Martinicity: Category Live

Johnny B Good Fun-Raiser

Mike Blake — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:10:00 +0000

Raffle Tickets

Please click above to support the rehabilitation of John “Chip” Cusack.

Last week I played four golf courses in Orlando with four of the Cusack brothers. But there was one Cusack brother missing. From the Raffle flyer:

Last September, John was taking a bike ride in his Northport neighborhood with his son when he fell off his bike and suffered a severe head trauma. He was airlifted to Stonybrook Hospital, had emergency brain surgery and began the long, painful process back.

You can follow John’s progress here:

caringbridge.org/visit/johncusack

And if you’d like to help out with a donation or a journal ad : johnnybgfunraiser.googlepages.com

Thanks for your support,

Mike Blake

Thoughts about my friends Brian Maguire and John Cusack

Mike Blake — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:54:00 +0000

In a freak accident back in September my friend John Cusack fell off a bicycle in Northport, NY and suffered a serious head injury. It’s been a very painful year for the Cusack family and friends. Obviously it saddened me deeply to learn that Brian Maguire suffered a similar injury.

Brian crashed on his motorcycle last Sunday night. Updates are available on Jim Abbott’s blog at The Orlando Sentinel, and There’s a Brian Maguire Relief Fund.

In John’s case, the waking up process was very gradual. After about a week in an induced coma similar to Brian’s, John began to show signs of life. The first sign of a functioning brain was the ability to blink when asked to blink. Slowly, day after day, there were subtle improvements. Response to stimuli, Open eyes tracking movement . At some point John was moved from a ventilator to a trachea. Then there was recognition of friends and family. Eventually there was movement of limbs and talking, (although talking is nearly impossible with the trachea.) . Now after a cranioplasty to restore his skull, John is scheduled to be moved to a Rehabilitation Center today where he will relearn basic muscle movements, and hopefully walk again.

The Cuscacks have set up a site here if you’d like to learn more. John Cusack .

With a brain injury, there is always hope. I pray that good news continues to break for both John and Brian, and however long it takes, I hope I can spend time with them again in this world.

The Corrigan Reunion

Mike Blake — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:57:00 +0000

My family and I had a great weekend at the end of August in Cleveland Ohio. My Mom’s side of the family , The Corrigans, had a reunion at the North Chagrin Nature Center in Lake County, OH. This was the first time all seven of us have been together in about five years.

The Blakes are, from left to right, Conny, Brian, Michael, Richard, John, Paul, and Maureen.

Quoc Van for Congress

Mike Blake — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:47:00 +0000

Quoc Van came to my house a few weeks ago. He’s an extremely bright guy, and is running for congress in the 8th Congressional District here in Florida. I’m not kidding you, I got the sense that I had just met the next Barack Obama.

Quoc needs signatures from 1% of registered voter’s here in the 8th district in order to appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary. I admire Quoc’s grass roots effort so I was happy to sign.

How can I help out?

The immediate goal is getting Quoc on the ballot. You can help out in three easy steps (if you live in Florida’s 8th congressional district):

Print out this petition.
Fill it out.

a. Put in “Quoc Van” on line 2 where it says name.
b. Check major candidate and put in “Democratic party” on line 3
c. Put in “U.S. House of Representative in the 8th congressional district of Florida on line four
d. Fill in your information in the boxes.
Mail the form to:

Quoc Van
1110 Butler Way
Sanford, Fl 32773

For more information on Quoc Van visit vanforcongress.com.

Rebirth Brass Band

Mike Blake — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:12:00 +0000

We don’t get near as many visits from top notch musicians here in Orlando as they do in the big city, so I’m excited about this weekend.

The Rebirth Brass Band is playing here in O-Town at The Social this Saturday , April 1st at 9:00 PM.

I saw these guys the first time during my drive accross country.

It will be a fun night, and a great excuse to wear my black and white wingtips . Stop by the house before the show for some barb-q.