Horse Manure Park

I'm enjoying the first day of spring doing a couple of my favorite things... Catching up on some reading with a cup of extra strong Peaberry coffee from Costa Rica (thanks Scott and Ann!) and savoring a fine cigar from the Dominican Republic, while chilling (literally) in the crisp Minnesota sunshine. My dad used to tell me I was named after Sammy Kaye. I never really knew if he was kidding me but it is interesting to learn more about the big band leader whose namesake I may (or may not) be. I found this little treasure while browsing my favorite used book store (if you're in the Brainerd Lakes Area, check out Emily's Used Books right next to BIR. You won't be disappointed). It was published in 1967 and it is simply oozing with information. The author (George T. Simon) wrote for Metronome   magazine; he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the big band era. Simon passed away in 2001, but what a gift he left us. A wonderful read!

Music has always played an enormous part in my life. I played in bands from the time I was eight or nine years old, all the way through my teenage years. Playing music was my "after school" job, except I only worked on Friday and Saturday nights, and I worked in bars and nightclubs (you know, like most kids). Playing music was my first paying job and I made pretty good money doing it. My parents were always behind me; they were always encouraging me and supportive of me even if I didn't always play the kind of music they appreciated. With that thought, today marks a special anniversary. On this day four decades ago, March 15, 1976, Kiss released their groundbreaking album, Destroyer .  Why is this important? Because Destroyer was the very first record I ever owned. You see, I was (and still am) a huge Kiss fan. When I was a kid, I used to sit at the kitchen table and draw pictures of the band all the time. I used to make Kiss concert stages out of Tin