Huh? What's Up With That?

  how high the moon...                                          lewis and hamilton, 1940   So, your opportunity to try out for the Olympics back in '72 was quashed by the only injury of your career?  How did that happen?        The Olympic Trials were coming up and I was all set to try out,  Mike Hanna, Noblesville (Indiana) High School Girls Pole Vault coach recounted .  The Top 3 are taken and I had cleared 17 feet which would have qualified me.  A few days before the trials, I was practicing and had a bad vault and landed on what's called the front porch of the landing pit.  I caught my right foot on the edge of the pit and a shoe spike caught the mat and turned my ankle around.      HUH?  What's up with that?    How ironic.   And, that was your only injury in all your pole vaulting day...

encore performances #5...    A large part of my second Encore Performance is talking to other people to find out what keeps them interested in life after retirement and then document those findings.  This is the fifth post featuring some of those interviews which were conducted last May.     Interviewing people has been a lifelong passion originating in my earliest broadcast days and lasting all 36 years while in that field.     Following a broadcast career, teaching was my first Encore Performance and it provided a 17 year hiatus from participating in active broadcast experiences.  However, writing this blog has afforded me the opportunity to set new goals and interviewing interesting people is at the top of that list.    After a certain age, most of us want to remain relevant and functional in an increasingly changing world.  One example of constant turnover is music.  Some of us find it demanding to keep abreast of current...

 ... get me memphis, tennessee...                                                                         chuck berry, 1959              This all got started when Kim and I took our son who had just been born to Memphis in August of 1980 to attend an Elvis memorabilia show, Butch Polston told me.     Butch and his wife, Kim, own B and K Enterprises in Charlestown, Indiana.   B and K has the exclusive rights to reproduce costumes with the unique designs worn by entertainer Elvis Presley, but their story goes far beyond just those costumes.  It's really about how hard work and ambition can pay off.        We were basically newlyweds and didn't have two nickels to rub together, he added .     How did going to a collec...

you can because you think y...        A frequent conversation with several students during my Encore Performance days dealt with the attributes of bypassing college if he or she was interested in some kind of service work, or, something equally brainy and just as hands on.  Conservatively, over the span of 17 years, there were at least a dozen such one on ones .   But, there was only one time a student walked into my office, sat down, and told me she didn't know what to do because she wanted to skip college and be a professional dancer.     HUH ?   What's up with that ?     Valerie Rockey is the youngest of three siblings and is now 27 years old.  Brothers Ben and Tommy are 32 and 29 respectively.     The entire family is a creative and talented group.  The patriarch, John, probably missed his calling as a standup comedian.  John's wife, Debbie, is an amazing artist.  Oldest son, Ben, may have been one...

it's a date...   This post marks our 50th publication since November 1, 2019.  Originally, the blog was to be printed every week, but an every two week format was much more doable and went into effect December 20, 2019.   So, here we are more than a year and a half later.    HUH ?   What's up with that ?   The original intent was to try to make this a better world and perhaps motivate younger people to treat older citizens with more respect.  The point was made in just a couple blogs and it became increasingly difficult to write negatively about any generation.  By nature, I am a critical person, but none more so than when assessing my own work and attitude.  A change was inevitable.    There are a tremendous amount of people of all ages who have a lot of positive contributions to offer and who have achieved success through a variety of different paths.  They are people who make great subject matter and it's been exciting ...

china bound...   Hollywood child actor Mickey Rooney was on a vaudeville stage at age 5 and appeared in his first movie by the time he celebrated his sixth birthday.  He was able to maintain his adolescent status way beyond his actual teen years because his physical stature never exceeded five feet, two inches tall.     Louisville, Kentucky child actor, Drew Ashley was on stage at the age of six.  That was six years ago.  Since that time, Drew has appeared in many productions and recently auditioned for a national tour of A Christmas Story .  In addition, he may have an opportunity to go to China for six months in a touring production of South Pacific .     However, there is now a drawback.  Drew is auditioning for parts and not getting them!     HUH ?   What's up with that ?    Drew is outgoing, extremely well-spoken, respectful and a polite 12 year old.  He appears to be everything any parent could as...

a bridge over troubled waters...                                                                                                                  p.simon, 1969            There must be a phantom sign on the stairway leading up to Air Force One that says, Trip Here.  If that's not the case, those steps must surely be jinxed.       Joe Biden isn't the only politician to stumble while trying to board the world's most famous aircraft.    The president managed to trip or stumble twice last March 19th as he climbed the stairs to Air Force One.     Still, the president's recent missteps pale by comparison to the tumble President Gerald Ford...