Today is the day that Amy Winehouse is being laid to rest and I wanted to do one last song as a tribute to the fallen talent. I searched through a few performances of this song and there was one titled, "LAST SONG SHE EVER PERFORMED - Amy Winehouse You're Wondering Now" that disturbed me too much to share. Although she did perform one day last week as a guest spot in a show, this clip was from the last concert she had ever done on her own in Belgrade on the 18th of June, yet in the video she hardly does any of the singing. Though she doesn't seem too trashed, to me she looked out of it and that's why I didn't post it here, but you can take a look here if you like.

The song is from Amy's first album, "Frank," and it's very ska and very short, but I thought it was appropriate enough to use its lyrics to begin my tribute piece for her. If you take a look at the words, you can see just how fitting this song is for her sad ending. For one last time I'd like to say rest in peace Amy. You will be missed!

You're Wondering Now

You're wondering now, what to do, now you know this is the end
You're wondering how, you will pay, for the way you did behave

Curtain has fallen, now you're on your own
I won't return, forever you will wait

You're wondering now, what to do, now you know this is the end

Curtain has fallen, now you're on your own
I won't return, forever you will wait

You're wondering now, what to do, now you know this is the end
You're wondering how, you will pay, for the way you did behave

You're wondering now, what to do, now you know this is the end
You're wondering now, what to do, now you know this is the end




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It’s late Sunday night, or early Monday morning, depending on which way you look at it. I’m tired and I’ve been laboring all weekend on writing, though it hasn’t been as fruitful as I would have liked (I told you about the Amy Winehouse fiasco yesterday!), but there are a few things I wanted to talk about before I get overwhelmed with too much to write about, so here I go…

Amy, Amy, Amy

I do not intend to beat a dead horse with the Amy Winehouse story (excuse the pun!). Regardless of being a writer and wanting to get the story out yesterday in a big way, I am still a big fan whose really sorry for her loss and I don’t want to make anyone sick of her because Lord knows there will be enough out there in the coming weeks that’ll do the trick.

Through yesterday’s fiasco, I still wanted to do a piece on her, one that of course talked about her music and my connection to it. I call the piece “Amy’s Legacy,” because that’s just what her music is, of course, her legacy. If you like Amy’s music, but may not even know it all, take a look at it by clicking the picture below. I put links to the songs I talk about so you can listen for yourself at see what a talent she really was.


I'm placing the audio here for you to listen to of a song called "Amy, Amy, Amy" that I simply love. It's very jazzy and very sexy and of course since it's got her name three times in the title, it's probably the one song of hers that I've had in my head the most this weekend. Enjoy...





A Busy/Lazy Kind of Weekend

I think I’d be in real trouble if I ever became a writer full time. With the Amy Winehouse story happening in the middle of the day yesterday, I had to drop and then revisit articles that I was already working on. I really should have been finished, but when I’m home, in front of my pc, with no specific place to be, I tend to lose my discipline and waste a lot of time. It’s definitely becoming a problem because I’m neglecting a lot of other things I should be doing in the name of writing, which I’m not doing as much as I should….whew, that was a mouthful!

Anyway, a few months ago I declared that I was becoming organized, but just like my attempts to quit smoking, I haven’t been doing too good. Well tomorrow’s Monday and Monday is always a great day to start something new, right? So let’s just see where the wind takes us, lol…

Studio 54 at the Grove

Last night Cherry’s was having a “Studio 54 Disco Party.” I wasn’t thrilled about it, but it turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be. I still found myself dancing to the Jacksons “Dancing Machine” (She’s a dance, dance, dance, dance , dancing machine, whatcha get down, whatcha get down…), Kool and the Gang, and Yvonne Elliman’s awesome “If I Can’t Have You.” Of course there were some downsides, like Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” and Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” which I absolutely hate. Disco group Musique was there performing their funky, sexy, “In the Bush,” which was alright. Let’s just say I’m glad it was only one night. Now I think they should do an
80’s night. Now THAT would be cool!

An anticlimactic reunion with an old acquaintance

I should not have been the only one going to the Grove last night. Someone of significance was going to be there and my friend Blanchie should have been there too, but unfortunately he had tickets to a show so I went by myself to see a person from our past, Kenny.

Back in the late 80’s, I used to hang out at the clubs with Blanche a lot, that is, until I met first Marco and then Joe. As I settled in to relationship status, Blanche found a new best friend, Kenny, with whom he would become very close. Kenny and I hung out together here and there, but he and I were never really close at all. I guess maybe there was a jealousy kind of thing going on…I really don’t remember.

Anywho, back in 87 or 88, Blanche and Kenny had a falling out and haven’t spoken since. Naturally since I was never direct friends with Kenny, it was the last time I ever saw him either, until now. In comes Alfonse and Billy, a former-couple-but-now-best-friends duo who we all kinda sorta knew from back then. I’d seen the two of them here and there since I’ve been single again, and on Memorial Day Weekend, Blanche spoke to them. They’re still good friends with Kenny, who now lives in Miami.

To make a long story even longer, Kenny has been up for a visit and the three of them rented a place at the Grove for the weekend. It would have been the perfect night for the two old friends to reunite even if for a night of reminiscing and catching up. Instead I was the one to get to see Kenny. All I can say is that time really does work magic, as whatever negative feelings I had for the guy back in the day were no longer there. I’m not saying I wanted to make all nicey-nicey with him, but it was actually cool seeing him for the ten minutes that I did. Besides, Kenny’s gained a few (he was always very thin), so… (He smiles!)

Wrap It Up John, Wrap It Up

Okay, so now it's definitely Monday morning as I've been writing this for more than an hour. I've got more to tell, but I'll save that for next time. I need to sleep! As always, thank you so much for reading and we'll see you tomorrow (or today? LOL)!
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What a crazy day today! As you’ve probably heard by now, British singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment in London earlier today. Such a sad, but unsurprising ending to another promising career cut short by drugs and alcohol.

I first heard the news via Twitter and immediately began writing a story on it. It was one of the fastest pieces I’d ever written, about ten to fifteen minutes, and I quickly submitted it to Gather. For the next hour I waited for them to review it and was finally greeted with a rejection, saying that a story had already been published on the news. One of those frustrating things as a writer…this was the first time I had such quick access to a story and still I was beaten to the punch. Ah, well, at least I can share what I want about it here. The rejection doesn’t really have any bearing on the story anyway.

Of course, I first discovered Amy Winehouse right about when everyone else did, when “Rehab” was all over the radio. I bought “Back to Black” and fell in love with virtually every song. I even got my mom to like her by playing the album over and over in the car on the way to Atlantic City several times.

As time went on and Amy’s troubles were keeping her from putting out new stuff, I went on to iTunes in search of some old Amy stuff, as I was yearning for something new from the singer (as were all of her fans). I did find some stuff she had done before “Back to Black” and a couple of those songs turned out to be my favorites, most notably “Valerie” and “Amy, Amy, Amy.”

So be on the lookout for another piece or two on the singer. She meant that much to me and I am moved to share more. In the meantime, my heart goes out to her troubled soul and I hope that she is now in a better place, entertaining the angels. Rest in peace Amy! You will be missed!

Here’s an appropriate Amy Winehouse song to mark today’s sad occasion:




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Happy Mother's Day!

I know, I know, this isn't exactly the right song to express love and appreciation for anyone's mom, but mine is different. For a few years, she, my dad, my sister, her buddy and I used to go to Atlantic City a few times a year, and I always did the driving. As music is everything to me, I can be a little selfish when it comes to the music in the car, and I often forced everyone to listen to my music.

Not everybody always minded, though. My sister Ann Marie and her friend Rhianna liked some of what I played (especially Rupaul, lol!). Anyway, a couple of years back, when Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" was hot, I put it on thinking that my maybe mom would appreciate the vintage, yet modern feel to her music and boy I was right.

To this day whenever we're in the car together I point my iPod to Amy's folder and 'Rehab' is the first song on the list. It's one of mom's favorites.

So this is for you mom, my Mother's Day "Song of the Day." Enjoy!


Amy Winehouse - Rehab by yafs1925



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Liz Lomax, who calls herself "a three dimensional illustrator", creates figurines for record covers, magazines, billboards, adverts and just for fun of it ....the Rolling Stones....

Her work has included quirky caricatures of megastar musicians including Sting....

...Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.

She has even made a mini Michael Jackson dangling a baby as well as a bling wearing 50 Cent.

Liz's works can take between one week and several months, depending on whether there is a deadline.

After sketching out a plan on paper she will set to work building up a wire and aluminium foil frame onto which will be layered sculpting clay, all the while referencing photographs of her subject.

Colour is then added to the sculpture using oil paint. "Her hair alone was so captivating and it reminded me that I had some brillo pads under the kitchen sink. I thought how perfect they'd be for her beehive, so I sculpted her."

Liz explains: "Most of my ideas come from watching people in the news and current events. There'll be that one person or situation that will jump out and I can see the whole thing sculpted in my head"

The nimble-fingered creative also makes incredible wedding cake toppers which feature mini depictions of the happy couple.

New Yorker Liz's souvenir scrapbook includes pictures of her with Ringo Starr....

..Paul Weller....

...and Roger Daltrey .

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