My Kind of Guy

Here's my NEW favorite pic of Barry. Starbucks in hand and IPhone clipped on his belt. Truly my kind of guy. You can't get much better than that in my estimation. He has GREAT taste. Of course...was that ever in question?

And the icing on the cake is he was at a school giving kids instruments for their music program.

Loving the fact that I'm a Manilow fan,
Texas Fan

Photo Credit: www.blogilow.com (Thanks Terry!)

Every Fan Needs a Fantasy

fantasy [fan-tuh-see, -zee] noun, plural -sies, verb, -sied, -sy•ing.–noun
1.imagination, esp. when extravagant and unrestrained.
2.the forming of mental images, esp. wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.
3.a mental image, esp. when unreal or fantastic; vision: a nightmare fantasy.
4.Psychology. an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream.
5.a hallucination.
6.a supposition based on no solid foundation

I've been thinking this week about the song, Shadow Man and what it says about not only the celebrity but also the fans that follow his career. While the song gives us great insight into what it feels like to have your life on parade every day and followed with scrutiny, I believe the song is just as riddled with insight into how some fans are perceived and seen through the celebrity's eyes. And after hearing about last night's show and the "ass grabbing" that went on during the dance segment, it just drives home the point.

It never ceases to amaze me how some feel the need to touch, grab, grope, yank, pull, hold on to, rush, stare incessantly, and pull him aside when he's obviously trying to give the gift of himself as he does in the dance segment or during Platinums. Even after the show is over it continues when he's trying to spend some time with his friends.

Remember these lines from the song?

No one knows you but they all love you
Look how many believe they need you
Look how many have tried to read you
Every fan needs a fantasy

Maybe "every fan needs a fantasy", or maybe some fans can't separate their fantasies from reality. Either way, I wish they would keep their fantasies and their hands to themselves.

Appalled,
Texas Fan

The New Vault Song

Barry has struck a chord this time. A deep-seated chord. Who among us hasn't felt betrayed by someone we trusted? How do you put it into words? I think it's impossible. Enter the musician/composer. The one who feels the music and knows how to use that music to express gut level emotion.

"Friend of the Devil" does just that from the strong bass and minor chords throughout until the very last note. It takes the words that Adrienne Anderson wrote down and it carries them into the depths of the soul of the listener. The melody and the lyrics combined go around searching for that feeling; that emotion that has long since been stuffed down into the corners of the heart. It's a feeling that only the music can find. This song makes its way like a surgeon into the hidden parts and seeks to cut out the cancer that has been festering there, undetected and unnoticed until the music finds it--hiding and hoping to continue growing until it destroys its host.

This new vault song is pure genius. And not only is it genius, it's new and fresh and different. It's what draws us in and keeps us wanting more. It's why we keep begging for original music. It's where his heart comes out and its in his music that we truly see his passion.

Whoa...wow...kick ass awesome. Powerful and daring--damn straight!
Texas Fan

Half-Price Manilow Sale

If you're in the market for some "vintage" Manilow memorabilia, here's the link for you. This is all Manilow memorabilia that "Scooter" has collected over the years and is selling to the fans. If you're a collector or you know someone that is, pass this link along.

Let's keep it all in the "family"!
Texas Fan

Two Unique Points of View

A good friend sent me an email today of an interview that had some insightful things to say about the purpose of life. When I read it, I thought about Barry's answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?"

First, here's what Barry had to say:

"So you want to know the meaning of life, you’ve come to the right place. I know the meaning of life. And here it is: the meaning of life is to have fun. Hope that’s not a let down, but that’s what it is, it’s to have fun and to learn that we create it all, we create everything, no asterisk, no parenthesis and no fine print. Overall I think it’s to realize that we are good enough, that our essence is beautiful even though our actions sometimes aren’t. I think by our actions we prove that we are human beings, and by our essence we prove that we are spiritual beings. I think that overall we are here to learn how to love and how to receive love and that’s difficult. That’s difficult for a human being. It’s not difficult for the spiritual being in us but the human being part resists that all the time. That’s what I think the meaning of life is. We all have to keep working on that. So here’s my advice. Let someone pick up the check and just say thank you when they do."

Here's what Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life", had to say:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me.I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know = You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That''s why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

If you read both you will see some similarities and some differences. The key similaritues are that they both believe we are spiritual beings and that we are here to grow in character.

Now that's some food for thought,
Texas Fan

Seven Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today...I was sitting in front of my television watching the Today Show with Katie Couric and what I saw happen live would change our lives forever. I know that everyone has a story about that day: where they were, what they were doing, what they felt, how it touched their lives. Mine is no different, but somehow it helps me to remember how blessed I was that day and how frightened I was when I watched that plane crash into that building.

My daughter was in Boston waiting to fly to Paris to study abroad. She was scheduled to take a plane to New York City and then fly on to Paris with her friend. Her flight was to leave Boston. My instant thought was panic when I heard the plane that crashed into the tower was from Boston. My heart stopped. I called her on her cellphone immediately and she answered. You can't imagine the relief I felt when I heard her voice. She had not even heard about the planes or the attack. She had heard, however, that her flight was canceled and was upset about it until I called her. And then, she panicked. Her friend's father worked in one of the towers. One of her sorority sister's father worked there as well. Several of the people she knew that graduated from Bentley College worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. She began to cry, as did I. It was one of those moments that we would never forget.

As it turns out, both of her friend's fathers were safe. They had gotten stuck in traffic on the George Washington bridge that morning. The graduates who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald (who had only started after Labor Day) died that day. The college campus was in mourning for months afterwards. My daughter somehow mustered up the courage to fly to Paris after the flight groundings were lifted. In retrospect, I don't know how she did it. When she arrived in Paris there was an outpouring of support for the United States. Memorials existed all over the city. Church services were held to pray for those families who were affected by the attacks. The Paris police stood guard with machine guns all around the city and in the airport and subway system.

Our lives have gone on since then, just as they did in the days after the attack. But somehow I think people have forgotten how they felt about their country and about their fellow man. We may always remember the tragedy of September 11th, but it's unfortunate we have forgotten the unity we all felt as Americans and as human beings that day and in the days that followed.

Today I'm trying to remember the overwhelming love and compassion I felt for all human life that day, even my enemies....
Texas Fan

Here We Go Again...

Here we go again. This time, it's name is IKE. And the projected paths do not look good. So today we are boarding up and trying to make a decision whether to stay or go. I've lived here for 35 years and this is never pleasant. I believe we have left every single time and come home to minimal damage. The question is: will this be the one? It's hard to know what to do. Leaving is such a pain in the neck, but I'm not sure I want to stay and gamble with a Category 4 hurricane.

I really hate living in the path of these storms. I'll take a Boston blizzard any day of the week. Now all I have to do is move there...sometimes dreams actually do come true. Perhaps some day.

Bracing for IKE,
Texas Fan

:::UPDATE::: All indications are that the hurricane is heading north of us. The poor people in Galveston and Houston will most likely get the brunt of this storm. Pray for them! They are predicting MAJOR damage from the storm surge and the wind.

A Good Rationalization

"You can go a week without sex; but try going a day without a good rationalization" (The Big Chill)


Stalking is often subtle, yet pervasive. In fact, the stalker is counting on you feeling as if her actions are ordinary demonstrations of affection or admiration.

The intimacy seeking stalker

Classification is based on the desire for intimacy with someone that the stalkers had identified as their true love. Half believed that their love was requited. The other half were termed to have morbid infatuations, in which they recognized that their love was not returned but “insist(ed), with delusional intensity, on both the legitimacy and the eventual success of their quest.” This group tends to be the most persistent over time.

Some Things Stalkers Do

• Follow you and show up wherever you are with consistent regularity;
• Repeatedly call you or contact you;
• Send unwanted gifts, letters, cards, or emails;
• Monitor your phone calls, computer use or every day activities;
• Threaten you or someone close to you;
• Drive by or hang out at your home, school, or work;
• Find out about you by using public records or on line search services, hiring investigators, going through your garbage, or contacting friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers;
• Repeatedly show up for no legitimate purpose at places where you are; and
• Other actions that control, track, or intimidate you.

Common Characteristics of a Stalker

• Jealous
• Narcissistic
• Obsessive and compulsive
• Falls “instantly” in love
• Manipulative
• Does not take responsibility of own feelings or actions
• Needs to have control over others
• Socially awkward or uncomfortable
• Views self as a victim of society, family and others
• Unable to take “no” for an answer
• Deceptive
• Often switches between rage and “love”
• Difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality
• Sense of entitlement (”You owe me…”)
• Unable to cope with rejection
• Dependent on others for sense of “self”
• Views his or her problems as someone else’s fault

from "These Boots Are Made for Stalking: Characteristics of Female Stalkers" (August 2008) by Sara G. West, MD, and Susan Hatters Friedman, MD

It seems the Manilow world has its fair share of these archetypes--certainly something to ponder following a week of observation.

Some can't go a day without a good rationalization...
Texas Fan

Ultimate Manilow: The Hits

The show reviews for the new show (such as they are) are trickling in. I guess the thing that amazes me is the fact that some people are never happy. No matter what the man does, he can always do better or disappoint.

I've had the "privilege" these past few weeks of being around these type of people. You know the type: the ones who rarely encourage but almost always drag you down. Comments like, "I'm only telling you this to help" or the ever popular "we only want the best for you" followed by cutting jabs related to how you have failed them or have not lived up to their expectations. These people exist in every area of our lives: family, friends, co-workers, and even in the fan communities.

It's hard to weather these types of negative input. The only survival technique that works is to not listen to them--don't open their emails; don't read their comments; don't expose yourself to their negativity. Imagine having hundreds of thousands of these people out there feeling the need to offer their "help" without the slightest concern for how it affects your psyche.

We all have no clue how these negative comments affect the Shadowman. However, these lyrics keep running around in my head this morning: "If they could see behind the smile and find the fear and doubt, they'd turn away". Imagine if you will putting your heart and soul into a new show and hearing that it disappointed, or fell short, or wasn't what your "friends" expected or hoped for.

My mother used to say, "if you can't say anything nice, then just don't say it."
Texas Fan

The New Generation of Fans

Pop on over to the Manilow Network and you will find them: a new generation of Manilow fans. These fans are exactly what Barry is hoping to see at his shows. It's why he keeps performing and recording. It's why his music is ageless. Granted, he appreciates the long-term fans--the ones that have been there since the beginning. But imagine how great it must feel to know that his music is striking a chord with the teenagers today and that they are "listening" and "learning" about quality music--good lyrics and melody. Having them sitting on the front row enjoying his timeless treasures must bring a huge smile to his face and a certain amount of satisfaction and pride.

His music spans generations and those of us who were there in the beginning know that without these young listeners, his legacy might die. We need these fresh ears to hear the magic of Manilow and spread it to their friends and to others in their generation. They recognize strength of character, commitment to work ethic, and unmistakable talent. They don't need years and years of fandom for that; all they need is intelligence and taste.

My hat goes off to all those Young Barry fans on the Manilow Network who support his music and who are keeping it alive in their generation.

A fan is a fan..and a young fan...priceless!
Texas Fan