A night of Gershwin

Tonight Chris and I went up to SPAC to see the Philadelphia Orchestra perform a concert of pieces composed by George Gershwin. Over the last 4 or 5 years, Gershwin has become on of my favorite composer with his pieces such as "Rhapsody of Blue", "An American in Paris", "I got Rhythm" and "Someone To Watch Over Me".


This performance was not only special because we got to hear some Gershwin, but the guest conductor was Marvin Hamlisch and Kevin Cole played piano. For those of you who haven't heard of Hamlisch...well...lets put it this way...He received a Pulitzer Prize for "A Corus Line" composed 40 motion pictures scores, received a Oscar for his song "The Way We Were" and he is Pop Conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony and the National Symphony. As for Kevin Cole, lets just say that Irvin Berlin once said that if he could play the piano like Cole plays the piano, he (Berlin) would not be in the song writting business. Many scholars have said that Cole plays the piano exactly like Gershwin...Almost like he is Gershwin reincarnated. Let just say...He is the best pianist I have ever seen. He makes Elton John, Billy Joel and Bruce Hornsby look like highschool students.

Needless to say, Chris and I had a great night...even the rain held off so we could enjoy the concert on the lawn. Although, I will say, the best part of the evening was coming home and seeing Charlotte give us a big smile when we walked in the door.

Cheers

As most of you know, I'm a Cheers addict. I've probably watched all the episodes to this classic comedy numerous times and I'm still not sick of them. Although, I really didn't get into the show until 1986, once I did get into it, I watched the show religiously every week on NBC "Must See TV" and sidnication...I even have the board game. I remember getting together with my buddies Thursday nights in highschool and college to watch the show...Yes those were the days!!!

Now, Paramount is releasing all the seasons on DVD, and yes I've been buying them. Although Paramont has released up to the 8th season, I only have Seasons 1-7. It's only a matter time before I get the 8th. Needless to say, I can now throw out all my VHS tapes of Cheers...Yes, I have a 11 tapes filled of episodes (some are even commercial free). If you ever get bored, pick up a copy...I can guarantee the memories will start flowing and you will get a couple of laughs.

Party Weekend

As I noted before, this past weekend was busy. On Saturday we had our first house party in over 6 years. Unfortunately, the weatherman was wrong again and we got pounded with 2 inches of rain. Luckily we still had our old couch and we moved the party to our garage. At times it felt like a type of party we would of had in our college days. Regardless, we made the best of it and had a good day.


On Sunday, we took a quick stop to John Koch's graduation party and then up to my sister's house to celebrate my Niece, Erin's, 9th birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!!! Next year it's double digits...Oh my, I can't believe she is almost 10.

Here are some more pictures from the weekend

Sherri, Dad and Sue chatting at John's graduation party
Hi G-mom...you're funny!!
Erin makes good cake!!
Who says Charlotte dosen't look like a Hull...She sure looks like Katie in this one.
I love my swing
Time for a nap!!

Booing Is Part of Life

Today on ESPN radio Dan Patrick talked extensively how it is wrong for Yankee Fans to boo A-Rod during his latest slump. Dan says booing doesn't solve anything and it may even make matters worse. I disagree.

In my opinion, fans booing A-Rod is similar to complaining to restaurant management when your steak is cold or it take 4 hours for the waitress/waiter to serve it to you. We don't just sit there and say...oh the waitress must be having a bad day...or give her time, she will come around. No...We go to the manager and bitch him or her out OR we may reduce the tip. So instead of leaving the standard 15-20%, we may leave a penny. It's also like you or I making a mistake at work. I don't know about you, but if I make a mistake at work, (even if I'm trying hard) I'm still going to here about it from my boss. The same goes for A-Rod, if fan's didn't boo, then what other way would there be to express their dissatisfaction with a play or player. Yes, it's only baseball...but waiting for a steak for 4 hours is just that...waiting for a steak for 4 hours. And don't forget, the waitress is making maybe $6.00 per hour. How much is A-Rod making?

Incidentally, why isn't Jeter or Torre telling everybody to ease up on A-Rod? We all know Jeter defended Chuck Knoblauch during his slump back in 1999. Wait a minute, so did Torre. HMMMMM

This Family is Goofy

This weekend we were pretty busy. Saturday Chris, Charlotte and I had a party and on Sunday Laura had our monthly family dinner and celebrated Erin's 9th birthday. I'll post more pictures later in the week from the last two days, but for now I'll leave you with this one. Yes, I know, the average person might think we should be committed. But we were just having fun putting on are best goofy faces. From top left we have Dad, Laura, Larry, Erin, Tony, Aaron, Michael and Zachery.

Tiz the season to be busy...

July has been a pretty busy month so far and we still have another two weekends to go. On July 2nd and 3rd, Charlotte got to experience her first camping trip. My parents were staying at the Ledgeview Village in Lake George, NY. The weather looked good so we decided to take a trip up for a visit.

July 3rd was our family's annual Arlington Invitational Golf Tournament, held at Brookhaven Golf Course in Corinth, NY. This year we had 27 golfers (almost a record) and as usual, my father took the top prize...Although this year he tied with Kevin Carmody. Good job guys.

On the 4th, Charlotte, Chris and I tried to go watch the Albany fireworks from Rensselaer...But at about the same time the first rocket went off, Charlotte became unhappy...so we came home and watched them on TV.

The weekend of the 8th and 9th was pretty low key...I went to a Conquest game Saturday night and the yardwork all day Sunday the 9th.

On Thursday the 13th, Chris, Charlotte and I went up to my Uncle Larry's birthday party in Clifton Park. Then on the 15th, Chris and I went to The Old Dublin Inn in Clifton Park for dinner and then off to Superman Returns (Larry and Susie watched Charlotte). Dinner was great and we both recommend that you go there (I had the Crab Cakes, Chris had the Shepherds Pie) but don't bother with Superman Returns. The movie is basically just like the original except Lois Lane has a kid. The actors were great, the special effects were great...but the story sucked. They leave it open for a sequel, but overall, Chris and I were disappointed.

Here are some pictures from are busy couple of weeks.

Kate and Michael having fun in the creek
Enjoying my first campfire with Papa.
This chair fits good
Look what I found
Aaron and Maggie
Charlotte and G-mom waiting for Larry to blow out the candles.
Happy Birthday Larry
My new toy!!!
This tastes really good!!

A Sad Day for Science

Today I consider one of the top 10 saddest days in America since George W. Bush took office in January 2001. Today, as promised, Dubya vetoed legislation that would allow federally funded stem research. This bill was passed and had bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House, but they failed to get enough support to override his veto. I will say after seeing my Grandfather and my wife's Granmother both die of Alzheimer's, watched a good buddy of mine die of leukemia and listen to my wife, Chris, describe her Mother's unsuccessfully battle against leukemia, in my eyes Stem Cell research is a "no brainier". We need federally funded stem cell research.

President Bush is going to try to tell you that we can't cross this moral boundary... or that Human beings are not a raw material to be exploited, or a commodity to be bought or sold (MSNBC.com).

But that wasn't the case with this legislation. This legislation was going to allow stem cell research on embryos that were left over from invitro fertilization and would be destroyed anyways. Instead of being destroyed they would be used by scientist to help fine cures for devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's, leukemia, Parkinsons and spinal cord injuries. Today Mr. Bush took away one of the most advance tools Scientist may ever have in their fight to cure diseases. In my eyes, he basically told the scientist that he can build a house, but he can't use any power tools and must only use hand tools.

According to MSNBC, Mr Bush vetoed the bill and "tried to put a face on his position, too. Eighteen families who had adopted unused frozen embryos were in the East Room as Bush made his case in a 15-minute speech that came 40 minutes after the veto. On stage behind the president and in the audience were two dozen children, squirming in their Sunday best, born from those leftover embryos". I wonder why he didn't invite any 5 year olds who are fighting the battle of their lives against leukemia? Does he care that with Stem Cell Research, Scientist may be able to help these breathing human beings? Why didn't he invite the parents of children with leukemia? Can you imagine how those parents feel today when their child asks when will the pain will go away? Can you feel the parent's fustrations and pain knowing that scientist could be close to a cure with Stem Cell research, but the president has decided that their child's life is not as important as an embryo? I know I do!!!

Yes... Today, Dubya, the religious right and pharmaceutical companies won a battle, but hopefully enough people will get so mad at what he did, they will show up in November.

1986 World Series, Game 6 - Nintendo Style

My buddy Rooney told me about how my favorite closet Yankee Fan found Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between my beloved Soxs and the dreaded Mets. The only thing different about this is someone match the actual game audio with plays on a old Nintendo. Very Creative but, wow...someone has a lot of time on their hands.

Quiz Time

Ok...Lets see if I can stump you. Choose the person who said the following:

"He won't be rewarded for ignoring the world"

A. MICHAEL MOORE

B. TIM ROBBINS

C. GEORGE W. BUSH

D. JACQUE CHIRAC

Answer: C. GEORGE W. BUSH said this on Thursday when discussing North Korea. "He" in this case is North Korean's Kim Jung II. Mr. Bush asked that diplomacy and sanctions be used to solve the North Korean conflict. I totally agree with Mr. Bush that diplomacy and sanctions be used (wow, I agree with him). But what is amazing is the fact that most of the world did not support President Bush when he invaded Iraq and asked to use diplomacy and sanctions, but Bush went to war anyway. Wasn't Bush "ignoring the world" when he invaded Iraq? I guess Bush believes in the "do as I say, not as I do" attitude. If Diplomacy and sanctions were used in Iraq, imagine how many American soldiers lives would have been saved

May I See Your ID Please?

Yep...it happened to me today, and no I wasn't wearing a baseball hat to hide my receding hair line and ball spot. That's right, I got ID'd today at Hannaford Supermarket on Wolf Road in Colonie. Yes, the clerk may have been doing her job and proofing everybody under 50, but it did feel good. I showed her my license proudly and with a big smile.

Pass the Cocoa Krispies Please?

I will admit, after Damon joined the evil empire I was a little worried about who the Sox were going to get to replace him. But Theo, the genius, showed his brains again and went after Coco Crisp from Cleveland...A move I loved when I first heard the rumor. Yes, everytime I say his name I always think of Cocoa Krispies cereal, but man can he play. Check out the grab he made Thursday night when the Sox played the Mets. With the tying run on 1st, David Wright hit a bullet deep into the gap in left-center field and Crisp grabbed it in spactacular fashion protecting the 3-2 lead. If Crisp didn't make the catch, there was no doubt the runner would had scored from 1st. The Sox went on to win their 12th in a row and 4 ahead of the Yankees (They lost last night, so the lead is down to 3 games ahead of the Yankees).

Hey, Damon is a great hitter and center fielder for the Soxs, but I'll take Cocoa Krispies any day. I don't think Damon could have made this catch.