Members Tedster Posted August 30, 2005 Members Posted August 30, 2005 Well, I haven't talked about this for a couple of weeks. There have been some developments, for anyone who is wondering. (Announcer voice) As you remember from our last episode...Lindsay and Holly are in L.A., as is my wife, Deb. As you know, disaster was narrowly averted with the major help of a couple of our forumites, Jeff and Lee. The girls had been thinking to moving someplace cheap...namely Watts ...they didn't know. They've since had several lessons in the cost of things in L.A. They settled in the Hollywood area where all the cool clubs are (the only thing on their minds, rock and roll central) and proceeded to look for an apartment. They didn't have much luck. Things started to turn sour. They resented my wife being there (interfering...never mind that my wife was providing a rental car so they could even go LOOK for apartments, and never mind that on more than one occasion Deb bailed them out of a sticky situation)...and Holly decided to run off. She didn't get far. They tracked her down and persuaded her to come back. But things were headed south, fast. Enter an angel. A lady who, for the purpose of this forum, to protect her privacy, shall remain anonymous, unless a certain person who might read this chooses to reveal her name. This lady, who has lived in the L.A. area for some time, agreed to meet with the girls and Deb. She worked a miracle. She drew Holly out of her shell, got Lindsay, Holly, and Deb speaking to each other, and gave the girls some vital outside perspective as to what they are facing. She stressed the emphasis of SAFETY above all else (what we've been saying all along, but would they listen to us stupid parents?)...but the girls listened. She told them that the Hollywood area they'd been looking in wasn't the safest place. She told them where some safe areas were. The bottom line, the girls came up with two plans. What is not in one of the plans is for the girls to come home. I can understand that and respect that, as long as their ultimate plan keeps SAFETY above all else. Plan A is to find something in LA in a little bit safer area. This might mean they have to work a little harder to pay for it. We'll see. Plan B is for them to move somewhere besides Kansas City or LA where they have a support network, a safety net. Quite possibly Port Huron, Michigan, where all our relatives and friends are, but, that's up to them. They don't really know anyone anywhere else, so, to me, that seems the obvious choice. The music scene in Port Huron itself isn't that great, but, I know every musician there, so they have connections...and there's the added benefit of being right across the river from Sarnia, Ontario, which has a more lively scene (with a 19 year old drinking age to boot). We'll keep you posted. Sigh...
Members Tedster Posted August 30, 2005 Author Members Posted August 30, 2005 Sideways smirk to Senor Zorro...
Members Mudcat007 Posted August 30, 2005 Members Posted August 30, 2005 Ted, Believe it or not, there is actually a pretty vibrant rock music scene in Nashville. Cost of living is low, lots of musicians to jam with and a pretty healthy indy music business scene to off-set corporate music row. The weather here is much-mo better than Port Huron as well. BTW - I am a happily married father of three, so this posting is not intended as a scheme to hook up with two 18 year-olds.
Members G Geezer Posted August 30, 2005 Members Posted August 30, 2005 Isn't it funny how ANGELS tend to show up when they are REALLY needed? Three cheers for that angel :cool:
Members Tedster Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Posted August 31, 2005 Especially when most of the angels are pretty busy in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama right now...
Members Lee Flier Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Well, I don't think she would mind my saying that the "angel" happens to be my mom. Glad she could help Tedster.
Members Tedster Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Posted August 31, 2005 Your mom is one in a bazillion, Lee. (sniff)... I'll never forget this...
Members nursers Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 I'm sending my mother over too Ted, maybe next week. She's never been to the US and would be useless in your current situation, but it's the thought that counts right?
Members Ani Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 I was wondering how the girls were doing, but hadn't inquired yet. With Deb providing the wheels, and probably the meals and hotel deals as well; the girls really haven't been smacked with reality yet. Do you think that you could get the girls interested in Lawrence, Kansas? Lawrence has always been known by locals in Kansas as a "happening place" for their music scene. Being a college town, there is ALWAYS something going on. You can walk into the Border's Books store there in the heart of Lawrence and find dozens of personal ads on a bulletin board seeking to start a band or looking for replacement members... I can only imagine what the boards would be like in their music stores since I haven't actually visited one of their music shops. I've known a lot of folks from the K.C. over the years that have made the jaunt to Lawrence just to get into a steadily working band. Most of the folks I knew that found steady work up there were in more aggressive bands, and not the laid back easy listening tunes that some of us old rock and roll bluesers liked.... might be perfect for the girls. There is a web site located at http://lawrence.com that shows a lot of what is to be offered band wise in Lawrence. Lawrence, according to Google maps, is 77.7 miles from Lawson. Hey.... it's in an entirely different state Plus, she would have access to picking up classes at Kansas University if she decided to do so. I've also attended some pretty big open air festivals up in Lawrence during my younger years that were awesome... Reggae style. Another really happening music scene is Winfield, Kansas. They have festivals going on beginning in March and extending clear into the end of the year... Winfield is known to those Land of OZ people as the home of Bluegrass. One of their festivals coming up has folks travel in from all over the world; that's the Walnut Valley Festival happening September 14-18. Here is the link to the Walnut Valley Festival http://www.wvfest.com/ ... and here is the link to the Cowley County Festivals that take place in and around Winfield. http://www.winfieldcourier.com/Standinginfo/festtrax.html Winfield is 254 miles from Lawson, while only being 51.4 miles away from Wichita, Ks. I've got a lot of family in and around Wichita. Being a native of this area, I know of a lot of areas where the music is more happening than the narrow K.C. Westport scene. Hey... YOU would enjoy heading out to that Walnut Valley Festival. If you don't want to travel, there will be several areas here locally kicking with live music over the labor day weekend. If at all you would want me to attempt talking to Lindsay and Holly, I could surely point them in the direction of some pretty cool places to check out. Maybe they might be interested in some of the things going on in Kansas.... while still being within a respectable commuting distance.
Members Tedster Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Posted August 31, 2005 Lindsay's been to Lawrence. A couple of times. I think she liked it...but I dunno...I think she's got something to prove by getting as far away as she can. Maybe I'll send her down to Sydney... I appreciate your offer of talking to her, Ani... Thanks! We've got a couple of things we've got to let soak in for a minute yet.
Members spokenward Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Well, I don't think she would mind my saying that the "angel" happens to be my mom. that is so cool - on so many different levels.wow.
Members Kendrix Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Its really nice to see an angel from the forum come through for you Tedster. It sounds as if a real disaster was narrowly averted-for now. I sure do hope the "rest of the story" turns out well in the end. Kudos to Lee and her mom for being there for someone they dont even know. I wonder how Lee's mother got to be so good at dealing with problem kids??????
Members Lee Flier Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Originally posted by Kendrix I wonder how Lee's mother got to be so good at dealing with problem kids?????? LOL... ... actually I don't know if you know this Kendrix, but there IS a reason she's good at it: she taught "problem kids" for the last 30-odd years. She recently retired from teaching for L.A. County at various juvenile detention facilities. Her students were 14 to 18 year old kids, some having committed crimes, some who were wards of the court because their families were too screwed up to take care of them, some who had run away from home, etc. So... she knows about this stuff and how to talk to kids. Not that she didn't have a lot of practice on me.
Members Tedster Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Posted August 31, 2005 It takes a very special person to do work like that. Lindsay and Holly aren't really "problem kids"...at least they weren't 'til now. Just stubborn...and very, very naive. Which, in the pool of sharks we call L.A...could certainly lead to a bad situation. Nice to know there are some very capable lifeguards in that pool. It's just been a rough year for this kinda thing. I'm facing being an empty nester for the first time since 1979. ...Sunrise, sunset...sunrise, sunset...
Members Anderton Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 > Aha! An explanation of why Lee is one in a bazillion. Must be genetics. Ted, thanks for the update. It's gonna be all right, don't be nervous, be patient and have faith. (I don't necessarily mean that organized religion faith, just a realization that it's better to believe things will turn out okay than that they won't).
Members Ani Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 I think that it's great the Lee, her mother, and Jeff have all stepped in to help Tedster out with Lindsay; those words of wisdom will carry much further into life than just this one incident. Ted, Let Lindsay know about a few of these Battle of the Bands competitions that are brewing right now here in Kansas City. Deadline for entry: Sept 6th http://www.clubwars.net/WWW/index.php Also, as big as Nebraska Furniture Mart is... with them picking up an interest in hosting Battle of the Bands competitions; music may begin picking up a renewed steam in the immediate Kansas City region; of course, once again... we're talking Kansas . At one time BOTB was big stuff in K.C. Entry dates are from Aug 22nd to Sept 9th; competition is set for Sept 17th. Two original songs on demos provided with lyric sheets are required for entry.... The rest of the requirements are on the PDF.... Competition winners will receive air play on 97.3 FM Battle of the Bands - Nebraska Furniture Mart and 97.3 FM The Planet Since Drew ratted her out, is she talking to him at all since she skipped town? If so, maybe I can plant a few bugs in his ear about getting "their old band back together" long enough to take advantage of entering and competing in some of these Battle of the Bands events.
Members Anderton Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 > It's this kind of thing that gets me all misty-eyed sometimes when I think about this forum. I know it has my name at the top, but this has nothing to do with me. This has to do with humans helping each other and showing their best side. That's so cool.
Members Tedster Posted August 31, 2005 Author Members Posted August 31, 2005 I raise a hearty glass to all who have been so helpful, all who have had ideas...and all who've just shared a moment of thoughtful silence on reading this account. And a hearty glass to you, our moderator, Craig. If you hadn't been gracious enough to host such a cool place to hang out, well...I don't even want to think about what the possible outcome could have been. I wouldn't have had a clue about where to look for ideas on what areas of L.A. were safe, what sort of thing to have happen...a lot has taken place so far that has helped this sort of "fall into place". It still has a long way to go, but when I consider that, as Ani pointed out, Drew might not have "ratted them out"...they might have landed smack in the middle of a very bad situation. I do have faith. All sorts. And a lot more now since some more-than-excellent people have helped... Ani, I have indeed planted the seed of Lawrence as an option for plan B. We'll see... I wish it were easy enough to just say "Come on back and do this battle of the bands"...but, she's got something in her mind. She's got a point to prove. And a good bit of it was them boasting to their friends that they were going to do this and they don't want to come back "failures" I know, I know...you know and I know that there's no failure about going to check someplace out, but...they don't see it that way. I'd like to say I hope Lindsay's kids act the same way some day, but, I really don't want to go through this again with grandchildren. I don't know...just a lot to think about. This is indeed a good place.
Members Kendrix Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier LOL... ... actually I don't know if you know this Kendrix, but there IS a reason she's good at it: she taught "problem kids" for the last 30-odd years. She recently retired from teaching for L.A. County at various juvenile detention facilities. Her students were 14 to 18 year old kids, some having committed crimes, some who were wards of the court because their families were too screwed up to take care of them, some who had run away from home, etc. So... she knows about this stuff and how to talk to kids. Not that she didn't have a lot of practice on me. Thats great. Does she do house calls? IM really certain that , even in the height of the cultrual chaos of the lates sixties/early seventies, we generally werent as ( I'll say it) clueless/stupid as many 20 year olds seem to be these days. My troubled daughter (16 at the time) made a break for LA a couple years back- with a friend of hers. Very fortunately, the cops followed up on a report of hitchhikers on the highway and that derailed their plans. HELLO! Thank god for cell phones. As the kids ran from the cops and took refuge in a neighborhood an angel appeared who, just like Lee's mom, knew exactly how to get through to them. She convinced them to return home. It was a one in a million chance. - Sometimes it takes a village.
Members Greg Bogoshian Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Please forgive me, but I am new to this news... Tedster, prayers going your way, man. I know what it is you and Lee's mom are dealing with and all I can do is say "Don't Give Up!" When angels are provided to you in the form of Lee and Lee's mom's selfless service, anything is possible. You all have my undying respect. I wish there was something I could do in their behalf, but Western New York just isn't offering anything up these days. We are experiencing very hard times here. Boggs
Members PBBPaul Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Ted, I'm so happy to hear that they're alright. This news about Lee's mom is very heartwarming. I again wish you the best of luck as this unfolds.
Members jackpine Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 What a great place this is...... Keep the faith, Ted.
Members phaeton Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Good news... Keep the chin up, Ted, and a real cheer to the folks that have helped. Just keep remembering that it all has a better chance of turning out good than bad Sunrise...Sunset...Sunrise...Sunset
Members gearmike Posted August 31, 2005 Members Posted August 31, 2005 Hey man if they lived in Watts, we'd be neighbors! Seriously man, I'm glad you found someone to explain the safety issue to them. I don't like leaving my wife alone in this place, I'm glad I don't have an 18 year old daughter here... Ted, You let me know if you need a 6' 6" 300lb (eh-hem 265 now ) bruiser to stop by and scare 'em!
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