Saturday, July 09, 2011

Still Kickin'

Time has a way of sneaking up on you. Worse yet........because time has a way of sneaking up on you, you might not realize that your health also can be declining in the process without you really noticing........that is, until you feel like death warmed over. That pretty much sums it up for me lately. Time has been flying by........no stunner there.......and in the past year I have been feeling terrible........worse and worse........tired.....wasted......in a funk........and it had gotten worse and worse and ultimately bad enough that I went to a hospital emergency room to get checked out. Being a person with coronary heart disease, I had to get the heart checked out.......just in case this was a precursor to a heart attack. I was feeling like I had been poisoned......deathly ill......the feeling of impending doom.......I had no explanation for it.

The doctors admitted me to the hospital for some testing and observation. The blood tests all came back good. Urine test......good. EKG.........perfect. Blood pressure......good. Heart rate?...........well...........it was 40..........and for me....that is way too low. They performed a nuclear stress test on me.......I survived it and the results showed nothing alarming. Such a mystery. The cardiologist informed me that he felt that it was not necessary at this time to do an angioplasty....why take the risk?..........and that he thought that one of two things (or both) could be the problem. Could be some sort of virus that will have to run its course on its own........or I am overmedicated. Overmedicated!.........that could explain everything...........about 7 months or more ago, my regular doctor had increased (doubled) my dosage of Metoprolol. The cardiologist at the hospital decided to decrease by half the Metoprolol and the Altace that I take. So there I am.........It has been two days and so far I haven't felt deathly ill........maybe a little tired still........and not as out of breath. Time will tell.....but I think the problem is solved.

More about my hospital stay at the end of this post.



And now for some more dopplegangers:

Remember singer Eddie Money?

For some reason he looks exactly like Suzanne Roberts, the host of a short public interest show on Comcast.


And Orioles owner Peter Angelos.........

.......looks awfully familar to me!........

Yep........looks like Peter.


If you have watched Fox News then you most likely have seen Charles Krauthammer.

Every time I see Charles Krauthammer I think of ..........

.........Madame!............yes indeedy..........

And more Fox News........
You have seen Alan Colmes before............


.........thats right........Alan Colmes used to be the Gatekeeper!


Orioles again............manager Buck Showalter.......


..........looks exactly like actor Sam Neill from Jurassic Park.


Okay....enough of that stuff........

Back to the hospital......

Tests......monitors........IV's..........stabbed in the arms four times............not particularly a comfortable experience..........but the ultimate insult to injury is what occurs right before leaving the hospital.......

As it was......for whatever reason in the 24 hours I was in the hospital........I ended up with no less than SIXTEEN of those round sticky wire connectors stuck to my chest..........a set for the heart monitor........a set for the EKG in the ER.......and yet another set used during the stress test........and it was left for me to remove............and the problem was.......I have hair on my chest.

Jesus God Almighty!




My son almost shit himself laughing as he watched me yank each of the sixteen torture pads. I yelled and winced and hollered and nearly shit my own self silly.

So I ask........is this really a good way to release a heart patient from the hospital?
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Monday, June 06, 2011

Brathanki

Okay.....okay........what is Brathanki?

Well.......Brathanki is the name of a Polish band. For some reason I have become smitten with this group. The music is unusual......a combination of traditional Polish folk, rock, pop, and all sorts of stuff blended together into a complex earful of talented musicians. A while back, I was wondering about Poland and what they might be listening to on the radio........and this is when I discovered Brathanki. The group has, over the past few years, gone through some changes. The original female singer sought a solo career and they replaced her with two female singers for a while. Since then, they have replaced those two with another lone female singer.

Such changes in lead vocals in any band in the rest of the world would lead to the demise of a group. In Poland, it is almost a tradition it seems. The band Varius Manx has gone through several changes of lead female vocalists and yet has found success with each and every one of them.

So why do I bother mentioning Brathanki here? Well, first, I really enjoy their music......I cannot explain why........it simply strikes a chord with me. And since that is the case, I enjoy sharing good things with those who otherwise might never find themselves with the occasion to even hear such stuff. Therefore, I am providing a few videos of Brathanki from a "live" Polish TV program. These are not recent and show the band with their original lead vocalist. And yes.......it is all sung in Polish and I generally have no idea what it is that they are singing about. For me, it is not about the words anyway......it is all about the delivery......and this group delivers well.

Furthermore, it is also a week following the celebration of two birthdays over the weekend for two people very near and dear to me. My "little" sister EBCBEBR and my granddaughter Princess Fartknocker are both a year older now..........Happy Birthday! This is for them as I know they both will enjoy and appreciate it. Now if I can get EBCBEBR to play the flute as fast as in one of the videos.....well...........yes......she is a flutist(sp?).....hehehe.

So here you go.......please watch these videos and hopefully you will be smitten too.






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Monday, May 09, 2011

What In Hell Is Going On?

I suppose I won't actually be finding out the answer to that question this year............The town of Hell is located on Grand Cayman Island.........and we originally had plans to vacation there later this year but had to cancel those plans for various assorted reasons.......one of which is that life has generally become hellish in its own right. Oh well........stuff happens, doesn't it? Good and bad........take it as it comes.......avoid the bad if possible.....enjoy the good whenever.......and go to Hell some other time.......hehehe.

I would apologize to everyone for being on such a long hiatus away from writing on this blog.......but.........it is not like I really need to write on a blog at all. The only exception being that there are some people that seem to stay tuned and long for my next offerings......so for them, I DO apologize for not getting out of my funk and writing.

Alot of stuff has been going on..........way too much to write about. I had all sorts of plans for things to do and lately I have had trouble getting started on any one of them. It's a funk that I am in. It seems that when I am on the edge of starting something, something else rears it's ugly head and diverts my attention away.........hehehe.......same old, same old. Isn't it odd that it is always such that I can help others yet cannot seem to be able to help my own self? Oh well......it has been that way for many, many years now.

I toyed around with the idea to make videos for the blog......especially videos where I would offer up some of my classic parodies and phone calls about Jehovah's Witnesses. While I still harbor a spot in my brain to offer such in the future, here and there, I must say that whenever one messes with the devil and it's evil realm it has a way of fighting back and attacking you in assorted ways. It is risky business. No, I have no fear of the evil, I just like to avoid it if possible. So stay tuned.....you never know when I will get ticked enough to tackle the devil again here.

Here's hoping that everyone enjoyed celebrating their mothers on Mother's Day.

So Bin Laden is supposedly dead........hmmmmmm......okay........Have you noticed the mad scramble to decide who the new boogeyman is? For such a "leader" of "his people", Bin Laden lived in squalor. What happened to all of his money? Obviously he lived in alot of fear......and that's a good thing. I am sure we do not know all there is to know about it but he was hardly the terrorist leader that the powers that be made him out to be.


Here's a doppleganger for you:

Mike Rogers........a politician from Minnesota.......

.......looks suspiciously like.......

........ Meat Loaf!


Hopefully, Obama is a one-termer. I didn't vote for him and surely won't vote for him this next election either. As a matter of fact, I like the idea that we all should vote for people that are not career politicians. For that reason, it looks like I will be voting for Donald Trump for President.........that is if he decides to run. If he doesn't.......well.......maybe Herman Cain.

By the way, I once wrote about the following picture, here on this blog......and I feel compelled to mention it again. The following picture is from an advertisement in 1979. For some reason, Pakistan Air thought it was a good idea to display the World Trade Center with the shadow of a jet airliner. Either this was an omen that nobody noticed or Pakistan has been trying to tell us all something.

Hmmmmmm..........Bin Laden hides in Pakistan for at least six years........hmmmm...........and the U.S. gives Pakistan how much aid money every year?.........hmmmmmm..........I think it is time to to cut off Pakistan. Pakistan is not our friend at all......apparently.

Let's put it this way........if your neighbor supports a person that sets fire to your barn, would you give him money every year to pay his rent?

George Bush actually said it right........you are either with us or against us. He tried to tell us that the harboring and financing of terrorist puts a country on our shit list. It is time to shit on Pakistan.


Stay tuned.

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Friday, April 01, 2011

Kingdom Hall Phone Calls

For some reason it has been a somewhat rough few weeks. I should not complain.
One of my pals has suffered a stroke and is hospitalized..........he is doing pretty good.....considering. Times are getting tougher.......prices rising........lots of turmoil around the world......wars.....quakes.....unrest.......I had a wicked bout of the flu.......days where nothing seems to go right.............aggravation........weather...........need I say more?

I decided to have a little fun here by revisiting the past.

Several years ago I was involved in lots of religious discussions online........so much that I actually hosted a live chat room on the internet where I bantered back and forth with many people of all walks of life......and from all over the world. It was very interesting and I found it to be entertaining as well. It was a good way to waste time.

For some reason the primary focus was on the Jehovah's Witnesses and what they believe or do not believe. Everybody knows that they do the door-to-door thing........but I had discovered that they were also infiltrating the internet......preying on unsuspecting victims. I must say that while there were some very nice Witnesses online they were overshadowed by a high number of vicious venominous Jehovah's Witnesses and their so-called apologetics. The folks at the door would never dare to act as these did online. Nevertheless, there were many major debates over many specific beliefs and teachings. The world online was full of extremely knowledgeable people and students of ancient languages who each would offer up a pissing contest dissecting contexts and ancient words that have long been forgotten. It was amazing at how many self-professed experts in Koine Greek there were......and how scandalous and overbearing many of the participants became over a period of time.

Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, the problem was that they were all admonished to beware of the internet and for all intents and purposes stay off of the internet and stay out of chat rooms and not mingle with potential "apostates". Of course, some of them would deny such orders just as some still deny that their organization touted that armageddon would occur in 1975. You know the deal.......they said things and yet they didn't say things.....but some heard what they said and believed it dearly. Today they hear things and go as far as to pretend they were never told or taught such.........lying as if they cornered the market on it. This kind of thing makes for alot of arguments......many of which get extremely heated.

A JW would say what he will online and if you asked a JW at your door about what the JW online said......well......they would say stuff like "you can't trust someone online" or "he's probably not in good standing" or "was disfellowshipped". I once asked a JW at my door if there are any real Jehovah's Witnesses online and I was told "No" that they stay away from it. Go figure.

Because of the dilemma between having JWs online and JWs at the door......I figured that I could come up with a way to let Jehovah's Witnesses expose themselves in a way that nobody would doubt the truth of the discussions. Often, I had been called all sorts of names....apostate.....evil.......the devil.......you name it, I have been called it online.......and I often got called a liar. I would get sent private emails where the message was "how come you know so much about us?". I never got an email that said "everything you say about us is wrong".....yet publically I would be castigated and derided for everything I said or did. There was the ultimate way around all of this. Instead of the online JWs attacking me personally and calling me a liar, they would have to attack their own bonafide JWs in the Kingdom Halls for revealing the truth about their beliefs.

It was easy for the online JWs to deny that they are taught to believe that Jesus is the fallen angel of the abyss...........if I said that's what they believe.........BUT they have a hard time denying their "brothers" who confirm such teachings with their own mouths. I merely provided the avenue for such to happem.

I started making phone calls to various Kingdom Hall across the United States and did it LIVE! in the chat room where everyone could hear. Needless to say......the online JWs were not very happy about it.

Fortunately, somebody managed to record some of these calls including calls by others. I held these recordings on the backburner for many years now and I decided that some of these calls and some of the assorted parodies that I created should be shared with the world.

I have always said regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society that "Nothing does as much harm to them than their own words." And that goes for both the written word and the spoken word.

Here is the first of what will be a series of videos. Feel free to comment about what you hear on the video.

As of this date, I have no information that Jehovah's Witnesses believe anything contrary to what is confirmed on these videos........in other words.......if they have gotten any "new light" recently......hehehe.

In this video the phone call is regarding their "Memorial" which is the only day that they celebrate anything.........unfortunately......they celebrate the DEATH of Christ! Furthermore, you will hear that is it "not advisable" for anyone to partake of the symbolic flesh and blood of Christ which is passed around at the Memorial. These "emblems" are rejected by the Witnesses.

Christians?..............

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Getting Creative

I got bored and while fiddling around with my laptop computer I happened to come across the Windows Movie Maker..........so.......having never used it before, I decided to see how well it works.........and to see if I could come up with something a little creative and interesting.........well......maybe not interesting for most people but interesting for at least a few.

It was far easier than I had imagined and now my mind is coming up with all sorts of ideas. Give me some time and who knows what I can come up with.

Here is my very first video creation............

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Doppelgangers

Hmmmmm........maybe you have seen yourself before......somewhere.......or maybe it was last week..........could it be?..........nahhhh........it ain't you at all..........but sometimes you have to double-take.........dang..........close..........real close. I have had several different looks..........there were the years that went by where I could have passed for Charles Manson.......and the brief time I looked like an Arab (can't explain that one)...............and there was the time several years ago when I was in a bill payment center in line waiting to pay a bill and this woman in front of me turned around and looked at me and said "Craig!". I said "I am not Craig". She insisted that I was and said "Stop fooling around, I should know Craig when I see him". So I asked her "Who is this Craig supposed to be?"........She said "You should know.....you are my ex-husband!"........imagine that.......hmmmm.......so I responded with...."I guess we all know now WHY you ain't married to Craig anymore."......hehehe.....needless to say she had nothing more to say to me.

A week or two ago, I go online and start doing my daily routine of checking my favorite websites......boortz.com.......among others.......and I check the Drudge Report for some news and lo and behold!......I see the following:

Look at the picture on the left side of the Drudge Report...........do you see what I see?

.......okay, okay......yes that woman looks like that mask from the movie "Scream"........but what caught my eye is the dude with the hat.........and NO......I have never been in Wisconsin. Hmmmmm.....I wonder if he ever gets asked if he has a blog and goes to the Caribbean often.


Speaking of doppelgangers........it doesn't always have to be one human looking like another human..........it could be that a human being resembles a thing either animated or inanimate. Sometimes it can be that a human resembles an event or even an event that is about to happen........such as what is shown in the following photograph.

This train is about to run out of tracks.......and we all know what is definitely going to happen.........that's right.......it is too late to stop and it will be going over the edge extremely soon.
Sadly, this train and its coming event has a doppelganger:



That's right.............Charlie Sheen.

Need I say more about that?



Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Five Days With Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1

I have been busy lately. The past three weeks or so have been a bit hectic, yet wonderful. First, since my last post on the blog, I have taken a trip to Tennessee for my Mom's birthday....spent four days there, then six days at home, and then off to Texas for five days.

Time flies........and so did I. Me and Supernurse flew to Texas to see our youngest grandchild and hand deliver some Nascar toys for him to play with. Not that he really needs any more toys or cars........or trains......he loves trains........but lately he has been enthralled with race cars........Nascar........zoom......zoom. Apparently his mom and dad have been unable to find any Nascar cars in Leander or the surrounding areas so they put in a request to ole Signtopia to track some down in Baltimore..........which I did..........at Ollie's. Aside from that........there was no special event or occasion to make the trip except that me and Supernurse wanted to see the rugrat play indoor soccer......his first foray into the world of competition with other rugrats.


There is no way we are gonna pass up that.

On this trip, he was a bit smitten with me. On past visits he was all about "Mom-Mom".......this time "Pop-Pop" was his focus.

Of course.............that is.......when he wasn't focusing on his cars.........hehehe.

He's a great kid and he takes the cars very seriously.

As if he was in dire need of more stuff, Supernurse goes and buys a racetrack for his cars........needless to say he was thrilled. He particularly loves it when they crash.

Supernurse was very happy and that alone makes me very happy.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that my little Noodle Girl was little. I miss the days when my kids were little........time flies by so quickly........and now she gets to experience what me and Supernurse have experienced.........and we get to visit and spoil her kid.....hehehe.

I am lucky to just be there to see moments such as this.

I spent alot of time corrupting my grandson..............you know what I mean........."brrrrt"......."what was that?"..........."A frog on a motorcycle!"........and "BRRRRRRRT!".........that was a "Monkey on a Harley".......hehehe. I spent the majority of the time tickling him and making him laugh.

I never envisioned this when I was younger..........but somehow it is as if it was all planned.

We managed to get to see him at a soccer practice during the week..........which caused me to have flashbacks to when I was the indoor soccer coach for a bunch of monsters in White Marsh.......what was I thinking.......oh well........this time I am a spectator.

And spectate we did. His real soccer game was Saturday morning at 8am.......8AM!!!!!!!!!! at the YMCA............8AM!!!!!!!.........arrrgghhhh.........this is the time when I just start to have vivid nightmares while I snore away for five hours. Oh well............no rest for the wicked.

It was great watching him chase after the ball.............along with all of the other kids at the same time..............knowing that while he was running after the ball he was making race car sounds (in his mind he was racing). Even when he stopped for a drink......it was a "pit stop".

They don't bother with the score at this age level.............which is a good thing because his team was slaughtered. Still.......after all was said and done.........both teams were winners and celebrated as such. Expansion Pack 2.1 happens to love tunnels because of his fascination with trains......so when the parents line up to make a tunnel at the end of the game, he was the first in line for it............

So what does he do after he gets through the tunnel?

He runs around everybody and inserts himself at the end of the line and goes through the tunnel again! Smart kid.........hehehe.

So that was it.......after his game we drove to the airport in Austin and headed for home.


This is what Washington DC looks like from the airplane. Supernurse slept on the plane.........me?.............no sleep for me. I listened to a podcast of the Mark Levin show on my iPod and chowed down on some nasty crackers that the stewardesses pawn off on people.

Back to the grind............we get home and Supernurse got ready for work......that's right.......she had to work that evening in the ER.

We must be crazy.

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

City In My Head

Throughout my life there has always been a soundtrack..........background music as well as music in the foreground. I can safely say that the music that I somehow attached myself to has motivated me when I needed motivation, inspired me when I needed inspiration, comforted me when I needed to be comforted, and even expressed misery musically when I felt miserable. It has always been there for me. Maybe one day I will write about all of the assorted musicians and their output that affected me.......it is a wide range.........but for now, there is reason to write about an important portion of that wide range.......especially for me.

I had become a fan of Todd Rundgren a long time ago.......maybe 1971 or 72. You can say that I am a HUGE Toddhead. There was something that was special about his music both musically and lyrically that not only was a treat to my ears, but also grabbed at my inner core. I connected with it. It was all different from what other music I enjoyed and I suppose that really made it appealing for me........you know......being a non-conformist and the desire to march to the beat of a different drum. Who would know what music would come from Rundgren in the future.....I would have to wait and listen.

Rundgren was always on the cutting edge and there were subtle and not so subtle clues in his music and lyrics that would hint at the things to come from him. One of those prognostications was on his 1973 album "A Wizard A True Star". Said to be probably Rundgren's most critically acclaimed piece of work and probably his own personal favorite record, the music was all over the place and a complex work of art. It was a complete curve thrown at you if anyone was expecting this follow-up album to "Something/Anything". I remember one specific statement made on that album that caught my attention. It was in the short lyrics of "Le International Feel"................." Here we are again at the start of the end, But there's More. Wait another year and Utopia is here, and there's always more."

There it was.........and sure enough in 1974, "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" was released and my world changed.

"City in my head, Utopia
Heaven in my body, Utopia
It's time for me, for me to go

City in my head, Utopia
Heaven in my body, Utopia
Into the sky, it rises now"

Utopia........this was awesome.......way ahead of the rest of the world.......complex, different, my complete core was rattled by this music. I couldn't get enough of it. This was progressive rock at its finest. Top notch musicians........yes, the very same musicians that played on the A Wizard A True Star album. The backup band is now THE band of all bands.






"The question comes to mind
About what should be done
And how much of the old will die
That the new may be begun
But you don't have to be afraid
Of being alone with nowhere to run.

You don't have to be afraid
To look yourself in the eye
You don't have to be afraid not to lie.

Someone knows who you are
Someone watches over you
Someone knows how you feel
And someone feels the same.

And the truth will come and the change will come
It's just a question of how and when"
from The Ikon

This music was meant to be............well......it struck a nerve for me both musically and lyrically. There was something magical about it........maybe it wasn't magic at all........it was as if God was the producer of all of this.

Anyone that is a Toddhead or is familiar with Todd Rundgren is well aware that he is a restless spirit and you never fully know what to expect from him on his next album. He surely gets it right the first time then moves on to another genre or angle and achieves his personal goal and then moves on from there. This also applied to the concept and music of the band Utopia.

Todd Rundgren's Utopia only released two albums "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" and in 1975 "Another Live". For the Another Live record, drummer Kevin Ellman was replaced by John "Willie" Wilcox and Roger Powell was added to the lineup on keyboards. All the while, Todd was still recording his own solo albums and producing albums for other artists. The original Utopia had Hunt and Tony Sales (Soupy Sales sons) on bass and drums but they never recorded. The band then morphed into what is known as the "Mark II" version with Kevin Ellman on drums, Mark "Moogy" Klingman on keyboards, Ralph Shuckett on keyboards, John Siegler on bass, and Jean Yves "Frog" Labat on synthesizers and effects.

After the Another Live album, Todd Rundgren's Utopia became simply "Utopia" and the lineup was Todd on guitar, Roger Powell on keyboards, Willie Wilcox on drums and Kasim Sulton on bass. This lineup. known as "Mark III" would remain together until the mid-1980's. They got together for a reunion tour and album in 1992 and then two years ago Todd, Roger, and Kasim took the stage as the opening act for Todd's Wizard A True Star tour two years ago adding Prairie Prince on drums.

In recent years Todd manages to offer up some Utopia songs in his setlist but those songs are primarily from the Mark III version of Utopia. The only Mark II offering occasionally would be a taste of The Ikon or The Wheel. Those fans who have longed to see the Mark II Utopia have been resigned to the fact that they would never hear certains songs such as the Utopia Theme and The Ikon performed in its entirety as surely not performed by the original members of Utopia.

Never gonna happen................but...........

.........the planets must have aligned.............what could never happen again has happened. The Mark II version of Utopia took the stage for two nights at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on January 29th and 30th. "But there's always more!"..............Todd had said so himself back in the day.

Sadly, the reason for this reunion is that it was for the benefit of Moogy Klingman. It turns out that Moogy has terminal cancer and needs money to pay for alternative treatments. He has been through the chemo and radiation....the whole enchilada. The relationship between Moogy and Todd had become nil over the years........legal issues....etc. From the best of friends........"brothers".......to zilch. As much as Utopia was Todd's vision, it was also very much Moogy's as well. While Todd's career continued and Utopia continued........Moogy was relatively obscure and unnoticed in the music buisiness. In interviews with Moogy, you could tell that he somewhat resented no longer getting the attention that he once had and he has been quick to offer up details of the history of Utopia and how most of what we all know about Todd and Utopia would have never happened if not for Moogy. This is all very true.

Rundgren was performing at the Iridium club in NY with the Les Paul Trio.......a one-off show and Moogy showed up and watched the show..........well.......let me back up a little. Moogy wanted to get the guys together for a club date and play the old Utopia stuff.......just Moogy, John Siegler, Ralph Shuckett and Kevin Ellman to try to raise some money for cancer treatments. They all agreed........but there was one missing piece of the pie........Todd Rundgren. Moogy didn't think Todd would even speak to him, much less agree to reunite for a show. RundgrenRadio show host Doug Ford told Moogy to go see Todd at the Iridium and talk to him. Moogy went to the show and afterwards met up with Todd. Without question, one look at Moogy and you can tell that he has cancer......he does not look good. So imagine Moogy walking up to Todd and having a conversation............just imagine...........I am sure that Moogy was hesitant and not very optimistic that Todd would be accepting of him........BUT........Moogy says that Todd said "You were here for the show? Why didn't you come up on stage and join in?" Imagine that. It was at that moment that Moogy thought he had a chance to get Todd to join the rest of the guys one more time.

Moogy got his dream fulfilled.......Todd said "I'm in. When?"

I wish I could have gone to the show but it sold out rather quickly. There are YouTube videos and a Video On Demand available of the second show. Moogy came alive during the show......it was amazing. They guys picked right up where they left off some 35 years ago as if it was yesterday. As I watched the video of them playing the Utopia Theme........I kept filling up with emotion........both my own reasons and for Moogy................and then Todd sings "City in my head......" and the tears came from my eyes. And I know there had to be people in that audience that cried as I did. It was unbelievable.

Thanks Utopia!







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