Thanksgiving 2005

For the big Turkey Day, I visited my parents' home down in Cherry Hill. The whole family was there, except for Mario and his family as they were in Oklahoma celebrating the holiday. Thanks to the magic of internet video conferencing, my brother Mike hooked up his video camera in the dining area of the living room while over 1,000 miles away, Mario did the same at his house out there. So technically speaking, we all were together for Thanksgiving and enjoyed our meal immensely. My niece Ariel wasn't feeling all that well as she came down with a case of bronchitis, so she had some lasagna instead. My nephew Riley on the other hand was hungry and would clean up his little plate. He'd be served seconds and thirds and would literally devour into the turkey, corn, string beans, etc.

After dinner, I was playing around with the kids in front of the video camera so that Mario could see what we were up to and we also got to see and converse with him as well. Later in the evening, I took Ariel down to the recreation room where we looked on the digital cable to see what was on. She wanted to watch "Finding Nemo" for the umpteenth time, so I tuned into ABC on the new Samsung 40" LCD Widescreen HDTV. The picture was beautiful and I was drawn into the amazing picture quality of the movie being aired in Hi Definition. Ariel was more drawn into the movie's story, so she enjoyed it from a different aspect as well.

During the viewing of the movie, Ariel wanted her teddy bear. Her mother got it for her and she clutched onto it with all her heart. When I looked at that teddy bear, it looked awfully familiar. I took one look at it and it all came to me. Flashback to the summer of 2002, I was on a little vacation in Virginia and decided to stop by my brother's apartment in Waldorf, MD. Upon my arrival there, my sister-in-law Andrea was there and we talked for a little bit. At the time, Ariel was only 2 years old and had just woke up from an afternoon nap. She kept her distance as she was awfully shy and startled that I was there. I reached for a plastic bag that contained a simple brown teddy bear. I motioned for Ariel to come and get it and she eventually warmed up and took it. The history behind that teddy bear was that it was in a box slated to go to the dumpster at the radio station I was working at. Here was a plush toy that just needed a good home to go to and I promptly took it and threw it in the wash when I got home. Back to the present day, I asked Andrea where the teddy bear came from. She didn't remember; all she knew was that someone gave it to Ariel and since then, it's been a favorite of her's and usually likes to carry it around or sleep with it. Andrea also told me that Ariel took it to her kindergarten class to "show & tell" her classmates. I was so moved by it for the fact that I had "rescued" a simple toy--a teddy bear and found it in my heart and soul to make sure it went to someone that would give it the love and attention it deserved. I'm glad that someone is my niece Ariel. It warmed my heart so much to see her clutching onto it that I had to hold back the tears from streaming out of my eyes.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

They're back!

For those who've known me or to the British readers, they will understand what I'm writing about here.

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, there was a certain type of pop music that caught my ear and still does to this day. While some of my favorite pop acts had either gone on hiatus or changed their sound completely, one particular act hooked me in with their musical style. In fact, it wasn't really a music artist or group, but a group of songwriters and producers that developed a style that was loved and loathed by millions worldwide. Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, collectively known in the music industry as Stock Aitken Waterman, in my opinion, made some of the best pop music in modern times. Often criticized for their "assembly line", "manufactured" or "svengali" approach to producing music for other artists, they've scored over 100 top 40 hits in the United Kingdom alone with their unique sound, despite critics writing their style off as "songs that all sound the same, just with a different vocalist fronting their music". In 1991, Matt Aitken left the group, leaving Stock & Waterman to continue producing records until 1993 when Mike Stock decided to leave and form his own production company with Matt Aitken.

Fast forward to 2005, Stock Aitken Waterman just released a triple CD of their greatest hits titled "Gold" and a DVD of their artists' videos of the same name in the UK. And in a twist of fate of "hell freezing over", the old friends who many said would never get back together have reformed and are a working unit again, according to Pete Waterman at www.pwl-empire.com. Stock Aitken Waterman recently returned to the studio earlier this week to make some great pop music and as a fan, I am elated that this has become a reality. Pop music has been missing from the radio for quite some time and I believe that can change with these gentlemen writing and producing the kind of "feel good" music many people have been longing for.

Can Stock Aitken Waterman recapture the same kind of magic that helped them dominate the UK pop music charts in the late 1980s? After all, the year is 2005 and obviously the pop music landscape has changed dramatically. Let's wait and see what transpires from this reunion and hopefully, they'll provide the kind of music that will be fun to listen to again!