I've been catching up on Gray's Anatomys spin-off show, Private Practice. I was watching both shows at different speeds for a while but I got to a point where I was wayyyyy ahead with Grays and when they did a crossover with Private Practice so much had changed with those characters. So now I'm catching up so I'm up to speed on everything and everyone, and it's been quite a ride. If you're a Gray's fan and you don't know about this lovely series, Private Practice follows Dr. Addision Montgomery after she leaves Seattle-Grace to join a private practice in LA. It's got all of the medical drama from Gray's as well as new characters to love. As much as I enjoy it, I am excited to start watching Gray's again when I catch up!

With the holiday coming this Monday... as you picnic and celebrate with family and friends the unofficial beginning of summer.

Remember the Reason:  Memorial Day is a time to honor, pay homage and remember all those men and women who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice!

They gave all for us to have the freedoms to do all the things we have the rights because of the those brave troops.  The biggest salute and thank you to the troops and their families.

There will be a number of services, rememberances and commemorations this weekend.  

Here are a few. 

Sunday: 

Akron- service at Civil War Memorial Chapel in Glendale Cemetery, 150 Glendale Ave at 1pm.

Rittman- service at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, 10175 Rawiga Road. Rifle salute, wreath-laying service it is bring your own lawn chairs at 10am.

Monday: 

Alliance- parade from Linden Avenue and East Main Street to Alliance City Cemetery on West Vine Street 10am. Public ceremony at 11am.

Bath Township- observance at Veterans Memorial Park, southeast corner of Cleveland-Massillon and West Bath roads at Noon. 

Boston Heights- the Woodridge High School band steps off from the fire station, marching to Fairview Cemetery, next to Village Hall, 45 E. Boston Mills Road at 8:30am.  They will perform the National Anthem to start the 9am observance.  

Brewster- ceremony in the village square. The Fairless High School marching band will perform at 11am.

Brunswick- ceremony at Westview Cemetery 10am.

Canal Fulton- parade steps off from Lindsay Concrete, 6845 Erie Ave. at 1pm, goes north on Canal Street, turns onto East Market Street and ends at City Hall for a ceremony, with rifle squadron and Northwest High School band.

Canton- parade steps off from the McKinley Downtown Campus at 10am, travels west on Tuscarawas Street, north on Elgin Avenue and concludes with an observance at the McKinley Monument.

Clinton-Parade lines up at 10:30am from Orchard Hill Church, 2545 W. Comet Road, ending at Clinton Cemetery for a program.

Copley Township- a small service at Copley Veterans Cemetery, 3770 Copley Road.

Cuyahoga Falls- parade from  Lillis Drive and Portage Trail at 9am, marching east on Portage Trail and north on Fourth Street to Oakwood Drive for an 11 a.m. ceremony at Oakwood Cemetery. A service will be held at 1pm Monday.

Dalton- parade starts at Dalton High School at 10am and proceeds to Church Street and the cemetery for a service.

East Canton-  parade will begin at 10am at the corner of Browning and Noble streets. It travels west on Center Street, south on state Route 44, west on Church, north on Plum and east on Noble.

Fairlawn- tribute at Memorial Monument in Bicentennial Park across from City Hall, 3486 S. Smith Road at 9am.

Garrettsville- ceremony at Veterans Memorial on Maple Avenue at 9am. Then a parade from Baptist Cemetery to Park Cemetery on Center Street at 9:30am, followed by a service.

Green- The annual pancake breakfast will be at Fire Station No. 1, 4200 Massillon Road, from 7-10am.  The parade steps off at 10 a.m. from Green High School, 1474 Boettler Road. It travels east to Massillon Road south (south bound lanes only) to Steese Road west to Green Intermediate School, back to the Green High School parking lot.  There will be a short ceremony at noon at Green Veterans Memorial Park, 1900 Steese Road. The Car Show and Picnic will begin immediately following the ceremony and end at 3pm.  

Hudson- parade assembles on Milford Road and proceeds east on state Route 303 and north on state Route 91 at 10am. A ceremony will be held at Markillie Cemetery, 410 N. Main St., immediately after the parade.  

Kent- parade at 10am, starting at North Water and East Main streets downtown, includes a brief service on Main Street bridge, ending at Standing Rock Cemetery for an 11 a.m. ceremony.

Lakemore- parade at 11am from Springfield High School, 1880 Canton Road, down Sanitarium Road, turn on Lake Road, and ending at the Memorial Triangle, followed by a service.

Massillon- Parade at 9:30am. steps off at Eighth Street Northeast and Lincoln Way East, turns left on Erie Street, left on Tremont, ending at Veterans Memorial Park on First Street Southeast. Ceremony in Duncan Plaza will follow.

Medina- parade at 10:15am from Medina County Courthouse on Public Square to Spring Grove Cemetery, followed by a ceremony.

North Canton- parade at 9am from near Dogwood Park on Seventh Street Northeast, travels west on Seventh to North Main Street, then south on North Main, east on Maple Street and ends at Bitzer Park, 200 S. Main St., where there will be a memorial ceremony immediately after the parade.

Orrville-  parade at 9am from the American Legion on Market Street, west on Market to Crown Hill Road and north to Crown Hill Cemetery for a 10am service.

Ravenna- a parade at 10am from the old high school on Clinton Street to the Veterans Memorial on Chestnut Street for a ceremony at the courthouse lawn. A service will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery.

Richfield- A parade will assemble at 9:30am at the Richfield Historical Society and march to West Richfield Cemetery, 4219 Broadview Road, where a service will be held.

Rittman- parade at 10:30am from Erie and South Main streets, marching downtown to the IGA shopping center on North Main Street. Ceremony will follow at Rittman Cemetery on Decourcey Road.

Rootstown Township- parade at 10am travels from Loretta Drive, eastbound on Tallmadge Road to end at Homeland Cemetery.

Stow- program at 10:15am at Stow Cemetery, 3162 Kent Road, with music and readings.

Tallmadge- parade at 10am will assemble at the Ritchie Memorial Shelter House, then travel down West Avenue to Tallmadge Circle. A memorial service will be held at the cemetery immediately following the parade. The services include a ceremony, 

Twinsburg- parade at 10:30am from Twinsburg High School, 10084 Ravenna Road, to Veterans Monument on the square in Twinsburg Township, followed by a service. 

Wadsworth-  parade at 10:15am from in front of the American Legion and VFW Hall on Main Street, ending at Woodlawn Cemetery for a service. The American Legion will be serving a Memorial Day breakfast.

Wooster- parade at 9am from Wayne County Fairgrounds, heading east on West Liberty Street to Public Square, south on Market Street to Madison Avenue and the overpass bridge. Services follow at the Veterans Memorial in Wooster Cemetery.

After 23 seasons, The Voice went the extra mile to wish coach Blake Shelton a final farewell.

Past "Team Blake" artists including RaeLynn, Cassadee Pope, The Swon Brothers, Ian Flanigan and more performed Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)":

And then there was this, his wife Gwen Stefani reflecting on Blake's tenure: 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by NBC's The Voice (@nbcthevoice)

The show's current and previous coaches also gave the country star an often hilarious and occasionally emotional send-off throughout his last show!

This is the Rhododendron next to my front door at home. My mom bought the house in 1978 and this plant was already there...so this thing is at least 45 years old! The top of it could look a little better than it does. Last year, it looked it's best and in full bloom on Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully the same will happen this year too!

I'm giving it liquid love and looking forward to seeing it at its peak. I'll give an update on its condition when it looks the absolute best this season!

Saturday Afternoon at 1pm is The 2023 WWE Night of Champions Premium Live Event from the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Being in the middle of the afternoon is weird that is why I am getting this out earlier than normal Wrasslin' Wednesday.

If you are betting just remember this is how I think it will go.  I have been wrong many times before and will be wrong many more times.  These are just mine thoughts...

The Final in the Tournament for The New WWE World Heavyweight Title:  Seth Rollins will pick up gold vs. AJ Styles.  (would not be surprised to see Logan Paul pop up somehow some way.)

WWE Tag Team Titles Match:  The Bloodline is crumbling...  Barring a turn from KO yeah, I said it... or Sami being in The Bloodline still?  I think KO and Sami Zayn retain the titles.  Roman Reigns has not been pinned in like 3 or 4 years.  I think Solo Sikoa gets pinned but it is caused by The USO's.  This will set up a interesting Jey vs Roman in the near future like Summer Slam maybe.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Mustafa Ali you think would be a winner he is getting a push.  But Gunther has Imperial and has held the belt for a long time.   Think Gunther uses his help to seal the win.

Raw Women's Championship Match:  Bianca Belair retains...  Iyo Sky should have beat Bianca if anyone was going to in the match in the Domincan Republic.  

Smackdown Women's Championship Match:  Rhea Ripley deserves to keep the title over Natalya.  The only way Rhea doesn't win is if Dom steps in and screws up and Mami and DomDom go solo....

Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes:  Cody is on a nice run.  Not sure who wants him to fail but Brock Lesnar is going to try to stop that run.   Although Cody is up early and dealing with it.  Doesn't look like it is happening anytime soon.  Even if he would drop this one, 

Ronnie Dunn, from Brooks And Dunn is having a birthday today.  Brooks and Dunn are one of my very favorites over many years.  In the 1990's along with a bunch of other Mega Stars, they provided the baseline for the entire format to follow.  One of the most successful artists we have ever had.

Happy Birthday Ronnie Dunn - Brooks And Dunn

So I am someone that will at least TRY to practice what I preach, not just "do as I say, not as I do". For Mother's Day I gave the suggestion to take mom somewhere special to eat on a day other than Mother's Day itself to avoid crowds.

That is EXACTLY what my mom and I did. Even though I went to dinner with her on Mom's Day itself (I paid), it wasn't the "official" Mother's Day dinner. That was this past Friday night. I took my mom and my brother out to dinner at the place of her choosing - Hartville Kitchen. She loves their Roast Beef dinner! YUM! My brother had the Ham Steak, and I had chicken. Of course you must get dessert. She had Angel Food cake and Strawberries, while I had Chocolate Peanut Butter pie - one of my favorites there!! My brother skipped dessert...what was he thinking?!

I'd Be Better Off (In A Pine Box)  - Doug Stone - 1990  (Album - Doug Stone)

Doug Stone recorded this gem in 1990, and it's one of the most gut wrenching songs imaginable, but I love every word and note of this masterpiece. It's an incredible debut song for a new artist that gets right down to it and pulls no punches on what it feels like to be punched in the gut in love  -  and lose someone that seems irreplaceable.  This song is borderline brutal, but it speaks directly to many who have lost a great love.  This went to #4, but it should have easily been a #1. This was Grammy nominated launching his career which had a bunch of big hit songs throughout the 1990's.  We don't really record songs like this much anymore.  Today, it's not fashionable to sing about how you are hurting, but it's more likely to sing about how angry you are, and how you wish bad things on the one that seemingly did you wrong.  This song is sad, true country that you powerfully feel.  The reason I love this song is not many genres of music, if any, have the guts to be this vulnerable.  This is one of our sides that make us completely different, unique and far more heartfelt than virtually every other kind of music.  Some feel this is one of the best written pure country songs of any era.  Hard to argue.

My Profile On Doug Stone

Blue  - LeAnn Rimes - 1996 

I can vividly remember the first time I heard this song.  Things were different in the realm of information. No YouTube, Internet, blah, blah....we didn't know near as much about new artists as we do today when they emerge from the Nashville shadows.  No one could believe the voice we were hearing was from a 13 year-old girl.  When Blue hit the air and the charts, it was so different it generated a ton of phone calls to WPCV  in Lakeland, Florida where I was doing the morning show.  It reminded many old schooler's of Patsy Cline as it had that throw back sound.  There is an interesting back story to this song as well.  It was recorded first in 1958 by a guy named Bill Mack and was a mild hit.  Also, legend says the first version of the Rimes song released from the record company was her as an 11 year-old, as it was issued by error.  Blue was a big hit and led her to a stellar career.  After Tanya Tucker had great success as childhood country singer, Rimes 20 years later had success too.  That of course opened the door later for Taylor Swift, and the rest is history.  Blue is classic, loved and will be played on country radio for a long time to come.

Last Week #31

My Full Profile On LeAnn Rimes

On a holiday like today, it's always good to hear a song that makes you feel good to be an American.  Especially when it's sung by someone who clearly is glad to be.  This song is 20 years old now and it still sounds great.  This song and video were recorded right after 911, and all the labor time was donated to make this entire thing happen.  The raised money all went to relief funds.  Every single time I hear this song, or see this video it makes me happy on many levels.  It's a song that in itself makes me glad we all live here  - and can do things like this.

If you've never heard it, or just love this song, take a few minutes and watch this.  This is a song that should be watched as well as heard.  And thanks to all on this Memorial day. 

And in case you missed my Thursday article with a bunch of these kind of songs  - Click below!

MEMORIAL DAY SONGS!