Hey, out there. Mother Nature is demanding attention this week. First the earthquake (my desk was shaking and so was I) and now Hurricane Irene. Seems this humongous storm is bearing down on us and will probably wipe out our weekend entertainment. Let’s just pray that’s the least of our worries. At this writing town officials are taking the threat seriously by sending our foreign students to Baltimore and urging visitors to pack up and go home. We certainly need to heed the warnings and be prepared. I’m especially saddened by the turn of events because Mary Lou & The Untouchables are scheduled to perform tomorrow (Sat.) and M.R. Ducks’ Shawn Wood and I are planning a benefit to help Mary Lou out with her medical expenses. Hopefully we can reschedule the event when she returns to play at Sunfest. Mary Lou is the epitome of that old show biz adage that “the show must go on!”  She has suffered through eight surgeries over the last two years (neck, back, shoulder and wrist) and still keeps on singing - what a trouper! Without insurance, her medical expenses are overwhelming and I wish we could help her out ‘cause we all love Mary Lou! Hang in there, girl!
    I’m so bummed about this impending storm that I can’t get excited about the weekend, know what I mean? I just keep thinking about filling my bathtub for water when the electric goes out and I have no water, and getting batteries in my flashlight and food in the fridge ‘cause I always eat out these days. Oh, well. Sure had a good time last week. Man, do you see my picture singing with The Klassix at M.R. Ducks. Everyone absolutely loved that band and want them back often but they mostly do corporate parties and weddings and such. Their new gal singer Holly was delightful and new guitarist Dale bring a youthful influence with lots of new rock sounds. They were great! Fri. I sang with Kevin Poole & The Gang who also had the place rockin’ and Wed. I sang with the Ray Pittman Project at Lenny’s Beach Bar & Grill at the Clarion. It was such a pleasure to hear Ray’s distinctive voice - it’s been too long. So ... what a ham am I, right? And I have my own paper to publish the pictures. Ha!Ha! Hope you forgive my self indulgence - it’s all fun.
    The Lita Ford concert at The Purple Moose was hard core rock with the blonde bomb playing guitar in tandem with Gary Hoey. Do you remember seeing him at Seacrets a few times? World class guitarist who rocked but kept the lady in the spotlight. Gary tells me they are writing together and he is going to produce her upcoming album. Looks like we’ll be hearing more from this collaborative duo. Also at Purple Moose last week was Everybody Wants Some with a new guitarist filling the shoes of Eddie Van Halen and he was terrific! We couldn’t believe it was his first night with the band. What a pro! See you all at the FUEL concert Thurs. at The Moose.
    Music at BJ’s on the Water will be amazing this weekend featuring two of my favorite bands - The Mood Swingers w/ Lauren Glick on Fri. and Full Circle, featuring Kathy Denk & Michelle Schachter, on Sat.; three of OC’s premier divas.
    We’ll see what happens with this storm, huh? Remember the curse from the 1700’s, that every 30 years we would experience a huge storm? We’re overdue. So get ready and maybe no hurricane parties this time. Looks like Irene is gonna take us for a spin.