Dave's Backroom

06/25/2023

Positive Inspired Self-Worth

06/22/2023

Before Selena, J.Lo or Shakira, there was Gloria Estefan. Last week she became the first Hispanic woman inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. When I told my twenty-something year old niece how excited I was, she admitted that she didn’t know who Gloria Estefan was. But as soon as I started singing “Come on, shake your body, baby, do the Conga,” she beamed and started singing along to the globally recognizable anthem. OWhen “Conga” came out in 1985, I recorded it to a cassette tape from the radio and played it over and over, then begged my dad to let us have MTV so I could watch the video. Estefan has been mesmerizing the world ever since.

Little Gloria was born in Havana in 1957 and was always musically inclined. Her family fled to Miami as part of the Cuban Revolution and later she became part of the group Miami Sound Machine. She married the band’s leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1978 and they’ve been married ever since. Strength, hard work and consistency have sustained her life and career. In 1991, at the height of her stardom, she made a comeback after a tour bus accident left her with a fractured spine. She’s won eight Grammys and has been honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She’s sold more than 100 million records - the second highest-selling female artist of Latin descent - and was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement. She has so many hits it’s likely you could create a Gloria Estefan soundtrack for your own life.

This latest accolade was long overdue as the 65 year-old goddess has had such a breathtaking impact on global music and culture. Join me in hailing the Queen of Latin Pop. Better yet…Get on your feet…Get up and make it happen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/gloria-estefan-first-latina-inducted-songwriters-hall-fame-rcna89730

06/22/2023

The magnificent “Elephant Rock” in Iceland! 🙂

06/22/2023

Happy birthday Cyndi Lauper!
June 22, 1953: Cyndi Lauper is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.

06/22/2023

Born on this day in 1936 in Brownsville, Texas, was Kris Kristofferson, musician, actor, and writer, known for such hits as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in forming the country music supergroup "The Highwaymen". In 2004, Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

06/22/2023

06/22/2023

"A view of the magnificent salmon run in Alaska..." 😮

06/22/2023

Smoky was a 4 lb, 7 inch tall, Yorkshire Terrier who served in World War II. In 1944 Smoky was found in a foxhole in the jungles of New Guinea by an American soldier who brought her back to camp and sold her to Corporal William A. Wynne for $6.44. For the next 2 years Smoky lived a soldiers life. Because she was not an official military dog, she did not get dog food or medical care. She shared Wynne’s meals and slept beside him in his tent.
The little dog even flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions, secured in the soldiers backpack. She survived 150 air raids and saved Wynne by warning him of incoming shells. Like many Yorkies, Smoky also loved to learn tricks and preform. She did so with the Special Services – entertaining soldiers in hospitals. After the war Smoky was flown back to the US hidden in a oxygen mask carrying case.
For the next 10 years she made television and public appearances in Veterans hospitals until her death in 1957. Smoky is considered the first Therapy Dog.