Random Notes from the Sandwich Life and the David Olney Countdown

1.  One of the things I asked the boys to do when I was at thehospital yesterday or the day before (the days have all blurred together) was to removeLego City from the living room.  Icame home to find the living room looking MUCH less Legoesque.  Then Leo proudly showed me the new setup of the city….in the DINING ROOM! I said, “uhhhh honey, I don’t think that’s going to work for the party”and he immediately began both his presentation and defense arguments.  He explained how I could push one tablehere and another there and fit something else in and besides he argued, it’s anEXHIBIT.  I asked him if he wouldgive tours and he said yes so…..well, we’re just not going to have quite asmuch space for food as we might have. You have to have priorities….and I am fond of Lego City.

2.  Oh and I forgot to show the sign for the gunshop when Iposted a picture the other day. Personally, I think the name of the store is brilliant:  The Super Shot.  Needless to say, Owen came up with it.

3.  When I was leaving for the hospital I asked the boys ifthere was anything they wanted me to tell Grandma.  Owen paused from his video game, looked thoughtful and thenresolutely said, “tell her we LOVE her……..and we RESPECT her……and we want herto get better.”  Leo nodded alongand then they went back to the video game. 

4.  While watching the Grammy’s with Owen (highlyrecommended----he makes sage comments like “not a bad voice for someone thatold’ when Stevie Nicks appears and he also said the way Richie Sambora startsLivin On A Prayer wasn’t bad for an old guy) he  told me that when he grows up and makes a movie about ourfamily, he MIGHT have to get someone else to play me.  I said that made sense because I’d be too old and he squinchedup his face apologetically and said, “mmmm, yeah or you might be dead.”  I told him just to get somebody prettyand make sure she wears long skirts. He said o.k.

5.  Nice quote from a Peter Cooper article about the movie Crazy Heart:

Every day, Nashville musicians are on what Hank Williamssang about as a “Lost Highway,” and most of them are behind the wheelof a car or van, not in a cushioned tour bus seat. This weekend, Will Kimbrough drove 10 hours to play at Ashland Coffee and Tea in Ashland, Va. David Olney drove 11 and a half to get to a gig at Bluesboro Studios in Rockledge, Fla. 

“For somebody to be so incredibly talented, like Dave Olney, andlive that life . . . from the outside, it’s heartbreaking,” said T Bone Burnett, who spearheaded the film, assembled the music, co-wrote many of Crazy Heart’s songs, produced the soundtrack and helped Bridges research the character.

“The rejection of being a musician is staggering,” Burnettcontinued. “When you’re someone like Olney, who is so flat-out good,and year after year you see people climb to the top of the charts whoaren’t as good . . . that can beat you down. This movie only scratchesthe surface of how heartbreaking it can be. You couldn’t watch themovie if it showed the full reality.”

And click on over here to read a great feature on David Olney by Peter Cooper.