"3,2,1 Happy New Year 2008"

It's almost here (5:53 PM my time) and I wish us all a Very Happy and WONDERFUL New Year."

Those of us that have New Years gigs, Ring it in Loud 'N Proud... be safe when drivin' home. 

See ya next year! (Hi Dave (my brother) and Art B. I hear you read my posts too! AND Marsha .... Excellent... Thanks so much to all for reading, I'll continue my part!

Don

"2008 Gettin' Closer - a momentary reflection"

... And a new year approaches. Excellent and as it is only a few days away as I start to reflect. 

Three years ago I was havin' a wild time with my brother in-law Bob, making or tryin' to get movies made. Ohhh we got close, we we're talkin' 10 million dollars deals... rubbin' elbows with producers, directors talkin' and droppin' big name stars to get to be in our films. Whew, such fun. God rest his soul as sadly he passed away from cancer. But I tell ya, we had the times of our lives. He hung in their til the end thinkin' he'd beat it and that we were just a few meetings away from our movies goin' into production! He was a "Big" thinker. 

I'd drive into Mexico (where he was having alternative treatments - Kaiser hospitals kinda counted him down for the count and gave him 6 months) Sooo like I said I'd drive into Mexico to the old Levi Straus mansion/converted hospital facility - and pick him up... hang out a while as the VIEW was spectacular as it sat high on a bluff overlooking the ocean! Whew, ya sure felt better just from the grounds and view alone.

Anyway I'd pick him up and after his treatments we'd head back into Los Angles and make the meetings I'd schedule with ICM (big entertainment managment firm) then onto an "in production" movie set and into a producers trailer for budget talks.... Ohhhh Bob and I would laugh, sayin' look at us go. All I wanted to do was score some multi million dollar films and his thoughts were, why wait for someone to ask ya, let's just make 'em! (However Bob didn't have 10 million on him so he figured with my musical abilities and his bravado, cleverness, down right ingenious creative financing abilities we could get the job done!) God bless 'em we got close before he passed. It took us a year of negotiations 3 screenplays, some rewrite talks and at one point we had three movies on the line gettin' ready to go into production. Yes, you guessed it the 10 million grew to just under 50 million and he could show just how and where the money was comin' from and on what payout schedule it would all take place as the movies got made... it looked great so we never got thrown out of these power meetings we'd somehow get schedule in Hollywood.

Well Bob ran out of time and I was with him as he went in and out of consciousness... he didn't want to die at home so in true Bob grand fashion was flown by private hospital jet to the hospital mansion on the cliff where he within hours died overlooking the ocean.

Bob is smilin' in Heaven lookin' down sayin' "I'm proud of ya Don, you're thinkin' big like I showed ya, you'll be fine and get what you're after." You see the true beauty was through all of this Bob didn't have any money of his own!... and yet look what he accomplished.

I guess I got on this tangent because today I loaded "Finale Cut Pro" into my computer. It's a program that will allow me to put together movie footage for Videos, commercials, movies, whatever on the professional level. I already have the high pro music studio sooooo now I have the pro movie editing ability as well and can put the music and film together. Of course there's a lot more to movie making and music videos than that however "I know people" for those duties and abilities. "I'm their!" And it all started with Bob showin' me to think big. I also in conjunction with my best pal bought land in Utah and we're building a housing development. It's goin' great, 3 homes have sold (8 more to go on that street) but we're gettin' their. We now have 80 more acres to build on... so we're doin' the "Thinkin' big" Bob formula and havin' the times of our lives. 

Does it make me nervous at times... "yes" however, Bob lived a fascinating life and was still building and getter more and more exciting EVEN with Cancer killing him. He kept a great sense of humor too,... when my wife (his sister) was teary eyed stating, "Bob I'm sooo sorry you got cancer!!" He said, "Yea, well how do ya think I feel!?" I must say to this day that makes me laugh.

So, since there are no guarantees in life and yet I have desires of more great and wondrous musical accomplishment - plus great and wondrous things I haven't thought of yet... I shouldn't think so small and in fact, think as large if not larger than my goals. It has given me a great zest for life... even when I'm depressed. Why the heck are we here? I don't remember what I was doin' before I got here... can't say I really got a grip on what happens after, SO, let's be creative here and now, make life count and count for something good. Be good, do good, help others, enjoy life even when it doesn't seem so enjoyable. Look for the best. You know... that stuff.

AND so another New Year is gettin' closer. And as I take stock and reflect... "I love you Bob!"

Don

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISMAS!

"Looking Backward"

Well the Rocket Scientists Box Set is finally here. You can purchase it at Think Tank Media for $54.99 (That's under 55 buck!) excellent. It's a 5-disc mutlimedia set (Ohhh a DVD too!) that spans the band's back catalog of 10 years! BUT WAIT there's more, ya get a 64 page full color book. Oh yes, just when I thought there wasn't enough "me" in the world... Booom there we have it! Lol.

For a listen and a look you can go to: "Listen" and a "Look"

It's a wonderful DVD and the CD production is fabulous as well.

"A Guild Christmas Raid Carol"

I'm puttin' the Holiday posts back up. Sure we lost a lot from the crash... years worth of stories however! We'll live new ones together! Excellent attitude, onward and upward. So watch the guild Christmas again, you'll love it on this new page.

"Fresh Start"

Well folks the 'ol blog of the last 4 or 5 years crashed and burned, Kapoot and is gone. So we salute it good-bye and we'll now have a "Fresh Start" to coincide with the bringing in of the new years.

This first post will be about "How's this thing work" and so we'll learn together. It seems I've figured out the text portion of the show, let's try a picture (little do you know I've now written this post 3 times, the last two somehow didn't work out so swell)... 

Sooo what would like to see, Hmmmm Hey I have a picture of Frankie Avalon and band from the last tour. Let's have a look shall we.

It worked! That's me on the left and next to me is Frank Jr., Frankie Avalon, Ray Kehenetsky and on the right My Brother DAVE!!! 

Now let's try publishing this post and getting it up and on to my website... "See you their!"

Don