"I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care"
It's my birthday month. Yeah! I suppose by now most of us have
celebrated our first “Covid birthday." Things of course are a
bit lower key this year. Smaller gatherings, limited eating out options, making
sure not to blow out the candles on the full birthday cake, (maybe we should keep
that tradition going forward?) Despite these changes I overall had a great
birthday. Got to see a few neighbors, sipped on some whisky, and watched a movie
in the backyard. (Honeysuckle Rose in case you were curious) Also had a chance
to retreat to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a few days of hiking, brewery
stops, and overall relaxation. While I didn't get to see some of the faces I
usually do during this time I’d like to use this post to reflect back on
my bday celebration two years ago when I hit the BIG 4.....0?!
My wife and I rented houses next to Devils Backbone Brewery in Nelson County, VA (just a few miles from where I celebrated a couple weeks ago) Friends from various parts of my life and different spots of the country came to spend a weekend in the Blue Ridge to celebrate. We had great weather, were treated to live Bluegrass music at the brewery and chowed down on an Italian feast. We ordered Lou Malnati’s Pizzas from Chicago (one a my favs) and lasagnas from Superior Pasta in Philadelphia. Of course, after dinner it was time to bring out the cake. The cake was a surprise my wife cooked up so all’s I knew was that it was fragile and had an unusually large box for a birthday cake. People speculated what this secret sweet would be from things that I find solace in ...Would it be KISS related? Some type of 80's wrestling homage? A horror movie themed confection? Well as you can see above, I had the right decade but the wrong subject matter. I had often recounted my love for all things Lionel Richie and especially the video for his smash tune "Hello". In fact, it may be my favorite music video of all time. The reveal of what’s going on "in the sculpture class" at the end of the video gets me every time. I often said I would love to somehow have a replica of the Lionel Richie bust that his blind love interest conjures up.
Well thanks to my wife and the genius cake makers at Sweet Fix in Richmond, VA my dreams became a reality. When the reveal hit, I was speechless. This thing was incredible. It was so good in fact that it killed me a bit inside that I had to dismantle and carve up this piece of art. After dozens of pictures and a quick kiss I went to work and carved up Mr. Richie..and he was delicious! I finally got to see Lionel Live in 2014 but I’ll save the story for another post. Happy Bday to all the Leo's out there. I think we're all wishing for the same thing this year!
One thing about the Lionel show was that he did sing “We Are the World.” I
don’t know about you but at the time I believe every household had a copy of this
tune (we had the 45 record) I recently heard that Huey Lewis took over the lines
that were meant for Prince. Apparently, Prince wasn’t too keen on being part of
a group effort. Not sure if it’s true but it seems about right. A few years
later a lesser known super group banded together to also fight famine in Africa
led by Mr. Ronnie James DIO. The group featured members of Judas Priest, Motley
Crue, Dokken, and W.A.S.P., just to name a few. Also featured members of Spinal
Tap (wait, weren’t they a fake group?) Anyways, just wanted to also give a shout
out to “Hear ‘N Aid.”
