think I may try it at my next doctor’s visit and report back.

I just realized that I am glad I cut the list off where I did lest I share to the world my grading on constipation, delusions and sexual dysfunction.

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Stevie Nicks –291

ALBUM: Self-titled live single of Edge of Seventeen.

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$$

Not sure what to say about this which I picked up for a dollar. It’s a single of Nicks singing a great Fleetwood Mac song, Edge of Seventeen.

Seventeen recorded live at the Wilshire Theater in LA on Dec. 13, 1981.

It’s a promo copy on Modern Music Records. Must be kind of scarce because Discogs lists the median price it sold for as $29.99. Ebay is offering it up for more than $50.

Think I’ll hold on to it. For my review on Fleetwood Mac earlier in my vinyl countdown, see here: https://myvinylcountdown.com/2018/07/14/fleetwood-mac/

Here’s Wilshire Theater performance in 2011 – – Much Later Date..

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Rick (Ricky)Nelson — 292

ALBUM: Album Seven by Rick (1962)

MVC Rating: 3.0/$$

He’s no Justin Timberlake. He’s no Justin Beiber either. He pioneered the teen idol phenomenon probably before the mother of the Jonas Brothers was born.

Elvis was Nelson’s competition. And by some measures Nelson did pretty well in that match-up. From 1957 to 1962, Nelson had 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Presley (who had 53) and Pat Boone (38), according to Wikipedia.

A child actor at 8 on the popular The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, he went on to a successful musical and acting career in the 1950’s and 1960’s churning out hit songs like Hello Mary Lou, Poor Little Fool, and Travelin’ Man. His music sales waned some as the 1970s rolled around and his disillusionment with the record industry fueled perhaps his best song, ‘Garden Party,’ (not on this album).

The album Seven by Rick, which I picked up in a thrift store is good, light 50’s style music (it came out in ’62.)

Nelson died in 1985 when his own plane, a Douglas DC-3 crashed after it left Guntersville, Ala., en route to a show in Dallas. All seven aboard were killed.

He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Take that Bieber!

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Laura Nyro and Labelle — 293

ALBUM: Gonna take a Miracle (1971

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$

Here’s a great album I picked up just about a year ago so not really a growing- up album. But I can make the link. Nyro wrote ‘Eli’s Coming’ a romping rock and roll radio hit for Three Dog Night off of a live album. I did dig that song at a pretty early age , 13 or 14.

Her original of that however is not on this one, which is an album of cover songs. The group Labelle sang throughout this album. The songs are soul and R&B that she grew up listening to in the Bronx. Song’s like the title cut, Jimmy Mack, Spanish Harlem and You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me. Now that i think about it, I was listening to these songs as well.

With Labelle chiming in, this gets real good real early. A real good record, worth looking for more of her music.

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A Parable: The diagnosis of a man with a hat (BLOG edition)

NOTE: I published a column on AL.com over the weekend which included a parable. I am now publishing the blog version of the parable on My Vinyl Countdown. The story comes out of this notion that whether we are healthy or terminally ill, we are all going to die.

—

He not busy being born is busy dying – Bob Dylan ‘It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding.”

A man is at the doctor’s office, hat in hand.

Man: How long I got Doc?

Doctor: 37 years, four months and two days.

Man : Whoa is that an average of lifespans after diagnosis?

Doctor: No average here. That’s how much time you have, I can tell you the exact second if you wish.

Man: No no. What do I do?

Doctor: Live! Live life.

Man: But now that you’ve told me the exact date I can’t stop thinking about it. Should I start making plans? There’s so much more I want to do.

Doctor: Well, you have 37 years four months and two days. Tomorrow at this time there will be one less day.

Man: AAaaargh. I’m dying.

The man ran out of the doctor’s office and into the street screaming.

‘I’m dying, I’m dying.”

A homeless person touched the man’s arm. ‘But you’re living. You’re living.”

The man stopped. He gave the homeless person a $20 bill. He went into a café, picked up a book and turned to a page.

A friend sat down.

Friend: What are you thinking about?

Man: My doctor said I have 37 years, four months and two days left to live

Friend: We are all going to die.

Man: Should I laugh or cry?

Friend: Yes.

The man looked at his friend. He looked down at the page with words by Henry David Thoreau.

He read: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

The man and friend sipped hot coffee. The heat felt good in the bustling café; outside was bone-chilling cold. The man looked again at Thoreau’s words.

“Live your life, do your work, then take your hat,” Thoreau wrote.

The man looked around the table, and underneath.

Man: Where’s my hat?

The man decided he must re-trace his steps. He looked and looked at the cafe, in the streets at the police station. He was driven by the words of a prophet: Nothing’s ever lost on God’s green Earth. She told this to the children. Time passed and he enjoyed life and almost forgot about his hat.

Then one day, five years later, , he spotted the hat on the doctor’s head as the doctor left the office one day.

Man: That’s my hat, doc.

Doctor: I know.

Man: Why didn’t you return it to me?

Doctor: I knew you would be back..

Man: But you’ve had it for five years?

Doctor: It takes time to get to the source.

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Daily Journal Nov. 17, 2019: Birthday Vinyl

I’m not ready to judge the content therein but these three albums I received for my recent birthday are fantastic to look at.

  1. From top left it’s Bright Eyes’ “Fevers and Mirrors.” That’s a mirror which actually reflects. So you are on the album cover.
  2. Clockwise it is a new Peter Buck solo album called “I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again.” It’s a picture with a Day-Glo shine featuring a bicycle in the foreground and Peter, of REM fame, looking out over the water in the background.
  3. Across the bottom is the gatefold of “Country Squire” by Tyler Childers. It looks like the same Day Glo artist only there’s a barn a goat and a recreational vehicle involved.

This reminds me that it might be time to do another round of MyVinylCountdown cover art standouts. You can see what I did here.

I am 60 by the way, going into year four of my diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.

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Randy Newman — 294

ALBUM: ‘Little Criminals’ (1977) ‘I Love L.A. promotional EP (1983)

MVC Rating:Criminals 4.0/$$; LA 4.0./$$

I recognize the talent, the barrel-roll piano playing, the sardonic voice, the intelligent if not overly ironic lyrics illustrated by his biggest all time hit ‘Short People.’

Sure it was a send-up of prejudice and discrimination, sung from the point of view of a narrator so over the top that you couldn’t believe the singer was for real. Could you

Some people did. I would say get over yourself. But I found myself disliking this song because in 1977 it shot to No. 2 on Billboard and the refrain “Don’t need no short people round here” was always on the radio.

I thought it was funny at first but some of my best friends were short people. I came to a point where I disliked the song. I do agree with Randy Newman’s take in which Wikipedia reports he said:: “I had no idea that there was any sensitivity, I mean, that anyone could believe that anyone was as crazy as that character. To have that kind of animus against short people, and then to sing it and put it all in song and have a philosophy on it.”[

But Newman is good at what he does. having written some good songs. On this album I particularly like ‘Baltimore’ and ‘Dixie Flyer.’ I also have a single of ‘I Love LA’ — another song where you can’t take the words at face value.

Satire is funny. Satire is mean. Sometimes satire is funny because it’s mean. I get that. We get to make a choice about whether it’s funny or not and why or why not.

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Daily Journal Nov. 13, 2019 (Trap Door edition)

Still looking for info on John Hurley. See previous post.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend — the day was Nov. 9, Saturday. I received some guess what? Vinyl. I will share with you some of these new birthday records soon. I may even post a video if I can get that going.

I’m going to keep this blog post live today so check back for other things I may be filing here.

I think today is a good day to issue the warning: Watch out for the Trap Door

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Daily Journal, Nov. 12, 2019 (Tracking down a story behind a story edition) UPDATED

John Hurley’s album Delivers one More Hallelujah . Trying to find out what the writing means. Obviously a birthday note.

Stay tuned I will have more of an explanation in a story about what this is all about after I reach out to a family member.

More clues with Birmingham ties:

From a You tube post 8 years ago

WiseGuyDogs18 years ago—

@ronhurley1961 John Hurley was one of the, if not the most talented people that I have ever known. I met him when I was 17 years old in Birmingham Alabam at Bob Groves recording stuido. He was there recording a friend of mine named Mike Gunnels. He drove a red sports car and always wore sunglasses. He stayed at my house and honored me with his friendship. That was over 40 years ago and I miss him to this day. He recorded the album “Street Gospel” shortly after and it is still my favorite.

It looks like it says:

FIRST LINE: Nov –14–1973

SECOND LINE: Happy Birthday “Mom” <unsure of the last word on line 2>

THIRD LINE: All the best —

FOURTH LINE: and you have! < not sure about <have>

FIFTH LINE: Love John H

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Harry Nilsson — 295

ALBUM: ‘Aerial Ballet’ (1980, reissue of 1968 album)

MVC Rating: 4.0/ $$

Harry Nilsson won a Grammy for Best Contemporary male vocalist for the song ‘Everybody Talking at Me.’ The song by Fred Neil is a strong Top 40 ballad used in the controversial (at that time) movie ‘Midnight Cowboy.’

The song feels a little like something Glenn Campbell or Joe South might have done. The other highlight, a song Nilsson wrote, is ‘One.’ I feel like I’m the only one who likes prefers the Three Dog Nights’ version.

Nilsson had a strong voice and was a good songwriter. One also might expect he would be a little more well known. After all this is the man who gave us that classic ‘Coconut’ remedy (Put the lime in the coconut drink it all up — Not on this album.)

I think Nilsson also did the definitive version of ‘Without You,’ the Bad finger song.

A few songs have Beatlesque overtones. Nilsson was a drinking buddy of John Lennon when Lennon temporarily broke up with Yoko Ono. They were wild then.