Hey, Don't You Remember Being Sixteen?

It's been several weeks since the 2012 Summer Olympic Games (the third ones ever held in London, England) came to an end. I'm still raving about the performances of several teams and of four athletes:

(1) Both United States basketball teams- Mike Krzyzewski's men and Geno Auriemma's women- picking up gold again; (2) America's women's soccer team, which got revenge on Japan; (3) the nation's gold-winning and silver-winning women's beach volleyball teams; (4) the US setting a world record in the women's 4x100 relay; (5) American swimmers Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin; (6) South African runner Oscar Pistorius; (7) America's women's volleyball team; (8) the first US women's gymnastics team to get the team gold since 1996 (when the Summer Games were held in Atlanta, GA).

And then there's the biggest name on that 2012 US Olympic women's gymnastics squad...a sixteen-year-old Virginian named Gabrielle Douglas. 

All Douglas did was become just the third consecutive American to pick up Olympic gold in all-around competition in women's gymnastics (and the fourth American to do it)...and the first American female gymnast to claim a team medal and an individual all-around one in the same Olympiad.  

And coming into this year's Summer Olympics, Michigan's Jordyn Wieber was the name sports fans were supposed to rave about when it came to women's gymnastics.

Still, what a team Douglas, Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Co. turned out to be in London. I'm still celebrating.

What hurts so darn much, though, is just about right after Douglas made history in the all-around competition, some people got on Twitter...to complain about Douglas' hairdo.  

When I turned on my TV and found out how some people on the social network were dissing Gabby, I found myself asking: "WHY??"

I don't remember people going online to complain about 2004 all-around winner Carly Patterson's looks...or about those of the next all-around champion, Nastia Luikin.

And nobody here in America complained about the physical appearance of the first female US gymnast to snare the all-around gold medal, Mary Lou Retton, who got it done in 1984.

Matter of fact, many were probably wondering how soon Retton could go after the job Ronald Reagan had at that very moment.  

But here we are in 2012, and instead of celebrating the accomplishments of a teenager who's spent the last two years training in Shawn Johnson's stomping grounds (West Des Moines, IA)...we want to know what the hell is wrong with the hair of the Olympic movement's new all-around women's gymnastics champ.

And now, they want to dismiss Douglas' experiences training at one of the facilities in her birth city of Virginia Beach, Excalibur. At that training center, one (or several) of the other gymnasts treated her like a slave.

Listen, I take Gabby Douglas at her word. 

Here in America, we adults spend so much time minimizing anything said by our country's preteens and teenagers. We far too often turn a deaf ear when they're hurting inside. 

So before you start accusing Douglas of playing the so-called race card or start complaining of her physical appearance, stop and think about what it was like when YOU were sixteen years of age.

Was your sixteen all that sweet?  

I don't feel mine was...but that's a whole other story.

Meantime, Gabrielle Douglas' sixteenth year on Earth (she'll turn seventeen on 12-31-2012) has been some kind of sweet. Her two gold medals are the icing on the cake.

And I'm going to keep saying: "RIGHT ON! All the very best to you!" 

I Still Have Trouble with It

Last Friday, as I was heading home from Film Streams, I saw a cement mixer that had, attached to the back end, one of the most memorable bumper stickers of all time:  

"America: Love It or Leave It."

I've always had a problem with that message...even going back to when the sticker first hit vehicles in the early 1970s.  

To me, the message implies that if you don't like anything about the United States (and would like to remedy those things you don't like), well...that's just too darned bad. You're told you've got to live with America's warts. 

Now, if you were around during the 1970s (especially if you grew up during that decade), you might remember what America was going through...starting with the Vietnam War and working through the nation's struggles with inflation, the energy crisis, the Watergate scandal and the resulting fallout, the nation's Establishment wrestling with explanations about new attitudes (especially about civil rights and feminism) here in these fifty states, ecology becoming a mainstream issue, and...and...and...

Back then, I was more attracted to another bumper-sticker message: "America: Change It or Lose It."  

I mean, what good does it do to abandon a nation when it's got problems? 

You parents out there: Would you be willing to abandon your children whenever they've exhibited problems in their lives?

Think about the problems this country's facing at the present time (some of them holdovers from the 1970s, for crying out loud!). If you and I really care about America, wouldn't we fight to do whatever it takes to keep it on the map? Wouldn't we fight to take care of the issues that threaten to implode this land of ours? 

With a Congress that's less effective than a day-care center; states whose Republican-led legislatures are out to destroy (okay, at least hamper) the right to vote; bluebloods like Sheldon Adelson and Charles and David Koch trying to buy this year's presidential election instead of letting We the People make our choices; education no longer a real priority here in the US; and inflation, unemployment, and energy still issues out there (to say nothing of feminism and civil rights), really...is this a good time to leave America's warts intact?

Doggone it, let's GET RID OF these warts!!  

And Now, Back to OTPP

Now to turn the calendar back six more weeks and pick things up where we left off when it comes to the 2012 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.

It was Sunday, 5-27-2012...and the spotlight was on ten Regular Division contestants.

That's right...the only ten Regular Division contestants left for 2012.

And this was a year where just three judges watched all the pianists at Peoria's Sheraton Four Points Hotel. Circumstances forced Helen Black Tapp to sit out this year's OTPP...leaving Brenda Clark, Patrick Holland, and one of the arbiters you saw in "The Entertainers," Raymond Schwarzkopf, to fend for themselves. (Well, actually, the threesome got real help from Linda Earlywine, Harriet Wall's replacement as contest judging assistant.)

Helen's OTPP judging debut came in 2000, when the contest was still held at the old Holiday Inn Select in Decatur, IL. After all the competition that year came to an end, she treated me to...what sounded to me like a kangaroo court. (Okay, it was billed as constructive criticism.)

And so, coming into 2012, I'd been reluctant to ever again play for Helen.

Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the ten who played for Raymond, Patrick, Brenda, and...a highly enthusiastic audience. 

First of all, John Remmers went up to bat. His ability to play exactly what the composers intended came through in John's versions of "The Strenuous Life" and "Alabama Slide."

Martin Spitznagel was still cookin', what with the job he did with George Gershwin's "Someone to Watch over Me" and a number from Jelly Roll Morton, "The Perfect Rag." (You couldn't accuse Jelly Roll of being bashful.)

It was "Perfessor" Bill Edwards' turn; he went with "Jim Jams" and "Row, Row, Row." (No...not "Row, Row, Row Your Boat!")

The tag-team setup Ted Lemen and Adam Swanson put together the day before continued strong, with Adam putting on a clinic. And this time, the newest undefeated RD champ- now a student at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO- cruised through a Tom Brier rag, "Razor Blades."

After that, it was Will Perkins' turn to cruise...and he did, with "The Entertainer" and "After You've Gone."

Ethan Uslan was next...and he showed why he's referred to as "The Innovator" in that documentary about OTPP. Our father of two brought out "Charleston" and "Poor Butterfly." (And he turned them on their heads!)

Well, five down...and five to go. (I'll be back to finish this one!)

It's No Longer a Secret Anymore!

The 2012 Ragtime to Riches Festival turned out to be the most successful one yet.

And it couldn't have happened if Nora and Mark Hulse (the husband-and-wife duo also known as Ragtime Razzmatazz- she plays piano, he plays banjo) hadn't brought their considerable talents to Omaha's First Central Congregational United Church of Christ.

The success of 7-8-2012 also wouldn't have come if Nick Holle hadn't brought the movie he and Michael Zimmer codirected, "The Entertainers," to R to R 8.0.

On top of all that, this year's event wouldn't have succeeded without the 38 people who came to savor the workshop, the documentary about Illinois' World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival, and the two R to R concerts. Because of the fans' enthusiasm for ragtime and old-time piano, the Great Plains Ragtime Society raised $380.

But the whole thing started out slowly...and I was really nervous about that, even with more publicity about the festival than before and the added attraction of a documentary, part of which was filmed here in the Big O.

Last year, we sold just ten tickets to the R to R get-together (the first one-day Ragtime to Riches Festival ever; this started out as a three-day event before we had to shed Fridays in 2009).

And by the time Nora and Mark got well into their workshop at this year's festival, only six people had paid to take in the festivities. (A camera operator from one of the local TV stations came by and taped footage...only to leave a few minutes later.)

But by 2:45 PM (Central time), more and more old-time piano fans (and people who were curious about the existence of a ragtime event in Huskerland) started to trickle into First Central's Memorial Hall.

Fifteen minutes later, the Hulses shifted from talking about the banjo's place in America's early pop music scene (and sprinkling the workshop with a spotlight on some of the 500 women who'd written at least one rag apiece) to giving the first of two R to R concerts for 2012.

And Mark and Nora put on a real humdinger! 

The Lawrence, KS couple started it all out with "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," then turned to a composition written by one of those 500 women, "The Missouri Girl March." They then strung together "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "The Band Played On," and "The Sidewalks of New York" before mastering "Dill Pickles," "A Spanish Serenade," and Ed Claypoole's "Ragging the Scale."

It was reminiscent of when our piano-and-banjo duo did their thing at the old Shakey's Pizza Parlor in Columbia, MO during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

And it was FUN!

Nora and Mark pulled out one of their Shakey's showstoppers, "Hava Nagila," following that up with "The Piano Roll Blues" and Dick Hyman's "Ragtime Razzmatazz-" the piece that gave the duo their nickname.

And then a photographer from another local TV station (Fox affiliate KPTM) came in to get footage...and stayed long enough to seek an interview: "Who's the organizer?"

I raised my left hand and the photographer- Eric- motioned me into the hallway to take part in that interview...while more people kept coming into the church to dig the festival.

That did it.

By the time the workshop presenters ended their concert with BOTH "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Stars and Stripes Forever," every seat in Memorial Hall was filled...in anticipation of "The Entertainers."

I wasn't sure how the film would go over when put in front of Omahans' eyes. It'd already passed five tests since its unveiling on 4-20-2012 (in Madison, WI)...but how would Nick Holle's and Michael Zimmer's presentation do in a city where one of the movie's six main subjects lives?

The documentary went over fine! 

The film actually rolled at 4:30 PM so that technical glitches could be ironed out. Once the movie came to an end 93 minutes later, a Q-and-A session ensued...and it lasted longer and was livelier than the Peoria counterpart. (Nick fielded most of the questions.)

After dinner, it was time for one more concert...and that one got started at 7:08 PM.

I wanted to take a page out of Burns Davis' book and build my own show around a theme...and it stemmed from a missed opportunity to use such a theme on 4-15-2012, when the Great Plains Ragtime Society held a meeting at Omaha's Hollywood Candy/Fairmont Antiques store (at 1209 Jackson St.).

That April weekend marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (you know, the ship that was supposedly too big to sink). And I had a chance to do some of the songs that were popular in 1912.

Well, almost three months later, I went ahead and played ten of 1912's most popular cuts...starting with 1911's final Number One song, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." ("Sweetheart," recorded by the Peerless Quartet, was the top song in the land for seven weeks...as was the recording that knocked it off the top of the charts, Harry MacDonough's "Down by the Old Mill Stream.")

After doing those two songs, I went ahead with "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" and 1912's most successful song, "Moonlight Bay." (When the American Quartet- probably the New Kids on the Block of their day- cut "Moonlight Bay," they took it to Number One and kept it there for eight weeks.)

I stuck in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" because Charles Prince's Orchestra tried the tune on for size in 1912...but had nowhere near the success Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan did with the song the previous year. (That duo's recording of Irving Berlin's first real songwriting triumph enjoyed a ten-week run at the top of the charts!)

It was then time for a couple of actual rags: Imogene Giles' "Red Peppers" and the Brandon Walsh-Charles Straight number, "Mockingbird Rag."

All this time, I'd sneaked in information about some of 1912's biggest news events. For instance, I told the audience- the biggest one I'd ever played for at an R to R Festival- that New Mexico became a state of the US during "Sweetheart's" chart run...and that "Beautiful Doll" peaked at Number One eleven days before Arizona got in...and that the Girl Scouts of America were founded while "Moonlight Bay" was on the charts...and that Charles Prince's ork's version of "Alexander's" was on the charts at the time the Titanic fell into the Atlantic Ocean.

More of that to come, with three more tunes: "Ragtime Cowboy Joe," Bob Roberts' smash (tops for six weeks) that came out as William Howard Taft sent US troops to Nicaragua over a debt that country owe America and some European lands; "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee," another number that spent six weeks on top (by the Heidelberg Quintet, which was actually the American Quartet Plus One) while the Boston Red Sox were stopping the then New York Giants in the World Series; and "The Ragtime Soldier Man," one of Irving's lesser-known tunes and one that I wanted to send out to today's members of this country's military.

What a time everybody had at this year's Ragtime to Riches!

Finally, the club has a bank account (and now, I can tell people who want to contribute financially to GPRS that they can make their checks out to the club...and I can really mean it).

More important than that, the sky's the limit for Great Plains and for its signature event.

Thanks, Omaha/Council Bluffs/Bellevue, for removing R to R from the area's list of secrets.

Whole Lot of Newness Going On

This itch I was happy to scratch.

It was Saturday, 5-26-2012, and I was about to join a few hundred other people in taking in the actual competition at this year's World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.

A lot of newness going on: This was the first year the contest would be held at Peoria's Sheraton Four Points Hotel (the previous venue, the city's Hotel Pere Marquette, is scheduled for remodeling or the headache ball). It was going to be the first year with a new coordinator (in 2011, the only two contest coordinators in OTPP history shared the duties...one passing the torch to the other). This year's event ended up using three judges (two men and a woman, like on American Idol; the contest was meant to have four arbiters).

And on a personal note, 2012 was going to be the first year I didn't enter the OTPP Contest's main competition or even the event's New Rag Contest.

And something else was new:

Contest creator and emcee Ted Lemen got himself a cohost.

You couldn't ask for a better cohost than three-time Junior Division, three-time Regular Division champ Adam Swanson...the young man who raised the bar (and I mean RAISED the bar) to where it is today.

Well, the preliminary competition started off with a bang when the year's first contestant, Monty Suffern (Australian-born; he moved to the United States a dozen years ago and now makes his home in the nation's second-largest state, Texas), took "Moby Dink," that 1883 Weber upright, through "Bohemia" and "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee." He was one of seven OTPP newcomers for 2012.

Monty sure sounded to me as if he was heading for the next day's second round. He did that great a job.

Bill McNally's done some moving, too. It took place in the three years since he and I last met (the three years since I was able to make the trip to Central Illinois). A lifelong Pennsylvanian, Bill now makes his home in New York...where his teaching career continues.

At the contest, Bill showed the audience a new way to dig "Turkey in the Straw" as well as contest favorite "Dizzy Fingers."

Then Four Arrows came up to bat...coming back after missing out on the 2011 Old-Time Piano Contest.

The Man from Mexico (he's also an author and online professor) showed he's still got that great showmanship as he pumped up "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" and "Jealous."

Next up was newcomer Alex Poyner, who turned in a couple of Scott Joplin rags: "Weeping Willow" and "Swipesy."

Just one week from OTPP Weekend, just three Junior Division pianists (if you're new to learning about the contest or new to "Boston's Blog," JD contestants are 17 years of age or younger) had signed up to take the Peoria Challenge. Then two more juniors (and their parents) plunked down the entry fee.

One of them was another first-year contestant, Bradley Mylius. The young Ohioan not only weighed in with a fine "Maple Leaf Rag," he also came up with "Creole Love Call."

And then came the second junior in a row to play that Saturday, Daniel Souvigny. 

Last year, at ten, he almost won the thing in the Junior Division...and Daniel showed that he wasn't about to back down here in 2012, what with a "Mack the Knife" that came from Faye Ballard's playbook (and she took it from Liberace's playbook). Daniel wowed the house with that one...then topped it all off with "A Handful of Keys," a Fats Waller favorite.

Another Dan followed to step up to the stage to play that 1883 Weber upright. But you can't really call Dan Mouyard "another Dan." [After all, he was the first Junior Division champion to grab a Regular Division title (after topping the other juniors in 1996, he came away with the RD crown in 2001 and came back to snatch the RD championship in 2003)!]

Dan the Elder had the first of two versions of "Steeplechase Rag" heard over the weekend, then followed that up with "Twilight Rag."

Have you had a chance to slip on over to http://www.oldtimepianocontest.org/, the contest's new site? Dan Mouyard cooked up the Website's fine, fine look. (By the way, to top all the other Regular Division contestants in 2003, Dan had to wrestle the Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy away from the second JD champ to ascend to the top of the RD heap...Adam Downey, whose junior crowns in 1991, 1992, and 1993 preceded his 2002 RD triumph.)

Speaking of Ted...he and Adam Swanson (the latest of two- thus far in OTPP history- to pocket three junior titles and three regular titles apiece) made a fine team when it came to emceeing the contest. And that really became clear when, after the Two Daniels (or Two Dans) played, Adam S. strode over to Moby Dink for the first of several demonstrations of how the Fort Lewis College student from Shenandoah, IA got all those championships.

This year's OTPP was also the first one in which Samuel Schallau (a student from Germany) competed. I liked his versions of "Weeping Willow" and "Midnight Whirl;" they were nice and steady, nice and relaxing. (I've got the feeling Samuel- who's going to start college later this year- will be a Peoria fixture for years to come. I hope so.)

The next three contestants have also been New Rag Contest fixtures...and the first of those next three was Jacob Adams, the Minnesota native who mastered a couple of the many rags I admire and have yet to feel more comfortable playing: James Scott's "Hilarity Rag" and Scott Joplin's "The Cascades."

Jacob, the 2010 New Rag champion, gave way to native Pennsylvanian Martin Spitznagel, who not only removed the NRC crown from Jacob's grasp in 2011 but also took home the Old-Time Piano Contest's biggest prize that year. (Martin had 2007's best new rag, too.) Martin made a real bid to hang on to the TLTT when he came out with contest favorite "Dizzy Fingers" and a rockin' version of "Oh, You Beautiful Doll."

And then "Perfessor" Bill Edwards, the 1991 Reg Division titleholder who aced the New Rag Contest in 2001 and 2002, capped off the first half of the 2012 OTPP preliminary competition by gliding through "Egyptian Glide" and "Hungarian Dance #5." (By the way...how'd you like him and Adam S. in "The Entertainers?" How'd you like Faye in that documentary?)

Toward the end of that movie, Faye said she was going to scare the stuff (my word) out of people with her love of- and enthusiasm for- the OTPP.

And thus far, with the office systems specialist from Champaign, IL in there as contest coordinator, the OTPP ride was still wonderful...still groovy.

Well, an hour after the computer programer/ragtime historian from Ashburn, VA hit the final notes of "Hungarian Dance #5," Spencer Andrews (this year's third JD'er) came up to put Moby Dink through its paces. His selections were "Tiger Rag" and "The Midnight Fire Alarm."

Then Ethan Uslan strode onto the stage...and really took ol' Weber for a ride. (How'd you like him in the first documentary to zero in on an event that was initially held outdoors and was initially attended by forty people?)

This time, the New Jerseyite-turned-North Carolinian's fuel consisted of "With a Song in My Heart" and "Nina from Palestina."

Another thing about the contest's history is that the first five championships went to women. (Joybelle Squibb won it all in 1975 and 1976...only to see Dorothy Herrold knock it out of the park in 1977, 1978, and 1979. Dorothy- that teacher from La Porte, IN- decided to retire from competition after her '79 win to give other pianists a chance to get the title.)

By 1984, six of the first ten OTPP titles were won by women; that year, Illinoisan Janet Kaizer ended the three-year reign of another performer from the Land of Lincoln, Mark Haldorson...and inaugurated her own two-year stay at the top of old-time piano. (Janet had company in 1985...the first year contest organizers offered a junior championship. Before Neil Moe started his own three-year stint as the best JD performer, pianists in all age groups went after one title.)

Now we get to 2012, and on the eve of OTPP Weekend, no woman had won the RD crown since 2000 (when Mimi Blais followed up her spectacular 1994 reg triumph with another trophy). But...three of the last four junior championships had been won by girls (and that after boys had locked up the first 23 titles in that division; remember, though...four of those boys grew up to become not only RD champs, but also some of the most famous performers OTPP's ever had...with two others going on to excel in other areas of music).

That's what Tennessean Diana Stein walked into when she walked into the Sheraton Four Points Hotel's Main Hall.

And I thought Diana did a fine job, firing up Luckey Roberts' "Pork and Beans" and Scott Joplin's "Solace."

And about firing up...Bobby Van Duesen (he's a Floridian, and like Diana, a newcomer to the C&F) came out on fire, cracking jokes and engaging in lively banter with Ted L. and Adam S. Once Bobby sat down (or, at times, stood up) to play "Nickel in the Slot" and "Mandy, Make Up Your Mind," he showed why he's nicknamed "Piano Man."

Next up to bat: This year's last two Junior Division performers...Illinoisans Morgan Siever and Leo Jennetten. (Morgan topped all the JDs during 2010 and 2011, while Leo- he lives and goes to school right there in Peoria- was the last to enter the 2012 contest. His entry was the act that enabled all the junior performers this time to earn prize money.)

Morgan came out on fire, too (check out her video on http://www.youtube.com/), showing why she won the previous two J championships with killer versions of "Steeplechase Rag" and "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey." Leo- the last 2012 newcomer to what still seems like one of Peoria's best-kept secrets- followed that softball-playing, basketball-playing pianist with nice versions of "Ain't She Sweet" and "The Glow Worm."

Damit Senanayake (a Singaporean who moved to the United States himself and now lives in the state of Washington) turned in a couple of nice ones himself: "Clog Dance" and "Pastime Rag #2."

Now the prelims were heading toward the home stretch, with Michigander John Remmers (he's done "Pastime Rag #2" before) coming up with "Sensation" and "Elite Syncopations."

Then the retired college professor gave way to a high school teacher named Joe Mankowski (he calls his home town, Buffalo, NY, "the Miami of the North")...who made a real bid as well with Fats Waller's and Andy Razaf's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Love Me or Leave Me," a Walter Donaldson song made famous by Ruth Etting.

Joe would've been the last of the preliminary contestants...except Californian Will Perkins made it to Illinois after all. (Will made it into Richard Pryor's and Jim Thome's birth city early that Saturday...and the other contestants vowed to save the Golden Stater a place in this year's competition if his flight made it to the Land of Lincoln.)

Will proved the wait was darned well worth it, as his renditions of "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "My Gal Sal" demonstrated. (By the way, check his stuff out on http://www.youtube.com/!)

Well, the first leg of competition for this pivotal year was finished, and while sixteen R contestants were waiting to find out who was going to play the next day, the remaining five competitors were wondering which of them would get which prize.

And as things turned out, Spencer finished fifth (and received $40 as a result), Leo got $60 for placing fourth, and Bradley earned third place- and $100.

Daniel S. prevented Morgan from pulling off the hat trick (or maybe delayed the hat trick). 

And because of that, Dan the Younger pocketed $250...twice the size of the prize Morgan walked away with.

Stick around, because I'm going to wrap up my look at the 2012 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival before this month is out.  

 But first...I'm going to talk about something closer to home. (Stay tuned!)

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

If it weren't for "The Entertainers," I wouldn't have been able to make it to Peoria, IL for the 2012 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival. (That's right; this event- which dates back to 1975- has a new title, adding the "and Festival" this year.)

It all started when Nick Holle (one of the documentary's codirectors) gave me a call early in May and said: "Jim, how'd you like to come to Peoria?"

Result: The opportunity I didn't expect to get for this year.

It'd been three years since I last made the trip to Central Illinois. Since then, I'd gotten a bankruptcy discharge, gone exclusively to my debit card (no more credit cards!!), and fought to get all my bills paid up...especially my car note. I figured, in fact, that I'd have to wait until 2014 to do the kind of traveling I used to.

But then...the first documentary about Ted Lemen's claim to fame broke. (And so did increased overtime opportunities at the plastics factory I work at when I'm not writing a blog or getting involved in old-time piano.)

And so...after not being able to hit a metropolitan area other than Omaha/Council Bluffs/Bellevue during 2011, I've been on the road three times this year. (And all three excursions were in rental cars!)

The trip to baseball great Jim Thome's birth city this past Memorial Day weekend was the best as far as renting a car was concerned: Enterprise let me use a 2011 Hyundai Accent that had (ta da!) a satellite radio.

No AM or FM for me, what with Sirius XM's 40s on 4, 50s on 5, 60s on 6, 70s on 7, 80s on 8, 90s on 9, and Motown on 49 channels to make it a really groovin' trip. (After all, Sirius gives you a lot of the tunes FM-AM chiefs refuse to put back on the air. For instance, I got to hear Larry Williams' 1957 hit "Bony Moronie" as I was coming out of Iowa City, IA. And when I pulled into the parking garage attached to Peoria's Sheraton Four Points Hotel, XM played Ral Donner's 1961 biggie "You Don't Know What You've Got." We're talking about two jams Omaha's AM and FM stations have forgotten about!)

Didn't get into Peoria until about 7:30 PM on 5-25-2012...an hour before "The Entertainers" (the complete film, that is) got its first real Peoria screening.

This time, I was coming to Richard Pryor's birth city as a contest spectator, not a contestant. And Nick's and fellow codirector Michael Zimmer's offer enabled, for the first time, all six of the documentary's main subjects- Adam Swanson, "Perfessor" Bill Edwards, Ethan Uslan, Faye Ballard, Four Arrows, and me- to join with movie fans and old-time piano fans to check out a screening of "The Entertainers." In the same venue at the same time.

Felt nervous about how the movie would go over with people who'd spent one Memorial Day weekend after another checking out OTPP and lending the contest/festival legendary support.

Film festival fans had twice rated "The Entertainers" tops in the documentary field...but how would people who've traveled to Peoria (and/or previous OTPP sites Decatur, IL and Monticello, IL) dig a film celebrating the music that ultimately served as the springboard to "Goody Goody" as well as to "Bony Moronie" and "You Don't Know What You've Got," et al? 

THEY ATE IT UP!!

About two hours after the screening wrapped up, another personal point of apprehension completely exploded. That's because Raymond Schwarzkopf (a first-time OTPP judge in 2009 who'd been invited back for 2010 as well as for 2012) was one of the spectators who not only enjoyed the movie...but also liked me in it.

The showing was three years to the day after I first talked to Raymond at OTPP Weekend's final event (the Red, White, and Blue Brunch) to introduce myself...only to get brushed off with a warning to "keep practicing."

I spent the next three years wanting to get even with him...to the point of not wanting to play for him ever again. 

Well, this time, Raymond and I had a really good conversation. Even told him about the humiliation I felt due to his two-word message of 5-25-2009. 

And this time, he encouraged me not to give up on old-time piano.

Speaking of old-time piano...next time I post, I'm going to get to the business end of OTPP. (I'm talking about the actual competition.)

Stay tuned!

I've Got to Do It

On 5-15-2012, I went for a medical checkup for the first time in seven years. (Yes, I was long overdue.)

Turned out that my scorecard was one for three.

I found out that my blood pressure's normal (118/88)...but my cholesterol figures are at issue.

When my cholesterol numbers ought to be 200 and 100, the lab tests showed 220 and 151, respectively.

And yes, I was floored. I was stunned.

I asked the receptionist who'd called me with the information about my lab tests: "What can I do to bring my cholesterol down?"

She told me that a daily 30-minute walk would do that. So would cutting out red meats, cakes, and...my beloved Little Debbie snacks.

If you've ever had a chance to see the recently-released documentary "The Entertainers," you heard me talking about putting into my lunch box foods that can be eaten quickly...and Little Debbie snack cakes are some of those foods that can be eaten quickly.

Well now, I'm replacing regular beef, corned beef, and pastrami with chicken, fish, and turkey...and, in the meantime, I'm trading those LD Oatmeal Creme Pies and other LD delights for granola bars and cereal bars.

And I'm thankful that McKee Foods markets cereal bars (in addition to all those Little Debbie products)...because I hate the thought of throwing the Collegedale, TN firm under the bus.

At first, I thought I was going to force myself to starve, I felt that devastated at first. (Besides, I'm a big, big fan of burgers!! But being able to emphasize chicken, fish, and turkey will take the sting out of getting off beef.)

Taking the everyday walks will be the hardest part. 

Nevertheless, I've gone on two such walks since getting the call from Dr. Steven Weyhrich's office. (One was here in Omaha to make a car-repair payment...and the other was in Peoria last weekend, when one of this year's OTPP contestants, a first-timer named Diana Stein, walked with me to the riverfront.)

You can bet I'm going to fight to bring these numbers down...even if I have to walk around my kitchen for a half hour each day. (The 220-151 figure didn't happen overnight...and it's going to take a while- and determination- to reduce the figure to 200-100.)

Speaking of numbers...when I come back, I'm going to talk about something I've been able to take in for the first time since 2009: The Peoria experience.