Happy Birthday, Baby Boo!

Today my little girl turns 8 years old!

It seems like just yesterday that she was small enough to hold in my arms just like this…

Now she’s growing up into quite a beautiful young lady…

Amanda, you have blessed me beyond what mere words could express. I am quite sure if it wasn’t for you, I’d be a pretty lost woman.

I love you.

Howard Stern: Don’t mess with Dolly…

This is bad…really, really bad. Howard Stern pulled a heinous prank on his show where he manipulated Dolly’s voice from her audio book to make it sound like she is saying some horribly lewd comments about celebrity friends of hers, and she is none too happy…

“I have never been so shocked, hurt and humiliated in all my life. I cannot believe what Howard Stern has done to me. In a blue million years, I would never have such vulgar things come out of my mouth. They have done editing or some sort of trickery to make this horrible, horrible thing. Please accept my apology for them and certainly know I had nothing to do with this. If there was ever going to be a lawsuit, it’s going to be over this. Just wanted you to know that I am completely devastated by this.”

You GO, girl. I’ve had enough of the shock jock mentality where they think they can spread this kind of filth on the air. What he did with Dolly’s voice is so bad that I am not going to dignify it by quoting it or linking the audio.

There are many ways you can hurt a person, but to take their own voice and create such hateful, disgusting words with it is beyond reprehensible.

There is so much hate in this world, and people like Stern do nothing but spread it like a cancer.

Enough already. I hope she sues the hell out of him.

h/t: Brittney

Edited to add: Ok, I stand corrected on my statement about spreading this kind of filth “on the air”…it is a paid service, so yeah, if you want to subscribe to it, that’s your prerogative, it isn’t on the public airwaves.

However, I see nothing humorous about using references to pedophilia and vile acts at the expense of somebody else. It is Dolly’s voice…she has every right to be outraged at her voice being manipulated to say such things. Seriously, folks…I have a pretty warped sense of humor, I’m no prude…but that was disgusting.

Ginger’s ‘Fro 1, Hairdryer 0

After 12 years of faithful service to my mane ‘o curls, this morning my hairdryer go kaboom!

Off to Target tonight to see what new hair drying technology is out there!

Any suggestions?

Thank you, George Lopez

My gosh, I had no idea that 7 and 8 year olds dealt with the kinds of issues that my daughter has been coming home with as of late!

The situation is such that her little 8-year-old boyfriend, who is in her class, has the wrong idea of what it means to be a “girlfriend”…

His idea of a girlfriend is that she gives up all control to him…hence, the rules are that she must let him get in front of her in line everyday (ok, I admit, that’s kind of cute)…but the part that has bothered me is that he gets mad at her if she plays with anybody else but him.

She told me yesterday that it was really stressing her out and that he was really putting a lot of pressure on her.

So, tonight we talked a lot about how she was feeling about things, and she said that she decided that nobody should pressure her and stress her out, or make her feel bad about herself for not doing what they think she should be doing. She decided that if the boy didn’t want to be her friend, that was ok. She’d be just fine.

As I was affirming these ideas with her, she said, “You know how I know this is the right thing to do, Mommy? Because I saw it on George Lopez! His daughter was feeling pressure from a boy, and he
told her the same things you told me, and it all came together for me.”

You know, with all of the bad rap that television gets, I’ve gotta say that I don’t mind one bit that George reinforced what I was trying to teach her. If that’s what it takes to convince her that she can stand up for herself, then thank God for George Lopez.

It’s funny…I was one of the folks who criticized Nickelodeon for putting on such a recent show on Nick at Night (you know…it’s supposed to be “classic” TV, right?)…now, I’m pretty happy they picked it up.

Because I can use all the positive reinforcement and help I can get in this parenting thing.

Dottie Rambo

Today, I pay tribute to the great Dottie Rambo…one of the legends of the gospel music that I grew up learning, singing, and enjoying so much. It is said that she has over 2,500 songs published…some of which are now standards in the hymnals of churches everywhere.

Dottie was on her way to a concert in Texas when it appears that some of the bad weather that hit in Missouri Saturday and early Sunday morning blew her tour bus off the road and over an embankment. She didn’t survive the crash, and the others on her bus were all injured.

With all of the physical struggles this dear woman has endured in the past decade, I never dreamed in a million years this is how she would go. So sad. So incredibly sad.

Sista has a great post over at her place where she touches on how much Dottie’s songs meant to her. She also posted a couple of videos.

I’d have to say my two favorite Dottie Rambo songs are “We Shall Behold Him” and “He Looked Beyond My Fault (And Saw My Need)”…

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary,
To view the cross, where Jesus died for me
How marvelous, His grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

Many have already given tribute, including dear Dolly, who released this statement:

“I know Dottie is in heaven in the arms of God right now, but our earth angel will surely be missed. Dottie was a dear friend, a fellow singer, songwriter and entertainer, and as of late my duet singing partner. Dottie, stand by the river and wait for me. I will always love you, Dolly.”

My thoughts and prayers go out to Reba, Dony, Destiny, Isreal, Dionne & family, and those who were closest to her. This has to be an unbearable day.

Updated to add: Thank you to those who are visiting here and commenting for the first time. I will be sure to get your messages of sympathy to the family.

Update #2: A public service will take place on Monday, May 19th at 1pm at Christ Church, 15354 Old Hickory Blvd., Nashville, TN 37211.

Visitations will be on Saturday, May 17th, from 4pm to 8pm and Sunday, May 18th, from 2pm to 4pm at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home, 660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37204.

Visitations and services are open to the public unless otherwise noted.

Donations to help offset the expenses of the funeral can be made payable to the Dottie Rambo Memorial Fund and mailed to P. O. Box 50508, Nashville, TN 37205.

Please continue to keep the others involved in the accident in your thoughts and prayers, as they are really going through a rough time.  They are Larry & Judy Ferguson and their 2 children, Chris Barnes, and Ronnie Meadows.

Lines on the mirror, lines on her face…

Ok, my buddy Jim Voorhies commented and then I got an e-mail from the most awesome Warrior telling me that my blog has lines through it.

The weird thing is that I don’t see it.

I’m not sure what the heck is going on…

Please leave me a quick comment and let me know if everything looks right on my “Home” page. If it doesn’t and you know how to fix the problem, would you kindly let me know?

Thanks!

Ginger

She’s an eagle when she flies…

Today is Mother’s Day, and I would like to dedicate this song and video to my mom and all of the moms & “like-a-moms” out there. This song is very special to me for a couple of reasons, mainly because it perfectly describes the kind of woman I strive to be…

Gentle as the sweet magnolia
Strong as steel, her faith and pride
She’s an everlasting shoulder
She’s the leaning post of life
She hurts deep and when she weeps
She’s just as fragile as a child
And she’s a sparrow when she’s broken
But she’s an eagle when she flies

Secondly, this is the performance with Dolly that I took part in only 2 weeks after my dad was killed. I was home in Miami, so completely devastated and lost in mourning, not really knowing what to do. When I got the phone call to come back to Nashville and be a part of this, it was like a sign from God (and my dad) that it was ok to move forward…to keep living life. It was ok to go live my dreams and have fun again. It didn’t mean I wasn’t mourning enough or that I didn’t love him enough…in fact, I ended up being able to honor his memory in a way that was so incredibly special…

When wardrobe assigned us our costumes, I got the Army uniform. I had brought back my daddy’s Army pins and patches, and so I honored him by pinning those onto the uniform that night. I can’t think of a better way to have honored him and was amazed at how it had worked out for me to get that particular costume.

A funny story from this night…as you see in the video, President & Barbara Bush were in the audience, and because of that, security was very tight. We all had to go through metal detectors to access the stage to perform. There were secret service there, and other security personnel.

Garth Brooks was standing backstage waiting to go out and perform “Shameless” and we were all hanging out waiting. When he saw me in my military attire, he thought I was there in connection with the President. He was carrying a rose with him, and he stopped in his tracks, put the rose in his mouth, stood at attention and saluted me. I was shocked, but had enough presence of mind to just go with it, so I saluted him back. It was an awesome moment.

Of course, I’ll never forget the screen (curtain) coming up and the first face I saw was the President’s. What a night.

What a song…

Happy Mother’s Day

Perfect order in the animal kingdom…

What a wonderful day! I went with my daughter’s class on a field trip…for the first time ever. We rode the Music City Queen down the Cumberland River almost to downtown Nashville and back to its dock at Opryland Opry Mills.

However, I’m not referring to the rugrats I chaperoned this morning in the title of this post…

Take a look at this picture:

Each turtle, in perfect order by size on that tree stump! We were in the middle of nowhere when we passed these little guys…they impressed me more than anything else on the voyage!

Isn’t nature just amazing?

RIP Eddy Arnold

Music lost one of the greats early this morning with the death of Eddy Arnold. He would’ve turned 90-years-old next week! I used to see him around town quite a bit…a very unassuming, nice gentleman who you’d never suspect was a multi-millionaire from all of the real estate investments he had. He was an honorable man.

My 2 favorite Eddy Arnold songs are “Make The World Go Away” and “The Cattle Call.”

The Tennessean has a full retrospective of Mr. Arnold’s life and career here.

Even a 7-year-old gets it.

This morning on the way to school, Al Voecks was on the radio doing the news, and his top story was that the 6th Circuit Federal Appeals Court upheld an order releasing death row inmate Paul House.

So Amanda asks, “Mommy what do they do to the people on death row? Do they shoot them?”

When she asks questions, I am pretty straight forward with her to a point. I believe honesty is the best policy, and I think I have a good handle on how to explain things to her at her level.

So I told her, “No, they don’t shoot them, but sometimes they give them a shot of a substance that makes their heart stop.”

Then she asked, “But, wouldn’t that make them just as wrong? Because now they killed somebody, too. So now more people are dead. That’s not right.”

Why do we kill people who kill people to prove that killing people is wrong?

-
*DNA evidence helped lead the Supreme Court to overturn House’s conviction in the 1985 slaying of Carolyn Muncey in Union County. The high court also ruled House’s jury didn’t hear testimony that could have exonerated him. (From WSIX.com)

She’s discovered Webkinz…

…I’ll never have access to my PC again.

It’s Moustache May!

Yes, folks…on the internet you can celebrate anything…and build an entire website around it! So, in honor of Moustache May, I present a few of my favorite Glorious Staches…

And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t include the best staches of them all…blogger staches!

Blogger with the best caption ever…

“Got a little ’stache envy there Paulie boy?”

Isn’t all of this facial hair dreamy?

You know…this reminds me…it’s time to get the ‘ol upper lip waxed and soon. But for now…

Happy Moustache May…

Viva la Stache!

Edited to add: I have had some other staches respectfully submitted to me throughout the day, therefore, I’m adding as we go. Plus, how could I leave out the News 2 Staches?

Edited to add II: Eddie rightly called me out for forgetting to post the most Glorious stache ever…

How can I miss you if you won’t go away?

I’m still waiting for somebody to write a hit country song with that title.

If I were to write it tonight, I would definitely have to mention my current Top 3…

Mindy McCready.

Ok, congratulations on getting out of jail and everything, but I really do not care that you had an affair with Roger Clemens.

Why is this news?

Pacman Jones.

Just when I thought we were free of this dude, we’re now subjected to stories about his house mansion being up for sale (for a cool 1.8 million) as well as a new accusation that he ordered the shooting at the Las Vegas strip club where he made it rain. All I can say is at least the getting that house on the market is a step in the right direction. Good riddance…preferably ASAP.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

This guy loves the spotlight. You can just tell. But I really hate to see what has happened between he and Barack Obama. I mean…for the rift to happen publicly, and just when we thought the whole thing was over with, it rears its ugly head once again with Rev. Wright making his rounds on the speaking circuit. It’s just an ugly, ugly situation all around, and a distraction from the issues that we need to be hearing Obama’s viewpoints on. Go away, Rev. Wright. Retirement: it’s a good thing. Go fishing.

Honorable mention: whoever it is that is responsible for the current gas prices. I wish you would take a flying leap.

Happy Birthday, Willie!

Willie Nelson turns 75 today.

I have always liked Willie. The music and the man. He is one of the few celebrities I’ve ever met who didn’t have an ounce of pretense in him.

He is what he is. Take him or leave him.

There’s just something about him that makes me smile…and oh his smile.  When I met him back when I worked at Columbia, he came down to the Creative Services Department to look at some photos.  He was the epitome of gracious, and when my boss introduced me to him, he absolutely captivated me with that smile.

One of my few regrets from back then was that I didn’t grab the Polaroid camera we had in the department and get my picture with him.  (Yes, I know my collection is quite large, but never think that each one doesn’t mean a lot to me.)  The thing is, that smile is just as vibrant in my mind today as if I were holding an actual  picture in my hand.

Willie Nelson is an elder statesman in American culture.  There is an editorial in this morning’s Dallas Morning News, and I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment:

Despite his eccentric political opinions, his tax problems and his marijuana busts, if you harbor hardness in your heart towards Willie Nelson, that says more about you than it does Willie.

Willie Nelson is like Louis Armstrong, a deeply American artist whose simplicity, decency and generosity of spirit, conveyed in a voice as clear and sweet as branch water, illuminates the finer parts of our common humanity.

Indeed.

So today, I raise my glass to Willie Nelson.  As you celebrate 75 (and I’m pretty sure I know how you’ll celebrate), I wish you many more years of health, happiness, and music!

BulletinBulletinBulletin: Paula faux pas!

Yes, I know news of yet another night of Paula not being quite all there will come as a shock, but tonight on American Idol, she almost brought the show to a screeching halt. BeckEye has the best recap ever:

Paula…oh, Paula. Here is where it gets good.

Paula starts to critique Jason and comments on both songs, even though he’s only sung one so far. Everyone looks confused. She continues. She is actually explaining why his first song was better than his second (which has yet to be performed), and that he doesn’t seem like he’s trying hard enough. Nigel Lythgoe can be heard shouting into Simon’s earpiece, “Abort! Abort!” and something about a self-destruct button. Randy tries to help Paula out and only makes matters worse. Paula then exclaims, “Oh, I thought you sang twice! This is HARD!” Everyone laughs nervously. Simon tries to cover by talking over her. Then Paula tries to explain it away by saying she was looking at her notes for David Cook, even though she had bad comments for Jason and good ones for David. Okay, then.

Pop quiz!

Paula just revealed that:

A. The show isn’t live
B. She writes her notes before the show is even over
C. She writes her notes during the rehearsals
D. Someone else writes her notes for her
E. She is batshit crazy
F. Some combination of the above

Here’s a hint: there are no wrong answers. Ain’t I just like the cool teacher in school?

Ok for real, Paula, you might lay off of the weed before the show.

Otherwise, it would actually be interesting to know if they really do have writers helping them write up their critiques ahead of time, based on the rehearsal performances…or what…

Regardless, I believe this show may have just jumped the shark.