THE EAGLES - BALL ARENA - DENVER

We had purchased tickets to the Eagles concert pre-COVID, but like many things, the concert was put on hold. Over a year later, it was rescheduled, and we debated "Should we go, or should we sell our tickets?" Since the Ball Arena has a very sensible entry policy [proof of vaccination or a negative test], we decided to attend.  We arrived about an hour before start time, thinking that there might be long lines for the COVID checks, but were pleasantly surprised that the whole entry process was very organized and ran smoothly.

Once inside, we had to chuckle at some of the attendees.  There were many folks sporting their Eagles Tour shirts from bygone days, including a pair of cane-toting-T-shirt-wearing elderly ladies making their way to their seats.  Our seats were straight out from the stage in the first section of tiered seating - better than being on the flat floor IMHO.

The concert started just a few minutes after the scheduled time, and it was pretty much as I expected from a big name, big band, big show - and it was great!  Pretty much straight-forward music that reproduced the original recordings.  My opinion is that one of the hallmarks of a good band is that they sound as good or even better live than on studio recordings.  And the Eagles have it.

The first set was Hotel California, and the second set was "every other song that we know" as Don Henley put it.  The September 16 playlist can be found here, and one of the great things about this playlist site is that you are able to click on the song to hear it.

As the opening number Hotel California got rolling, I could ID Henley on drums, Joe Walsh on guitar and Timothy Schmit on bass.  And I thought "Dang, that fellow on the left sounds really great and looks a lot like Vince Gill" - and it was!  The other main members included Steuart Smith, Deacon Frey [the late Glenn Frey's son], and Scott Crago.  Smith played a fair amount of lead, and he and Walsh were incredible on the Hotel California duo at the end.  Deacon Frey did several lead vocals, and Crago took over on drums when Henley did some lead vocals as shown above.  The picture also shows the Denver Orchestra playing along with the band.

For me, the highlight was Gill. I think that he is one of the most talented singer/songwriters of today. And as one reviewer put it "Vince Gill might not be the first guy you'd have thought of as a replacement for Glenn Frey in the Eagles, but wow, is he a good fit. The country icon soars as he takes over lead vocals on the Eagles' classic hit "New Kid in Town" on their new live album." He did several other leads, and he fits right in with the Eagles' incredible harmonies.

Generally speaking, big venue shows are not my preference, but this one was certainly worth it. My original video was blocked, so I'll try this one:

AMISH AUCTION FLASH MOB

FRANK HOWELL

 Quite a few years ago, we were wandering around the Santa Fe square, checking out the shops and galleries.  One gallery had several original oil paintings by Frank Howell, and I was particularly struck by a large [maybe four feet by six feet] that was similar to this, but even more impressive:

I checked the price, and in retrospect, it might have been a decent investment at $20,000 😄  Here are a few more examples of his art that I really enjoy:

 

 

PAUL WESTPHAL 1950-2021

 

Those of you who follow basketball are no doubt aware that Paul Westphal recently passed away due to a malignant brain tumor.  You can read about his lengthy basketball career here, and his obituary here. 

I am writing this post not to review what you can read in the two links above, but rather to recount some of the time that we both worked at Pepperdine.  The picture below is how Paul looked during his time as coach of the Pepperdine men's basketball team.

 

I would describe our time at Pepperdine as acquaintances who chatted occasionally.  When I was Chairman of the Natural Science Division, we had a variety of Pepperdine colleagues as speakers at our Division meetings to share their personal reflections on Wisdom.  Paul was a willing participant as one of our speakers [others included legendary volleyball coach Marv Dunphy, Doug Kmieck, Ken Starr, Provost Tippens and President Benton].  One of my favorite stories is about the time that Rhonda and I were seated alongside Paul and his wife at one of the Pepperdine Athletics Awards Dinners.  The Westphals were very pleasant, easy to talk with and unpretentious, particularly given his Hall-of-Fame career.  When we headed home, one of Rhonda's first observations was "Did you see the SIZE of her diamond??!!"  I hadn't, but I certainly could imagine.  Godspeed Paul.

THE UTAH MONOLITH

 

At this point in time, I will assume that most everyone has heard the stories about the Utah Monolith. Thus, no need to comment further, but I did want to show Southwest Airlines' take on the whole thing - it made me laugh!!!

THE GRAND MASTERS

Those of you who participate in the running community know that age groups mark milestones in one's life 😁  Generally races have age divisions in groups of 5 years, e.g. 20-24, 25-29, etc. and thus it is perceived as an advantage to be at the young end of the age group.  For example, when you turn 35, you magically move from being the oldest person in your age group to being the youngest!  Then, once you hit forty, you are still in the 5 year bracket of 40-44, but additionally you are now a Masters Runner.  There are a whole set of records for runners over 40, kind of an acknowledgement the these old farts are still pretty fast but not nearly as fast the younger folks.  Then at age 50, one becomes a Grand Master! So, in Colorado Springs, we had a small group of fellows that dubbed ourselves the Grand Masters - we got some jackets and a few other self-identifiers, but mainly had a grand time running and hanging out together.  Here's a group photo of our motley crew, previously posted here:

The Grand Masters

Luis Lowe [seated]

Bob McAndrews, Yours Truly, Jim Brummage, Ron Wisner, Randy Kunkel

[At this point in time future Grand Master Doug Laufer was too young!]

Recently Randy Kunkel passed along a couple more pictures of the crew out on a run in the Broadmoor Area of Colorado Springs

Luis Lowe [front]

Doug Laufer [lower middle]

Jim Brummage, Yours Truly, Ron Wisner, Randy Kunkel

Ron must have been the photographer for this one.

As some of you know, Ron departed this life on May 21, 2010,

and I wrote about it here. We all still miss him very much.