John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: WE GOT LUCKY DODGING THIS STORM

Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 monster storm — the most powerful hurricane on record to hit this area....

JOHN BARTUS: THOSE BLOODTHIRSTY MOSQUITOES

Blood. The online reference site Wikipedia defines blood as “a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body’s cells (in animals) –...
John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME – WHAT’S ON YOUR LIST?

If a person is looking for a list of best albums, a quick Google search will reveal a huge number of lists of the...
John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: IS FRIDAY THE 13TH ACTUALLY UNLUCKY?

Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky date for many years. This Friday and Friday, Dec. 13 are the 2024 entries in the...
a group of people on a stage with guitars

JOHN BARTUS: OLD DOG, NEW BANDS

I wouldn’t consider myself a closed-minded individual. Through my years in government service, I’ve learned that no one has a monopoly on good ideas....
John Bartus

BARTUS: SONGWRITERS STRUGGLE IN THIS NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

The music business has always been a bit different in the way artists and creators are compensated. Screen and stage actors have union rates...
John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: FORD MUSTANGS, COCOA BEACH AND OTHER DREAMS

Let me begin this week by stating that I am not at all a true car buff — there is no confusing me with...
John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: DRIVING TO THE AIRPORT IN 1980, WITH A SENATOR IN THE BACK...

Way back when, in the halcyon days of youth (if that isn’t a literary cliché), there I was: an almost-19-year-old college student at the...
John Bartus

JOHN BARTUS: AMERICA, WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS

Here is the text with the line breaks fixed: I was playing my gig at Boardwalk on Big Pine Key last Saturday when I started...
a small plane floating on top of a body of water

JOHN BARTUS: SOL BRADMAN SURVIVED A PLANE CRASH, AND MADE IT TO HIS BAND...

The human spirit is an amazing thing. Throughout our history on planet Earth, we have controlled fire, invented the wheel, built amazing structures and even...