My Life According to Bruce Cockburn--A Musical Challenge

Bruce Cockburn performing at the City Stages festival in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

       Debbie at Doglady's Den had the following meme at her site this past week.   The premise is to use song titles of a favorite band or artist to answer a series of questions.  One of my favorite artists is Bruce Cockburn.  His songs have lyrics that are pure poetry with outstanding melodic backing.  Cockburn's music has spoken to me since I first discovered him in 1985.  Click on the song titles if you'd like to read the lyrics.

        Here is my life according to Bruce Cockburn:

Doglady's Den

Q and A
***********

Are you a male or female?
Man Of A Thousand Faces

Describe yourself:

For The Birds 

How do you feel?:
Pacing The Cage

Describe where you currently live:

World Of Wonders

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? 

Going To The Country

Your favorite form of transportation:

Silver Wheels

Your best friend is:

One Of The Best Ones 

Your favorite color is:

Incandescent Blue

What’s the weather like?
After The Rain 

Favorite time of day:

In The Falling Dark

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?

Planet Of The Clowns

What is life to you?

Anything Can Happen

Your relationships:

Love Loves You Too

Your fear:

Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hands

What is the best advice you have to give?

Joy Will Find A Way 

If you could change your name, you would change it to:

Kit Carson

Thought for the day:

See You Tomorrow

How you would like to die:

Let Us Go Laughing

Your soul’s present condition:

Waiting For A Miracle

Your motto:
Free To Be

    Give this a try!  It's great fun.  Pick one of your own favorites and then link back to my blog and Debbie's blog.   Debbie said you can use the badge if you'd like.   Let me know if you do this on your own blog and I'll come visit.

Here's the list in sound and image if you'd like to enjoy the music:

Pieces of Furniture

Old furniture (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      Furniture is typically among the items we most take for granted in our homes.  The furnishings that we fill our rooms with are some of the most enduring possessions many of us will ever own.  On first acquiring furniture we may admire it and administer great care, then as the years pass we tend to just accept that it is there as it gathers dust and typically a few nicks and scratches as it staidly remains in repose in whichever room it has been placed.

       If we happen to relocate to another house, often the furniture will be moved with us.  A move might require a large truck accompanied by professional movers or we might go the do-it-yourself route with a rental truck or even our own or a friend's vehicles.   Furniture is among our biggest household investments.  The practicality of periodically replacing old furniture with new is out of many of our budgets so whether we like it or not we are often stuck with many of the furniture purchases we make in our lives.

       My parents bought their first furniture in 1958 when they bought their first house.  Until that time we had always lived in furnished houses or apartments, but home ownership required the sizable investment of furniture for our then young family.  They had to purchase furniture for a living room, a dining room, and three bedrooms.  I'm not sure how much they paid for it all or where they bought it, but I do know that it was all brand new.  Most of that furniture stayed with our family through three subsequent moves and the raising of five children.

       We went through a number of upholstered pieces and a few dining tables during that period, but most of that early furniture purchase remained with us and it took a beating.  Gradually, piece by piece, furniture was replaced, moved around the house to be used for other purposes, or discarded in one way or another.  A couple of the pieces went with me when I moved away from home into my own place to live.

       Over the years, the furniture that I took sometimes made its way back to my parents' house for storage until I was ready to use it again.  Once the furniture was relegated to a paid storage facility in Richmond, Virginia--that was a huge waste of money.  Eventually most of the possessions that were stored in that locker was sold, given away, or trashed.  Two pieces of furniture I did keep.   Both of these were part of that initial purchase my parents had made twenty years earlier.

       Now, about thirty years later, I still have those two pieces of furniture.  A large dresser that had originally been in my bedroom and a china hutch were pieces that I recovered from my parents' house in 1988 after my wife and I left the road life to settle down in an apartment in Tennessee not far from where my parents lived at that time.  In 1991 we loaded up those two pieces of furniture into a rental truck along with all of  our other possessions and made a drastic move to the Los Angeles area.

        Once again we fast forward to the present.  Since that move to California I've gone through a divorce and then got married to another woman.  Together we bought a new house and consolidated our furniture assets, getting rid of what we didn't need.  The well worn dresser and hutch that had been in my life for so many years ended up in our garage where they remain to this day.  I use them for storage.  My wife would prefer to get rid of them and probably that will one day happen.  I'll have to find a place for the stuff stored in those pieces--possibly a lot of it will end up in the trash.

        Those pieces of furniture, now out of sight and out of mind most of the time, still hold so many memories in the history of my family.  They are not particularly special other than that.   Maybe they do have value of which I am unaware, but I doubt it.   I'll check before ever actually getting rid of them.  If I ever do get rid of them.  Those pieces of furniture have been in my life for so long that they seem like a part of me.  In a way I guess they are.

        Do you have any pieces of furniture that have been in your life for almost as long as you can remember?   Has any furniture that you own been appraised at any significant value?    Is there any particular furniture that you own that is stored away and not used in your home?

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Awareness of Change

      Do you keep up with current affairs?   Did you keep up with the news when you were a kid?

Crowds surrounding the Reflecting Pool, during the 1963 March on Washington. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

       When I was a kid I didn't think too much about current affairs, but I certainly had an awareness.  In the fifties and sixties television was an important source of information for me as were newspapers and the pictorial magazines such as Life.  Then there were the captive audience situations of the movie theater newsreels. Yes, there were newsreels that played prior to the film features even into the fifties and sixties.  They were an interesting way to gain insight into places and events in faraway places as well as a look into the glamorous lives of celebrities.  The newsreels were presented in a manner that they were as much entertainment as they were informative resources.

        Everything came together in such a way that I was aware of what was going on in the world even though to a somewhat limited extent.  Taking all things into consideration though, I was probably more aware of current affairs while I was in grade school and high school than a good many college students today.  Even with the prevalence of informational resources through more television options and the internet, much of the general population of younger people seem to be relatively uninformed about issues, historical context, and general interpretative applications of the knowledge that is made available to them.

         Even as an elementary school student I could name not only the leaders of my own country, but I could name many of the world leaders.   I avidly watched the presidential campaigns of 1960 as well as all that followed into my adult life.  Perhaps I didn't totally understand all of the issues, but I took an interest and attempted to keep up with what was happening.

         My parents did not seem to be particularly interested in politics or world affairs so my interest did not come from them as far as I've been able to discern.  It was a matter of my own curiosity about things I read, saw, and heard in the media that lead me to want to learn more about what was reported.  The world was changing rapidly with space exploration, conflict around the world, political movements, and technology.

          There were however many things of which my knowledge was very limited.   One of these was the civil rights movement that was occurring during the years of my youth.  I know much of this topic was reported because I remember having the awareness.   In many ways my life was sheltered from these issues, but it was mostly because none of it was close to me in any way to where it would have affected me directly.

          In some ways it does seem amazing that even fifty years after the civil rights marches and protests which resulted in legislation leading to change and greater social acceptance of the struggle of Black Americans, we still face similar issues and disagreements that one would think might have disappeared.   Then we consider the four centuries when slavery was the norm for many Americans and attitudes toward other races was archaic to a great extent.  Old habits and notions can be difficult to change.  And that goes for both sides of the fence.  Prejudice is not solely owned by any one race, religion, or culture.    Fear, distrust, or whatever negatives we feel about others are rooted somewhere within all of us and can be hard for us to simply jettison.

          I only know what I watch on TV, hear on the radio, or gather from whatever means is available to me and in the final analysis I don't know all that much.   For one thing we don't always get the unadulterated truth.  We're bombarded with a lot of opinions and points of view.   My empty head seems to filter so much these days.  Filtering is necessary to process data to any meaningful end.  And in the end, I don't know that I really know that much anyway.

         Do you consider yourself well-informed about the world?   Have you ever been involved in any movement for change such as the Civil Rights Movement or a political campaign?     What do you find to be the best sources of information that help shape your thinking? 

      I hope you'll visit my next Battle of the Bands post at Tossing It Out.  The above post is related to that post and provides some clues to the song choice I'll be using.  It's a great song with two outstanding performances for you to vote on your favorite.  

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Secret Sister Strategy (Lost & Found: Valentine's Edition)

        This post is my Wrote By Rote entry for the Lost & Found: Valentine's Edition blog hop hosted by Guilie Castillo-Oriard, Alex J Cavanaugh, Denise Covey, Yolanda Renee, Elizabeth Seckman, and me.  Be sure to visit all of the hosts for this event.  To find the full list of participants visit the list on Tossing It Out or any of the host sites.  My post on Tossing It Out (appearing on February 1st) will also feature a related Battle of the Bands installment so please be sure to visit and vote if you can.

        Participants are sharing their stories and experiences concerning love lost and love found.   We all have stories in our lives relating to this matter.   I have several.  This is one of them--the most important one...

The Secret Sister Strategy

         As far as things go in my life 1992 was kind of a bad year for me.  My wife at the time and I had only been living in Los Angeles for less than a year when she seemed to go haywire.  The end result was that she left me and our daughters to pursue the proverbial greener grass that in the end was not all that green--but that's her story to tell and not mine.

          My world seemed upended as future dreams for that marriage were shattered and I was left to contend with holding down my job while attempting to provide as much stability and normalcy to my daughters' lives as I could muster.  With the help of God and a few well placed individuals I managed on through the next few years.  I was depressed and heartbroken, but I knew that life had to keep going.   I had kids to raise and a broken self to fix.

          A few relationships were attempted, but nothing seemed quite right with those so they didn't get far.  Those ladies wanted things to go further, but I was wary after having gotten burned already.  My priority was taking care of my children and that can be a hindrance to a relationship.  The main thing I wanted to avoid was getting involved in a relationship that wouldn't last.  When warning signals began flashing, my response was to back off and rethink the situation.  I was lonely for a partner, but I didn't want to take a step that might send me off of another emotional precipice.

        In 1996, after my oldest daughter had entered middle school, a different strategy evolved.  She had many friends, but there was one in particular that was her "best friends forever" type of friendship.  They became almost inseparable.  During their times together they obviously discussed their lives and found that they were in similar situations.   My daughter's friend's mother was also a struggling single parent.   Enthralled by the idea of becoming sisters so they could always be together they devised a scheme.

        The girls were at this time ready to enter high school.  An opportunity arose with the orientation for new students and their parents.  I sensed that something was afoot by hints my daughter had been dropping about meeting people on that evening.   After the orientation event was over, my daughter introduced me to her friend's mother.  As the girls slyly went ahead to giggle and chat with each other, this lady and I were left in an awkward position of making small talk.   My daughter's hints were not lost upon me so as we all parted I suggested to my new acquaintance that perhaps we could go out for dinner one night.  I got her phone number and told her I'd call later to make arrangements for our "date".

         As things turned out, Betty and I went out for our dinner date.  I was impressed and apparently so was she.  Betty was not confident about her ability to communicate since English was her second language, yet we always found plenty to talk about as we spent evenings on the phone and began going out on a regular basis.  Her communication was fine as far as I was concerned.   She was intelligent--after all she held a PhD and worked in the field of education.  After a year of dating we got married at the end of 1997.

        Most likely we would have never encountered one another on our own.   We found each other through the secret strategy of two young girls who wanted to be sisters.  Thanks to our daughters we were able to establish a new family.   They each gained a new parent and Betty and I gained new daughters.

           Now the girls are grown and have moved away to start their own lives and families.  Betty and I still have each other.   This year we'll celebrate our 19th anniversary.   We've been discussing our future plans for after Betty retires.   She's a wonderful lady with great values.  She is definitely a keeper.  I don't want to lose her.

           

Growing Up with the Movies

Lady and the Tramp (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        Some of my earliest memories relate to movies.  When I was a child my parents, my mother especially, were fairly avid movie-goers.  In the faintness of my memory I seem to recall going to the movies nearly once a week.  It was probably not that often considering the tight budget to which our family likely adhered, but still it was probably more often than most of the other kids that I knew.

        Many Saturday mornings my mother would take us to movies that were older films that circulated in the theaters for what were likely budget showings.  We'd see monster movies, comedies, westerns, and other B films that were considered family fare and in some cases maybe not.  My favorites were the comedies of Abbot and Costello and anything scary or science fiction related.

         We always had a television when I was growing up and much of my movie viewing was right in our own living room.  There were no large screen televisions in those days so we were accustomed to watching programming on a 15 to 19 inch screen.  Since I didn't know anything else this was my norm and I never considered that television screens would ever be larger.  Another norm for us was black and white.  I had seen color televisions like the one a wealthy uncle and his family had, but my family never had one until after I was in high school.  And that color television had what I'm guessing was a 25 inch screen.

          Back then a big screen was what they had in the movie theaters.  It was always a special event when my father and mother both took my sister and I to the movies.   Usually as a family we'd go to see whatever major release was showing--typically it would be a Bible epic like The Ten Commandments though sometimes it might be a Disney film like Bambi or Lady and the Tramp.  If there was a circus film or something that might have a juggler in it then that was a guaranteed theater excursion.  It was all fine with me as any movie was something that I wanted to experience.

          After we moved to San Diego when I was eight years old, I probably watched an average of nearly a film a day on television.   That's not to say I didn't spend time outdoors or playing with whatever it was I played with back then.  Time was in abundance so I always seemed to have plenty of time for both play and watching television.

           In those days on the San Diego television station there was a movie every week day afternoon.  I'd often watch those after coming home from school.  Then there was Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC when they would show fairly recent top tier films.  I was in front of our television set for nearly every one of those.  Some of  my favorite viewing was on Friday and Saturday nights when starting at 11:30 PM one of the stations would show films all night.  Apparently my parents were fine with me doing so because many a weekend I'd be up late, sometimes all night, watching two or three movies in a row.

           When I was entering middle school--or junior high as we called it back then--we moved to Northern Indiana.   In nearby Crown Point there was an old theater on the town square.  Nearly every Friday night you could find me there with my sister and a friend or two.  There were the James Bond films, surf movies, and the rock and roll films such as the Beatles' Hard Day's Night and Having a Wild Weekend with the Dave Clark Five.  The candy was cheap and movies were a quarter.  My mother would drop us off and pick us up when it was all over.  Those were great times.

           My childhood of watching movies was not just memorable to me, but it paved the way for a avid enjoyment of films in later years up until now.  I don't watch films like I used to, but I easily could if that were how I wanted to devote my time.   And I'd like to spend a lot of time watching movies, but there are so many other things that I want and need to do.

        The other day my wife said that when she retired we'd watch movies all day.   I'm not sure I'm ready for that much movie watching, but it sounds tempting.

          Did you watch a lot of movies when you were a child?   Did your parents take you to see movies?    What are some films that you saw as a child that had a big influence on you?

Give My Regards to Broadway (Backstage Blogathon)

In the Backstage Blogathon (click on the link for more info and the list of participating blogs) participants pick a film made before 1970 that has something to do with the workings of show biz.  This is a blog hop that definitely fits my interests in show business.  I'll tell you more about this later which should add more credibility to my championing the 1948 film Give My Regards to Broadway.  






Give My Regards to Broadway (1948)

      I happened upon this movie on television several years ago.  Serendipitously I had turned the channel just as the credits were starting to roll.  Seeing that it was a movie about show biz and vaudeville I stuck with it and I was glad that I did.   Give My Regards to Broadway is a film that so much reminded of me of my own family and upbringing that I added it to my list of favorite films.

        The story is about Albert Norwick (played by Charles Winninger), a vaudeville veteran who struggles in show business with his growing family until they are forced off the road by The Great Depression.   Taking on a regular job to lead the existence of any normal American family, Albert the Great hangs on to his vaudeville dreams believing that one day his family's act will get their big break in entertainment.

         As the years pass, the three Norwick children settle in taking on jobs when they reach adulthood.   The two daughters are ambivalent about the show biz dream while son Bert Norwick (played by Dan Dailey) shares his father's passion for the world of the stage.  When their old agent lets Albert know about a possible big show opening in New York, the family starts rehearsing their song, dance, and juggling act as Albert is convinced there will be a headlining spot for them in this new show.

        First one daughter and then the next loses interest as they fall in love and get married, abandoning the act.   At first father and son pursue their dream until complications arise that threaten to keep them where they've been since leaving the glamour life 20 years previously.  Faced with the dilemmas of what to do they must make the decisions that will decide the direction of their lives.

         This is a fun film that explores the passion of pursuing dreams, the realities faced in that pursuit, sacrifices made for the sake of  love and security, and the bonds of family and friends.  Give My Regards to Broadway is poignant and bittersweet yet ever hopeful.   It's a joyous film about life, love, family, and baseball--yes that's right.  I'll leave it to you to watch the film to get the baseball connection.

         Stars Charles Winninger and Dan Dailey do a fine job in the song and dance numbers as well as performing some very credible juggling numbers.  Actually Dailey is quite good with the juggling.  Professional jugglers Duke Johnson and Bill T. Coughlin acted as juggling coaches developing simple routines that looked good on screen while requiring minimal juggling expertise.  

         All in all this little known film makes for a delightful viewing experience.  Nicely filmed in Technicolor, the acting is excellent and the classic songs are performed with true vaudeville flair.  I was especially impressed by the story.  This is one of the most realistic films about show business that I've seen.  I'm going to tell you why I make that claim.

Dan Dailey, Barbara Lawrence, and Charles Winninger perform a plate juggling
routine in Give My Regards to Broadway

My Connection to the Film

        What surprised me most when I saw this film was how similar the story was to the experience of my own family.  My father was just starting out in show business with his own juggling act when this film first came out.  Like most performers, he had that dream of being a headline act in a big show.  He soon was to meet my mother who was a dancer with show biz dreams of her own.  After they partnered in marriage they put together their own dance and juggling package and began playing the still active club and show circuit in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the 1950's.

         My dad never gave up his dreams though he did maintain a good job as a bookkeeper and our family had a home and a relatively typical life.  As my sister and I grew up we became part of my parents' act, performing on weekends or special engagements whenever we could get the bookings.  It was a great life and the show biz bug easily hooked us.  We dreamed of becoming performers full time, but never quite took that step.

          Later, after my sister and I became adults, she left the act to follow her own pursuits.  A few years later I too left to pursue my own show business dream as a solo performer.  I worked successfully as a performer for about 15 years, getting married along the way and raising my own brood of kids.  As they became school age I too left the show biz life to settle down to a regular job with a normal home life.

         Having lived the life and the dream, I can understand the lure of the bright lights and the cheering audiences.  It is something that "gets in your blood" as the saying goes.   To me the film Give My Regards to Broadway precisely captures the spirit of the dream as well as the security of being tied down to regular life.

        Relatively few people who attempt to go into an entertainment career experience huge success.   Some of the luckier ones like myself and my family or the fictional Albert the Great and Family are able to enjoy enough of a successful run where we get a taste of the glamorous life.  Once that's been tasted I think most of us have a lingering desire to return in some capacity.  It's certainly true for me:  If I were offered an opportunity to go back to an entertainment career of some sort, I would be tempted.  I'd be very tempted.      

A 1967 promo photo for my family's act The Juggling Jacksons
My father Bob Jackson seated with my sister Joy, me in the center
and my mother Lois Jackson.

         If you've seen Give My Regards to Broadway, what did you think of it?   What films have you seen that come closest to depicting your own life story or your family background?     Have you ever sacrificed a dream for the sake of security or the love of another?

To watch this film online you can find it here.

Remembering Dad

Bob Jackson in a portrait taken sometime in his twenties.

     If my father were still living he would be 93 years old on January 14th.  Unfortunately he passed away 25 years ago when he was a mere 67 years of age--two years older than I am now.  Somehow that age of passing sticks with me.  It's like a milestone that I must pass in order to make it to an older age like 93 or more.   Once I've made it past 67 I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief  and move on into the future with more confidence about living to an old age.

       My father was a pretty cool guy.  Everybody seemed to think so.  Part of his coolness was his juggling skill and another part was his sense of humor.  He liked to laugh and he liked to make people laugh.  That's probably one of the things that led him to go into show business.  He loved being on stage to entertain people.

        Bob Jackson performed his juggling act up until the last year of his life when a series of infirmities began to weaken his body and diminish his spirit.  I sensed that something was happening in that last year, but the severity of it all wasn't fully realized until a few months before his death on September 9th of 1990.   In July of that year he managed to make it to one final jugglers' convention.  His presence there was more like a farewell than a participatory event like past conventions where he  had juggled with the younger folk with nearly as much enthusiasm as they had.  He was beloved by the jugglers who knew him and sought out by those who didn't.

        Since he was my father I guess I tended to take him for granted much of the time.  He was a great provider and a good example to his children.  He worked a regular job with diligence and pursued his avocation of show business with a passion.  My father never pursued anything halfheartedly and attempted to instill this within all of us. The man had an exuberance for living and a curiosity for the world in which he lived.

        I was often intimidated by him as he could come across as a taskmaster.   Later in my life--and even during those times when his presence loomed over my formative years--I understood what he was attempting to instill within his children even though I was not always fully on board with his agenda.   He had it right when I often didn't.

        In those later years of his life, as I was bringing my own children into the world and acquiring a better understanding of fatherhood, I began to feel an alignment with my father and what he represented.  Oh, we still clashed on certain generational things, but overall I began to see how I was becoming my father.  The old feuds of differing opinions began to melt as we seemed to become closer to being peers and friends rather than father and son.  We were both heading toward an old age where the parent/child relationship becomes somewhat blurred.

        Before it all ended I took opportunities to thank my dad for the values he taught me and the experiences he brought into my life.  I was glad that I was able to do that.  Any perceived enmity between us faded into a mutual respect and toleration.  We were never the same people during our lives together and yet now much of who he was is who I am.  In many ways I feel that I fall short of what he accomplished in his life, but I think he would be pleased with where I have been in my life and where I am now.   He did the best he knew how when it came to living life.  I thank him for being that special man.

        Did you have a good relationship with your father?    Do you see a part of your parents in who you are now?   Were you rebellious when you were growing up?