Merciful Angels

Road Trip!

Display sign from Joe's 2014 show at the Civic Arena

Blogging is going to be a bit lighter than usual for awhile starting today, as my exciting Bona-weekend kicks off with a Joe Bonamassa show in Des Moines tonight at the splendid Civic Center there.



Due to a nasty sinus infection Joe had to cancel the two previous shows, in Peoria and in Milwaukee, but I was delighted yesterday when he posted a message on Twitter that he was feeling better and looking forward to tonight's show. Me, too!

The Bona-weekend continues with a trip to Kansas City on Friday to meet my best friend Skip, who is flying in to attend Joe's show on Monday. Prior to attending the show, we plan to visit some of KC's finer dining establishments and eat a bunch of stuff we probably shouldn't...

"In other words, a typical Skip visit?"

Well, he's never been to a concert with me, but in terms of the food binge, yeah...

Feast Day

St. Frances of Rome Giving Alms, by Baciccio

Today Catholics celebrate the feast day
of St. Frances of Rome, a woman from an aristocratic family who wished to become
a nun, but instead found herself at the end of the 14th century in an arranged marriage to a soldier from an even wealthier family.

This did not prevent Frances from dedicating her life to her faith, and she spent that lifetime devoted to charitable works. She became an oblate of the Order 
of St. Benedict, and early in the 15th century she received permission to found an order, now known officially as the Oblates of St. Frances of Rome, which was devoted to prayer and community service but which did not involve its member women taking public religious vows.


Frances was canonized in 1608 by Pope Paul V, and is the patron of widows (because her husband died of war wounds in 1436) as well as automobile travelers (thanks to a story that an angel would always light the road for her as she traveled, to keep her safe from harm).

Royals Update

There hasn't been a lot of good news to report about spring training lately, but my beloved Kansas City Royals did participate in this year's World Baseball Classic, losing to Venezuela 11-0 yesterday afternoon.

Losing is never fun, but at least Royals All-Star C Salvador Perez and Gold Glove SS Alcides Escobar led the way for Venezuela with two hits apiece (and Alcides's hits were both triples).

"See? You can so write about the Royals after they lose a game."

I never said I couldn't...I just don't like to write about them after a loss...

Big Improvement

From the pen of Lisa Benson, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

The last time I got to see my hero Joe Bonamassa perform live was in Omaha last 
May 4. It was a wonderful evening, as I got to treat one of my former TJ students
(my tech wizard, actually) to the show, and on top of that he even got to come with me to meet Joe before the show.

That evening's set list was heavily loaded with songs from Joe's 2015 "Three Kings" tour, a tribute to the music of blues legends B.B. King, Albert King, and Freddie King. Joe's affection for those artists and their music came shining through.

That tour finished with a show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles,
a performance which was filmed and released on DVD in 2016, along with a music CD as well.



The set list for this tour is different, based on what I've been reading, but some
of the songs I enjoyed the most last year are apparently still on the menu, including Albert King's "Angel of Mercy," played on a Flying V just as Albert himself favored.

Today's send-off is Joe's performance of the song at the Greek Theatre show, from
his YouTube channel. Enjoy...