I am talking about celebrities that helped form the way I view things.
1. Clint Eastwood.
Nobody helped me form the way I carried myself in my early days more than Clint Eastwood. I was a nerd and a nobody in school.
At home, I watched Clint Eastwood movies such as Dirty Harry, Fistful of Dollars and everything else he made. I started to try and talk and act like Clint Eastwood. Suddenly, some kids in my class started to notice that I wasn't such a bad guy after all, that I was actually kind of cool. I did my Eastwood impersonations and my Eastwood one liners all the time.
Eastwood will be the only celebrity that will make me cry when the end comes for him.
2. John Wayne
Kind of goes without saying that a man my age would idolize John Wayne. I liked the way he walked and I liked the way he talked and behaving comparably goes a long way in overcoming obstacles in life. Actors like the Duke and Eastwood helped me in a very bad time of my life where I was too shy to talk to anyone and I just wanted to have friends.
3. Tom Landry.
We came from the same town. He played football at my favorite college, and he coached my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys. I am no longer a Cowboy fan, but I will always love, admire and idolize the man that Tom Landry was. He was America's coach back when the Cowboys were America's team. He was my coach even though I never made it past high school and was not good even there.
He had a huge impact on my life because I saw how a man should carry himself both on and off the field. Tom Landry was class all the way around.
4. John Fogerty
Favorite musician ever. I do love a lot of musicians, but Fogerty was in my favorite band when I was growing up and I still love them and him to this day.
I have a lot of fond memories listening to Credence Clearwater Revival growing up. One of the biggest memories is being a young kid in Weslaco, Texas and going to the Methodist Church Coffee House which was set up for teens to go as an alternative to other obvious options. Girls were everywhere and I was really too shy to say a word to them. But, CCR was always playing in the background and sometimes even to this day listening to certain songs takes me back.
Fogerty was cool and was not what a lot of other rock stars were of the day. You can be cool without going over the dark side.
5. Mike Ditka
This guy wrote the book on tough. Don't believe it? Go watch some videos of when he played TE for the Chicago Bears. Not many guys could tackle Ditka one on one. He was a Tight End and he ran like a Full Back. The guy was hard nosed as a player and again as a coach. Ditka refused to be tackled and put up a fight on every play.
Tough is what I wanted to be and Ditka was the perfect example of tough.
6. Muhammad Ali
I was not an Ali fan. I liked Joe Frazier and I liked George Foreman. But, I hate to admit it but Ali had a strong influence on my life in a lot of ways. You can learn anything from anybody, but Ali had a style that was all his own. Many have tried to copy and I must admit that I have done my fair share of mimicking Ali.
I was not a boxer, but the way he carried himself outside the ring was a pretty big influence on many people and I was one as well.
7. Jim Brown
I consider Jim Brown the best football player of all time. He was great on the field and he was great off of the field. I love football and this guy played the way it should be played.
Big thing about Jim Brown, he got out while things were still good. Only one other guy that I can think of did that and that was Barry Sanders.
Be your best while you are your best and then get out while you are the best. We all could learn a lesson from that. All memories of Brown are at his best, not as a washed up has been. He held the rushing record for many years and could have put it out of reach if he had stayed in the game. I, for one, admire him more for getting out while he was at his best. He is also a very reasonable and wise man off of the field.
8. Paul Newman
Paul Newman was cool. He was the picture of cool. If you want to be cool, just smile like Newman.
What I liked about Newman was that when he met his true love he stuck with her the rest of his life. That is rare. He was a very handsome rascal and could have had his pick of the ladies, I am sure. He chose to stick around and be faithful. Very admirable and I have patterned myself after that.
Also, love how he came out with his own food products and gave the money to charity. This was a guy one could model their life after and could led a good and fruitful life.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Friday, December 20, 2013
Fudge Van Hooser
No offense to my parents, but I don't like my name. I really never have.
When I was in second grade, we moved to a new city and I started at a new school. There was already a Brad going to school there and in my same class. So, they called me by my full name, Bradly. Only nobody spells their name Bradly with the E between the L and the Y. I have had to correct the spelling forever.
There are a lot of guys on the planet named Brad Taylor. One of them played QB a long time ago for Arkansas. One of them was a TE for Baylor a few years back. Another Brad Taylor is a motivational speaker and yet another is a homosexual porn star.
My misspelled name, Bradly, is different than every Bradley in the world but I don't go by Bradly anymore due to the fact that I am not 10 years old.
Along comes a guy named Fudge Van Hooser.
I know little of Fudge Van Hooser other than he is a freshman at Tulane University and he is listed as a QB.
I have no idea how he wound up with the name Fudge, but his name works also with nearly any other first name. Throw in Bob, or Mark, or since he is from the South, Billy Don, and you still have a cool name. It's not exactly a common name such as a name like Brad Taylor.
Fudge Van Hooser is very memorable and just has to be one of a kind.
I like being one of a kind and give it my best shot daily.
Sorry parents, again, but give me a name like Fudge Van Hooser next time.
When I was in second grade, we moved to a new city and I started at a new school. There was already a Brad going to school there and in my same class. So, they called me by my full name, Bradly. Only nobody spells their name Bradly with the E between the L and the Y. I have had to correct the spelling forever.
There are a lot of guys on the planet named Brad Taylor. One of them played QB a long time ago for Arkansas. One of them was a TE for Baylor a few years back. Another Brad Taylor is a motivational speaker and yet another is a homosexual porn star.
My misspelled name, Bradly, is different than every Bradley in the world but I don't go by Bradly anymore due to the fact that I am not 10 years old.
Along comes a guy named Fudge Van Hooser.
I know little of Fudge Van Hooser other than he is a freshman at Tulane University and he is listed as a QB.
I have no idea how he wound up with the name Fudge, but his name works also with nearly any other first name. Throw in Bob, or Mark, or since he is from the South, Billy Don, and you still have a cool name. It's not exactly a common name such as a name like Brad Taylor.
Fudge Van Hooser is very memorable and just has to be one of a kind.
I like being one of a kind and give it my best shot daily.
Sorry parents, again, but give me a name like Fudge Van Hooser next time.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Down to 267
OK, so I am a fat boy.
If you knew me at any point of my younger years you would think it was amazing that I am fat. But, I really am just that.
In my defense, I am a tad over six foot five. But, I stepped on the scales at the gym recently and I was stunned to see 273 pounds as my weight.
I do have a mirror and could see things were out of control. But, a number that high was still shocking.
After a couple of weeks, I have dropped to 267.
My goal is 230 pounds, and I must do this by my birthday, September 1st.
So, knock off the desserts and hit the gym like never before.
Update:
June 23, 2012
I am now down to 250 pounds.
If you knew me at any point of my younger years you would think it was amazing that I am fat. But, I really am just that.
In my defense, I am a tad over six foot five. But, I stepped on the scales at the gym recently and I was stunned to see 273 pounds as my weight.
I do have a mirror and could see things were out of control. But, a number that high was still shocking.
After a couple of weeks, I have dropped to 267.
My goal is 230 pounds, and I must do this by my birthday, September 1st.
So, knock off the desserts and hit the gym like never before.
Update:
June 23, 2012
I am now down to 250 pounds.
The Lizard Hunter
Everyone has heard of the Crocodile Hunter who was tragically killed a few years ago. But, I am now the Lizard Hunter.
I need to write my book called Memoirs of a Landlord Gone Mad which I have actually already started. I get all kinds of strange requests and run across all kinds of things.
The latest is a woman that is phobic like afraid of lizards and has one in her apartment. We occasionally have a squirrel in an attic or a mouse running around. We get the apartments sprayed for bugs monthly, but still get a call about bugs from time to time.
First lizard scare in twenty plus years I have gotten and other than taking my Dirty Harry gun into the apartment, I have no idea how to get rid of lizards.
Look at me everyone. I am the great Lizard Hunter.
I need to write my book called Memoirs of a Landlord Gone Mad which I have actually already started. I get all kinds of strange requests and run across all kinds of things.
The latest is a woman that is phobic like afraid of lizards and has one in her apartment. We occasionally have a squirrel in an attic or a mouse running around. We get the apartments sprayed for bugs monthly, but still get a call about bugs from time to time.
First lizard scare in twenty plus years I have gotten and other than taking my Dirty Harry gun into the apartment, I have no idea how to get rid of lizards.
Look at me everyone. I am the great Lizard Hunter.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Favorite Songs in Order (6-10)
6. Creep-Radiohead
Many people think I am a creep so I guess this song fits me. To me, this is Radiohead's only good song but this one is so very good that it makes up for all the others.
If you heard or read 10 people translate their meaning for this song you would probably get 10 different replies. I am not sure what the guy that wrote this song intended but I do know what it means to me.
For me, this song is about being accepted and loved but never being able to achieve that because I am less than perfect in my own eyes which makes me withdraw and never actually giving others a chance to accept or love.
Whatever it means in your opinion, this song is one of my all time favorites.
7. Come Undone-Duran Duran
This song has a very special meaning to me. This song, as well as the next two songs, are not about the tune or the instruments, or anything else, but they deal with the words and they deal with my dark side and my recent past.
You see, I actually did come undone. I fell apart at the seams and may pick up the pieces the rest of my life. How does one reacquire things that it took a life time to build up? How does that confidence come back after such a huge failure?
Not sure.
Here's a link to listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhKnOoXvyY&feature=related
8. Overkill- Men at Work
Sometimes you listen to a song and it just hits you. This song is about dealing with the ghosts that come to you in the night time. The ghosts aren't the traditional ghosts, but the things in life that make you stressed out and keep you awake at night. Your ghost might be a bill that is due, or a school paper that is due. The ghost might be a former girlfriend or it might be losing everything you own in a business deal.
Why is that you think of those things when you try to go to sleep? In my case, I often think of those things in the middle of the night when I have been sleeping for a couple of hours.
Here's a link to the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcu7OCIqlqE
9. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
This one is a giant to me. I do know it's Coldplay and that does not make me gay (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Supposedly, Coldplay stole this song from Joe Satriani. I don't know about that because I have never heard the Joe Satriani song.
Regardless, or irregardless, this song is huge to me. The first time I heard this I nearly broke down and cried because this was my song.
Sure, I never ruled the world but that's not what this is about so much, but it's about being at a certain level and being crushed.
Try driving around in a luxury automobile and then the next thing you know you are plunging toilets.
That's my life and that's why this song hits me so very hard.
But, hey, listen for yourself, freak show. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70Nca5MvM8
10. Europa- Carlos Santana
No deep meanings to this song, just a great guitar song that always makes me feel mellow. Santana has never really gotten the love and respect that he deserves, in my opinion.
These are my top 10 songs and they can vary slightly but not really all that much.
Many people think I am a creep so I guess this song fits me. To me, this is Radiohead's only good song but this one is so very good that it makes up for all the others.
If you heard or read 10 people translate their meaning for this song you would probably get 10 different replies. I am not sure what the guy that wrote this song intended but I do know what it means to me.
For me, this song is about being accepted and loved but never being able to achieve that because I am less than perfect in my own eyes which makes me withdraw and never actually giving others a chance to accept or love.
Whatever it means in your opinion, this song is one of my all time favorites.
7. Come Undone-Duran Duran
This song has a very special meaning to me. This song, as well as the next two songs, are not about the tune or the instruments, or anything else, but they deal with the words and they deal with my dark side and my recent past.
You see, I actually did come undone. I fell apart at the seams and may pick up the pieces the rest of my life. How does one reacquire things that it took a life time to build up? How does that confidence come back after such a huge failure?
Not sure.
Here's a link to listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhKnOoXvyY&feature=related
8. Overkill- Men at Work
Sometimes you listen to a song and it just hits you. This song is about dealing with the ghosts that come to you in the night time. The ghosts aren't the traditional ghosts, but the things in life that make you stressed out and keep you awake at night. Your ghost might be a bill that is due, or a school paper that is due. The ghost might be a former girlfriend or it might be losing everything you own in a business deal.
Why is that you think of those things when you try to go to sleep? In my case, I often think of those things in the middle of the night when I have been sleeping for a couple of hours.
Here's a link to the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcu7OCIqlqE
9. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
This one is a giant to me. I do know it's Coldplay and that does not make me gay (not that there's anything wrong with that)
Supposedly, Coldplay stole this song from Joe Satriani. I don't know about that because I have never heard the Joe Satriani song.
Regardless, or irregardless, this song is huge to me. The first time I heard this I nearly broke down and cried because this was my song.
Sure, I never ruled the world but that's not what this is about so much, but it's about being at a certain level and being crushed.
Try driving around in a luxury automobile and then the next thing you know you are plunging toilets.
That's my life and that's why this song hits me so very hard.
But, hey, listen for yourself, freak show. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70Nca5MvM8
10. Europa- Carlos Santana
No deep meanings to this song, just a great guitar song that always makes me feel mellow. Santana has never really gotten the love and respect that he deserves, in my opinion.
These are my top 10 songs and they can vary slightly but not really all that much.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Favorite Songs in Order (top 5)
This list will always be changing.
1. Fortunate Son-Creedence Clearwater Revival.
I've loved this song as long as I can remember and I suppose I always will. It's a toss up between this one and my number 2 for the ultimate Vietnam song. No band represents my growing up years more than CCR.
2. All Along the Watchtower-Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi died more than 40 years ago, but for guys like me he will live forever. Greatest guitarist to ever live and I am not sure it's even close for the guy that is second best.
All Along the Watchtower is actually a cover song by Hendrix and I love cover songs if they are done well and this song was done well. So well, in fact, that everyone thinks this is a Hendrix song. It was first written and performed by Bob Dylan and even Dylan admits that Hendrix ruled with this song.
Nearly every Vietnam movie plays this song. So much so that a lot of people think of this song as THE Vietnam Song.
Fogerty may be my favorite all time vocalist, but Hendrix is my all time favorite guitarist. Well, he's my favorite guitarist after my son.
All Along the Watchtower has been covered many times and many of the covers are very good, but not of them come close to Jimi Hendrix.
3. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynard. Nothing quite says the 70s like Free Bird. I promise that I am not totally living in the past but my first 3 songs were huge, huge, huge.
This song while being one of the greatest guitar songs ever, gives you a sense of freedom like no other music unless you are a fan of rap music and then there's really no hope for you.
4. Moon River-Any number of artists.
Some songs just give me the warm fuzzies and this one is maybe the best. Not sure I have a favorite version but if I did it might be by Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck two legendary guitar players.
5. Somewhere Over the Rainbow-like Moon River I don't care who sings it.
I suppose Judy Garland may have been the first, but there have been a number of good versions of this classic. I might even like the Eric Clapton/Jeff Beck version the best.
1. Fortunate Son-Creedence Clearwater Revival.
I've loved this song as long as I can remember and I suppose I always will. It's a toss up between this one and my number 2 for the ultimate Vietnam song. No band represents my growing up years more than CCR.
2. All Along the Watchtower-Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi died more than 40 years ago, but for guys like me he will live forever. Greatest guitarist to ever live and I am not sure it's even close for the guy that is second best.
All Along the Watchtower is actually a cover song by Hendrix and I love cover songs if they are done well and this song was done well. So well, in fact, that everyone thinks this is a Hendrix song. It was first written and performed by Bob Dylan and even Dylan admits that Hendrix ruled with this song.
Nearly every Vietnam movie plays this song. So much so that a lot of people think of this song as THE Vietnam Song.
Fogerty may be my favorite all time vocalist, but Hendrix is my all time favorite guitarist. Well, he's my favorite guitarist after my son.
All Along the Watchtower has been covered many times and many of the covers are very good, but not of them come close to Jimi Hendrix.
3. Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynard. Nothing quite says the 70s like Free Bird. I promise that I am not totally living in the past but my first 3 songs were huge, huge, huge.
This song while being one of the greatest guitar songs ever, gives you a sense of freedom like no other music unless you are a fan of rap music and then there's really no hope for you.
4. Moon River-Any number of artists.
Some songs just give me the warm fuzzies and this one is maybe the best. Not sure I have a favorite version but if I did it might be by Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck two legendary guitar players.
5. Somewhere Over the Rainbow-like Moon River I don't care who sings it.
I suppose Judy Garland may have been the first, but there have been a number of good versions of this classic. I might even like the Eric Clapton/Jeff Beck version the best.
Harper's Woods
I am proud to say that I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. I realize that this does make me somewhat old but I am very proud of my era. I am a product of the 60s, I suppose.
Hollywood somehow managed to come up with a television show that reminded me so much of my youth. The Wonder Years was a classic and ran from 1988 to 1993.
The Wonder Years covered the early life of Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage. In reality, I am nothing like Kevin Arnold but his life reminded me so much of my own. The setting was the late 60s and early 70s covering Kevin in elementary school, middle school and high school.
I often record reruns of The Wonder Years on any given night and start my day each morning by watching the shows. I've seen them all, but nearly every show has a special meaning for me.
The episode I am writing about in this blog was about Harper's Woods.
Harper's Woods was a small wooded area near where Kevin Arnold and his friends grew up. It had special meaning for them because they played there so much as children.
One day they discovered bulldozers were on their way to tear down Harper's Woods to build a shopping area.
That's progress. But, progress often has a price and for these kids it was bulldozing a very special place for them.
They decided to fight the construction project and did all they could to stop the development.
Needless to say they failed and the shopping center was built. Tragically, Harper's Woods was no more.
Small sections of wooded land disappearing in this world is a problem but that is a problem for another blog to solve. A lot of us have had our Harper's Woods. A place we went as children and had a lot of fun in our youth. I certainly had my own.
But, the disappearance of Harper's Woods was not even the point of this episode.
People are born on this planet every second of any given day. People also die at nearly the same rate. People come and people go. With the exception of a George Washington, or a Cesar Chavez, or a Martin Luther King a vast, vast majority come and go and hardly a trace of their existence even remains. We are born, we die, and we are quickly forgotten.
That is we are forgotten if anyone ever knows we are even alive in the first place.
I have driven by the local cemetery and personally witnessed a grave side funeral with all of three people in attendance. I felt saddened by somebody passing and nobody at all even caring.
I am afraid my own life will be the same.
At the end of this Wonder Years episode, Kevin had gotten in trouble at school. His junior high principle sat him down and told Kevin that he thought of himself as 'special'. The Principle had been at his job for 20 years and showed Kevin pictures on the wall of others that also thought they were 'special' and nobody even remembered who they were after a little time had passed.
Nobody remembers Harper's Woods and nobody remembers us.
That's just the way it is.
Hollywood somehow managed to come up with a television show that reminded me so much of my youth. The Wonder Years was a classic and ran from 1988 to 1993.
The Wonder Years covered the early life of Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage. In reality, I am nothing like Kevin Arnold but his life reminded me so much of my own. The setting was the late 60s and early 70s covering Kevin in elementary school, middle school and high school.
I often record reruns of The Wonder Years on any given night and start my day each morning by watching the shows. I've seen them all, but nearly every show has a special meaning for me.
The episode I am writing about in this blog was about Harper's Woods.
Harper's Woods was a small wooded area near where Kevin Arnold and his friends grew up. It had special meaning for them because they played there so much as children.
One day they discovered bulldozers were on their way to tear down Harper's Woods to build a shopping area.
That's progress. But, progress often has a price and for these kids it was bulldozing a very special place for them.
They decided to fight the construction project and did all they could to stop the development.
Needless to say they failed and the shopping center was built. Tragically, Harper's Woods was no more.
Small sections of wooded land disappearing in this world is a problem but that is a problem for another blog to solve. A lot of us have had our Harper's Woods. A place we went as children and had a lot of fun in our youth. I certainly had my own.
But, the disappearance of Harper's Woods was not even the point of this episode.
People are born on this planet every second of any given day. People also die at nearly the same rate. People come and people go. With the exception of a George Washington, or a Cesar Chavez, or a Martin Luther King a vast, vast majority come and go and hardly a trace of their existence even remains. We are born, we die, and we are quickly forgotten.
That is we are forgotten if anyone ever knows we are even alive in the first place.
I have driven by the local cemetery and personally witnessed a grave side funeral with all of three people in attendance. I felt saddened by somebody passing and nobody at all even caring.
I am afraid my own life will be the same.
At the end of this Wonder Years episode, Kevin had gotten in trouble at school. His junior high principle sat him down and told Kevin that he thought of himself as 'special'. The Principle had been at his job for 20 years and showed Kevin pictures on the wall of others that also thought they were 'special' and nobody even remembered who they were after a little time had passed.
Nobody remembers Harper's Woods and nobody remembers us.
That's just the way it is.
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