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UT game 1 2008

UT install 2008

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Goldie Locks

Let me tell you about Goldie Locks. I met her 2 years ago at a hotel in Austin. She was one of those girls that are so sexy that even I could not talk . I was staying there for 3 or 4 nights I think, but every time I saw her I could not speak. She was just gorgeous. On the last day I told myself "the answer is always no if you don't ask". So I made myself talk to her when I checked out and asked if I could take her to lunch, she said yes and gave me her phone number. I was going from there (Austin) to Las Vegas. I got home a week later and thought I would call her because I was going back to Austin. I called and we talked for 4 hours. I went to Austin and took her out. We dated for about 4 or 5 months and called it off. Bad timing for her and for me as well. I was just coming off the whole Littleone thing. So I say all that to say this, we have not talked in 2 years but we have been e-mailing for a few weeks. This is how it started, this is the first e-mail I got from her out of the blue on June 22

Good Morning Johnny,

I am not in Texas right now. I made a last minute decision to accept a position on-board the Silver Cloud a Ship owned by Silversea Cruises, one of the World's Best. Please email me, haven't heard from you in a while.

Well, if you where me would you e-mail back? SAY YES and I did and we have been e-mailing.

Here is one from July 21

Give me a good number for you and I will give call soon. I don't have it memorized right now... I know that's bad but it's been a while since I last had you on speed dial. How is Mattie? I wish she was here to keep my feet warm at night, I was thinking about you because my room feels like an IGLOO sometimes.

Then we get to August 24

Hello Wilde,

Yes, I made it back to my Dad`s house safely and the rugrats are just fine. How are Pacey & Mattie doing? I will be driving back to Austin next week and looking forward to it. Anyways we should get together soon...

So I go to Austin tomorrow . I don't know if she's back yet or not. This Saturday is UT Game 1 for 2008. If she's in town I would love to see her.
Time will Tell
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Lisa and Wilde

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The M-Word

The Whole M-word was no Good!!

The Compass said...

The Compass said...

OMG. I have been wanting to comment and couldn't find the time. But finally, I'm making time.

Can we start out with the proverbial "Actions speak louder than words."

This chick talks out of both sides of her mouth. And the only thing you can take to the bank is what she has done in the past and what she has done and is doing in the present.

Johnny, you are such a romantic and yes, you can have romance in a relationship but it does not and will not ever work out like the movies.

Her letters about the passion and love you both shared at that time I'm sure she believed but was probably a large amount of fluff too. Lots of things can be written down but if the proof is not in the pudding, its just another great romantic letter.

There is no doubt that being around her brought back the enjoyable aspects of the connection the two of you shared. You were with her for that long before and so its understandable you would still have similar attractions to her and she to you. I can honestly say I can still be attracted to some of my own exs for their unique individual qualities. However, give me 5 minutes to think about the other crap I would have to put up with by being with that person all the time and I'm running the other way. Suddenly my thinking is cleared!

I don't believe the statement that it was all fake. What went on was real but didn't have the depth some of the words portrayed. If it had and if she had meant every single word she wrote, standing up to her parents would have been a minor hurtle in being with you totally.

A real lasting relationship doesn't survive on passion, love and romanticism. You have to find your own form of romanticism that exists in real life. Being passionate for each other all the time is a farce. Are you kidding me? Passion comes and goes with everyday schedules.

And words don't carry meaning unless there are actions to support them. When you are willing to make SIGNIFICANT life sacrifices for the love of another, then you can honestly say I love you to the ends of the earth and you're my one true love.

Romantic are the little things in the everyday you would do for your partner that you wouldn't for anyone else. Like him keeping my toes polished when I'm too pregnant to reach them! And me making sure he always has a fresh can of snuff although I despise the habit. No candlelight dinners here.

Its great that she was willing to help you when you needed it. But the motivation was strictly friendly. Can we say the chapter is closing on this one? Past time to love it for what it was and move on.

The Compass

Restless Heart

Ok, most of you know I have wanted to work in the music business for a long time. Well, these are the guys that have given me the chance to do what I love. I have worked almost 10 gigs with them from Texas to New Mexico to Nashville and back. They have been great to me. So I am asking you. Yes YOU, the LOW readers, to spend 10 bucks or so and download some tracks for yourself and hear how great they are.

Larry Stewart

Plays: Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
Birthday: March 2nd
Musical Influences: His father

Though Larry Stewart was exposed to music early on, it was sports that initially captured his attention. After receiving a baseball scholarship to Nashville’s Belmont College, Larry, whose father had passed away from a heart condition, found music as a way to close the gap he was feeling without his dad.

“In some ways, I moved to Nashville to live out my father’s dream,” admits Larry Stewart of what was to become his musical destiny. “When I got here, there were all kinds of people who valued musical talent–and I found myself slowly fitting into the music business.”

“The way I act is very normal. I just do what I do and let it go at that,” explains the soft-spoken vocalist. “It comes from growing up in a small town where the people respected each other and looked after each other. The values I learned there pretty much shape the way I look at the world around me.

“I had a pretty basic childhood. My parents loved me and I was around music from the first day I remember. My dad was a great singer and as I got older, I played piano for him, but I also played a lot of sports. They gave me support with whatever I did. They taught me lessons and gave me the tools to seek my dreams.”

“Being in Restless Heart showed me how powerful music can be,” Stewart says, defining his motivations. “I always knew how much it moved me–and there I saw it did the same thing to other people. To me, you need to sing songs for more than yourself. Making records is a privilege. I think you need to find songs that might give people a little insight into their own lives. Or give them words they may not have to tell the people they care for how they’re feeling.

“Let’s face it, he adds, with a laugh, “most guys aren’t real comfortable talking about their emotions in everyday conversation. I know I’m not!”

And so, Larry Stewart makes records. Over the years, many of the songs he’s sung have become standards. But for someone with a rich musical background, it makes sense. “My dad was one of the best singers I’ve ever heard, because he had this smooth, very warm baritone and sounded like Bing Crosby. But when he sang, it was like he was talking to you–it was conversational.

“He was friendly with Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires and the Imperials. All those old classic gospel groups: the Statesmen, the Prophets, the Blackwoods–I was around all of them growing up. I remember going to singings, that’s what we called them, with the Happy Goodman Family.”

By the time he moved to Nashville, Stewart’s rich musical foundation was firmly in place. When he decided to make the transition from sports to music he, like so many hopefuls, had his share of menial Music Row jobs. He was a stock clerk at the Country Music Hall of Fame, mowed grass at performing rights administrators BMI and ran tape copies at MCA Music. It was while working at MCA that longtime family friend Jerry Crutchfield coaxed Stewart into singing a few demos for his brother Jan.

The word quickly spread about the young man with a voice that mixed strength and intimacy with a honest raggedness that made him real. Suddenly, Stewart was an in-demand demo singer–and it wasn’t long until destiny came knocking in the form of Tim DuBois, who was putting together a band called Restless Heart. It was a group marked as much by the quality of the songs they sang as their lush vocal harmonies.

“Two people searching for the American dream/Doing the best we can do/There ain’t much glamour, glitter and gold/It’s an uphill battle if the truth be told/This is a real life love/It ain’t perfect, but it’s close enough,” he sings on “Real Life Love,” of his album Heart Like A Hurricane. In that moment, it’s crystal clear why millions of people have clamored to hear him sing love songs over the years.

Though he believes that his strong suit is as a vocalist, Stewart is also an accomplished writer. In addition to penning “Long Lost Friend” for Restless Heart, he’s also contributed “But I Will” to Faith Hill’s debut, “Fool To Fall” as a single for Pearl River and “This Road” to Mike Reid’s critically acclaimed Twilight Town.

Though he’s reluctant to call himself a romantic (”I’m not sure it’s what you do, but more how you feel–and my family knows how I feel about them”), he does admit that every song he sings is something that speaks to people with his intense passion for music and emotion.

“To me, commitment is everything. Life isn’t easy; love isn’t easy,” he begins outlining his motivations. “But, if you’re committed and you stick with it, then it will work out. “I made a commitment to my family, my friends, country music and, especially, myself. Without that, there’s nothing–and it takes commitment to tough it out through the hard times. But you gotta.

“If you make a commitment, you have to carry it through. Maybe that’s where integrity comes in. At least, that’s what I hope for and work towards. And at the end of the day, you know you gave it your all, whatever it is. If that’s the case, then you have to feel good, because you’ve done what you believe in. That, to me, is what it’s all about.”

Dave Innis

Plays: Keyboards, Vocals
Birthday: April 9th
Musical Influences: All groups whose name end with the letter “S”

Dave Innis was attending Belmont University as a music business student where he met Larry Stewart. Dave, who was friends with fledgling songwriter/producer Tim DuBois, invited Larry to audition to sing for a new band Tim was forming.

Dave took a break from the band after the Big Iron Horses album, but is back making music and touring with the guys.

Paul Gregg

Plays: Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals
Birthday: December 3rd
Musical Influences: Nat King Cole, Crosby- Stills & Nash, Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix, Stepenwolf, Simon & Garfunkel, Mahalia Jackson, Santana, Bing Crosby, The Beatles and The Eagles to name a few

Paul is a “Road” scholar. We mean he actually honed his skills “On the Road” and in the trenches. He relies solely on what he hears and feels in his heart for his contribution to the music of Restless Heart.

Born in Altus, Oklahoma, Paul is the son of a cotton and wheat farmer. Hard work, hometown values, and a tenacious desire to follow his heart are what drive him. That and a bus driver with plenty of sleep.

Paul left Altus early on to chase his dream. He and his brother got their first taste of the road performing at ski resorts throughout New Mexico and Colorado in the summer of 1976. Still not sure if music would be a career that would sustain him, he attended a Tech School in Okmulgee, Oklahoma for two years where he studied fuel injection. In may of 1978, under the encouragement of his brother, he moved to Nashville, where he worked for two years as a fuel injection specialist on Main Street to make ends meet. When an opportunity finally came to do a couple of road shows for Opryland, he took it.

Over the course of the next four years he continued to play and travel, meeting and making new friends with ties to the music industry. One of those people was Greg Jennings, the bands lead guitarist. Greg, after sitting around a table at Paul and his brother’s house listening to them sing and play, insisted that they meet a friend of his named Tim Dubois, a song writer in Nashville. Tim, along with his partner Scott Hendricks, would end up being the bands first producers and would later become heads of major record labels in Nashville. Paul and Greg teamed up with Tim on different projects to try and get record deals as outlets for some of the songs that Tim was writing. Paul had also been working in a rock band with a drummer named John Dittrich for about a year when, once again, Tim came to him with the idea of putting together a band and doing some music that was off the beaten path for country music at that time. Paul called John and together with Greg and two other singer musicians, Dave Innis and Larry Stewart, the band Restless Heart was formed. It was 1984 and after a showcase where the band performed for just about every record label in town, Joe Galante, the head of RCA Records, decided to sign the band. The rest is history.

Greg Jennings

Plays: Lead Guitar, Vocals
Birthday: October 2nd
Musical Influences: Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren and James Taylor

While at Oklahoma State, Greg played in a band with producer Scott Hendricks and Tim DuBois who managed the band and later became head of Arista Nashville. The trio later moved to Nashville, and formed Restless Heart. After the group disbanded, Greg played guitar in buddy Vince Gill’s band.

It’s a well known Restless Heart fan fact that Greg’s favorite song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz.

John Dittrich

Plays: Drums & Percussion, Lead Vocals
Birthday: April 7th
Musical Influences: Drummers like Buddy Rich, Steve Gadd, etc. Jazz, Big Band, Fusion and Rock

Apart from being a monster on the drums, John has sung lead on many RH songs over the years, but moved more into that role on the Big Iron Horses and Matters Of The Heart albums. His most recognizable contribution came when he took lead on the 1992 cross-over smash “When She Cries.” After the band quit touring in 1995, John joined up with the band The Buffalo Club which produced a hit album and singles.

M-Word

It is Sunday. It's been about 2 weeks since The M-Word has been back in my life. She said she would stay till I got someone to replace her. Well, today she said she's done. She has been very very helpful.

She also told me she was just getting over this long relationship she has been in, yet she has already been out on a date and made-out with another guy?? So I am trying not to take this personal, but I'm not sure how else to take it.

This is part of an e-mail she sent me on 6-7-08.
"As I have gotten older I have given the past some thought and I honestly believe that, if I wanted to long ago, I would have stood up to my parents and continued to date you, but I think that deep down I didn't really want to continue dating you. It really wasn't worth the fight. Don't get me wrong, I had fun with you and I learned a lot."

Then on 6-9-08 she emailed
"You know, deep in your heart, that I meant every word in those letters and I'm GLAD that you have held on to them all these years. I still consider you my first love and I will love you .... and I guess be a little jealous of the words you write about your ex....until the day I die."
" Johnny there is something you need to know... those words that I wrote to you that you quoted about us having passion and me loving you forever, I haven't said that to anyone else... EVER!!!"

So we go from "It really wasn't worth the fight" to "those words that I wrote to you that you quoted about us having passion and me loving you forever, I haven't said that to anyone else... EVER!!!""
Is it just me or does she say two way different things? Those e-mails are 2 days apart?

So I am not sure what I even wanted out of this. It felt good to work and spend time with her but she has now says it does not feel good to work with or even see me. I think I just kind of had an open mind, and by the way she acted and dressed, I guess I took it the wrong way.

She has been very helpful. So big thanks to her for that. It's kind of hurtful to know a week from now she wants nothing to do with me and wants nothing to do with my office. I guess I should have listened when she said "It really wasn't worth the fight. Don't get me wrong, I had fun with you and I learned a lot." She told me I need to get to know The New M-Word. Well, this New M-Word got in and started something she said she wanted to finish. But she has changed her mind again.

So I guess people really don't change. She said today she got nothing out of our relationship. I feel bad that she feels that way, but I have learned I can't change her mind. I just hate the part of knowing that all I thought was real was really just fake and a way for her to have fun with me and "learn a lot" in her own words.

Maybe something will change tomorrow. It was nice having her around again. I have really enjoyed that last few weeks.

What will The Compass say???

NOT GOOD

As many of you know, I am very close to Joyce and her family. I often call Joyce my mother and them my sisters. Many of you know and have heard me talk about Wade (Joyce's son) and his ex-wife Neele. Neele was a very good friend to me. She was family. Everytime I was in California I made it a point to have lunch or dinner with her. In fact, I have stayed at her home many times. We had alot in common. She had a very difficult time getting over relationships. I remember talking with her many times about that. In fact, last Christmas I was out there and she told me she had finally found peace. I am also very close to her kids, which many of you have met, her daughter Arianne and her son Colin.
Well, here is the e-mail from today after I got a call from her sister.

"Neele gracefully fought a battle for so long that many of you came and went, talking and laughing, and doing business as usual with her, without even a glimpse of the trial she was enduring. Neele was dedicated, joyful, giving, loyal, and loving to all of us.

Without getting into details, Neele went into surgery this last Saturday and complications led to her passing this Tuesday.

Her family, mom, siblings, son and daughter would love and could use all positive expressions of support. There will be a service for all who want to be involved this Sunday afternoon around 2pm in Studio City. If you want information, please e mail me back and I will send specifics when Arianne and Colin determine them."

I am in Littlerock right now and will be flying out to LA Sunday to be with them. This has hit me pretty hard. Thanks for your good thoughts.
Wilde

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