Had a great time  tonight singing for  the folks  at Ashville Church  of Christ  in Christian  Union!  It was  my  first   concert  appearance  there,  and hopefully  won't be  my last. Sharing the ministry tonight were my friends Thurman and Gail Curry, better  known  as  "God's  Praise  Singers."  We spent nearly 2  hours, singing and praising God. There were a dozen or more from my mail route who came, which blessed me! Got to meet, Rev. Don Blankenship, the pastor of Ashville CCCU, a wonderful pastor and musician as well!

Back to my annual fall pilgrimage to Las Vegas. The first day I caught two shows. The first was at Planet Hollywood in the afternoon. It was a great  production  entitled  "Hitzville - The Show" and  featured  live perfomances of  some of  Motowns greatest  hits. Solid,  Vegas-style show. In the  evening, one  of  my  all time  favorites, Rich  Little was performing at the  old Las Vegas Hilton, now  Las Vegas  Hotel. Still, very  much  on  top  of his  impersonator game, Little  performed  90 minutes as Jimmy Stewart  and 33 other voices. It was great to hear some  of  the  classic  voices of all time...George Burns, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Jack Benny  and so many others. My favorite was his routine of Andy Rooney...hilarious!!

Day 2 in Vegas. Spent some time shopping. I'm not a big shopper, because I don't like to spend money and it's hard to find my size. In Vegas it's easy to spend money, that's for sure, however they do carry my sizes, mostly small shirts and 30" pants. I was told all the stores stock alot of these sizes because of the number of Asians who come there. Works for me. Anyhow, I have some new things to wear in concert now. Later in the day I caught the movie, "Trouble with the Curve" with Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake. This was a great little movie and not salty in its' language like Eastwood movies tend to be. Highly recommend. Tonight's entertainment was 70s and 80s superstar, Rod Stewart at Ceasars Palace. Having seen him twice before, I knew it would be a knockout show, and it was. The guy has mellowed somewhat over the years, and now packs a 13 piece band and singers, with added 9 piece orchestra for some selections. He was in better voice tonight than some nights, and energy level was high. My favorite live performance song is "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You," which after singing it, Stewart confessed that the writer wrote it for the Lord and that's who Stewart sang it for. Nice.

Day 3. Checked out the movie, "Won't Back Down" which told the story of how parents and teachers were able to take a failing school in Pittsburgh, PA. and turn it around, to better educate their kids. The story line and acting is top rate! Tonight's show was the Broadway production of "Jersey Boys" at the Paris Theater. The show is the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. I didn't realize the number of songs I knew until I heard them live. The show moved along quickly and the songs were a joy to hear again.

The Columbus Jazz Orchestra is celebrating their 40th year making great jazz and orchestra  music. The  opening  performance  featured  renowned  trumpeter, Doc Severinsen,  former musical director  and band leader of Johnny  Carson's Tonight Show. A  first rate trumpet player,  even  in  his eighties, showed  that  he  still  had  "lip". The musical highlight of the evening for me was Count Basie's "One O' Clock Jump" which  featured  three  trumpet  soloists  with four  backing  trumpets. It was  amazing! The only thing more colorful  were the two outrageous outfits  Severinsen wore! Great night for Columbus and it's Jazz Orchestra!