I haven't had a chance to update this Glog (George Lee web Log). Especially lately since bigtime neck surgery which has changed me from a lower animal into an even lower form of inbertebrate, perhaps a mollusk. I had a very expensive and painful laminectomy, which was more complex than my previous lobotomy, probably because there was more to work with and less bone. Now I have less nerve than before, and once I can move my head, sit and stand, I will be in much better shape, but probably shorter. In fact, it's difficult to type this while holding my head down and looking up at the same time, which plays hell with my bifocals and very expensive glasses that feature 16 levels of vision and I can't see out of any of them!
Obviously, due to pain as well as lapses in synapses, I haven't been playing guitar or singing anywhere in recent weeks. I can barely hold my nose, which is necessary while watching TV or reading the paper these days. (I just finished a book on Attila the Hun, my wife takes pointers from his behavioral therapy techniques. My favorite character in the book was Attila's jester, Atrocious, who was a noseless, hunchbacked Libyan dwarf with club foot and bad limp who stuttered and lisped. I like to share these little-known facts that everybody's heard of)
But I digress, as I always do when trying to make an elliptical point...
I will make my new-neck-debut at CLAUDIO'S in Kemah on Monday, March 5. Claudio's Open Mic Night, hosted by the ubiquitous and nimble-fingered guitarist extraordinaire, Mr. Lynn Raggio. Claudio's is viewable with location directions at:
http://www.claudiospianobar.com/bands/georgelee/georgelee.htmlIt is a fine dining and music establishment, Claudio himself is an accomplished international musician and Italian. I will play for thirty minutes, along with other singers and players. I hope to play there frequently. The ambience is charming, the food is excellent and the bar is well-stocked and lengthy.
MARRIED and still engaging: I travelled to the frozen north... Mt Upton, NY, upstate, to marry the former Brenda Donaloio, who is now a famous singer from the fifties and early sixties, Brenda Lee. It was a beautiful ceremony performed by a Nigerian Minister in several variations of English language, but we understood that we actually were married in a legally correct manner. We just celebrated our quarterly anniversary! Brenda and I were married on September 30, 2006 and honeymooned overnight in Unadilla, one of the better known lesser resorts near the Catskills. We also visited other points of interest, including Sidney, Milford, Oneanta, among the other thousands of hamlets and villages that pop up every 20 feet or so, before making our way back to Syracuse and on to Detroit, Houston and back to our home here on this pestilential little Island.
As of this writing, we are celebrating our second quarterly anniversary. One has to take these things in incremental steps, like an infant baby attempting to walk, but like riding a bicycle, sometimes the seat chafes and you get leg cramps. Writing things like this makes it obvious why I am known among women and Pomeranians as the "Master of Romance".
MUSIC UPDATES: "Rock and Roll Singer" is my newest collection of musical songs, and will be released by the end of March, or perhaps later than sooner. The album features the 6 songs from my three 45 rpm single records made between 1975 and 1979 with full instrumention. These days, I prefer to play with myself. An additional 6 songs are culled from sessions for the "Made To Be Played" 33 1/3 rpm record released in 1982, year of my wonderful son Colin's birth.
Once recovered from my recent surgery, I will make an aggressive effort to play in the Houston/Galveston area with more frequency.
With the help of Tom (Sumo) Harrison, accomplished drummer, singer and empressario, Brenda and I are planning to produce a studio demo of my new material using professional players with proven producer to shop my songs to established artists. Time to bask in the royalties from 30 years work.
PLAYS: I have been unable to interest Island theaters to stage any of my plays, which enjoyed much success in the Houston area during the nineties and early days of the 21st Century. All were well attended and made money. They also thoroughly entertained people and even generated productive thought, which is the point. In future, I hope to rent a theater and produce them myself, but until then, I have finally sent my plays to publishing houses in the major markets, i.e. Dramatic Publishing, Samuel French, Pioneer Drama, TheatreFolk and several others. I have more than twenty finished plays, most produced and they range from edgy social drama to musical comedy for children and families.
A BOOK: My latest venture, and one that I am very excited about, is currently being written. A book. It's entitled "TARGETEER". I've worked at the Galveston Target store (aka TargaMart, KinderStore and Mickey Mouse Club) for four years, about four years longer than I ever intended. It is quite a story. This is my real-world (if the retail planet can be addressed with such a cognomen) account of living on a minimum wage as a working poor targeteer in a big box discount store. I was inspired to write it all down by "The Lost Weekend" and "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. "Targeteer" is hilarious, insightful and somewhat melancholy. I hope to finish it by May and begin shopping it to publshers.
ART: During my medical leave, I have completed a number of art projects, the most significant being a series I call "Ceilings On The Wall". These are individually signed and numbered paintings created from vintage stamped tin ceiling panels (circa 1915) salvaged here in historic Galveston town, framed in century-old red pine that is literally soaked in the Gulf storm surge of the 1900 Storm which sank the Island under 12 feet of salt water on the horrifying night of September 8, 1900. I have completed over twenty of these unique pieces and will be displaying them in Houston galleries by summertime.
