Spunky Nemo James - Musician, Outdoorsman and Author



Nemo James



Born and based in England, Nemo James worked as a professional musician and singer/songwriter for more than 30 years. He now lives in Croatia with his wife Federika and their cat Jutko who is becoming intolerable following his rise to fame on Youtube.

Among other pastimes, Nemo gets enjoyment from outdoor activities. Here's what he says about them:

I suppose I am very lucky in finding that I get a lot of enjoyment out of some of the most mundane pastimes and there is no shortage of those where I live now. Yesterday I had to untangle 12 years of untamed growth of a huge grape vine and a climbing rose. 

 I have no idea what I am doing so I just hope I see them again in the spring.

I then took the boat out fishing and to my delight caught some squid to make a delicious lunch today washed down by some home made wine.  I have to complete a website to advertise our beautiful new apartment at the top of our house with an amazing view of the sea. That was last winter’s project. DIY in such a big house is endless. I have to start on a complete refit of our bathroom but have been putting it off until the weather turns bad but amazingly it is still like summer here in Croatia. I don’t have the heart to work inside when the sun is shining. I am even going to have a go at making crumpets as you can’t buy them here.

Having spent most of my life frantically pursuing one professional project or another I have decided to devote this winter to myself and get down to the long put off tasks of teaching myself bridge and becoming fluent in this impossible Croatian language.  I am also toying with the idea of starting a “karate for the over 50s” class which would be great exercise during the winter months when there is no swimming. The trouble is knowing the people here I suspect I won’t get anyone interested unless I offer free cheese and wine with every lesson.

It seems Nemo James already leads a busy life, but also on his plate is a new book, all about the hidden life of musicians. Here's what he says about it:

In Just A Few Seconds I wanted to write about what life is like for the 99% of musicians that don’t become rich and famous but still earn a good living often working for the rich and famous. The most interesting stories I have to tell are not about backing artists like Tom Jones and Cliff Richards or playing at private parties for Sheik Yamani or the Aga Khan but stories about holiday camp epidemics, strippers with flatulence and being the cause of US military personnel being Court Martialed. It is amazing how music is such a huge part of everyone’s life and yet so little is known about the ordinary working musicians who supply that music.

Visit Nemo James at his website http://www.nemojames.com/

Find Nemo James at his tour page at Pump Up Your Book

Watch his videos at You Tube

If you care to drop by, Nemo James will also be a guest on Friday, October 28, 2011 at http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/, where he'll expand about his life as a musician and his new book.

Spunky Max Elliott Anderson Interviews a President And Travels the World to Film



Max Elliott Anderson



I’m one of those people who will probably never retire. I felt this way long before the economic downturn and it’s primarily because I like to stay as active as possible. And I guess I’m one of those typical Boomers who never expected, or intended to get older. But I’m also a realist.

In a short period of time, I signed up for Medicare and my wife began taking early Social Security. Oh my goodness, what’s going on here? And on top of that, we’re going to become first-time grandparents in a couple of more months.

My life has always included film, video, and television commercial production. I love marketing and promotion. Many of those opportunities have also diminished with the economy, but I’m always interested in the next production. One of the most interesting experience I've had was a private, one hour video interview with President Ronald Reagan as he visited his boyhood home for the last time here in Illinois. My work has also taken me all over the world. I shot Liam Neeson's first feature film, Pilgrim's Progress.



Max Elliott Anderson
Speaking in Warsaw



Two recent productions included live streaming video. The first one covered the National Table Tennis Championships. An interesting event there included an exhibition between US and Chinese members of the original Ping-Pong Diplomacy teams. A few months later, I worked on a similar production covering the National Show Ski Championships. In that case, this link will take you to that material. http://waterski.teamusa.org/video  If you can imagine, I stood behind a video camera for more than 22 hours over two days, in the rain, hot sun, and survived it.

I also know of many situations where people dreamed of retirement, reached that goal, and died. I don’t believe we were wired to come to a stopping point like that. I admire people who do retire but then find other nearly full time activities to keep them sharp, vital, and involved.

PS. One of the attached pictures is of me shooting a film in a remote area of New Guinea, 50 miles from headhunter who lived up river. I'm the one wearing the yellow and blue-striped shirt.

Max Elliott Anderson

Books for Boys Blog http://booksandboys.blogspot.comMy Youtube Videos http://www.youtube.com/user/Maxbooks100#p/u
Author Web Site http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/index_1.html

Please leave a comment for Max about his busy and adventurous life.

Spunky Senior, Mike Befeler, Visits Hard Rock Mines



Mike Befeler



Living in Colorado, I enjoy hiking during the summer and snowshoeing during the winter. On weekends I often go along the east side of the Continental Divide on various expeditions. This summer I had an opportunity to visit a number of old mine sites as part of an organized tour of hard rock mines. Our first stop was Caribou, a once thriving mining community of several thousand people at the end of the nineteenth century, now home to exactly zero human occupants.

Our next stop was the Cardinal mill, in operation during the beginning of the twentieth century.

Bluebird Mine Bunkhouse



From here we went to the Bluebird mine. The picture is of the bunkhouse that was also used in the 1966 movie, Stagecoach.



Wallstreet Mill

 Our final stop of the day was at the Wallstreet assay office and abandoned mill from the beginning of the twentieth century. Investors from New York provided the financial backing, but the mill went bust after a few years of operation.

Although these mines and mills are now abandoned, they contribute to an interesting history of the region and are well worth visiting.

Mike Befeler, Author of Senior Moments Are Murder, Retirement Homes Are Murder  http://www.mikebefeler.com/, http://www.mikebefeler.blogspot.com/

Please welcome Mike to our blog by leaving a comment.

Spunky Vacation

Spunky Seniors blog is taking a vacation while its owner is on vacation. More spunky blogs coming your way starting Oct 13.

Cruisin' With Spunky Senior, Mona Risk



From the Nile Cruise



Cruises are becoming the most common way to see the world and unwind in an enjoyable surrounding. My husband calculated that it was cheaper to board a ship from Fort Lauderdale and go on a week cruise than pay airfare, hotel, restaurants and entertainments.

Carnaval offers good family rate and you see a lot of children on Carnaval ships, especially around school holiday.



Royal Caribbean’s latest creation is a humongous ship called Oasis. Friends told us they felt they were in a fancy hotel with a huge market area, but they lost the special pleasure of the ocean view from every corner as many lounges are set in the middle of the ship. In addition, with so many people on board the service lacked the VIP treatment offered on smaller ships.



My favorite cruise line is Princess. We cruise with them over ten times in the Caribbean, Mediterranean Sea, South America, and Polynesian Islands. I highly appreciate their accommodations, shows and food. Beside, they have special accommodations, wider rooms and bathrooms in addition to wheel chairs for senior citizens and handicaps. Their frequent cruisers are often upgraded to better rooms or suits with vase of flowers, fruits baskets and drinks set in their rooms to greet them.



The Royal Palace in Budapest



Two years ago, we discovered the River Cruise lines: Memphis, to cruise the Nile River in Egypt and visit the monuments of Luxor, Karnack and Abou Simble—what a magnificent treat. And two weeks ago, Avalon to cruise the Danube from Bucharest, Romania, to Vienna, Austria. We also visited Bulgaria nd the Black Sea, stopped in Belgrade, Serbia, and Budapest, Hungary, an unforgettable trip I blogged about twice on www.monarisk.blogspot.com



During one of our cruises, we met a woman in her seventies who lives ten months a year on a cruise ship. She sold her house and her car, and explained that on a cruise ship she doesn’t have to fix her room, or prepare her meals. She enjoys movies and performances without having to drive to a theater. She has plenty of books to read, a laptop to connect with the world and makes friends with other travelers. The doctor on board knows her well and takes care of her little problems. Sometimes she joins a tour and visits a new place. Twice a year she spends a month at her children and goes through all her medical checkups, buys her supply of medicine and reserves the next cruise. She told me she was writing her memoirs.

Would you be able to live on a ship?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances.

I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

http://www.monarisk.com/

RJ McDonnell, Senior Tweener, Fulfills a Lifelong Dream

R.J. McDonnell

Sometimes attaining senior status means finding the time to reconnect with an unrequited passion. For the past few years I’ve been at that awkward age I call Senior Tweener. I have adult children, but haven’t attained grandparent status yet. Instead of attending sports events and dance recitals, I actually had time to pursue an old dream.

Ever since elementary school I wanted to be a rock musician. During my high school years I helped out with a garage band down the street from my home, and picked up mini-guitar lessons during their breaks. I joined my first band in my freshman year at Penn State, and in 1980 I moved to San Diego to pursue music as a career.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. A few months after my move, I was in an accident that shattered my left wrist. After 23 months of casts, braces, bone graft surgery, and rehab, I couldn’t play guitar for more than 15 minutes without severe stabbing pains. Over the next five years I tried everything, and finally resigned myself to the fact that the dream was over.



L-R, Robbie Walsh, RJ McDonnell



Twenty-five years later I visited a guitar collector friend and told him my story. He found me a Fender guitar that was exceptionally easy to fret. In 2007, at the age of 53, I enrolled in lessons at a local music studio, and rekindled my passion in the process. Last month I recorded my first commercial song, playing with Robbie Walsh, a lead guitarist who toured extensively with Noel Redding of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Chubby Checker and Jethro Tull.

The song is called The Concert Killer, and is the soundtrack to a mystery novel trailer. You can hear it at www.rjmcdonnell.com. It’s never too late to make dreams come true.

RJ McDonnell

Spunky Senior, The DanZman, Still Rocks!



The DanZman at Mt Prospect Lion's Club
4th of July event, 2009, starring Ronnie Rice.

  Eleven years ago I wrote a story for the Daily Herald about a popular figure in the NorthWest suburbs. Since then, the subject of my story, The DanZman, a Spunky Senior, still rocks non-stop.





With Kerry of Libido
Funk Circus at the
Mane Event 2011, in
Arlington Heights



The DanZman's not a band member, but almost every band in the area knows him personally or knows of him.

When he's in the audience, way in the front dancing where you can't miss him, he almost always gets a call-out from the band some time during the performance. If he's not there, it may be a sign the band isn't too terrific; that is, unless there are lots of great bands playing at the same time. After all, he can't be everywhere.

His collection of band tee shirts has to rival a Valley Girl's shoe closet. When more than one band is featured on a particular night, The DanZman delves into his gym bag and changes shirts to reflect whichever band takes the stage.

Here's a link to my story about him, written in those long ago days before I acquired my pen name -

http://www.festfinderfor60srock.com/storydanzdlyhld.html