ASK ROD |
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Christmas 2000, photo by Bob Gentry ©2000 Stanyan Entertainment
A Thought for Today
Respect is the key that opens every door.
Happy day after Christmas.
LOVE AND COMMUNICATION
Hello Rod: I suppose about fifteen years ago, that I met my first true love. Just as we were heading off on our first holiday
together quite early in our relationship, idly browsing the airport bookstore I picked up a copy of "Love's been good to me". It was an evening flight so we snuggled under a blanket and I began to read to her, quietly - or so I thought.
People around us could hear and began asking me what I was
reading, and asking if they might hear... my intimate whispering to my girlfriend quickly became a public recital!
While I must admit I was a little annoyed to begin with, the
fact that a group of people who'd usually take a journey together staring rigidly ahead or perhaps talking only to their
companion came together over your poems and so shared in our love actually became one of the most vivid and enduring
moments of our relationship. Since then the book has been my constant companion, and is now showing signs of it's age
and multiple readings.
That relationship ended about ten years ago and it wasn't till
early this year that I found someone else I loved as deeply.
We met on the net, and while I wondered if such a thing were
possible the fact that you've embraced it and that your poetry
conveys the same warmth and emotion on a screen as it does
on a printed page gave me reason for optimism.
We've since met - she's 5000 miles away and 5 hours behind
my time, so it hasn't been easy - and our love has deepened
to the point where we've made plans to spend our lives together.
Unfortunately, she's from a country where one's parents can
exert considerable control and, being younger than I am, and
still studying, she's not able to make decisions for herself. Her parents have heard all the "Internet stalker" tabloid horror
stories and forbidden her from talking to me or seeing me again. So far it's been over a month since we last spoke :-( I
can only wait and hope that love remains alive in the absence of communication and that in a year or 18 months time when
she has more freedom she'll come looking for me.
So thanks for all the joy you've brought to my life with your
poems, and I was wondering... have you ever written anything
which deals with love, not lost, but wrenched apart by circumstance or the actions of others? I can't recall anything
but if you have I'm sure it would be a comfort.
And as someone who knows a lot about both love and about
communication, I wonder if you think one is the prerequisite
for the other? With very kind wishes B. J.
P.S. By all means reproduce this on your site if you like, but
I'd be grateful if you did not use my surname. Thanks.
Dear B.J. (not his real name), of course the conventional wisdom would be that love and communication go hand in
hand and therefore one can't exist without the other. If that were true, however, how could the romances that existed and endured during wartimes when communication at best was infrequent and at worst non-existent, be explained away?
In these days when more and more people are emigrating from cultures far different from ours with the expectation that they should, upon reaching these shores, discard their culture and automatically assume that of their adapted country; your problem isn't unique. With The Net explosion the situation has become even further exacerbated. Oddly, despite some of the 'Internet stalker' publicity, I think the Internet is helping to break down cultural barriers.
Alas the older people are, the more entrenched they've become in their beliefs and support system. Don't expect her family to change. It seems to me your only choice is to accept her condition and wait it out. It's tough, but - with or without communication - if the relationship is meant to last, it will. If not, trust me on this, all the communication in the world won't help. You sound to me as though you have the patience to hang in there. Good luck.
I loved the airplane story, B. J., thanks for sticking with me all these years. Keep me posted on how the situation progresses.
Affectionately, Rod.
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS
(Note: This was forwarded to me from Stanyan By Mail)
Hello Dwight , very nice to communicate with you and
Rod. I am thrilled to see that a video has been added to the merchandise. but I am wondering if there are any plans to release any other videos, particularly any minus the Christmas theme. I am wanting to see the NBC. show rod did in the early 70's. I know there are a plethora of specials and appearances and would love to see a compilation of his appearances on talk shows.
He did the Mike Douglas show and was interviewed and sang. They had a giant silhouette of him on the backdrop.
It was great looking and what a show! I would appreciate any info on this subject you can relay to me.
Thanks for your time Dwight and bless all the good work you do sir! Spacebass
Dear Spacebass, There are several new videos contemplated including a set of the BBC series I did with guests like Petula Clark, Laine Kazan, Dusty Springfield and Mary Travers. The first Video/DVD to be released will probably be kind of a scrapbook format made up of concerts, TV appearances, excerpts from films, interviews, etc.
The NBC special may be coupled with another program to make its length suitable for video. Thanks for the suggestions.
Cheers, Rod.
IS AGE BETTER?
Hello My Friend: We've never met, but I was able to catch a couple of your concerts over the years. And...I have a pretty
good collection of LP's. I am missing some that you had to send extra money to get, like the popular songs in a concert that weren't included. The extra songs cost something like 5
bucks. But in those days, it was too much.
Anyway, I've enjoyed your songs and poems. We must have been sent to Japan around the same time. I especially enjoyed those poems. I really connected with your thoughts. Oh yes, I have also used your records and poems to impress a young lady or two along the way. Thank you for that, too.
Read your poem, "Age Is Better". Like it very much. Not too sure it's entirely right. It's for sure I don't want to go back...but...I sure would trade some of these aches and all for feeling like I did
20... .... hell! even 10 years ago.
I'm really glad I decided to surf for your name. Hope you're doing all right. The page hasn't been updated for about a year or so. And I've got to say.......thanks for all the pleasure over the years. Dick Henderson
Dear Dick, The best thing about getting older is that you become wiser and more self assured in the process; of course the worst thing about it is that you are indeed older. Since there isn't much choice in the matter I choose to believe in the half-full versus the half-empty theory. Now, if I could just do something about the weariness that forces me to bed a little earlier and the aches and pains that often accompany arising in the
morning, I'd be a lot more satisfied.
I do love being this age, Dick, there is something very emancipating about it. We spend most of our lives trying to appeal to and impress others, what a relief to arrive at place where it's no longer necessary to be so narcissistic that you worry whether or not heads will turn when you enter a room.
All in all, having been both places, age is better.
I was in Korea and Japan from 1953 to 1955 and had some wonderful experiences in both countries. I've been back to Japan several times for visits. As for Korea, for some very hard to
fathom reason my books and records have over the years acquired cult status there. I've just had a new double CD issued in Korea and I'm hoping to go there in the coming year for some concert and TV appearances.
By the way, the album you referred to earlier was "Grand Tour, 3." Vol.'s 1, 2 & 3 have been remastered and were on the fast track to becoming one of the next CD sets to be released . . . then we discovered the live recording I made at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville. It turns out that everyone who has heard the reference copies of this unreleased concert recording agrees it's one of my best. I'll be mastering it for release as soon as
possible and hopefully it will be ready in time to coincide with the March concerts.
There are forty songs on the two hours plus tape (it was a long evening), so it will be a 2 CD set. Half of the songs have never been released in any form on CD and six unheard by anyone except the audience that night in Nashville. Warmly, Rod
THE LAST WORD: WHO'S SMARTER
At an emergency meeting of the UN regarding another conflict in the Middle East, the floor has been given to the Israeli
Ambassador.
Israeli Ambassador: "Ladies and gentlemen, before I commence with my speech, I wanted to relay an old story....
When Moses was leading the Jews out of Egypt he had to go
through deserts and prairies and even more deserts. The people became thirsty and needed water. So Moses struck the side of the mountain with his cane, and at that site a pond appeared with crystal clear, cool water.
And the people rejoiced and drank to their hearts' content. Moses wished to cleanse his whole body, so he went over to the other side of the pond, took off all of his clothes and dove into the cool waters of the pond. Only when Moses came out of the water did he discover that all of his clothes have been stolen...
And I have reasons to believe that the Palestinians stole his clothes..."
Yassir Arafat jumps out of his seat and screams: "This is a lie.
It is widely known that there were no Palestinians there at the time!"
Israeli Ambassador: "And with that in mind, let me begin my
speech."
(submitted by Bablaca)
Join me tomorrow for Webmaster Ken's weekly feature "This One Does It for Me." Sleep warm.
RM 12/25/2000 Previously unpublished.
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