Week with the Frankie Valli Concert as the Capstone

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.



My eyes adored you
Though I never held a hand with you,
My eyes adored you
Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see
How I adored you:
So close, so close and yet so far away~~~somebody; doodling

I find myself, and the content of my journal for this week, in a bit of a quandary. I want this Web Log to act as a journal of my experiences; as an essay accounting for the aspects of my life, and to whom, therein, the hero might be determined. But damn it, I had a couple of experiences this week that, at least for now, must be kept sealed within my heart.

One of them took place on Monday, where, among other things, a set of 11/11's, came into play.
I see numbers as having an interplay with Fate, and life's experiences. Monday was Nov 8, 2010. November is one of the 11's in the first set, and~~~8 +2+0+1+0=11, which makes for the second 11, in the first set. And the time that I was involved in particular experience was at 11:11AM. For now, we will just put it as a beautiful day, with a beautiful landscape vista; with a
railroad track nearby, that just added to the aesthetics.

And Mikey J. called me in the afternoon. We are both checking notes and doing a 'little' follow-up on a project that I am working closely with him on. Here again, because I don't like to put a jinx on a bubble, to where it bursts, we will just say that
the 'project' seems to be, at least, in motion.

Tuesday AM, I went to the Buffalo Historical Society, and attended, as a guest, The RailBarons.Org meeting in the building-basement. As a 'guest' of the club, they allow me to operate my Appalachian 2-8-8-2 Rivarossi articulated-mallet locomotive on their layout. And that was a pretty cool experience for the two hours that I was there. I was pleased that everybody was
remarking how well the locomotive ran. There is a reason for that!!! Keep in mind that this locomotive was originally purchased, in 1967, from Sears, 1901 Main St. Buffalo, NY, in a post-Christmas sale, for $19.95. The locomotive is 44 years old!!! Why was it running so well?? Because, in effect, I almost bit off~~~more than I could chew!! About 4 weeks ago, on a Saturday, I set out to do a 'little' maintenance on the 'power' unit. Keep in mind that this locomotive is 44 years old. Included in that is the fact that the parts and assembly schematic, were lost~~~years ago. So as I'm disassembling, without my proper set of 'hobby' screwdrivers no less, from scratch, to properly grease the moving parts, and the screw-and-gear mechanisms, I'm beginning to panic. I'm looking at all of these little nuts, bolts, widgets, rods, and strange looking tongue-and-groove interlocking armatures, and I'm beginning to think~~~oh, oh---I'm in way over my head!!!! I stayed with it. Greased all of the moving parts, and did the reassembling. In the process, there was a couple of moments where I thought I was going to have to wrap everything up, and take the 'mess' to Niagara Hobby, and let them 'fix' it. As it turned out, I got it all lubed to run like greased-lightning, and run as quiet as if I had just pulled it out of its box. I have learned some short-cuts along the way, so the maintenance experience in the future should not be as hair-raising.

I may have to go back and edit this part, later. Something did develop in the PM, and for the life of me, I can't recall it right
now for my journal entry.

Wednesday had me down at The Belle Center, in the AM. I was there ostensibly, to pick up a box of peanut-butter-centered GIRL SCOUT Cookies. I had ordered them from one of the clients that uses one of the services of The Belle Center. I had actually kind of forgotten about the order, to be honest. But a phone call, from the client, brought it to mind, again. So along the way of picking up the box of cookies, I spend the morning making my rounds; trying to keep my networking contacts at The Belle Center still primed and ready to 'think' Lou Marconi, if YOUTH BUILD, or another similar project should materialize.

Thursday, I was all-day, at The Buffalo State College Butler Library. I was putting together material for a help=wanted ad that I had seen in WNYJOBS.COM. And on so many levels~~~but one, it was ME!!! Along with what I thought was a well-written cover letter, and resume, they were looking for a few examples of this one critical skill-set, as well. Electronically, I have these examples 'saved' all over the damned place!! So I'm going into all these different files to assess which will drive the point home, that I am the suitable candidate. Here is the one 'kicker'. I mean, like, whom are they looking for~~~Steve Jobs?!?!? Above and beyond everything else that this employer is looking for, they want somebody with WEB PAGE designer skills. So I put together 2 envelopes of a cover letter, resume, and examples~~~to pour it on!!! And I found some examples that had a 'Catholic' slant to them. It is said that when you write something, walk away from it for awhile to see if the effect you were trying to convey, did get conveyed. In this one example, when I originally wrote it over a year ago, now, it got me choked-up. I reread it Thursday, and I got choked-up, again!! So hopefully, they will see my assets, and realize they may have to hire an IT guy, as well.

And of course, Thursday: the 11th hour of the 11th day, of the 11th Month; November 1918, was Armistice/Veterans Day. So some time and effort was put into recognizing all those Veterans whom have served in our Armed Forces, and especially those whom have made The Ultimate Sacrifice, in the process.

Friday was a good day; a day with much on my mind, that at one point put me in such an anxiety-attack, that my spastic susceptible legs, went into spasticity-overdrive. I didn't want to take this one medicine that I have, because this medicine will make me drossy. Because of that, I normally take the medicine just before bed=time. Even though I had a Frankie Valli Concert at The Shea's Theatre that I was going to attend, and was going to have to drive, to get there, I took the medicine, anyways. I had to; I was in trouble, otherwise.

The Frankie Valli Concert was, in a word, incredible. As I posted on my FACEBOOK WALL: My Frank Sinatra; Frankie Valli!! Great Show!! Joe Rizzo, and his family are three rows in front of us!! Even as a kid, Joey already had a vinyl collection~~~to die for!!

The Buffalo News article below, pretty much covers every wonderful detail about the experience.

Hit-filled Valli performance combines history, artistry
By Garaud MacTaggart
CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER
Frankie Valli and his old cohorts in the Four Seasons are bona fide members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and “Jersey Boys,” the Broadway musical based on the early days of the Four Seasons, is a massive, globe-trotting hit.

Valli has one of the great falsetto voices in pop music and, by virtue of half a century of touring, knows how to work with an audience. All of this — the history and the artistry — came to Shea’s Performing Arts Center Friday night for what seemed like a reunion of a singer and his audience, with both sides drifting on the waves of remembrance.

Somewhere around the halfway point of the concert, Valli stopped for a bit to get cozy with his audience members and remind them that the Four Seasons used to hit Buffalo twice a year—playing Kleinhans in the winter, Melody Fair in the summer, and spending post-gig nights at places like the 747 Club. With each recitation of familiar names from the past, the crowd (and Shea’s was filled to the rafters) roared in appreciation.

As for the actual concert, it was a solid, well-performed, carefully crafted set that focused on the songs at the heart of Valli’s career.

At 74 years old, Valli was not moving around the stage with the same rhythmic grace of his youth, but that was part of the reason four young bucks were on stage with him, providing background harmonies and choreography. What Valli did have in abundance was a stage presence.

It wasn’t just that there was a historical figure up on the stage singing songs from the past; it was a legend commanding respect with succinct gestures that brought the audience along with him, reliving the lyrics and melodies that many of them grew up with.

Hit songs like “Dawn (Go Away),” “Working My Way Back to You” and “Who Loves You” from Valli’s days with the Four Seasons blended seamlessly with classics from his solo career like “My Eyes Adored You,” “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)” and “Grease.” He even did a mini-set of songs from the 1960s that were hits for other artists, including Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem” and a clever mash-up of the Temptations’ “My Girl,” with the Rascals “Groovin’.”

Toward the end of the show, Valli introduced the 10 members of his band (along with the five-piece, Buffalo-based horn section) and talked to the audience about music and life.

By the time he began the closing moments of his show by singing the very first hit song he had as a solo artist (“I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”), the fans in the house were in audible rapture.

It was a good gig.


One last reflection on the Concert. At one point, from the stage, he interludes his performance by way of having a conversation with the audience. He does this little routine where he spoofs hip-hop; then deadpans~~~how do you make love, to that?!?!? Everybody broke into laughter and applause!!

I wasn't going to put this in originally, but then decided to edit my Web Log to show this in my journal. Post-concert; and he showed me his VA Membership card with the VA symbol in the upper left-hand part of the vinyl card to validate his identity claim. A homeless Vet; a Marine from 1979, needed money so he could sleep for the night~~~in a warm bed, instead of out on the street. He needed 10 bucks to register into a hostel for a shower and a bed. I gave it to him~~~with my gruff voice; use it on the hostel~~~not on booz. He was so overwhelmed, that he gave me the can of Diet Coke he had stowed in his pocket, as a way of saying thanks. Moments; man!!! Moments!!! This is what Life is; moments. I can't even see what I am typing right now!!! My eyes are so blurry!!!!


Saturday, I went in for an oil change & an inspection~~~on a 2008 vehicle. I came out with an invoice a bit higher than I excepted!!! I have been trying to stay with the one dealership, and the one person in particular, that I have gotten to know.
May have to reassess a couple of factors, here.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise