Life and Things contained Therein

Essex Street Market

2010-04-11T12:30:00.001-04:00

Today, we visited the Essex Street Market located at Essex and Delancey streets, NY, NY. I first got the idea to visit the market through an email notice from TastingTable. TastingTable is a industry related promotional site covering a few select locations around the country, like DC, SanFran, NY, Chicago, etc etc. It contains local information on restaurants, openings, new local markets, suppliers and occasionally pieces done by chef's themselves with recipes. (I like the recipes and supplier ideas.)

The Essex Street Market began in 1940 as an effort by then Mayor LaGuardia, to clean up the streets and help cure the rising street congestion/traffic due to vehicles. Pushcarts and street vendors abounded and the Mayor felt providing them a local 'home,' off the streets, would not only help traffic, it would also legitimize these small vendors as well. It mostly sells flowers, produce, niche offerings like chocolates, cakes, pastries, coffee kiosks, Fromaggeries, etc. There's even a small vintage clothing shop, barber and TV repairman as well. Its not a Reading Terminal Market (Philly) by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a nice 300' x 100' indoor concessionary worthy of inclusion into any trip to lower Manhattan.

Flavour - When we visit new places, towns, or locations around the country, we strive to find the flavour of the area. People, places, stories, that make up its fabric. This market, with such a rich and established history, nicely filled that goal. It's a rather non-descript brick building. Its entrances blend in to the streetscape, almost....almost..uninviting. You open the double doors and are immediately immersed in its culture, history and the surrounding community. Like the exterior, its interior is utilitarian, not that its a bad thing. Just a plain Jane market. Your nose also immediately makes the connection that this is a place of many vendors, purveyors and distinct offerings. Aroma's abound.

The shops and vendors began with Shopsin's small cafe, three 2 chair tables (with a 20 person waiting line. That must say something about how good it is.) Immediately against Shopsins wall you find the Saxelby Cheesemonger booth ('shop' would too big, 'closet' not big enough.) Then you’re confronted with the smell of fresh brewing coffee at Porto Rico Importing with flavours like Aggie's, Bedford, Budapest, etc. As we walked by we quickly came to La Tiendita, a girl-focused market. A ‘girl’ oriented company, its an organic farm stand providing home-grown produce and, even better, home-made pies. Yesterday's offerings were Apple crisp pie, blueberry pie and cherry pie.

From there we walked up to chocolatiere, Roni-Sue's.

Rhonda Kave is the owner of Roni-Sue’s and is a friend and acquaintance. We first met her during a Violence Against Women/Abused Women Gala fundraiser in Nassau. Her son and daughter (both in their 20's) lend Mom a hand in the business of making chocolates. As she describes it, she started when her kids were 2 or 3 years old. She’d felt trapped, at the time, in the Long Island house and needed to get out. So, with her good friend in tow, they took a continuing Ed class on chocolate making. That winter they decided to make chocolate treats as Christmas gifts. The next year her friends were calling, asking for 'small' batches for them to give out as well. This continued, year after year, with each call bringing a heftier need. They also availed themselves to additional continuing Ed classes. Finally, after 25 years and coming to terms with what she was doing from her kitchen, plus having the idea of starting a business floating by in her head many times over, she started Roni-Sue's. Initially she started as having just a 'booth' in Essex. With no space to cook on-site, they rented out kitchen space, once a week, in Queens. Finally, last year, they upgraded to larger space in the market. This allows them to manufacturer and sell from one place. The 'store' is not more than six feet deep, a double door convection oven, a commercial hot plate, a chocolate melter/temperer, a couple of glass refrigerated merchandisers, small sink and prepping surface. What they produce is off-the-charts goodness.

From Pig Candy (bacon), Chile Collection, Cocktail (some made with Absinthe), Buttercrunch, etc etc. Its spectacularly wonderful.

I was then almost accosted by a deli counterman's bark "We sell the best fucking meat in NY." (I'm not kidding.) This immediately caught my attention. We'd stumbled onto Jeffery's Meats. We had a brief exchange of smiles and I offered an inquisitive look. He took the opportunity to start asking questions and provided a rapid fire synopsis of what he does. He then threw a printed magnet at me. That magnet said it all "Who Fucked Up The Order."

Jeffery's Meats is a place within a place wrapped in something else. Its an education. Its an experience. Its Jeffery. Its a school. Its community. He owns and runs this 4th generation family butcher Shoppe. He prides his business on making the most out of each and EVERY cut of meat. Nothing goes to waste. If you want a filet mignon, he's got it, but he asks why. He'll then down-sell you. What? Yes, down-sell you. "Why pay 8.99/lb for filet, when you can have this, just as flavorful, 6th cut for 3.99/lb." (What in god's name am I hearing? Is this guy just plain nuts? He's down-selling me? wtf!!) He goes on, he's got meat from all over the world. Tiger, Boar, Ostrich - we get into an entire discussion on using Ostrich (I love Ostrich). Smoked, salted, cured. Fresh. Stew meats. He's a cooks delight. If there's anything about meat or cooking you want to know, Jeffery has it instantly. "What you wanna cook?" he asks. The offerings he then provides are endless. "I need ground chuk" I say. He says, ‘what you makin with it?’ He sees my face screw up a touch and he says, "I have 3 grades of ground chuk. You want with some trimmings added to have some body to it. Or additional fat to infuse extra flavor...?" It goes on from there. He's dropping the f-bombs so often my ears begin to bleed. But, he's doing it with passion. After a briefly intense exchange between us he pigeon-holes me as a chef, just trying to walk around on the DL. He launches into his gastronomic offerings. Fois Gras, hand-made sausage combinations, duck, livers, pate's, spines, on and on.

After having our initial fill of Jeffery, we walk away, stunned. We then happen upon the Tra La La Juice Bar.

Their muffins are out of this world. Mary grabs a muffin for breakfast and we walk on to the back isle of the market.

We then happen into Pain D'Avignon bread market.

Pecan Raisin rolls, Sourdough breads, French loafs, Onion rolls, Brioche, etc, etc. Warm and friendly, scrumptious flavors (and the Brioche is baked in wood baskets.)

Our heads overflowing with smells and flavors I catch a glimpse of Formaggio Essex.

Through the window I see cheeses lined up on a counter. In the glass picture window I see a sign describing a sinfully good Spanish Vinegar.

We walk in and I buy a 3/4L bottle of the Vinegar and a mound of unpasteurized goat cheese to have with my Brioche on the way home in the car.

Then it was back to Jeffery.

He's now at an ante-stand. Open to the browsing public, he stands at a butchers station, low, inviting. He's there speaking to a group of 8-10. He's telling a tale. He's describing the business to the gathered. I get a sense that its a class on butchery. (Weekly, he does a class on butchery of various animals. Visit his site for further details. I plan on attending.) We stand in back listening for 10 minutes or so. He describes his history of growing up in the market. The people he serves. I get the sense he's a fanatic about sustainability. He describes his connection to the people. His dedication to keeping people fed. Nutrition. Giving to the community. Becoming part of a larger family. He is awe-inspiring and full bore, full on, in your face, meat purveyor. He's a little abrasive, but deep down he appear to be wonderful and set in what he knows best, cutting meet and making sure everyone is fed, using the entire animal. Nothing is wasted.

Jeffery has a host of video's on YouTube. If you want to hear some of his story, or learn about butchery, meat cuts, etc, go on over and take a gander. Search for him and you’ll find a host of video’s, each more enriching and in-depth.

This day was a wonderful experience. A couple hours spent getting to know a new place, being immersed in culture, getting to know new people, and reconnecting with others. If you're in NY and want a great experience, pop into the market around 11AM. Its wonderful and you'll enrich yourself and fill your belly in the process.

Reality

2010-03-26T12:28:00.002-04:00

So, this week I finnished our St Patrick's Day party. It was fun. A good amount of people cancelled at the last moment, but it was still fun for those who attended.

In preparation to the party I looked up some recipes to use during the party. Corned Beef (I corned my own) as well as others. A few years ago, my eldest neice introduced me to an 'Irish Car Bomb.' Its a mixture of Guiness, and a shot split equally between Jameson Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream. The latter two and poured into a single shot glass, which is then dropped into a pint glass. The resulting mixture almost immediately begins roiling and fizzing. The concoction needs to be 'chugged' instantly or else the mixture will curdle. Its a pleasant tasting beverage if not a bit agressive due to the pace of consumption.

While researching the recipe I started reading the associated comments added to the recipe websites. One struck me that has caused me to change my thinking. The comment was tagged as being posted by an Irishman. In essence it said 'this is truly and insulting name for this drink. As an Irishman who has lived in northern Ireland all his life, to find that a pub drink has found such an insulting name is beguiling. What is we Irish created a similar type of drink but named it 'burning towers' or a '9/11'. A drink that is set ablaze before being consumed. Would those of you in the US be insulted and take offense to that name?'

I well think we in the US would take such offense.

I guess it can be the little things in life that can cause such pain.

I shall rename my Guiness drink to something along the lines of 'foaming Guiness.' I'd be well to think a little bit more ahead of time.

Bouncing

2009-06-05T15:47:00.002-04:00

So recently I was asked how I became a bouncer at the illustrious 'Bu.'

Briefly I'll describe the events that led to that decision.

Way back in the mid-80's I guess, I had been dating killer Kathy. She lived on Long Beach's West End. I would visit her after work (I was working in Island Park at the time), plus she also worked at the same place I did. She was a secretary there. So, I'd leave work whenever quitting time hit and travel a few miles to her family's place. There we'd have dinner together with her great family (2 younger sisters, mom and dad) and then I'd sit around bonding with Mom and Dad over a case of brews and be the son they'd never had before. I was generally a likable guy. ;)

One Friday night at about 10PM, the weather was hot and sticky and the breezes little, we spent our quality time out on the porch watching the people walk down to Chauncey's on the beach(another place I'd bounced.) The amount of drunken people was excessive for this night and they weren't exactly moving towards the bar, but would turn and go east a bit. I asked Dad where he thought the 'kids' were going. Kathy walked out of the house at that point and said the people are going to Joan Jett's house. She's having a party.

A year or so (maybe) earlier Joan had come out with her famous 'I love Rock n Roll' and had also formed the Black Hearts. She owned a house a street or so away and was now famous for throwing really cool parties and being friendly to the neighbors (within reason.) Kathy turned to me and said, 'Let's go.' A few minutes later we ended up at Joan's house and walked into the side yard (if you could call it that) and then went inside. The place was hopping. I swear to have eyed the Setzer Brothers and another person who looked very much like Michael Hutchins there as well.

We walked throughout the place, blaring music, bodies writhing everywhere, until we just about ran into Joan herself. A small fight then broke out right beside the kitchen. Seeing this was going to get really physical I grabbed the two very drunk guys and, with some force, ejected them through a screen door and out of the house. This caught Joan's attention and then gratitude. She came up, gave me a hug, thanked me and asked who I was and who I was there with. Kathy then said hi. Joan asked who I worked for. I didn't understand the question until she asked, 'what security firm.' I responded with a grunt (this was Joan Jett for crying out loud) and uttered, 'no one. If hadn't have tossed them they'd have broken your kitchen. Sorry about the door.' She smiled widely and gave me, again, a somewhat dazed hug. She then said 'you should bounce.' She walked away.

A few minutes later Joan came racing back through the partiers and shoved a huge wireless phone into my hand. I then found myself speaking on the phone with a guy from the 'Bu' who proceeded to hire me sight unseen because Joan Jett thought I was good and needed to make money doing it. A few weeks later I was also hired at Chauncey's for similar reasons, at Joan's request.

Joan was very nice to me. I'd only met her 4-5 times, but she was always friendly and gracious. She was the reason I started bouncing, not full time mind you, but a frequent amount of last-minute Per Diem stuff. Last time I saw Joan was just after she saved some kid from drowning in LB's surf.

Good times. Good times.

Future

2009-04-28T11:07:00.002-04:00

So, I'm trying to be a bit better with posting. I have an unfinished story of Presidents to tell, when that will complete I have no idea.

A couple weeks ago I visited the doctor for my monthly. Dr Jain (Pain Medicine) is my doc. I've been seeing him for assistance with PNE (Pudendal Nerve Entrapment.) He's wonderful. As you may or may not know, I was diagnosed with Rheuma Arth in 1998. This came at a point when my lifestyle and activity level was off the charts. I was mountain biking 11 miles a day, every 2nd day I was doing a soft beach sand sprint on the bike, typically yielding about a mile at a clip. 20 minutes of full out leg pumping, non-stop, on soft beach sand. I was also competing locally in various biking events as they would pop up. I was at my fighting weight of about 265 at that time (I'm 6'5").

One day I fell a couple of times which eventually led to me being bedridden within a few days, and subsequently diagnosed with RA about 14 months later.

I'd finished a hard bike trail one day out at the Pilgrim State grounds in Brentwood. Some great trails in there for daily exercise. I'd come up short on one turn, bounced off a tree, into 3 others and fell. I got up, wiped myself off, and hopped back on the bike. Finished another mile on a new trail to find that someone had layed a 28" felled tree into the trail. I hopped it mid-stride, immediately got off balance and rammed a tree head on. I got thrown again, bending a wheel badly enough to need to carry my Trek out on shoulder. I awoke the next day to find that my right hand had two middle fingers showing signs of contraction and stiff pain in the palm area. I tried rubbing the pain out, stretching the fingers back to useful and went about my day with a heavy ache. I tried to attribute the pain to blind-siding the trees.

The following day, a little more progression in the contracture. My two fingers had contracted to 50% over-night. I also could not get them straight. So I masked the affliction throughout the day. I was also doing night tours for various EMS agencies at the time, and releasing the stretcher was becoming a burden. Next day I awoke to find full contracture of the 3 middle fingers of my right hand and two fingers on my left hand. I knew immediately something systemic was happening. I banged in sick and went to the doctor. He said, muscle fatigue, and sent me on my way. I immediately left his office after fighting for a referral to Stony Brook University and went to a Rheuma specialist. He made the initial impression diagnosis on the spot, completed the first round of titer/parvo-virus blood work and gave me a script for Prednisone.

The following day I had flared in all joints in my upper torso and my right foot. The day after I became bedridden, awaiting the Prednisone to fully kick in. I began seeing the Rheuma specialist weekly. More titers, virus checks. I'd been on Prednisone for 3 weeks when my labs came back, off. I had to withdraw from steroids because my systems were experiencing detrimental effects. During this time I was fully bedridden. The pain so bad that I needed to mentally plan bathroom visits 2 hours in advance. My life had been changed, forever(?). The flares finally subsided after about 6 months when I returned to work. I wasn't though doing any emergency medicine, my favorite thing in life, during this time.

Since then I've tried various medications for RA, without success. One experimental drug actually lysed my liver and lidneys before being pulled for such by the program. I'd lived, daily, with 5-7/10 pain, and just deal with it on OTC Aleve, or Excedrin Migraine. The last hope for me to gain some life quality back was to try and gain about 80lbs. (Found effective in a study group.) That has provided me a quality of life where I could enjoy things and limited activities again, and reconnect with a host of various friends and relatives. Then recently I was prescribed Celebrex, through the pain management doctor for PNE I began experincing last summer. Since then the change in me has been miraculous. In the last 3 weeks I've dropped about 20lbs, on my way back to fighting weight of 265. I'm planning to begin, this week, a great deal of biking, and hoping to train enough to include myself in the distance road bike ride for EMS awareness from NYC to WDC in June 2010.

The world had better watchout.

Montreal

2009-04-28T01:11:00.002-04:00

Quick post.

Just went on a small family vacation to Montreal this past weekend. It was fun. Was supposed to be one day to Rochester, NY to pick-up and see family. Then on to Montreal. Catch a new Cirque show on its Grand Opening night (OvO). Spend a day in Montreal, then drive back to Rochseter and finally home again.

With us we took Mary's eldest brother Tom and his wife, and Mary's Mom and Dad. It's always nice to see family, especially those so far away whom are loved so much.

Got into Montreal and stayed at an Embassy Suites. Nice place, modern, spacious. A block from the Notre Dam. A couple blocks from the Grand Chapiteau. The people though, of Montreal, are different. My memories of past trips to Montreal always found pleasant people, a nice atmosphere, accomodating. Today though, the roads are beat up, people less concerned, and certainly not as friendly.

I tried to park the family beast in an open lot for the evening when the owner of the lot came up to me and advised against it. He said the night brings out bad people. With a diesel vehicle being a prime focus for theives. He advised to park inside. I found a basement lot big enough to house the beast. Attendants were typical Montreans, not very friendly.

The City is beautiful in areas. If I were a woman though, I would not feel safe.

Finally, I believe they're feeling their French oats. The general population from taxi drivers to cops, not friendly at all.

Relationships - cont'd - 2

2009-04-26T07:59:00.007-04:00

......

Megan and I had begun our remaining days together reinforcing statements she'd already made...."I shouldn't be in a place like this. They were bad for me, bad for us." The latter certainly proved true enough seeing the eventualities and what Megan's final reaction was. The very essence of this new beast inside me was a detraction for us. Took much of the time I previously had to spend with Megan, away, and replaced it with training and classes. It was an awful adjustment to expect her to assume, or tolerate. After the first couple of weeks, we'd discussed, at length, what was taking place. Further, what accommodations could be made to buttress our relationship.

Let me now jump on this time warp contraption and bring you to present for an explanation.

What has brought me to start thinking so heavily in Megan, now, at this time? Well, as explained, I'd been hearing the occasional anecdote coming back from family and friend about having seen Megan in passing. Last year, my bud Doug had a party catered at his house by RS Jones. He stated that he specifically asked if Megan would be there. He went out of his way to tell me about this, either out of concern for me and what I might feel, or in a deeper sense, maybe he too understood what Megan had been to me, and possibly might be in present day. I may be over-analyzing this as well. In the back of my mind I'd hoped she would be there so we could, for lack of anything else, say hi in passing. Possibly allow me to blurt out those feelings cooped up inside me for so many years of words never heard but needing to be said. She ended up not being there. This year on a few occasions, stories were related back to me of additional encounters with Megan. My sister recently related that she and her family were eating at 'Jones.' They frequent the place. The owners came over and sat down with them, chatting. Megan wasn't their waitress but then came over and said hi. With that she then started, again, relating how I'd broken her heart. My sisters husband Brian became animated in his astonishment that the conversation once again returned to me and our relationship and further how I'd then set the stage in her life for failed relationships then on. Other details were related as well, but I'll suspend the nity-gritty. This last detail was intriguing because it was another tidbit of information I'd not previously heard. My sister then encouraged me to reach out for her. She thought it would be readily accepted and make Megan happy.

The thought, again, of seeing Megan is both comforting, established, and similarly frightful. Obviously the raw boyish feelings within rear up and expose themselves. The feeling of impending conversations, discussions of the mundane or intense. Establishing closure, and hopefully, reestablishing a long lost friendship. Feelings of adolescence, intrigue, overwhelming nerves, etc. All wrapped up into one continuous emotion. I haven't felt this way in more than a decade. As always I discuss everything with my wife. Involvement with my emotions is critical to our relationship. My emotions run as an undercurrent to who I am, maybe to a fault at times. I've learned self preservation by involving others close to me, in my life. Therein, I am able to get assistance in understanding life's challenges and triumphs. Perspective also plays a heavy roll as well. I've died three times during this half of my life. Once at the derogatory hands of another. The others by the hand of professionals during mundane surgery (the second of which left me in the hospital for weeks.) I don't have a very positive view of anesthesiologists after this experience. These episodes have galvanized my view of carpe diem. Each and every day is a great one. Icing on the cake of my life. I've said for years now that if I died today, I'd have been the happiest man I could have ever hoped. I've had relationships with my family that I am quite content over. I've said all of the things I've wanted to say to those closest to me. I say I love you and mean it, from my heart. I understand my emotions, and am unafraid, relatively as you see, to express them. I will take the road unknown, for the sake of learning or experiencing something new about myself.

So in speaking to my wife, I asked her advice. What should I do with this information, if anything. Do I leave doors now closed be, or do I knock and try and open them to see where those hallways lead. She asked me to try and reconnect. That I, for one, would find much joy in those past friendships I'd lost by time or distance. She also stated that the words and emotions of the time, not expressed, are ones that should be expressed. Words and feelings like those should never be hidden or buried away, always released into consciousness so they can be appreciated. She on the other hand would take comfort and resolve from being able to potentially have conversation(s) with Megan as well. Find out who her husband was at the time of the beginning of what she has come to know as my passion for service and commitment. Volunteerism, professionalism, and samaritan. She knows to the extents I go in life. Knows the trials and travels that have and do make me who I am. Knows of me spending better portions of my life trying to save life and property. Within fire, earthquakes, wild-land fire, hurricane, 2AM at bedside, etc. She doesn't have the ability to have experienced me in my teens, during high school. At a time when my emotions and maturity were undeveloped. She also realizes, and has been told, what and who Megan was to me. (I think she also finds it a new avenue to 'compare notes' on me with someone else who'd once had my heart so deeply, and possibly remotely, still does. This to my obvious delight - can you sense my sarcasm in this prospect of having the only two women closest to me in my life, in the same room at the same time, TALKING?)

I didn't stop at just my wife. I also involved our friends as well. Loralee, Cathy, Mike, Doug (obviously- though not to the same extent since he's had other issues on his mind of late, though I think he understands.) They all were like, bring it on. We want to know Doug, and possibly share in the delight of his squirming in front of us. Imagine the possibilities. (I have some wonderful friends.) Then with this new Facebook thing, I've reconnected with some high school friends again. Rob Foster and Suzzie Ringwald, specifically. Told of this they were amazed at my wife's acceptance and prodding. Rob was like, whoa, way to go man. Suzzie suggested she would drive down to help Mary kick Megan's butt, if that's what Mary decided and needed - it's not.

All around, these past few weeks have been a flurry of new connections, reconnection's and reflection of days gone by. Mid-life crisis maybe? Nah, been there, done that. In reality not worth the time and effort. So, with all of these happenstances arriving within a month or so of each other, the psyche becomes atuned to them. They're currently at my forefront, welling under the surface, turbulent and fresh. Then, the biggest assault on my senses came last week at our friend Loralee's daughter's birthday. We go over to their house and are sitting off to one side, five of us enjoying conversation about this and that (and also about Megan), when Loralee's brother in-law walks up with his daughter. She's going through a period of terrible teenage angst. She is standing over me while the 'adults' are talking. Then a fragrance smacks me in the face. At first blind, casual and then I realize I know that fragrance. I used to enjoy, LOVE, that scent. What in gods name is it. The mind racing for a minute or so when it finally hits me. That's the perfume Megan used to wear. I haven't smelled that since....well, Megan. It had been my favorite woman's scent until Organsa arrived. (truth be told, it always pleasurably reminded me of Megan and being with someone who smelled and reminded me of someone Megan, is not conducive to my life, or mental health because of those inner feelings of loss.) I was stunned. Dumbfounded. I guess I was perceptively processing these complex thoughts, memories, emotions, heartache. Everything.

I looked up and realized that the conversation at the table had stopped. Cathy looked at me, and then asked, 'Doug, you okay?' I guess the blood had rushed from my face, instead racing to where it was needed most, my brain. I blinked away the cobwebs and said, "umm, yeah." Cathy persisted. (Cathy and Loralee have, over the years, made a game of trying to get me to blush or react to their challenges or Wiley ways. Friends alike, they take great pride in feeling they've pushed my boundaries, my moral essence as it were. (Loralee famously pinched my butt in Church, at her daughters Christening. Though outwardly appears to be the most chasted of the group.) Either through a seductive hug between them, licking opposite sides of a spoon at the same time, suggestive talk, whatever, they 'get' me and have fun with it. (If they only knew who they were trying to play with.)) Cathy asked, 'Doug, you've now flushed, what the heck is going on.' They too know of my deathly allergic reaction to processed sweetener (the likes of saccharine.) Their immediate concern was that I might have ingested something akin to death. I immediately recovered and said, "no, no, I'm fine. Just had a sensory overload." They asked me to explain and I did. Cathy said, its an 'Omen. Something to be done about it.' Loralee, seeing yet another opportunity, just wanted to continue in another chance to make fun of me. The conversation ended with Cathy asking, 'so what are you going to do about it Doug?' I answered I was unsure and like Mary, she said, 'go for it. We got your back.'

So, with this sensory overload bringing a swirl of emotion and memory to my life, I've resolved to give it a go. What's the worst that can happen....that she doesn't return the call. I'll know then that I've made another effort to reconnect, almost at her urging (if you read the tea leaves correctly. Though I've never been adept at reading such things.) I guess I want to set the record straight. Provide context for choices made and defined by circumstances too complex at the time to understand as an adolescent, or better, communicate properly. Typical arguments in life establish themselves by creating extreme boundaries, measures of excess, flourish of position. Like a fencers parry, or the positioning of themselves before the first blow. In opposition, what's the best that can happen. Well, such things may be destined to play themselves out, opportunity and emotion confined or released into consciousness. Close friends, occasional acquaintances, tear filled days and discussions, connection, who knows. This takes two to make anything work. She may not be as mature, accepting, tolerant, or engaging as I might be. That, though, wouldn't be the 'typical' response of the girl I once knew and loved. Her heart had been larger than that, larger than my life.

Back to the downfall. Megan began episodes of hypothesis on what would be our downfall. I on the other hand was thinking quite the opposite. What would make us work. I was, for all intensive purposes, planning to marry this girl. I was trying to merge the current strife with what my mind was set for, the long term. Then, abruptly, came a demarcation point. The declaration. The "I can't's." Megan was determining her boundaries, our boundaries for that matter. For a while she began saying things like, "I can't see us together through this chapter of your life." This shook me to my foundation. The girl who professed, so completely, her love and devotion to me and us. Who literally gave every sense of herself to me, for me. Yes, in retrospect these too were adolescent protestations. The immaturity time had not yet given perspective to. Megan was, after all, 17. She didn't yet know I wanted to set a date certain for us. 1984. She didn't see my building inner desire to let out those words from my heart. Was that realistic, was that placing too much of a burden upon a fledgling relationship? In 1982 maybe. Though I was a very ritualistic person. My discussions with my mother galvanized my determination. I was a new person, alive, headstrong. I was doing the things in life that had finally made me happy, for myself. My mother stated that she and my father got married very young. If love was there, explore it, embrace it, to others be damned. The family would support us in our relationship and life. I could be a husband.

My head hurt. My heart began to hurt. I'd realized I was breaking Megan's heart and that she didn't understand the larger picture. I finally decided it was time to involve her in my mothers discussion with me. Start anew and begin buttressing us and the relationship. Try and express my deep love for her now and for the future together. Nervously, I set alone time for us. I made plans, arranged for dinner out and a movie. Then a place for a long walk and deep honest discussion. It was time for me to talk with her, and hopefully it would end in the right time for me to ask her to marry me. Time, conditions, and emotions though didn't let the conversation go where I wanted it to. As I was talking, trying to make verbal strides to build up our position in life together, she was reading these signs as opposite. Two people speaking the same words, but hearing the opposite. I'd started out by describing who we were together. The people who experienced the first of everything with the other. In turn she began reading this as run up to breakup. I saw it happening in front of me, unable to recover. I tried many times to stop the conversation and ask to restart it. I'd get a couple words out and she would dive back into the devolvement of us. What was happening here. Why was this happening. Her comments became harder, more pointed. She laced some of her words with invectives and insult. Try as I might, I realized I couldn't recover, on this day at least, from this onslaught. It was a difficult night. The first of which I remember that made me question 'us.' It also made me see a side of Megan I had never seen before. Pain. I realized, horrifically, I was hurting this perfect woman, The perfect woman. The person in my life that I'd vowed to take adversity for, give my life for, offer my soul for, I was now making hurt, cry. My actions were making her an emotional wreck. How could one person do this to another. For the love of pete, what had I done. What were my actions doing.

That was the day of change. Why did I love Megan the way I did? Why would she accept, ever, to be my wife? Everything was in turmoil. With that, I turned to that thing in life that had newly, now, made sense. Emergency Medicine. I dove in head first, with both feet. This predictably, placed a new level of stress on our relationship. Every date, every spare moment we had together, was filled with strife. I was also preparing for college and leaving in a few weeks. How, if our relationship couldn't handle medicine, would it handle relative distance. I perceived this as yet again burdening Megan's heart with new ache. I was literally hurting her. Who could I talk to. So, I started with my mother. She urged me to keep trying. Offered to speak with Megan directly. Also, and somewhat predictably, the other who was Lauren. I say predictably because its almost a cliche. Lauren too was a new member in the vac. She and I spoke often during training. I let her into my life and problems, and she was very sympathetic with my plight. She gave me insight into the female psyche. Similarly a woman with deep emotion, deep thought and consideration, she too in a failing relationship. I, at the time, didn't see things progressing as they would eventually. What they might, could or would become. Lauren and I didn't become a 'we' until much later, many many months later.

Lauren had opened the topic of a mutual 'time out' as it were. My mother similarly suggested something akin to this. To give time and some distance a chance to let the roiling waters calm themselves. Allow perspective back in to the relationship. I considered this and went with it the best I knew how. Megan was not receptive. Megan asked if there was another girl involved with this new 'insight.' I answered honestly and said I had made new friends and one of them was Lauren who was helping me. I also stated that my mother was involved as well, hoping to be in a position to blurt forth my inner desires for a future life together. Megan's dark side reared up and struck about, wildly. Things for us were over.

My heart split that day. Broken, strewn about in portions of my life. Never to return to its previous state of bliss. Relationships were far more complicated than I knew at the time, or finally knew they actually weren't. I didn't want to let go. I gave it 2 weeks. I then called Megan's home. Spoke with her mother who advised me that it wasn't a good idea for me to be calling. I tried to explain that I wanted to talk, to reconcile, straighten things out. She stated she'd pass the message along. I waited a day and called again. I got her father. Left a message. I waited 2 more days, called again. Her mother answered and cut me off "Doug, dear, she's heart broken, don't ever call here again." She hung up on me. I then took to sitting in my car out on the street where I could see her house. I saw her room, 2nd floor window. Sometimes lit, others not. I'd wait hours on end hoping to catch a glimpse of her. I knew I could explain my heart and observations and ask forgiveness and the new chance at life together that could be afforded. I was willingly subverting my college to try and get back together. A month went by, I was at school and couldn't stand it anymore. I drove home. I called again and got her mother, who simply hung up. I penned 2 letters. Sent them in the mail. Nothing. I was coming home weekly to try and see her, catch sight of her. Nothing. I started coming back every other day. All for naught.

As loneliness set in and took hold, Lauren was in the periphery. Ever present once or twice a week. I met Lauren's mother one day when Lauren was weepy from her failed relationship. Her mom was extremely nice and concerned. Lauren walked out of the room and her mother said that I was making her happy, and thanked me. "You're good for her, a nice friend." I just muttered a 'Thanks." Lauren and I would eventually become a couple months later.

My mother sought to provide advice to me during this breakup. She knew how heavy a heart I had. Saw the tears and anxiety. She'd advised me to keep trying. Try to find and reach out to this wonderful person, the oncoming daughter-in-law. All of those efforts failed, until one day the memories were sufficiently suppressed for me to be happy again.

I did try to reconnect those few years later on that train. Failed as they were, I'm confident in myself in knowing I gave it a go. Time, people, circumstance, immaturity, protection by others, mother hens, all intervened to play a roll in keeping us apart. Maybe that's what should have happened, maybe it is not. I still wonder heavily, deeply. I know though, time has healed many wounds within me. Time has provided me with maturity and perspective. The ability to reflect on things I did wrong, and there were many, many of those. My view is but 50% of this story. I do hope that one day I have the ability to publish the other 50%, or have someone allow me to publish their words, her words, here, so a full perspective can be gleaned. I feel I owe her that. I owe myself that. I can only learn and become a better person through true perspective, 100% accuracy. It will make me a better man.

To what end do I write these things? Obviously this blog offers my thoughts and perspectives on life and the trials I've had and joys I've experienced. From a great friendship with Doug, which continues to evolve and deepen, to my relationship with my sister and her family. To my relationship with my wife Mary. I'm an open book with most things. Life is just, simply, too short to not live to its fullest and experience all that can or would be. These meanderings of my life, through written word are also genuine to my spirit and helpful. They provide perspective into my psyche that I might not have otherwise explored. They provide catharsis, support and a record for my family, its future, and otherwise. To understand their friend, acquaintance, father, husband, sibling, etc. In the end, these words are me, for me, by me of my own hand.
Life is precious, fleeting, complicated. Live for today. Understand the past. Accept failings. Move past them, learn by them, understand them. I'm better for it.

Postscript.

Through all of the above, I have done it. I've spoken to wife and family, friends near and far. I've received mostly encouragement (and one offer of violence.) I stumbled by the RS Jone's website and found a few pictures of classic Megan, smiling in that familiar way I remember. With that, I took the step. So, on Friday I reached out yet again. I sent a message that I know has now been delivered. I provided my numbers cell and work and the desire to say hi. I await the call. I will always await this call. My hand is extended hoping to explain, reconnect, laugh, maybe cry, to catch up. Hopefully, in the end, become friends again.

Time will tell.

Relationships - cont'd

2009-04-25T07:16:00.006-04:00

(cont'd)

Obviously, this is written in 2009. Many, too many, years have gone by. Unknowingly, Megan and I have been separated by miles, and time. My journeys have taken me across Nassau, NY to other States, to other counties (currently Suffolk, NY.) Unfortunately, REALLY unfortunately, what it now boils down to is 1 mile and 30 years. I work within a mile of where she works, now time is the detraction. So many years, in just one mile. I consider these hindrances the dearth of life.

As I've stated, Megan and I were doing everything together. Hey, I'd had my first dinner with the family, at her house. Her dad even acknowledged me with more than a grunt. (Her Dad, if memory serves was a carpenter.) Her brother Jack said hi to me - when I was someone to be acknowledged or seen. Met her sister Jane a time or two as well. Her brother Patrick, he was another story. A couple years younger than Megan. He was growing into and through his teens at the time. Full or energy and need. We talked. WE became friends and I joked around with him a great deal. I thought we hit it off and thought I'd broken down some of the barriers between siblings and the strange, fleeting people brought into homes at times. I remember one day waiting for Megan to get home when Patrick and I sat and talked. Almost brother to brother. I'd gotten the sense that he'd finally accepted me, where others in the house may not have. It was a nice first family to be involved with. Irish to the core, and accepting.

Since I'd never before been in this type of relationship with a girl, I took Megan at her word. I never, ever, knew anything different. Obviously I knew people, friends and schoolmates, and how shallow, manipulating or perverse they could be. The couple of girls I'd dated in the past, I really never got to know. Those relationships were born of alignment of time or convenience. Never really meaning anything more than a friendship. Megan had become my prime focus. Life just revolved around her. I hadn't yet experienced death or dying in my life, the likes which I have since, other than close family members. I make this statement because seeing and interacting with the amount of death and dying I have, beating back (sometimes) the grim reaper with my own hands, both calms and chills the soul. I guess this has hardened me, made me more actualistic, more apt to live in the moment, enjoy life with fervent regard to time, and try to never pass up connecting with people.

So, Megan was my world. As I've stated, she was gorgeous. The most beautiful girl in school, in town in the world. She was intelligent, could hold a conversation and NEVER backed away from an entrenched position without a fight. She was sparky, flirtive, full of life, never one to look back or be dragged down by adversity. Took to challenges and surmounted every one of them I'd seen come her way.........except one.

I'd never spoken to Megan about the conversation my mother and I had had at that kitchen table late that one night. Of my immediate perception, I didn't need to. We'd already hypothesized the future. What were were going to do, how the relationship would further develop, and how it would last. I'd written note after note to her, love letter or inane description of activities of the coming week or day. I liked to write to Megan. Liked to get her a flower, pass her friend a note to give her, or doodle hearts with initials and names. I found her similarly, I think by accident, doodling 'Megan Metzger.' It was cute, heart warming and visionary at the time.

The signs of our physical closeness could be seen by some in her family. Megan had spoken to her sister about it and the conversation was 'concerning' enough that her sister took her to her first Gyn appt and obtained an rx for the pill. We were safe, but her sister saw reality. Her aunt/uncle also noticed. One day we helped them move into a new house in Baldwin. Her aunt looked at us and said, if you ever need your privacy and a night to yourselves, you're welcome to come over here and use our spare rooms. (I blushed at that one.) Megan kept some things close to the vest though. Referring back to her sister and the gyn appt. Megan had been deceptive with me about her exploits with her sister, which led to a melt down later in the relationship, my hormonal and emotional immaturity. I couldn't yet wrap my head around the invasivness of what Megan had done for 'us,' or actually me.

All of my memories of Megan, as explained, are true and just. Any man in the world would be, should be, must be, blessed by being involved with her, married to her. The lengths she would go, straights she would forge for them, in the name of love, boundless. Just first rate all around. Intelligent, beautiful, caring, honest, supplanting at times, self-deprecatory, but most of all, grounded and not self-righteous.

Our demise.

My mind had been on one thing, relationship. I knew I was going to marry her. Mom told me I should, I agreed and was focused on getting through the summer and my first year in college with that in mind. Megan was Megan. She'd shown every indication that she would be right there with me every step of the way. When the time came and I'd gotten the chance to propose, she'd leap for joy, take it in stride and continue focusing on us, her education and needs, family, etc. I thought I could predict Megan. My mother was excited at the prospect of my relationship with Megan. She'd secreted me off one day, down to the 'safe' in our house. She'd opened it and showed me the engagement ring I should use. It had been my father's aunts ring. Created around the turn of the century, antique in every sense, a slightly less brilliant stone than those of today, a bit of amber color in it, wonderful setting, with Megan written all over it. It was going to be her ring. I just needed time to pass in order to ask her. The need within me though was building exponentially by the day.

Skipping forward. My relationships since Megan have been plenty, varied, complex, trying and satisfying beyond explanation. Megan gave me my legs. Made me believe in the person I was. She validated the man in me, helped to support the confidence I'd been developing since I was 16. (Before 16 I was a mess. Introverted, non-exploratory, home body, limited. With a friend of mine, the two of us had packed off for Europe during the summer of 1980. 12 weeks we spent by ourselves, exploring, learning, fending for ourselves. Learning about the world. This was the best thing my parents could have ever let me do at that time. Not really my idea, but still, just a great thing.) The girls I'd dated since were beautiful, worldly, living for the moment, aggressive, self-centered, caring, earnest, hot-headed, foreign, animalistic, bi-polar, sexual, attempted murderers (VERY true - at my expense), miscreants, thieves, generous, adoring, etc etc. All types, shapes, kinds, ages, situations. I'd dated for as little as 2 days and as long as years. In my heart and my I'd been trying to find a new Megan. Just never getting there. So, I'd move from one girl to another to see if we 'fit' or if a match was made. I guess I was unknowingly on a wife hunt, begun with, and in the image of, Megan. The most adoring girl I'd ever at the time known. I'd realized, finally, that girls found me attractive. Whether for my composure, hulk, intellect, care, passion, features, whatever, I'd found my mojo, as it were. I finally settled down in 1992.

I last saw Megan, in other than photo's, in 1986/87. At the time I was commuting daily to the city where my new company, started with my father, was located. The Long Island Railroad. I was dressed in jacket and trench coat, sitting with my father on the commute home. In Penn, a woman walks over and says hi. Its Megan. We spent the next 45 minutes talking of goals and rights of passage, a great deal of small talk. At that time she stated she was studying for her Series 7 exams. Didn't really state what she was planing to do with it other than securities. The trip was woefully short. That ride had triggered something in me. I figured I'd try and sit down, establish bygone times and see what happened. Try and redevelop, at the least, the close friendship I'd once known. Someone I remember as being my 2nd closest friend. For no other reason than being friends, I wanted to try. If that led to a relationship, sobeit. If not, I'd be happy with that as well. So, after parting ways and with much consideration I sat down and composed my 2nd lengthy letter to Megan. The first a diatribe of cowering lost memories and desires, apologies, etc completed within days of our first breakup. I finished it and delivered it to Megan's house. Knocked on the door and spoke with her mother. I handed her the envelope and asked it to be given to Megan. Mom did not seem to be a fan of mine at that time, (understandably.) I'd hoped it would be delivered. Never though heard word back.

Time warp machine to the beginning of the end.

With our girlfriends in toe, Doug and I had left boating and the beach and were driving home. Traffic was a bit heavy on Sunrise Highway coming from Wantagh, so I made a turn onto Bellmore Ave. We stopped at a traffic light in front of a volunteer ambulance service. The light turned green and Doug looked at me "wanna do it?," motioning with his head. I looked over and without any further thought said "what the heck." I spun the car around, girls dumbfounded in my actions. We pulled into the place and filled out applications for membership, then left. About a week later we were members. For me it was the beginning of a 20+ year life of public and private service to those in need.

I'd been a Boy Scout. My father was a Boy Scout, as was his father, and his fathers' before. The family had a history of starting volunteer fire company's in areas that didn't have them. Concerned for those without had been an established family mantra going back generation after generation. I'd been chasing fires with my friend Doug since I was 13. Initially on bikes, and then in cars. Scanners adorned our rooms and now cars. We loved the thrill of it all. This was again, another generations progression of service to the community. It was destiny for me, realized or not at the time. It was in my bloodline.

In the 70's, I'd lost some people in my family to disease and age. Too young to develop any deep emotional scars, but old enough to begin appreciating them. I'd seen my mother drawn from the house on a stretcher. I'd seen the same of my grandmother. My sense helplessness and desire to be able to do something about their pain and suffering, or try to assist in their, or their families comfort ran as an undercurrent to my personality. Something about being in emergency medicine clicked with me. Lit that flame of desire and purpose. Filled a void in me. I was now, unknowingly, feeding a beast within.

With acceptance, I immediately began to take classes. First CPR, then AFA (advanced first aid) then EMT, Medic, teaching, training, writing, authoring, designing systems, etc etc. This beast inside still exists to this day, beginning, again, to rear its turbulent head. Within me is an endless passion and charge of desire and aptitude. This training placed me on the fast track of my inner personal need. I was accomplishing something that could help the sickly in my family, and friends, at a time of their urgent need. Obviously, this training took time away from Megan. She showed signs of discomfort in me being in the service from the start. We spoke of, and sometimes fought, about it. Her view was that the place was like the fire departments. Beer swilling, hanging out at the departments basement bar on Friday nights just getting drunk. Megan had an aversion to drinking. Some in her family were or had been alcoholics of some variety or type. Her concerns, in me though, were never realized. I tried to assist her in her understanding. I asked to bring her to the vac (volunteer ambulance company) on a few occasions. She declined. Then, I rode my first emergency call as an observer. A Cardiac Arrest. It was thrilling. I was pulled into the fray of this call to assist a short crew in the back. I was performing CPR for the first time. It was a save. My first. They though come all too infrequently. It was filling those very voids within me that I'd wanted closed for some time.

Megan did not get it. She couldn't see the good in me, the good I was in need of. The destined person I would become. Didn't see the passion I had, or would have for this. I knew from that first emergency call that I had found my life's passion, the thing I am most attuned to, the very part of me that works, has always worked so well. Emergency services. Emergency diagnostics. Understanding body systems and mechanisms. My world was now on two very distinct and divergent pathways. Marrying Megan and doing what would become the very essence of me and driving force. I was being torn in two, by these two internal beasts. One would win, the other would, woefully and unfortunately, lose.

.....tbc....

Relationships

2009-04-21T14:26:00.011-04:00

So, here's a goody. Relationships.

Through the prodding of a 'buddy' of mine, I joined Facebook. It was a few months ago. At first, I just saw it as a blathering site of neanderthals and young'ins looking to connect or 'hook up' (what a generation time lapse has done to that expression. Totaly different today than 20 years ago.') More recently I started getting 'friended' by people I have not spoken to in 30 years. 30 years. Wow. Its been a trip ever since. As my friend base grows, so does my intrigue.

Then a few weeks ago, Mom convinced me to start a family tree. Yeah, I know, boring, tasteless mash. But, after a few days of laptop time I began making progress, downloading and storing Census data, birth certs, death certs, house deeds, etc etc. I'm now over 100 strong in the family, traced to such places as Germany, England, Canada. This is but one side of the family. Its actually intriguing as long as you have the time to spend. Way off topic now.

So, during the research above, I started scanning some photo albums of my family, along with critical documents. I'll compile all of this material and then distribute copies to whomever wishes. Maybe the kids will have a desire to understand their history. Who knows. During my scanning/digitizing efforts, I open a Pendaflex file folder and low and behold I find a couple pictures from my Prom season in 1982. In these pics are my bud Doug Mills, his girlfriend at the time Marianne Hendel, and my girlfriend at the time Megan Barratt (photo on right.) S.H. Calhoun's best byproducts. Wow, was that a toss back and shock to the psyche.

Now for context, this is the 3rd or 4th time Megan's name has popped up in the recent year or so. It began a while ago with my sister, Tammy, stating that she'd visited a restaurant in Merrick (R.S. Jones,) and low and behold who is a waitress there, Megan. Tammy stated that Megan made a point to walk over and say hi, ask about the family, and then casually begin talking about me, asking how I was doing while also proving ending statements of 'He broke my heart.' (This last statement is true, to a point. I admit it.)

It'd been a very long time since I'd last thought about Megan, even longer since we'd last spoke, fleetingly. The mind instantly resolves those various memories, 30 years worth, and studies each one. Looking for reason behind action and anything that can be gleaned from years of mental gymnastics, trials and tribulations. Such as, 'This is what we did on this day, which caused this to happen, which finally resulted in....breakup.' Hmm. Or, 'we did this on this day, argued, made-up, argued a bit more which eventually resulted in...breakup.' Don't get me wrong, the overwhelming majority of the memories are good, true and pure, resulting in some of the best memories of my life. Some of the most important memories of my life. First love. First PDA. First girl home to the family. First, first, first. These firsts will forever be the penultimate in my heart and mind because the first relationship is/was, for me at least, so formative. As I've stated to my wife in the past (and also recently) Megan was anything and everything a good guy could have hoped to be involved with. Special in every way. We spent the better part of a year together, almost always smiling, laughing, holding hands, being there for each other, etc. Sometimes we'd cry and scream in each others arms, but for the 'right' reasons. Just an all around wonderful girl. I have no qualms about saying those things, she was first rate, all the way. She may still be this way, almost thirty years later, I do not know, yet.

Now, here's where I start jumping back and forth, decades between, so fasten the seat belt and hang on.

Megan Barratt. Grew up in Merrick, NY. Lived a couple doors up the street from a Methodist Church. A few blocks from my boyhood home. She was a middle child with an older brother and sister, and also a younger brother. She was 1 year, basically, my junior. I met her in High School. She was helping the school redo display cases in the hallways. I, at the time, was trying to establish a Swim team display case (I was Captain of the team.) We met, talked, I was intrigued, asked her if she wanted to help manage a swim team, she said yes. She started helping and within a week or so, we were double 'dating' with Doug Mills and one of his girls (not sure if Marianne was in the picture yet.) This date consisted of a Friday night trip to Levittown Skates, on Hempstead Turnpike. I was wearing a heavier jacket at the time (November.) Megan dressed to kill, but still conservatively fitted. The night was colder and her jacket light. Being the polite chivalrous guy I am, I offered my jacket, she declined. A few minutes went by and she was still shivering. This was crazy. With that I opened my jacket and pulled her towards me, letting her snuggle in for some warmth. I wrapped my arms around her and we stood, cued in line, waiting to get into the rink. (Hey first time I'd had a girl this close.) 20 minutes pass and one of my friends sees me and asks if Megan was my girlfriend. I was tongue tied. Not even a first 'official' date, not even on my mind really because I was still so clumsy with women-folk, and still a babbling fool. Plus why would THIS girl, beautiful, smart, witty, full of life, want to date me? With that she turns around, looks me in the eyes, instantly melting me mind you, and asks, "well, are we?" I tried to gather the racing thoughts of delight at that prospect and said, "Yes, (a hint of a stammer) we are." That was how I 'asked' Megan Barratt out. ;)

She was beautiful, is still beautiful (from photo's). I'd had a couple of fake girlfriends before, for a week at a time, or not more than a month, to which the most I'd done was held hands, or the occasional kiss. This was totally different. Megan was H.O.T. She laughed at my stupid jokes, looked me in the eye and actually listened to what I was saying (or trying to say because I was still so nervous.) We then began doing everything together. Mills found a steady girlfriend, finally, so we double dated every week. Every week. I got to see Megan both in school and after school, during swim meets. I dragged her to a Monday afternoon swim practice (the only one held after school, the rest were at 5AM.) Coach LaRossa liked her, Loved her as a matter of fact. We went skating, to the movies, boating, to the beach, long drives. Everywhere.

She was my girl, I was her guy. I gave her my class ring, and another very special ring to me, one my grandfather had given me. She wore it on a chain around her neck. We joined track together. Went to parties. All of the things couples typically do. Things started heating up. Describing it kindly, in the haze of 30 years, it was our time. We were each others first. Awkward, deliberate, heavy handed, startling. We were one, together.

A few months had gone by when I came down with Mono. I was home for a week, just before
Easter. Sick as a dog, so we were just talking on the phone. This was a strange interruption in our schedule. Then Easter Sunday comes and there's a knock on the front door, I'm sick, barely existing, convalescing in the living room and in walks this 5' nothing yellow - skin tight Rabbit costumed - Megan (floppy ears, button tassel tail and all.) As I stated, Megan was hot. She filled out every portion of clothing she wore. She didn't due this costume any disservice. I was embarrassed. Me sitting sickly in my home with Megan all chipper and fitted out. She was, frankly, making me all hot and bothered. My father was in the room and I didn't want him to be experiencing all these yellow curves. I was a typical slow thinking, hormonal and emotional teenager. I hadn't showered or shaved (1x per week at that point in my life) and looked a mess. I kept asking myself why would this cover girl want to come see me, or even be dating me for that matter, when I was looking and acting like I did. She pressed on with her task. She wanted me to smile and to brighten my day, my week, my year (my life - wait for it.) I relented. She blew me a kiss and left. That was Megan. She was just a fine fine girl. Had my heart and soul from that first look.

We'd been dating for 6 months at this time. Things returned back to normal from my illness and my mental imperfections. Within a week or so I was invited up to her house for a family dinner. With her father, no less. I'd met her mother, a very nice woman. Not opposed to speaking her mind at all. Me, the boyfriend, could be her best friend at times or the worst enemy the U.S. had ever seen, changing in a split second (depending on conditions, as they were ;0)

I'd left Megan's house late and got home. In the house I'd found my mother sitting at the kitchen table. This was typically our time talk. We just talked about this and that. She asked how Megan was and how the important dinner went. Prophetically, she then began describing to me what Love was. She asked me what I now come to understand as 'Life' questions. She kept commenting on how great Megan was. I said 'yes Mom, I'd stepped into this one by chance and was going to hang on with both hands.' She said 'good choice' for me. I looked up at mom knowing there was something more she wanted to say. I prodded her a bit and she said, "you're young, graduating school, moving on to college and beyond. You should stay with this girl." 'I know Mom, I plan to.' She said 'good.' She then asked if I loved her. "Yes, Mom, I really did." She asked a few questions about those feelings I was experiencing for the first time in my life. Then, in possibly a slip or a calculated statement she said, 'are you thinking about marrying her? If you are, you should.' I stopped and looked hard, mind racing about this. Has my mother the ability to read my thoughts? She said, 'what you've found in Megan, most people do not ever get to experience even once in a lifetime.' She said, 'think about it. Not for today, tomorrow, or next year, but do marry her.' Thinking about it, the hard answers seemed to come quickly, naturally and very easily. After a minute or so of silence I said "I will Mom." She hugged me with a tear in her eye and spirited off to bed.

From that day on, I had that end result in mind. I was going to marry Megan Barratt. Mrs. Megan Metzger. Girls, other girls, didn't exist. The intensity of being with her continued to grow. I couldn't believe anything I was feeling could run so deep, be so natural. I was looking at her as my future wife. I could barely contain my enthusiasm at times. We talked of life plans. We talked of kids. Houses. Towns. Friends. Paint colors. Furniture styles. And, all the future things couples would do together in a life bound in marriage.

....TBC

Pause

2009-03-10T17:18:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to get back to the process of finishing my last post regarding my fathers Washington visit and meeting the President(s). It will take me sitting down with my father and getting a recap from him in context of what has already been related. Since I work in the same office as him, it shouldn't be a problem, right? Well woe to my efforts, or lack thereof, it has been an issue. Not one created by anyone other than myself, but still an issue. This in no way is any form of excuse, its just telling it like it is.

Off-topic. This coming weekend will be a treat for me. I've made plans to thank a couple people close to me, who have helped and stood by my side throughout this past year. Namely, Mom, Dad and Sam Sterret. This effort will take me to Baltimore and then Washington. In Baltimore, we're staying at Inner Harbor for 2 evenings. First to have dinner with two nieces we haven't seen in a great while. Next, to see Kooza, a Cirque Du Soleil traveling show. Then on Saturday, one of our nieces, Angela, will be taking us for a behind the scenes tour of the Baltimore Aquarium. Then, in the evening, we drive down to W.D.C. in order to have dinner with Sam, at the Four Seasons. We're looking forward to having a great time.

Good Morning,.....Mr. President (4)

2008-02-04T16:32:00.001-05:00

...The Judge tugs at Joe's sleeve and says, Joe, I'd like to introduce you to President George H.W. Bush. With that Joe turns around and is smack dab nose to nose with the President (and his security detail). The President offers his 'its a pleasure to meet you today Joe. How did you come to know the Judge?' With that Joe heavily summarizes his first meeting with the Judge and his friendship that's developed throughout the years. Joe then comments to the President, "Mr. President I believe we also have mutual friends and acquaintances outside this room." The President responds, "oh, how so?" With that Joe begins by telling the President that he was involved with the Nixon Maritime act in the early 70's and had met the former President (Nixon) at a White House function. In the same breath Joe related that a year later, as the Maritime Act was in full effect with ships being constructed in China, Joe had the opportunity to meet with C.H. Tung and subsequently was able to finance many of C.H.'s ships. (As a side note, there are many pictures of my sister and me sitting on the lap of CH Tung and to this day my house is graced by a very beautiful white marble table and solid marble chairs given to Joe as a gift from C.H., which have been passed down to me.) Joe also had the opportunity to meet and develop a working relationship with the late CY Tung (C.H.'s father.)

The President could not have been more accommodating and engratiating. He listened with interest and intent and then told Joe that Barbara (Bush) was the one who has the strong relationship with C.H. Tung and his family and Joe should seek out and speak with her! Joe took the Presidents hand in closing and wished him well, and the President moved on, after speaking with the Judge and the Bishop.

Right behind the President was Jeb Bush (former governor of the State of Florida.) Joe introduced himself after Jeb asked who had his fathers attention for so long and having heard the initials CH drop in the conversation. Joe spent the better part of 10 minutes speaking with the governor about the Tungs and also a mutually enjoyed location, Florida. Jeb went on to say that the location in Florida where Joe resides is one of his favorite places because of the areas attention to historic preservation and the lower impact the area has adopted for development. Jeb also mentioned that Joe should seek out and speak with the former First Lady about the Tungs.

As Jeb walks on, the Judge and Bishop turn to Joe and ask why he didn't introduce Jeb to them both. Joe exasperated and quizical says, hang on, and finds Jeb only moved a few feet away. Joe got Jeb's attention and introduced the two men to Jeb. Joe immediately reconciled his life and friendships to now try and figure out how he was placed in a position of knowing Jeb Bush and introducing him to the Judge and the Bishop. Its a funny world.

Thereafter, Joe was introduced and spoke with Colin Powell (former US Secretary of State) many US Senators and bank officials. Joe then scans the room and notices a former Major League Baseball player who was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame.....

Good Morning,....Mr. President (3)

2008-01-31T14:14:00.001-05:00

With Joe just having witnessed the oddity of HIGH security, to see the Judge and the Bishop arrive was a retrieval back to some semblance of normality. Joe obviously knows the Judge and relates to him on an almost daily basis via phone or personal meeting.

The Judge walks over and introduces Joe to the Bishop, (technically, The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane - Eighth Bishop of Washington DC). The three begin to people watch together. The group is in constant awe of their surroundings and continued, but slight, disbelief that their lives would coalesce into events such as the one they're now attending. They remark to each other about the level and complexity of the security. There's a small foyer cafe off the hotel lobby where many people have gathered and are now sitting, open-air style, slowly sipping coffee's and dinner drinks in hopes of catching a glance at the big-wigs walking around. The secret service is on top of this cafe. They stand shoulder to shoulder ringing the cafe proper forming a black-suited human wall which prevents most of the gazers from even the slightest view of their protected subjects. After a few minutes of taking in all the ceremony, atwitter and meanderings going on, their allotted time has arrived. They have been invited to a cocktail party being hosted by Riggs Bank (now PNC Bank) before the nights dinner. They must now ascend the main staircase to the second floor in order to go through security screening, metal detectors, pat downs, xrays, blood tests, psychological examinations, etc, etc.

As they arrive on the second floor there's the obligatory metal detector screening manned by heavily armed secret service. The lead agent waives the Joe and the Judge through without incident. The Bishop is the last to walk-thru, but the secret service agent first asks him to remove the large gold chained cross that hangs from his neck. (The Bishop is wearing typical formal clergy wear - formal slacks and shoes, a clerical tunic with white collar, open black jacket and large gold cross on chain.) The Bishop stops, raises his eyebrows, and then asks the agent "Son, are you sure you wish to ask that of a man of the cross?" The agent apologizes and says he must in fact ask the Bishop to do so as part of his 'protocol.' With this the Judge sidles over and states in a very authoritative tone 'Agent, you did not just ask a man of the cloth to remove a sacred chain, DID YOU?' Now the Bishop chimes in and says, ' While I am always one to consider my surroundings and the need of the event, I will refuse to remove my cross.' The agent now seeing the steel in the eyes of the two men begs pardon and issues an apology to both stating 'please forgive my transgression of protocol, no disrespect was meant to your stature, person or affiliation, we are just trying to follow orders.' The Bishop waves off the agent as if to say 'it is not taken in bad faith and is understandable' and then walks thru the metal detector which sounds immediately. The agents do however hold the Bishop at bay for quite some time as they hand wanded him from head to foot, bow to stern, even closely inspecting the cross until they were comfortable with letting him pass. The three men took a few steps and began chuckling at the level of detail and concern, knowing it was all for good and admirable reason.

The Riggs cocktail party was one of three simultaneous parties being held in the hotel. The other events were sponsored by other very well known organizations, but it was clear the Riggs event was the place to be judging by those in attendance.

Joe, the Judge, and the Bishop (these words send shivers through me each time I try and visualize it and cause me to snigger under my breath) enter the reception room and are immediately confronted by the sights and sounds of laughter, clusters of people, at every turn the brain firing off with - I've seen that person on TV, or listened to a speech they gave on FOX, or saw that one interviewed by Dianne Sawyer... The Bishop tells Joe he's still remains in awe of these gatherings and sometimes can not believe he's been invited to attend, or better yet, speak. He said that he hasn't met the vast majority of the people standing around in huddled groups and begs Joe to introduce him to anyone Joe knows that the Bishop has not yet met. Joe laughs at that and says he's the last person the Bishop should be asking to provide introductions.

Joe's sleeve is tugged, its the Judge. The Judge is on a tare to introduce Joe and the Bishop to one and all in the room. They whisk here and there .......

Good Morning,...Mr. President (2)

2008-01-30T18:54:00.001-05:00

.....The parents drove down to Washington on Friday morning. Arriving at their hotel (The Willard) and checking in. The first days festivities were planned out. Joe was to meet Judge Sam outside the Capitol and they'd then walk to their first event of the day, a walk-thru of the Alibi Club. (In the link you'll find an adequate, if brief, explanation of the club.)

As a short aside, the timing of the entire weekend was planned with extreme accuracy, literally down to the minute. You arrived well ahead of time and entered, not a minute before or a minute after your scheduled appearance. To do so risked your very attendance at the event. Reason being....security. Huge, overt, covert, ninja-type, bad-ass big TREMENDOUS security. They screened, poked and prodded all in attendance. To a much lesser extent, pomp, circumstance and tradition.

The inner workings of the Alibi Club are very interesting. The related experience went something like this.

Joe and Judge were to be at a luncheon around the block from the White House. The guest speaker of the luncheon was Robert Gates, SECDEF.

The Judge wanted to show Joe the Alibi Club first hand. There was a timing issue with the visit though. Judge and Joe walked into this exclusive club about 7 minutes prior to 12. The inside was related to be a simple town home of a few stories tall. On one wall were caricatures of the rich and famous who have, for over a century+ graced the halls of this home. These caricatures were made of cut-out photo heads of the person with hand-drawn bodies and settings. No photographs ever, of course.

At 3 minutes to 12 the door opens and the concierge/doorman walks in and announces - "Lady and Gentlemen, arriving, President George H.W. Bush, 41st President of these United States of America." With that, the President walks in, along with his heavy security detail. Since the Judge and Joe were there just for a quick look-see they were almost in the entry hall of the club when the President arrived. Immediately, the President saw Judge Sam, walked over and shook his hand asking how the Judge was doing. In turn the Judge invited over Joe and introduced the two. Within a minute a grand father clock sitting in the foyer began to chime high noon. Upon the sixth chime another staff-man walked into the room, picked up an end of the voice powered intercom (read - air-tube) and announced the traditional Friday lunch was being served in the dinning room. Judge and Joe begged their good-byes and immediately walked out in order to make it the block or so to the Robert Gates luncheon. (A brief picture stop was made outside the club of the Judge. It was a hurried pic that was made even more brief when the Secret Service immediately walked over and asked both men to continue moving onward. (I hope to be able to update this post with the related pic shortly.))

The two men walked to the luncheon, were screened by security and escorted to their table. They sat with the military elite, past SECDEF's, military contractors, congressman, senators, etc. The speech Robert Gates offered was extremely engaging and played with anecdotes and personal details of his nine months in the position. The three most notable anecdotes were how his first nine months had seemed like 55 months. It was a challenge he would not relish on anyone, it at times made him question whether or not he was in his right mind when he agreed to take the job, but had turned to feelings of more personal satisfaction lately. He stated that he would most likely look back fondly on this episode of his life, but certainly one of the most extreme. His next anecdote was relating a recent experience he had with the French. He noted that the relationship with France appears to be improving dramatically and in very intensive terms. The French President Sarkozy has so far proved engaging and open to new relationships. This feeling of openness has permeated to all levels of the government. Recently Mr. Gates visited his French counterpart and had lunch with him (a first in 10 years). Over this lunch, the French Military Chief said a nice show of appreciation between peoples might be for a US naval ship to visit France on a port-of-call. Robert agreed it would be very nice and they shook on it (no approvals needed from Stateside since Gates has the full support and an extremely wide latitude and stand-alone authorization from the President.) Within a couple weeks the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise entered port and spent some time.

Mr. Gates then went on to say that the relationship between the two countries, which under Chirac was extremely frosty at best, has warmed considerably. There's even talk now of France engaging with Nato to send about 1000 of its troops to Afghanistan (though nothing firm is yet agreed upon.)

A Day with Monkey Suits

Saturday evening was the main attraction for the weekend, the Alphalpha Dinner.

Joe arrives at the Hotel about 20 minutes before the Judge. Security is ringing the hotel. Its nothing like he's ever seen before. Washington DC police, mounted, motorcycle, dressed and plain clothes, US Marshal's, Uniformed Secret Service, plain clothes secret service, hotel security, Diplomatic Protective Services, private security, on and on. Quite literally hundreds upon hundreds of police and security staff, some armed to the teeth carrying weapons as big as themselves.

Joe is now standing in the hotel lobby waiting for the Judge to arrive. He's playing gawker at this time in awe of everyone who walks through the doors. The interesting part is that the hotel also has regular guests staying as well. This puts regular Washington area tourists in the same location that the Washington elite are using. Joe notices a man in his 30's just standing off to one side. He's dressed in a tee-shirt, faded jeans and sandals. There he stands just watching everyone, not really moving locations. After a couple minutes Joe notices that the Secret Service have been watching this guy like a hawk. Agents are moving about, changing locations, speaking into their lapels or wrists and then moving about again. Conspiratorially, Joe believes mr. blue jeans is now a marked man with his picture already taken and run through a vast FBI image database to find out who this guy is. A couple FBI agents walk over and stand right beside the guy for a minute or so in an imposing manner, not looking directly at him, but obviously checking him out, they then move away. A minute later in walks a Washington DC police officer with dog. The police officer stops and stares directly at the guy. The dog sits down, he too, staring menacingly at the blue jean guy. Joe gets the feeling that the dog, if leash let go, would just devour the man in an instant. As quickly as the cop appears he too walks away. The rotation continues for a few minutes until it sinks in to the blue jean guy that he's being watched, surveilled, recorded and otherwise visually interrogated. The man moves off.

In walks the Judge. He arrives with another of his close friends, the Bishop of Washington DC.

more later......

Good Morning...Mr. President

2008-01-29T16:44:00.001-05:00

Let me start off by saying that this is going to be a strange post...

As a son, I continue to be in awe of my father more times than not. His limits exceed mine at almost every turn. His drive, tenacity, friendships, personal bonds, and judgement are well beyond mine on almost every level. Of most continuing interest to me is the ability to live vicariously through his eyes. His life experiences continue to amaze and place me, humbly, at his feet, forever seeking his continued approval.

The above now being said, I must try, mightily, to relate my father (and mother's) experience from this past weekend. Its a life experience, of life experiences.

Over the past decade or more, my father has developed a friendship with a gentleman by the name of Judge Sam Sterrett. They met through a mutual association in northern NY with their relationship growing progressively fonder. Judge Sterrett is former chief judge in the US Tax Court and continued advisor to the US Supreme Court on tax cases. He's retired from the Chief Judge position since 1991, but continued 'as counsel' to the Tax Court and the US Supreme Court since that time. He's also personal friends with former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor - US Supreme Court.

A month or so ago, Judge Sterrett called my father Joe and asked if he would be the Judge's guest for an upcoming weekend of events in Washington DC. Specifically, the events surrounding the Alphalpha Club Dinner.

As a primer, the Alphalpha Club is about the most exclusive 'open' club anyone could belong to within Washington DC. You must be elected to be a member, there are only 200 members of the 'club', the sole purpose of the club is to have one dinner gathering a year. The club's members include past President's of the US, Secretaries of State, government movers and shakers, as well as community leaders and extremely large corporate heads. The dinner roster each year includes the member base and each member is allowed to invite two (2) guests. This years dinner involved approximately 695 persons. Typically, around the dinner itself, the group of dignitaries roasts each other. This years guest of honor was President George W. Bush, with guest speaker Michael Bloomberg.

This event is held at a very large Washington hotel. Leading up to the event are many lunches, dinners, cocktail party's and related events.

....more when I return....

Retrospective

2008-01-05T12:12:00.001-05:00

So, its been a while since I last blogged. Couple things going on I guess. First, being sick has not been a walk in the park. While seemingly only a REALLY bad chest cold -the worst I've EVER had - its still zapped me of any energy what-so-ever. In between the nose leaking all over the place, the gravelly voice, laryngitis, and a huge amount of yuck stuck in my chest needing to be hacked out, all things together it didn't make for any sort of fun.

I'm upset that I had to miss sis's b'day party and celebration last evening and then the friends celeb this evening. Obviously we don't wish to get anyone sick and bring them down either, but still, wish we could have been there and attending the funness.

Over the past couple of days have watched as Britany Spears spiraled further downward toward her path to suicide or permanent committal. Poor family, poor kids is all I can say. I still can't believe how hard it is to take kids away from a woman so desperately out of control. This also leads me to the gist of today's blog...how fleeting life can be at times. While, due to my particular circumstances and life's little potholes along the way, I've taken to making sure each day contains something good, life affirming and just. Whether its taking the time out to help Mom with the computer, spending some time on the phone with a friend talking with them and being a good shoulder, telling vast tales of life's exploits to co-workers or passersby, recognizing a persons efforts on my behalf, or communicating a realization I had to everyone around me.

This week two events took place that brought me to self-realization. I in turn needed to communicate these realizations to Emily and Wifey. The first;

Topsy-Turvy

This is hands down one of the great movies of our time. (Take this advice from where its coming - I'm a HUGE Gilbert and Sullivan fan). The story is based on the exploits and relationship of Gilbert & Sullivan (G&S) (i.e. Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, Mikado, etc etc etc.). Arguably one of the greatest production teams for stage and theater ever. As the story unfolds, G&S have been working together for quite some time, under contract for Doyle-Carte (a production team of man and significant other). Two years remain on their contract. Gilbert, of course, is the playwright. Sullivan composes and conducts his scores for Gilbert's efforts (for the most part, though Sullivan is equal in talent as playwright as well.) Gilbert, admittedly for quite some time, has found a niche or format which seems to work well with audiences. The basic description is 'topsy-turvy' (or turnabout.) In Gilbert's case he seems to like magic best. Its a convention that allows the greatest written latitude because a viewer can accept a 'magical' enterprise much more readily than having to suspend reality and or rationalize the abnormal or contrived thought. Previous plays have used magical carpets, magical vessel, magical letter, magical potion, etc. (Albeit, all to great success.)

In Sullivan's eyes, these past twenty-odd years of team work with Gilbert have been great, no doubt, but the contrivance of magical topsy-turvy is grating on his nerves. He's a grand composer at heart in the time (late 1800's) of great European composers. He feels like life is passing him by and that his true inner talents are being limited and bound. He's not been able to spend the time he wishes on grand compositions, symphony's or anything greater than Libretto's. He feels smothered by the process and his contract. Quite frankly, he desires out of his Doyle engagement and away from Gilbert who keeps going back to the till for long past original ideas.

Strife between the two abounds and comes to a head in a meeting with Doyle-Carte with the two pronouncing they are at lager-heads.

The following scenes are the most intriguing to me because I can identify with them almost completely (and part of the reason for this blog entry).

Gilbert is shown in his house speaking with his wife. She's just returned from a trip through London proper and is trying to relate her experiences with him. He on the other hand is withdrawn and continued to be upset with the events of late and his future without Sullivan. His wife explains to him that it'd be good for him to get some fresh air and get out of the house to clear his mind. He protests, loudly. She persists, in a measured and reasoning tone. He protests more loudly. She's trying to explain that a Japanese exposition is in town and she'd like to take it in with him. He's adamant about not going. Cut to the next scene - The two are walking through the exposition together.

Now, while this is just a great movie and well worth anyone's attention and time to sit back and watch history being made, it also relates something I experience daily. Gilbert is a brainy, progressive, intellectual fellow, very successful at what he does, self-confident and structured. His wife on the other hand, is also very strong willed but in a more refined way. She's also very intelligent successful in her own right. She has the ability to see the bigger picture when it comes to her relationship, more-so than her husband. She persists in her statements, suggestions and admonitions and, eventually, wins out after the battle. In my life I have wifey. I don't know what I'd do without her and I recognize each day what a lesser of a man and person I'd be without her help, love and support. I try and explain this to her as often as I can because, well, its just true.

So, watch the movie. You don't need to see into the movie the importance or conviction I see in it, but at least watch it for the sake of being entertained. You'll see greatness abound and the intrigue suggested through the development of The Mikado. As a note, watch for the all important agreement to be signed for the development of the Savoy Hotel (with one bathroom per room no less). Visionary.

Blues Brothers

Elliot and Jake

On Friday evening I caught the end of this movie. Specifically, the last 20 minutes of it during the greatest car chase ever filmed. Each time I revisit this movie I'm awestruck by its complexity and juvenile-ness. The movie is just down right entertaining. Its a worthy watch any time.

Of most importance to me is what this movie makes me remember. I can clearly see myself sitting in a small theater beside the shores (marina actually) of Lake Placid, NY. I can remember the smells of the theater, the seats, the sticky floor, tastes of the popcorn and sugar candy (jujubees - I believe). I was awestruck and excited by the movie. I was of course with my best bud at the time. I remember the time of day we first saw the flick. I remember leaving the theater and immediately wanting to go back in and watch it again. (Eventually we did watch it over again). I also remember the summer air and sunshine. The focus of a 16 year old boy. Fanciful plans for the future. Wild adventurous enthusiasm and long talks of speculation on events of the day (mostly girls in swimsuits and tight pants.) Walking town and eating Strudel and ice cream from a small mall. Catching famous traveling performers in the local club, trying to score a first Tom Collins.

In the end it reminds me most of what I continue to value to this day. Great memories that should never be forgotten, and even greater friendships that continue to be developed all these years later, and appreciation of the people I have in my life. I wish this on every one of my nieces and nephews. Never ever give up on a friendship.

Birthday

2007-12-08T12:54:00.001-05:00

Well, last evening I had the second best birthday party of my life. My best bud decided to host a small soiree for me. It was wonderful to say the least.

I especially appreciated that he was there with his family (sans Greg who was out and about with prior plans), and included my sister and her family. I thoroughly appreciate that FAV dropped in for a few minutes to give me a hug and kiss. The was especially endearing.

The meal was, as yet again, great. He pulled out the stops for it.

I had a great time speaking with his younger son Mathew, as always. We seem to get on quite well when we see each other. Its always nice to see a different perspective on things and life in general. He's not a normal boy, but carry's a wonderful whit and appreciation of things that you don't normally come across. He's able to articulate ideas and propositions well, then adapt to the conversation which is truly extraordinary in itself. He's growing up just like his father, but very much a separate person. His appreciation for the more esoteric idea and compound issues of the day make me smirk. It appears that red is just not red to him. Its a construct of many facets and he also realizes that a view is dependant upon interpretation rather than instruction. He'll make a wonderful professor, inventor, and or hero some day (after he causes some trouble ;).

For me, I tied one on last evening. It was the wines fault and the fact that my hand kept lifting a glass to my mouth. It was a project making my way to the bathroom without embarrassing myself, but I accomplished it without falling down. Some of my words slurred here and there, but after an infusion of iced tea and some carb's I was feeling better (I should've eaten during the day.)

Then on to Marsha. Wow. This chick (said in the most endearing terms I could muster) has a head screwed on straight and every sense open to see what's out there. She reasons well, is extremely articulate, fun in a refined way, hilarious with over the top zingers here and there that she lets silently seek out their target and then wallop. Its an intriguing time for me to sit there and try my best to keep up and listen intently. When she wishes to be direct, she has the moxie to unleash. When she wishes to express herself in heartfelt ways, she tones things down a bit and makes sure eye contact is there and always comes back to focus on the topic. What really impresses me about her is that she truly listens. While we might be speaking and discussing things. Most people live in the moment and move on to other things. I believe Marsha really listens and internalizes and then processes. Hours later she pops up with, 'You said before...' or "we spoke earlier about..' Its so wonderful to actually interact with someone who listens, and seems to appreciate what you say. Now, most of my friends could just be blowing smoke up my ass, but I'm pretty certain I'd be able to see it when it happens. That inner sense thing.

Anywho, I just love my bro and his family. Its so appreciated to be accepted like I am, and so wonderful to be able to have such a relationship with someone who means so much to me.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts and just being there. The togetherness is all I ever hope for, and I got it in spades last evening.

A Day To Be Thankful For

2007-11-20T13:30:00.001-05:00

Its been a few days since I last posted. I'm remiss in my duties to do so. I'm also way off schedule to complete my National Writing Month entry. At this time I may not be able to complete on time, which is a shame, but its gotten me off to a wonderful start on an intriguing action novel just the same.

A confluence of events has brought me to this post.

First, it's the season of giving and being thankful. I'm struck by the events of the last few weeks that have really started me off in the Holiday spirit. We had a wonderful time with our friends from the traveling Cirque enthusiasts club. A great meal and some heartening stories were had over dinner. And then a spectacular show, Wintuk. We were blessed to have some great friends with us and also our FAV's. It made the evening special to have them with us to share enjoyment.

Second, we had a nice evening last week being part of the opening week of Young Frankenstein on Broadway. The dinner at Tony's DiNapoli was, as always, extraordinary. I especially appreciated the wait staff who doted over us. We were entertained by our waiters singing prowess and always cheerful attitude. The meal I can not fault and only recommend. They make a great Fettuccini Alfredo, Veal Chop with mushroom and Cognac sauce and a broiled chicken with mozz, prescuitto and white wine is simple succulent. Then we headed off to the show. The theater is great. Very comfortable seating. Doesn't appear top be a bad seat in the house. Plenty of leg room. While the show is not a direct adaptation of the screenplay, it does go to lengths to try and keep is loosely tied to the flick. Plenty of zingers are included which keep things rolling along, like the name of the ship the young Dr Frankenstein takes from America, "HMS Queen Murray." Its worth a second visit. I was surprised though to find Sutton Foster is such an ancillary supporting role. As I stated to Wifey, they build entire shows around this wonderful talent and to see her in this supporting role is quite strange. She does a bang up job (and I've never seen her portray a bimbette in any other feature) and definatly plays an integral part.

Finally on to the main reason for this post. Family. This year we again host Thanksgiving celebrations at our home. I say home for specific purposes, because its now a home, where before it was a house. Houses refer more to places where you store your things and they keep the rain off your heads and relatively warm in the winter. Homes are the places where you hang your hat, memories are made, enjoyed, celebrated and lovingly harkened back over a glass of wine in front of a fire, where sentences start off with 'remember that time...'

Thanksgiving has always been a big day for me. Its always started with watching the Parade on NBC (As much as I hate the interactive scripted coverage, I do enjoy the gala of floats and the marching bands. I know its Thanksgiving Day when Santa arrives at Macy's. Just one of those things for me.

Thanksgiving day is also about celebrating family. I enjoy hosting the day at my house, even with all the home cooking I do and the struggle we go through to clean, prep and then pickup after the party, its just nice. We have the great big dining room table that's been well used and signed during almost every event. Just another one to add to the collection. I'm thoroughly enthusiastic about seeing our family from Rochester. My heart has always been with Tom and Robin, then there's Platy, and this time, good gracious, I get to see Kate and Lucas again. I think when I stop during the meal and take in the sight of everyone being around I'm going to blubber in tears, I love these people so very much. Compatriots in crime, fund and subversivness. Then as always there's my direct family, Mom and Dad will be there. I always strive to blow them away with our celebrations and have always seemed to achieve it. I will though desperatly miss my sister, her husband and the 4 FAV's, let alone my brother and his family. I yearn to have one masterful celebration on Christmas or Thanksgiving one year where we're all sitting at the table enjoying life and the fun of the days. My life at that time will truly have been completed.

In any event, to all my friends and family who read this and also the strangers who I have not met or seen, celebrate this Thursday as you've never done before. Speak with your family, near and far, say hi or send good wishes to your friends. Most of all, be thankful within yourself for all life has brought you, both good and bad, because these experiences have made you realize what giving and receiving is all about. See one smile, see one act of kindness, hear one loving statement or offer one to another. In the end, we're all part of a great connected world. The Zen part of me knows that what air I breath in has been breathed out by my neighbor, each of us entwined in the other. The breath I breathe out I just hope is one after I have brushed my teeth.

I love and care for you all. Have a great and wonderous day.

$200 - Just Do It. I Did

2007-11-11T17:32:00.001-05:00

A great nonprofit. The short-term goal, education. The long-term goal, end poverty. 'Nuff said. Buy one today.

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation.

Another Day

2007-11-04T17:36:00.001-05:00

So, today was pretty fun. Exhausting though.

Started off pretty early because of the time change. I was up and down all night last evening. I woke wifey up at 2:00 so we could watch this weeks episode of Ugly Betty. We tweaked on this one because of Seth Rudestski and the fact that the episode would surround going to the b'way show Wicked. We both loved that show to death. It was a funny episode and wifey fell quickly to sleep afterward. Bless her her for putting up with me.

At 6:00 I could sleep no longer. I got up and started posting to DJChef blog. Recent recipes from the Punkin Party. Long over-due post there.

When Mary chimed in that she was up, we launched into action. It was closet cleaning day in the master bedroom. Wifey also wanted me to change an outlet that she assured me wasn't working. I obliged and then changed every outlet in the bedroom. They were early 80's versions and were showing signs of wear and tear. Then I installed a cable tv outlet nearer our tv.

Then I installed a belt hangar in one of our closets.

Finally I crawled out onto my roof and installed a 2' extension onto our wood stove chimney. It wasn't drawing properly and Mary rightly figured the extension would help. I reinstalled the chimney cap and crawled back inside.

After futzing with the house plants some, and moving them inside to their winter location, I started a fire. Boy does this small wood stove kick off some heat. It could probably handle our living room and lake room quite handily on the coldest of mornings in the winter as long as it had some time to get running. After an hour, the thing had our lake room at 80 degrees, so we opened the living room doors to spread the wealth. That's 1/2 of our entire 1st floor being heated for 2 hours by 5 - 14" split logs boys and girls.

Finally, while taking in the warmth and hazy glow of the stove I flipped through some mags I had laying around for quite some time and began ripping them of the recipes. I'm beginning on planning Thanksgiving Day. With any luck it'll be a huge affair. I'm hoping sis and family can be here and I'm going to try and twist an arm to get my best bud and his family to come as well. Nothing like a family dinner for 40. (This meal is a true goal for me to have happen once in my life. All of my family together for one masterful meal celebrating family. Can't get much better than that. I have my fingers crossed.)

Cool Chick Day

2007-11-03T13:38:00.001-04:00

Okay, I've heard her, liked here, but had never seen her before today. WOW. This video is worth the watch. Creative Ms. she is!!

glumbert - One Woman Band

Rainy Saturday Movie

2007-11-02T18:43:00.001-04:00

Here's a suggestion for your rainy Saturday (here in the north-east.

Its a great story, with some greater music.

Punkin Fest 2007

2007-10-28T12:31:00.001-04:00

Photobucket Album

California Fires

2007-10-25T19:19:00.001-04:00

Over a year ago I related my personal experiences fighting brush fires on Long Island. The fires were called the Sunrise Fires and Rocky Point Fires or combined the Pine Barrens Fires. They were in August and September 1995. There are many similarities between the Long Island fires I was involved in and the California fires of late. I won't go into my overall experiences related to 1995 again, but what I hope to do is provide a recap glimpse into my efforts and how they relate to the things that make me proud to have been a firefighter and also most broadly an American.

(I apologize for the heavy image load which may delay page loading, but I'm still learning jumps.)

The first two images are typical brush trucks very much like the one's I've ridden. They are extremely well suited for this geography. Old military 5 ton flat bead transport trucks converted with very thick 2"+ steel tubing to form a brush guard. On the front bumper you can see the heavy pull winch and massive push tube. (The push tube and the brush cage allow the truck to literally push down scrub pine and smaller brush/trees.)

In this image you get a different view. You can clearly see the square water tank in the bed, as well as the 1" reel line. You can barely make out the small 4 - 6' hand lines also mounted to the top of the water tank. These lines serve the four fighting positions on the external bed. There's a very slim walkway around 3 sides of the water tank to pass and stand while fighting fires.

This is a photo of calm mop up operations after knocking down the fire. It shows the true virility of the truck in pushing trees and branches out of the way to get you up close and personal with the fire. (Note, there is no road here, this was created by the truck(s).)

This is the beginning of what we encountered when we reached Sunrise Highway that fateful day. It was dry as evidenced by the color of the grass. We were trying to stage at this natural fire break, Sunrise Highway, almost 250' wide.

The beginning of a very feeble attempt to stop the on-rushing fire.

The fire just kept coming. Notice how embers had already jumped into the median.

This shows the ferocity of the fire and how fast things were igniting. The air in front of these trucks is quite literally on fire. Also notice the flame column developing.

This is what then developed. From the first in this series to this picture below took 6 minutes.

After the fire jumped the highway headed south we raced after it. The column of brush trucks try to split the massive head into 2 in order to take some steam out of it. Engines and other companies began staging in a coast guard housing community in order to set protection lines.

The first air water drop from a C-130 aircraft that had ever occurred in NY. The problem was that air operational guidelines had never been established anywhere in the country for dropping water from these planes when in such close proximity to housing. In the end, these were basically demonstration drops for the Governor. Only three drops were made (the water bladder held only 3000 gallons)and the transition between flight and refill was about 1-1/2 hours.

Here is the remnant of what happens when you just get too close to fires. These trucks were very aggressive in trying to stave off fire from reaching critical areas and just plain made a stand. The tires turned out to be the weak link, melting until they could not hold air anymore. (Imagine the heat to the exposed crew in the open rear) While they lost the trucks, they did accomplish their job.

Now to the meat and potato's of why I'm blogging about this.

I've watched with interest how little is being reported (other than FOX) about the human interest side of the California Fires. The general population tends to go into over-drive during these times and gives, unrelentingly, of themselves. I watched news feeds of people passing sandwiches from their cars to firefighters, I saw firemen sitting in NoBu, I saw pictures of other classy restaurants serving meals to firemen while others, totally exhausted, had been provided floor space to rest upon, tables just moved aside.

My first hand experience and interaction with these people still brings goose-bumps to me to this day. From the elderly couple wanting to serve us Chicken Piccata at 2AM from the back of their hatch-back while we were re-tanking, or the one, single, sole, fireman that had gotten water in his boots a few hours earlier. During a break this fireman's truck pulled up at a 7-11 quickie mart for drinking water. Not only did the 7-11 not charge anything for the bottled water, but the clerk hearing of the fireman's wet socks and that it'd be hours before he'd be able to get dry ones from his house, took the statement to heart. Within minutes he'd contacted his headquarters and the local radio station. Told them of this one fireman's need. Within an hour, radio and tv stations were broadcasting that firemen needed socks and shoes, dry clothes, tee shirts to make them more comfortable while fighting these horrible fires. Further that 7-11 (any 7-11) was now a collection point for clothing and supplies. Tons, literally, tons of clothing was collected and brought to the fire line staging area two hours later by people in pickup trucks who had volunteered to shuttle the supplies. Piles and piles of clothing and new shirts, shoes donated by Model's, etc etc. People got creative, everything, pallets of Gatorade, personal products, doctors, clinicians, mental health experts, physiologists, masseurs, food stuffs of any type, on and on the supplies went. Power went out in one area and shut down a local gas station where some fire vehicles were fueling, this shutting down the pumps. Within minutes of being told the trucks needed to drive an extra mile, fuel tankers where rerouted from depots to just deliver free fuel to firefighters. The critical brush trucks were going through tires quickly, and were getting flats. Firestone shipped in mechanics and a trailer full of the special sized tires for free, showing up 6 hours after they heard of the need. Firehouses were literally turning people away who were offering any service that one could think of, just to make the firefighters lives easier.

It was an amazing time for me, for us as firefighters on Long Island. And still today, way out in California, yet another group of firefighters, police, first responders, volunteers, are finding out the very same thing I found out 12 years ago. People's hearts are giving. People are inherently good. American's continue to stand up when needed and play their part. I'm proud.

Anniversary - Update

2007-10-24T19:29:00.001-04:00

Just got this note from Liz -

Liz has left a new comment on your post "Anniversary":
I too have RA. I am a 56 almost 57 yr old female who was diagnosed at the tender age of 29. At diagnosis, I can relate to the situations you described. I used Acupuncture for relief for a number of years. After having the disease for about 10 years, I started taking remittent type drugs. There is very little I can't do and very very few bad days. I was wondering what drugs you are taking to manage the disease.

Well Liz, initially the doctor had me on some very basic though harsh drugs including NSAIDS and high dose Prednisone. This got me through the initial rough points. The weaning from the steroids was awful when I was told to drop by 5mg over a week. This didn't work so well and laid me up for a while in relapse.

Then it was the good ol' try this and that until you find one your body tolerated and could reach a homeostatic point. In my case I went through no less than 8 meds at the time, over the course of about a yeah and a half. Unfortunately each and every one through my labs into the basement which forced an immediate change. Finally I was put into a test group to try a 'new kind of medication' in a very small, very limited trial. I unfortunately didn't get the placebo and got the actual drug, which became a lysing agent to my kidneys and liver. This forever changed my prospects of being able to medicate with any type or form of steroidal. My labs just do the funky chicken and everyone freaks out.

This leaves me with simple NSAIDS, I've found the OTC Allieve works pretty well when taken in moderation. I'm not maintenance dosing at this time because the pills going down feel like sand paper, but when I'm in need of an analgesic, they work pretty well.

Live, love, and enjoy, and most importantly "Pass it along." These are the things that are important to me, each day is a new, great adventure.

Thanks Liz, keep in touch.

Interesting

2007-10-22T18:04:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, after prepping and cooking my way towards this weekends festivities, I caught a point to relax and hunt things down on the 'net. I was Stumbling and came across Ree, aka Pioneer Woman. She has a couple of great looking recipes on her related cooking site. Then I got down to it and started reading. Its a really well presented site with great and active blogging. A good read and good RSS.

Dumbledore

2007-10-20T17:36:00.001-04:00

Just in, confirms Hogwarts' Don't Ask Don't Spell policy.

What I'm Watching

2007-10-14T14:25:00.001-04:00

Just a quickie update on what I'm watching lately. They're entertaining, interesting, provocative, and most importantly original.

Carlos Mencia

Californication

Dexter

Chuck

House

Bones

The Unit

Eureka

Dirty Jobs

Boston Legal

Pushing Daisies

MythBusters

Life

Ugly Betty

My Name Is Earl

Mad Men

Punkin Party Planning

2007-10-13T13:39:00.001-04:00

So, today we ventured off to pull together all of our plans for our annual punkin party. This year will be bigger than previous years since we planned on holding it rain or shine and made provisions to have it outdoors regardless.

This year I think we have counts of as high as 115 people coming. If its sunny and relatively seasonal the counts may be higher, but who knows. The more always the merrier.

So, today we tied down the planning phase. We hired the 20x50 tent, tables, chairs, popcorn cart. Then we stopped off at Bob's farm and ordered the punkins; 50 -8lb'rs, 25 - 1-1/2 lb spookies, 40 bales of straw, and 20 bundles of corn stalks.

For the festivities we planned on people meeting here at the house at about 11AM. They can grab coffee, tea, hot cocoa, soup, some warm muffins and then travel the mile to the county farm for the punkin toss contest. Somewhere after an hour or so they can come back and enjoy the food we'll have prepared. On that end we'll be having;

Onion Soup

Some form of hearty soup, squash or vegetable

Sweet Corn soup with avocado and crab salad

Chicken Fingers

Guacamole

A very hearty bean and green bean salad with sesame goat cheese

Steamed Salmon with a fresh radish garnish

Peruvian Chicken

Franks with sauerkraut

Swedish Meatballs

Candied Apples/Caramel Apples (with all the garnishes)

Fresh Popcorn

We have paints for painting personalized punkins. We'll have all the carving tools for making Jack-O-Lanterns, mask blanks for making stick masks and some other yet to be finalized fun.

Should be fun all around.

Some interesting talents

2007-10-07T10:42:00.001-04:00

Hammer time

YouTube - OBI Hammer-Werbung

Happy Feet

YouTube - FAO Schwartz Floor Piano - Hearty and Soul

A Sadder Day for Marion Jones

2007-10-06T17:17:00.001-04:00

The world of sport shook on its very foundation today. The geologic equivalent of a magnitude 8.0 (Richter). Marion Jones walked into a court house in NY and entered a plea of GUILTY to charges of lying to federal agents. She said, "Making these statements to federal agents was a very stupid thing to do." It appears she'll be going to jail for about 6 months when she's sentenced later this year. What did she plead guilt to and for...

A quick search of her career and upbringing yields a character steeped in diverse controversy and loss. Many factors can be blamed on today's outcome, but its probably best to take them in concert with no one factor playing the major role, just an amalgam of events conspiring together: Her parents split when she was very young. Her father had absolutely no interest in being with her at all throughout her life. She has a half-brother as well. Her mother remarried when she was young and he adopted the small children as his own. He died a few years later of a stroke. Mom was/is a 'driven' person. She focused her attention on Marion from a young age and focused her energies on developing the natural talents Marion was exhibiting. This went so far as to include uprooting and relocating the family to a different part of the state (CA) so Marion could train and play with a highly ranked high school basketball team. She began appearing in record books in her teenage years. She, in what might be considered a fluke, was brought out to the field to train with the high school track and field team. She excelled and was a driven individual. She also began showing all of the tenacity of such a driven person and was not well liked by fellow competitors. After placing 2nd in a long jump event, she had words with the person who'd won the event. She didn't exactly exhibit sportsman-like qualities. After being trained by a college level coach for a month, she bettered her performance and began placing first, never really looking back after that. And it was quite possibly at this time that she began using performance enhancer's. Hereafter she continually broke every record she set out for. Rumors also began stirring at this time that she was using enhancer's. Enough so that the regulating bodies were concerned enough to review her. In turn her mother hired famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran (OJ Simpson fame) to fight a four year ban levied upon Marion. Eventually Mr. Cochran got Marion cleared of the ban and reinstated. Finally she qualified for the 2000 Olympic games and went on to win five medals (3 gold, 2 silver). The rumors continued to swirl. Then in 2004 she qualified as an alternate for the next games as alternate but chose to stay away.

During this time as well, her personal life always seemed to be in turmoil. In 1998 she married then coach CJ Hunter. Hunter was a track and field coach at the university she attended as student. The university's head coach stumbled upon their relationship (and its violation of the schools ethics and standards policy of no liaisons between teachers and students) Hunter was given a choice of job or girlfriend. He chose the latter. Shortly thereafter they were married. CJ Hunter was himself a famed athlete in track. A shot-putter working toward and achieving national and world records. He too competed for and became a member of the 2000 Olympic team (and won Gold). In 2001 he became a disgraced figure when he tested positive for doping agents (and subsequently lost his national record titles.) This positive test supposedly caused their relationship to falter. One could easily anticipate that Marion's efforts to remain a huge bread winner (upwards of $300,000 - $500,000 per year) forced their relationship to founder because she liked money more than her husband. Then it was onto bigger and better events with ever higher appearance price tags, endorsement deals and sponsorships. She met another couple of men and fell in love with a Barbadian sprinter, but never married. They had a child together in 2003. She left him in 2004 after he was implicated in yet another doping scam in Marion's life, though this one now also included money laundering charges. The ultimate decline of her career had begun. She'd never been able to shake the doping claims, no matter what she stated, how she protested or what she wrote in her autobio.

Year after year she hired attorney after attorney to fight off yet another claim of doping or illicit behavior and character challenges. In an ultimate insult to her protests, she'd filed suit against a California man (supplier of her steroids) who'd made statement to the government and to media that he had supplied her with the performance enhancing drugs. She claimed this as defamation. He counter-sued, and won. He was awarded a $240,000 settlement (though never having collected.) This loss and the cost of her continual legal challenges against the antidoping agencies and personal hurdles (no pun) sapped her of money. Her lifestyle didn't help either. By mid-2006 an independent audit showed she had lost her $2.5 mansion near Michael Jordan, and 2 other houses including one her mother lived in. People around her and in the know were confused because she still drove a brand new 2006 Porsche SUV.

Then finally something within her let go. What that was we'll have to wait for her next book, something probably about life affirmation or reconciliation. This book with contain the 'real' Marion Jones.' In all honesty, it'll most likely just be another paycheck for her and contain her descriptions of how she's been the victim all along forced there by circumstance or co-opted by notoriety. In the end not only did she lie to the federal agents about her steroid use, where she got them, how she used them and with whom, she also lied to them in an unrelated matter of a money laundering scheme. A promising life with hideous results. Hopefully she can find the ultimate happiness that only family and friend can bring. Everything else is just glitter and gloss of of little if any substance.

Anniversary

2007-10-02T18:48:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, while listening to Neil Cavuto's afternoon business show on FOX I was struck by his guest. Ann Romney. Yes, she's the wife of Mitt Romney, 2008 Presidential Candidate and former governor of Massachusetts.

Neil spoke of generalities with her. Very typical questions at first: what's it like to be the wife of a Presidential candidate; They've been married for 38 years and what's their secret (no secrets and belief in one another); is your husbands schedule too hard (sometimes yes, Mitt should slow down and take a breather); Is the schedule hard on you (yes, sometimes, but when I need to I take a break). Then came the bomb-shell question of the interview - How do you feel the American people will react to you if you end up in a wheel chair? (couched a bit differently but memory and context is relatively accurate.) Mrs Romney answered in a very intriguing way, she said that she has faith in the American people to see beyond a physical appearance or a disability and look to substance and practicality over the visual.

Neil then stated something along the lines of, "for those in the audience who do not know, like your host, Mrs Romney also suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis).

Now I knew from some limited research I did a while ago on Neil Cavuto that he's been suffering from MS for quite some time. In fact he's an anomaly of sorts because his world renowned doctor has told him on many occasion's that he might not live long enough to require a wheel chair. But with attitude, choice, determination and conviction, he's continued to plug away at life which has brought him to where he is today, recognized top financial commentator in the world.

Neil's story is a very impressive one, and his reactions to his medical condition is even more intriguing. If you have some time, please do a bit of research on the man and find out for yourself. From taking a spokesperson position for MS Foundations, charity work, leadership for those afflicted with the disease, his interests in his family and commitment to life in general make for a very inspiring read. But, this blog is not a pompon romp about Neil, its about a couple of people I listened to yesterday that struck me as both interesting and intriguing all the same. It was a ground shift more in my understanding of myself and realizing that others, like me, others before me, have made similar choices in life. Fight for life. Fight for all its worth, enjoy what you have when you have it, enjoy the people around you. Smile, lead, embrace, listen, understand and love. Sometimes traits that are unquantifiable at times until its too late, when everyone assembles for memory and honor.

My story is not as expeditious as Neil's or Ann Romney's, at least in the schema of publicity. But the feelings and attitudes are the same.

Back in the day. In 1997 I was the most active I'd ever been in my adult life. I was in as good or better shape than I'd been since my HS days. I was mountain biking about 15 miles daily. I'd taken up running and was doing about 6 miles every other day. At my best I was a very fit 240 lbs, totally bulked up. It was also a portion of my life that I explored a more inward presence. Keeping mostly to myself, I was introspective and explorative of where life was taking me and why. Mentally not a pretty time, otherwise, outwardly, vastly different.

It was a colder October that year. I'd been working medical emergencies for the better part of a night and came off the road tired and drained. An ache had developed in the palm of my right hand earlier in the day. It was a persistent and resilient one to even the most powerful OTC drugs. I tried to remember having had smacked it anytime during the previous week or to have over-stressed it in anyway. I'd tried like the dickens to use my left thumb and hand to massage the pain away. Make the soreness leave. It only seemed to get worse.

The next day I awoke and was again confronted by this dreadful ache. Running was out because any time I'd take a stride the pressure of my hand counter-balancing my gait would send shooting pain through my arm. It hurt. I grabbed my bike and went for a 2 mile ride. I couldn't grab the handle with my right hand like I wished. My fingers were stiff and not coming around. They weren't flexing properly, especially my middle finger. I had to stop my routine and take it easy. I was also set to ride a late tour on the ambulance and so I rested a bit more and then started my tour.

After a few jobs I became concerned with myself. I was favoring my right hand. I was asking my partner to grab the release end of the stretcher. The leg/wheel release is on the right end of the stretcher and as such, you pull the loaded cot out of the back of the ambulance and when fully out (but with built-in safety), release the legs to the ground. This handy contraption lets you skip a couple of steps and saves your back from having to bring the cot out of the ambulance, down to the ground, and then lift it up to full height again.

After a couple hours I tried to look past what was happening to my hand. I was driving with my right thumb because my middle finger was now contracting toward the palm. Then I became scared because the two neighboring fingers also started an inward contraction toward the palm. Now 3 hours later and heavily favoring my hand and calling for backup to try and move patients I couldn't stand it any longer. I asked for a part-day immediate medical leave. I really needed to get this checked out and find out what was going on.

I also began to notice that my wrist and elbow on my right side was aching now. I thought it very strange because I hadn't had any pain in a week now. (I was now attributing what was going on to an incident in the pine barrens while mountain biking down a sweep trail. In that incident, I hit a tree root at high speed, blew out a tire and heartily ate a tree.) I was beginning to think this problem I was experiencing was a resultant anomaly to my impact with a very hefty oak tree at speed. Something latently neurologic must be going on.

I called for an immediate doctors appointment and alas they only had a time available for the next day. It was a long night of not sleeping letting every unknown and aggressive condition which I might be experiencing go through my mind. I was dwelling.

After little sleep I got up and needed to make an effort to take a shower. Now my left arm were hurting and very sluggish and stiff. I also noticed my right hip was hurting as well. I got dressed and needed to really concentrate on driving. Skills and coordination were not coming easily, but I made it. I waited to see the GP.

After a thorough examination and allot of blood taken I was told I probably had a virus, Lyme. It was affecting my motor skills and muscles and that with time it would pass. There were great new medications on the market, antibiotics, that within a few days should help. Thankfully, the doctor I went to also knew of a really good doctor and program at Stony Brook University Hospital. In fact their practice and main office was right down the street. A quick call over and I was on my way to meet with one of their specialists. The specialist would confirm that it was Lyme with blood work.

I went to the doctor, met him and went through the most extensive physical examination I'd ever been through. The blood titers would tell the presence of Lyme antibodies. He'd have the initial results back tomorrow. He was quizzical though because I didn't show any signs of facial involvement. He said he'd continue to test for everything including Parvo-Virus's. I was to come back in a couple days. He prescribed me Anaprox for the time being. The Anaprox initially seemed to work pretty well. The pain was subsiding, I regained some movement, but the aches were still there. The next day I got a call, please come in.

I went in and he said the initial titers came back negative for Parvo's which might exclude Lyme. He then stated that I might also be inflicted with RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis.) He then stated though that he'd continue to take blood and track the results and my next appointment would be in 2 weeks. He then said that the manner in which my symptoms were progressing, things would probably get worse before they get better. He then also prescribed me Prednisone and sent me on my way. Things did in fact get much worse. Much much worse.

Over the next few weeks I'd become, for all intensive purposes, bed-ridden. I would literally not be able to move for hours on end. Okay, that's a bit of an overstatement. I would be able to move, with extensive limits, but the pain generated by my internal disease was the worst I had ever experienced to date. Over the next week I couldn't appreciably do anything on my own. Eat, sleep, bathe properly, nothing. In between experiencing such bouts of pain, I'd sense my bladder beginning to fill. I was acutely in tune with my body processes. My bladder being the most important at that time. My mental gymnastics would then start. I would need to prepare myself, over the next 3 hours to get my body out of bed and take the 8 steps to the bathroom. Once there, I'd take another hour to prepare myself for the trip back to bed. Going to the bathroom, just feet away was literally, no joking, a 4 hour process. Tears, grimaces, unending, unyielding, excruciating pain. I'd never before experienced that feeling. It was totally and utterly debilitating and all consuming.

Over the next 3 months I was bumming rides from friends and relatives to the doctors office because I was not well enough to drive myself. My family and wife were wonderful and totally understanding of my condition. I researched and efforted all I could to understand what was happening to my body. The information was and is not comforting on any front, but, it was what it was.

For the better part of a year, the doctor stated that I probably have RA but that a final diagnosis was achieved only after a long and arduous process that rules out everything else. Late in 1998 my doc finally diagnosed and confirmed his suppositions with me that I had RA.

I tried like the dickens to educate my family to the disease and what the body process would be over time. I printed a bunch of data out for them to read. Sat them down and explained everything to them.

RA is tough on the patient and family and friends who care as well. You see, there are days where there are no symptoms at all. You feel great, can do anything, feel like you can pick up the world and carry it around at will. But, there are other days where you can't get out of bed. The pain is severe when its abundantly there. I use abundantly for a reason. Since 1998 I live each and every day of my life in pain. Its become second nature to forget about it at this point. Pain is measured on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the worst. I'd have to say that I'm at a constant 6-7 daily. Regular pain from cuts and bruises, strains, sprains, breaks, etc, barely register with me anymore. The level of pain would need to rise above the 6/7 level in order to get my attention. It really amazes doctors when they ask about my pain levels and tolerance for pain. I typically don't need anesthesia for stitches or out-patient surgeries. Doctors just dig in and continue to apologize for hurting me (when in reality, I don't feel it.) Also I found a very weird thing has happened to me as well. My quality of life has been a never ending issue. So far, knock on wood, I have not had to appreciably change my life to adapt to this disease, except in one way. I've found, as has a related study group at my doc's, that gaining weight has improved my quality of life. I'm about 80 lbs heavier than I wish to be, but with the weight I'm happier and more productive at life than I was at lower mass. Obviously there are counter arguments to be made about long term affects of one over the other, but that's something I discuss each time with doc and make educated decisions. I'd found that the amount of pain I'd been experiencing was gradually increasing and really becoming debilitating. I'd begun to challenge my rational thoughts of living life as they came. Meaning - I was beginning to assess whether or not one of the potential last ditch treatments for RA - Bone Marrow T'plant - was a worthwhile endeavor. In my specific case it'd have a 50/50 rate of success, with similar life expectancy through the procedure. It'd also cost upwards of $75K and not be done in the US, only the UK. (as a note I've finally come to the realization that if the pain became so sever that I couldn't function on a daily basis, interact with family and friends on a level I could agree with, that I'd go for the BMT. I hope it won't come to that, but its a mental decision I've made.) The doc then gave me some internal research data on a group of people who gained weight and experienced a better quality of life. I did so and have experienced much better quality to my life. I'm trying to temper things a bit to arrive at a more harmonious level between the two at this time, but am happy to be relatively pain managed at the time where I am. That's why I'm huge now.

I said this entire disease is hard for family and friends because they know me to be this big gregarious guy who likes to have allot of fun and entertain. I love family, friends, parties. Unless its a bad day. On a bad day all I want to do is be in bed and rest. So there's the dichotomy of the disease. Today I can attend a birthday party of FAV and tomorrow I wouldn't be able to get out of bed to attend my best buds. Its not because I don't want to be there or any other reason, its just because of how I'm feeling at the time and how quickly things change (literally within minutes.) Thankfully its been months since I've had to spend the day in bed and have really tried to ramp up my physical activities as much as possible until I get push back. I hope to be able to do more soon. After surgery (unrelated) I will strive for more productive and noticeable results. So, its an emotional roller coaster for everyone around me and I beg their forgiveness for having this disease.

I authored this because I've come to the 10th anniversary of getting RA. Like the people I mentioned during the outset, I'm not looking for pity or empathy, counsel or get well cards. I'm just trying to live each and every day to the utmost. Enjoy family and friends as much as possible, do as many things and go as many places as I can while I can. I want to participate in this life and leave it, when the time arrives, knowing I've grabbed and attained as much as I could have, and brought everyone around me with me as well in enjoyment, glee and productiveness. I want to always look at the good in life rather than the sorrow. Lend a helping hand when I can, just for the sake of helping. No prizes or honors, those are for others. Just being there at one specific time, when needed, is all the accomplishment and reward I'd like.

Rambling Update

2007-10-01T18:54:00.001-04:00

So, I sit here in Hoboken waiting for tonight's enjoyment, a client meeting. I've got a little under an hour to go an figured I type out a few rambling disjointed thoughts about life and generalities.

This weekend was a good one for wifey and I. We tooled around on Saturday running errands and then getting a new radio in the family truckster. We got that going and the replacement Satellite Radio working. Our neighbors are going to borrow the truck this weekend to take a family vacation to Hershey Park (oh, how I hate them for not taking me too.) Did a crud load of research on various items, went to the dumps to drop off the cardboard recyclables that the town contractor forever seems to miss on their regular route.

Sunday I looked at my beautiful wife and said lets take a drive. We scampered around, brushed our teeth and out the door we went. First we ended up at Briemeyer Farms. Stopped in for some ultra scrumptious apple tarts - then figured we'd buy 20 of them and drop them off as little goodies to the parents and niece's and nephew's (so if you're reading this FAV run down stairs and grab your very own, we dropped off 6 to your house.) We then continued out to Orient Point on a slow and leisurely journey. Its was a fantastic day. We came upon a garage sale sign and went off the beaten path to try and find it (a road no wider than the family truckster - actually less wide than the truck because we were scraping through a bunch of brush.)

Then we were on a tare for tracing paper and charcoals. I wanted to do some rubbings of some tombstones, neat roadway covers, roadway markers etc. Alas, we didn't find any by the time we both pooped out.

As we made our way back towards Riverhead I stopped in Office Max for the tracing paper (no charcoals) and thankfully that store is right next to Williams-Sonoma Outlet. We went in and hit the lottery. We found everything 70% off. We left the store with 3 Tuscan Sugar bowls, 25 earthenware oversized coffee cups and 4 mini sugar scoops all for a whopping $43. Every once in a while you hit it big.

Finally we drove home and collapsed for a while (with Crush the super cat bringing us not 1 but 2 live Chipmunk's over the weekend.) No animals were harmed or deaded this weekend in the making of this blog.

With 3 Advil PM's in me I lasted through the night with a fulfilling rest. First in a long time.

We Didn't Start The Fire of 50 Years of History

2007-09-25T14:24:00.001-04:00

Pretty cool link Bro just sent to me that's a worthy post for today.

50 Years of History in one action packed song and video. Thanks Billy.

Just follow this link:

The History Boys

2007-09-16T16:09:00.001-04:00

Thought provoking, challenging and confirming. A great great work of artistic writing from Alan Bennett.

Set in early to mid-80's England, the play (original form) takes the audience on a journey of language and thinking. It attempts to answer yet another hole in the study of history. What builds on what, what transgressions are built or uniquely, and intimately, formed through instruction. What is education and curriculum. The processes and procedures of academic achievement and acceptance to some of the most highly regarded establishments in the world.

In a brilliant exchange the characters discuss the Holocaust, how to learn from it, what can be learned from it (if anything), if the very thought of discussing it could be sacrosanct.

A great great play and fantastic movie. Highly recommended.

It's Science Day

2007-09-15T10:01:00.001-04:00

I Stumble'd upon a really cool compound property yesterday. It's called a non-Newtonian liquid (typically just water and corn-starch.) The results though are intriguing.

Take a gander here:

YouTube - A pool filled with non-newtonian fluid

YouTube - Non-Newtonian Fluid 2

YouTube - Amazing Liquid

And finally, some REALLY crazy science students (and some pretty dumb teachers as well) experiment with liquid Nitrogen and a hotel pool. Nothing like having a firm grasp of a term called gaseous displacement. A very cool experiment with potentially very DEADLY side-effects.

YouTube - Liquid Nitrogen Into A Swimming Pool

A Happy and Sad Moment

2007-09-12T20:10:00.001-04:00

In an update from the recently held technical Emmy's I have some news to report.

Cirque Du Soleil - Corteo has won an Emmy

(courtesy Emmy.tv)

Outstanding Picture Editing For A Special (single Or Multi-camera)

79th Annual Academy Awards • ABC • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Michael Polito, Videotape Editor
Jeff Roe, Videotape Editor
Douglass M. Stewart, Jr., Nominations Sequences by
Kyle Cooper, Ennio Morricone Tribute, In Memoriam, and Written Words Designed and Produced by
Neil Travis, The President's Film Editor
Chuck Workman, Best Picture Film Sequences by
Steve Sidwell, Sound Effects Visual Sequence Produced by

A Tribute To James Taylor (Great Performances) • PBS • A Production of Warner Music Group in association with Thirteen/WNET New York
Gary Bradley, Editor
Laura Young, Editor

Cirque Du Soleil: Corteo • Bravo • Productions Conte Inc., Bravo
Sylvain Lebel, Editor

Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed • HBO • Rickmill Productions in association with HBO Entertainment
Jeff U'Ren, Editor

Tony Bennett: An American Classic • NBC • RPM Productions and Lucamar Productions
Wyatt Smith, Editor

In the same breath though I'm sad to report that our new found friend Dean Gaveau and crew did not win an Emmy for Sound Mixing of The Amazing Race. We continue to be very happy that Dean was nominated, for the second time no less. It should be a proud and illustrious moment for him and wife Julie. Way to go Dean!!!

Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming (single Or Multi-camera)

American Masters • Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built • PBS • Produced by Thirteen/WNET New York and Warner Music Group
Ed Campbell, Re-Recording Mixer

Deadliest Catch • The Unforgiving Sea • Discovery Channel • Original Productions, Inc. in association with Discovery Channel
Bob Bronow, C.A.S., Re-Recording Mixer

Planet Earth • Pole To Pole • Discovery Channel • A BBC/Discovery Chanel/NHK Co-Production
Graham Wild, Dubbing Mixer

The Amazing Race • I Know Phil, Little Ol' Gorgeous Thing • CBS • Amazing Race Productions Inc. and Touchstone Television Productions, LLC in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Television and WorldRace Productions, Inc.
Jim Ursulak, Lead Sound Mixer
Jerry Chabane, Sound Mixer
Dean Gaveau, C.A.S., Sound Mixer
Barry Weissman, Sound Mixer
Peter Wong, Sound Mixer
Troy Smith, Re-Recording Mixer

When The Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts • HBO • 40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks in association with HBO Documentary Films
Ken Ishii, Production Mixer
Stuart Deutsch, Production Mixer
Charles Hunt, Production Mixer
Bo Walker, Production Mixer
Bob Chefalas, Re-Recording Mixer
Doug Murray, Re-Recording Mixer

Here's Dean in the Black shirt and goatee

Bounce

2007-09-10T18:28:00.001-04:00

So, I turn on the TV this morning and hear all of the hubbub about Brittany Spears (BS - for those of you not in the know.)

(courtesy celebitchy)

Being that I'm a closeted celeb watcher, I secreted myself away from wifey to watch the clips. OMG WTF. What in heavens sake was she thinking? I mean, the only thing she had on LALO was a bit more of a career potential and more income.. That though seems to be over.

I've read reviews from the Daily News, Times, Post, LA Times, Post-Intelligencer, TMZ, E, etc etc. I actually can't find any, save her dedicated fan sites, that have not panned the performance and woman herself. All have declared her career OVER.

My take on this has a slight medical aspect to it. Its a bit unsettling and certainly not a pleasing thought, but here it goes....

Last night the entertainment world heard a thud. It was Brittany's career (and any cred MTV had left) falling from the top of the highest building and hitting the concrete sidewalk below. When bodies do this (as anyone who has also witnessed such can attest) the body bounces about 3 feet back into the air, dead, and then flops to the ground.

Last night we heard thud and saw the bounce. Now we're just gawking at the remnants left over which need to be hosed from the sidewalk into the gutter where it belongs.

Pictorial of the Day

2007-09-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

My parents always told me about SXM Airport (St. Maarten). They'd drive passed the airport on their way to the casino's. We'll, I'd caught a couple of pics here and there of cars blown into the sea. It always amazed me what people would do, but I never realized to what extent.

(click pic for larger view)

Brian's 43rd Birthday Celeb.

2007-09-09T07:38:00.001-04:00

Photobucket Album

Two Great Things

2007-09-08T16:30:00.001-04:00

The Blair Years

I just finished reading a book I leisurely began reading on my recent vacation to Florida. Its the cleared and somewhat sanitized daily diary of Alastair Campbell (press secretary/political advisor to Tony Blair.)

I must say its an amazing and eye opening read. I highly suggest it. I'd put it as my top choice for any public official or person interested in the political spectrum. It provides insight into the life and times of the British political parties, their eventual restructuring due to pure and unadulterated internal chaos and political in-fighting, modernization of a party, and finally the rise of its leader to Prime Minister.

What most strikes me about this book is its honesty and account of a news reporter transformed into media chieftain, political advisor, and master strategist.

Finally, I must say it was eye opening to see just how out of control the media is. The salacious now leads, the important and life changing gets buried or shunned. Further, its absolutely sad how much of the trivial day to day events, which one would think are not even on the radar of a Prime Minister or President, actually need great time and energy (away from the true REAL issues) expended on them so it doesn't become a political rowe. To borrow a phrase, I was gobsmacked.

Mad Men

I've also was able to catch a couple of episodes of a new AMC series called Mad Men.

Set in the early 60's its an episodic series about the advertising industry during its heyday. Liquored lunches, huge expense accounts, brilliant minds, debauchery, relationships, personalities, etc etc etc.

Great cast of characters. Reminds me of the series From The Earth To The Moon. Shot straight, built expertly, active and very attractive dialogue. Its a man's chick flick (if that makes any sense. Highly recommended.

Californication

2007-09-02T10:46:00.001-04:00

A new Showtime episodic undertaking (30 min.) starring David Duchovny, Monday's 10PM.

Quirky, off-kilter and aggressive in its portrayal of life and family.

The web site states:

Famed novelist & NYC transplant Hank relocates to LA after his acclaimed book is optioned, but it later becomes a crappy romantic comedy, which sparks a horrible case of writer's block. He's struggling to get his career back on track with the help of his agent/best friend, raise his pre-teen daughter, all while pining for his ex-girlfriend, who is now engaged to another man.

Last evening I had the pleasure of watching the first three (3) episodes. It's tough to sit through at first because of the situational sexuality and free reign of dialogue (language and graphic references,) but extremely engaging, voyeuristic, and well written.

To relate the major happenings in these episodes:

Hank is found walking along the street being forlorn about the state of his life. His girlfriend - and mother of his twelve year old daughter - has left him to date a media mogul of sorts. Hank lives alone with his writers block (which came upon him when he moved to LA.) He stumbles upon a book store showing his best-selling novel in the window, seemingly re-released because the screenplay version is now in theatres.

Hank goes inside, picks up a copy of the book and begins paging through it, reading various passages (again, of his own work). Out of the corner of his eye he catches a young woman sitting nearby reading the book. He walks over, they exchange various quips, the girl almost immediately recognizing the books author from the picture on the rear jacket. She's very forward and flirtatious with him. Cut to the next scene, they're now in Hanks bedroom and they're having sex. As the act is finishing the woman winds up and closed fist slugs Hank twice in the left eye. She then gets up, now finished, and walks out. Hank lays there stunned at how things 'finished' and begins to laugh. Just another night of life and short-lived love in LA.

In the next few days there are three or four other encounters for Hank when he suddenly gets a call, mid-coitus, from his ex-girlfriend stating that their twelve year old daughter is not home (the ex lives with her new boyfriend in her boyfriends house) but out at a party in 'The Hills.' Their daughter went to this party along with Hank's ex's new boyfriend's sixteen year-old daughter. Hank drops everything (ahem) and runs out leaving this nights 'love' in bed on all fours, now enraged because they hadn't finished. Hank drives over to his ex's house, picks her up, they kiss on the cheek (she quips that he smells like %&ssy) and they make off for the party. At the party they find their daughter hanging with some much older boys and about to take a hit off a bong. When confronted, the daughter doesn't wish to leave forcing Hank to bodily pick her up, shoulder her, and carry her out a look of exasperation on her face.

Upon arrival at the ex's house, the daughter gets out of the car pronouncing the typical 'I hate you' and storms inside. There's an exchange with his ex where she tells him that she's agreed to marry her boyfriend. Hank is stunned and taken aback. He immediately asks her to marry him instead so they can be a happy family together again.

Hanks adventures on the show might be best related by the next exchange while he and his ex are discussing the nights events of pulling their daughter out of the party. They're in the kitchen when in walks the woman who Hank met in the bookstore. Hank is stunned and taken aback believing briefly, or so it appears, that this woman has somehow stalked him and burst into his ex's home to confront him. Hank stumbles out of his chair and peddles backward when his ex says, "Hank, I'd like you to meet my boyfriends daughter." Still reeling from this abuse of senses, Hank extends his hand and shakes this woman's a very sore right hand. She doesn't reveal anything about the fact that they've already met (or had sex.) She retires to her bedroom for the night. Hank turns to his ex and asks 'How old did you say Bill's (his ex's boyfriend) daughter is?' His wife responds, 'sixteen.'

This scene sets the mood and tone of the remainder of the episodes. From one night encounters with friends of his ex, women tossing him their numbers at traffic lights, adult film starlet's, to recurring involvement (not of his choice) with a forwardly sexual sixteen year-old, Hank experiences LA to its fullest. His best friend and agent also plays a psychotropic part in the series. This agents secretary is a BDSM fan and wears that badge (and piercing's) on her sleeve. During a bad day at the office the agent looses his cool with yet another of his secretaries screw-ups and fires her on the spot. The following day she's back at the office clearing her desk when he comes in and admits he over-reacted and states that she can continue to have her job if she wishes. She turns to him and says, 'yes, I'd like to keep my job, but on one condition. Instead of yelling, next time I screw up again, you can discipline me in any way you wish.' She then turns away and seductively bends towards the filing cabinet to reveal her legs and arse. She looks back over her shoulder and reiterates 'ANY way.'

As stated, its a quirky, highly sexualized version of reality of the life and love (if that's the term to use) in LA. It kept my attention, not because of the sex, the whole time and was very engaging. Its well written and acted by all of the leads. I especially like the choice of Hank's 12 year old daughter Becca (MADELEINE MARTIN). Portrayed as part Goth, part adjusting LA pre-teen, part out of her element displaced NY'r, and part older than her years in emotional familial interplay. She strikes that perfect relationship balance between mother and father. This is probably best portrayed when she walks into her fathers house ahead of him, then meanders into his bedroom and reappears in the hallway innocently asking, 'Dad, is the woman naked on your bed okay, she has no hair on her vagina, is she sick?' Hank then moves his daughter away from the door, gingerly opens and closes the door behind him and confronts a previous one-night stand type woman who let herself into his house through his bedrooms patio door, to surprise him.

I highly recommend this series. It hasn't let me down in the 1-1/2 hours I've watched so far. As for David Duchovny, I've always liked his acting and feel he's always just one role away from breaking into the really big time. He is an extremely intelligent and out-front actor who's very comfortable with his sexuality and nudity as expressed in his character portrayal's including Zalman King's 'Red Shoe Diaries.'

Planning some trips

2007-08-31T13:31:00.001-04:00

The maniacal task of planning more trips has begun. A whole new outlet, slightly forced, is at our beckon call.

As many know, we purchased a Disney Vacation Club ownership interest. We're extremely excited about it. Having taken only an annual five day work week off since 1998, typically around bank holidays to reduce the amount of actual off time, we're forcing ourselves into vacations.

Well, its begun in earnest and we like to share.

We've purchased enough 'points' in the vacation club to allow us to have 3 weeks of vacation time each year at any Disney Resort. This also allows us to bring friends and guests on trips as well. The typical Disney World resorts are available to us, as well as other vacation club resorts in Fl and NC. Add to this the ability to use Disney Cruises and 600 other partner properties Its a no brainer for us.

I've always wanted to go to Disney World (DW) for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Don't know why, it's typically nuts with yelling and screaming kids, but the kid inside me has always wanted to go through the experience, at least just once.

When we got home from this past vacation we compiled over 1400 pictures and video's from our 10 day stint. I used Roxio's Easy CD Creator program and put together my first compilation DVD. I edited slightly, added music, fades, cross-overs, titles and finished. Its a little cheesy, but does the job. I'm going to look into more Adobe products shortly to further enhance my capabilities. Back to the story.

I stopped over my sisters house to give her copies of the DVD's I made for the kids and check to see if her small ones had received the gifts I'd sent to them while we were away. Then the conversation began. They have wanted to take the kids to Disney for the longest time as a family. Budget constraints and planning efforts have never been fully addressed and as such they've always put those plans on the back burner. When wifey and I come home with the tales of hither and too, she has always expressed her continued interest in going.

What made me do it I have no idea, because sis is a bit fickle about these things, but not realizing where my mouth was going I said to her that I had already begun making plans to be in Disney in April/May of '08. I have a professional conference being held at the Contemporary at that time. That wifey and I will stay on a bit longer and combine a business trip with some pleasure to make the most of another stay at our favorite destination, Disney. With this she asked what dates I'd be in Disney for the trip and told her. She then said that the week prior to my stay, the nieces and nephews had off from school for the spring break. I said to her that if she wanted, we could make our business trip the final portion of the stay and arrive earlier to spend time with them if they wished. She thought this a great idea. I also offered that we had a great many 'points' to use by end of 2008 and we could probably swing a large villa for them. This would allow them to just need air and park passes while there. She thought it sounded even better. So with this, I'm planning our trip, hopefully to include my sis and her family. So, we'll be back in Disney in late April for about 14 days. Can't wait.

Then, we came home and found a package has been delivered from our recent trip there. We purchased some gifts for our great neighbors who've become as good as family to us. Wifey opened them and then made a bee-line over to their house to say hello. She dropped off the gifts and started talking. Pleasantries were exchanged and then Jenny said, as she pulled out a large cookie jar with dollars and coins in it, that this was her Disney vacation savings tub. She'd been saving for quite some time to get her family down to Disney since they'd never been before. Jenny, herself, had been there about 30 years ago, but it had now been time to save for it for a near future trip. She further stated that it had always been her goal to go to DW during Christmas. Wifey expressed her surprise at this. She told Jenny that I too had always wanted to go to DW during the holidays. Wifey related ' great I'm surrounded by them.' Wifey and I had a conversation earlier this week about my desires to go during the holidays to which she said she'd never go, that I'd go alone instead. Okay. Nuff said about that subject.

So, Wifey came back and related all this to me. In turn we started scheming and discussing things. Our neighbors have been so great to us, always helping out, always happy people, we could always ask them to check on our house when we were away. They're invited to every dinner and party we have. A light bulb went off in my head. I grabbed and opened our Vacation Points guide and looked to see how much it would be to give them a weeks stay in Disney. A quick calculation, we had more than enough points and I explained my scheming. She thought it was a wonderful idea. I sent a quick email over and Jenny was thrilled. They said they'd love to go this year, and that it'd be fun to meet up with us down there at the same time. Mary gave these big googly eyes. I was not opposed, just surprised she'd be willing to go when earlier this week she said she didn't want to. In typical woman fashion, 'I changed my mind.' So, now we're going to Disney December 17th and coming home on the 24th. Two families, two villas. How could life not get any better. I'll be in Disney now every 4 months until May. WOW.

Life's enrichment

2007-08-31T12:49:00.001-04:00

So, I'm here at the beginning of a Holiday weekend. Today I had a business conference call to go through. Ugh, always hate those although for the moment this one looks okay.

I had to stay at home today to take delivery of our new refrigerator and freezer. After delivery, how I'm ever going to get them into the house I'll never know, but we'll work something out.

I'm sitting in my favorite chair during the moderate seasons, in our 'Lake' room (for obvious reasons named because its overlooking our lake) contemplating life in general. During our recent trip, I moved all of our outdoor planters and flower pots to in front of our rose garden. I hooked up a sprinkler on a timer (we don't have IGS yet) which shoots off for an hour a day at 12PM.

I was startled by today's watering for some reason. Nothing untoward happened or even unusual for that matter. The sprinkler just started watering as it was supposed to. I then noticed allot of chirping from the rose garden. Then more and more chirping. I looked up and noticed a bird perched on our bird-bath, the water very low and mucky. I got up and grabbed a watering can, filled it and shooshed the icky water from the bath top and left it completely filled.

What surprises me to no end is the amount of birds we have. On schedule, the sprinkler goes off and birds begin to show. They're smart enough to remember a daily watering schedule. An hour of watered bliss and cleanliness for them. I started to try and count the amount of birds floating down from the oak and pine trees around the yard to get their daily watering fix. I couldn't keep track. I'd have to say there must be over a hundred at any one time.

Earlier this year I placed our indoor ficus outside. It had become downtrodden and sickly looking having clearly lost 90% of its leaves. I had almost given it up to the compost heap, but took a chance and placed it outside. Now its blooming and leafed out like crazy. The birds have also found out that this tree is in the direct path of glorious streams of fresh cool water. In trying to count their numbers, I'd have to judge to be about 30 birds perched precariously on the ficus' branches and leaves. Fighting over a 9 sq.ft. area.

This brings me to today's thought. As I sit here taking all of this in, I realize that life is truly a compilation of these moments. Personal enrichment, clear headed, focused enjoyment. The hustle and bustle that allows me to have these moments is, in the end, all worth it. I'm loving who I am, the family I have, the friends that surround and support me, and finally just life itself. Truly greatness. Thank you to everyone that helps get me here all the time.

Perils of flying

2007-08-28T21:20:00.001-04:00

Just another example of the perils of flying. Not that I really care, but its an interesting video anyway.

clipped from www.coasttocoastam.com

Elaine J. forwarded us these photos and accompanying text:

Spectacular shot of a Nippon jet being struck by lightning in Osaka.
Amazing that the aircraft itself and the people and equipment inside can survive such a hit!

This is in normal time:

This is in slow motion:

This is a still photo just on initiation of the bolt...
Notice the ground and air bolt feeder strike at the same time. Lucky people!

CirqueCon (revisit, cont.'d - finale)

2007-08-27T19:33:00.001-04:00

So, we all were on stage for this very exciting picture. Upon the conclusion, the cast members stole away to change (and shower) into their street clothes. The Cirque health program was in progress with their annual assessments at that time and was taking place simultaneous to the after portion of its last show of the week. It was explained to us that these health assessments were a tool being used by the health service to quantify to its cast members what their physical abilities were from year to year. Further, that it had become obvious of late that some established acrobats were obviously aging. While they could and would continue in their positions, it would be helpful for Cirque to assist them in understanding that bodies mature over time and their prowess might not be what it once was. Anyone who's run any form of business based on physical performance can understand what a program like this would do to cast morale and their acceptance of the assessment therein.

Off we went backstage and down to the 'green' room.

The Cirque organization was nice enough to toss together an after-show cast party for us. They served beer, soft drinks, chips, wine, etc. Probably 40% of the cast members worked their way through the party meet and greet. It was fun and heart warming to meet these performers up close and personal. Everyone was extremely engaging, friendly and truly interested in joining us for an hour or so and speaking with us. The questions abounded. How do you do this, what's the training regime like, do you like living in Florida, where are you from, do you miss home, etc etc etc.

My two personal best moments during the after-party when I met up with Sisaundra Lewis-Reid -

(obviously not me in the pic.)

She was very interested and enthusiastic in speaking with everyone. I expressed my thoughts on how much her vocal performance played a part in how the show was observed. Her voice and the way she sang literally had noticeable impact on the rest of the cast. She was very sweet and kind. Listened intently and profusely thanked everyone for coming there to see the show and be part passionate.

Then it was Michele Deschamps -

He signed any and all requests for autographs. He spent the best part of an hour signing away on the brand new, yet to be released 2007/2008 La Nouba souvenir program (which we were provided as well by Cirque). Finally when everyone had their fill, he grabbed a Heineken and stood by us. We were just enthralled. He was so very kind and considerate. He dates back to the mid-80's and met up with Guy early on. They performed together before Cirque was Cirque, then went on his way for a couple years until he bumped into Guy one day in the later 80's. From then on, for the most part, he was with Cirque. He explained that at one point his children were young and he realized he was missing parts of their life. He went back to live outside of Montreal and was able to be there during the 'important years.' Finally when his children were older he decided he could again work the road with Cirque and was assigned to La Nouba in '98 and has been there ever since. He truly loves being a performer. He speaks wonderful English to our no French. He goes 'home' when they have an extended break. His son is in a small performing band feeling his way around show business and seeing what that lifestyle is like. He gushed when he heard we were from NY. He loves the town and always wished to see it in more detail. Of course we invited him up to stay in the area or with us whenever he wished.

A long day was brought to a close past midnight. We were wow' d at every turn. CirqueCon 2007 was much more than we'd ever expected or anticipated. The people were extremely nice, regular, people. Everyone was there for the same reason, just enriching themselves and getting a better understanding of something they love so much. Highly recommended.

{fin}

CirqueCon - Revisit (cont.'d)

2007-08-27T11:54:00.001-04:00

Last time, I had recapped the first portion of our 'convention.' This took us through a very extensive and lengthy theatre visit, backstage tour, Q&A session with Cirque's Richard Dennison and Bob Shuck.

So, we were ending our tour and question session and there we sat. In this very awe-inspiring theatre, having a brief but much more thorough understanding of what it took to run and operate the facilities. We, as well, also had an artistic understanding of the Cirque organization and its desire to put on the very best entertainment show around. With La Nouba being my first experience to the Cirque organization, I may be biased in my impression that so far, of the 10-12 show types I've seen, this is by far the best. (I do qualify that slightly because in meeting with other passionate's, they too seem to gravitate toward their first show as being their favorite.)

It was 2PM and we had a few hours to ourselves. We were in Downtown Disney's West End (which just gave me the thought that they should add a couple of B'way type shows to the Pleasure Island/West End area.) We decided to have a bite to eat at Wolfgang Puck's eatery. ( I highly recommend the restaurant.) Then it was off to do as we pleased until a 6:30 PM dinner to be held as a Cirque group at the House of Blues.

We arrived on time to just be seated to our dining area. Two large tables were formed for the 40+ of us. WE sat to the rear of the establishment where windows overlooked the lake and cove towards Port Orleans. The food was great and it comes recommended as well. The best part of this dinner was the meet and greet. Our personal group had gathered at the rear-most table looking toward everyone else. I always try to situate myself at some portion of a room or table where I can constantly take in the events surrounding the table. This is not only done because of my inner vicarious nature and tendency to interject friends and family into new conversation and meet new people, but also from an ingrained security standpoint as well. (You never loose that observational edge developed so many years before which kept me out of harms way, for the most part, or at least alive. Always watch entrances and exits and have a strategy, without exception.)

We sat beside a very nice bf/gf couple from Texas. They exuded anticipation and excitement. They knew Cirque players inside and out and at times could recite portions of Cirque show tune lyrics and who the cast members were. (Wholly out of my (our) league when it came to a Cirque knowledge set. They were very engaging and friendly to speak with.

Directly across from us sat Dean Gaveanu and his wife/partner Julie. I can not express WOW enough. They make a very exhilarating couple with their love of life and friends overarching each conversation and topic of discussion. Dave is a Sound Engineer. He's contracted by Studio's and networks for series work. He's worked a few reality shows which may not be recognized by most people. Show's like: COPS and The Amazing Race, among others. 'WTF did you just say?' nearly came out of my mouth when Amanda (FAV) asked him what he did for a living. I was immediately cued in to this conversation. Then came the casual drop by Julie that he's be nominated for an Emmy for The Amazing Race - Sound Editing. And, oh by the way, he was nominated again for this year. (My jaw hit the table.) The conversation obviously turned on a dime and surrounded his experiences and travails. Things like, where have you been in this world?...too many to list ('I have 4 passports filled'), what's your favorite country..' Ethiopia. Its the greenest place on earth rivaling Ireland.' Hardest work...'split - for security reasons..COPS, for just flat out hard work, The Amazing Race.' What's travel like? 'Well, we usually get a couple days notice where we're going next, but most of the time its last minute where I have a chance to call Julie at home and say I'm heading here next, or arrived there (while walking through the airport waiting for bags." What surprised you most about doing this job? "The physicality. When I was doing COPS it was real. What you saw on TV is what really happened (save for editing,) but even after editing it came across the way it was presented to us...REAL. The police really were in some very difficult positions at times, and for us the difficulty was always remaining situationally aware..of our surroundings, where the bad guys were, what shot limitations we had, where the best and secure shot was..that type of thing. Apart from the security issues, like with the Amazing Race, its physical. Its always c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, lets go. Its, 'were moving here with this team' and then tracking them and their exploits full tilt non-stop." "Some of the locations around the world are very challenging. Heat, access to food and water, viable medical needs, staying ahead of and with the contestants. Not getting involved in situations where the crew becomes part of the story." "Those are the hard things. When we finally get off the shoot and arrive back home, my internal clock is all whacky from being in..China or Madagascar. Then I just come home, take a really long shower, have some great pizza, and sleep for a week..literally."

Of the Emmy nominating experience. "I'm, we're, not ones for 'that lifestyle.' The Hollywood types, all pomp and circumstance. We're more the casual let things flow and take them in type of people. With the Emmy's though, you are walking down the Red Carpet, with press, TV camera's and news agencies around. You need to officially 'arrive,' walk the carpet in a tuxedo and sit down in a theatre amongst your literal peers for this very ostentatious presentation." "We're not ones to gam on or become celeb watchers, but you do get caught up in it, the atmosphere. Its almost self-perpetuating. I have to admit, I am excited and proud about it and relish being nominated."

Dean and his wife are truly nice people. Not pretentious, loud, or assuming. Just two very nice down to earth people who enjoy Cirque shows. They found their first show a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. In our discussions they expressed interest in coming to Long Island to visit the wineries and take in what Long Island has to offer these days. Dean is originally from Jamaica, NY (my old stomping grounds) and comes back every now and then because family is in the area, but has never really traveled east. I offered he and Julie my business card and asked that if they do come into town we'd take them to dinner, cook a meal for them or meet up for a drink. We do so dearly hope they call. (As an aside to this, FAV was enthralled. She heard sound engineer and theatre and she lit up like a rocket. She was smiles from ear to ear, at times bouncing in her seat. She couldn't wait to call home to tell Mom "hey, wanna know who I had dinner with tonight?" She later related that when she did get to tell Mom who she was dining with Mom's response was 'WHAT???!!!"

Dinner finished with a very nice speech from Rich and Ricky about how well things were going and that we were typically a very vocal bunch when watching the show.

The Show

Our group had 1st and third row seats in section 103. Others from the group were up in the 204 section as well. To say we hooted and hollered is an understatement. Our viewing of the show was an experience. It was certainly not one of entitlement (which I was a bit internally concerned about, but which was never, ever, expressed or even assumed. I had feared that some of the CirqueCon members might feel their participation in this event would entitle them to special treatment or offerings. I might have been caught up in the NY Theatre scene when local celeb's get involved and expect to be treated this way or that.) To my comfort though, nothing even approaching the heir of this went on. The group was kind and attentive. Excited would a be a great word. Being with the group added a lot to the show. Your bar of excitement and appreciation for the show and production certainly raised exponentially. By happenstance, your senses became aware of each and every motion made by the cast and crew. You understood what they were going through and the technical challenges efforted to put this show on. The atmosphere was electric.

It began with the two clowns. Our group exploded with applause and cheers. Immediately you could see a perspective change by the characters and cast. Having made their way finally to the stage, the prop boxes dropped off the hand cart and fell into the audience including the first row of passionate's. A box was picked up by one of our members and passed down the row. It went back and forth with Michele Deshamps adapting to where the box was and the audiences (unusual) input. Off the clowns went to continue their act and leave behind the curtain. The next acts followed, also to high applause and cheers from our passionate's.

This applause was noticed, I can say. As new cast members arrived on stage and came near the audience, then recognize that audience members were very exuberant, you could see expressions change. In a couple cases I even noticed a look of determination sweep across their face. It appeared before my very eyes that word was spreading backstage that this was an unusual crowd tonight. Very accepting and enthused, appreciative and expectant. As successive cast members and acts came out you really felt that the show was determined and on mark. (in the show we'd seen earlier in the week, the cast was typically fantastic, but things were a bit slower. The performances wonderful while at the same time calculating. Tonight it really felt that all stops were out.

The Power Rings was intriguing. Each and every sway, gyration, and movement was choreographed to the smallest extent and on time. Right down to the cast members foot shuffle into the rubber retaining straps, in sync and spot on.

The two cyclists - sped with ferocity across the stage coming ever closer to the edge of the stage before stopping on mark and displaying their typical balance and technical prowess. Then it came time for the 'leap of faith,' as I call it, where Les Cons play a part and grab an audience member to lay down beside one of their own and have the cyclist jump across them. They go and grab one of our Texas friends and use him on stage (while muttering niceties to his girlfriend in his seat.) Truly an amazing sight to behold.

On and on this went, act after act. The cast members heavily makeup' d faces could not seem to drown out their personal surprise and recognition of meeting a waterfall of audience excitement. In the end, the cast came out for a very unusual third curtain call, some with what I perceived to be expressions of astonishment at what reaction they were getting from the audience. Hoots, hollers, whistles, cheers. It was exhausting almost.

Post Show

We remained on our feet for a long time. The house lights had come up and the audience was moving through the exits. We stayed at our seats with the rest of the group from 204 making their way down to us. Then one cast member showed his face and the group exploded with applause. A huge smile on his face as he walked toward the seats and began shaking hands. Then another and another and finally Richard Dennison showed up and walked up on stage introducing cast members to the passionate's. Small gatherings here and there started to develop -

- when Richard asked that we gather toward the back of the stage near the boulder set for our group picture.

We all gathered together while Richard graciously had a bigger camera with him and took five (5) shots of the group in various poses. Above is the pic I like best of the five.

....more later.

Multi-Touch Screen - Jeff Hann

2007-08-26T09:35:00.001-04:00

This is amazing technology. Kind of like the MS 'Surface' ....

Link to Video

And below is a copy of a song track I've been looking for since Disney. Its the background music on the Cadillac Summer Event commercial. An old song, sung by the Lily's called 'Ginger'

>>> And now, you’re not having acid flashbacks from ‘94: That was indeed the timeless Lilys classic “Ginger” on that Cadillac commercial presently airing on local stations. Wow. Ah, memories.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 12:52 pm.

Did I tell you or what?

2007-08-25T00:42:00.001-04:00

(courtesy Celebitchy)

“More trouble for Lindsay Lohan’s family: Her 13-year-old sister, Ali, has been involved in a traffic accident after allegedly sneaking out of the family house.
“She was in a car that crashed on Friday night, family insiders say. Nassau County police will not give any official details of the accident.
“’We don’t normally comment on traffic accidents unless there is a death or serious injury,’ Lt. Kevin Smith tells In Touch.
“The accident, in which two people were slightly injured, happened at 7:20 p.m. on Friday, close to the Lohan family home in Merrick, on New York’s Long Island.
“’Ali had snuck out of the house to be with her friend, a 16-year-old boy who has a learner’s permit. He had taken the car without his mother’s permission,’ says the insider. ‘Luckily, she was not hurt.’
“Ali is currently with her mom, Dina, and other family members visiting Lindsay in rehab in Utah.’”

CirqueCon 2007 Group Pic

2007-08-23T09:07:00.001-04:00

Link to the full pic.

Cirque - Revisit

2007-08-22T18:09:00.001-04:00

Let me take a few moments to revisit my previous posts about CirqueCon 2007.

We had planned a trip to Disney earlier this year as a graduation and birthday gift for Connor. He was extremely enthused about this trip on many levels. We hope he had a great time when he's able to reflect back on all its happenings.

Last year wifey and I were unable to make it to Las Vegas for the 2006 CirqueCon. Relatively last minute happenings forced us to cancel out of the meet and greet. (Owning a business makes scheduling very hard and priorities even harder.) This upset us to no end. We vowed we'd be going to the coming years events, without question. When the 2007 convention was announced I through a tizzy fit of excitement. Disney is one of my favorite places on earth. We try and get down there as much as possible typically going down for a week once every couple years. The last time we visited Disney was a joint vacation, birthday gift for FAV (Amanda) and my father. We flew everyone down to Disney to see La Nouba (a Cirque show near and dear to my heart and my favorite show yet.) We surprised FAV and her brother with by having their 'Jammy & Poppy' surprise them at a dinner after we'd already arrived the day before. So anyway, the following day we saw La Nouba, loved it, and everyone was ecstatic. Short trip but we still had a great time.

When we heard CirqueCon was at Disney World this year, we pulled out all the stops and made a project of it. 10 days of bliss enjoying the environs in style and pamper.

Having never attended a 'con' before we had some trepidation about the event. What were these people going to be like. Would they be totally over-the-top nut jobs bordering on costumed trekkies? Long ago I went to one Trek convention and vowed never again. People were plain extreme and that type of event was just not for me. It left a bad taste in my mouth and a seed planted about these enthusiast type gatherings.

I did as much research on the group's past events as possible. I read a few blogs on the meets and the description of people in attendance. I looked at every picture I could find that were available on the net. Nothing jumped out at me at all. Also Rich and Ricky certainly quelled any type of misgiving one could have. Their description of the events were spot on and to the point. I traded about 10 or 15 emails with them about planning and event attendance, etc. They were great and responded immediately. They truly are fantastic to deal with and are as concerned, if not more, than anyone else about making sure the events planned come off without a hitch. CirqueCon is a simple gathering of people who enjoy the artistic presentations of Cirque. That's all. No more, no less.

The first registration day, Thursday, got hung up a bit for us. We'd planned to attend an afternoon registration event but it had been pushed off a couple hours because of flight delays. We had show and dinner plans that couldn't be moved at all. We also had tour plans for first thing Friday morning and therefore couldn't make the Friday morning reg time. I called reg central and spoke with Rich. I explained our situation and totally true to form the response I received was 'nice to speak with you Doug, welcome. No problem. Just arrive at the fireworks viewing area tonight and we'll trade registration information then.. Wow, that was easy I thought.

We arrived Friday night and entered the VIP viewing area. We were greeted by both Rich and Ricky. Four or five Disney personnel were here checking wristbands and shining lighted wands around directing everyone to the proper area. They greeted us warmly, showed us the direction and then said, 'enjoy the show.' Didn't know anyone at that time and as such we moved off into our own area and grabbed a bench to watch the Illuminations Fireworks. The dessert party was very nice. Brief speeches were made and then the fireworks began. We were WOW' d. At the end of the evening we were again ushered properly towards the exit and then wished a very nice evening by the Disney people. Just great. What a night and best seats in the house.

Saturday we got up a bit late and hustled to an 11AM theatre call. We grabbed some fresh baked goodies at the Boardwalk Bakery, gobbled them down, grabbed a cab and headed off to Downtown Disney and the La Nouba theatre. We arrived just in time to be at the end of the line still entering the building. Whew.

Richard Dennison (Cirque organization manager with Disney) greeted us and led us into a fully lit theatre. The place is awe-inspiring (this picture does not do it justice):

The 45 or so con attendees sat in one of the 200 sections and gathered ourselves. Richard took the reigns and put everyone in their place (nicely) early on. It was a theatrical experience. The stage, costumes and workings are artistic property of Cirque, please don't interfere with operations people. This was the casts 'Friday' ((last show of their week.) They do 10 shows per week and have Sunday and Monday off.)) Richard,

went on to explain the history of the Cirque organization and Guy's (founder) artistic vision from the start way back in the early 80's. In summary, he was a street artist working in Canada and fell into collaboration with other artists who formed a troupe. The troupe grew and grew, adding more and more physical and technical prowess to their street shows until they finally decided it was time to form a corporation. They hooked up with a small bank who capitalized their initial operations and they were off to the races. Today, Guy is a Billionaire and working to bring many more shows to Las Vegas and the US in the next 3 years. 4-5 more in Vegas and a couple other resident shows here any there (with rumors for one in NYC on the Hudson (yeah!).

Then we met Bob Shuck (director of operations for the show.)

He was introduced and shook his head saying something to the effect of 'I don't know what you're going to learn from me" and laughed off any other interaction. Bob appears to be a true to life - work yourself up from the bottom type of guy. He started in Broadway, off-Broadway and traveling production set carpentry. Finally the company he was working for out of Ct made him the head set carpenter/constructor. Cirque caught his eye and visa-versa and suddenly he realized there was a way out of the snow belt down to sunny Disney. He took the job and was their lead production designer/constructor in Disney. Then eventually made his way to Director of Operations. He runs the theatre production and everything keeping it operating.

Richard broke us off into two groups of about 22 people. One group went with him and began on the stage while the other, my group, went off with Bob to begin touring much higher. Bob led us passed some backstage areas and a small kitchenette area to an elevator and up we went to the production 'ring' high above and behind the audience head. There, in a space not very wide (about 7-8 feet I'd gather) is the entire direction facility for the shows. The Director, lighting, set designers, etc etc. all sit in this area during the shows. Lighting and stage producers are all 'comm'd' in to one another by radio. They also have video feeds running at all times (as well as a dedicated performance video station) from 16 placed cameras. Typically they cover stage entries and exits, curtain call areas, music, below stage areas where hydraulics and stage motion takes place, green room, elevator and finally grid (high above the stage.) They also seem to have all their computers networked through this direction area as well as set designer and CAD services there as well.

Bob took great lengths to describe Cirque's relationship with Disney. They have a 10 year lease-hold agreement with Disney. Disney operates the building and operational services for the infrastructure (like a landlord). They run the ticket offices, vending, cleaning, maintenance, and usher services. They also maintain things like the a/c, power and house lighting, and laundry machines. On Cirque's side, they're concerned with all of their equipment, motors, stage props, costumes, physical stage itself and its related operations, all flying equipment and hoists, etc.

What I always find quite interesting is the interface between Landlord and Tenant. In this case, the demarcation point between Disney and Cirque. Being in the building trades I can certainly appreciate the finite nature of needs at times. Its not always roofs leaking or electric lines running afoul. In Cirque case, the biggest point Bob pointed out was that Disney seems to encroach on production at bit, contractually for sure. The audio and video equipment is owned by Disney, but used and rented by Cirque. Cirque has issues with the limitations of the systems currently in place. They'd like to expand the original equipment to better produce shows. The cost to change equipment will be in the 1-1/2 million range. This equipment though has not reached Disney's 'life-cycle' charts yet. Therefore, Disney and Cirque have worked out a 50% replacement is 2008 and 50% in 2009. Bob now points out 'how do I, as operations manager, integrate 1/2 of of a new system into my production?. In 2008, they're getting 1/2 the equipment, but the equipment won't operate without the other half. So, effectively Cirque will store $750K of equipment for a year, not use it, until the remainder of the equipment is received in 2009. Weird how corporate entities think, bottom line, forecasts and spreadsheets.

Getting back to the 10 year agreement with Disney. La Nouba opened in 1998 with the 10 year lease. The renewal of the lease was subject to mutual negotiations which were scheduled to begin in 2008. Disney, realizing it had a good thing going with this show (and an average 83% seat fill rate) opened extension negotiations with Cirque earlier this year. The show is still fresh, still puts a great deal of new-comers into the chairs each evening and there's been no push-back from anyone to change out the show. It appears that Disney and Cirque have a really good, and profitable, relationship going right now and why mess with something that works (La Nouba). So, at this time it appears that La Nouba will be staying put for the foreseeable future. If it was to leave Disney, some other Cirque show would replace it and La Nouba would find a new resident show home (its too big to travel properly.)

Interesting aside on this topic while I'm here... The La Nouba theatre is now the standard bearer theatre design for all resident future shows. The stage size and audience areas are almost perfect (short about 200 seats.) So, the new traveling and resident shows will all be designed to work on the La Nouba stage size. Audience members will be able to feel the Cirque comfort they experienced at one show when seeing a new show.

Back to the experience... So, Bob now took us to the elevator where we crammed our 22 (+ Bob) bodies in and rode up to level 9 - 'The Grid'. This was absolutely fascinating. The grid exists high above the stage. I didn't take notes or recordings, but I believe he said it was 74 feet from the stage to the base of the grid. The grid contains all the flying equipment, cable hoists for trapeze, motors for the netting, aerial production sets, curtain operations, back of stage wall equipment, and storage.

This brings me to a storage story. They have very little of it. It seems every nook and cranny is crammed with storage of some form or another. Supposedly, during construction and ground breaking, the cost over-runs for theatre construction were mounting heavily. Disney then decided to cut 25% of construction costs by reducing the size of the facility to bear minimum. They cut 25' feet off the circumference of the circular building, and thus reduced expenses and any area they had planned for storage and operational offices. It also reduced seating capacity from a planned 2102 seats down to the 1760 it is now. Cirque works and has worked with this but its a tight fit and cramped quarters.

Because of the lack of space there's also a metal shop in the grid, replacement sets, general production storage and funny, a couch and small rest area. Now the grid consists of 3'x3' sections of 1"x3" open cell steel grating. You literally can look through the grid and see the audience seats, shown below:

If you look at this pic closely you might be able to make out the metallic steel 'grid' the picture is being shot through. The view down is to the red audience seating, isles and on the left, stage left. The seats arc around the up stage interface with the audience. (Funny aside, the place is so cramped for space, even the elevator was impacted by the design changes. At the top level, 'grid' the elevator door opens, but not all the way. The door has been programmed to only open as far as the walking space will allow. There's an 'X' brace beam on the left side of the elevator open that blocks free access to the full width of the elevator cab opening. The door stops about 2/3's open to protect the people using it from tripping over a 6"x16" cross brace. Just funny.

Then Bob took the group back down to the stage level. We exited into blackness. Everything is the typical painted black. Wall fabrics, walls, floors, prop covers, everything, black. We saw the staging area for the opening act clown props. Those pesky multi-colored boxes the clowns interact with the audience over. A couple dead and dying plastic palm trees. The choo-choo box, carrier and plain string pull line. (We were also told that at one point one of the previous iterations of cleaning ladies was leaving the cast and made a point to be stepping on the pull string that gets the small model train across the stage. Yep, just plain white string on a hand wound spool.

Then it was downstairs to the under-stage area. Seeing the mechanicals was uplifting. My first personal experience below any professional stage. The 4 floor elevators were there protected by cargo netting to prevent anyone from falling the 4' into a 'pit' at the base of these cubes (used by the bike's, the white clown troupe, and the table balancing act.) Then we passed the building hydraulically lifted to stage height and used in the trampoline ensemble by Titan and his counterpart. (Those lifts and props are controlled by computer from the directors booth high above the audience. In times of power failure (like a $4 part that went bad during one show) they can be controlled locally by hand-switch.)

Leaving he under-stage area we walked through the costume shop (with a $700K/yr budget). Three ladies were hard at work repairing various costumes. They were extremely gracious and accommodating. They answered questions like troopers and also were very helpful with various 'behind-the-scenes' stories like when Titan met the lizardman from Varekai

Then it was through the hallways passed the dressing rooms and finally back to stage level and a walk onto the stage. I'd never realized how imposing being on stage in front of 1760 seats would be. Its breathtaking. On stage we learned about the production and maintenance schedules and efforts needed to keep things looking so well for each performance.

Finally it was back to our seats where closing q&a took place and then Richard stunned everyone by saying that after the evenings show (which everyone was there to see) we were to remain in our seats for the house lights to come up. Richard asked a few characters to come visit with us in costume for a group picture and then finally we'd be led to their green room where Cirque would be hosting a cast party for us. WOW!!!.

more later....

Art - Today's offering

2007-08-22T16:02:00.001-04:00

Just throwin' this out there. Here's what we did with some free time in Fl recently. We were feeling creative.

Musica Search

2007-08-19T10:44:00.001-04:00

(courtesy of Yadogg.com)

Neat Little Google Trick for Free Music

Posted May 27, 2007

-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “artist or song”

Copy and paste the above text into a google search text area and replace the “artist or song” with an actual artist or song.

A Day of Tumult

2007-08-18T13:38:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, we began our journey home.

We started the day by getting up a bit later than usual. We had an appointment with the Vacation Club at 11 AM to sign papers and buy our ownership in the program. (What you'll do to be a good aunt and uncle to the kids for the sake of 12 Fast Passes :) ).

The signing went well. We now have enough membership points to vacation comfortably each year. The vacation ownership program appears to be a bargain for us. We've visited the resorts about 12 times since 1988. It just plain makes sense. We break even by staying on a property 7 days every 2 years, for 10 years (or 5 trips). Thereafter, its all gravy for the next 40 years. Disney makes its money by using our money up front and then whatever is purchased in merchandise in the parks. The food isn't even really where they're making money, its all in merchandise.

After that was done we went over to Epcot to try for a lunch at the Land Grill (filled, no luck). Then we went downstairs to the counter-service cafe. I must say that everywhere we found counter-service, and tried it, it was wonderful. Evenly priced and very decent food. They have some great selections including fish, humus, plenty of fruit and vegetables. They even sported a very good grilled veggie sandwich done cubano style.

After lunch was finished we walked over to Soaring and traded in a few of our passes for instant tickets. The pass issuing kiosk ate our cards at first and was out of paper. A nice though limited service person came by and repaired the machine and issued us FP (Fast Pass) tix, though instead of an instant return they came back with regular return times. No good. We were pressed for time. I spoke with a counter rep and true to Disney fashion they gave us some super special trade-up passes. Each of these trade-ups allowed 3 people to use the pass and walk straight in to the FP line. (Still holding the original FP's with dramatic return times I palmed the tickets we had and handed over the later return FP to the unaware clerk. This allowed us to hold onto the special FP (though we never used them. Connor kept them for posterity.)

Soaring is an amazing ride. Its short, about 3 minutes but well worth the wait to do. Don't though think its worth waiting on line for greater than 30 minutes. I do have allot of fun though standing on line making new friends from around the world. I met some very nice people this way including a family of 4 from outside Cambridge, UK. They were on holiday for 2 weeks and we traded a great deal of insight and fun thoughts and happenings with them. Coincidentally to them we also met a couple from Washington, DC. He was a web designer working for the Washington Capitals. Also met a nice family from Australia in town and wondering what to do. Then an older family of 6 from Kansas.

Attitudes had boiled to the surface of late due to close proximity of everyone. We then headed back to the hotel to catch some a/c and wait for the shuttle to the airport for our 8:10 PM flight. As usual, our chauffeur from Legend Limo arrived spot on time. He's very very good and efficient as all get out. We grabbed our bags from bell service (unfortunately one of the gifts Connor bought for the twins got broken in the shuffle, but true to form, Disney is taking care of it and shipping a replacement ASAP.)

We arrived in MCO is good time, disembarked and stood at curbside check-in. 6 bags to check. Everything was great. Then we find that the kids suitcases are over-weight. A bit of a shuffle of belongings from one case to one of ours evens weights out for one. We can not though overcome a 15lb over-limit. So we spend the $25 and get that headache behind us. No worries. (I have no problem ever dealing with such issues. They happen, we try to plan for them, but this time our preplan left a collapsible bag (just for such an emergency) on our living room floor. When the curbside attendant handed us back our boarding passes he says, oh sorry about this but your flight has been delayed a bit. You're now flying out at 9:15. Ugh.

In to the airport and whisked through security (a record 6 minutes). Onto the monorail and off to the terminal. We get there, make some new friends in the waiting area. A husband and wife, also in the Vacation Club, teachers from Kings Park. We talk and talk and talk. The ins and outs of the Vacation Club, what a great thing it is to do and the benefits and privileges... All good news to us. As we sit there the flight time changes again. Ugh. Now 9:45.

An hour later we moved from one side of the terminal to the other where our boarding would take place, find free Internet YEAH!!! and start wasting time. As the night passes the flight is delayed another 5 times. Bad weather over Long Island then at the originating airport in Rhode Island (which is our plane).

They switch gates on us and its hustle from one spot to another. Then things deteriorate. Seems people are getting tired. The over-tired. The dirt bag kids around us with parents that don't give a crap are starting to act up. They begin fooling around, bumping into people, stepping on bags, pushing over flowers, move trash bins. Then they find the wheel chairs and start wheel chair races. Thankfully its 11pm and the terminal is basically closed except for our flight. Then a parent gets involved and begins a demolition derby of sorts. He's pushing his teenaged daughter in a wheel chair into other kids in wheelchairs seeing if he could knock them over. (Where do they make such parents?) This goes on for about 25 minutes before a gate attendant finally looses his patience and yells at everyone. Things begin to calm a bit to a lower roar.

We then hear that our flight has taken off from Rhode Island and will be in Orlando in about 1-1/2 hours. Yeah. Hope reigns supreme.

It was 1:00 when the plane landed, the people got off thanking the very ground of Orlando. The crew turned the plane around in 15 minutes and we were in the air by 1:20. I kid you not. I've never ever seen that happen before. The flight crew was wonderful. The lead steward was a closet comedian. He had everyone in stitches from the point of the pre-flight emergency procedures to in-flight rules. We landed at 3:30 AM and were home and in bed by 4:13 AM.

It was a day of days. Long, arduous and sorrow filled that our vacation came to an end. It's always though worth it to come back to familiar surroundings and your own bed.

{fin}

CirqueCon 2007

2007-08-14T14:04:00.001-04:00

Photobucket Album

Disney - Update 2

2007-08-14T10:23:00.001-04:00

Okay, so here we go. I'll begin by posting the movie links for the Segway tour. Click on the images below to launch the movies (though read the very interesting image descriptions first):

{click the picture for a link through to a Segway movie}

The static picture was taken at the Fulton Crab House in Downtown Disney. It shows a couple interesting things - 1. Connor holding a Root Beer of his own (he's quite taken to them now) 2. Holding a battered Mushroom (which he tried and ate).

{click the picture for a link through to a Segway movie}

The static picture was taken at the Fulton Crab House in Downtown Disney. It shows a couple interesting things - 1. Connor with his order of Filet Mignon with a broiled Lobster tail. 2. Getting ready to sample the grilled Asparagus.

{click the picture for a link through to a Segway movie}

The static picture was taken at the Hoop Dee Do Review in Fort Wilderness. If you have kids with you or wish to have an uproarious time, this dinner (while being $67/pp) is quite worth it. Connor is attempting to eat a house salad (served in a tin pot) but does not like the vinaigrette and opts out.

{click the picture for a link through to a Segway movie}

The static picture was taken at the Yachtsman Steak House. It shows Connor having ordered the sampler cheese platter. Its a combination of Goat (with stewed cherries), Montserat Blue (with vine ripened raisins), Pecorino (with honeycomb) and Camembert (with Apricot Chutney). On the plate are lines of balsamic and raspberry reductions.

CirqueCon 2007 (hard and fast update)

2007-08-14T09:28:00.001-04:00

Wow. To say that the event went spectacularly is an understatement.

We weren't able to make sign in or a after-hours miniature golf session, but Saturday's events were unmatched.

We began the day at 11 AM, met as a group outside the La Nouba theatre. Our guides for the backstage tour were Richard Dennison (company manager) and Bob Shuck (operations manager). The 45 or so of us broke off into groups of 20 and headed in different directions.

We started by going off stage and taking the elevator up to the 6th floor where all of the control booths were located in an open ring form located behind smoked glass. Lighting, technical, stage direction, cueing, videography, track/spot lighting, drafting and an area that looked like network services. This ring is located on what would normally be considered the lodge, or mezzanine level. Too small to handle any regular seating at all (about 7-8 feet wide at any point) and direly needed for general production space. (Disney - who owns and operates the physical building) cut back on its foot print by 25% for construction cost purposes. This reduced any manageable storage for the building. This therefore requires creative use of space by all production departments. There are metal shops on the lowest ground level as well as in the 'grid' 78' above the audience head.

Then we were off down the stairs to a hallway (mandatory 4' wide), past a small galley area with 2 plastic folding tables and 10 folding chairs around it. A small fridge and a microwave. These again are tiny rooms. A mere 6-7 feet wide by 15-20 feet deep at most. Back to the elevator and up to the highest level '9' or the 'grid'. Its an amazing amalgam of motors, hoists, 3x3 grid work and wood catwalks. Looking down through the 1x3 steel mesh floor you notice you're directly above the audience head. Its certainly a very sobering position to be in. Also, very exciting. The inner workings of production available to touch and smell.

The grid also has the small metal shop mentioned previously. I also saw a small 6x5 area containing an unfolded futon surrounded by curtains. Training mats and fall mats were stacked in the eaves, along with fibre and metal rope.

Then were were off again to the ground level which contains your typical basement workings. Hydraulics, lifts, hoists, supplies, training areas, costume shops, laundry, makeup areas, dressing rooms, mechanical rooms, etc etc.

Finally it was back stage, then onto stage proper and a look from the perspective of the cast members. Its a grounding experience. 1760 of your favorite critics and supporters right in front of you (the closest not 3 feet away.)

Later in the day it was a group dinner and then the show. Finally we remained in our seats for an after-show q&a and then a cast party.

Now for the pictures:

Early Day Tour

The Show and Cast Party

{fin}

Image Update #1

2007-08-10T16:41:00.001-04:00

Segway Tour #1

What a show

2007-08-07T23:31:00.001-04:00

What a day, what a show. We arrived here today, early. Plane ride was great. Left on time and arrived ahead of time. The driver from the limo service was great. Had us here in record time. We checked in, received our passes and were off to lunch and then Epcot. Its hot, high humidity, but alls good.

We were able to take in a small show in England, then over to the Land Pavilion for a try at Soaring, but lines caused us to default to the flume ride around the Land tour. Always interesting no matter how many times we go through it. The hydroponics are amazing.

Then it was off to Imagination, saw figment, back to the rooms, pool then dinner at Fulton Crab House. They make an awesome spiked Lemonade.

Ran a bit late and high tailed it to La Nouba. WOW!!!! My favorite Cirque show. They keep it fresh and update it a bit. Lost some people, gained some people. Just amazing feats of acrobatics. My favorite part of the show is pictured above, the Trampoline portion. Always brings everyone to a climax and standing 'O'. For those who haven't seen it, its indescribable.

Tomorrow its an Epcot behind the Seeds tour and then Parasailing and wake boarding, Hoop Dee Doo review and Magic Kingdom extended hours.

Thursday brings us the beginning of CirqueCon.

Save Internet Radio

2007-08-06T09:03:00.001-04:00

(courtesy of Slashdot)

Politics: Internet Radio's 'Second Chance' Bogging Down in House

Posted by Zonk on Monday August 06, @07:03AM
from the fish-in-a-barrel dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting that the Internet Radio Equality Act is failing fast in the House, with negotiations breaking down over fair pricing for internet radio broadcasters. 'A legislative setback could make it harder to dislodge the new fees, which took effect last month after a federal appeals court refused to postpone the payment deadline. With the threat of congressional backlash fading, SoundExchange could find little incentive to budge from its current position ... SoundExchange has already proposed changes that could relieve small and custom-streaming sites from charges they could not possibly afford to pay, at least in the short term. Many expect a small-webcaster deal to be done by early September, when Congress goes back into session. But the deal on the table hasn't changed since SoundExchange extended an offer in May to charge them 10 percent of gross revenue under $250,000, or 12 percent of gross revenues over $250,000, with a revenue cap at $1.25 million.'" All very cushy for SoundExchange. Wired also points out that this is the same organization illegally lobbying for terrestrial radio royalties through 'third party' shell groups.

[+] internet, music, politics, usa, mafiaa (tagging beta)

I was A sniveling, Weeping idiot

2007-08-06T08:41:00.001-04:00

This past Thursday morning (4:30), I awoke and could not fall back to sleep. Trying to turn my brain off, I switched on the trusty tv and started watching the new episode of Eureka I had Tivo'd from Tuesday night. The episode "The Games People Play" (click to watch in webisode format) is about the main characters life and relationship with his daughter and ex-wife. In summary, the main character, Jack, is now the police chief in the town of Eureka. His somewhat troubled daughter, Zoey, has been living with him for the past year. The year is coming to a close and Jack's ex-wife (Abbey)appears out of the blue. The back story is that Jack and Abbey made and agreement that Zoey would stay with Jack for the year and then return to her mother in L.A.

Unfortunately, Jack never tells Zoey about he and her mothers agreement. Zoey now blends in well in the community, has made numerous friends, and her own life, in Eureka. She off-handedly finds out about her parents agreement in the midst of watching her parents argue. She storms away in shock and horror, her life about to be up-ended.

Zoey contacts the towns therapist and is given a virtual reality device to wear to help her cope and work out the feelings she's experiencing.

In quick summary, Jack finds the VR device, places it on his head and is mentally captured by it because of a malfunction.

The episode explores Jack's relationship with everyone in his life. It also explores the townspeople's relationship with Jack and their care and concern for him. In the end, Abbey discovers how very deeply all in town believe in and care for Jack.

Watching this episode made me again realize how very special everyone in my life is to me. It made me further appreciate the relationship I have with wifey, my sister and her family, nieces, nephews and of course, Bro'ness. It left me weeping with tears rolling down my face.

Its a quirky show, but boy did this episode pack a punch.

Tuesday nights on SciFi Channel.

Public Health Warning!!!

2007-08-05T14:39:00.001-04:00

LiveJournal Tags: LaLohan, Lohan, Lindsay, drunk, drugs, Merrick

I saw this coming. Thank god Old Mill Road school is in recess. There's a drug addled, drunk driver in their midst. I think there should be an order of protection against Lalalohan from the school. I mean sheesh, can she get any closer to their parking lot?

(Courtesy of TMZ)

Lindsay Livin' Large on Long Island

Posted Aug 5th 2007 8:50AM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Tom and Katie, Lindsay Lohan, Let's Get This Party Started
Move over Amy Fisher, there's a new Long Island Lolita in town! Driving-impaired diva Lindsay Lohan is laying low at her mom Dina's Long Island home. The New York Post reports that La Lohan flew from L.A. to New York with sister Ali on Friday. A cargo van stuffed with LiLo's suitcases stopped by the Merrick, N.Y., house yesterday.

The trainwreckin' party princess is out on $25,000 bond after last month's disastrous DUI arrest. She's due in court on August 24, the same day she was to appear on previous DUI charges.

Poetic Insult of the day

2007-08-05T12:51:00.001-04:00

Thou fusty clay-brained death-token!

Cirquecon Post Update

2007-08-04T20:51:00.001-04:00

LiveJournal Tags: CirqueCon, Disney, vacation, La Nouba

o°) ACTIVITIES IN THE LA NOUBA THEATER
There are just a few tiny little details to finish up,
which will happen in the next couple of days, but we just
couldn’t wait to tell you something!
In our published "tentative" itinerary, we set aside
Saturday afternoon for a possible Cirque du Soleil
activity; while the exact time has yet to be determined,
it looks like that is going to happen and it’s going to
be VERY COOL! Be sure to keep that time slot open, you
won’t want to miss it!
After that activity, we’ll want to gather our group of
passionates together at the Cirque du Soleil sign on the
La Nouba Theater for a Group Photo with our own cameras
(likely one of many to be taken this day...*cough*), then
assemble at the House of Blues for our Group Meal.
We'll eat, drink and be merry, then assemble for the 9:00pm
performance of La Nouba. After the show (that's right,
AFTER), stay in your seats because we'll be doing a few
"little" things with some *ahem* folks. So don't make
plans to leave immediately after the show! You REALLY
won't want to miss this!
With all Cirque du Soleil activities on Saturday you will
need to have your badge on your person. For the afternoon
activity you will just need a badge; for the "after show"
activity, you will need both your badge and a ticket for
the 9:00pm performance. We will be unable to let anyone
into the theater after the show.
Remember though, with all things Cirque it is subject to
change, but we are very excited!!
°o°) CIRQUECON 2007 ORLANDO T-SHIRT, WHERE?!
They were quite popular with our passionates last year in
Las Vegas, and some of you have asked us about them again
this year - so where are those CirqueCon T-Shirts?!
Unfortunately, due to the short development time Rich and
I have had for CirqueCon 2007, we didn't have enough time
to finalize a logo design for T-shirt production; therefore,
we couldn't offer one this year through the vendor we used
last year - there wouldn't have been enough lead time for
printing and shipping.
BUT, our Graphics Guy has a solution for those who are
a little adventurous - make your own! And I'll let him tell
you how to do that in his own words: take it away Rich!
* * *
To create a T-Shirt using the CirqueCon 2007: Orlando!
official graphic, simply navigate to the picture on the
web site (www.cirquecon.com/2007/tshirt.htm), click on the
thumbnail, and choose to save the full image to your
computer of choice. Once saved on your computer, load the
graphic in your favorite graphic software (a Paint program or
even Microsoft Word), print the picture on Color Ink Jet
printer using a special "Dark T-shirt Transfer Paper".
Once printed, follow the instructions that came with the
transfer paper to iron the image onto a T-Shirt.
The "Special Dark T-shirt Transfer" paper is readily
available from office supply and craft stores. The brand
I use often is Avery, their part number is 3279, the name of
the product is "Dark T-Shirt Transfers" and I have had great
success with any number of different ink jet printers. This
product does NOT require any special ink for the printer
and, can be ironed on a shirt with a standard household iron.
The only trick I've learned is when washing a shirt, turn the
shirt inside out for washing and drying and, dry on medium
heat.
* * *
We do apologize that we didn't have the official CirqueCon
2007 graphic available for T-shirt processing earlier, but
for those of you interested in showing your CirqueCon
passion, here's the way you can do it!
Find the graphic on our page dedicated to the T-Shirt,
< http://www.cirquecon.com/2007/tshirt.htm >.
As always, if you should have any questions regarding our upcoming
event in Orlando, please let us know!
C-ya real soon and get ready for a Zippity-du-Soleil time!
Ricky "Richasi" Russo & Rich Alford
CirqueCon 2007: Orlando!

Target Corporation - TV Ad's

2007-08-04T09:00:00.001-04:00

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the new Target commercial featuring 'Mr. Mortimore.'

I believe the actor is the same gentleman who also does the UPS 'white-board' commercials.

This ad is creative, intelligent (on many different levels) and fun. Its what all ads should be these days. If I were presented by this type of advertising I'd actually watch each of them rather than pausing or FF through them.

Now for your viewing enjoyment, the ad;

Gaffe's of the week

2007-08-04T08:02:00.001-04:00

As I take stock in the week finally having ended I'm compelled to begin this weekend with a compilation of the weeks best news events which......make me so happy.

Thanks be to China

The Mattel Company instructed the Fisher-Price division to recall some 1.5 million of the toys above. It seems that the Chinese manufacturer used too much lead in the paint on the toy. If the paint shed off or was placed in a mouth it could transfer the lead to the child.

I'd like to know the following:

1. How much lead in toy paint is safe?

2. Why when you go to the Fisher-Price toy site do you have to intently search to find the recall information web link, its light yellow, and next to the last possible link.

3. That too much Chinese is a bad thing.

Thanks be to Congress

U.S. Rep William Jefferson (D-LA) won a small battle against the FBI and Justice Department this week in the Circuit Court of Appeals. The three judge panel ruled that the FBI conducted an unconstitutional raid on the representative's office wherein they reviewed and seized legislative documents. The court ordered the return of the legislative documents but not the documents related to the case against him.

Jefferson is accused of receiving up to $500,000 is compensatory kick backs and bribes from various African nations in exchange for pushing through votes in congress and steering contracts. The FBI set up a video taped sting in which it gave Jefferson $100,000 in cash in exchange for a cellular telephone contract grant in the Congo. The bribe was given to him during dinner at a prestigious Washington restaurant. The FBI video-taped Jefferson receiving the suit case of cash and then him placing it in the boot of his car. A few weeks later the FBI conducted a raid on Jefferson's house and office in which they found $90,000 in marked bills in his freezer, wrapped in tin foil - inside Tupperware, and then marked 'Lasagna' on the outside of the container.

Note to all Congressmen and Senators - if you're going to conduct thievery, receive bribes, or do anything illicit, make sure you do it within the confines of your Capital Hill offices. As of now, law enforcement agencies doesn't have the ability to search your offices or 'interfere' with said duties (criminal or otherwise) of the Legislative branch.

Thanks be to Congress (again)

The normally harmonious floor of the House of Representatives boiled over on Friday when House Democrats tried to ram through an agricultural bill that would provide housing benefits and hiring incentives to farms for employing, get this, illegal immigrants. (It would not though provide any of the same funds to American citizens.) The Republican counterparts noticed the effort and postured to challenge the bill. The Dems though shanghai'd the vote and gaveled it to a quick close literally micro-seconds (not kidding) after the vote appeared to be in their favor. This gaveling of the vote to a close caused the Republican's to begin chanting 'SHAME' en masse and then walk out of the chambers. The Democrats finally realizing what impact their actions would have during the 2008 elections then decided to re-open the voting.

Thanks be to Presidential Hopefuls

Candidate John Edwards this week derided Democratic Presidential candidates to not take and further to return already received campaign contributions from any of Ruppert Murdoch's company's. Some of the thousand's of entities owned by Murdoch give to campaigns on both sides of the isle.

Edwards though refused to give back funds he received from another Murdoch owned company, Harper-Collins Books, for royalties and advances he received last year for penning a book. After the Edwards presser on his demand to other hopeful's, Journalists across the country then questioned Edwards hypocrisy for accepting money from Murdoch on one side and then condemning any opposing candidate who took it on the other.

The Police, the concert...pt.2

2007-08-02T16:56:00.001-04:00

....then came the intermission between the lackluster opener and the main event. The Garden stated they'd take the stage at 8:55 PM. I believe they finally came on stage about 9:25 PM with the rousing background music of "Get Up Stand Up" by Bob Marley and the Melody Makers. This brought everyone to their feet, whootin and hollerin. This was after all, the Police. (I believe the last time they were in NY was in 1979 or 1980. At that time I was $2.00 too poor to be able to purchase a ticket so I could see them at Nassau Coliseum. I'd asked a friend Chris of mine, who had tickets, if he could get me a tee-shirt. Alas, he forgot in all the excitement. I believe at that time that The Police played about 10-14 shows in NY covering both Madison Square Garden and the Coliseum, all sold out. They really should have done a similar tour schedule in NY judging by the reception they received last evening.

First to stage was Stuart Copeland rising out of the floor surrounded by his drum sets and very formidable percussion instruments including huge gong, chimes, glistening bells along with a very solid drum kit. He seemed to go through about a dozen sets of drum sticks. These things were flung left and right. The padded tympani sticks were always flung far back into the rear stage.

Then came Andy Summers waving to the crowd and immediately launching into a guitar riff which brought huge applause from the crowd. About a minute behind Andy, in classic Sting style, he takes the stage.

Stings presence is classic, nonchalant almost, casual, sometimes aloof. He's always carried that heir of overt confidence that some call time tested experience while others call pompous. He certainly has talent for sure, without exception. He'll forever be remembered as one of my generations best musical talents.

The concert itself lasted about 2-1/2 hours, no breaks. Their set list was:

Message in a Bottle”
“Synchronicity II”
“Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
“Voices Inside My Head”/”When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”
“Spirits in the Material World”
“Driven to Tears”
“Walking on the Moon”
“Truth Hits Everybody”
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
“Wrapped Around Your Finger”
“The Bed’s Too Big Without You”
“Murder by Numbers”
“De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”
“Invisible Sun”
“Walking in Your Footsteps”
“Can’t Stand Losing You”
“Roxanne”
“King of Pain”
“So Lonely”
“Every Breath You Take”
“Next to You”

They plowed through some songs not providing the audience any time to recuperate. They did drop most of the songs down an octave (as an age consideration.) Sting's voice was a bit off (he may have been fighting laryngitis). This though did not deflect from the palpable excitement of the evening.

In fact, I'd venture to state that they could have just stood on stage and play instrument only, and still have provided a great concert because everyone, to a person, was singing along at the top of their lungs. Sting encouraged and was graciously provided audience participation.

In all, they probably played a technical concert equal to 90% of their former selves from almost 30 years ago. Not bad in my book. As my final impression of the show, hands down, one of the best I've ever seen. I was an excited fan, but I now have a memory to cherish, spent listening to great music with my favorite peeps.

Thanks always to bro'ness for driving, picking up dinner and parking. It made for a very special experience.

The Police - in concert

2007-08-02T13:36:00.001-04:00

Last evening, a few month endeavour came to a fantastic close. It started out many moons ago when I first learned that The Police, a famous late 70's early 80's power rock band were contemplating reforming for a one tour stint. Obviously capitaslistic tendancies governed this decision.
In order to make sure I obtained my desired set of four tickets, I joined The Police Fan Club (a $250 undertaking) which then allowed me the opportunity to purchase advance release tickets, in preferred sections of Madison Square Garden.
I called Bro'ness and asked if he'd be able to attend with wifey and I and he agreed. Unfortunaley his lovely wife Marsha was not able to attend. She recently advanced her career exponentially (while also similarly increasing her responsibilities and time needed to complete said taskings.) So, with heavy heart we invited (though no offense meant) Emily - now affectionately known as SFB (another story for another day).
We got on the road and Bro'ness drove. We ate dinner at a very good restaurant I discovered last week, RiverBay Market on Willis Ave in Williston Park. Its highly recommended.
Bro drove to the City and we found a very convenient, albeit very expensive, garage to self-park in, right across from the famed Garden. We arrived with ample time to spare, though in retrospect I wish now that had not been the case.
Obviously it was sell-out crowds since the bands exposure and past recording talents are famed the world over.
Straight away, 8:00 PM sharp the warm-up band took stage. Their name is FictionPlane. If you ever get the chance, I'd highly recommend NOT to see them. They reminded me of my high-school days in the gymnasium watching a Battle of the Bands. The lead signer sounded like an off-key seal trying to imitate Sting. I've now had the unfortunate honor to find out that it sounded like Sting because he's Sting's son. His singing style was strained and epileptic. Singing at the mic his entire body would seize up and fail to function (though unfortunely this didn't affect his mouth). When his mouth wasn't open, his body would then begin to flail about and gyrate without syncronicity (sorry - had to). Then he'd climb high atop a speaker set and jump into the air to end the song. Over and over we watched. I was mortified.
The second song in their set was the only one I recognized as even remotely distributable. Had a catchy beat, though I have no idea what its titled.
The remainder of the set included songs such as Lipstick, Fuck and something to do with Jack Keirowac. I was totally happy to uproariously applaud the end of their set just so they'd get off the stage.
More later....

I was Born a Poor black Child

2007-07-29T13:18:00.001-04:00

On this day of celebration, what better way to continue it with remembrance of one of the best comedic movies of all time:

The Jerk:

Today is a holiday because yesterday Steve finally married his girlfriend of a few years (former The New Yorker contributor -and 25 years his junior). His marriage was set in true Steve Martin fashion - he arranges a party at his house with 65 of his closest friends, and doesn't tell them he's getting married until they arrive and gather for the party.

Some notable quotes from the movie (courtesy IMDB):

Navin R. Johnson: Huh? I am not a bum. I'm a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi.

Navin R. Johnson: For one dollar I'll guess your weight, your height, or your sex.
Navin R. Johnson: Well I'm gonna to go then. And I don't need any of this. I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything except this.
[picks up an ashtray]
Navin R. Johnson: And that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this. The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this. And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.
[walking outside]
Navin R. Johnson: And I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
[dog barks]
Navin R. Johnson: I don't need my dog.
Mother: Navin, I'd love you if you were the color of a baboon's ass.
[a sniper keeps missing Navin and hitting cans of motor oil]
Navin R. Johnson: He hates these cans. Stay away from the cans.
[Navin recites some wisdom]
Navin R. Johnson: Lord loves a workin' man; don't trust whitey; see a doctor and get rid of it.
Navin R. Johnson: [singing] I'm picking out a Thermos for you. Not an ordinary Thermos for you. But the extra best Thermos that you can buy, with vinyl and stripes and a cup built right in.
Navin R. Johnson: The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!
Harry Hartounian: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.
Navin R. Johnson: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 - Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.
[Speaking to Marie in bed while she sleeps]
Navin R. Johnson: I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it.
Mother: Navin, it's your birthday, and it's time you knew. You're not our natural-born child.
Navin R. Johnson: I'm not? You mean I'm gonna STAY this color?
[Stan Fox's glasses keep slipping off]
Stan Fox: Damn these glasses.
Navin R. Johnson: Yes, sir.
[to the glasses]
Navin R. Johnson: I damn thee.
Navin R. Johnson: Why are you crying? And why are you wearing that old dress?
Marie: Because I just heard a song on the radio that reminded me of the way we were.
Navin R. Johnson: What was it?
Marie: "The Way We Were."
Navin R. Johnson: First I get my name in the phone book and now I'm on your ass. You know, I'll bet more people see that than the phone book.
[in bed]
Navin R. Johnson: You look so beautiful and peaceful, you almost look dead. And I'm glad, because there's something I want to say that's always been very difficult for me to say.
[pause]
Navin R. Johnson: "I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit." There. I've never been relaxed enough around anyone to say that.
Navin R. Johnson: I'm gonna bounce back and when I do I'm gonna buy you a diamond so big it's gonna make you puke.
Marie: I don't wanna puke.
Navin R. Johnson: Good things are gonna start happening to me now.
[Crazy guy with gun scrolls through a phone book]
Sniper: Johnson, Navin R... Sounds like a typical bastard.
Motel Guest: Don't call that dog "lifesaver;" call him "shithead."
Navin R. Johnson: Now be totally honest. You do have a boyfriend don't you.
Marie: Kind of
Navin R. Johnson: I know this is our first date but do you think the next time you make love to your boyfriend you could think of me?
Marie: Well I haven't made love to him yet.
Navin R. Johnson: That's too bad. Do you think its possible that someday you could make love with me and think of him?
Marie: Who knows maybe you and he could make love and you could think of me.
Navin R. Johnson: I'd be happy to be in there somewhere.
New Accounts Bank Manager: I will need two pieces of identification.
Navin R. Johnson: Ah yes. I have my temporary driver's license - and - my astronaut application form... I didn't pass that though, I failed everything but the date of birth.
Marie: I don't care about losing all the money. It's losing all the stuff.
Sniper: Die, you random son of a bitch.
[shoots at Navin but hits a display of oil cans]
Navin R. Johnson: He hates these cans!
[last lines]
Navin R. Johnson: [voiceover] I was so glad to be going home. I remembered the days when I sang and danced with my family on the porch of the old house. But things change, and with all the additions to the family, we had to tear down the old house, even though we loved it. But we built us a bigger one.
Navin R. Johnson: Good Lord - I've heard about this - cat juggling! Stop! Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Good. Father, could there be a God that would let this happen?
Marie: You live here? Oh, it's nice. Did you decorate it?
Navin R. Johnson: Yeah, I got all this stuff from the old Cup 'o Pizza place before they tore it down.
Marie: Good pizza.
[the two are eating pizza in a cup]
Navin R. Johnson: Oh, this is the best pizza in a cup ever. This guy is unbelievable. He ran the old Cup 'o Pizza guy out of business. People come from all over to eat this.

Ali Lohan

2007-07-29T09:06:00.001-04:00

Okay, this scares the heck out of me. Unfortunately, as the article points out, this is another Lindsay and Dina in training. (courtesy of StupidCelebrities.net)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ali Lohan Defends Sister Lindsay Lohan

In an email to 24sizzler.com Ali Lohan writes in defense of her sister-

Hi david this is ali lohan, i want everybody to know the truth out there. My mom is a single mom of four children she has always been there for us, she was my mother and father and still is. My father is telling all lies to people and saying he was such a great dad and was always there for us, my father was never there for us, My mom was always there souporting[sic] us. i think that the whole reason why my sister is upset with her self and not as cofident[sic], is because of my dad not being around, and always staying out late and not coming home for days, he would come back home never himself, he was always was making excuses for his bad behavior . And would always blame my mother. He just wants everybody in the world knowing that he was a great dad. He wasnt that is all a lie. I just want my sister to stick throught[sic] this okay, and my mother and brothers and i are there for my sister 100% and have always been. I’ve wanted to say this for so long and get this out there and let everyone know that our family is like a normal family but of course we are put under a microscope because of lindsays fame, lindsay will be fine she is just going through a rough time right now but she will be fine. i know this for a fact. My sisters is just like a normal sister. her and I have so much in common. My mother and sister are huge insperations[sic] to me, they have made it through so much in there lives.
Thankyou for your time god bless, Ali

“my mother and sister are huge inspirations to me.” - looks like we have another crazy lohan on the way!

Will It Blend?

2007-07-28T16:27:00.001-04:00

A necessary ingredient - we'll call it Emeril's Essence - to America's being is capitalism. Our fore-fathers did one heck of a job developing this country to get us where we are today.

In honor of this I stumbled across another interesting site called, appropriately, Will It Blend. Initially I thought this was just some crazy blogger who decides to blend objects to see what happens. Then I realize its a blender company hawking their product. (Don't loose me now.)

I took a look at some of there video's and wow!!! Its worth a few minutes gandering at what Mr. Dickson has blended. All from BlendTec. Now that's what I call a blender!!!. Is $399 too much to spend on a simple blender? Maybe, but who wants a crappy Kitchen Aide doing the death jig in the midst of entertaining. Not me. I think I'll give one a try.

33,000 foot pounds per minute

2007-07-28T14:10:00.001-04:00

That's the answer. What's the question?

Hint:

How to Order a drink

2007-07-28T11:27:00.001-04:00

Order a Drink

Photograph by Darren Braun

Life is too short to let indecision or inexperience cut into your drinking. When you belly up to the bar, it's go time.

1. Watch your timing. Friday night when the bar is four people deep is not the moment to admire the flavored vodka selection. This isn't a social call; this is business.

2. Know what you want. Unless you're getting wine, do not ask for recommendations. It exposes you as an amateur. Be ready to order.

3. Start a tab. Have your credit card ready. If you hold everything up digging for your plastic, you can kiss a long pour or free drink good-bye.

4. Never order Long Island iced teas. No Jägermeister shots. Nothing with sex in the name. And never, never anything requiring a food processor. Gauge the patience and biceps strength of your bartender before requesting drinks that involve muddling, such as mojitos.

5. Know your bar. Places with no top-shelf selection are not where you should be ordering Chardonnay. Get a well drink. Places with bartenders in white coats, standing behind arrays of silver cocktail shakers and freshly cut fruit, are good places to order martinis. Or Negronis. Try a Negroni.

6. Alternate rounds. Buy a drink for everyone in your party; graciously accept one for yourself. But don't deploy a round just to pick someone up -- that's cheesy.

7. Get a free drink by tipping well at the start of the evening ($1 per cocktail is the bare minimum). Be friendly with the bartender but not needy. Use references: If you know a regular -- who just happens to be the hottest woman in the room -- say so. Better yet, be the hottest woman in the room.

(courtesy of Wired How To Wiki)

Non-fictional news

2007-07-26T19:11:00.001-04:00

Swimming Pool and Water Stolen From Yard

The Associated Press

PATERSON, N.J. - Daisy Valdivia is annoyed that someone stole her backyard pool , and baffled at how they did it without leaving behind a splash, drip or trace of the 1,000 gallons of water it contained.

Valdivia awoke to find her family's hip-high, inflatable, 10-foot diameter swimming pool gone from her back yard Wednesday.

Valdivia told The Record of Bergen County the theft must have occurred between 1 a.m., when her husband went to bed, and 5 a.m., when she awoke.

She's amazed someone could steal the pool that quickly and just wanted to know "what the heck they did with the water," she said.

Bus Driver Fired for 38,000 Text Messages

The Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland - A Polish bus driver has been fired for sending 38,000 text messages on his company cell phone in a losing effort to win contest jackpot, a spokesman said Thursday.

Leszek Wojcik, a bus driver in the northwestern Polish city of Slupsk, ran up a tab of some 94,000 zlotys ($34,000) with his text messages while trying to win a 100,000-zloty ($36,000) SMS contest that ended June 30, Slupsk city transport spokesman Hubert Boba told The Associated Press.

Boba said a city bus drivers' monthly company phone bill is supposed to be limited to 15 zlotys ($5).

Wojcik sent an average of 1,200 SMS text messages a day, each costing 2.40 zlotys ($0.86), on his work cell phone.

Wojcik told TVN24 television he wanted to buy a second car with his possible winnings.

"Now I'm without work," he said.

292 Dirty Calls to 911 Land Man in Jail

The Associated Press

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A man charged with dialing 911 to chat with dispatchers nearly 300 times in the last month remained in jail Wednesday. Cheveon Alonzo Ford, 21, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with making obscene and harassing telephone calls.

He told authorities he began calling 911 because "I have no minutes on my phone and 911 is a free call," the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Ford was being held on a $50,000 bond Wednesday afternoon.

Officers used GPS coordinates from Ford's cell phone to track his location to the west Pensacola home where he was arrested, the Pensacola News Journal Reported.

"His phone service had been cut off and 911 was the only number he could dial from the phone," said Bob Boschen, communication chief for Escambia County.

Boschen said many of Ford's 292 calls were sexual in nature.

"When he would call and a male dispatcher would answer, he would hang up," he said. "Our policy says that if a caller is belligerent in nature we have to get enough information to process the call and then we can disconnect," he said.

Ford never asked dispatchers for help or indicated he was in trouble.

Another day of Bro'ness

2007-07-26T18:34:00.001-04:00

Here, he's (Doug) helping me out during my fathers 70th B'day celebration, while I'm inside cooking in the kitchen. Thanks again bud!!

A day of a few events to be thankful for..

2007-07-24T20:20:00.001-04:00

This great man...Ward Churchill, was finally voted out of the University of Colorado. This is the same man who compared, in an essay he wrote shortly after 9/11, some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann (who was involved in carrying out the Holocaust.)

This great young woman was arrested, yet again, in Santa Monica, Ca early this morning. Turns out she was pissed off that her personal assistant quit (rumored because Lindsay was yet again out of control with drugs and liquor). Her assistant left with her mother and someone else in her car. Lindsay gave chase in her own car, with two other people in the car with her. This seemed to scare the first car, forcing them to call 911 and, a block away from a local police precinct, pulled into a theatre lot and stopped. Lindsay's car pulled in as well and then, its reported, she got into a screaming match with the now former assistant. That's when police arrived.

She was severely belligerent to the police. She refused an alcohol blow test and then submitted to a physical field sobriety test, which she failed. She was arrested. Taken to the precinct, searched - where they found cocaine- and then administered the blow test (humorous) which she reportedly served up a .12BAC, (.08 is the legal limit).

I pray and hope that she gets help, or is forced by the system to get it, so that she lives out the rest of her 21st year, and those around her survive as well and are not mowed down by her in a drunken and drug induced state.

Beware young readers, this woman's family is like mold on cheese. Dangerous and infectious to all that are near.

In the 'dumbest things we pay for' category

2007-07-21T09:53:00.001-04:00

Okay, as I continue to wake-up this morning I'm filtering through Eurekalert. This is where I come across a small press release from the American Society of Agronomy, who are reporting findings of a study conducted by the University of Minnesota. I think I'm reading this wrong, I believe what they're saying is that they've found levels of contaminants (fertilizers) in test samples taken from rivers and water tables near farms. That its their belief that if the farmers reduced or stopped using fertilizers, then there would be a reduction or elimination of those contaminants in the rivers and water table. ????????????????????????????????

I'd like to know what congressman or professor wrote the grant request for this study...and POUND them in the head.

-------------------------------------

Also from Eurekalert, this one is taken from the publication Justice Quarterly.

Seems that Ohio State University needed to do a study on adolescent crime in NYC. Here's the opening sentence from the press release;

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A study of young, violent criminals in New York City found that they used fear and intimidation to keep adults from interfering with their criminal activities.

Am I missing something, or is the most appropriate word...Duh!!

------------------------------------

Then on to Weird News of the World

Jonathan Powell, 17, was convicted in April of sexually assaulting a college student in Iowa City, Iowa, after his DNA was found in several places on her body. Powell explained the DNA by claiming that he had merely bumped into the woman accidentally while jogging and had become so "entangled" with her that he was unable to free himself for about "45 minutes." [Des Moines Register, 5-1-07]

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in an April car crash after he collided with a stopped tow truck on Interstate 64 in the middle of the night, and according to a police report, Hancock was intoxicated, speeding, un-seat-belted, and talking on his cell phone at the time. Nonetheless, in May, Hancock's father filed a lawsuit claiming that the causes of the crash were (1) the tow truck operator, (2) the driver who was being assisted by the tow truck operator, and (3) the manager of the restaurant in which Hancock had been drinking. [Houston Chronicle-AP, 5-25-07]

The local government in Dalkeith, Scotland, has decided that, notwithstanding global warming and carbon "footprints," the lights will stay on all night, every night, in the building that formerly was Dalkeith High School (but which has been vacant since 2004) because councilors fear that trespassers would hurt themselves in the darkness and sue them. [Daily Telegraph (London), 6-1-07]

Long Days of Summer

2007-07-21T08:49:00.001-04:00

So, I'm buzzing through Wired.com and trip over an alternate article about a chap named Michael Hearst, and his band called One Ring Zero.

Synopsis - he lives in Brooklyn, small apartment. A couple years ago he hears the sounds of summer emanating from the busy streets (read - jingle of Ice Cream Trucks). The same song over and over. So, he does a Google search and finds there aren't too many alternate songs out there for ice cream trucks to play. So, he and his band-mates decide to change things. Thereafter they begin recording, in his small Brooklyn apt., the album below.

Its an interesting interview to read through, and an even more interesting (you may wish to imbibe first) web-site to partake in and listen to the bands various creations. Ice Cream men (masc.) around the world are, I'm sure, rejoicing because they now have a selection of tunes to get the youngsters gastronomic juices flowing in all sorts of creative ways.

Songs For Ice Cream Trucks

On the lighter side of things to end this week

2007-07-20T20:55:00.001-04:00

Checkers Anyone?

2007-07-20T20:11:00.001-04:00

Straight from the University of Alberta comes this dramatic story of intrigue, beguile, challenge and mystery...up 'til now that is.....

Game over — scientists solve checkers

named after a famed American helicopter (Chinook), a Canadian computer has spent years - since 1989 actually - playing and re-playing checkers. 500 quintillion moves later, its finally figured out a way to play the game and win every time, or at least force a draw.

Project
Authors
Checkers Solution
Play Chinook
Endgame Databases
Publications
Solved Games
News
Links
Thank You

Schaeffer has been working on the checkers puzzle for 18 years.

For more information about Chinook please go to:
http:// http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook.

Jonathan Schaeffer’s U of A website:
http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~jonathan/

Another update to 'OU' (or Over Unity)

2007-07-19T19:50:00.001-04:00

as reported by Engadget, I'll include both updates here which are subsequent to my earlier this month post of "the world as we know it nearly stopped":

Steorn's Orbo device exploded -- for dissection, not the apocalypse
Posted Jul 11th 2007 6:35AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

With tail held firmly between legs, Steorn really had no choice but to take a less covert and cryptic approach to their public relations. Behold what shyster-Sean McCarthy calls a working device utilizing their Orbo "free infinite energy" technology (read: magnets). The exploded view below the photograph was cobbled together by Steorn forum members and is a best guess as to how the device "works" at this point in time. The stationary part -- the stator -- is colored green and blue and contains 8 magnets fitted into angled-slots around the central cavity. Within the cavity spins a rotor with an additional 4 magnets evenly distributed around the circumference. Between the two are those dastardly, watch-maker bearings which were to blame for the failed demonstration last week. So yeah, it certainly appears to be just another in a long series of magnetically driven perpetual motion machines debunked by the scientific community for centuries. Still, Steorn employees continue to assert the existence of their magical energy source; they just can't explain how it works or prove that it exists. You know at this point, their rabid self-deception and cult of believers investors are becoming just a tad creepy don't you think?
[Via BoingBoing]

-------------

and then an update interview of a couple days ago... (note from DJ - I pride myself on having an ability to dissect double-speak and boil an explanation down into usable, valuable, and coherent parts to form a logical statement. For the life of me though, I can not for love nor money figure out what in heavens name this guy is speaking about when he explains what his company was initially founded to do and what they actually did, other than something with e-commerce and the police. I guess this kind of translates into his world changing business model and his supposed 'invention.'

The Engadget Interview: Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn

Posted Jul 17th 2007 12:12PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Features, Interviews

Today's interview is a first for Engadget in a couple ways: we've never talked with an executive whose company doesn't actually make or sell something, nor have we talked with anyone whose technology is theoretically infeasible. Still, we've all had our chance to criticize Steorn for its scientifically heretical claim to the invention of a perpetual motion machine, its failed live demonstration of that machine, and so on. So now it's time to turn the mic over to Steorn's CEO Sean McCarthy, where he discusses his belief in the potential of Steorn's Orbo technology, his feelings about the scientific community and skeptics at large, and what happens next for the supposed free energy company.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. I'm sure that you're very busy, especially after the last couple of weeks--

I've had better weeks.

Yeah, I would imagine. But before we actually get started talking about the technology [Orbo] or anything like that I think that a lot of people would probably like to know a little bit more about the company. So what can you tell us about Steorn that we don't already know? I mean we know that it was a company that was founded not to break the laws of thermodynamics but rather technological means.

The company was founded by myself and three other guys back in 2000 and it was basically three of us had come from a company that I had been working with for a year and the Irish economy was doing well so we decided we'd set up a tech company with no real objective. We started working in the early days just helping people manage some of their big e-commerce spend. So it would primarily be contract management, so for example where corporate would be spending vast amounts of money on e-commerce projects.

But that day was over so we came in to restructure the contracts and try to manage them into a more realistic burn rate. So we did that with probably some of Ireland's biggest corporate e-commerce sites including people like Banks of Ireland and so on. In 2001 we were asked to get involved in the development of some anti-counterfeit technology for credit cards and basically that became the mainstay of our business both in terms of developing anti-counterfeit systems for optical disks and for plastic cards and also doing an awful lot of forensics and expert witnessing for law enforcements across Europe.

I see. So then you stumbled upon this technology by--

An awful lot of the work we would have done would have been done in ATM fraud, which is a very widespread fraud in the UK and in Ireland and across Europe, and from working with the police they have quite a different view on the crime than for example a bank, and the police's prime objective is to catch the bad guys. So we started looking at covert surveillance equipment to monitor high risk ATMs, because clearly what the law enforcement wanted to do was to get evidence of a person physically committing a crime and it was during the development of some covert CCTV cameras that we were looking at basically very mobile devices -- so we wanted wireless image transmission and also not to have to worry about wiring them up to anything. So we initially looked at solar cells and we looked at augmenting solar cells to extend the battery life of the system with winter at the top of these were lamp post sized devices. So it was during that we started really playing around with magnetic systems and that's where we began to notice some strange anomalies and got caught in this weird and wonderful world OU. [Over unity, aka free energy.] Sometimes we wish we hadn't but we have.

So we know you stumbled upon this supposed technology. How long did it take you guys to realize what you thought was going on here?

It took us an awful long time to be honest, because the first thing when you get an anomalous reading on a system in a lab, the first thing that you do is obviously question your test equipment. We obviously went out and we looked out and looked at the way we are testing it and systems we were using to make analysis and so on. And after a fairly extended period of testing in different ways -- I should make the point that when we discovered this we weren't generating, the systems didn't run away with themselves. What we noticed was at certain speeds the speed range for magnetic systems that we were getting substantially different energy results -- which is unexpected.

So we spent a good six months ourselves just looking at the systems and not full-time six months. We wouldn't jump on it and say, you know, this is the solution to the world's energy crisis. We did it in a fairly calm, rational manner and over a course of the six months we began to realize that hey this, these readings are not due to some measurement anomaly and that these readings are real. There are these energy anomalies at certain speed ranges with certain magnetic configurations and that's pretty much how we managed to convince ourselves that it was worth pursuing.

You just mentioned, to quote, that this is the solution to the world's energy crisis. Do you think that is actually the case? Do you think that this will end the world's energy crisis?

I don't... I mean... My own background just to explain to you is providing technology into the UK Royal and gas industries. So I know the energy industry pretty well. I don't think there is a single solution to the energy crisis. I think that certain energy demands have certain needs. We have no doubts that what we have can play a very significant role. However, there is one thing sitting in Dublin here with a claim on a technology that nobody believes. Making that a commercial reality is a long and difficult road. So we are not naive enough to say that we will have a massive impact in the short frame of time, but we can see that it's possible and that's what we're dedicated to.

It's interesting that you mention that it's a technology that no one believes and I've seen some of the videos where I think it was you or one of your colleagues refers to the technology as being "absolutely impossible."

That would be me. [laughs]

Why do you think that this is so difficult to pitch to people?

From the simple point, we're all believers up to the notch of pretty well qualified engineers. You know, we have very classical university training and we've worked months of our lives in a classical engineering and technology environment. And so, the only way I can describe how I would feel about this technology is that if I'd be looking at this technology from the outside I'd be going, "Hocum! This is complete and utter rubbish! This is the most incontrovertible law of physics and if this was untrue then the universe wouldn't work." So I understand the skepticism, I would be very much and like everybody else. I've seen these kind of claims come and go over the years. So I understand it and an awful lot of what we're about is to try and at least erode people's disbelief. Because we can't make this a viable commercial technology without obviously people accepting that it's real.

Right, and in the US the USPTO, our patent office, actually requires people to send in physical working samples of supposed perpetual motion machines because they have historically received so many claims for patents to this system.

[laughs] We work with a pretty large U.S. patent firm. We took the decision that because of the company, we have so many battles to fight, and the last thing we wanted to do was to fight a battle with a patent office. So from the patent perspective we don't make claims that would violate classic Newtonian dynamics. However we have constructed a portfolio of patents that do protect us. So we're making claims that protect the technology... So we're not concerned about our patent position or having to fight because even that statement about the patent office is not necessarily true according true according to our patent agents. But again, we haven't felt the necessity to make claims in our patents of you know overunity or anything that could be deemed scientifically controversial. That doesn't mean that we don't believe in the claim, it simply means that we can protect the technology without having to go through that step.

How many people do you have working on this Orbo technology right now?

Head-count in the company is 21 full time staff and we would have anywhere between probably 5 and 15 people working on the contract at any one time and they would be in partner organizations or direct contracts to the company. It's very substantial for a very little company's operations.

You guys are operating strictly on VC right now? Or what are your other means of income?

Since we went public last August we stopped all works with the forensic and expert witnessing simply because we would not be credible, we'd be too easily -- we're presenting obviously to the prosecution. It would be too easy to be discredited with a claim like this publicly in the eyes of the court. So it's currently no revenues at all and we will attempt to make no revenues until the technology is validated.

How are you paying your employees for the time being? Is this from cash reserves?

We're operating via private investment, which we took through this all last year.

So that's the company, let's talk a little bit more about the technology that you guys have supposedly developed here. Laws of thermodynamics basically state that you can't achieve 100% efficiency in any apparatus and that there are always transfers of heat and energy in any system. But obviously you guys are claiming 100%+ efficiency. Do you have a statistic or number of what you estimate the energy efficiency level of your machine is? Is it 110% or 150%?

It varies from configuration to configuration. I think the largest efficiency that we would have physically measured would be about 485%. These numbers can be misleading. For example we might be getting 485% per joule, which means were getting 4.85 J out, but there could be a configuration that's could be delivering 130% efficiency yet delivering 10 joules. So, the technology itself is pretty well researched in terms of punch line efficiency it's 485%, but that wouldn't be the optimum output of the system. Obviously we're more focused on direct power output of a device than the punchline numbers. 485 to 1 is 4.85, but we could easily say, 10 to 12 joules off of a system is going to have a lower punch line efficiency. And power output is obviously the key factor, energy output is obviously the key factor.

So you guys have been trying to bring the scientific community into the fold. Obviously kicked off by the full page ad in The Economist and there's the open invitation...

[laughs] It was a brave decision.

Well, it definitively opened you guys to a lot of criticism. My publication is definitely not excepted from that. I think it's one of those claims to where you're just going to have to put up with the lumps.

We knew it. Again, the only way I can describe this is that we didn't set out to do this. We stumbled upon it. I wouldn't believe a word of it if I wasn't working here and so in deciding the best route for the company was to go and do this, what they call a slap in the face of science. We had no illusions at all of how it looked or how it would be conceived, what we would be called and so on. But at the end of the day we have to face that, but it's a relatively easy thing to face when you know what you have is real because, you realize there is an end to it and we can get on with the business of business.

I think part of the reason why people didn't and don't take it seriously is partly because there is no [credible] university affiliated with the research. The fact that you guys were not out to actually invent this new science and that there was no big name physicist behind it at the time is, I think, what is most damaging to your credibility.

To be fair, I don't think of there's an awful lot of what we could have done with respect to credibility. But the other thing to recognize in terms of the August thing [running the ad in The Economist] is that we achieved our objective, and our objective was to get qualified scientists engaged. As much as we get an awful lot of criticism, and obviously the event the last couple of weeks haven't helped, the bottom line for us is that process has started and that process will end with very qualified people doing the analysis. So were quite happy to sit here -- happy is the wrong word -- but we're quite willing to sit here and take the smirks or the laughs or the cries of fraud and so on because August was a big victory for us because our biggest concern in doing all of this, is, well, what if no scientist responds? That would have been a disaster for us. The fact that we got ridiculed, that was going to happen anyway.

Since this open invitation to invite scientists to review the technology under their own means and their own circumstances, that they see fit--

We're obviously covering all of their direct costs and paying them a nominal fee to do it. But they're deciding the details of the process. It is and will be seen to be at the end of it, a fair process. We're not paying them massive consulting fees, which is one of the concerns that we had. We tried to structure it in such a way that when the results arrive, and obviously we are very confident in what the results are going to be, that people could look at the process and say, it was a fair process. Although we're obviously keeping it pretty non-disclosed, but in the end of it when these guys report, people will be able to see how much they were paid, the level of testing, and where they've gone through. And so they can see that the report, whatever it says, was fair.

I understand that some 5,000 scientists applied to be a part of this.

No, we had 5,000 total applicants. It was an online thing. So when you rule out the Bart Simpsons who had applied we had 1,000 qualified people, of which about 500 who would be qualified scientists, and 500 qualified engineers.

And so how many people have actually accepted this challenge and are currently working on this?

We've signed contracts with 22 of them. There is a copy of the contract on the website, and 22 of them are involved in an analysis of the technology.

Do you know when they are expecting to publish their results? Because I know that was one of the requirements as well, that they publish once they've made their conclusions about it.

The straight answer to it is no. We're not in control of the process. All we can do is facilitate it. So, while I think a lot of people will say, well this should easy, it actually isn't a simple process and also it's not a simple process on the technical level. There are a lot of energies that need to be looked at. It's also such a big claim that these guys need to be 100% sure about what they do, whether they prove us right or wrong. It's a thorough of process, it's a slow process, and we haven't set a time limit on it, and neither do we know how long it's going to take.

So, I'd like to talk about the demo.

I wouldn't. [laughs]

Yeah. Well you knew this was coming. [laughs]

[laughs]. I've done nothing but talk about it, but go on...

I'd like to know why you think it failed -- and not the reasons that you've already given. We've definitively heard that it was ball bearings, or it was mechanical failure, it was the heat from the lights. We heard all that. We know. I want to know why you think it failed, in the sense that why did the other two backups that you guys brought not work? Or why were you not able to relocate the demo to another location that didn't have these issues? Or why was it not thoroughly tested enough, and so on...

I'm not going to tell you anything that if you have read some of this stuff that you haven't heard. The simple fact of the matter, just to state, is that this is not production technology and so you know anybody who works in the prototype world will understand that there are always issues. But with respects to what happened, we brought three systems to us from Dublin, three component systems, we don't move them in their operational way, we stripped them down. They are very, very simple and there is not huge configuration to them, but they are very sensitive configurations because there are lots of magnetic loads and so on. We got one of the systems working on the Tuesday night which was the Tuesday before we were going live on Wednesday evening. We started to install that in the demo case and began to notice problems. It wasn't working. That being the prime problem.

We then took the classic engineering process of stripping it down and testing, testing, testing, and what we found was that in that prototype was that the bearings, while not visibly damaged but the friction had more than quadrupled in them, which would have been a killer in a this type of system that we were planning to show. And under pressure we just kept plugging in all the spare bearings we had. Now, these are not standard bearings you might buy from your local hardware store. These are very, very low friction bearings used in the watch industry. Our analysis of what happened is that the heat allowed play in the system that damaged the bearings to the point where the extra friction in the bearings didn't allow the technology to happen. Whether people believe that or don't believe it, there isn't a lot that I can say other then that's what happened.

As this is supposedly scientific phenomena that -- by your terms -- redefines the laws of physics, shouldn't this be demonstrable consistently? Of the machines that you brought, which by all appearances looked like a very simple closed system, why did only one machine work?

First of all, we only planned to get one machine working just in the time frame. The spare bearings that we had we took from the other systems, so at the end of the day we ended up on Thursday morning with six bearings of which we had damaged five for whatever reason. We were pretty sure we know the reasons whether people believe them or not. I then had to make the decision to defer because the reason that actually happened has nothing to do with the bearings, the reason it happened was just the ridiculous time frame that we were doing it in. So we will be doing a demo, again. Obviously people will believe it when they see it and I can understand the skepticism about that. It is a deferral, our guys are currently in the process of rebuilding some more robust systems and changing some parts to prevent the engineering thing from happening again and we'll be back out in the near future with it.

So do you have a time-frame that you're looking at for the next demo?

What we've decided to do this time, is rather then beating ourselves with a stick, we're going to get it running in a location and then we are going to announce that people can watch it online. So we are actually physically getting it operating, it will be the same. The principle behind London, which was clearly a failed demo, was that it wasn't for for a sequence of webcams to people to watch, but it was equally physical, so that people could go there. We put in some PCs so they could chat about it and so on. So the principle will be identical, that it's both a physical location where people can go view it. Obviously not everybody can do that, so people can watch it online and chat directly with people there and discuss theories of where batteries might be hidden and so and so on. It's a deferral, we have decided that we will only announce it when it's actually live and in place this time which is a mistake that we made last time. We should have done that but didn't.

I think another thing that might have raised some eyebrows about the London demo was that it was taking place in an art gallery of sorts. And, again, as I mentioned earlier, this kind of level of scientific community credibility that I think maybe some people had expected this demo to show up in the university setting with a far more controlled environment then what you would think of as your normal London art gallery.

I mean the thing about Kinetica is that it's a kinetic gallery. So that the stuff they do is kinetic art, and obviously our technology is kinetic in nature. The other thing about it is that is very open plan. It's glass on three sides, the demo case was suspended five feet in the ceiling, and we had invited some skeptics to come along and test it because if you've seen the device there is virtually nowhere to hide a battery, and there are obviously ways to transmit energy, but they are relatively easy to resolve. So the intention was to be open, and that intention will remain. The other thing that people need to understand is, to be honest, if it had gone as planned I would be expecting to have the conversation with you now and you going, "How did you trick us? How did you hide the batteries?" So, no demo is ever going to be deemed as conclusive proof of this kind of requirement and neither should it be because it doesn't answer all the questions.

But for us it's only a process of erosion where we're saying, look we will demonstrate the technology. Obviously we didn't last time, but we will be doing it. We don't expect that to be a slam dunk for anybody. We do expect it to at least erode some people's views of why we're doing this, and how we couldn't possibly have what we claim to have. But at the end of the day, our general analysis was that at the heart of the Steorn general watching community, the people who think that we're a fraud would use it as a definitive proof we're a fraud, and the people who believed us would use it as definite proof that they believed us. The audience was intended to be wider then that. But there is no demo that is going (and neither is it designed by us) to be perceived as conclusive evidence. Conclusive evidence is the views of the scientific community and that's an issue that's in hand with us and that's ongoing.

You mentioned inviting skeptics to come to the demo and I've actually read one of the reports of one of the skeptics that you invited, someone who identifies himself as Doctor Mike.

Doctor Mike, yes.

His quote about the technology was: "My conclusion..."

I believe that it was all spinning my head. [laughs]

Right... what he said was that, "My conclusion after going through all this is that Steorn is neither hoax nor scam. It is delusion. The reason it seems surreal is because it is surreal -- we are the real part of someone else's imagination."

How can I criticize. We invited the guy to come from Canada to see something. He didn't see it. It's his opinion. He has no other basis, he has nothing else to work on, other than sitting and having a chat with us. I can't possibly criticize, Doctor Mike for what he said. It's exactly what I would have said, I probably would have been harsher if I had been in his shoes.

I don't necessarily want to talk specifically about Doctor Mike, but I feel that is probably what a lot of people feel at this point. You've been very open about your process, which is more than what you can say about a lot of snake oil salesmen who might try to peddle a perpetual motion machine. But at the same time that I think that a lot of people just seem to think that what it really comes down to is that you guys have convinced yourselves that these are true phenomena, and that you actually believe it, whereas it's not necessarily the case.

Again, obviously if I'm delusional, whatever answer I give is going to be based on my own delusions. The only thing that I can say -- I can say a couple of things about it. First thing is that the answer that anybody looking at us and wants to know will ultimately be delivered contractually. It's going to happen whenever it happens from a bunch of scientists. So unless they're delusional as well, if they agree with us then we deal with that at the time. If you stand back from the failed demo and say ok, I don't think anybody should believe this -- I wouldn't believe this in the circumstances, demo or no demo -- there is a process that's in place that's a real process where real scientists are going to draw a conclusion and that conclusion will be made public.

The other side of it which I think is why people have taken the delusional route is because an awful lot of people had expected us to rig the demo. They expected us to have a hidden battery or whatever it is. If we were in that business, believe me, there would have been a spinning wheel. But we're just not in that business, the business of scamming people or rigging demos. It failed, it's prototype technology. Huge disappointment to us. We'll redo it. But the answers to the question -- the demo doesn't answer the question, it provides some thoughts from supporting evidence when it happens. But the answer to the question will be done by professionals and then were either be found to be delusional or not.

So what happens--

I mean, I was expecting a lot more criticism [from everyone] to be honest.

So what happens if you can't prove this supposed technology? If you can't figure out a way to convince people.

But we have. We have. There are lots of tactical things that we'll be doing, such as demos -- and obviously we'll have to respond to the failure of that demo and probably do more than we've intended to. We're a small company and maybe we're slightly overstretched in doing it, but we have to do it. But the jury process is happening, they will have to report -- they will either have to say yay or nay. Ok, so you can say how long will it take? I don't know. But the point of the matter is that there will be an end to the process and an answer will be provided. Now that answer, if it's what we think it will be, will obviously raise more criticism and so and so on. But we've got lots of other things that we are doing to address that. There is going to be no defining moment in my opinion where people go, "It's true!" Even if these 22 scientists -- who are really top scientists -- turn around and say, "By Jove they've done it!". We as a company will still have to drive that message home in other ways.

The purpose of the London demo -- which has clearly backfired on us -- was part of that process. We're going to have to do more things like that in a more creative way and a more convincing way. But none of these things and themselves are going to convince anybody. People are still going to think we're delusional or scam artists, or whatever the latest theory on it is. But, again, the answers will come. I know an awful lot of people have said to us, that's an excuse to raise more money and drag this out. We haven't raised a dime since last August and we've said quite simply we will commercialize this is no way, we are not going to sell film rights or book rights whatever the latest scam theory on it is. We're sitting here like everybody else waiting for the results of the jury and we will do other things to try and support the premise that we've made -- understanding completely how ridiculous it sounds.

So then assuming that your technology does then proves itself to be true. What happens then?

What happens then is that's in many ways is the smallest hurdle for us because obviously we believe it's true -- whether we are delusional or not will be found out ultimately. What we have to do then is actually make money from it and get it into the market. We've chosen a kind of open-source model. We do have a developer forum for people, were putting in learning modules about how you go about doing this. The concept is very simple, but once it's validated this released in an open-source way with a very comprehensive database of e-learning, designs and so on.

So people can go off and do this for themselves from a hobbyist level through to a commercial entity level. And the purpose of that is just to understand is to ensure widespread adoption. Typically if you believe this kind of stuff is possible you expect people to run off to the biggest company in the world and to do big fat licensing deal and retire off to the Maldives. We believe that there is a far more effective way to get it into market which is to release it to everybody in exactly the same way. Whether you are the biggest or the smallest company in the world you get access to it, and if you can go off and you can develop products to market fast, then you'll win, we'll win.

So then I guess the only other thing I'd like to know is what you have to say to everyone in the technology community who feels as if they have been toyed with or led astray.

I don't think that anybody in the technology community ever believed it. So I don't think we've been toying with them. I think it would be an unfair assessment, I think people in the technology community would probably scoff at how naive we were trying to do the demo in such a short time frame and we failed the thing. But we haven't toyed with anybody. If we were toying with people we would have rigged the demo and we were never going to do that. We're genuine about this. We fundamentally believed in what we have and we fundamentally believe in it's impact and what it can do. We just move on, it's as simple as that. I don't think that anybody in the technology community will believe this until it is validated and until they can build one themselves or buy one in stores.

Well whether or not they believe it -- and I do agree that almost everyone does not believe it and that everyone has been extremely skeptical about it. But the fact between the ad, the demo, and the PR campaign that has gone on inbetween those two bookends, Steorn has raised a lot of awareness and attention--

I don't think we have done any PR in between. To be fair, I have no problem marketing what we believe in. I'm not going to be apologetic for August because it was hugely successful for us. We went out to attract the attention of a critical world of science -- a rightly critical world -- we got it and now they are off doing their job and they'll deliver an answer. With respect to the demo, yeah we can't complain. When you shoot yourself in the foot, you don't ask yourself was the gun loaded, you just ask what were you aiming at. We can have no complaints.

But I don't accept that we were toying with people. We have a technology, we're putting more than our money behind this. We're putting everything behind this, our reputation and everything behind it, because we believe. That doesn't mean that other people believe, but we do believe, and we do believe in the medium term that this technology will make it to market and that is what we are interested in. The rest is noise.

So what are you guys planning to do going forward that will improve this process for the general public who is paying close attention to what you're up to?

Obviously we are going to have to redo the demo. There is no question that we are not going to do the demo. We will, as I said before, not pre-announce it this time. We will get it set up properly, but the ground rules will be identical. The ground rules will be physical public access to the device, online webcams so it will be as open as possible. If anybody has seen the intended device and then realizes that it's, well, not impossible obviously to hide a certain energy source, it becomes quite a convoluted process. So we are going to try and demonstrate the technology in it's simplest, simplest format in a place with public access where people can watch online and talk to people there.

That will be one thing we have -- and to invite skeptics along. We have to do that. We have to embrace the skepticism. But equally to understand, these are not intended to be slam dunk results, because they won't be. There will always be issues and rightfully so a simple demo, no matter how long it lasts, isn't proof of the claim. Proof of the claim is scientific analysis. But we are going to have to do other things as well. I won't go into details, but the biggest mistake that we've made and obviously we have to learn from our mistakes was to pre-announce the London demo. We've paid the price for that, we won't do it again. But we will be doing probably an awful lot more than we had intended. Basically when it happens we'll be letting people know. It will not be that far away.

Sean, I really appreciate taking some time to talk to us. And I appreciate you being very candid in speaking about this stuff.

No problem Ryan, I know how crazy all this stuff sounds. [laughs] I don't know what to say to people other than... I guess all that I can really say is that at the end of the day the key issue outside the demo and marketing and all that stuff, the answer is coming and we'll know. And it is never our intention to toy with people, and that's the first time I've heard that said. It just doesn't make an awful lot of sense.

I don't want to accuse you of toying with people. But I think that people feel as though they have been toyed with, and I'm asking on account of that.

Which is a fair point, I guess. I've met an awful lot of disappointed people. People who came, who believed, who wanted to see history made. Disappointed skeptics, people like Doctor Mike who we dragged half way around the world -- and all I can do is apologize to them and say look it didn't work, but we are going to do it again. It's not the end of the Steorn story. Unfortunately, I'm sure that many people wish they've never heard of us again but we'll be back and we'll be back in the not to distant future.

Well, we'll be waiting.

Alright. Cheers Ryan.

Thanks.

Tom Fruise

2007-07-19T19:25:00.001-04:00

Ah, as pictured below, Tom is finally getting back to the roots of his *cough* religion...

(courtesy of Blemish)