Goodbye to a man I hardly knew....

This week-end seemed to be all about fighters. Saturday saw my fastest time on a 5K course. I didn't place, again! But, I was only 1/2 second behind an aging 48 year old. Woohoo! Something to be proud of...I guess. Unless the timing crew goes by 10th of second timing and I see the photo finish to tell me otherwise, I know in my heart that I tied for third place in the tough 40 year old group! I really can't complain too much of a 20:49 5K dash, except for the fact that the older guy who came in with me told his organizer/timing buddies that I ran through the chute ahead of him and stole the place slot. Then he had them change my slot from 12th overall to 13th. The awards should have at least mentioned that his finish was closely fought. It only makes me tougher, right? Mike McSkane, I wish you were out there this time!

On a much more sadder note, Ronnie James Dio passed away this week-end of stomach cancer at the age of 67. I met the man about 15 years ago when I worked for Professional Visioncare Associates in Sherman Oaks. I was an optician there and helped him and his wife with their eyeglass needs. Other than his appearance, this guy would never pass as a rock legend. As with all the reports of people who have had contact with him, he was truly a gentleman and all around good guy. He was a sharp man with a business head, I respected that. Rockers are not all stoned ass drunks, I could tell that Ronnie had vision a hell of lot better than the brightest people I knew. I remember him talking about cleaning out his warehouse full of all that old tour stage props. He described of all the fire breathing dragons that had to be dismantled. You know I offered to help! He was nice enough to let me down easy and say that it was a liability issue and he didn't want me to get hurt. The guy was a very hard worker and seemed to never get tired. That appears to be the theme of this blog I have created. Good men die too young!

I hope all of you who read this understand that this cancer thing will never go away and we all are affected by it. I also hope that you mistake me for a better man.

The Eagles at The Hollywood Bowl

This was the second time my lovely wife and I have seen this legendary band, The Eagles. Saturday night brought out all the grey hair and glasses....including me! We had pretty bad seats but I still perfer the sound in the back. Of course, I cruised up the the star boxes and found that is was a little bassey.

The first half of the show displayed most of the new album. Great tunes! They opened the concert with my personal favorite, "Seven Bridges Road". Check out the video I posted. Glen Fry was very funny that night, calling it The Assisted Living Tour. The concert also graced us with Don Henley's hits.

The crowd favorite was Joe Walsh. Still hasn't changed after all these years. Good thing. The seventies crowd seemed to enjoy themselves in the billows of smoke from mother nature. My favorite tune from Joe was "Life's been good so far". The video montage of the history of the band was awesome.

The Eagles had to take a break, and the second half was fantastic! Don closed the show with "Desperado". How perfect. Well, almost. It would have been if the played "Last Resort" from Hotel California.

This was such a treat after having to attend a funeral service for my uncle/godfather earlier that day.