Vernon Potter @ Angies Restaurant

The significance of this picture is that it is at a table at Angie's Restaurant in Garner, the latest "incarnation" of this establishment which for years was Green's Garner Grille. There is a mural inside paying homage to the restaurant's rich heritage. If one wishes to eat there, be prepared to struggle for a parking place, let alone a seat, but the wait and minor frustration is well worth it. The food is superb home style and the prices are kept low.
Angie, the owner has worked at another Garner NC landmark, Toot 'n' Tell on the same road and most recently at "Tookies" which did not do well as the service was not good and prices too high.
Back to the significance of the place where Vernon is sitting. He and another group used to sit in that same position, when the restaurant was called A Place to Eat. I was privy to attending a Tuesday morning breakfast/gab session on a couple of occasions when my mom went and several others from the Capital Church.

Speak Ill of the Dead

No, I won't speak ill of the dead, but just because someone dies doesn't make them a saint. No names mentioned, but lately whenever a back burner has been entertainer dies, especially if they die from drug abuse, suddenly it's the "in" thing to pretend you always loved them. I've never been one to follow trends. Just because someone has passed away doesn't erase their stupidity or failures.

For ten years after Elvis' death he was disrespected by what Elvis' first unofficial biographer described as the "hipper than thou." Mainly it was the crowd on Saturday Night Live, always portraying him as a fat redneck when he never was either of those. Elvis was Southern but anything but a hick or redneck. He was so far ahead of "his time" that in the 21st century, the music industry can't even catch up.

Last night was a good night of karaoke because only one poor soul made a comment to me about the deceased daughter of a former Elvis back up singer. I did not like the way she sang Dolly Parton's song, "I Will Always Love You," even though there were others who sang it in a similar style to that that was pretty good. No, I didn't like the way she and those who have followed sang our National Anthem. There are certain songs that have tunes for a reason. I saw it as a lack of respect.

Still not mentioning any names, but I remember a girl who burst on the scene and hearing her first song and thinking, now there's a singer. It was sung very much in the tradition of Marylin McCoo (5th Dimension) and it was called "Saving All My Love for You." Then I heard rumors that the Soul Train crowd and their "award" labeled her as "not black enough." Good grief. Too bad she apparently listened to people like that and very unfortunate that she started hanging with thugs, or so it seems.

A lot of people loved this person and her talent, because she was capable. But I'm afraid a lot of people will praise this and many other folks because it's just the thing to do. In the eighties you had to wear designer jeans with the tag showing and those God-awful Izod polo shirts. There was the collegiates when I was in high school who had to wear their name-brand clothes to try to prove their worth. Never bought into that. Lately it's been little punk thugs with hats on backwards and their little silver tags to prove legitimacy. In the words of Dirty Harry, "That's a helluva price to pay to be STYLISH!"

Rest in peace entertainers. Lord help you, because eyes are on you 24/7. That can't be easy. I haven't walked in your moccasins. I can't judge.

I wanna dance with somebody

Whoops, there goes another bandwagon. Missed it again!

So Long, Miss Millie

I kept seeing this couple in Locked & Loaded. A lady in a wheel chair and her husband. About the third time I saw them, I was in one of my moods and did something that would set into motion events that would have an effect on my life for good. I walked over and jokingly said to the lady, "Let me know, if you ever want to get rid of this guy...call me." I believe he said, "You can HAVE her." What followed were some introductions to two of the most amazing people I've met. His name is Gary Shook and his wife's name, Millie. In the years that followed, we became fast friends and they BOTH became heroes of mine. Millie, as she battled Lupus and Gary, as he cared for her, having himself, suffered a stroke. He's a retired State (of North Carolina) employee and she, a former nurse who had to cut her career short because of her health. They epitomize the "in sickness and in health" part of the marriage vow (covenant.) Yep, they fussed and got on each other's nerves, but they loved each other...love being a verb.

This Tuesday past, Millie went home to be with her Lord. At the memorial service yesterday, her dad, Mr John Hart who still lives was quoted as saying Millie developed her personality by the age of two and that when she was put in "time out" she would look in the corner and hum or sing her favorite tune as if the punishment was a sheer pleasure.

Millie spent a lot of time at Rex Hospital as a patient and when she was there, nurses would come and share memories of the days when she was on staff at Wake Medical Center.

Millie and I had deep spiritual discussions and I will not divulge a lot of details in those except to say, Millie had the assurance of her Home in Heaven and Who her Savior is and in the past few days, had become more aware of the Third Person of the Trinity, God's Precious Holy Spirit mainly as the paraclete, or one who comes along side, the Comforter that Jesus promised He would send when He went where we could not in order to send Him.

The memorial service did not have the celebratory spirit that I've seen in some services, but knowing in my heart of Millie's faith in the Lord and the assurance that she is forever present with Him, gives me great comfort.

Millie suffered quite a bit on this planet, but the preacher reminded us that she's in a place where there IS no pain, no sorrow, nor fear of death. There's no parting where she is and as I've said before, I sure hope by now she has met my Mom and Dad who are also there with Jesus.

The most merciful thing the Lord can do in the eyes of the Buck other than His offer of eternal life as a free gift and His paying for our sins on the cross of Calvary is His calling of one of His precious children Home. That's where Millie is now. Home. May the Lord Jesus forever be praised.

Perspective

This has been an eventful week. Not necessarily in a positive sense, but it has been in SOME ways.

Lost a dear friend, who I have no doubt is in Heaven based on our extensive discussions. Feel for her family.

Had a friend lose a job for no apparent reason. That hurts. It always does when things happen to those you care about deeply.

Became aware even more that some of my friends don't like others of my friends. You can't do anything about what you have no control over.

I have a friend who is very tolerant of an acquaintance of mine. I love the friend dearly and cannot stand the SIGHT of the other because of how much this person has hurt the other. I try not to be around this person any more than I HAVE to and I have to way more than I want to.

My dad, my hero the Geeze only used the word "hate" once that I can recall. Can't remember if I actually heard him or my mom told me about it. I know she did, but I believe I also heard it. Dad would say, "I hate him, I hate him, I HATE him!"

His crime? Disrespecting me. Well, now I know how he felt, because my friend can't see through the acquaintance and yes, I have used the "h" word while alone and had to ask the Lord to take that and put it in His sea of forgiveness forever. My friend sees something redeemable in the acquaintance. I do not. Strange, because I usually see everyone as a candidate for redemption if they're not already.

The concept of "Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on ME" comes into play at some point. Those of us who follow the Christ are to be ever forgiving, just as He is. His mercy endures forever.

When you've seen someone you care about in the fetal position enough times, sobbing and miserable, it tends to make you a little less tolerant of the person who caused the pain. Is it blind love that makes this person tolerate the other? Or my OWN spiritual blindness. I SHOULD realize that every day this person is on earth is another example of God's amazing grace that he hasn't called up his number to face his fate. If this person gets redemption, it will certainly surprise me.

I've never tried to be anything but honest, real. Lord help me forgive. You forgave ME, so I've no right to not forgive ANYONE else. Tall order, but I can do ALL things through Christ Who gives me strength.

The Buck loves you.

Tinkerbell?

Strange occurrence this morning. Before I even opened my eyes, I awakened to a manifestation I can only describe as what it looks like when Disney's Tinkerbell arrives on the scene. Then, when I opened my eyes, the little sparkle hovered over my bed. It was interesting, to say the least. Theories? I have no idea.

(See, Margaret, I TOLD you Roebuck was losing it!)

Viva Elvis! (the CD)

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Viva Elvis! the CD

by Johnny Roebuck on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 3:07pm

Got a chance to hear the CD in its entirety. I had difficulty finding the thing to hear it. Well, you know, for some months now, I've shared the video of the remix of "Suspicious Minds." Cirque Du Soleil, which did such a great job with The Beatles LOVE, (to be more precise, George Martin, his son and the remaining Beatles and estates of the deceased ones) has a tribute celebrating the career of Elvis. I've not seen it, but from what I've heard it is second only to the shows they do where Elvis' image and audio and backed up by some of his original players and background singers.

These are remixes and I will get rid of my only NEGATIVE criticism at the start.

Sidebar: I don't care for the Amy Grant-type singer who begins "Love Me Tender" on the project. Elvis' voice transcends time and styles because he's one of the few singers, maybe the only one who can literally sing ANYTHING. There's no credit given on the project, but it was a nice touch putting a phrase from "In My Way" at the end of the song. Some similar things were done to "Can't Help Falling in Love." All in all, both are GOOD, it's just that with the possible exceptions of Ann Margaret and Nancy Sinatra, who both sang and recorded duets with Elvis in his lifetime, no one, but NO ONE should be given that honor other than Lisa Marie Presley, PERIOD. But what do you expect when the management of Elvis' legacy has been turned over to those who gave us American Idol.

Sam Phillips and Brian Epstein are the originals who found Elvis and the Beatles respectively. That's a once for all eternity thing. It doesn't matter what star, what producer, or what A&R person does a show, they'll never touch these two and possibly Ted Mack. Neither Elvis or the Beatles were fit into a mold (yes, the Beatles started off wearing suits upon Epstein's direction) And now, back to the album.

The opening uses what is commonly referred to as the "Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssy" with clips of Dewey Phillips, Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle and others who first familiarized the airwaves with the Elvis magic.

The it's "Blue Suede Shoes," "That's All Right" and "Heartbreak Hotel" all remixed and changed quite a bit. What follows is the "Love Me Tender" disrespect cut. Then some nice remixes of "King Creole" (a little too much of a woman's voice on it)"Bossa Nova, Baby" and "Burning Love" Nice job on all three, for the most part and like I said, retaining the "essence" but strangely uniquely different. Well done, I say for the most part. Then, it's the "Can't Help Falling in Love" disrespect version and don't expect to hear "You'll Never Walk Alone." It's just a piano interlude and has no resemblance whatsoever of the song. The same is true for "Memories."

It finishes with the superb completely reworked "Suspicious Minds." They also offer a "bonus track" with more of the Amy Grant sound alike and Elvis redeeming "Love Me Tender"

It makes a dyed-in-the-wool Elvis fan want to actually go to Vegas to see the show, even though I wouldn't walk across the street to hear and Elvis "Tribute artist."

Had three of the songs on the CD been properly promoted, "Suspicious Minds," "Burning Love" and "Bossa Nova, Baby" could have easily gone to #1 with a bullet.

Sorry

I fell in love with his compassion, his love and amazing generosity. His name is Jesus (Yeshua)

John Lennon was noted to have said "I have no problem with Jesus. It's the people who claim to follow him that bug me!"

Unfortunately, Jesus gets looked upon by a few who don't represent Christendom at all. For some Christians, for many of them, it's easy to forget that they are just forgiven and not perfect.

Jesus didn't get along with the "religious" folk of "his day." He pointed out that they were like whitened sepulchres...all white and clean looking on the outside, but inside filled with rotting dead man's bones. Scripture (the Bible) tells us that our so called righteousness is like filthy rags (literally, menstrual cloths. There was nothing thought to be nastier in the ancient Hebrew world) Jesus especially criticized the Pharisees. Many Christians become like Pharisees at some point. Most grow out of it. These folks are characterized by the stereotypical self-righteousness and false piety. Stereotypes exist for a reason. Without people acting them out, they wouldn't exist.

I'd like to apologize for my brothers who act this way. See, some of them would deny my relationship with the Lord because they still believe, although Scripture doesn't support it, in a behavior-based salvation. Somewhere along the line, they forgot that eternal life is a gift. In fact, one has to earn their way into hell. "...the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

See, I could be really hard on these brothers and sisters, but then, I'd be making the same mistake they are. They judge me now, but maybe they'll see the error of their ways. I am not an example of finished word, so neither should I expect them to be.

What I'm trying to say is don't judge Jesus by them and for GOD's sake, don't judge Him by me. Get to know Him for yourself and then I think you'll want to be more like Him. The neat thing is, He can do that for ya. For some of us, it takes a little longer than others. Thank God for His patience.