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Post by rizzuto on Jul 12, 2022 16:11:04 GMT -5
Okay, Pipps, do you remember this one?
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 16:27:19 GMT -5
Okay, Pipps, do you remember this one? I can remember it because my father was a big fan of Engelbert Humperdinck and had whatever album this was on and was not shy about blasting it on the stereo. "Please Release Me" etc. Much of the bad music I know came from not being able to avoid my father's collection. Herb Alpert, Eddy Arnold, Roger Whitaker. I think he played it to get back at me for cranking up James Brown. He was a wonderful man and a role model in most ways, but our musical tastes rarely coincided. Although he did introduce me to Hank Williams and Glenn Miller, so there were a few positives. May I ask what brought that particular song to your attention? |
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Post by rizzuto on Jul 12, 2022 17:22:26 GMT -5
Okay, Pipps, do you remember this one? I can remember it because my father was a big fan of Engelbert Humperdinck and had whatever album this was on and was not shy about blasting it on the stereo. "Please Release Me" etc. Much of the bad music I know came from not being able to avoid my father's collection. Herb Alpert, Eddy Arnold, Roger Whitaker. I think he played it to get back at me for cranking up James Brown. He was a wonderful man and a role model in most ways, but our musical tastes rarely coincided. Although he did introduce me to Hank Williams and Glenn Miller, so there were a few positives. May I ask what brought that particular song to your attention? I was watching a series on the Disney+ streaming service, and the series ended with this song playing. At first I was thinking it was Tom Jones, but it wasn't quite right. Once I looked up the song and found it was Engelbert Humperdinck, I began laughing. One of my best friends in this world is Ray Sanchez, who lives in San Juan Bautista, California. He played college football at Gavilan College in Gilroy, California for Coach Bobby Garcia. You may recall his son Jeff Garcia, who played for his father at Gavilan before going to the NFL and starting at quarterback for a short time for the San Francisco 49ers. Ray, who was a defensive end, told me he used to put a five-year old Jeff Garcia on his shoulders at football practice. Ray and Bobby Garcia are still very close, and one of the teams he was on went undefeated and meets each year to catch up and reminisce. If I recall, one of their games to win the championship at that level was against Herm Edwards who was playing at Monterey Peninsula Junior College at the time. Why am I telling you all this? Well, Ray has had an entertaining life and once lived in Hawaii and was a bodyguard, chauffeur, and a quasi-manager for Engelbert in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has run across Paul McCartney visiting the mission at San Juan Bautista, Vincent Price eating lunch and drinking wine overlooking the ocean, and Tom Selleck while he was living in Hawaii. He and Engelbert had a falling out, and Ray quit and moved back to California. He works as a handyman doing various construction projects and also is a caterer, doing BBQs for hundreds of people. He also had a cooking show on public television called Dude Food. Ray and I have cooked together many times, and I have helped him at a few of his catering jobs, just so we could hang out for the day and have fun. My stomach would hurt the next day from laughing so much. When Sarah was alive and I was out of town for work, if anything ever went wrong, I knew I could always call Ray, and he would drop everything to take care of her. That was when Sarah had cancer the first time, and Ray brought me such peace of mind knowing he was nearby. He's the kind of person you meet for five minutes and instantly become friends, which is what happened between us. They do not come with a bigger heart or one more full of kindness than Ray Sanchez. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 17:47:43 GMT -5
Great story Rizz. And of course I remember Jeff Garcia. He was briefly starting QB for the Eagles and I believe the Jets as well.
Okay, that explains the oddity of Engelbert Humperdinck popping up on the music thread. Nice anecdotes. I believe he even had his own TV show for awhile, but never as big as Tom Jones.
I remember being in both San Juan Batista, as part of the Mission Trail, and Gilroy -- for the garlic festival, what else? Nice country.
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Post by rizzuto on Jul 12, 2022 18:31:59 GMT -5
Great story Rizz. And of course I remember Jeff Garcia. He was briefly starting QB for the Eagles and I believe the Jets as well. Okay, that explains the oddity of Engelbert Humperdinck popping up on the music thread. Nice anecdotes. I believe he even had his own TV show for awhile, but never as big as Tom Jones. I remember being in both San Juan Batista, as part of the Mission Trail, and Gilroy -- for the garlic festival, what else? Nice country. I just got off of the telephone with Ray, and I told him that he was mentioned in one of my posts. Moreover, I told him that I guaranteed my friend Pipps certainly had been to San Juan Bautista. How did I know?  If you were at the Garlic Festival, then you were likely in Gilroy at the hottest time of the year. Did you try the garlic ice cream? Some say it's wonderful. I never did try it. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 18:57:41 GMT -5
Great story Rizz. And of course I remember Jeff Garcia. He was briefly starting QB for the Eagles and I believe the Jets as well. Okay, that explains the oddity of Engelbert Humperdinck popping up on the music thread. Nice anecdotes. I believe he even had his own TV show for awhile, but never as big as Tom Jones. I remember being in both San Juan Batista, as part of the Mission Trail, and Gilroy -- for the garlic festival, what else? Nice country. I just got off of the telephone with Ray, and I told him that he was mentioned in one of my posts. Moreover, I told him that I guaranteed my friend Pipps certainly had been to San Juan Bautista. How did I know? If you were at the Garlic Festival, then you were likely in Gilroy at the hottest time of the year. Did you try the garlic ice cream? Some say it's wonderful. I never did try it. Good stuff Rizz. Well remember I lived in Santa Clara for awhile, so it was an easy trip to SJB. Plus I set a goal of visiting all the California missions (not really that hard if you live there and have time on your hands -- my favorites are San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara, but I love them all.) Then I started on Texas missions but never finished the job. I missed the garlic ice cream too. I do remember searing heat. Nothing like gorging on garlic specialities in 100 degree weather. There was also an artichoke festival in the same area -- I'm drawing a blank on the town. It's been 50 years. Near Salinas. Bet you visited Steinbeck's home there. Did you encounter the giant Sun Maid Raisin box near Fresno? Love the Central Valley. |
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Post by kaybli on Jul 12, 2022 19:00:53 GMT -5
Garlic ice cream? Sounds like a strange combination. Especially for us vampires.
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 19:05:06 GMT -5
Garlic ice cream? Sounds like a strange combination. Especially for us vampires.
I once had Lobster Ice Cream in Bar Harbor Maine. I couldn't eat either lobster or ice cream for years afterward. |
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Post by kaybli on Jul 12, 2022 19:12:27 GMT -5
Garlic ice cream? Sounds like a strange combination. Especially for us vampires.
I once had Lobster Ice Cream in Bar Harbor Maine. I couldn't eat either lobster or ice cream for years afterward.  Inger's retching as we speak. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 19:14:48 GMT -5
I once had Lobster Ice Cream in Bar Harbor Maine. I couldn't eat either lobster or ice cream for years afterward. Inger's retching as we speak. Can't blame him on that one. At least there wasn't any mustard on it. |
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Post by kaybli on Jul 12, 2022 19:18:14 GMT -5
Inger's retching as we speak. Can't blame him on that one. At least there wasn't any mustard on it. I should invent escargot ice cream and force inger to sample it. |
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Post by rizzuto on Jul 12, 2022 19:24:25 GMT -5
I just got off of the telephone with Ray, and I told him that he was mentioned in one of my posts. Moreover, I told him that I guaranteed my friend Pipps certainly had been to San Juan Bautista. How did I know? If you were at the Garlic Festival, then you were likely in Gilroy at the hottest time of the year. Did you try the garlic ice cream? Some say it's wonderful. I never did try it. Good stuff Rizz. Well remember I lived in Santa Clara for awhile, so it was an easy trip to SJB. Plus I set a goal of visiting all the California missions (not really that hard if you live there and have time on your hands -- my favorites are San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara, but I love them all.) Then I started on Texas missions but never finished the job. I missed the garlic ice cream too. I do remember searing heat. Nothing like gorging on garlic specialities in 100 degree weather. There was also an artichoke festival in the same area -- I'm drawing a blank on the town. It's been 50 years. Near Salinas. Bet you visited Steinbeck's home there. Did you encounter the giant Sun Maid Raisin box near Fresno? Love the Central Valley. That would be Castroville, CA, where Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean at the time) was crowned The Artichoke Queen! Interestingly, I never did visit many historical places - wasn't Sarah's thing - intentionally. Also, most weekends, I just wanted to spend with her at home and was content to do whatever she felt up to doing. I don't recall seeing a giant Sun Maid Raisin box, which might have been in the former Swedish community of Kingsburg, which interestingly held an awful crawfish festival every year. |
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Post by rizzuto on Jul 12, 2022 19:24:58 GMT -5
Can't blame him on that one. At least there wasn't any mustard on it. I should invent escargot ice cream and force inger to sample it. "Those? Those are pistachios, Inger." |
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Post by kaybli on Jul 12, 2022 19:27:47 GMT -5
I should invent escargot ice cream and force inger to sample it. "Those? Those are pistachios, Inger."
It actually exists!:
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Post by pippsheadache on Jul 12, 2022 19:33:19 GMT -5
Castroville! Of course. Good Norma Jean/artichoke knowledge.
I have often wondered how desperate someone had to have been to figure out that artichokes are edible.
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If you were at the Garlic Festival, then you were likely in Gilroy at the hottest time of the year. Did you try the garlic ice cream? Some say it's wonderful. I never did try it.
Inger's retching as we speak. 