Me & My Uncle

"The Party's Over"

My nephew Mario (below left), a talented singer/songwriter/guitarist, aspires to stardom in the Country music field. The young man, 25, has written a number of songs that I am persuaded would make their way into the Country music charts if only these were given the same kind of airplay afforded the established names in Country music. The odds of that happening are of course slim indeed. As my brothers are quick to point out, the music field is littered with aspiring artists who, despite being devoted to their trade and relentless in their pursuit of stardom, will nonetheless be met in the by and by with the reality that "Life is what happens to us while we are out making other plans" (John Lennon). In the meantime, the sands of time spill onward for us all. In only a moment we grow old, the catchy songs we wrote during our glory days suddenly sound rather dated and out of season; the tides of life have seemingly swept our dreams away.

How does one ward off the disillusionment that threatens to overwhelm at times such as these?

Well, a good place to start is by subscribing early in life to the reality that God is in control of our lives (William Ernest Henley's pompous assertion [Invictus] notwithstanding) - and grow in the faith that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him ..." (Romans 8:28) Then, too, consider Robert Hasting's observation (The Station): it's not our arrival at any particular station in life that really matters, but, rather, the appreciation of all experiences that come to us along the journey. Finally, knowing that only those things we do along our earthly pilgrimage that echo in eternity really matter cannot fail to put life in proper perspective for any right-thinking person. Then we may say - as Robert Kinkaid said to Francesca Johnson (The Bridges of Madison County): "The old dreams were good dreams. They didn't work out, but I'm glad I had 'em."

I was in a very popular 80s band, Junction, for a number of years. We had a legion of fans, all of whom were convinced we could/would hit "the bigs." That never happened - but I for one had a great time of it as manager/bassist/singer of the band. My dream of "hitting the bigs" was not realized, but I'm glad I dreamed it.

Mario and I have worked in tandem as Me & My Uncle (a label derived from the title of a Grateful Dead song) for five years. For my part, I entered into our musical association with the objective of simply helping the young man find his niche, lay down catchy bass lines for a CD Mario aimed to make of his original songs and help him kick start a music career. We fiddled with the project for some time, but the finished product was never arrived at. Somewhere along the way, Pinocchio's Pizzeria & Lounge (Glenview, IL) put the project on hold. The kid decided he needed "performing experience" and shifted his musical focus from writing/recording to playing "a few " gigs at the joint.

As I warned my nephew from the start, Pinocchio's soon became a Thursday night hangout, a place where friends and family would join the club's small number of regulars on Thursday nights to eat, drink, make merry and to cheer us on now and again. The drinks, which the lovely, ever-smiling Tanya graciously poured in timely fashion for my nephew and I were on the house - and the two if us walked away with $50 spending money in our pockets at the end of each 1 1/2 hour show. While such enticements might prove unavailing to a youthful fifty-nine year old who's been 'round the music barn more than a few times (that would be me!), the same inducements were too strong for the starry-eyed young man to bear. And so it was that Me & My Uncle wound up dropping anchor at Pinocchio's.

Finally, eight months and 36 performances later, the experiment ran its course with Mario acknowledging, at last, that The Party's Over."

Me & My Uncle's swan song at Pinocchio's (8/28) was memorable in every way! In addition to a good number of Pinocchio's patrons being on hand, our friends, family and Esther made it all the more special. The icing on that cake was having my son Emilio (above) on hand to perform his song, Dear Michelle. Emilio finger-picked the tune on guitar the Thursday before; this time he would add his voice to the song - and nail it, he did! Jake Goodman, a young man skilled at playing multiple instruments (Mario brought Jake on board after our second Pinocchio's show) closed out the Me & My Uncle show with an impressive set. Do look Jake up; the "25 year old kid" will not fail to impress.).

Mario was gracious to present "My Uncle" (or, "Tio") with an incredible oil painting-like digital reproduction of a picture (above) made some weeks ago by my brother, Hermes, who also made the other pictures on this post. Great kid! Great times.

But - the party's over.

An old Chinese proverb teaches that "The best way to make your dream come true is to simply - wake up!" While Pinocchio's provided an ego stroke, free drinks and spending money - it also proved to be Mario's albatross in that it caused him to forget that there is much work to be done in the real world if he hopes to have a chance at realizing stardom. There is that CD that is yet begging for to be made. A web site complete with bio, gigging schedules and YouTube-type videos would be a plus. He is in dire need of new songs - not simply as add-ons to his existing repertoire - but to prove to himself that he is still capable of writing; that his talent hasn't dried up. The party's end will provide the kid with ample time to attend to those necessary tasks.

One of the obvious benefits Me & My Uncle provided me with was, in the first place, the golden opportunity to work off fifteen years (!) of rust on my electric bass. I've been rejuvenated to the highest degree where music is concerned. Me & My Uncle's respite will provide me with time as well; time in which to dust off a number of my old, dated originals and record them on CD. That's something I've wanted to do for time out of mind in order to give my children to know that their Old Man had some measure of musical talent which has been passed on to them.

I'm looking forward to the challenge of making something new out of music that was conceived in my mind in the 70s and 80s.

Listen to the warm,

Orlando

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." - Genesis 1:31

What my son Emilio (right) knows about God is what I have taught him. That is to say, he knows something about God - but has not yet come to know Him experientially. I have prayed - and will continue to pray - that in God's perfect time, Emilio will be drawn into a personal relationship with Him; that he would come to know His peace that transcends all understanding, that other-worldly peace that is one of God's precious gifts to any who will open their hearts to Him and who, with childlike faith, humbly allow Jesus to begin his good work in their lives. "Then (they) will know the truth, and the truth will set (them) free!" - John 8:32

There have been some encouraging hints that God is indeed calling out to my son. Only last week, he and I drove to the Best Western hotel in Evanston and and there picked up his cousin Matthew for a visit to The Chicago Botanic Garden. Not wishing to drive my companions mad (my picture-making efforts move at a snail's pace!) the plan called for Matthew and Emilio, equipped with digital cameras, to roam about the Garden on their own while I - ever so slowly - tended to my own picture-making devices.

When the two young men caught up with me later that day, Emilio took note of the tiny, colorful flower that I was in the process of photographing (above). Shaking his head in a genuine show of awesome wonder, my son remarked, "And to think there are people that actually believe something like this just happens!"

Indeed. The world is chock full of people that, though sensing in their inward parts that "some 'Higher Power'" is responsible for the wonders round about them, yet cannot bring themselves to equate their vague notions of this "Higher Power" with the God of the Bible.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ..." - Romans 1: 20-22

Someone has rightly observed, "No man is so deceived as by himself." Scripture is quite right (of course!): "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" - Psalm 14:1

Anyway, as I always tell my kids after having made some practical application(s) from God's Word: "That's my sermon for the day!"

Emilio is scheduled to leave for New York this coming Sunday, and I'm happy to say, the young man has had a great time of it during our twelve days. If I were a betting man, I'd venture to say that the highlight of Emilio's visit was his musical performance of his original composition, "Dear Michelle" at Pinocchio's (Glenview), where "Me & My Uncle" were performing last Thursday (then again, Emilio always treasures his "hang out" time with his older brother, Jonathan --- and spending time with Melissa, Steve, Esther and Grace.



That's Emilio (below), a smile playing on his face for his growing conviction that his opponent - one of the Bristol Renaissance Faire's performers - will not be able to thwart his steady march toward a checkmate (no, really - the kid's good! He won. He did!). My other cast of featured characters, beauties all, are Esther, above, Melissa, below, and Grace, way-y-y-y down yonder!)

In addition to all the many activities father and son engage in during Emilio's visits (he still lives in New York with his mother) - one in particular has become a tradition: "Emilio photo-shoots." Stay tuned. You're sure to see more images of my son in future editions of this blog.

Making memories ... that's always a good thing.

Where was your blessing today?

Listen to the warm,

Orlando

Bristol Renaissance Faire & The Chicago Botanic Garden

The Bristol Renaissance Faire, located off I-94 at the Wisconsin border, is touted in the Faire's own publication as "Big, bold and unabashedly brazen;" a place that "takes us back to a time when knights were noble, maids were merry and turkey legs were titanic."

2008 marked the 21st year of operations for the Faire, which runs every weekend from July 5 through Labor Day. Cameras in hand, my fiancee Esther, son Emilio and I made a whole day of it at the Faire on Sunday, August 17 (my daughter Melissa and son-in-law Steve joined us round about mid-day). I made the images posted here with my Sony A-700 DSLR and the legendary (and upgraded in '07) Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. I used my trusty Minolta Maxxum 7 film camera (Remember those? Alas, they've gone the way of the buffalo for no reason other than man's bent toward instant gratification!) on a good number of other images I made that day (Tegan, a.k.a. "Flower" [top] and Jenn, a.k.a. "The Autumn Fairy" [second from top]). I'll post those in the near future after I transfer the images to CD format.

Bristol Renaissance Faire must be counted among this photographer's dream venues. There, Shutterbugs are afforded the golden opportunity at making portraits of an incredibly colorful cast of characters, most of whom do not seek recompense (fairies, for example, are not allowed to interact with visitors) and, as for the rest of the Faire's stable of performers, well, I take care to carry a supply of $1 bills and pop two-here, two-there to those characters with "tip bags" - literally peanuts in exchange for the images captured!). The bottom line is that photogs may cash in (pardon the pun!) on amazing portraits of stunning characters dressed in late 1570s/1600s linen - all of whom are gracious to strike excellent poses for you (as my pictures attest) ...

... which is precisely why I had to go back for seconds! "Gay Day" (August 24) does absolutely nothing for me, and so Esther, her daughter Grace, Emilio and I opted to visit there the day before the gay extravaganza in order to add to the number of images I hope to post on my yet-to-be-established photography web site. (Hint: Steve, my son-in-law, is director of communications/creative arts for the Covenant Church group, which makes him eminently qualified to assist me with my web site!)

My photographers' paradise would raise eyebrows, of course, if The Chicago Botanic Garden (of which I'm a member) were not a vital part of it ("Garden." "Paradise." Obvious, isn't it?) . Those of you who have walked about the Garden hardly need for me to expound upon its grandeur (and I'm not sufficiently skilled with words to do it justice; you must simply see the Garden first-hand - 'nuff said!) The four images I posted here were made last week. Lord willing and Jesus tarries, you may expect to see more of these in the coming days - before the North winds usher in the autumn, with its own distinctive magic in its keeping!

I conclude with a prayer for my visitor(s); one that that great apostle (John) used as his greeting to his dear friend, Gaius - " ... that you may enjoy good health and that all will go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well."
(3 John 1:2)

Those sentiments cover your physical, material and spiritual well-being. The Holy Spirit. He never fails to cover all bases! Isn't God AWESOME?




"Listen to the warm!"

Orlando