Greetings from Florida

Greets Gentle Readers,

I sit in my hotel room in sunny, beautiful Pensacola Beach! Yesterday was the first day and I have been enjoying myself. I am with my confederate Mr. Ben Eldridge. Every day is a holiday, every meal is a feast.
Not too long ago he asked me, "Do you want to go to Florida for a few days?" (No pause). "Yes." No brainer. A lot has happened recently, my business partner Jeff Pike and I recently interviewed Sir Paul McCartney's ENTIRE band in 24 hours. It was a tremendous experience, and we look forward to presenting those shows to you soon.

After a lovely drive down on almost zero sleep we arrived and found our bearings. After a beer and a Caesar salad with steak from a scantly clad waitress we decided to head back to the room for some libations. (Salad was so-so). I would like to take a moment to endorse a product I agree with wholeheartedly, the new Grapefruit Perrier! Absolutely wonderful, and can be mixed with Bombay Sapphire Gin to make a really stellar cocktail with ZERO carbohydrates. After a few of these, I felt ready to take on the first day. Wading out into the ocean we tried our hand at the fish and ended up empty handed. After discussing the eternal verities, I was contacted by a Georgia musician who called about a "fire" that had been ignited by a conglomeration of musician wife/significant others. Rather than being irritated, I actually chuckled a little. Get a life! My official statement--the sexual orientation of myself, the artists I interview or work with in a professional capacity is irrelevent. For the record, I like females. Anyone else's orientation is none of my business...Thank you and have a good everything. :) For those who have spent considerable time mulling over my friendships and business relationships, I would like to suggest you find something to fill your time.
As the Christopher Cross song "Sailing" went through my head, I called it a day.

Second day, had a really good breakfast of omelettes and was already fishing bright and early. Caught one fish. Let 'em go, it was small. Saw lots of sting rays. There's always tomorrow! Swam quite a good bit and then made tracks for Panama City Beach. Once there, we went to the home of Mr. Gene Mitchell of Sailor Boy Records/Sailor Boy Publishing. Gene Mitchell is the absolute best writer of this genre of music known as "Trop Rock." Many of his songs could be covered by someone like Kenny Chesney, who is actually doing island music. I love Jimmy Buffett, but I would not call him a "Trop Rock" artist. Anyhow, Mr. Mitchell showed us around his house...the decoration was really first class, unique and charming. Then we recorded an interview with acoustic/vocal performance. He played 5 songs off of his new album "Island Swing" and also my all time favorite Gene Mitchell song "Make Mine a Pina Colada." Listen to the upcoming Gene Mitchell special for the story on that song and why I like it. It could be a hit in Kenny Chesney or George Strait's hand. We then went with Gene Mitchell to Margaritaville Cafe Panama City Beach where he performed. We shared Conch Fritters (I believe Margaritaville's are the best, although many have tried to argue with me) and I ordered the Jerk Chicken, which was pretty good! Ben had the Taco Salad and seemed to be pleased. Ben and I had a good time at observing the people and commenting on how people react and interact with one another. He's a very introspective cat. I give myself a compliment on carefully selecting good friends. We headed back to Pensacola Beach. Had some more gin and rum and we continued to talk reflectively. Tomorrow we will rise early for fishing first thing in the morning. That is our only plan.
I read the New Orleans legend Benny Spellman was just inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. I found out he lives at an assisted living home in.....Pensacola.... One Love.