Oklahoma

The Homecoming/JF Musical this year is Oklahoma. This is not a musical that I am familiar with. I knew Oh What a Beautiful Morning but I really didn't know any of the other songs well except the theme song. I was surprised to learn that I did know another song. I knew the Surrey With The Fringe On Top. When I was in High School I would get up early on Thursday morning sometimes and watch the Boston Pops on PBS. As I recall it came on at 4 a.m. Go on and start your jokes know about what kind of a nerd HS kid I was to get up at 4 to watch the Boston Pops on PBS. Well I found it purely by accident one morning when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Why might I be watching PBS you might ask, we had cable but we only had 30 stations back then and the cable box had a slider switch on top to change channels so you had to go by all the channels to get to any channel I should also confess that in HS I was into music. I was in band from 7th through 12th grade and Chorus 9-12th grade. I was even President of the Chorus my senior year (1988). And yes I have been out of HS 20 years. Anyway I was watching the Boston Pops one morning and some dude sang The Surrey With the Fringe On Top and I thought it was awesome. He had a beautiful voice that was so rich and clear and I have always liked that song ever since. I just bought that song from iTunes and it is playing as I write this blog post while my camera cards are downloading. I also learned about the Canadian Brass by watching the Boston Pops but that is another story.

If you live in Arkansas and are looking for something to do this weekend you should come to Searcy and see this production. Every year I think this is the best musical yet and this year is no exception. Here is a link to the Oklahoma press release on the HU web page. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Detroit Auto and Car Memories

I have never been a huge car person and if you saw my Mini Van you would agree. I saw these concept cars in Popular Mechanics and thought they were cool. I have always thought the 4 door trucks were interesting and I personally like the Honda truck which looks similar to the Toyota truck above. My first vehicle was a 1980 green and white GMC Diesel pickup with a camper shell. This became my truck when I could drive and my dad bought a new Van for his Heating and A/C business. Looking back that diesel pickup was perfect because it was big which related to safety in my parents eyes and it was slow because it was a diesel. That truck had two fuel tanks and it took $40 to fill it up. What a total nerd vehicle for a 16 year old but I liked it and thought it had character. It turned out perfect for me because all through High School I used it every Wednesday night to haul Chorus Risers to different Churches all over Memphis wherever our Chorus was singing. I also used it at school to move band risers to and from the School Auditorium. Band and Chorus both- I guess I might have been a nerd in HS.
The Jeep looks interesting for a different reason. Almost every summer the boys and I go to Berryhill Park to the Searcy Antique Car Show. All different ages of cars are there from current to Model T's. I was intrigued one year by a Mazda Roadster . That thing had a huge trunk. I thought what a fun car to take a long road trip in. Huge trunk equals room for clothes and plenty of room for cameras. Two different times when I was in HS my family rented 43ft RVs and headed out west for three weeks. We saw the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas,San Fransisco, Alcatraz, Yellowstone, Redwood National Park, Yosemite, The 4 Corners area, Santa Fe, Mt Rushmore, The Air Force Academy, and the Flying W Ranch. I would love someday to take a trip like that with Julie and just be on the road with no place specific to be and a 2 seater would be perfect. I guess I like the Jeep also because it has a diesel engine. I remember learning about Rudolf Diesel, the German engineer that invented diesel engines, when I was in 4th grade. He was profiled in a side bar story in my spelling book. I wish I could remember how to spell.

Hummers. I remember when the US military switched from Jeeps to Humvees. My Uncle Wayne had a military surplus Willy's Jeep at his cabin in Mississippi. We would bounce around my dad's old home place at family reunions in that old Jeep. Once at a family reunion Uncle Randall had a Corvair that he and my Dad bought together. Driving with my dad down those dirt roads in that car was fun. The other Uncle Wayne memory that I have was shooting guns one afternoon and he said that he had a gun he had never shot. He went and got a pistol out of his pickup and it was a German Luger that he had bought back from WWII. Sorry for the long sidetrack. My boys have always played with match box cars and hummers have always been a favorite. When the H2 Hummers came out the boys dubbed them sissy Hummers because they didn't look as tough as Humvees. When the H3 Hummers came out there was no name low enough to to call them so now we just refer to all Hummers as Hummers.

My vehicle history: 80 GMC Truck, 86 Honda Accord, 88 Chevy Nova, 92 Suzki Sidekick, 93 Izuzu Rodeo, 98 Grand Caravan, 2000 Ford Excursion, 98 Suburban.