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Dunking quest pushes the limits of 59-year-old’s body and soul (blog version)

When I was about 9 living in the Athens, Ga., I begged my mother to let me mow the lawn. Previous requests had been denied on account of “you’ll cut your leg off.”

That was the standard Mom line, kind of the go-to parallel of “You’ll put your eye out,” as immortalized in the boy’s pursuit of a BB-gun in the movie :A Christmas Story.”

Besides mowing, I also had been pushing for a BB gun.

I didn’t get one of those until about age 12. (A Daisy single pump).

But on the lawn mowing thing, she caved in earlier. Looking back, I’m sure Dad, who had some skin in the game, as the primary lawn mower helped come up with the idea to get the aptly named ‘push mower.’ That is a lawnmower with no gasoline, no engine and no motor-driven whirling blades to cut my leg off.

I didn’t know the nuances of lawnmowers; I was just happy to finally get to mow the lawn. So, I started one bright, hot and humid Saturday and golly it sure was hard to push. But I kept pushing, learning from some instruction to go up and down the lawn in rows leaving no grass in between. I hadn’t figured out the square spiral method of mowing yet where you made a big square of cut grass all around the edge of the lawn and descended with a spiral square until you had a satisfying tiny block of grass left.

No, on my first day, I realized this was no easy job. After about 20 or 30 minutes I had mowed two rows, came inside and declared I would finish later. Sunday came and I went at it, maybe knocking out three rows before quitting. I was hitting a rhythm. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, knocking off a couple or three rows each day in about 30 minutes of sweltering work. I remember skipping my mowing workout on Friday to play street ball with friends.

But on Saturday I finally finished. I had pushed that powerless grass cutter over every inch of the lawn in one week’s time.

Now for my big life lesson.

I invited my Mom out to see my handiwork. She said she was proud of me. And she said: “It’s time to start mowing again.”

“When?” I asked, fighting tears.

“Now,’ said Mom. “See how it has grown back on this side of the lawn?”

That is when I learned that life is dukkha __ one of the four Noble Truths in Buddhism is that much of life is suffering. My wife, Catherine, taught me the word decades later, learning it from her theological studies. But I learned the concept that hot day, leaning up against a silent, immobile push mower.

I’d like to say I kicked that mower and began stomping it to pieces. That’s what I was thinking anywa­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­y. But then I know if I did that my Mom would say something.

“Careful, you’ll cut your leg off.”

So, here I am 50 years later. I have a degenerative brain disease and I’ve made a vow to fulfill a bucket list item of dunking a basketball on a regulation 10-foot goal. I’ve never dunked in my life.

I started in October and I’ve promised updates on my quest to dunk by mid-July.

But like mowing the lawn with that push mower, training can be exhausting, hot, and discouraging when you see no end in sight. It can be body breaking and soul shaking.

As Little Feat sang: “It’s easy to slip.:

And I did.

But don’t bet against me just yet. After a multi-week layoff, I was back on the basketball court Wednesday night. The game was brutal on me. I won’t be dunking anytime soon.

In the meantime, on Nov. 9, I turned 59. Some days I feel every bit of my age and more.

Those who have been following my story know that I have Lewy body dementia, a form of dementia that is the second leading cause after Alzheimer’s.

To those following along – and bless you by the way – I have a blog where I am counting down my vinyl record collection numbering 678. It can be found at www.myvinylcountdown.com. I’m also an AL.com columnist and post a column using pieces of MVC (My Vinyl Countdown). My challenge, I see now, goes beyond exercising my body.

I’m operating under the notion that my life will be shortened. The average lifespan after diagnosis is 5-8 years or 4-7 years, depending on the source. I was diagnosed at age 56; I am now 59. But averages are averages and I hope to be a long living outlier – as long as my quality of life remains reasonably bearable.

I will tell you this: I feel way better than I feel two years ago. I attribute that to medications, early diagnosis, exercise, and music.

Stay with me, as Rod Stewart used to sing. Maybe just maybe you’ll see me defy not just gravity but health age and common sense.

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Steve Howe — 414

 

ALBUM: The Steve Howe Album (1979)                             

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$

I had forgotten how good this album is. Mostly instrumental, this album has  Howe showing off a precise and beautiful touch on guitar and other  string instruments. Songs are varied and probably would be  labeled progressive rock like his band Yes. But much of it is jazzy folk and a little country (English style.

But that doesn’t aptly describe the variety and quality of the music . ‘Pennants’  opens it up with  a riffy rock feel.  ‘DIary of a Man Who Vanished’ is melodic and enduring. ‘Meadow Rag’ i s what it says it is and very well played. ‘Cactus Boogie’ is too what it says it is. These songs are so disparate yet they all seem so familiar, like they belong together.

On the gatefold,  Howe shows off his instruments in photos.  Quite a collection includes a Martin 0018, a Kohno Spanish guitar. a Gibson Les Paul, a Danelectro Coral Sitar Guitar and a Fender Telecaster , among others. Probably well over $100,000 or way more for these precious instruments.

Speaking of worth. I don’t know how rare this album is but the Howe album I have fetches $20 to $30 on Discogs. If I remember, I bought this one new in Athens, Ga. during my freshman year at UGA, 1979.

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Robyn Hitchcock, The Hi-Lo’s — 416, 415,

ALBUMS: Suddenly it’s The Hi-Lo’s (1957, Reissue 1981); Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, Globe of Frogs (1988).

MVC Rating: Hi-Lo’s 3.0/$$: Hitchcock 3.5/$$

Robin Hitchcok’s Globe of Frogs

OK I am doubling up as I am wont to do every now and then. I’m finishing up the H’s in the next few posts. Continuing on my way to review and reminisce about my 678-record collection. I’m doing this alphabetically (more o r less) and I still have more than 400 to go.

I chose to review these together mainly because they were the next two alphabetically speaking. But it’s an interesting contrasting combination.

This is a review of a 1950’s vocal jazz group and an alternative psychedelic folk rock artist . What can you say about Hitchcock, an artist who opens his liner notes with words like: “All of us exist in a swarming pulsating world, driven mostly by an unconscious that we ignore or misunderstand.”

The Hi-Lo’s meanwhile in this 1981 reissue of a 1957 album are all about fresh faced optimism, suits and un-ironic bow ties. The four men sing in harmonies and seem happy warbling away at songs like ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Stormy Weather. I listen to it when I want to go to something completely different in my collection. It’s surprisingly uplifting music.

Meanwhile Hitchcock sings songs entitled ‘Tropical Flesh Mandala’ and ‘Luminous Rose.’

If I were writing a traditional consumer guide I’d probably say ‘hey old folks check out the Hi-Lo’s they are like your old music. And say to the younger folks, dig the new Robyn HItchock album, it’s out of this world.

But I recommend the vice versa position. Kids meet the Hi-Los. Grown-ups see what psychedlic folk hipsterism is all about.  (It’s not too bad, I promise — except ‘Devil’s Mask‘  — live from Athens, Ga., — might blow some minds.)

So with both albums from divergent styles you can still say about both of them: And now for something completely different.

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Little things lead to something bigger (blog version)

Mike Oliver writes frequently about life and health issues and his diagnosis of a fatal brain disease, Lewy body dementia, on AL.com and his blog, www.myvinylcountdown.com
It’s the little things for which I’m thankful.
It’s the little things that bring joy to life on this spinning sphere of mud, rock, and water.
I’m thankful for the red Maple leaf that spins to the ground like a ballerina.
A quiet lake with the sun powering through the clouds. I am thankful.
I am thankful for small observations that invite a deeper reality. Living in the world is both illusory and concrete, full of heartache and pain. From the head, the heart and the soul.
A roaring ocean with storm clouds gathering at dawn like hungry white wolves.
I’m thankful for the moments that defy life’s suffering. Roller coasters, trampolines and front porch swings.
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales.
Handpicked blackberries in a cobbler, hot with a scoop of fast melting vanilla ice cream.
An after dinner Thanksgiving walk. Holding hands.
The rust-colored poodle who thinks he’s golden, running the house like a greyhound after being let in from the cold.
Lightning and thunder and the inherited primal fear of it, a tiny injection of prehistoric adrenaline.
Understanding that disappointment is a manipulative device with a pinch of well meaning, but misplaced, love.
Yellow and red leaves of autumn like stained glass in November’s leaning light.
Pancakes and maple syrup, carb loading on a cold day.
A sincere compliment that makes you smile and stumble.
Hot yoga, frozen yogurt and boiled peanuts.
Sonny and Cher singing I got you, babe.
My 20-something daughter saying ‘I know this song.’
I am thankful for the little things.
They add up.
To a bigger thing.
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John Hiatt — 422 421, 420, 419, 418, 417,

ALBUMS: Bring the Family (1987); Warming Up to the Ice Age (1985); Riding with the King (1983); All of a Sudden (1982); Two-bit Monster (1980); Slug Line (1979).

MVC Ratings: Family 4.5/$$$$; Warming 4.0/$$$ Riding 4.5/$$$; Sudden 4.0/$$$$; Monster 3.5/$$$; Slug 4.0/$$$

John Hiatt with his voice evoking the best and, sometimes,  worst elements of Dylan and Elvis (Costello?) is a major example of when songcraft rules. And in Hiatt’s case it does.

And then some.

John Hiatt

I hopped on for the ride with  a cut-out, ‘Riding with the King,’ a talking boast of a song and album.  On the  cover Hiatt  is sitting  on a big bike (motorcycle).

“You May Already Be a Winner’ and ‘She Loves the Jerk’  are classic tracks here but the whole album is shot through with humor, mostly sardonic. Here’s “Winner’ about a poor sap who thinks he’s won a big contest.

I know you’re tired of the same old dress
I know the car’s been repossessed
I know this house is just a shack
But there’s this love we cant hold back

Would you like a beer with your TV dinner?
Oh, my darling, you may already be a winner

As you can see, I have six of Hiatt’s albums. That’s a lot for me to have of one artist.

As I’ve explained before, I am not a completist in my record collecting ventures, was always looking for new music.  I do have on CD, ‘Slow Turning,’ which may be Hiatt’s best work. It came out in 1988 about the time CD’s were available to the masses. I have a lot of records up to about 1987 or 88,  when CDs became the main vehicle. It was the Day the Music Died. Not really, I embraced digital formats and have only recently become enamored (my wife would say absorbed) with vinyl, probably because I had boxes filled with 678 records that I  had put up for decades before my rekindled interest.

.In Hiatt’s discography, the 1987   ‘Bring the  Family’ is still vinyl but one year later we have ‘Slow Turning.’

I think Hiatt is one of the top artists to come out of the 1980s — a decade that gets picked on a lot for rock music. But here’s lyrics from a rocker on the aforementioned ‘Bring the Family.’

Sure I like country music
I like mandolins
But right now I need a telecaster
Through a vibro-lux turned up to ten

[Chorus:]
Lets go to Memphis in the meantime baby
Memphis in the meantime girl

A little postscript: I never got to see him live. Catherine did though. She was offered tickets to a show north of Orlando in early 1990s. I had to stay home on this last minute deal because of kids, girls night out it was. Catherine said he was great live.

There was a small piece of drama that night. Seems Hiatt  had a stalker, a woman if my memory serves me was arrested for stalking Hiatt. Sounds like a John Hiatt song..

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Eddie Hinton — 423

ALBUM: Very Extremely Dangerous (1978)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$

My memory of Eddie Hinton is a sad one.  He was playing at the Nick in Birmingham, or was it the Wooden Nickel still in 1985?

The small Birmingham mainstay was sparsely crowded. The college kids and 20-somethings didn’t have a clue who Hinton was. A Swamper. A blues singer who sounded a little like Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett. A man with a fan club in Sweden but little recognition in  his own state.

Near the end, he was picking up a few extra dollars mowing lawns.

My good friend, writer Tom Gordon, did an excellent piece for the Birmingham News dated April 4, 1985. The story was called ‘Rocker on the rebound.’  I wish I could link to it but can’t find it online. I  have a coffee stained   paper copy of the story that I keep  in my Eddie Hinton album, ‘Very Extremely Dangerous.”

On this night in 1985, Hinton was attempting to make a comeback.  I was there. And he was very, extremely drunk.  Long before Janet Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction, Hinton had one on stage that night involving the fly on his pants.

Hinton’s album ‘Very Extremely Dangerous’

He wasn’t well, and the power of addiction was on vivid display. He died in 1995 at the age of 51.  I do have the album. If you listen to a couple of cuts (on video below) you will understand why I call  him one of the best blues singers most have not heard.

Gordon in his 1985 piece describes observing Hinton singing in a Decatur recording studio. Gordon writes:

Later, after an hour or more of recording, his face shiny with a thin film of sweat, Hinton seems almost sheepishly shy when someone compliments his singing.

“I try to put all my being into it,” Hinton says.

Writer Bob Mehr in the Chicago Reader wrote about how people were often shocked when learning he was white:

British critic Barney Hoskyns, writing in Soul Survivor magazine in 1987, called Hinton “simply the blackest white voice ever committed to vinyl.”

In fact, Hinton’s likeness was famously and intentionally left off the packaging for his debut LP, 1978’s Very Extremely Dangerous. Hoskyns was backstage after a mid-80s Bruce Springsteen concert, where a few members of the E Street Band were singing along to the record, and recalls their reaction when he told them Hinton was white: “They were as dumbfounded as I was.”

Hinton’s voice draws the  attention, but it is his songwriting and  guitar work that frequently earned him a paycheck. Elvis Presley’s “Merry Christmas Baby’ — that’s Hinton on guitar. He played guitar on albums by Boz Scaggs, the Staple Singers, and Percy Sledge. He has had his songs recorded by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Cher and Greg Allman.

So he achieved some success. But it was his voice that truly set him apart. He just couldn’t bust through to the stardom his talent deserved.

Listen to his rendition of ‘Shout Bamalama’ and hear the man’s soul.

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Roy Clark RIP — 424

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALBUM: Guitar Spectacular! (1965)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$

This one slipped between the cracks earlier, having now passed my “C” section. But upon hearing  of his death today it feels appropriate to put it up.

He was 85.

Love that album cover. The album itself shows off the nimbleness and pecision of Clark’s finger-picking. In this one, he seems to want to show that he can do a little of everything, Spanish, jazz, blues, classical. A little heavy on the Latin easy listening numbers, but they do take you to a patio in Mexico or Texas.

When he decides to go fast on his acoustic guitar,   he blazes like Alvin Lee on electric.

I remember Clark from his Hee Haw TV days,  the corniest show that I couldn’t quit watching. “ If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.’

RIP Roy.

 

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Jeff Healey — 425

ALBUM: ‘See the Light’ (1988)

MVC Rating:  4.0/$$

This blind Canadian guitarist died too soon, and I believe was underrated as a guitarist.

He died at 41 of cancer. As an infant he had a rare eye cancer which led to the removal of his eyeballs. He started playing guitar at 3 years old, putting it on his lap. It’s a method he used all his life.

His ballad-for-radio ‘Angel Eyes’ (written by John Hiatt) reached No. 5 on the charts in the late 80s. It was from the album ‘See the Light’ — the  title song is the scorching  closer of that album. ‘Angel Eyes’ is a better ballad-for-radio than Ian Hunter’s “Ships” which I just reviewed on MVC.

For good or ill, more people may remember Healey   as the blind leader of a house band in a rought and tumble nightclub in the Patrick Swayze movie ‘Road House.’ Yep that’s Jeff, basically playing himself.

I think this movie role probably caused a lot of folks to miss the forest for the trees. He was exceptional with his laptop guitar playing and often expanded his music into the jazz and blues realm. But he didn’t  make Rollihg Stone’s Top 100 guitarists, not necessarily a travesty, but an inexplicable oversight.

He has made other lists in the Top 10, however. And lists are lists — to judge for yourself, see the videos below:

Fun fact: He was a voracious collector of old jazz and blues records and played trumpet as well as guitar.

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10 tips to remember better (blog version)

What were we talking about again?

I say that sometimes. As someone who has dementia, I am quickly learning what it’s like to forget.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, what we were talking about.  Asking that question is 9 times out of 10 helpful to jog the memory and get the conversation renewed in my experience.

I have Lewy body dementia, the second leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s. The disease presents with both memory and other cognitive problems as well as physical complications like tremors.

As people live longer, the number of people with diagnosed dementia is growing. Even if it’s not diagnosed dementia, forgetfulness increases as we age.

Here’s my Top 10 tips to remember better.

  1. Inventory. Before I go to work I take an inventory with my wife and caregiver Catherine. Cell phones? Check. Wallet? Check. Backpack with computer and accessories? Check. Shoes match? Check.
  2. Exercise. Get healthy. Exercise like you never have before. You’ll feel better, look better, and it may help you live longer. Cut back or quit alcohol and sweets and bad carbs in general.
  3. Play back.  Re-trace your steps literally and mentally. For example, if you find yourself in a room and are unsure why you  went there, go back in your mind and retrace your thought process. You can do that while going back to the room you started and see if that jogs your memory.
  4. Push back. Don’t be satisfied with your brain’s feeble attempt to block your memory. In my case, there are clumps of proteins called Lewy bodies after the doctor who discovered them, that are not supposed to be there. I know this sounds strange, but think about your brain. Ask it to improve. Ask your brain to fight back and remove the Lewy bodies. (See earlier piece ‘How to Hang on to a Memory.’)
  5. Writing I have found that I am not reading as much, especially books because I’ll often forget parts and have to go back and re-read. I’ve had  better luck with writing, which is what I do for a living, so that’s good. But just before I wrote that last sentence, I accidentally pushed ‘publish.’  And so now the story is live with only 5 of my 10 tips. The rest  are coming, hold on. <done>
  6. Visualize Recognize the face but can’t remember the name? Visualize when you met. Think back and  see if you can remember where you met and what was said.
  7. Disclose  When  you forget what you are saying or feeling embarrassed about not being able to remember, don’t hide your impairment. Tell folks that you have dementia and struggle with forgetfulness.  If you have Lewy body dementia, please share and explain as it is not well known, and often misdiagnosed. Hiding or trying to pretend your mind is still whip-smart takes too much energy.
  8. Same place. Keep your daily stuff, cell phones. wallets, purses in the same place every time. Where I  get in trouble is putting something down for a ‘second’ to attend to something else.  That ‘second’ expands to an hour or a day with lots of other thoughts and wanderings. Now you don’t remember where you put your cell phone.
  9. Keep cool.  Many years ago our daughters’ had a pre-school teacher who said “Nothing’s ever lost on God’s green earth.” It would settle a panicky kid or that kid’s parents. And it’s true in many ways. I have gone from being frantic to agitated to mellow about losing things. It will be found in time, I say. Stress, anxiety and depression are the enemies of good brain function, not a lost cell phone.
  10.  Doctor. If memory issues dominate your days or more than occasionally disrupt your day, go see a doctor. It may be serious like Alzheimer’s and Lewy body dementia or the memory loss may be normal aging. There are medications created for Alzheimer’s treatment that are used for Lewy body dementia as well.

 

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Hurricanes and hisicanes of the future (Pt. 3)

(continued … )

(Scene: Dark warehouse near End of the Line Tavern in the  year 2525)

A spike of cold air pushed through in that two seconds it took for the door to close. It’s already turned cold. Usually a bad sign. Means another cycle will start. Just hope it’s a small one spinning this time.

Tornadoes and Hurricanes have become more and more like the same thing, the bigger and more widespread they become.

Prosby  saw the shadows, slipping to the corners. Rats?  Birds? Ghosts?

The darkness was virtually absolute, few had working power in this part of the US, even when there wasn’t a storm. The stars popped out of their sockets. The skies’eyes.

Prosby never saw it, didn’t remember it. The blow to the temple.

Prosby remembered the cold before the pain, perhaps a good sign. He remember the voice. It was like a child’s.

“How are you Mr. Prosby? Can I get you something to drink?”ed

{To Be Continued … }

Go here for 2 and here for 1.