Hello To Everyone,

If you are on this page and have been here before you will recognize some changes…more distinctly, some deletions. I felt it was my right to use my blog to talk about my personal life and what has been going on with me. It has been brought to my attention that even though I do have that right…doing so in itself is not “right”. In my previous blogs, when venting or talking about anything or anyone in a negative light I had never mentioned any names, but I guess if you know me names didn’t need to be mentioned because people can put 2+2 together. My intention was never to defame these people, but rather state how their actions and or sometimes lack of actions affected me. It was always about me. So I would like to say that if my writings, that were about how I felt and how I react and have reacted, has offended anyone I truly apologize. That was not my intention. In fact, it wasn’t until very recently that I found out some of these people even read my blog!

Anyway, I will continue to blog when I have happy things to report or really cool events have taken place, etc…but it will no longer be utilized as my therapist.

If you should have any comments about this please feel free to contact me via the contact page. I welcome your input.

Please forgive me if my “blog” bores you or it doesn’t look or feel right. I have no fricking clue what a BLOG is! I know it has something to do with the internet. I have been told that it is a diary of sorts. I get that it is a kind of “log”, but what the hell is the “B” for? Does it stand for Bullshit? Is this supposed to be a log of bullshit? I haven’t a clue. At my age I know that I am young enough to know how to work a computer and old enough not to understand much of what really goes on with it! So here goes my first attempt at a log of bullshit……

The New Year is here and who the hell knows what it will bring. Things are changing and happening daily here. I have lived on Maui for almost 2 years, and although there are A LOT of celebrities that live here you actually rarely see them. They come to this island to just chill out and to not be bothered by the paparazzi or by people like me for that matter. When I lived in Los Angeles there were celebrity situations, opportunities and events all the time. For example, the Hollywood Walk of Fame would do from 18 to 24 star unveilings a year. The celebrity getting the star, the date, time and location could be found on the internet. It would also state some of the other celebrities that were going to be in attendance in support. I went to as many of these as I could. They normally started at 11:30 AM and were over by 12:30 PM. I made sure to be there no later than 9:00 AM so as to be in the very front as close to the podium (and all the stars) as possible. I have loaded several photos from these events under the tab of Photos Of Celebrities I Have Met, check it out. But, I digress.

Since I have lived here I have been going through a form of “withdrawal”…..until lately. On September 25, 2010 Rob Schneider was on the island to do the Maui Celebrity Series in Lahaina. By chance I happened to be in Lahaina with my brother and sister-in-law and they needed to get something from the local Longs Drugs. As we were walking in Rob was walking out. I stopped him, introduced myself and asked for my first “Hawaii Autograph”. He was incredibly kind, pleasant, and really short. I was surprised.

After that time I had bought some tickets for a couple of concerts that were coming up at the local “big theater”. They were Three Dog Night and Peter Frampton. During my short time here I had met and become friends with a woman who works at this theater with a fairly high level of responsibility. As the Three Dog Night concert approached I contacted her and asked if there was any chance for us (wife, friends and myself) to do a “meet and greet” with the band. She said she would see what she could do and the day before the concert she called and said that it was set up and gave me the name and phone number for the president and CEO of venue. I was advised to contact him when I was at the concert. I was also told that I could get things autographed. I immediately went out and bought a Fender Stratocaster guitar for them to sign. With such short notice I could not buy any vinyl, but was really happy about the guitar. We went to the show and when they came out on stage the first thing that came to my mind was, ”damn, these guys are old!” Then I realized, hell, we were all old!!! But then they started to sing and nothing had changed or gotten old. They sounded great and it was a great concert. When it ended I texted the man in charge and he texted back where to meet him. We did and then we meet the band and had our pictures taken with them. After everybody was done I was invited back to their dressing room to get my guitar signed. This event is found under the tab “A Couple Video Clips”. This was on November 6, 2010. When I was done I was able to talk to the guy in charge and we made a connection. He was incredibly nice and he understood my collecting bug. He told me to call him in a few days.

I did call him and told him that we were also attending the upcoming Peter Frampton concert. He said that he couldn’t promise anything, but would see what he could do. In preparation of a positive response I bought another Fender Stratocaster guitar, a Frampton Comes Alive album and two Humble Pie albums (one being Rockin’ The Fillmore). We met for lunch once and it seemed like he could get this set up, but he still wasn’t sure. He said he would probably let me know the day of the concert. As promised, November 17, 2010, the day of the concert, he called and told me to bring my items. We all went to the concert and it was one of the best concerts I have EVER been to. Peter Frampton has aged (musically) like a very fine wine. It was the last concert of his 2010 world tour and he wanted to just do it all. He played for a solid three hours. There are a couple video clips under the video tab. When the concert was done I got a text from “the guy” who told me that only my wife and I could come back stage to meet Peter. We waited a little while as Frampton rested a little and to our surprise changed his cloths from “rock and roll star” black leather to his “here I am in Hawaii” tee shirt, shorts and slippers. He came out, we all introduced ourselves; he shook our hands and then took a picture with us. My friend told me to leave my items and that he would try to get them signed for me. As much as I didn’t like not witnessing the signatures for myself, I knew that everything would be OK. The next day I got a call from my friend who said that Peter signed my guitar and albums and then a couple other items for people, but then said he was tired and stopped. I was very lucky to get these items signed. The next event that I am looking forward to at this venue is The Dobbie Brothers on April 1, 2011. This ain’t going to be any kind of April Fools!

The last and latest event that happened was on December 19, 2010 our temple here on the island had its first fund raising gala. It was very nice. The food was excellent and Hawaiian artist Willie K. played so we danced our asses off. There was also a silent and live auction. Before the evening really got started, one of my friends from the temple (who knows I collect autographs) told me that there was some guy there named Brian Evans and that I should meet him. He took me over and introduced me to Brian. Brian is an actor and singer, but more importantly (to me) he is the organizer of the Maui Celebrity Series (remember I mentioned that earlier because of Rob Schneider?). Well, we started talking and really hit it off. I told him that I collected autographs and his response was, oh great, than stick with me, you can get a ton of them.” This made me feel very good and extremely excited! He said that on December 30, 2010 he was putting on a show with Mick Fleetwood and The Fleetwood Blues Band, William Shatner, Cheech Marin and Tom Arnold. He told me to come and that he would hook me up with introductions so I could get some autographs. I thought this was very nice of him. Anyway, the night went on and they started doing the live auctions. Out of the blue Brian says that although it is not on the program he will auction off front row seats and meet and greet for this show. I knew that I was already hooked up, but I also knew that any money raised was for the temple and a very good cause. So I started to bid, then somebody else started to bid, and it just kept going! To make a long story short, I won, but it cost more than I thought it would. Anyway, so Brian tells me to stay in touch with him during the 12 days before the concert and I do just that. During this time I am told that Cheech Marin had to drop off the list as he had something come up and that William Shatner was being “difficult”. He did tell me that Mick and the band would be no problem. So my wife and I went and I took a couple photos of Shatner, Arnold, an 8X10 of Mick when he was with Fleetwood Mack…and ANOTHER Fender Stratocaster guitar to get signed. My wife and I were treated very well. The seats were good and the night was great. We met William Shatner and had our photo taken with him, but he wouldn’t sign anything; Tom Arnold left right after his performance and so I didn’t get his signature, but I did get Mick on the 8X10 and he and the band on the guitar. We had to wait quite a while for him to come out of the dressing room, and my wife was getting a little put off, but when he came out he was very nice. He talked to us both for a while (I think he was dazzled by my wife’s beauty!), bid us a fond adieu, tipped his cap and left.

The last 60 days or so have been like striking gold for me. It has taking quite a while to cultivate these relationships and connections, but it has been well worth it. Besides feeding my autograph monster, I have met some incredible people, made some great new friends and had some incredible nights out with my wife and friends.