Archive for the ‘Ramblings’ Category

fifth year of still is still moving blog

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

carolby8

Can’t believe it, but I started this blog four year ago today.  And I just want to thank Willie Nelson for all the enjoyment his music has brought me and continues to bring me.  And thanks to Willie Nelson fans and family and friends, photographers and authors and producers and djs for sending me pictures and stories and links about Willie Nelson and Family, for me to share with other fans from all over the world who check into this blog for news about Willie.  Like Carol, from NY, who took this great photo of Willie, connecting with a fan at a concert, giving someone a memory they will treasure forever.

Just checked, and this is my 9,464th post about Willie at my blog.  When I started this someone asked if I thought there was enough information about Willie Nelson to blog every day.  Well, I can’t keep up or catch up.  I have so many magazines and clippings and pictures that people have given me, or that I’ve purchased off e-bay, or found somewhere, and Willie is always in the news.  Then, there’s his talented family who are always busy creating, too.  Yep,  I could blog full time and not get it all up here.  So much Willie; so little time.

Thank you, Willie Nelson, for all the enjoyment you continue to give me and to all your fans who love you so much.

hold my calls

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

holdmycalls by you.

I’m off to  Lake McConaughey with my family.  Have a nice weekend!

Nintindo Introduces Wuii game featuring Willie Nelson

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

NINTENDO has announced plans to introduce a Wuii game featuring country music icon Willie Nelson.  They made the announcement at last month’s Electronic Show in Las Vegas that their next release would let players travel around the country with Willie Nelson and Family on their concert tour.

In addition to the band, other characters in the game include Kinky Friedman, Sean Penn, Snoop Dogg, Jessica Simpson and the Fryed Brothers, to name a few.   Highlights include attendance at one of Willie Nelson’s famous Fourth of July Picnics, including camping out, staying up all night listening to music and swimming nude in the lake.  Or you can opt to be on the crew and take over for Budrock ‘Buddy’ Prewitt and operate the light board.  Some lucky players will get to go on Willie’s bus, which he has named ‘HoneySuckle Rose’, smoke a joint with him, and play a game of dominoes.

Willie Nelson to star in ‘Bonanza’ movie, with Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Shooter Jennings

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

horse 

Willie Nelson’s publicist announced today that Willie will star in the movie version of ‘Bonanza,’  the television show that ran from 1959 – 1973, originally starring Lorne Greene as Ben Cartright, Pernell Roberts as Adam, Dan Blocker as Hoss and Michael Landon as Little Joe.

owenwoody
scooter1

Nelson will play patriarch Ben Cartright, 3-time widower, who had a child from each of his three wives.  Shooter Jennings will play Adam, Woody Harrelson will play Hoss and Owen Wilson stars as Little Joe.

selma

In the movie, Pa Cartright is upset that his sons continue to live at home and refuse to move out and get their own places.  He longs for the day when he can  run away to Texas with his Mexican girlfriend Rosalita, played by Selma Hayek. 

Ben and Rosalita hatch a plan to have a large party at the Ponderosa and invite beautiful women from all over Nevada, in the hopes that his boys will finally meet someone and move out.  Ben even invites some handsome young cowboys, in the event that any of his sons may be secretly frequently fond of handsome young cowboys.

The party is in full swing, and Rusty Spurs and his Cactus Cowboys (played by Johnny Bush and his band) play music while the guests dance,  when a young man runs into the ranch house and yells out that horse thieves have stolen all the horses.

paul4xsean

As it turns out, Ben Cartright’s nemisis, El Guapo, played  by Paul English, and his no-good sons Juanito and Jorgito, played by Sean Penn and Mickey Raphael,  have taken off with the Cartright herd and all the horses of their wealthy guests.

fryed1

Ben and the boys call in favors of local outlaws ‘Los Machachos,’ played by the Fryed Brothers, who help them find the horses and bring the Guapo brothers to justice.   There are a few plot twists in the end, involving a pet monkey and a runaway stagecoach that adds to the film’s excitement.

Filming starts later this summer at Willie Nelson’s western movie set town of Luck, Texas. Willie will record the soundtrack, which will include Willie’s recording of the beautiful Bonanza theme song, sung in the video here by Lorne Greene.

**** APRIL FOOL’S*****

Willie Nelson Announces Colorado Tour in April

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
rockies

Willie Nelson’s management announced today that Willie Nelson and Family will spend all of April 2009 touring Colorado.  Willie Nelson said this about the tour: “I miss Colorado.  April is so nice up there, warm sunny days, blue skies, snow on the mountains.  I look forward to playing the Bear, in Evergreen, Tulagi’s in Boulder, and the Fillmore in Denver, places I haven’t been to for a while.  I play so much in Texas, I just thought I’d spend a month in Colorado with some fans there.” 

Willie’s tentative schedule:

April 4, 2009 Avalon Ballroom, Grand Junction, CO
April 5, 2009 Big Bear Evergreen, CO
April 6, 2009 Fillmore Denver, CO
April 7, 2009 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
April 8, 2009 Paramount Theater Denver, CO
April 9, 2009 Gothic Theater Denver, CO
April 10, 2009 Fox Theater Boulder, CO
April 11, 2009 Boulder Theater Boulder, CO
April 12, 2009 Shotgun Willie’s Denver, CO
April 14, 2009 Aggies Fort Collins, CO
April 15, 2009 Aspen Snowmass Jazz Aspen, CO
April 16, 2009 Cervantes Denver, CO
April 17, 2009 Folsum Field Boulder, CO
April 18, 2009 Mackey Auditorum DU Denver, CO
April 19, 2009 Budweiser Event Center  Loveland, CO
April 20, 2009 Coors Field  Demver. CO
April 21, 2009 Mobey Arena  Fort Collins, CO
April 22, 2009 Oskar Blues and Brewing  Lyons, CO
April 23, 2009 Pepsi Center  Denver, CO
April 24, 2009 Fiddler Green  Denver, CO
April 25, 2009 Pike’s Peak Center  Colo Springs, CO
April 26, 2009 Soiled Dove  Denver, CO
April 27, 2009 Colorado State Fair  Pueblo, CO
April 28, 2009 Tellurride Blues and Brew Fest.  Telluride, CO
April 29 -30, 2009 Red Rocks  Morrison, CO
July 4, 2009 Invesco Field  Denver, CO
Sept 08, 2009 Farm Aid 2009  Morrison, CO
*** completely fictitous

Lana Nelson Writes Tell all Book about Dad Willie Nelson (April Fool’s)

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Scribner & Sons has announced that Lana Nelson has received a seven-figure advance to write a tell-all book about her father, Willie Nelson.  The book, with the working title, “Wipe your feet before you get up on this bus!,” is Lana’s story of growing up as Willie Nelson’s daughter, and life on the road with her outlaw dad.

When Lana was asked, “Why now?  Why write this book about your dad now?” she responded,  “Oh, I want to write it now while we can both remember things”

Is everything in the book true? 

“Oh, heck no, but who’s going to know?”

Willie Nelson was reached on tour and was asked what he thought about Lana’s revealing book about him. 

Have you read the book?

No, not yet.  She hasn’t written it yet.  We’re just spending the advance now.  Maybe she’ll write it when that’s gone.

Are you concerned about the information she’ll reveal?

“No, I’m kinda lookin’ foward to readin’ about what all I’ve done.  I’m glad one of us can remember what happened.  I think I’ve had a lot of fun, and I want to know what it was I’ve done.”

Lana, who has promised that the book will ‘knock your socks off,’  was asked for hints about the secrets she was going to reveal.   Wives?  Drugs?  Fights?

“Yes,” was all she said.  But she did throw a couple teasers:

Her dad does not smoke marijuana.  “Dad hasn’t smoked pot for 30 years. It’s just a rumor we keep circulating for his reputation.”

Her dad is the not the only one Lana tells stories on:

bee

“Bee Spears does not play live at concerts.   His music is all taped.  He hasn’t played in years.  So we haven’t paid him in years.”

bobbie

“Aunt Bobbie hates when Dad asks her to stand up.  She  threatens to quit after every show, until he promises he won’t make her stand up again.  Then the next show, he invites her to ‘stand up and  let the fans see you’.   They’ve been at that for years.”

“Mickey Raphael hates country music.”

“Billy English is listening to the Grateful Dead on his headphones during the shows.”

“The original title for ‘Me and Paul’ was ‘Me and Paul and Mickey,’ but Paul English beat dad at a game of chess, and he had to drop Mickey’s name from the title.”

If you want to read more about Lana’s book, visit
www.StopthebusIwanttogetoff.com.

***** APRIL FOOLS! *****

Willie Nelson Revealed as CIA Spy

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

acarl3 by you.

Willie Nelson accidently outed himself as an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency at a concert at the Willie Nelson Theater, at Carl’s Corner, Texas last month.  Nelson, who had been at a CIA staff meeting before coming to the show, forgot to remove his hat when he took the stage.

A Pentagon Employee, who did not want to be named, reports that Nelson was recruited to work for the CIA while a student at Baylor University.  Now, after fifty years with the agency, Nelson has been forced to step down.   When asked what he would do now that he could no longer be a spy, Nelson said, “I’m going to concentrate on my music career.”

Willie Nelson Replaces Band Members

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
breaking

CNN and other major networks interrupted their programming today with the breaking news that Willie Nelson had disbanded his Family Band. 

“I was off the road for a couple  weeks with a bad cold,’ Nelson told CMT. “I was bored and I upped my meds and  was looking at some pictures of my band, and I realized, “My band’s getting old.   So, I thought it was time for a change. I texted the band members on their cell phones that the band was folding, and I think it surprised them, because we’ve all been together for 30 or 40 years.   But you add up all our ages, with the crew and you’ve got about a thousand years there.”

Sources close to Nelson report that Nelson will spend the next month rehearsing with his new band, and plans to start a tour next month in Colorado.  Willie’s new band members:

nora

Nora Jones, piano, vocals

myra

Newcomer ‘Myra’ will accompany Willie on her harmonica

taylor
Taylor Swift on Guitar


Sheila E on Drums 

Western swing band ‘A Few Spokes Short of a Wheel’  will feature accordian, back up guitar and percussion.

Michael Phelps promises Nike: I’ll never smoke weed with Willie again!

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

bong

REUTERS.  Olympian Gold medal winner Michael Phelps released a press release today to fans and sponsors that he would never smoke marijuana cigarettes with Willie Nelson. He said he had never done it before, and he wouldn’t do it again. And he apologized to fans and family and especially his sponsors, he’s really really sorry to his sponsors, for the embarrassment he caused them when the picture of him smoking a bong appeared in a tabloid magazine. Rumors about Phelps and Nelson spread around the internet when he was seen at a Willie Nelson concert in New Jersey last month.

Privately, Phelps tells friends that he wished he’d been smoking weed with Willie Nelson on his bus, instead of in a dorm room with strangers will cell phones.

“Yeah, I wished I’d smoked with Willie. He would never take my picture and sell it to a tabloid.  His bus would have been so much cooler than that dorm room, and I bet is pot is better, too.“

Willie Nelson says: “Save the Rodeo Monkeys”

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

whiplash4

Willie Nelson has announced his support for rodeo monkeys, and is speaking out against discrimination perpetuated towards them.  “The Rodeo monkey is a dying breed,” Nelson said, “I encourage everyone to support the cowboy monkeys, and adopt one today.” 

As part of his support, Nelson has asked Whiplash the Rodeo Monkey to  go on tour with him and perform before each of his concerts.  Whiplash has his own bus.    Willie Nelson and his family encourages you to write your Congressman and ask him or her to support Rodeo Monkeys.  And Border Collies, too!

Asleep at the Wheel Falls Asleep at the Wheel

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

asleep2

 Ray Benson, of Asleep at the Wheel fell asleep at the wheel late Friday night, while driving with his band outside of Austin, Texas.   Fortunately, no one was injured, however his band was forced to walk across miles and miles of Texas along Route 66, until they were picked up by a young man driving a Hot Rod Lincoln, who gave them a ride home.

Come on, Kellogg, Michael Phelps is still a champion

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

champion

If Kellogg knew how many bowls of cereal has been consumed by people smoking pot, they’d double Michael Phelp’s endorsement fees, instead of letting his contract expire.

Michael Phelps Smokes Pot. But Who cares?

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

bong

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” the record-setting American athlete said in a statement issued Sunday.  “I’m 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me,” Phelps said. “For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public — it will not happen again.”

Oh, Michael, you deserve to get high once in a while.  They guy has been working so hard all his life, competing, swimming for hours on end every day, and all the stress that competition has brought.  He deserves a little relaxation.   He’s won 16 gold medals (so far).   This is just more proof that pot smoking doesn’t hamper success.

But I guess if I stood to lose millions of dollars in endorsements, I might make a public apology.  And I’d watch out for folks at parties with cameras.

Craig Ferguson said on his late show:

“Now we know why he eats 12,000 calories a day” and

“Someone took that picture in a dorm room, and sold it to a newspaper.  Michael Phelps needs to be careful.  But then, if you can’t trust a stranger with a cell phone in a dorm room while you’re smoking a bong, who can you trust?”

Ten Things to do while you wait for your next Willie Nelson and Family Concert

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

barcrawl

I’ll be honest with you.  I’m going through withdrawals after seeing Willie Nelson and Family for five nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco last week.  You’d think my family would be right with their, “Well, I guess you finally got Willie Nelson out of your system once and for all” comments upon my return.  Yeah, right.  I have been talking to Janis from Texas, and that helps, because she was at the shows in San Francisco, and she’s suffering, too.  

Willie and Mickey Raphael will tour next month with Asleep at the Wheel in support of the new Western Swing  ‘Willie and the Wheel’ album, and the rest of the band is off until March.  If you are like me, and have no shows on the horizon and you can’t find a Missing-Willie-Nelson Support Group in your town (What’s up with that, anyway?  There are two therapists for every resident here in Boulder; I think someone is missing an opportunity)  here are ten things you can do while you wait for your next WN&F concert.  Let me know what you do to help you make it through the night:

  1. Watch all of Willie Nelson’s movies in chronological order
  2. Organize your Willie Nelson cds and listen to them all in alphabetical order;
  3. Visit www.WillieNelson.com daily to see if Lana Nelson drops any news or pictures of her dad
  4. Spend some time at www.Budrock.com and peruse his extensive collection of Willie Nelson and Family pictures, posters, passes and pics
  5. Re-read Joe Nick Patoski’s book, ‘Willie Nelson:  An Epic Life’
  6. Listen to the Bill Mack Satellite Cowboy show on xm radio on Willie Wednesdays, and try to call in and talk with Willie
  7. Join Willie’s fan club at www.ClubLuck.WillieNelson.com, and join the on-line chat on Wednesday evenings with other Willie Nelson fans
  8. Watch concert videos
  9. Start a blog about Willie Nelson and hope he reads it so you can tell him how much you love him and his music
  10. Or just call me, and we can talk about Willie and swap concert stories.

support

Willie Nelson’s coming to Red Rocks! (8/26/08)

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

Late summer is a great time of year for Colorado Willie Nelson fans, ’cause that’s usually when Willie plays Red Rocks.  I’m already excited and the show’s months away.

Seating is good at Red Rocks because they have reserved seats for folks who just want to drive up into the mountains after work and see Willie, and be assured of a seat.   And the diehards like me (and you if you are reading this blog), will line up in the mountains in the dark, wait for the sun to come up and the gates to open so you can sit up front and close.

But you have to plan for Red Rocks.  I tell out of towners they need to start training now, because the food and the restrooms and gift shop are at the top of some very steep stairs.  There is one kind of hidden bathroom down below, but I can never find it.  And Red Rocks is in the mountains, and like all adventures over 6,000 feet, you have be prepared.   There’s not much oxygen up there, either.  (Drink water, rest, drink coffee, take an aspirin.  Don’t let the alitude get you down.)


Camp Willie, 2005

We’ve got the runners and the carriers.  The young are the runners and we send them in first to just run, do not stop at security, do not grab a beer on your way down, do not pass go, just go grab those front row seats.   Then the rest of us spend ten minutes while security searches tarps, coolers, cushions and backpacks, then we schlep it all down and join our young friends in the front row.  So, if anyone has a teenage track star in the family, bring them to the show.

The Democratic National Convention is going on that week in Denver, bringing over 40,000 politicians and reporters from all over the world, so hotels are at a premium.  So, if you need a room, you might find some difficulty, but persevere. 
www.RedRocksonline.com
has info on lodging and camping, and everything else you’d like to know about Red Rocks.

Tickets have been on sale for Club Luck members for a couple weeks, and tickets go on sale to the public on Saturday, April 5, 2008, via Ticketmaster.

Here’s pictures Janis from Texas took of the 2006 Red Rocks show.

                              

This Red Rocks Hall of Fame award sits at the World Headquarters, in Luck, Texas. 

The mural was painted by Morrison, Colorado artist Emanuel  Martinez.  It is 15′ x 60′ long, and can be seen at the TNT Country Kitchen at 408 Bear Creek Avenue, in Morrison. Â