Is Tony Bennett a Vampire?

I was on my commute this morning when Telephone, by Lady Gaga, played on the radio. It’s kind of catchy, and I enjoyed it. I remember when she made a Christmas special with Tony Bennett, and I heard she put out an album of classics with Bennett recently.

My mind went to work, and I did a little bit of research. Gaga and Bennett are touring together. Now I don’t like every tune by Lady Gaga, but I admit she is very talented. Strange, but talented.

More research; Bennett is 88 years old. Born in 1926. This is well past the age most people work, and well beyond the age most people are comfortable travelling extensively.

Gaga’s last album didn’t sell too well, and I don’t recall hearing about any big hits from it either.

Deep in the corners of my memory, I remember when Linda Ronstadt put out an album called What’s New. It was her take on some of the classics. She attracted Tony Bennett, and his career was reborn. I don’t recall hearing from Ronstadt ever again.

I saw in my research where Faith Hill did a duet with Bennett once. When was the last time she had a hit?

A bit more research showed that Bennett did a duet with Amy Winehouse. She’s dead now, and Bennett is going strong.

So on one side of the scale we have some very talented ladies, whose careers, well, let’s say diminished. The other side of the scale holds Tony Bennett at 88 years of age who keeps going strong. It almost seems like as the girls lose something, Bennett gains something.

If Taylor Swift’s agent wants to make a protective strike, I heard Bennett’s heart is in San Francisco.

Idea mill #7

We haven’t had an Idea Mill post in quite a while. I save interesting articles that sparked my imagination, then I post the links for everyone. I’ll add a bit about where my mind takes me, and you can add ideas in the comments.

The first one is about the plant, wolfsbane. In this article, a gardener handled the plant, and died from the exposure. This looks like an awesome possibility for a cozy mystery. I don’t particularly believe the story, but it would make an interesting witchcraft story too. Miss Marples could have a lot of fun here.

This article discusses secret military bases, and the conspiratorial projects they might be working on. There seems to be no end to conspiracy theories, but a story can be so much better if it’s based upon one that’s popular. There is a wealth of possibility here. If testing biological weapons on the citizens of San Francisco doesn’t have a story in it, nothing does.

This story is about a dog. Who doesn’t like a dog story? Essentially, this adorable pit bull was dog napped. The good people in Massachusets identified him from a microchip and returned him to his owner. The cool part is that the dog made a trek from Florida to Salem. Of all places on Earth, the dog went to Salem. With its history of witchcraft, there has to be a story in there somewhere.

Take one, or more, of these articles and ask yourself “what if.” What if a secret military installation was creating a biological weapon using wolfsbane? What if an intern found out, but instead of blowing the whistle, she sent her familiar to Salem to recruit help from more powerful family members?

Can you find your next story in these articles? Tell me about it in the comments.