October | 2018 | MikeChimeri.com

2018 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend October 15, 2018

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Travel, Video, Video Games, Weather.
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Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022

In all the years I’ve recapped WCWP Homecoming Weekend, this is the first where I consolidate all days into one post. With Sunday photographic help from Pat Kroll, I’m recapping all three days of WCWP’s special block of programming, including coverage of the LIU Post Pioneers‘ Homecoming game against the Saint Anselm Hawks.

I left for the Abrams Communications Building, home to WCWP, at 11:00 on Friday morning. I was there within half an hour and I immediately got out my equipment. There were shows to record, including one for me to host.

Unlike the previous three years, I was not the first show of the weekend. That honor went to 1960s Post Scripts, hosted by Art Beltrone and Jay Elzweig, who were with WCWP when it began:

Art Beltrone:

Jay Elzweig:

The show was packed with interviews and had occasional music.

The first guest was William Rozea, part of C.W. Post College’s first graduating class in 1959:

Also among Art and Jay’s guests were Jarron Jewell, LIU Post’s senior library assistant for archives and special collections:

Rita Langdon, LIU Post Executive Director:

Mark Bilker, another member of the Class of 1959:

Alan and Carol Fritz from the Class of 1966:

Bernie Bernard, Class of 1972:

Dan Cox, Class of 1985, and WCWP Director of Broadcasting:

Art, a Marine Corps veteran, presented Dan with banner from Vietnam, part of the Vietnam Graffiti Project.

…and Edward Keller, a Vietnam Graffiti Project volunteer and fellow Marine:

1960s Post Scripts concluded with “Yesterday” by The Beatles, which led into my show, Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri.

As my second song played, I took a picture of Art Beltrone and Jay Elzweig:

Before he left, Art gave me a copy of Vietnam Graffiti: Messages from a Forgotten Troopship, by him and his wife Lee.

My setup in Studio 2:

I had Jeff Kroll take a picture of me at the board. He suggested I have my headphones on:

I belong to a few Discord servers and my fellow members know I’d be on. I gave them all a shout-out at one point during my show, including the servers’ proprietors: Norm Caruso a.k.a. the Gaming Historian, Game Dave, and Anna a.k.a. Circuits & Coffee. I gave Game Dave a personal shout-out after playing a Keiko Matsui song because he recommended her music over in-game music in one of his videos. I couldn’t recall which one on the air, but it was for the Famicom game A Week of Garfield (relevant portion at 7:40, unless you want to watch the whole thing):

Now that you’ve seen that video, here is my aircheck video:

If you just want the audio, click here for it. Click here for the transitions, and a PDF of the playlist.

From one Mike to another: Magick Mike Hendryx (Mike Schanzer) followed me:

Pat and Jeff Kroll:

After the above picture, I packed up and got a ride back home. After a pasta dinner, I got to work editing Friday’s video and audio. I decided to wait until downtime after arriving back at Post on Saturday to edit Friday’s pictures.

Here is my Friday video, featuring plenty of 1960s Post Scripts, followed by two talk breaks each from my show and Mike Hendryx’s show:

I left for LIU Post at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. Once on campus, I set up my equipment at WCWP, edited pictures on my laptop, and then headed to Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium for part of the Pioneers’ game against Saint Anselm.

I spent much of the second quarter in the press box. Calling the game were Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks:

Video of the game was also streamed online with WCWP audio:

The scoreboard console:

A defensive stop:

The Pioneers’ third touchdown drive:

“Touchdown, Pioneers!”

The extra point:

That’s the end of the first half:

The Pioneers went on to win 37-6. If this was their last game against Saint Anselm, as they are heading to Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) next season (likely under a new name), they won all 15 of them. Highlights can be viewed here.

The next few pictures were taken on the way back to WCWP:

Ted David took this great picture of me:

Banners and trophies inside the Pratt Recreation Center:

Back at WCWP…:

Jett Lightning, Lew Scharfberg (standing), Ted David, Bill Mozer, Jay Elzweig:

As usual, Bernie Bernard was on after the game:

Lisa Seckler-Roode regailed Bernie with many stories from her days working for record companies and as a personal assistant to The Who guitarist Pete Townshend:

Bernie – or rather, Maura – with her fellow reverend, Fr. Michael Tesmacher, who she and I know as Mike Tes:

Mike and I have known each other since 2002 when we worked on the public access show, The Long Island Rainbow Connection.

Jeff Jensen and his son, Jackson:

Bernie and Lisa:

Ward Henry watching Bernie’s next-to-last aircheck of her show:

Bobby G. (standing) and Mike Riccio were next:

They hosted their special Homecoming countdown show:

Joining them was Jett Lightning (center):

Mike Riccio:

Bobby G.:

Jett Lightning:

Mike and Bobby:

Before I left, I had Pat Kroll take a shot of me and John Zoni, both of us with our glasses off:

John hosted the pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. He’d go on to host a music show at midnight.

Here’s the Saturday video:

After transferring photos, videos, and audio files to my computer and eating a late dinner, I went to bed early. I woke up at 5:30 AM. My second Instrumental Invasion of the weekend was scheduled to air at 6AM. When I accessed the WCWP app on my iPhone X, I heard silence (except for light static). Apparently, there was an automation glitch that kept the scheduled 2AM and 4AM pre-records from running. At 6AM, I briefly heard the start of the 4AM show, then 12 more seconds of silence, and finally my show. Here is the aircheck, the show transitions, and the playlist.

Bobby G. informed me on the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group that the show also aired at 2AM, which was its original slot before a change was made two weeks ahead of Homecoming. So, not only did my show air without a hitch, it aired twice! Bobby called it an “extra bonus.” Jeff Kroll added, “Yessir BONUS time!”

I listened to the entire show. I lied in bed, looking up at the ceiling for the first 45 minutes, then went to the computer to edit, which I continued to do long after the show ended.

Jay LaPrise (“la-PREE”) hosted Sunday’s first live show from 8 to 10AM. Here’s how he signed on.

I may not have been at WCWP in person on Sunday, but I was there in spirit, not just with my show, but with the show’s filename on the stream page for several hours afterward:

As the day progressed, I periodically recorded more airchecks. Here are two from Billy the Kid (Billy Houst), on from noon to 2:00.

Joe Honerkamp was at the mic from 2:00 to 4:00. Here he is with his daughter Diana:

Lew Scharfberg and Bill Mozer, with a photobombing Neil Marks:

Lew hosted from 4:00 to 6:00:

Jeff and Pat Kroll, and Lew Scharfberg:

Neil Marks’s wife Lita:

Jeff Kroll assisting Neil Marks at the board during his 6:00 to 8:00 show with Pat Kroll:

Pat and Neil during their show:

From 8:00 to 10:00, Alana hosted a special Homecoming edition of The Rockin’ Sunday Show:

Jeff Kroll had the last shift from 10:00 to midnight:

And with that, the 41st annual WCWP Homecoming Weekend is in the books. It was a weekend I won’t soon forget, nor will my fellow alumni. I’ll leave you with the kind works Ted David left on my Facebook timeline:

May I publicly acknowledge C.W. Post alum Mike Chimeri. As I mentioned on the air during Homecoming Weekend on WCWP Saturday, his Friday jazz show was worthy of any shift at the former CD 101.9 or the current Watercolors channel on SiriusXM.
Add to that his superior skills as a photographer/archivist and he’s one amazing guy. I spent some time with him Saturday at the station and then down at the football game. Just a super talented guy, pleasant company and proud to call him a friend and “fellow alum!”

Thank you very much, Ted.

Listen for me on WCWP this weekend October 9, 2018

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Football, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Radio, Sports.
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All times are Eastern.

It’s that time of year again: Homecoming Weekend on 88.1 FM and WCWP.org. It starts Friday at noon and runs through Sunday night at midnight.

Unlike the last three years, my show is not the first of the weekend. That honor goes to one WCWP’s founding members, Art Beltrone, who will be hosting 1960s Post Scripts.

Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri follows Art’s show at 2PM. You’ll hear music from Najee, Nick Colionne, Ken Navarro, Bob James Trio, and many others.

My second Instrumental Invasion, which I pre-recorded at home on September 19, airs Sunday at 6AM. It’s the usual decades-long musical journey, a 50-year journey this year, featuring Return to Forever, David Benoit, Dave Koz, the Rippingtons (which David and Dave were once part of), and so much more. One spoiler: I recorded the show thinking it would air at 2AM, so my talk-up for “Up All Night” by Richard Elliot (“a fitting title at this hour”) lost its context.

Both shows can be heard at 88.1 FM, if you’re close enough to the signal, at WCWP.org, or on the WCWP app for iOS devices. (There is an Android app, but it isn’t working, which led Google Play to suspend it from downloading.)

In between Friday’s live show and Sunday’s pre-recorded show, I’ll be at LIU Post Homecoming on Saturday afternoon and evening. As usual, I’ll mostly be at the Abrams Communications Building, where WCWP is located, but I’ll drop by the parking lot of Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium as the Post Pioneers play the Saint Anselm Hawks. The team enters the game with a 5-0 record. It’s their last season in Division II, their last with green as a team color, and may be their last as the Pioneers. LIU President Dr. Kimberly Cline announced the “One LIU” unification last Wednesday. Starting next year, the Pioneers (or whatever they’ll be known as) will play in Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). Ironically, I wearing my LIU Post polo shirt the day of the announcement.

Following the game, during the second hour of Bernie Bernard’s show, the 2019 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame will be announced.

I hope you’ll be listening to WCWP during as much of Homecoming Weekend as you can. Jeff Kroll closes out the weekend with his 10PM show on Sunday.

My experience at Day 1 of 2018 New York Comic Con October 5, 2018

Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Art, Audiobooks, Baseball, Comedy, Internet, Interviews, Media, Personal, Photography, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.
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Other New York Comic Con recaps: 2012 Day 2, 2014 Day 1, 2017 Day 1, 2019 Day 1, 2021 Day 1

Yesterday marked my fourth time at New York Comic Con, held annually at the Javits Center in Midtown West. It was also my second consecutive year at NYCC.

I’d been looking forward to going ever since I bought my badge in June. Grey DeLisle (a.k.a. Grey Griffin), Phil LaMarr, and Richard Horvitz were among the voice actors that would be signing autographs, recording video or audio messages, and taking pictures with fans like me. Like last year, this was my sole reason for attending. None of the panels interested me.

I woke up at 5:30 in the morning. I spent the next three hours watching the American League Wild Card Game on DVR (the Yankees won handily), a couple of episodes of season six of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In on Amazon Prime, working out, and of course, getting ready to leave for the day.

My mother drive me to the Wantagh LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station at 8:30 for an 8:47 westbound train. When I went there last Saturday on the way to see Chieli Minucci & Special EFX at The Cutting Room, the elevated track platform was partially closed off while the west half of it was being renovated. Little did I realize that renovation would complete two days later. Finally, after two years, when boarding a Babylon-bound LIRR train at Penn Station, you no longer have to ask if you’re in one of the six cars that lets out at Wantagh. When the east half was being renovated, only the last six cars could exit. When the west half was under renovation, you had to be in one of the first six cars.

I didn’t feel like taking out my DSLR until I got to the Javits Center, so I used my iPhone to take pictures on the platform:

It felt good to sit in the first car again.

The train ride to Penn Station took nearly an hour. Upon exiting, I walked up West 33rd Street to 10th Avenue, then north to West 35th to enter the Javits Center’s south side:

I endured a quick bag search (including emptying my pants pockets and holding up the contents) and tapped my badge in. Unfortunately, I was scolded for not moving beyond the area where the badge was tapped when I replenished my pants pockets. I felt like a fool, but felt better when I got inside and relayed my situation to an empathetic staff member when she asked if I needed help finding something.

Off to the autographing area:

I was third in line to meet Grey DeLisle at Table 1 after waiting about 45 minutes before her scheduled arrival.

As she and Richard Horvitz arrived, they spoke to each other in their respective voices on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Richard was Billy and Grey was Mandy.

Grey was very nice. In my brief time with her, I told her I’d been a fan of hers since Clifford the Big Red Dog and three Butch Hartman cartoons – The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, and T.U.F.F. Puppy. She did the voices of Emily Elizabeth (Clifford) and Vicky (FOP) for me, which led me to respond as Mark Chang, voiced by Rob Paulsen, whom I met last year. Then, we posed:

After we said our goodbyes as Vicky and Mark, I headed to Table 6 for Phil LaMarr:

I let him know how the chronological order in which I’d seen his work: Futurama, Family Guy, MADtv reruns on Comedy Central, and Butch Hartman’s Bunsen Is a Beast. He was complimentary of Bunsen, and I lamented that it was a shame the show was canceled after only one season.

I concluded at Table 3 with Richard Horvitz:

We didn’t have time to chat, but I’m still glad to have met him. Shortly before our picture, I saw him record a video message for a fan as Zim from Invader Zim. As with his conversation with Grey as Billy and Mandy, it put a smile on my face and made me laugh. I applauded when he was finished.

After that, I headed back to civilization, so to speak…

…and walked the show floor:

I happened to pass by the SYFY Wire stage…

…as Cher Martinetti spoke to the creator/showrunner and cast of the new Netflix series, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
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The creator/showrunner is Noelle Stevenson, who was accompanied by Aimee Carrero (Princess Adora/She-Ra), Karen Fukuhara (Glimmer), and Marcus Scribner (Bow).

You can watch the interview here:

I commented on the video:

I walked by the stage during this interview. I was curious about this series after seeing The Power of Grayskull documentary, but now I’m all in. I’ll definitely be watching.

11/20 UPDATE: I have unfortunately fallen off the bandwagon. While I wish nothing but the best for the series, it plays out like a soap opera, and I’m more into episodes with self-contained plots. I don’t know how I would have managed watching the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons when they were new with story arcs lasting several weeks. The “Jet Fuel Formula” arc took 20 weeks, “Upsidasium” lasted 18 weeks, and “Missouri Mish-Mash” played out over 13 weeks. Now, back to the recap…

I pre-ordered Mega Man 11 for PlayStation 4, but have yet to play it.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is on my Xbox One wish list:

Having seen all I wanted to see on the show floor, I headed down to the main entrance:

Then, I left:

It’s a good thing I didn’t wear a jacket because it was warmer than it had been in the morning.

Within 20 minutes, I was back at Penn Station, where I boarded a Babylon-bound train. An hour later, I was back in Wantagh.

I walked about a mile and half home, listening to Marion Ross’s memoir on Audible along the way.

Once I had unpacked my things at home, I took a picture of my badge (blurring out the codes):

It was a nice few hours at New York Comic Con. Thank you to Grey DeLisle, Phil LaMarr, and Richard Horvitz. It was a pleasure meeting you all.

Chieli Minucci & Special EFX at The Cutting Room: 2018 edition October 1, 2018

Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel.
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I was back at The Cutting Room on Saturday night for Chieli Minucci & Special EFX.

It was my third time at the venue and first time seeing Special EFX since the 2016 Long Beach Jazz Festival.

Like last time at The Cutting Room, I made sure to arrive early so I could get a good table. I ended up at the same table as last time.

On this night, Special EFX was made up of co-founder Chieli Minucci on guitar:

Jay Rowe on keyboards:

Jerry Brooks on bass:

Mino Cinelu on percussion:

…and Joel Rosenblatt on drums:

The set list contained nine songs and with three vignettes. Here’s the list:
1. Daybreak
Originally heard on: Global Village, 1992
2:21 PM UPDATE: Chieli posted an excerpt to Facebook (below) and Instagram:

2. My Girl Sunday/Miami
Originally heard on: Sweet on You (Chieli), 2000; Masterpiece, 1999

3. Chieli and Mino vignette 1 (Chieli called it “Church 1”)

4. Courageous Cats
Originally heard on: Jewels (Chieli), 1995

5. Dance on the Delta
Originally heard on: Deep as the Night, 2017

6. Chieli and Mino vignette 2

7. Rush Hour (Chieli and Jerry duet)
Originally heard on: Sweet Surrender, 2007

8. Uptown East
Originally heard on: Slice of Life, 1986

9. Speak to Me
Originally heard on: Masterpiece, 1999

10. Chieli and Mino vignette 3

11. Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers (Stevie Wonder cover; based on Jeff Beck version)
Originally heard on: Renaissance (Chieli), 1996

12. Crazy Eights
Originally heard on: Genesis, 2013

Here are various shots of Chieli Minucci on acoustic guitar: