Reed performed the last two nights at the Amelia Island Community Theater. A cute little theater up in Fernandina Beach. They sold out both nights and Reed said he had a great time performing his 4-5 songs for the annual Crescendo Amelia Christmas Show.

Crescendo Amelia has a couple of Christmas shows Tuesday and Wednesday. They had a kinda dress rehearsal tonight.

OK so Reed had a gig Downtown at Hemming Park for a city Christmas party. It went well and I'll put one song below and some others on YouTube. Note the lady who's singing along with Reed.--------Great story though as after I had dropped Reed and was coming back from parking, I saw this older lady having trouble moving herself and her bags. Seems she was 94 years old, evidently traveling here from Alaska, wanted to go up to the bus station so she could get a bus over to the SDA church. There she expected to be helped as she was SDA. I helped her up to the Rosa Parks Terminal which was just 3 blocks away and handed her off to a policeman and a bus supervisor. Hope I'm that game at 94.

Crescendo Amelia just put up a new hype on Reed on their webpage.

2 gigs Reed's got coming up next week.

My new invention--mashed p-carrots. Reed refuses to eat it.

Crescendo Amelia's Facebook page had a nice pic of Reed and other members of the group. Thought I"d put it up.

Frank Basile, who runs Crescendo Amilia, has got the band putting together a Christmas album of ten songs with Reed featured on about half of them. Last night I went up with Reed to Frank's house/studio where he put his tracks down. I told Frank he could include the incomparable White Christmas Blues, which I wrote, and that Reed did back when he was 14. He politely demurred.

Crescendo Amelia played for the tree lighting in Daytona Beach last night. The Ocean Center had a great sound system and it went very well though we left early as it was chilly. Here's Reed's first song. Others at YouTube. And a cool pic of my boy

So we went to Amelia Island last night to the Omni Resort to see the lighting of the Christmas Tree and hear Reed sing with Crescendo Amelia. Here are a couple of his songs.

And here is what the master bd looks like with the walk in closet. Oh! And Dani Hawkins posted a pic of us back in the 80's when I was dating her mom. Damn! I looked good, especially compared with today. And was about the same time as this.

For those of you who care here's some pics of our new apt. 3bd 3bth 1500 sq ft for $1200/mo.

Well we've been moving in to the new apartment and I'll put up some pics this weekend but the big news is that Crescendo Amelia, Reed's band, just released their new promotional video featuring Reed and female singer Marah Lovequist. It's great--Enjoy.

Went to the U of Florida Health and got an appt regarding the tingling and numbness in my hands, especially the right. Got an appt the next day. It couldn't have gone better. Dr. Shah took extra time with me, gave me EMG and NCV tests right there and personally administered parts of the NCV when numbers didn't work. Diagnosis: Ulnar Neuropathy. Got to keep my arm(s) straight as possible till it/they heal.--------- Electromyography (EMG) measures muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve's stimulation of the muscle. The test is used to help detect neuromuscular abnormalities. During the test, one or more small needles (also called electrodes) are inserted through the skin into the muscle.-------- A nerve conduction study (NCS), also called a nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test--is a measurement of the speed of conduction of an electrical impulse through a nerve. NCS can determine nerve damage and destruction. During the test, the nerve is stimulated, usually with surface electrode patches attached to the skin.

So awhile since the last post. I'm now in Jacksonville again as Reed and I decided we'd take this time to set up other living arrangements. It took me 3 days and about 30 hours of driving to get here just in time to meet Reed to see an apartment we were interested in. Apartment was fine with a good location so we got the ball rolling on it. I've been checking on furniture and how to get some cheap. Hoping to get our little family into that one or something else by the first of the month. Since I've gotten here I've been pleasantly surprised by how much activity is going on here with school and work and the Crescendo Amelia Big Band. Speaking of which, last night I saw the new promotional video for the band and Reed has a starring role. I was knocked out as it was EXCELLENT and as soon as it's released officially I'll get it here on the blog.

Last night we had Dirk Lammers and his wife Angela over for dinner. Angela works with Sue occasionally and Dirk works with the AP AND has a a book out--a baseball book. It's called BASEBALL'S NO HIT WONDERS and Sue made me buy a copy a few days ago. It's really good (and I'm not just saying that). Get a copy. You will enjoy it.

Just texted Reed as he's hanging out at the apt in downtown Jacksonville. He'll be fine there but Mathew is coming.---------------------- Update: Reed said that there wasn't much happening in downtown Jacksonville. Most of the winds they did receive were to the other side of the apt building.

With a hurricane heading toward Florida I found this cool pic of Reed on the Crescendo Amelia Facebook page. They've had some gigs in the past couple months.

So I just got my copy of the new book BY THE SHORES OF LAKE KAMPESKA by friend Jane Miner and the Codington County Historical Society. Lots of fun stuff including a great pic of me and brother Joe circa 1955. Here are the 2 pages dealing with the family property Ralph's Resort/Club 20. Get the book from the CCHS and its listed on Amazon.

Had dinner with daughter Asiya this weekend in Fargo before heading back to Florida sometime in the next couple weeks.

Years ago, when I was a librarian for the Air Force, I had an activity called The Reincarnation, Near Death Experiences and Other Spooky Stuff Discussion Group and I had collected a number of appropriate videos. I recently needed one of the videos to be seen by somebody so I put it on YouTube. It's 11 minutes and on NDEs. Hope you like it.

Another old BH baseball pic--L-R Coach Cliff Papik, Jerry Bakanac Zion IL, Larry Donovan Sioux City IA, Asst Coach Clark Goodwin, Bob Kurkewicz Milwaukee WI, Russ Carlson Colome, Lanny Swisher Groton, Cliff Papik, Bernie Gaulke Rapid City, Tim Trimble Zion IL, Al Nagel Las Vegas NV, Gary Bereiter Zion IL.

Just got a new update from Reed regarding my email---Forgot to ask you how the 2 big band gigs went. And what happened to the new video? --- The past couple gigs were just little combo gigs, not big band. We still rocked the house though! One was at the Ritz and the latest was in Ponte Vedra at some doctor's house. Cool little house on the beach. I don't know an exactly date for that video, but I do know its almost done.---I'd asked him about the new promotional video that Crescendo Amelia had commissioned and was supposed to be available last month.

So here's my water damaged graduation pic from dear old Holy Name School, Watertown, SD although somebody thought it might be confirmation instead. Anyway, 1964 I figure. Boys L-R Danny Ostrander, Sol Redlin, a water damaged Terry Kalberg, Dick Brich, Ralph/RA Meyer, Tom Sokoll, Father Dillion, Vince Murphy, Mike Barkley, Pat Mernaugh, Paul Dunn and Bruce Teacker. Girls sitting L-R Patty Camp, Kathy Stein, my 8th grade crush Dorothy Mack, Julie Horner, Sharmell McManus, Shirley Wong, and... I can't remember her name. Girls standing L-R Shirley Kaiser(who just friended me) Mary Ann Kranz, Julie Brandreit, Jill Langenfeld, Vicki Welch, Gina Schulte??, Pam Byer, Patty Phipps, Kay Hemmer and Kathleen Cordell.

So some more pics from Holy Name School, Watertown SD, back in the early 60's. Under the stalwart leadership of Fr Francis Dillion and Sister Mary Hennriella these 8th grade ne'r-do-well patrol boys show off their Sam Brown belts, juvenile indicated comment not withstanding. L-RFront Bruce Taecker, Danny Ostrander, Paul Dunn, Sol Redlin Terry Kalberg. Back Pat Murnaugh, Dick Brich, Vince Murphy, RA Meyer, Tom Sokoll, Mike Barkley.

So something completely new for me this weekend. We worked the big women's golf tournament here in Sioux Falls. I was a marshal which meant I basically encouraged people to be quiet. The tournament was part of the Symetra Tour which is just under the LPGA. As part of tourney we also housed two of the ladies, Paola Moreno from Cali, Columbia and Veronica Felibert from Caracas, Venezuela. Nice Girls. Both made the cut but neither got into the big money.------------------------------------------------ Added--So the winner got about $30K--Here's how our girls did:

More old BHSC baseball pics. L-R Paul Burleson Tallmadge OH, Gary Allison Spearfish, Paul Treick Rapid City, Pat Peters Winner, Gerald Gramm Meno, Curt Ames Zion IL, Jim Stanage Ft. Pierre, Jim Schnittgrund Redfield, Tim Trimble Zion IL, Doug Tarr Colome, Kirk Stradinger Spearfish, Paul Atkins Lennox.

After a lot of haranguing I finally got Reed to write a little about his first week at the U of North Florida.--------------------My first week was a bit stressful but nothing I couldn't handle. I was in a much better position that a lot of other people in the department. I'm in Men's Chorus so that should be fun! Its already helping with my sight reading. The campus is really nice, but the parking lot is a bit far from where my classes are so I get a nice little workout in before my first class. Everything seemed to fall into place as far as classes so I didn't have to stress too much about that. All my teachers, and the department faculty in general are really good and helpful people. Jade's birthday was the same week so her and I went to Disney World to celebrate for the weekend. Had a blast! The rain was a bit of a pain. I was surprised at how little cover Disney provides from the rain, especially since we're in Florida. Maybe thats on purpose though. Get's people to buy umbrellas for $20. I'll send a couple pictures from disney. ------------------------------------

And another pic. This time the BH infield from 1972. Ron Erion French Camp CA, Tim Gusso Florence, Pat Peters Winner, and me.

Another Group of old BHSC baseball players L-R Jerry Donovan of Martin or Vetal, Terry Danialson Rapid City, Jim Stanage Ft Pierre, Dave Sasma Tracy CA, Tim Trimble Waukegan IL, Tim Smith Lodgepole, Gary Larson Pierre, John Juul Lennox, and Jim Schmidt Rapid City.

3 more Pics from BHSC baseball just so if these guys ever google themselves they can find them. L-R Paul Burleson, Talmadge, Ohio, Kim Travillyan, Buffalo, SD, Dave Sasma, Tracy CA, Al Nagel Spearfish SD, Gary Bereiter Zion IL, Jim Stanage Ft Pierre, and Todd Travillyan Buffalo SD, Lonnie Nordbye Rapid City SD, Joe Hurly Spearfish SD, Jerry Donovan Vetal SD.

Tuesday I participated in a local golf tournament here in Sioux Falls and really sucked, but the guys I was playing with didn't seem to mind too much and everybody had a good time. Here they are L-R Joel Christenen, Dean Putnam, Ted Takasaki, and Me. My cartmate, Ted Takasaki, is a local personality who makes his living, and I kid you not, as a professional fisherman. Many of the other golfers were obviously curious as to just how he does this in South Dakota. Some of it comes from fishing contests with the rest coming from sponsorships, etc. But he is the first guy I've known who was in the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. He did know old WHS classmate Gary Howey of Outdoorsmen Adventures TV fame.

Here's a pic from Winona Cook Hall at BHSC. Me and the new daughter of our dorm parents Ray and Sandee Greene. Her name is Shannon and we're never going to tell her I dropped her on her head one time.

So here's another one from the old BHSC days. The captions reads--Brothers, four sets of them in fact are on the football team at Black Hills State College this fall. In the back row are the older brothers, left to right, Bill Shell, BuffLO WYO,; Ralph Meyer, Watertown; Keith Glanzer, Sioux Falls, and Mike Murphy, Watertown. "Little" brothers in the front row are Ken Shell, Joe Meyer, Ty Glanzer and Doug Murphy. Black Hills opened its 1971 season with a 13-8 victory over Montana Tech Saturday as Mike Murphy passed for one touchdown and ran for another.

So I decided to put up a couple more pics from college. Here are the Black Hills State infield pics from 1970 and 1971. RA Meyer, Jerry Bakanec, Mike Murphy and Tim Gusso. The 3/4 Watertown infield.

Found these pics on the Crescendo Amelia website. First one with this caption---crescendoamelia Hair & makeup with Reed! Today is the day! Thanks Whitney, his locks look great! Second one with this--- Hey #soccer fans! We know this is the wrong ball but we couldn't help share this recent candid. We found out last week that the #lovelymarah has a #passion for horses. Reed plays #horse too, but on the #court! Can you guess his favorite team? And a third pic of him and Marah---Caption: Recording round two!

I have to admit, its pretty cool...or pretty scary when Google looks like this on your birthday.-------------------------------------------------------- Thank you all for the good wishes.

Went to see the Red Willow Band last night and to say a quick hi to their drummer, Barry Carpenter, who I knew in high school. I'd been out of the country when they were THE band in the area but they still play reunion shows every so often and the huge crowd loved them. Great Music--I'll leave a YouTube link. From SDPB--- From 1974-1982, the Red Willow Band created music and memories to last a lifetime. Their business card read "The Best in Country Swing." But the Red Willow Band was much more than that. Bouncing between rock and country, they developed a sound of their own. Chris Gage (guitar/piano/vocals), Kenny Putnam (fiddle), Hank Harris (guitar/vocals), Marley Forman (bass guitar/vocals) and Barry Carpenter (drums) reunited as the Red Willow Band played three sets at the 35th Annual Sioux River Folk Festival hosted by the South Dakota Friends of Traditional Music at Newton Hills State Park this past August. The Red Willow Band will be inducted into the South Dakota Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April, 2015!

So I put a couple more old pics on Facebook so people could steal them if they wanted. Here's from college baseball days Front Row Tim Smith, Lodgepole, Al Nagel, Spearfish, Donny Greenfield Castlewood and Kelly Legge, Fairfield. Back Row me then Gary Bereiter, Zion IL, Darrell Carr Falkton and Bob Brownrigg, Rapid City. and one from 8th grade Holy Name School, Watertown SD. BL-R Tom Sokoll, Dick Brich, Vince Murphy, Mike Barkley, Me, Pat Mernaugh, Terry Kalberg, Dan Ostrander, Sol Redlin, Paul Dunn, Bruce Taecker. Sister Emerention's class.

Cousin Dave Palmquist and wife Pat came through Sioux Falls last night on their way home and wanted to take a selfie.

Not a lot happening since my last post but I did get to Minneapolis where I took in a Twins game saw Jesse Ventura talk about his new book and visited the Ramsey County Library in Roseville which was the greatest library I'd ever seen.

Scientists in China confirm controversial parts of R. A. Meyer Diet--- Consuming probiotics, so-called 'good bacteria', can reduce body weight and body mass index (BMI) according to a new meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160711092643.htm The R.A. Meyer Diet -- Eat your way to a 2-3 lb weight loss every week. The purpose of the diet is to feed your 100 trillion gut bacteria so they propagate a lot which will use lots of energy afterwhich you flush the results down the toilet. Good gut bacteria love a diet rich in variety and vegetables. Here's how to get and keep them happy. Breakfast--Half a cup of oatmeal with some or all of the following included. Walnuts, raisins, crasins, honey, cinnamon, an egg, two dark chocolate kisses, milk, almond milk, you get the idea, healthy stuff. Lunch--6" Veggie Delight sandwich from Subway with all the veggies. You can add you own entre. Dinner--Cook up a stew/soup consisting of Walmart's frozen mixed vegetables, frozen meatballs and pasta sauce. Add fresh leaks and celery or any other veggies that look good. Snack--fruits, apples, etc. Variations--Lots, but stay with the general theme which is lots of different veggies. Add--a probiotic supplement once a day and fermented foods (yogurt, saurerkraut, kim chee, miso, dark chocolate, etc) as much as you can. I used 3 different probiotics for variety but I did find a problem with the Nature Made Advanced 2 per day brand. They made me depressed. Specifically it was the top one of the two that did it and it took me a while of experimenting to figure it out. But, of course, moniter how any supplement works with you body. And, as your poohs get bigger and better (google good poop), cut back on the probiotics.

So not much happening as we make our way back to SD. Visited with some friends of my partner and managed to see national monuments Custer Battlefield and Devils Tower.

So at 8:30 this morning, because of a Facebook post, I realized that old friend, Tom Ford, was living in our next destination, Calgary. A few hours later we're with Tom and lovely wife Veda getting the grand tour of the Calgary 1988 Olympic venue and hearing about the last 40 years. Tom and Veda win the most athletic kids award as their daughter ran track for U of Texas at Arlington and their son was a goalie for the Washington Nationals hockey team. AND they were both really good looking. Life can be so unfair. But my consolation prize was to be able to sit in the Jamaican "Cool Running" bobsled. And I just decided to add the pic of Tom and me coaching the 1972 Watertown Teener state champs. Maybe Tom remembers everybody's name.

Spent the afternoon at Canada Day festivities and the evening at the West Edmonton Mall, the largest in North America including pirate ship, beach, and hockey rink.