Since I don't like Hallowe'en, because of all the spooky stuff, I shift my focus to Reformation Day. That's when Martin Luther, a monk who saw much corruption within the Catholic Church, posted his 95 Theses or points for improvements. Legend has it that he nailed the list to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany where he lived. In reality, he sent them in a letter to the bishop of the district, but either way, it did not go over well. Luther was eventually excommunicated and started his own religion of protest(hence the word Protestant) which came to be called Lutheran. Today marks the 500th Anniversary of Luther sending out that list.
As a teen going to a Lutheran high school, I always enjoyed the celebrations of that day and the singing of Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" in chapel. The event always seemed wonderfully revolutionary and dramatic and still does today when I know even more about the history of the times.

The announcement last Monday that Tom Petty had died after a cardiac arrest at his home was shocking, especially since he was only 66. He had finished a tour with the Heartbreakers only a week before, which was astonishing timing. After I heard the news, that night I watched a bunch of my favorite videos online and since then, his songs have been playing in the back of my mind and I'm not sure if that's helping me cope or not.
There was a period in the mid-90's when I was obsessed with Tom Petty after seeing the video for "You Don't Know How it Feels" on MTV(where this photo is from), though I recalled hearing him on my sister's ever present radio long before that, during our high school years in the 70's. And once MTV arrived, his well made videos were frequently played and they always caught my attention. He once said in an interview that he thought of music videos as mini movies & it showed. I enjoyed his work with the Heartbreakers & solo, and sometimes couldn't tell them apart. And then when the Traveling Wilburys was formed, that gave new definition to the term supergroup. Once I dived into his music with the album "Wildflowers", I played it all the time; painting, cooking dinner, even the last time when I dyed Easter Eggs. The mid-90's was a transitional time for me and I was still having cluster migraines then, which his music helped ease. That intense listening slowly faded and even though I had a few of his recent albums, I wasn't up to date with his music & events. I didn't even know about his rehab for the brief heroin addiction in 2003. Earlier this year, I did see him in the HBO documentary about important record producers, though.
My sister used to say that his voice was droning, and I supposed there is a bit of truth to that. He didn't have a wide range of vocal ability, but I didn't care since he really knew how to write a catchy song that had some depth and created a mood. His early work were more typical rock songs and then at some point he got the label "Americana" which I always thought was an interior decorating theme. No matter what name was given to his songs, I liked most of them. And once I'm over the shock and the tears, his music will remain.