You never kind of want to look the same way.”
-Donna Karan
It was 50 Years ago today, February 3, 1959: At the age of 17, Ritchie Valens is killed in a plane crash, along with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.
I heard about it on the radio on this very day, February 3, 2009. I remember my mother used to like the music of Buddy Holly. I was not even born yet when the plane crashed. They interviewed Ritchie Valens' girlfriend who is named Donna (she now lives in Sacramento, CA). He wrote a teen love ballad for her called 'Donna':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mKHkz6A3Fk
When they played the song I could just imagine the emotion this woman must feel (even to this day).
It made me think of the Donna's I have known...
1964-There was Donna Schumann, a little girl who lived in our Oakland neighborhood. She had two brothers (one named Billy) and she had dirty blond hair and a sensitive smile. I think I had an itty bitty crush on that one. I wonder what ever happened to her?
1969-My first cousin (Donna Lynn Armijo) was born on August 27, 1969 at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, CA. Her father and my father were brothers. Donna now has four daughters and resides in Livermore, CA. She is working as a beautician who specializes in facials (I believe) in Pleasanton, CA. I have not seen her since the mid 1990's. The family tends to get so large and I'm sure she has her hands full with the daughters these days.
1971-Donna Emmons was a local girl in Alameda, California. She didn't have the best reputation because rumor had it that she did the 'oochie-koochie' with Tim Halpin (another local boy). I'm not sure if that really happened or not. I believe Donna moved away because she never attended Alameda High School.
1977-I graduated with Donna Van Amburg. I remember her uncle was a KGO-TV News anchorman. I thought it was such a big deal. Donna and I still keep in touch (a bit) and she is now happily married and living in Dandridge, Tennessee. Maybe I will see her when I finally make that trip to the Blackberry Farm Inn in Tennessee.
http://www.blackberryfarm.com/
I really want to visit there. Funny...I just did a search on Donna's uncle and I just learned what happened to him:
What ever happened to KGO-TV Van Amburg?
And then, one night in December 1986, he suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again on television news in all these years since.
Not that it was poor Van's fault. There he was as always, knocking the crowd dead, as it were, when out from the wings came the hook, extended by Station Management. He was fired, summarily removed without warning from his anchor chair after seventeen years... it was simply time for Something New (it was really time for Someone Cheaper). Indeed, like most local stations in highly competitive markets, KGO has this habit of abruptly and brutally dropping the ax on their telegenic employees. Van wasn't the first to be told "we don't want you as a presence in the newsroom anymore", nor was it the last time KGO's motives would be suspect.
Also,
Wallace suggested the station's 11 p.m. news was like vaudeville. He questioned Van Amburg about a story he did one night a severed penis found on what is now the Caltrain tracks. Van Amburg said somebody was victim of that attack, and Channel 7 needed to report it.
1979-I guess the last Donna that really is memorable to me is 'Donna Summer'. I can still hear that song at a nightclub in June 1979 in Waikiki, Hawaii. And yes...I was dancing to it.
http://search.live.com/video/results.aspx?q=donna%20summer%2C%20hot%20stuff&docid=260772004003&mid=74C7DD7440443C52071D74C7DD7440443C52071D&FORM=VIVR11
Twenty-five years ago today:
February 3, 1984, Friday
It was a good day. One of the better parts of my day was at noontime. My entire section (along with Nancy Guzman) gathered for lunch at a very quaint downtown French restaurant on Harrison Street. I loved the delicious veal entree and the Roquefort walnut salad. I sat directly in front of Nancy which allowed me to share a fair amount of words. I found her to be very sincere. I think she found me 'simpatico', too. Who knows? Maybe I will get somewhere within this company after all. It all seems to be a matter of the right connections.
We also celebrated Rose Rodarte's birthday (February 5th). She loved my humorous card.
I wanted to go straight home and take a nap. The lunch must have made me more exhausted than usual. However, I had a sudden burst of energy after I read the newspaper. I was reading about two appealing films (Forced Entry & Make Them Die Slowly). The latter was quoted as being banned in thirty-one countries and had excessive violence. It made me curious as to the why the film had such culture shock.
And so, I drove into the City and happened to bump into Jerry Chalmers. He just happened to be hangin' out. We talked about his job at Monster Cable and he gave me his telephone number. I doubt I'll ever call him. We shook hands and I went on my merry way to see the two movies. The first one looked really 'low budget'. Yawn (a suspenseful and stupid horror film). I started to get into the second feature until it started to get gruesome and gory with the castration, cannibalism, hooks, cut wrists and gross worms. It was pretty terrifying. Why did I want to see this? Oh heck...maybe I did learn something. There are crazy people out there making some pretty ridiculous movies. I believe I also learned that one's bad actions are merely learned from anothers' bad actions; whereby, influencing one to make it habit-forming. After the movies I headed straight to my car and drove home.
I showered just to get out of the Colombian forest (where that second film took place). I taped the Friday Night Videos program and fell asleep.
Tomorrow was a Saturday but I agreed to work. I need the extra money. I start those Art classes next week.
0 kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar