Last weekend, my nine year old son Mason asked me if I remembered the awards show with Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Mason sort of told me two of Paisley's jokes from the 2014 CMA Awards, even if Mason missed one of the references.
I had wanted to take Mason to Paisley's concert the day before, but we attended an important capoeira event for Mason. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art/dance/really-hard-thing-to-do and people attended from different countries and states to support him and other students. Besides, Mason is a bigger Tim McGraw fan.
Anyway, Mason remembered Paisley joking about the guy who "got on his horse but Carrie kept telling Brad that he was still there." Mason had to repeat himself a few times before I realized he was talking about George Strait. You mean, "The cowboy rides away?"
I had wanted to include this story and the other joke Mason remembered in the Bryan Farley Photography post about Paisley contacting me, but I could not find a way to include everything. Though capoeira is a martial art, many people use it to strengthen communities. Younger people supported by older people. When people become old, they are still masters. Masters continue teaching. Country music has a similar tradition. Outsiders will not recognize some of the misdirection and humor. Younger players will not understand all of the adult jokes or references, but everyone can be included at their own level.
Play is an important part of both traditions. Musicians play. Capoeiristas play. Both play music too. I would rather Mason remember playing with older people or musicians than remember the difficulties of dealing with epilepsy. Before my kids were born, I wanted to change how I lived. Shortly after my first child was born, I became more committed. I am glad that my son likes celebrities based on his own values.
My daughter is the same way. When Paisley first contacted me, she said, "If you want to wow me...." Then she gave me a list of three other people who needed to contact me before she was going to be impressed. Oh well. That is the way it should be. I don't want my kids to be impressed with me because a famous person contacts me.
At least my kids believed me. When I arrived at the amphitheatre, nobody seemed to believe me. I figured. This was not my first concert, but this was the first time my cameras have been held while I waited. Finally, someone confirmed my story. It was funny. I don't think Brad's people believed that he contacted me either. Someone from his team took me backstage and said something about me sending him a tweet or something... like he is Tim McGraw or something. :)
Yesterday, Little Big Town had planned to play in the Bay Area, but needed to reschedule because one member needed surgery. Both of my children have met the band. My son was concerned about the person who might be hurt. This sounds strange, but my son cares about the people in the band. It is one of the benefits of their father having epilepsy. Here is a picture of my son when he was four or five. My daughter had just turned 7.
Here are a couple of my photos of Little Big Town and Josh Turner. You can view more of my photography site. There are some touching moments of the concert organizer's family and Little Big Town. It is just one example of an artist contributing to the community. We often do not see these little moments, but they exist. Those of us with epilepsy, know that others live with invisible stories. Sometimes celebrities live with something hidden.
Before I finish this notes section, there were more photos that I wanted to include in the other blog post and I didn't. There was a photo of group of women that I eliminated at the very end. I really enjoyed meeting the group and I liked the photo. I also wanted to keep the photo, because the women were standing next to row H2 and water bottles were above the H2 sign. (Paisley sang his hit song "Water" at the concert too.) I just couldn't find a way to include it without a lengthy explanation... so I am waiting to include it here.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.