Ideal for singalongs at nursing homes, senior residences or just at your own home. Bound in a loose-leaf binder of durable vinyl, unsnaps for access to pages. (To see a photo of the book, click 
Once you get started . . .
I might as well call this site the Brokeback Blog because, as much as I try to veer away to other activities, I don’t know how to quit it.1 We keep getting contributors — the latest, a Texas musician who has a different sense of gospel and a Florida man who got an associate degree in federal prison.
The works by Joel Melton and Hugh Yonn aren’t long ones, which is good because we’re not taking on any new books for a while. And we found their contributions interesting.
Melton, a first-timer at R&W Blog, submitted three essays in OpenOffice text files that each began with the word ‘gospel.’ I usually associate ‘gospel’ with fundamentalist Christians, but reading Melton’s essays reminded me that its Old English root comes from not from ‘God’ but from ‘good,’ as in ‘good news’ or ‘good story.’
Melton’s essays — subtitled ‘Beauty,’ ‘A Lesson’ and ‘Son and Father’ — are drawn from his life growing up in Oklahoma on a farm with a strict mother and a story-telling father. Melton now lives in Austin, Texas, where he’s produced his fifth studio album of songs he’s composed and performed. You can listen to those and other songs at his home page, Joel Melton: Kick Ass Texas Music. He also is a filmmaker.
Yonn, an entrepreneur with various business interests in Florida, is a second-time contributor to R&W Blog. His initial short story, ‘Shoulda Robbed a Bank,’ was based on his experiences some years ago as a big-time marijuana dealer and later a federal prisoner for five years. His latest, ‘Going for the Gold,’ tells of a friend whose attempt at minor glory is literally a flop.
And now I’ve just got to get to all those extra singalongs I’m planning to schedule at area nursing homes and senior residences. We’re still doing the Sunday sessions at the home just around the corner, but I want to add three during the week at other places, several that I’ve played before in the past dozen or so years.
But no, I still haven’t made the phone calls (although the numbers are right here in my notebook). I did make a little progress this week. I transcribed the theme song for the TV cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants. There’s a kid who comes to our Sunday sessions to visit his grandfather and likes the song, especially the part about “drop on the deck and flop like a fish.”
No, we’re not dealing with Mozart here. But it’s fun.
– Sid Leavitt
NOTES:
1. For those readers who didn’t see the movie Brokeback Mountain, it’s about two ranch hands who fall in love while herding sheep on a mountain. The exact quote spoken by Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) to Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) is “I wish I knew how to quit you.” Actually, I didn’t see the movie, either. I looked up the quote on Google.
2. The image above is a fractal from the image gallery of the website Creativity Software Inc.
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November 10, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I read “Shoulda Robbed A Bank” a while back; as I recall, it was a well-written piece, engrossing and enlightening (even if I am ultimately on the other end of the marijuana reform debate).
I have seen “Brokeback Mountain” and I have to say it’s one of the most poignant love stories I’ve ever seen on film; wonderfully shot, the subject matter approached tastefully and unflinchingly. My only real complaint with the film is that it was a little too slow-paced for its overall length.
November 10, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Thanks, Steve. I’m still waiting for Brokeback Mountain to run on TV (the good ones always take a while to get to the tube).
As for Hugh Yonn, you know, there’s at least one book living in that guy.
November 12, 2008 at 12:46 am
- Love the new works. Glad you took some time out of your schedule to post ‘em.
- I watch “Spongebob Squarepants” even when my kids aren’t home.
- “Brokeback Mountain” is worth renting. It’s worth buying. Great, great movie.
November 12, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Thanks, R.J.
Yeah, Bonnie and I are addicted to SpongeBob. My favorite character is Squidward, with Patrick the starfish right near the top. We have a friend in Woodstock, Sam Henderson, a cartoonist, who helped write the early episodes. We used to work with his mother at the local newspaper, and when we asked her one day what he was doing in Los Angeles, she said, “SpongeBob SquarePants.” When we stopped laughing about the title, we had to look it up on TV and got hooked.
I think I’ll take your advice about renting Brokeback Mountain.
November 14, 2008 at 10:44 pm
my boys worship the sponge. i have no idea why, because i can’t seem to finish watching one episode. but if you are hooked, it must be good, right?
November 15, 2008 at 6:11 am
I have no idea why I like the program, either. Well, maybe part of it is that SpongeBob and his fellow characters are all basically kind — but silly. And that’s what it all comes down to: It’s one of those sillinesses for which there is no explanation.
So, the next time your boys act up, tell them to ‘drop on the deck and flop like a fish.’ They’ll love you for it. (And then tell ‘em you really mean it.)