February, 2008 - I will get this thing caught up to where it is supposed to be.  It is not wise for an old man to have such a full plate, but I really think it is healthy.  Time will tell.  Expressing one's thought in print (and certainly the web is as much "print" as anything we know) is very uplifting, and if no one ever reads this, my objective will still have been accomplished.       Getting back to December (no wonder I can't catch up), we lost our good friend James Peacock to Alzheimer's disease.  James did not have a lot of what we call "measurable intelligence" (I.Q.), but his natural sense of rhythm, his love of life and all people, and his very positive sense of who he was made him a wonderful person to know.  I had the privilege of working with James - as teacher, as fellow performer, and as a friend - for over thirty years, and I treasure every moment that we spent together.  In the last several years James was a member of the Denton Bell Band - www.bellband.org - as our drummer and front line "audience contact" man.  He was always doing something to get a little more attention for himself and ultimately for the group.  During the 2006 tour the effects of Alzheimer's were becoming evident in his ability to participate.  We miss you, James.       I suppose that having the Peacock story to fill this space was good, because I don't remember February being all that remarkable in terms of "WOW".  Don't misunderstand - every day is "WOW", because I have a great job that allows me to teach about the things I have learned along the way.  I have great students - a lot of intelligent young women and a few good men.  I have a wonderful wife and family that support me every step of the way.  WOW !! February, 1979 - The "how many" jokes were beginning to appear here and there.  How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?  The answer:  Only one; however, the bulb has to really want to be changed.       Politics and the Olympics were in the news (so what else is new?).  People questioning whether we should send our athletes to games in Moscow, while ignoring the presence of Russian athletes at the winter games in Lake Placid.  This one area of world culture that should be without political overtones has become just that - a very large political football game.       The commercial shows an attractive young woman beating the boys in a game of pool at the local pub, where they conclude with a round of MILK.  The super advertising, the supermarket control of the milk industry, and the apathy of the consumer have driven the price of milk to over $2.00 per gallon (guess we are lucky it is not three times that by now).  When I was a boy the sign on the local dairy truck said "From Moo to You".  Nowadays such a slogan would be udder nonsense. RHYME FOR OUR TIME: I've spent some time in foreign cars - Toyota, Fiat, Bug. There's Danish ham in my sandwich - Brazilian coffee in my mug. I depend on oil from the middle east.  European radials control my skid. On rare occasions I've eaten Alaskan crab - one time tasted octopus and squid. Even though I believe in the U.S.A., on foreign products I'll take a chance. But I am proud to say I've never tasted - bottled water from France. (It is interesting to note that in 79 the French bottled water was about the only one available, and if someone told you that the American public would eventually develop a taste for this product, you would have considered them crazy.)