A Weekend in Las Vegas

June 28th through 30th my friend, Patty, and I took a trip to Las Vegas to see Reba with Brooks & Dunn.

At my new job, there's a sock monkey named Noodles that employees can take with them on their various adventures, and photograph the fun Noodles is having with them.

I'll be honest, I do NOT like sock monkeys.  They've always creeped me out, and I want nothing to do with them.  However, I love to write, be creative and silly, so I kind of wanted to take Noodles with me to Las Vegas.  I thought maybe it would also help me get over my loathing of these creatures.

 I decided to just go with it, and got Noodles from the coat rack he hangs out on, and took him to my desk.  That way I wouldn't forget to take him with me when I left work that day to head to the airport.

Well, it seems while hanging around my desk, Noodles made friends with my 98.7 The Bull, bull I got from my favorite radio station.  And thus, my journaling of Noodles' adventures in Las Vegas began even before I left work.

A co-worker, Karla, asked me to post my pics to Facebook, so I did, with captions for each, and also tagging my friend, Patty, so she'd be able to have them as well.

I have another wonderful co-worker, Michelle B. who doesn't have Facebook though.  Since it's Michelle who's encouraged me to start making blog posts again, (it's been over a year), I felt that posting all my captions and pics of Noodles' adventures in one blog post would be a good place to start; and Michelle would be able to see what Noodles had been up to in Las Vegas.

Below are my pics of Noodles, with the captions that accompanied each.  Read on to see Noodles' adventures in Las Vegas:

This is Noodles, the traveling sock monkey who lives at the office where I work.  Noodles goes anywhere an employee wants to take him.  This weekend Noodles will be going to Las Vegas.

While hanging out at my desk, Noodles made a new friend, the bull from my favorite radio station, 98.7 The Bull.  The bull was sad that he was stuck at my desk, and unable to be with his other Bull co-horts, Jake Byron, Danny Dwyer, Jenn Hays, Tony Russell, and MoJoe Roberts, in Eugene this weekend for Garth Brooks.

Noodles was quick to respond that the bull could come along on his adventure in Vegas, to see another Brooks:  Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn, as well as Ronnie Dunn AND Reba McEntire.

This made the bull very happy as he loves country music.  Noodles is happy because he won't be traveling alone in a bag with just a bunch of clothes and stuff.

As you can see, the two have become fast friends.  More posts will be made as these two begin their new adventure.  :)

Made it to the airport in record time.  (Go figure, the one time traffic *isn't* bad, and on a Friday no less!)

Noodles and the bull are relaxing and stretching their legs a bit, while we wait for Patty Pittman to get here.  :)

Well, after a slight delay, we're through security and at our gate.

Noodles and the bull let Patty and I know they were a bit peckish; so we're enjoying some delicious Mo's fish and chips while we wait for our flight.  Yum!

And the traditional "PDX Carpet" pic with Patty, Noodles, the 98.7 The Bull bull, and myself, (please forgive my ugly toes!), before boarding our flight.  Next stop, Las Vegas!

Seems the Las Vegas luck has already started for Noodles and the bull.  An empty seat in Patty's and my row means they can enjoy the flight in a comfy seat, instead of cooped up in a carry-on bag under a seat.

Finally made it to the hotel.  As you can see, we have one very tired Noodles and bull.  One very tired Patty and Nola also.  Nighty night everyone!

Noodles and the bull met a friendly Las Vegas native today, Burney the monkey, who volunteered to show them around town.

No real pics to show, as they were rushing here and there.  Burney also didn't want others to know where he's from, as it lacks the glitz Vegas is known for.  Noodles and the bull did convince Burney to let them take this one photo together, high above where Burney called home.

That's not a typo.  Seems Burney has been wanting to go places and see things for awhile, so Noodles and the bull invited him to spend the rest of the trip with them, Patty, and me, then go back to Washington and live with them.  Burney happily accepted.

After a warm, (95 degrees), day sightseeing, Noodles, the bull and Burney wanted to go swimming.

Patty and I *tried* to tell them this fountain in Caesar's Palace was NOT a pool.  As you can see, they didn't listen.  :)

Noodles, the bull and Burney wanted their pic with a Reba/Brooks & Dunn poster, but needed some help doing so, so Patty and I helped them out a bit.  Burney was a bit camera shy, sitting on Patty's shoulder.  One of the nice security people snapped the pic for us.

Noodles wasn't sure if he'd ever been to a country concert; Burney was sure he hadn't been; and of course the bull has been to many of them.  By the end of the night, all three agreed, they had a fantastic time.  They even got some confetti streamers as souvenirs.

Now it's time for bed as they're up early tomorrow to head back to Portland.

Noodles, the bull, and Burney sitting at McCarran airport awaiting their flight to Portland.  Three tired, but happy travelers; five if you count Patty and me.  :)










And there you have it, Noodles the sock monkey's adventure in Las Vegas.  Though there isn't a pic of it, Noodles, the bull, and Burney all made it back home safe and sound.  :)

I'm still not too keen on sock monkeys, but I'll admit, Noodles is kind of cool.  :)

So Many Things I Want To Say, & All I Can Manage Is: Why?

The title of this post pretty much sums up what's going on inside of me right now.

I woke up Monday, October 2, 2017 to the story of the mass shooting in Las Vegas at the Highway 91 Music Festival, in front of the Mandalay Bay Casino.  Within the hour, the death toll had risen high enough for the shooting to be dubbed "the worst mass shooting in American history".  It was only 4 am here on the West Coast.

As the day went on, I knew I  was going to end up writing a blog post about the day's events. So many thoughts and emotions were running through me as I heard people on the radio, and saw the various Facebook posts and tweets from friends, strangers, and celebrities.  

I was shocked that this had happened at a country music concert.  Even at the rowdiest country music concert, I guess I just wouldn't expect this type of thing to happen.  

I was deeply saddened and almost in tears hearing about how many people had died, some while trying to save others from being hurt.

I was happy to hear that the artists who had been performing that night were safe and accounted for.  On a local note, I was also happy for the people at the radio station I listen to, 98.7 The Bull, in Portland, Oregon.  The station had an intern who was in Vegas for her birthday; she was actually across the street at a Big & Rich show when the shooting began.  

The station had also had a contest to win tickets to the Highway 91 Music Festival, and when news of the shooting broke, the station made every effort to find out if the contest winners were alright.  They were, and had actually ended up helping other concert goers who had been hurt.  You could hear it in the woman's voice, she was still in a bit of shock, as would be expected.

Unfortunately, though a former street team member of the station was also safe, (having flown home early), her brother and his girlfriend had stayed for the last day of the concert.  The girl's brother, in an attempt to shield his girlfriend, wound up being shot, though fortunately, he's still alive.

Along with those emotions came anger, not just at what had happened, but people as well.  First and foremost, was anger at the shooter.  How dare he, for whatever reason he had, take the lives of innocent people, and shatter the lives of those who survived.  He didn't know them, so what was the purpose?

Other tinges of anger came out at one of the witnesses.  A woman who had been a vendor at the concert at least partially blamed a lack of security for the shooting.  I realize the woman was probably still in shock over what had happened, and that the whole story hadn't developed yet, but it still bothered me a bit.  This is because the shooter wasn't part of the concert crowd; he was a guest of the hotel, who was shooting from the 32nd floor of the hotel.

There was also some anger at people who accused Jason Aldean of leaving the stage to seek shelter when the rampage started.  What was he supposed to do?  Stay and possibly get shot also?  Tell me one person who wouldn't have done the same thing in that situation. 

Another form of anger I have about this is feeling hopeless; not because I feel like I can't do anything to help.  No, I feel hopelessness that this world will never be a happy place ever again. This incident isn't the first of it's kind, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. 

All those emotions, and more are still swirling around inside me, and though this is approximately  my fifteenth attempt at writing this post, it's STILL not what I was trying to convey.  

Maybe it's because others I know have expressed how I feel, and what I want to say, better than I have.  

For example, my friend, Kim Blue, posted this on Facebook:  

"How scummy do have to be to blame loss of life on someone who had a spotlight on them up above everyone else on a stage for running for their life when some yells into the ear monitors that there is an active shooter and get off the stage? Which he did to get his very pregnant wife out of harms way. Thats not what I want to say, but my phone will autocorrect that kind of language. Bad reporter!"

 99.9% of the time, reporters are spot on with their stories.  Every once in awhile though, you get someone who does, or says something out of line.  I realize, reporters are human too, we all make mistakes, but honestly, this upset me.

My friend, Jake Byron, a DJ at 98.7 The Bull, posted the following on his station blog. When he posted to Facebook, he said he's just being honest, he's not proud of it.  I identify completely with what he's written; I just feel deflated after today. 

Feel Like Giving Up?

I certainly do.

Admittedly, I’ve been having a tough time lately.  There’s just so much wrong with the world, and so much hate & criticism about everything, that I’m just getting weary.  I have always prided myself as being somebody who fights for what I believe in, and stands up to what I see as injustice.  But I’m straight running out of gas.

The thing is…  with this shooter in Las Vegas…  there’s no next step.  There’s no response worth encouraging, there’s no justice to be found, and there’s no getting back those we lost.  This was simply a tragedy, and the best we can do is try to support those left behind, and that’s…  it.

I’ve just had it.  I could hide my head in the sand, and to be honest, that sounds the most appealing right now.

This is what hate does.  It wins.  I have such love and respect for those who are preaching the “love conquers all” message this morning.  You keep fighting the good fight.  But you’ve lost a allied soldier today.

I hope I bounce back.

~Jake from 98.7 The Bullpo

My friend, KD  Karin Carroll, posted a great, upbeat, reply to Jake's Facebook post. Thankfully KD is one of those people who's there to try to cheer the rest of us up when we get down:

KD Karin Carroll Kiddo it is how we all feel but hold on to your faith. Do not let the evil win. You cannot stop living because of hate. Keep your joy, love and kindness in tact we all will need this Arsenal nowc 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿❤️❤️❤️

KD, and others who have posted similar things are right, we can't let evil win.  We think it's bad now, imagine what it would be like if evil truly did take over! 

For now though, even after writing this post, I'm still as big a bundle of confusion, and raw emotion as I was before I wrote it.  They say time heals all wounds.  I hope so, not for myself, but for all those in Vegas, and anywhere, that has had to endure such senseless violence.  And I'm still left with that burning question, about this happening:  Why?

47th Annual ACM Awards

Watching the Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday, April 1, 2012 may have seemed like a bit of an April Fool's joke to some.

For one, there are actually 35 awards handed out, from awards to radio stations, and air personalities, to Entertainer of the Year. However, of these 35 awards, how many actually made it on to the three hour broadcast Sunday evening? Nine, yes, that's a single digit, nine; less then a third of the awards presented actually were broadcast on the air.

The rest of the broadcast was made up of performances, between artists at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and others at the "Fan Jam" at Mandalay Bay.

Granted, performances are definitely a large part of what draws viewers to these type of shows. I guess it's just me that feels, if it's an *awards* show, the awards should actually be what's featured the most.

Also, I won't deny that I love all genres of music, and I'm as big a KISS fan as anyone; but seriously, what was the point of them being at the ACM Awards? Had there been some legitimate reason given, (other than they're KISS), maybe I'd understand; there wasn't though, so I'm still left wondering. It was cool, but still...

Hosting duties were once again handled by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton. Both did an excellent job as hosts, despite some of the lame jokes they were given to say.

Two performances that were hyped quite a bit were by Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts.

Toby's live performance of "Red Solo Cup" was touted as having "Las Vegas entertainers", joining the singer singing the song. While Toby wandered through the audience at the MGM Grand, singing his hit, the only entertainers I saw were Carrot Top, Wayne Newton, a show girl and towards the end of the song, the Warren Brothers.

Except for Wayne Newton, where were the "Las Vegas" entertainers? It's not like there aren't plenty of them! And as Earthquake Jake pointed out on KUPL this morning, it would have been really cool if Garth had been part of the performance; after all, he does perform in Vegas now.

Rascal Flatts' performance of their new single, "Banjo" was to feature comedian and grammy winner, Steve Martin, performing with the band. Well, Steve was there, and he played the banjo; but that was it. He stayed in the background, barely moved at all, and basically just blended in with the other musicians.

I would think, if you're going to plug Steve Martin as a guest performer, he'd have been given a bigger role. Especially since another banjo player with the band had a featured solo spot. Why wasn't Martin given that spot?

Both of these presentations were very lackluster in producing what had been promised.

On the other hand, one really cool presentation was when Martina McBride and Train's Pat Monahan sang "Marry Me" while a couple was actually being married on stage behind them. Not a way I'd want to be married, but for a Vegas wedding, it was pretty nice.

As far as the actual awards are concerned, for me, there were a couple nice surprises, along with some of the obvious winners for the night.

Though they were surprised with the award the night before the show, I was happy to hear that Thompson Square had won for "Vocal Duo of the Year".

Another pleasant surprise was the Eli Young Band winning, "Song of the Year", for "Crazy Girl". Love the song, and the band!

The 2012 ACM Awards actually added a new award to their list, the first new addition since the 1960's; "Songwriter of the Year".

Sounds prestigious, for sure, and you would think, being a new award, it would have been on the broadcast part of the show; not the case.

Not only was the award not broadcast, it was relegated to one of the awards that the winner is notified ahead of time, so they can be in Las Vegas, or not, if they didn't win.

Of this year's inaugural nominees: Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson, (the three are known collectively as "The Peach Pickers"), Luke Laird, and David Lee Murphy; Dallas Davidson walked away with the award.

One thing I did notice this year also was that, except for Thompson Square getting a brief mention for winning "Duo of the Year", the off camera awards weren't announced during the show.

In the past, though they're given out before the broadcast, artists, producers, radio stations, air personalities, etc., were all at least mentioned during the broadcast as having won.

Over all, the show was mostly entertaining. It had it's good moments, and it's not so good ones; and things I'd like to have seen done differently, for sure.

For those who missed the show Sunday evening, here's the complete list of winners, including those that weren't aired during the three hour broadcast:

Vocal Event of the Year: “Don’t You Wanna Stay” by Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean

Video of the Year: “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith

Songwriter of the Year: Dallas Davidson

Song of the Year: “Crazy Girl” by the Eli Young Band

Single Record of the Year: “Don’t You Wanna Stay” by Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean

Album of the Year: “Four the Record” by Miranda Lambert

New Artist of the Year: (American Idol winner) Scotty McCreery

Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum

Vocal Duo of the Year: Thompson Square

Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist of the Year: Blake Shelton

Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift


Small Market Radio On-Air Personality of the Year: Bill Barrett, Tim Fox, and Tracy Berry from KKNU-FM in Eugene, OR

Medium Market Radio On-Air Personality of the Year: Roger, Tom, and Melissa on WPCV-FM in Lakeland, FL

Large Market Radio On-Air Personality of the Year: Big Dave and Chelsie from WUBE-FM in Cincinnati, OH

Major Market Radio On-Air Personality of the Year: Kelly Ford and Rider from KYGO-FM in Denver, CO

National Radio On-Air Personality of the Year: Lon Helton for the CMT Country Countdown USA

Small Market Radio Station of the Year: WUSY-FM in Chattanooga, TN

Medium Market Radio Station of the Year: KATM-FM in Stockton, CA

Large Market Radio Station of the Year: WQDR-FM in Raleigh, NC

Major Market Radio Station of the Year: WQYK-FM in St. Petersburg, FL

Specialty Instrumentalist of the Year: Aubrey Haynie

Steel Guitar Player of the Year: Paul Franklin

Piano and Keyboard Player of the Year: John Hobbs

Guitar Player of the Year: Kenny Greenberg

Fiddle Player of the Year: Stuart Duncan

Percussionist and Drummer of the Year: Shannon Forrest

Bass Player of the Year: Michael Rhodes

Audio Engineer of the Year: Justin Niebank

Producer of the Year: Frank Liddell

Promoter of the Year: Brian O’Connell from Live Nation

Talent Buyer of the Year: Jimmy Jay from Jayson Productions Inc.

Venue of the Year: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN

Nightclub of the Year: Billy Bobb’s Texas in Ft. Worth, TX

Casino of the Year: Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV

David Lee Murphy

I've been a fan of David Lee Murphy, (DLM), since 1995, when I first heard his music on the radio. There was just something about his voice that stood out, caught my attention, and had me hooked.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, the only songs I really heard on the radio were, "Party Crowd", "The Road You Leave Behind", and "Dust on the Bottle".

(Note: All videos are posted here. Push the arrow button at the bottom of the video screen to skip a song.)

When I got a computer, and connected to the internet, a whole new world opened up to me.

I was able to find information about my interests,(including DLM), and I met other David Lee Murphy fans online, from all over the U.S. and Canada. These new friends would go to shows, then send group emails to the others, with photos, telling about the show. Those of us on the West Coast were grateful to those doing this, for sure!

At one point, the DLM fan group I was part of online, became known as the "DLM Angels", in reference to a DLM song, "We Can't All Be Angels". Except for those Angels who lived in the same areas, we were all online friends. The first time any of the DLM Angels actually planned to meet was in Las Vegas, 1998; and I was lucky enough to be one of the Angels attending.

(Photo courtesy of Linda Porter-Smith)

Over time, for whatever reason, radio stations weren't really playing DLM much anymore. Where I live, the only song you hear is "Dust on the Bottle", as it was David Lee's only #1 hit.

David Lee continued to tour, and write music, however, and Angels everywhere still attended the shows; so those unable to do so still experienced the fun vicariously.

From 1997 to 2004, David Lee Murphy didn't release any new music, though he continued to tour extensively across the Midwest and Canada.

As is the norm, when an artist isn't seen or heard on a regular basis in the media, people wonder what happened to them. With a seven year gap between albums, this also happened with DLM. However, while no one was hearing *his* voice on any new songs, people were still hearing DLM penned tunes on radio and videos. During this time, DLM also had songs he'd written, or co-written, recorded by other artists, like Brooks & Dunn, James Otto, Aaron Tippin, Trick Pony and a host of others.


In 2004, David Lee Murphy released his fourth album, "Tryin' To Get There". The title track was a tune he'd written with his late idol, Waylon Jennings.

The album produced a top 5 hit for DLM, "Loco".


A second single, "Inspiration" was then released to radio, and was getting a lot of good response from critics and listeners alike. The song seemed destined to be DLM's next #1 hit. However, Koch Entertainment, DLM's label, decided to switch gears on what type of music they'd be handling, and David Lee was dropped from the label.

Since that time, there have been no other David Lee Murphy albums released; and in recent years, DLM has also been touring less. There are usually only a few shows here and there throughout any given year now.

Instead, David Lee has turned most of his attention back to writing songs for others; and he's doing quite well at it.

The list of album cuts by others DLM has had over the years is extensive, and growing all the time. Instead of listing them ALL here, I've posted three songs that have charted in recent years.

(Note: All videos are posted here. Push the arrow button at the bottom of the video screen to skip a song.)

Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean and Thompson Square have provided David Lee with four #1 hits as a songwriter. Thompson Square's "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" is also up for two Grammies in February 2012.

(Note: All videos are posted here. Push the arrow button at the bottom of the video screen to skip a song.)

For those who are fans of Trace Adkins, his current single, "Million Dollar View" is another DLM song; co-written with George Teren. Trace also had a DLM tune on the deluxe version of his last CD; "Happy Man", co-written with actor/singer Christian Kane.

(Note: All videos are posted here. Push the arrow button at the bottom of the video screen to skip a song.)

Obviously, as a David Lee Murphy fan, I could go on and on about the man; I won't though. Today's post is simply my way of sharing information with those who may not know who David Lee Murphy is; or all that he's accomplished in music. It's also my way of saying, happy 53rd birthday David Lee, and here's to many more!

(Photo taken August, 2010, courtesy of Louise Wright Hargis)