{"id":561,"date":"2010-09-02T04:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-02T08:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2010\/09\/02\/thursday-night-billy-and-moms-birthday\/"},"modified":"2010-09-02T04:28:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-02T08:28:00","slug":"thursday-night-billy-and-moms-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2010\/09\/02\/thursday-night-billy-and-moms-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday night – billy and mom's birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
<\/p>\n
Note:L new videos added to this post as of midnight friday<\/b><\/div>\n
Sorry<\/p>\n

for the delayed blog.. I didn’t want to let out the fact that I had<\/p>\n

planned ot surprise by brother and mom at my brother’s 50th birthday<\/p>\n

party down in houston.<\/p>\n

I got down to Houston around 6 PM .. I<\/p>\n

was off the plane for about 15 seconds when I remembered that wet<\/p>\n

blanket feel of Houston summer air..How in the world did I survie<\/p>\n

nearly 20 years of this weather ? \u00a0 Weather aside.. The flat sprawl and<\/p>\n

jungle heat felt familiar and welcoming..\u00a0 I drove to our friend<\/p>\n

Jenny’s house to meet up with my sister Mary.. her visit was also a<\/p>\n

surprise. As I got out of the airconditioned car my glasses fogged up<\/p>\n

from condensation.. How do people wear glasses here ?<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

grabbed a quick shower and caught up with Mary and Jenny.. Pretty soon<\/p>\n

it was time to wander down to Shoeshine Charlies, the bar for billys<\/p>\n

party. We wanted to be discreet as e walked in.. so mary and I put<\/p>\n

decorated paper bags over our heads… real stealth.. especially wiht<\/p>\n

my LED headpand going inside.. practicaly invisible !<\/i><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We<\/p>\n

walked in and quickly homed in on Billy.. beleive it or not.. he<\/p>\n

couldn’t figure out who we were for a few seconds. When we lifted our<\/p>\n

bags he freaked !.. He was genuinely surprised to see us.. which was a<\/p>\n

surprise.. since our family surprises like\u00a0 that are expected.. so not<\/p>\n

showing up would be a bigger surprise.. does that surprise you ?<\/p>\n

(wait.. did those last two sentances make sense ? ) <\/p>\n

It was<\/p>\n

worth the trip down to see billy’s reaction.. He’d been worried that<\/p>\n

nobody would show up.. By 8 the place was packed.. and it only got more<\/p>\n

so as the evening progressde. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It<\/p>\n

was great seeing so many relatives and friends from so long ago.. I ran<\/p>\n

into my coausing Leslie.. whom I haven’t seen since Sam’s memorial ..<\/p>\n

We used t build tents under dining room table and read dictionaries to<\/p>\n

her.. Or..we’d take turns flicking my grandfather’s cigar ashes off..<\/p>\n

much to his (probably faked) displeasure. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

saw my freind Bill (who avoided my camera) . and his wife Jeanette and<\/p>\n

their son (both in this pic)\u00a0 . Bill was our mischiveous neighbor that<\/p>\n

always got us in trouble. I rmemeber him setting off fireworks at Diane<\/p>\n

and my wedding. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Oh<\/p>\n

man.. here’s Bruce J and his Mom Bertha.. Bruce and his brothers were<\/p>\n

our closest Neighbors and best friends growing up.\u00a0 It was so cool<\/p>\n

catching up with Bertha..\u00a0 She and her husband Jim who<\/p>\n

passed away about 2 years back.. were epic figures in our childhood<\/p>\n

stories..Bertha was a school theacher, then principle.. who always<\/p>\n

tested her new tests and reading equipment on billy and me.. I was<\/p>\n

proud to be a lab rat ifor the betterment of texas ed. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My ausn sis and uncle phil from Ohio. also\u00a0 <\/i>showed up as a surprise..\u00a0 I hadne’t seen them in ages either.. It was great catching up with them <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

got to see all of my nephews and neice as well. He’re Ben with his<\/p>\n

girlfriend Sami and his friend Omar.. We had a good long talk about<\/p>\n

rave toys..\u00a0 Actually here were about 4 other burning man folks there<\/p>\n

and we lamented being outside on this day 2 days before the brn . <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The<\/p>\n

party was open bar.. but.. I was strictly on diet cokes.. as I had a 3<\/p>\n

hour drive to do afterwords. There was also a great Barbecue spread<\/p>\n

from my brothers freind Professor Alex and his wonderful family.. \u00a0 I’m<\/p>\n

not much f a meat eater.. but they had some of the best potato salad<\/p>\n

I’ve ever had. ..\u00a0 <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The<\/p>\n

band was lightrock express.. a very good 70’s cover band of billys<\/p>\n

firends and band mates.. Billy took the stage and belted out a good<\/p>\n

‘Back in the USSR” and a couple of other numbers. I’ll try and upload<\/p>\n

soem vids of that\u00a0\u00a0 He was defintiely looking and soundg good. <\/p>\n

It was so wonderful seeing billy in his element and surrounded by so many folks who love him !. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n
As<\/p>\n

I visited the gents at one point I saw a calendar for the Contenental<\/p>\n

Club.. which is next door.. billy and his band are playing there on<\/p>\n

Spet 24th.. If you’re in Houston, check it out !<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

THen<\/p>\n

it was time to cut thte cake.. It was decorated with an image of<\/p>\n

Billy’s iconic spray painted Nocona’s with the red cross.. he always<\/p>\n

wears them in surgery . <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n

Then we brought out another cake for my mom and sung happy birthday<\/p>\n

to her .. and gave her some flowers.. IWe wanted to make sure she knew<\/p>\n

she was loved too !<\/p>\n

\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n
Then more singing, more dancing.. it was jumping.. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n
I spent until about 1 AM milling around tlaking to folks.. hugging my family.. takign pictures..<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Around 1 Anm things started to wind down.. So I hugged all my fmaily members <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

headed out.. Billy walked out wtih me to show me his 50th gift to<\/p>\n

himself.. An amazing Adi A8.. owe of 140 made, top speed of 200 + MPH<\/p>\n

with a Lamberghini rear mounded image, carbon fiber body panels.. <\/p>\n

We<\/p>\n

are alike in so many ways.. but here.. we differ \ud83d\ude42 .. I would not<\/p>\n

know what to do with that sort of machine.. maybe dismantle it for it’s<\/p>\n

wonderful parts <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

got on the freeway and pointed my rental towards san antoni.. it was a<\/p>\n

3 hour drive through the straightest and flatest roads in amaerica.. I<\/p>\n

drove the familier route listening to whatever I could get on the<\/p>\n

raido, indian music, dico, christian raido, BBC..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I got to San Antonio about 4 AM..\u00a0 and my next day began.. <\/p>\n

more on that later
nite all, nite Sam
-me<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/center>\n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note:L new videos added to this post as of midnight friday Sorry for the delayed blog.. I didn’t want to let out the fact that I had planned ot surprise by brother and mom at my brother’s 50th birthday party down in houston. I got down to Houston around 6 PM .. I was off … Continue reading Thursday night – billy and mom's birthday<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}