Spyro Gyra Smooth Cruise recap 2 August 15, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel, Weather.add a comment
My first Smooth Cruise aboard the Spirit of New York five years ago featured Spyro Gyra. Wednesday evening, I saw that legendary band for the second time. As usual, I opted for the sunset cruise over the moonlight one.
Smooth Cruises are run out of Pier 61 at Chelsea Piers in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The cruise rides along the Hudson River to New York Harbor and back.
Thanks to an area of Canadian high pressure behind a cold front the night before, the Northeastern United States was treated to low humidity and early fall-like weather. But that was the weather outside. We’ll get to outside pictures later.
Inside, the heat was on with Spyro Gyra in action.
The leader of the band, Jay Beckenstein, was on the alto saxophone…
…but not simultaneously.
Jay wore a t-shirt with the Morning Dance album cover on it.
Tom Schuman on keyboards:
Julio Fernandez on guitar:
Scott Ambush on bass:
…and Lee Pearson played the drums:
Lee brought his two sons along.
SET LIST
1. Freetime
2. Catching the Sun
3. De La Luz – Julio, lead vocals; Lee, background vocals
4. Dancing on Table Mountain – Scott, extended bass solo
5. I Believe in You
6. Expect a Miracle – Lee, extended drum solo
7. Falling Walls
8 (Encore). Morning Dance – Jay called this “an encore without leaving the stage.”
Julio’s lead vocal on “De La Luz”:
Backed up by Lee:
Scott’s extended bass solo on “Dancing on Table Mountain”:
The view from my table:
The last note of the night:
Immediately after the set, the band made their way to the deck below for a meet and greet. I caught up with Jay Beckenstein:
Tom Schuman:
…and Scott Ambush:
As promised, we’ll conclude this recap with shots taken outside before and during the cruise:
The Pier 62 skate park:
Close-ups of Hoboken and Weehawken:
Lincoln Tunnel ventilation building in background, Beast Speedboat in center:
Jersey City:
Manhattan’s West Side:
The nearly-completed One World Trade Center:
The Statue of Liberty:
As you can tell by the reflection, I took that at my table.
Brooklyn:
Brooklyn Bridge:
One last shot of One World Trade Center:
Riding the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, Southern State Parkway, and Wantagh Parkway August 12, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography, Travel.add a comment
This is the fourth in my “Riding” series of pictures taken on parkways and expressways while in transit from one area to another.
This time, the pictures were taken on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway, Southern State Parkway, and Wantagh Parkway. I took them with a Nikon D5100, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, and an iPhone 5. You can figure out what pictures were taken with what camera (or phone) by their quality. License numbers were blurred out in Photoshop.
On the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway south, Exit 13W:
Exit 11 (southbound only):
Exit 10:
Exit 9:
Exit 7E:
Exit 6:
Exit 5:
Exit 4W:
Exit 4E:
Exit 2E:
Seaford-Oyster Bay north, Exit 4W:
Exit 5:
Exit 7E:
Exit 7W:
Exit 8:
Exit 9:
Exit 10:
Exit 12E:
Exit 12W:
Southern State Parkway west, Exit 28S:
Exit 27N:
Some of these next signs were, or may have been, replaced, like the ones above were.
Exit 27S:
Exit 25N:
Exit 19N:
Exit 18:
Exit 13:
Southern State Parkway east, Exit 28S:
On the Wantagh Parkway north, Exit W6:
Exit W3E:
Exit W3W:
Wantagh Parkway south, Exit W4W:
Exit W4E:
Exit W5W:
Exit W5E:
Exit W6W:
Exit W6E:
That concludes this “Riding” post.
Whose Line picked up for another season! August 2, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Comedy, Internet, Media, News, Personal, Theatre, TV.add a comment
After only three weeks on the CW, the reboot of Whose Line is it Anyway? has been renewed for another season! This one will be 24 episodes long. Jonathan Mangum tweeted the great news on Monday (one day before the airing of an episode he performed in):
Whose Line is it Anyway picked up for 2nd season! Congrats
@waynebrady@colinmochrie@aishatyler@1DanPatterson and Ryan [Stiles]!!
When news broke of Whose Line‘s return back in March, I said this:
It’s a 10-episode run, but could be more if renewed or less if canceled. Based on the failures of the Green Screen Show, Improv-A-Ganza, and Trust Us With Your Life, I’d say the latter is more likely. But as usual, I’m prepared to be pleasantly surprised.
Consider me pleasantly surprised. Best wishes to Whose Line, which is thus far thriving in its second life.
MikeChimeri.com 
