I Miss Greg Hughes (Age 15 in this picture)

Greg Hughes is one of the top 2 or 3 drummers that I ever had the privilege to play music with. EVER.....

Greg, his mom and sister moved to my hometown, Liberty, Texas in 1971. Greg Hughes, Larry Volz and I formed a rock & roll band, "Volz" not too long after they moved to town. Larry and I were 16 and Greg was 13 years old and he was already doing Neil Peart licks before Neil was!! This kid was amazing. We were writing a lot of our own songs and had built a pretty good regional following when I decided to stay in school and get my college degree. I have spent many years asking myself , "what if".

I worked with Greg on a couple of other projects until 1982. Greg played drums on several songs that George Lee and I wrote. He could hear the demo of a song once, and not only have it memorized, but hear a better drum part and offer arrangement changes. Amazing! I remember during one recording session, Greg showed up with a full cast on his left arm. We just knew that the session would be cancelled, but Greg duct taped a drum stick to his cast and played the songs as if nothing was wrong.

I moved to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1984 and then to Nashville, Tennessee in 1985 and lost touch with Greg and his family. (I should have kept in touch, because his kid sister turned out to be a major, major schwing babe). I got a call from Larry Volz in late 1996 telling me that Greg had passed away. Greg became heavily involved in drug use over the years and contracted HIV from sharing a "dirty" needle. He died from AIDS. He left behind his mom, sister and a daughter. So much talent, yet so much promise unfulfilled.

Joe Alford & Walter Garland's Music Publishing Company

Please check out our music catalog at: http://www.soundclick.com/amandamallorypublishing Hopefully, we'll have something in there that you will like and want to record.

WHAT THE F**K?????? IT'S HARD TO GUARD AGAINST CRAZY.

Cho was described as a "depressed, loner" by classmates and faculty at Virginia Tech. Hey folks, these are red flags!! (Hello...McFly!!) (Remember Columbine and Jonesboro). Faculty and school administrators had known about this guy for at least a year and did NOTHING to get him the help that he badly needed!! I understand that there are laws against universities disclosing mental illness information on students, but find a way to tell someone..anyone in authority about people like Cho!! I guess that they were more afraid of being sued than being killed. Obviously, this guy was mentally ill, but I place a lot of the blame for this tragic event on Virginia Tech administrators.

Hindsight being 20/20, I believe that the school should have been closed after the first victims were discovered in their apartment. This may not have changed anything, but it would have given Cho more time to think about what he had done. Crazy is crazy and he probably would have waited until school re-opened and killed the students anyway, but he would have also been in hiding and may have changed his mind or left the area. We will never know.

How in the hell was he able to legally to buy guns with psychological problems listed in his personal background history? Did he lie on his application or was there an oversight? Either way, he was going to get guns by any means necessary. Crazy is crazy and will do what it has to do to achieve the results it is after.

The sad thing is that 32 people died a senseless death that could have been avoided. Most of them were young people that had hopes and dreams of a long, wonderful life full of promise and it all was taken away in seconds by a " depressed, loner" lunatic.

No Nursing Home For Me !!

This was sent to me by Bobby Kallus

THIS IS GREAT!!

No Nursing Home for Me ! About 2 years ago my wife and I were on a cruise through the western Mediterranean aboard a Princess liner. At dinner we noticed an elderly lady sitting alone along the rail of the grand stairway in the main dining room. I also noticed that all the staff, ships officers, waiters, busboys, etc., all seemed very familiar with this lady. I asked our waiter who the lady was expecting to be told that she owned the line, but he said he only knew that she had been on board for the last four cruises, back to back.

As we left the dining room one evening I caught her eye and stopped to say hello. We chatted and I said, "I understand you've been on this ship for the last four cruises". She replied, "Yes, that's true." I stated, "I don't understand" and she replied, without a pause, "It's cheaper than a nursing home". So, there will be no nursing home in my future. When I get old and feeble, I am going to get on a Princess Cruise Ship. The average cost for a nursing home is $200 per day. I have checked on reservations at Princess and I can get a long term discount and senior discount price of $135 per day. That leaves $65 a day for:

1. Gratuities which will only be $10 per day.
2. I will have as many as 10 meals a day if I can waddle to the restaurant, or I can have room service! (which means I can have breakfast in bed every day of the week).
3. Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night.
4. They have free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.
5. They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips will have the entire staff scrambling to help you.
6. I will get to meet new people every 7 or 14 days.
7. T.V. broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No Problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.
8. Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don't even have to ask for them.
9. If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip you are on Medicare; if you fall and break a hip on the Princess ship they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

Now hold on for the best! Do you want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, or name where you want to go? Princess will have a ship ready to go. So don't look for me in a nursing home, just call shore to ship.

PS - And don't forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge.

John Wayne's America

I have a pretty good idea that this is what John Wayne would think about the situation. ATM's, automated telephone menues, some computer links, etc. all ask you to press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish. Hell, in some cities the street signs are in both languages!! This is taking things WAY too far.

Why and how have things gotten so out of hand? As with everything else in this world, it's all about the money! Corporations make it easier to make money off of Spanish speaking people and damn the consequences. Hundreds of thousands of people are illegally entering the U.S. every year and the U.S. taxpayers have to pay for their health care, education, etc. Hell, the Mexican government even tells their citizens how and where to go to get benefits after they arrive here!

I know that living conditions in most of the Latin American countries are deplorable and if I were in the same situation, I'd try to get to America too. Most of these people are honest, hard working people that just want to provide a better life for their families, but along with them come the rapists, murderers, drunks, drug addicts, etc.

I am in full favor of building a "fence" along the entire U.S. - Mexico border and having another "fence" just like it built about 100 yards behind it!! That 100 yard "gauntlet" area could either be used to roundup people and send them back or used for target practice, similar to the area between East and West Germany that used to exist.

I'll be eligible for retirement in about 13 years and I want to be able to draw whatever Social Security benefits are available. If people continue to illegally enter the U.S. at the present rate and get benefits, there will be nothing left for Americans that have paid in all of their lives!! I honestly don't mean to seem so insensitive or uncaring about others, I just things want things done the way they are supposed to be. Right is Right!!

George Carlin's, I'm A Bad American

This was sent to me by Van Coffey

I'M A BAD AMERICAN
By: George Carlin

I Am Your Worst Nightmare. I am a BAD American. I am George Carlin.

I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some mid-level governmental functionary, be it Democratic or Republican!

I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!

I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart American.

I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything.

I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, try to do it in English.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.

My heroes are John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and whoever canceled Jerry Springer.

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.

I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.

I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I didn't wander forty years in the desert after getting chased out of Egypt. I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you! So, shut up already.

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country! This is AMERICA.

I want to know which church is it exactly where the Reverend Jesse Jackson practices, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution. Can I get an AMEN on that one?

I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you're running from them..

I also think they have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what color you are.

And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my drivers license. I think it's good.. And I'm proud that "God" is written on my money. I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.

I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me stuff or trying to guilt me into making "donations" to their cause. These people should be targets.

I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents.

I believe "illegal" is illegal no matter what the politicians think.

I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA!

If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American.

The 3rd Sniper

New evidence has just surfaced, proving that O.J. Simpson was indeed the third sniper in the 2002 Virginia, Washington, D.C. area shootings!!! Now that's funny...I don't care who you are...

I miss John Windham

John Windham was a friend of mine. John passed away a little over a year ago. We worked together in The Collin Raye organization for about 7 years. He was a great sound engineer and guitarist. He was one of the funniest human beings on the planet and could have been a successful stand up comedian. He invented great words such as, "juppa, stungent, gospel knob, and SAFMA". He was also great at doing home repair projects and odd jobs. He even used me as his "helper" on several projects when he didn't need any help. He did this so that I could make a few extra dollars when we had time off from The Collin Raye gig.

John had diabetes from an early age and struggled with it constantly. He and I were usually the first ones awake on the bus and I can remember several times that I had to pour sugar in his mouth to keep him from going into a diabetic coma. There were other times that an ambulance would have to be called to revive him. He was taking 3 or 4 different kinds of insulin several times a day and it was very frustrating for him, but he rarely complained.

John was literally a victim of Tennessee Gov., Phil Bredesen's TENNCARE cuts in January of 2006. Without TENNCARE he could no longer afford many of his medicines and became really sick. It got to the point to where he was admitted to the hospital in March 2006 to have a few toes amputed. While there, they found an aneurysm in his brain. Before they could do ANY surgery, he had a stroke, then a heart attack an died. John was 49 years old.

John's girlfriend, Susan, had a lovely service for him. The pastor was an "old road dog" musician that had never met John, but gave a moving service that touched everyone there. About 8 or 9 people got up and told stories and rememberances of time with John. We were all laughing and crying. I saw many old friends that I hadn't seen in years, others were out on the road working. The one person that was visually absent...Collin Raye. We were told there was a "family matter" he could not get out of. His manager at the time, Steve Cox, did a wonderful job of (once again) covering for him. True or not, that really disturbed me.

Oh well...I just wanted to let John know that I miss him very much. Chris Rock said it best, "If you don't have insurance coverage in the United States, you're gonna die".

Piss Tests

Charlie Littrell sent this to me and I couldn't agree more!

I have a question for all 50 states. Like a lot of folks in my state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their butt. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check.

Al Bore, uh Gore won an Oscar and is making money from his investments in carbon offset services. A company that he owns!! Richard Nixon, Carneys, Grifters and Bill Clinton think that's messed up. He is scaring people into believing we are in danger from global warming and that carbon dioxide is toxic. If carbon dioxide is toxic, how do trees continue to live? Carbon dioxide is found in nature! We exhale CO2 with every breath. Green plants convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen and other components. I believe the inconvenient truth is science fiction, and the Earth is cycling as it has done since creation. Schools are showing this crap to young children, but won't let them have a daily devotional or say the pledge of allegience or use any Indian mascots! PLEASE!!!

Speaking of Hillary "Robem" Clinton, could anyone be more phony than she was at Selma, Alabama? Speaking with a southern accent, claiming that because of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march, that she, a woman, was able to run for president. The 15th Amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. A woman could have run for president a long, long time ago.
To this day, I believe that Bill and Hillary Clinton are guilty as hell in the Whitewater scandal. I can't say where or who or how, but I know of documents that implicated them months before he became president. It's amazing how the people in power can be vindicated.

U.S. military officials recently warned of the Chinese having the technology and capability to send nuclear warheads and satellite "jamming" devices into outer space. (Doesn't this sound a lot like Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" defense that everyone laughed at?) They could jam our GPS devices, shoot down our military satellites and then easily destroy the United States. I believe this is what the Chinese eventually want..World domination. How did the Chinese get this technology? BILL CLINTON sold it to them for a campaign contribution!