The night my eyes were blessed...a true official's story

[834k3r]

On 9/13/2025 at 6:50 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

So, my association also covers volleyball and so, I've picked that up and I've come to enjoy it very much.

 

On 9/14/2025 at 4:59 AM, Kevin_K said:

If you try it you may like it.

I tried. I texted the assigner of our region's volleyball referees and never got a response. Guess they're not as desperate for officials as baseball.

As far as baseball goes, I'm blessed enough to live in a corner of the country where the worst fans (as judged by my peers in our association) are vocal, but not mean or nasty as I've heard in some areas of the country. Thankfully a lot of our high school ADs take their presence at games seriously. My son's AD had a meeting with the parents last year--yes, he knows I'm an umpire--and told the parents that if he heard any of the parents say anything negative about a call he would have a chat with the parent and consider removing the parent from the game. It was refreshing to hear, frankly.

[BLarson]

17 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

I want to spend more time with family, work on and play with my Jeeps,

Play with my Jeeps...good enough reason for me.   I have 3 of them.✌️

[The Man in Blue]

11 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

It means he is going to become a hippy and start using alternative, natural medication to determine his next steps.

Edited to add: "and there is nothing wrong with that."

 

That is my actual goal.

 

Why don't hippies make good umpires?

(They call every pitch high.)

[The Man in Blue]

5 hours ago, 834k3r said:

I tried. I texted the assigner of our region's volleyball referees and never got a response. Guess they're not as desperate for officials as baseball.

 

This drives me nuts.  It was that way when I started in Illinois, it was that way when I went to Mississippi  . . . "We are desperate for officials . . . but we don't want new guys taking out games, so we aren't going to return phone calls."

[The Man in Blue]

Ha!

 

[JonnyCat]

6 hours ago, BLarson said:

Play with my Jeeps...good enough reason for me.   I have 3 of them.✌️

Me, too! I have an unhealthy obsession with Cherokee's (XJ's)

The first photo is my 99 that I was building in my old shop. 2 door, that's my baby!

The 2nd photo is my 95 on the lift in my new shop. That's where I'm going to spend most of my time.

My wife drives a 97, but I don't have any pictures handy. I've built all 3 and they all have similar gearing and lift kits.

Technically I have 4 if you want to count my youngest son's 99, but it's bone stock.

[SeeingEyeDog]

14 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

It means he is going to become a hippy and start using alternative, natural medication to determine his next steps.

 

Edited to add: "and there is nothing wrong with that."

ELP was a supergroup formed in 1970. Cream was the first so called supergroup. A supergroup was the name given to a band formed with members who had ALREADY had success previously so, the belief was any supergroup was then also going to be successful. In sports parlance...an all-star team.

ELP was Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass) and Carl Palmer (percussion). Notice, the band did not have a six-string guitarist! Every once in awhile Lake would pick up an acoustic for "Lucky Man" or "From The Beginning".  Sadly, Palmer is the only one still with us and he is still out there touring some sort of ELP holograph show. Their music can best be described as progressive rock with classical music influences. I think that you have to have grown up with their music to really appreciate it as it's very much music of a place and time. And further...they are an acquired taste. I will admit that they released quite a bit of music that is just simply "aurally inaccessible". For those looking to expand their knowledge beyond what you've known and heard musically, ELP is a band that can take you there. Their live shows were innovative and elaborate. They brought stage craft to rock and roll in a way that had not been seen or heard before. Every band formed since and even a few before, owe a huge debt to ELP for how they elevated the live presentation of rock as we understand it today.

The band broke up in 1980. Carl Palmer would go on to form Asia in 1981 with John Wetton, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes. In 1986, Emerson and Lake would recruit Cozy Powell as their new percussionist for the ELP variant, Emerson, Lake and Powell. They released one album by the same name that featured the hit "Touch and Go".

~Dawg

[agdz59]

1 hour ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

ELP was a supergroup formed in 1970. Cream was the first so called supergroup. A supergroup was the name given to a band formed with members who had ALREADY had success previously so, the belief was any supergroup was then also going to be successful. In sports parlance...an all-star team.

ELP was Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass) and Carl Palmer (percussion). Notice, the band did not have a six-string guitarist! Every once in awhile Lake would pick up an acoustic for "Lucky Man" or "From The Beginning".  Sadly, Palmer is the only one still with us and he is still out there touring some sort of ELP holograph show. Their music can best be described as progressive rock with classical music influences. I think that you have to have grown up with their music to really appreciate it as it's very much music of a place and time. And further...they are an acquired taste. I will admit that they released quite a bit of music that is just simply "aurally inaccessible". For those looking to expand their knowledge beyond what you've known and heard musically, ELP is a band that can take you there. Their live shows were innovative and elaborate. They brought stage craft to rock and roll in a way that had not been seen or heard before. Every band formed since and even a few before, owe a huge debt to ELP for how they elevated the live presentation of rock as we understand it today.

The band broke up in 1980. Carl Palmer would go on to form Asia in 1981 with John Wetton, Steve Howe and Geoff Downes. In 1986, Emerson and Lake would recruit Cozy Powell as their new percussionist for the ELP variant, Emerson, Lake and Powell. They released one album by the same name that featured the hit "Touch and Go".

~Dawg

Trilogy was my first album purchase. I still have From The Beginning under my fingers 50 years later. Just last month, my 32 year old son said his older brother (my musician son) told him to stream some ELP, heard FTB, and had to tell me "I thought you wrote that."   I'll take that as a compliment!! 😀

[BLarson]

15 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Me, too! I have an unhealthy obsession with Cherokee's (XJ's)

 

Mine are Wranglers...I have a 2007 JK Sahara, a 2011 JK Sport, and a 2020 JL Sahara.
My son drives the 2011 and my daughter has the 2007.
I've had my top off my JL since April.
Jeep life.

[MadMax]

On 9/15/2025 at 9:58 PM, JonnyCat said:

2 door, that's my baby!

The best one. It’s even in umpire black! 
Let’s talk sometime! 
 

I had one of the last Cherokees ever produced out of the Toledo, OH plant, a grey 2001 4-door. I _loved_ that rig. I finally had to trade it in on the first of my 3 successive MINI Countryman ALL4s, primarily because I was starting to experience transmission issues, and the gas mileage was taking chunks out of my paychecks. 

[JonnyCat]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

and the gas mileage was taking chunks out of my paychecks. 

Yeah, that I6 tractor motor is not exactly known for fuel economy! 

My next endeavor/obsession hopes to be a Comanche (MJ). I've been looking for a while, but haven't found anything that fits the bill yet.

[concertman1971]

On 9/13/2025 at 6:50 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

I'm going to listen to the complete recordings of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and think about things for awhile

How did that go for you, and has your mind been expanded?

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

9 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

How did that go for you, and has your mind been expanded?

 

Definitely brought me some much needed peace and escapism from what are difficult and troubling times...

That being said, while I do not have any deep insights to share, sometimes it's just about taking some time for yourself, shutting down the world for awhile and allowing the music to take you out to a new frontier beyond what you are already familiar with.

~Dawg

[Richvee]

On 9/15/2025 at 11:52 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

Palmer is the only one still with us and he is still out there touring some sort of ELP holograph show

It's not a holograph show. It's Carl Palmer, with a bass player, and a guitarist who makes the guitar sound amazingly similar to Keith Emerson's keyboards. The bass player also sings, and sounds a lot like Lake. The large screen is full of clips of Keith and Greg. The large screen also shows a live performance of a keith Emerson solo from the glory years, and a Greg Lake live version of Luck Man. Carl is still an amazing drummer, and the show was outstanding. I highly recommend it for any ELP fan. 

Oh.. and you should have stopped listening when you got to "Love Beach" 

[SeeingEyeDog]

12 hours ago, Richvee said:

It's not a holograph show. It's Carl Palmer, with a bass player, and a guitarist who makes the guitar sound amazingly similar to Keith Emerson's keyboards. The bass player also sings, and sounds a lot like Lake. The large screen is full of clips of Keith and Greg. The large screen also shows a live performance of a keith Emerson solo from the glory years, and a Greg Lake live version of Luck Man. Carl is still an amazing drummer, and the show was outstanding. I highly recommend it for any ELP fan. 

Oh.. and you should have stopped listening when you got to "Love Beach" 

Thanks for the clarification on Palmer's current show. Yes, I saw clips of him just after COVID and he is still bringing the thunder.

"Love Beach" takes a lot of abuse. I'm certainly not going to defend it as some some of transcendent message from the great beyond. It is what it is and frankly, the worst ELP album is far more optimal than most of what passes for music today...

~Dawg

[Richvee]

10 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

the worst ELP album is far more optimal than most of what passes for music today...

You're not wrong. But there is good rock and roll out there. Prog included. You just have to search it out yourself. Here's a "newer" band ( been around about ten years). Southern Empire. I think you'll dig it.

https://youtu.be/hNOPBWy_4g0?si=yRixgpYoJyVKTZJx

 

[BLWizzRanger]

To totally hijack the thread, watch this concerning the demise of bands on the top 40 charts.  It is an interesting happening...

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GtPTYSgHv/

[Richvee]

2 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

To totally hijack the thread, watch this concerning the demise of bands on the top 40 charts.  It is an interesting happening...

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GtPTYSgHv/

I saw this the other day. He makes excellent points. It’s reality of today’s music industry. Rock, as we know (knew?) it is almost 100% underground now. 

[The Man in Blue]

To be brutally fair, most of the classic rock and rollers probably should be underground by now.

[agdz59]

1 hour ago, The Man in Blue said:

To be brutally fair, most of the classic rock and rollers probably should be underground by now.

Every month, there seems to be a few more...

[Richvee]

15 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

To be brutally fair, most of the classic rock and rollers probably should be underground by now.

Let me know if you can do this for an hour and a half at age 75. 

 

[The Man in Blue]

Good grief, @Richvee . . . I can't do that now!  I couldn't do that 25 years ago!  I am not criticizing their performance, I am offering amazement based on their lifestyle.  And a hint of jealousy, of course.