Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.32 - Blog Unplugs for Mexico

Beta Pi:

BLOG UNPLUGS FOR MEXICO: Ann and I are taking a 10 day vacation - our first vacation without the kids since our honeymoon! We are leaving on June 2nd, heading to the Mayan Riviera (near the ruins at Tulum). We love Mexico, and we both really need a break. I am stressed, but my career is low stress compared to Ann’s.

Ann is a Pediatric Oncology Nurse at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. She loves her work - which is really a ministry - she ministers to kids who have cancer and their families. You may not know, but the success rate (survival rate) in pediatric cancer is much better than for adults. 2 out of every 3 children survive! Of course, it is an extremely demanding and stressful job, and Ann meets the challenge. There has not been a time when we are walking through a Mall, or at a sports event, when someone, some family or patient of hers comes up to her - and its as if they are greeting a beloved family member. Boys, I am not exaggerating on this - Ann is a Saint, and I am really blessed to be part of her life. She can also be a pain, sometimes, but hey, look at me - I’m the all-time-biggest P-I-T-A on the planet.

I am totally un-plugging on this trip - which means the Blog will fall silent until I get back in mid June. We’ve been to Mexico before, and I’m posting a few favorite photos of past trips.

BETA PI BLOG IS GROWING: The Tick roster now stands at 77 Beta Pi brothers, 64 of whom have e-mail addresses, and are on this Blog. If you can help, get me the e-mail address of a Tic!

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.31 - New Feature: Marlon Noir, Blog Reporter

Beta Pi:

Beta Pi Blog announces a new feature "Marlon Noir, Blog Reporter." Our own Mark "Marlon" McGann has a "nose for news" - and he is hereby dubbed "Blog Reporter." This is because Marlon has faithfully kept up with e-news involving the brotherhood. Without further adieu . . .
MARLON NOIR, BLOG REPORTER.

Featuring Blog Reporter Marlon

It was a dark night in my town - just time enough for a cigarette with a little dame I call "Dollface."

Dollface, I’ve got a job to do, gimme a cigarette, sugar-britches. With that, I log on to my laptop, and check the latest news from the AP.

My luck runs cold, it starts raining, and I have to hoist up the collar of my trench coat, and pull down the brim of my hat - just to shield my laptop from being drenched by the deluge. My fingers are shaking - the news is so big . . .

"Thursday May 24, 1:25 pm ET

Hilton Hotels Names Matthew J. Hart to Replace Retiring CEO, effective January 1, 2008.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Hilton Hotels Corp. said Thursday Matthew J. Hart, the company's current president and chief operating officer, will replace retiring Chief Executive Stephen F. Bollenbach, effective Jan 1, 2008.

Bollenbach announced last January he would retire on Dec. 31. He will continue as co-chairman and a consultant.

Hart, 54, joined the company in 1996 as chief financial officer. He was named president and COO in 2004 and was elected to the board in January of this year. . . ."

I kept thinking . . . Isn’t this the same mug I knew way back when?

Dollface, I said, give me another cigarette, and I need a light. Thanks, now beat it baby - I’ve got work to do.

TUNE IN FOR FUTURE EPISODES OF MARLON NOIR, BLOG REPORTER!

* * * *

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.30 - A Gathering in Honor of David Howe

Beta Pi:

A GATHERING IN HONOR OF DAVID HOWE: I got word from my friend Dara Howe (David Howe’s widow) that there will be a memorial gathering for David, and she asked me to let the Tick-a-lors know. Dara, Dom was so fortunate to have you as his wife!

"Larry,

Attached is the invitation and directions with map weblink with information about the June 23rd events commemorating David. Happy for you to share this with the 'brothers', but would need to know if any plan to attend the reception after. I look forward to seeing you and Ann, if she is available.

Regards,

Dara

Dara Howe, 4414 Curtiswood Circle Nashville, TN 37204 615-972-8034

A Gathering Time

For Family and Friends

To Remember and Reflect

On the life of

David Vernon Howe

Jan. 4, 1953 ˜ Nov. 30, 2006

˜ Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

Nashville, Tennessee

˜ Four o’’clock in the afternoon

Informal Tributes and Placement of the Urn

In the Columbarium Niche

Woodlawn Cemetery

Thompson Lane

Reception and Celebration Immediately following

At the home of Mrs. Ollierae Greenwood, Dara & Alex Howe

4414 Curtiswood Circle

Regrets Only

dvhowe@aol.com / 615.972.8034

Dress Casual

* * * * * * *

DIRECTIONS TO WOODLAWN CEMETERY COLUMBARIUM LOCATION:

Interstate Directions: On I-65 headed south from I-440, take the first exit at Armory Drive. Follow the sign to Powell Avenue and bear right to merge onto Powell going north past 100 Oaks Mall to the intersection at Thompson Lane (SR 155). Turn right on Thompson and go through the stop light at mall's north entrance. Immediately following the Guitar Center and the Beaman Bottling Plant take the cemetery entrance on the right (south side of Thompson). The columbarium will be a few hundred yards into the cemetery on the right.

DIRECTIONS TO 4414 CURTISWOOD CIRCLE HOME:

From Woodlawn Cemetery, take Thompson Lane (SR 155) headed west. Go through 3 traffic lights and follow exit to Franklin Road (US 31). Turn left on Franklin and head south less than a mile. After the first traffic light at Caldwell Lane, take the first street on the right, Glen Leven. Follow Glen Leven, which turns into Curtiswood Lane. Count to the 4th street on the right, which will be Curtiswood Circle (past Newman Place, Overbrook and Glendale). On Curtiswood Circle, look for the second mailbox on the left, which is 4414. Come to the back of the house. The reception and celebration will be under the carport, weather permitting.

* * * * * *

David’s death really reminded me how fragile life is. I am praying for you, Dara, and I know the ATO Brothers of Beta Pi are praying for you and David, may God rest his soul.

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.29 - Art Landry Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down / Aber Update!

Beta Pi:

ART LANDRY SUNDAY MORNIN’ COMIN’ DOWN: Mark McGann’s helpless request for "the Zeke Floose photo" inspired the pitiful, yet Immortal Art Landry to action. On Friday, Art sent me this:

"if my brain, riddled with Anheuser's Disease, remembers to do it, I will scan the picture. After all, I still take "credit" for the idea of the photo (although not in mixed company), which was itself pinched from the 1972 yearbook photo of the descendants of Commodore Vanderbilt in front of Old Cornelius' statue."

So on Sunday morning, I wake up and fire up my Blackberry, and there’s an e-mail from Art. I could almost hear the old Kris Kristoferson song "Sunday Mornin’ Comin Down" playing in my head:

"Larry, I ask that you add D.R. Flower avalonF@verizon.net . I think you were gone when DR pledged up, but he was and is a true Tic, and he appears in the picture of the descendants of Commodore Floose, lately mentioned, in his traditional "coat and tie required, shirt optional" garb.Thanks, AWL (ps to DR-what does the F stand for?)"

. . . As fate would have it, that very morning I got this e-mail:

"Well, men, and I use that term loosely, here is the best I could do on a Sunday morning. Long live Commodore Floose!

DR Flower, 3205 Oxford Dr., Rowlett, TX 75088"

Art, your credit for the photo is now charred in the annals for all eternity. Good work in providing new meat - D.R. Flower - for Blogbeast.

BETA PI BLOG WELCOMES ARTHUR LANDRY PROTEGE D.R. FLOWER: D.R., I’ve never met you, however, I remind you this about your mentor Art, he is the Houdini of Excuses, an "excuse artist" if you will - Art always has an excuse for not showing up at Reunions - sadly, Art was a "no-show" at Reunion ‘06. Therefore, D.R., you are hereby commissioned BlogOfficer with the thankless task of personally ensuring Art Landry’s appearance at his next Reunion, which will be Reunion 2011. Could be deja vu all over again superimposed on Back to the Future remembered. Good luck.

NEW BLOG TECHNOLOGY IMPOSED BY AOL, WITHOUT DUE PROCESS: So, I come in to the office last Friday morning, and I pull up the blog site. The pictures are "moving" - and it looks really cool. AOL somehow upgradedblog machinery to provide new tools for posting photos. And did it without any advance notice. Bad news, when they plugged the new technology in to Beta Pi Blog, it applied cool graphics to all of the photos posted in the Archives. Bad news, the captions beneath each photo got killed. No big deal. I had fun playing with the new "toys" which include a graphic called "Ken Burns" which pans across photos and zooms in, fades from photo-to-photo, ala Ken Burns style, seen in his famous documentary "The Civil War." Another feature makes the photos appear as foreign magazine covers, Life Magazine, Time Magazine covers, etc. I invite you to revisit old Blog editions by clicking through the Archives. Thanks to AOL, the Archives have been given a breath of new life. Here are some of the comments I’ve received:

FROM STEVEN "Vinny" STARR:

"Larry: I don't really like the new picture feature because I can't seem to be able to choose which picture to look at when I want to. The old way, I could enlarge the pictures and flip through them one at a time as I wanted to. Can't seem to do that now. Just my opinion. Maybe I haven't played with it enough. Vin"

MY RESPONSE TO VINNY: Play with it more - really grab hold of the thing. Guarantee you’ll feel better.

FROM FRANK "Marty" COLLINS:

"Monsieur La Simons: I think the Zeke Floose photo Marlon refers to was in the 1976 yearbook. I believe we took it in front of the statue of the Commodore himself near Kirkland.

BTW: I dig the new graphics.

Frank

P.S. No poetry from Andrew?"

MY RESPONSE TO FRANK: Frank, thanks for the feedback. Andrew would probably sue me for copyright infringement (kidding).

FROM MARK "Marlon" McGANN:

"I see from the blog that we have a new toy. Very tech savy of you Dr. Simons. Kudos!"

TO MARLON: Marlon, truth be told, I am anything but tech savy, I’m more like tech moron. It was some tech savy dude at AOL who decided to empower bloggers - it was a freebee!

ABER UPDATE! FROM GEORGE "Aber" ABERNATHY, May 21, 2007:

"Aber will be attending Reunion 2008 to show off my good looks and have a few brewkies with you gentlemen (used loosely)."

TO ABER: Hoist the mainsail, Arrrgh!

BETA PI BLOG IS A BEAST HUNGRY FOR NEW MEAT: The Tick-a-lor roster now totals 77 Beta Pi brothers, 64 of whom have e-mail addresses, and are on this Blog. If you can help, getme the e-mail address of a Tic!

Check out BetaPi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.28 - Hail to the Chief & Floose Update!

Beta Pi:

HAIL TO THE CHIEF: I was merely conducting my usual "internet detective" thing - seeking address updates, when I got this e-mail from "Prez" Aber gabernathy@greshaminc.com :

"I be President, and no amount of money will purchase my cell phone number for distribution. Love, Aber

George L. Abernathy Gresham & Associates, Inc. One Gresham Landing Stockbridge, GA 30281 Phone: 770 389 1600 Direct Fax: 770 389 6866 www.gresham-inc.com"

* * * *

Aber, you is hereby summoned to attend peach-ment proceedings, Boss Stein fish-iating, at Reunion ‘08! It will be yo’ 35th. Think of it Aber - you, Claude Cody claudec@jenswold.com , Boss Stein john.stein@bankofamerica.com , George Joe (e-mail unknown), The Heme george@concklin.com , Mike McCarty mmccarty@crtllc.com , Cheeks Reed m51reed@bellsouth.net - six of the all-time-greats, the Stooges will entertain, it will be GeezerFest, there will even be an AART Booth ("AARP" for Tick-a-lors) including rent-a-wheelchair for your safety and comfort. Spect you-all best tend.

FLOOSE UPDATE: Marlon markmcgann@prodigy.net sent me this cryptic message:

"Hey,

Could you do me a solid and send me and/or post a copy of the ATO Zeke Floose yearbook picture? Now THAT was a classic. Thanks.

VTL"

* * * *

Marlon, all I could find was a shot of "Floose and the Spy-mobile", you need to find someone who has access to a 1976 or 1977 yearbook and a scanner (look in the mirror, then go to CompUSA).

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.27 - Pray for Bill Price

Beta Pi:

PRAY FOR BILL PRICE: I just got a telephone call from Mark Hektner, with some very sad news. Bill Price’s wife Donna has died. She died on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 in Bill’s arms. That day was also their 25th wedding anniversary. Donna was 51, and had been ill and it was determined she had a brain tumor. Mark said the funeral will be tomorrow, May 11, 2007, and I asked him to give Bill a hug from all Beta Pi brothers, and tell him we are praying for him, and as life-long brothers we are here for him.

Bill’s home address is 205 Maison Ct., Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410-2215. The phone number I have for Bill is his office number 561-659-3212. Bill’s e-mail is wprice@wpricepa.com.

This is a good time for our prayer.

Lord of Mankind, Master Divine,

Keep us pure in heart and mind.

And so that we may know Thee,

Thy presence show,

Guard and guide us, ATO.

May the Lord guard and guide Bill in grieving the loss of his wife Donna, and our prayers go to Bill and his family. Bill, we love you, brother.

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Top News- Owner Boots O.J. Simpson From Restaurant - AOL News

Top News- Owner Boots O.J. Simpson From Restaurant - AOL News : O.J. gets kicked out of a restaurant - because the owner felt "sickened" by O.J.. Brings to mind one of my favorite movie scenes, in "Its a Wonderful Life", when Nick the Bartender (played by Sheldon Leonard) berated Clarence:

Nick: "Hey look, mister - we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer?"

Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.26 - A hero! George the Jack Russell Terrier

Beta Pi:

A HERO! GEORGE THE JACK RUSSELL TERRIER: Sometimes, I think I’ve run out of spark to write - then, I remember - hey, I have hobbies. One hobby I love is my Jack Russell Terriers. Best dogs I’ve ever had! Well, the other day, an article came over CNN about a Jack Russell named George, who saved some kids. Then, next day, I heard a friend mention she’d heard such a story on Paul Harvey "The Rest of the Story" - and this is a great story. Check it out by clicking on the link (to the right).

One reason I love this story, you may recall - I have a fondness for boxing and martial arts ( I fared better in boxing against Buck than in Tae Kwon Do - I earned a black belt but managed to tear the hamstring off the bone, suffer 2 broken ribs, and a broken finger, getting "whupped up on"). Exciting adrenaline rush, and worth it to find out what lurks deep within my worthless soul).

Anyway, this dog George came upon some kids who were being attacked by 2 pit bulls, and being a Jack Russell (big dog in a little dog’s body) George had to jump in the fight. This distracted the pit bulls, who turned their attentions on George, and they mauled George instead of the kids - who escaped with their lives! George fought valiantly, but was so mangled, his owner had to put him down. Very sad, to me.

Ann and I have a Jack Russell named Lily, who is 6 years old, and a puppy short-leg Jack named Odie, who is 8 months old. Last year, I lost a female pup named Riley to a car who hit her. When Riley was about a year old, and got her adult hormones, she became territorially aggressive, as females of this breed do. Well, Lily and Riley had but to look at each other, and eye contact led to lips quivering, teeth began baring, and they’d lunge at one another to do battle. Blood, everywhere! Once, Riley bit onto Lilly’s paw and refused to let go - even as I held Lily up to separate them - there is Riley, latched on to Lily’s paw with a "death grip" and wouldn’t let go, even as I swatted her over the head to try to break the grip. This other time, Riley - who’s young teeth were much sharper than Lily’s - tore up the flesh on Lily’s legs and face and back of her neck, leaving scars. I’m telling you - these dogs are highly affectionate to humans, but they absolutely love to fight other dogs - no matter how big.

Reminds me of my training for the match with Buck. I enlisted the help of Professor Risilious, a/k/a Ratman a/k/a Biggie Rat Marc Darling to go with me to the gym - to teach me how to take a punch. I figured if I could withstand Ratman’s punch to the kisser, I’d be able to handle Buck’s best punches. Buck later confessed to me, "Larry, after we came out, I landed my best shot to your head, and when you didn’t go down - I knew it was over." Thanks again to Ratman for the pounding practice.

Now, I’m not saying I like watching my dogs rip each other’s flesh (brings to mind the famous Frank Zappa album "Weasels ripping my Flesh"), because it really upset me when they made a habit of trying to kill each other, the blood was upsetting. What I admire is the courage they have. After Riley died, I found out from my breeder that a male pup might work better with Lily - that way she could be the dominant female who does not feel threatened by a male. It has worked well - Odie is very submissive, she has trained him well, and she shows him mercy - much the way Ann has trained me. Thus, endeth the hobby diatribe.

BETA PI BLOG IS GROWING - SLOW BUT SURE: We now count a roster totaling 76 Beta Pi brothers, a/k/a Tick-a-lors. 63 have e-mail addresses, and are on this Blog. If you can help, get me the e-mail address of a Tic!

Check out Beta Pi Blog on the web! The blog address is:

http://journals.aol.com/lasimons4law/beta-pi-blog/

VTL,

Larry Simons

Beta Pi, ‘72

Music News- Folk Singer Joan Baez Banned at Walter Reed - AOL News

Music News- Folk Singer Joan Baez Banned at Walter Reed - AOL News :   Tick-a-lo music lovers - click on "Right Move to Ban Baez" to see an awesome YouTube video clip of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez singing "Blowin' in the Wind" - from way back then . . .

As Yogi said "It's deja vu all over again!"