Author: elvisgumby

Travel

Meeting Gilbert Gottfried

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date February 4, 2017
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For several years now I have listened to podcasts. Late in 2015, I started listening to Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. I would highly recommend this show to anyone interested in old show business stories but isn’t offended by off-color language and humor. Any of my travel time in 2016 that I usually devote to listening to podcasts was devoted to going back and checking out every episode that has been released. I started out by listening to the first episode and continued in chronological order. I have become a big Gilbert Gottfried fan and as soon as I found out he would be playing at a club in Nashville in January of 2107, I knew I would have to go.

Restaurants

Country Fried Steak

Over the years, my family and I have occasionally eaten at IHOP on Sundays after church. IHOP isn’t the only restaurant like this where we eat on Sundays. Most of the time, we eat at home on Sundays. But this story takes place at a time when we were eating at IHOP more often.

One Sunday, I was a little more hungry than usual and decided that I would order the country fried steak meal. We placed our order and in a short while our waitress came back and told me said “We are out of CFS”. I was confused so I replied “What?” Then she told me, “We are out of CFS, country fried steak.” Since it’s not listed as CFS in the menu and I have never heard it referred to as CFS, I was surprised when she told me this and didn’t really understand what she was talking about until I got the explanation. I quickly ordered something else from the menu and didn’t really think anything about it. There was nothing else noteworthy about that trip.

Writing Every Other Day

When I wrote Every Other Day, I started with the idea of doing a blues tune that would be similar to B. B. King’s “Every Day I Have the Blues”. I was playing around with the idea that white people can’t have the blues. Or at least that white people can’t play or sing the blues.

I know plenty of white guys that do a great job of playing the blues. Singing the blues is harder for white people without just trying to sound black. People who know me well know that I enjoy listening to entertainer who don’t really have the chops to perform the type of music they are trying to perform. I came up with the idea that maybe a white guy like me might be able to play the blues right at least some of the time. If B. B. King has the blues every day, maybe I could at least try to have the blues every other day. I also considered that on the days that I don’t have the blues, things would be going pretty good for me. This is the basic idea behind the chorus of the song and established what I would describe in the verses.

Performing

Statement of Faith

My wife, children and I lived in middle Tennessee for three years in a small town called Livingston. My youngest daughter was born while we lived there. We attended the First Methodist Church in the middle of town. Early in our time there, I joined their choir. I quickly became of their go to people for solos and small ensembles. During our time there, I was regularly tapped for solos and duets during Christmas and Easter cantatas. In addition to having a music program filled with talented musicians, the church was at a point in its life where it had gone through a time spiritual awakening. It was special time in the life of that church. I had some specific spiritual needs at the time and the people of that congregation ministered to me in a way that I needed to be treated. It was a special place and a special time for that place. The people in that community still hold a special place in my heart.

Instruments

My First Year of Band

I have always been musically inclined. My mom was a piano teacher when I was born and continued to teach music throughout much of my childhood. Naturally, we had a piano in the house. I learned to play piano by listening to my mother teaching her students. While I can read music, I play primarily by ear. My parents always encouraged my interest in music, providing me with a variety of instruments. I started playing trombone in fifth grade but for reasons I cannot recall, I stopped playing after one year. I didn’t pick up another band instrument until the year between seventh and eighth grade. One of my cousins had played alto saxophone a few years earlier and they were no longer in band. My mom wanted me to get involved in band. She was teaching special education at the city school, which had grades K through 12 on one campus. Her classroom was next door to the band room and she knew the band director well. She arranged for me to take saxophone lessons during the summer before I entered the eighth grade. The next fall, I was in the school band which because our school was so small, included both junior high and high school students.

Christmas

More Dirty Santa

In a previous post, I’ve talked about playing Dirty Santa at a Christmas party. I suggest that you look at this previous post if you don’t know the rules of the game. The Dirty Santa game became a staple of our department Christmas parties. Each year we would push the limits even more on what kind of gift was acceptable. One of the last years of this party, my wife and I set up a prank as part of the game and it worked perfectly.

Christmas

Dirty Santa

In previous posts, I have talked about Christmas gifts at work. “Dirty Santa” gift swaps became a staple of the department Christmas parties we had several years back. For those of you unfamiliar with how these swaps work, the rules are simple. Each person brings a wrapped gift. There is usually a targeted dollar amount for the gifts. Slips of numbered paper are drawn by each person. The person with number 1 choses one of the gifts. The person with number 2 can either select a new gift or steal the gift from the first person selected. When both people have a gift, the next person takes a turn until everyone has a gift. There are usually rules about how many times a gift can be stolen before it’s taken out of circulation. And you usually cannot take back a gift that was just taken from you.

Christmas Travel

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date December 15, 2016
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In my previous blog post, I talked about Christmas traditions. I mentioned going to my grandfather’s house on Christmas Eve. I didn’t make it to his house for this event the last year he was alive. It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Christmas Kids Movies

Christmas Traditions

Our family Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Ever since I was a child, my family would always go to my mother’s parents’ house on Christmas Eve. This tradition continued until my grandfather died. The last 3 years he was alive, I lived about 4 hours away from my grandfather. My wife and I had committed to spending Christmas Eve with my grandfather and our children spending Christmas morning in their own home. This made for some quick visits and fast trips home but it was worth it in the end. After my grandfather died, my mom started doing Christmas Eve at her house. Soon, she started inviting my dad’s family. My father continued to have his siblings over for Christmas Eve after my mom passed away and that is the tradition we continue to this day.

Christmas

Mr. Potato Head for Christmas

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date December 1, 2016
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When I a kid, I had a Mr. Potato Head. This was the second generation of these toys. When they were first introduced, they had a body parts that you would attach to an actual potato. By the time I got mine, they provided you with a plastic potato with holes in it that limited the locations you could put the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. I also had a Katie the Carrot which had similar body parts but a carrot head. In doing research for this story, I discovered there was a whole set of various fruit and vegetable options that were available.