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2025 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend September 21, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Weather.
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NOTE: Two of the alumni hosts, Alana and Tom, do not use their last names on the air. So, I have omitted their last names from this post.

This year, Homecoming Weekend on WCWP (simulcast on WXBA) and at LIU Post was the earliest it’s ever been: September 12 to 14. The date was made public during the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary broadcast on March 16. (Read about that celebratory weekend here.) Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David assembled quite the lineup, which began with me at noon (well, noon-ish) on Friday, September 12, and ended at midnight on the 14th/15th as Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh closed Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel with “Red Hot and Cooking” by Garth Hewitt.

The centerpiece of the weekend was the LIU Sharks football team‘s Homecoming game (and home opener) against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. (That was the LIU Post team name before the Post and Brooklyn athletic programs merged and moved from NCAA Division II to Division I.)

Once again, as unofficial station historian, I documented as much as I could of the entire weekend – on campus Friday and Saturday, and from home on Sunday.

I airchecked off the FM web stream on PCs in my bedroom and guest room via Audacity, where I would export as individual files, and then edit in Adobe Audition. Unfortunately, my internet betrayed me on Saturday. I recorded nearly nine hours of silence. I’m grateful to WCWP station manager Dan Cox for filling the gaps with his official airchecks and to Bernie Bernard via her show files.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

I arrived at the Abrams Communications Center at 11:30 AM. While Project Independence and You (one week shy of its 14th anniversary) finished up in studio 3, I prepped for my live Instrumental Invasion. It was the first time I led off Homecoming Weekend since 2017.

I made a separate recap of that show here, but I’ll at least share Pat Kroll’s photo of me during one of my sets…

…and the aircheck video (with an edited open):

Pat and Jeff Kroll had the next show at 2PM. Since their show and Strictly Jazz at 4PM would be rerun from 2AM to 7AM, Jeff had to be prompt, fading out my last song with 1:40 remaining.

Herb Alpert fans that we are, we both began our shows with Tijuana Brass tracks. My lead was “Spanish Flea” while Jeff used “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (covered on S.R.O.) as the intro bed.

  • Jeff ran the board during his show and Strictly Jazz.
  • Neil Marks joined in the second hour to preview the LIU Sharks’ Homecoming football game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers.
  • Neil Marks
  • Neil Marks and Pat Kroll

Out in the lobby, Neil Marks talked to Strictly Jazz hosts John LiBretto and Hank Neimark about his long trip to LIU Post earlier Friday.

Hank had the honor of signing on WCWP-FM on March 16, 1965.

The Krolls with fellow alumni (and fiancés) Sami Jo Negron and Pete Sacoulas:

A partial video of Jeff and Pat’s show:

…and a full scoped aircheck:

John LiBretto and Hank Neimark hosted Strictly Jazz, the third show of the weekend, Friday at 4PM.

  • John LiBretto
  • Hank Neimark
  • Despite the title, Strictly Jazz deviated to pop in hour 2 by playing “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Pat Kroll returned to read the song’s quirky lyrics.
  • Jeff Kroll had additional “Wooly Bully” tidbits.

A partial video of Strictly Jazz:

…and the full scoped aircheck:

From jazz to rock, John Zoni was next at 7PM:

We went from rock to dance just after 9PM with Jay Mirabile and a special edition of The DFK Show.

If you’re wondering, I took a rideshare home around 6:30 PM.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

We jump ahead to 7AM and a prerecorded show hosted by John Commins:

David Friedland was live in studio 2 at 9AM, leading into the Sharks’ Homecoming game:

Aircheck courtesy of Dan Cox

After editing what I’d airchecked so far, my mom drove me up to LIU Post half an hour later than Friday. We had to clear a security checkpoint before reaching the parking lot by WCWP. I unpacked and walked toward Shark Stadium (no naming rights this year) for photos around and above the field.

The bulk of my Shark Stadium photos were taken on the roof where Travis Demers, Neil Marks, and Jeff Kroll called the LIU Sharks Homecoming football game. Pat Kroll was the coordinating producer.

  • It was the 2nd quarter when I reached the roof. Travis Demers handled play-by-play for the middle quarters with Jeff Kroll leading the first and last.
  • Travis Demers’s field view
  • Remote equipment
  • Pat Kroll’s notes
  • You can’t call a sporting event without spotter charts.

Just for fun, I took a short video on my iPhone that I later synced to the relevant portion of Dan Cox’s game aircheck:

Travis and my fellow alumni were impressed when I posted that video to the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group.

Before we return to WCWP, let’s look at photos on the field, sidelines, and bleachers.

I made it back to WCWP just before halftime where co-hosts John Zoni and Jeannie Moon narrated highlights and analyzed the first half. At the board was Andrew Scarpaci.

  • John Zoni
  • Jeannie Moon
  • Highlights, lowlights, and other elements were run in Zetta by Andrew, as seen at halftime.

The studio portion of the halftime report:

Aircheck courtesy of Dan Cox

You saw how Zetta looked at halftime. This image after the game tells a different, but predictable story:

For the second year in a row, the Sharks squandered a lead. They gave up 17 unanswered points to the SHU Pioneers, losing 24-21 on a field goal as time expired.

In spite of another down ending, it was another exciting game for Jeff Kroll, Neil Marks, and Travis Demers to call on Long Island’s 88.1 FM.

I kept my camcorders and tripods in studio 3 to cover John Zoni and Jeannie Moon’s portion of the postgame show.

Aircheck courtesy of Dan Cox

This YouTube video compiles the studio 3 halftime and postgame reports:

I’ll spare you the details of what happened in the Sharks’ next game.

On a happier note, programming moved back to studio 2 after the Sharks postgame show. At 3:30 PM, Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David hosted the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee announcement special.

  • Ted getting in touch with Bernie Bernard to call in and announce the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees

The lucky quartet of 2025 inductees was Cande Roth, Ellyn Solis-Maurer, Tony Traguardo, and Chris Maffei.

(Full disclosure: This was my fourth year on the Hall of Fame Committee.)

Below is the announcement, featuring a cameo from me, here:

…and listen here (without the video’s cutaways):

Bernie Bernard’s prerecorded show ran at 4PM:

Thanks to Bernie for the show files, which I tweaked in Adobe Audition to sound like I airchecked off the FM stream.

As Bernie’s show ran in automation, I joined my fellow alumni outside for the Homecoming barbecue. We’ll use this time for a photographic interlude.

First, Ted’s selfie with me:

  • Bobby Guthenberg (Bobby G.), Neil Marks, Lew Scharfberg
  • Neil Marks, Laurie White, Jeannie Moon, Lew Scharfberg
  • Ted David, Rich Lacourciere, new HOF inductee Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, WCWP station manager Dan Cox
  • Mike Chimeri, Rich Lacourciere, Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, Dan Cox
  • Mike Chimeri and Travis Demers
  • Mike Chimeri and Alana
  • Mike Chimeri and John Zoni
  • Alana next to the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary banner

Live programming returned to studio 2 at 6PM with Bobby G. and Mike Riccio. The dynamic duo counted down most of the 50 songs in the “First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List.” Published in December 1969, the list represented the most popular Beatles songs as voted by WCWP listeners.

  • Bobby G.
  • Mike Riccio
  • With candid photos of Bobby G. and Mike Riccio out of the way, I had them pose for this photo.
  • I took this selfie early in the second of two talk breaks.

You can watch those first three talk breaks here:

…and here is the full scoped aircheck:

Aircheck courtesy of Dan Cox

Incidentally, this is my scan of a copy of the First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List:

Vincent Randazzo and a host of others were on hand for a special edition of The Alternative Jukebox at 9PM:

Vince’s show was three hours, but half the time was spent chatting with current and recently-graduated staff. It was quite informative. (Shoutout to Post-Party Depression.)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

The prerecorded Instrumental Invasion ran at midnight. Click here for a full recap, then come back for the rest of this recap.

I will again share the aircheck scope, though:

9/23 UPDATE: And why not include a 65x speed montage of the two Twitch streams that served as recording sessions?

The montage is set to “Sweat It Out” by Casiopea, one of the songs I played.

All other info is in the show recap. If you’re returning from that post, welcome back.

Tom was up bright and early at 6AM for the Homecoming Weekend edition of The Dad Rock Show:

Jay LaPrise followed at 8AM with a playlist featuring songs by artists he saw live in concert:

Of course, it was bookended by “God Shuffled His Feet” by Crash Test Dummies and AC/DC’s “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution.”

Alana’s The Rockin’ Sunday Show normally airs at noon, but aired in its original 10AM slot on Homecoming Weekend.

Photo courtesy of Alana

Jumping ahead to 1PM, Ted David and Jeff Kroll co-hosted The Joe Show, a remembrance of the late Joseph P. “Joe” Honerkamp.

Joe Honerkamp in the early 1980s with Bill Epperhart, Ted David, John Commins, Lew Scharfberg, and Neil Marks; photo courtesy of Jeff Kroll

Joe was a fixture at WCWP for over 50 years, and had a long professional career which included radio stints at WYNY and WHN, and TV production on the weekend Today show.

Among those to reflect on the life and times of Joseph P. were his widow Kathy Honerkamp and their daughters Melanie and Diana. Kathy and Melanie are seen here in studio 2. Diana spoke by phone.

Photo courtesy of Ted David

Bruce Leonard and Joel Feltman were also among those to call in.

The scoped aircheck (there were a few songs played) can be heard here:

Ted David shifted to the board at 2PM, playing a wide variety of music over the next hours:

Billy the Kid (Billy Houst) and Joey C. (Joe Conte) had the last two-hour show at 4PM: Masters of Metal.

The penultimate show of Homecoming Weekend began at 6PM: The Ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak.

And putting a bow on the weekend, my children, was Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh and Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel. Check it out.

Post-production, no pun intended, began as Homecoming Weekend was in progress on September 13 and concluded on the evening of the 21st with publication of this post and the Instrumental Invasion posts.

Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. It bears repeating: documenting events like this is a labor of love. The next time I step on the campus of LIU Post will be March 25, 2026, for a twice-in-a-lifetime experience thanks to Bobby Guthenberg. My mom and I will get to see Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Other Delights again for their Tilles Center set. (Read about their April 1 Jazz at the Lincoln Center show here.)

This post is not only dedicated to the memory of Joe Honerkamp, but also Jett Lightning. Jett (Julio) fell ill in the days leading up to Homecoming Weekend and passed away on the morning of September 13. He will be sorely missed at WCWP. I’ll leave you with a photo of Jett taken last year…

…and a scope of his 2022 Homecoming Weekend show featuring Jay Elzweig, who is also no longer with us.

For the record, the Bronx theme park was Freedomland U.S.A., which is now the site of Co-op City.

2025 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: conclusion and pickups August 21, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Aviation, Education, Magazine, Media, Personal, Photography, TV, Video, Video Games.
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If you haven’t seen them yet, read part one here and part two here.

CONCLUSION
With Leonard Herman’s panel complete, I said my goodbyes. On my way outside to wait for my Lyft ride home, I noticed a vendor that had a copy of David Crane‘s Pitfall! for the Atari 2600. Then, as you’ll see in the pickups section, I did something I’d never done in all my years attending Long Island Retro Gaming Expo at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Uniondale.

This was the last photo I took before packing up my Canon EOS R7 (with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX II attached):

PICKUPS
As I walked around the vendor marketplace Sunday, I noticed this replica Pan Am plane in the window of the museum gift shop. Finally, after seven years, moments before going home, I stepped inside to buy that plane (seen here on Amazon).

The clerk told me his grandfather flew that model plane as a pilot for Pan Am.

My LI Retro program and badge, front and back:

Two vendor cards (only one side of the first):

Guest merchandise:

Video games:

1 for Nintendo 64 (on Saturday):

1 for Sega Genesis (on Saturday):

1 for Super Famicom (on Sunday):

5 for Super Nintendo (1 Saturday, 4 Sunday):

5 for Atari VCS/2600 (4 Saturday, 1 Sunday):

And by coincidence, I got a whopping 14 NES games for its 40th anniversary (6 Saturday, 8 Sunday):

Whomp ‘Em was my most expensive game of the weekend, going for $60. Counting the fried ravioli (and Sprite) I ordered from a food truck Sunday afternoon, I only went $30 over my $370 cash budget. (I bought the Pan Am plane with my credit card.)

Volleyball is my latest NES Black Box game pickup. There were 30 Black Box games released, 17 at launch, then 10, and 3 more. Alphabetically, Volleyball was the 30th. I have 20 of the 30: 11 of the first 17, 6 of the next 10, and all of the last 3.

THE END
Thank you, as always, for taking this photographic journey through Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. I seem to say this all the time, but working on recap blog posts is truly a labor of love. So much work goes into them: editing the photos, choosing which ones to watermark for inclusion in these posts, making lower resolution equivalents for the blog and other social media, uploading the photos into each blog post draft, rearranging the photos in certain galleries, writing, link aggregation, coming up with SEO summaries (I forgot to make one for this post), publication, and social media promotion.

Like with Smooth Jazz for Scholars, I initially streamed the photo editing process on my Twitch channel (after showing all my pickups). I finished the “job” off-stream after Friday afternoon. I sacrificed many hours, and either truncated my treadmill runs (42 minutes instead of 70) or didn’t run at all. It was for the art. I hope you, the reader, are satisfied with the end results.

See you again next year.

2025 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo: introduction, guests, staff, fellow attendees, panels August 21, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, History, Internet, Magazine, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.
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Feel free to skip ahead to part two (touring the expo) or part three (conclusion and pickups).

INTRODUCTION
2025 marked the 10th anniversary Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held annually (except during COVID) in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, on the right end of Museum Row in Uniondale*. For the 10th anniversary, LI Retro celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System‘s New York area launch, introduced to the world in places such as Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream.

*I had no idea that LI Retro’s first year was the same year that East Garden City (a.k.a. Nassau Hub) was absorbed into Uniondale and is no longer a census-designated place. Keep that in mind when you read my earlier recaps.

I have attended seven of LI Retro’s nine years. I started small in 2017, only spending two hours there on Sunday afternoon. I was there the entire weekend in 2018 and ’19, and have used my weekend pass on two of the three days since 2022. By 2023, I had to spread my recaps out into three parts because I took so many pictures, mostly of the exhibits (as seen in 2024). That’s what I’m doing again this year.

Tickets went on sale in February and guests were announced in July. Some of those guests will be chronicled below.

You’ll be happy to know there weren’t any mishaps this year. None of my equipment was wrecked and no cups of coffee were spilled.

ARRIVING AT THE MUSEUM
My mom pulled into the Cradle of Aviation Museum parking lot at 9:38 AM on Saturday.

I exited the car with badge QR code printout in hand. I had the lanyard for my badge wrapped around my neck, along with my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX II attached. (I only used the latter on for flash photos, and never during panels.)

This photo was taken Sunday morning, but pretend it was Saturday.
LI Retro photographer Gene interviewed Glen of Glen’s Retro Show while he and fellow attendees waited for the doors to open at 10AM.
Glen then turned the tables and interviewed Gene.
10AM came, the doors opened, and attendees were let inside. Those already with badges entered on the right. I was on the left line.

Inside, I was ushered to the box office where my QR code was scanned and I was handed my weekend badge. I attached to my lanyard and made my way to the first of four panels I had in mind. We’ll see photos from those later in this post.

The LI Retro staff is great and I’m honored to know them. Sunday morning, I met up with staff member Ryan Shapiro and he took this selfie of us:

Thank you, as always, Ryan.

PHOTOS WITH GUESTS AND CANDID PHOTOS OF THEIR TABLES

John Lester (Gamester81)
John is among the first on YouTube with a channel devoted to video games and collecting. Beyond that, he started Game On Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in April. He is the co-owner of CollectorVision Games and developed their Sydney Hunter series. Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan is the first in that series available on modern consoles.

I got a photo with John after his The Evolution of Retro Collecting panel.

Check out his LI Retro vlog:

Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
Pat and Ian have been a fixture at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo since 2019, and I never miss their panel, recorded live for their Completely Unnecessary Podcast (a.k.a. CU Podcast). Like John Lester, Pat Contri’s YouTube journey began in 2008 with his Pat the NES Punk series, a fictionalized take on his life as a video game fan and collector. Pat’s YouTube channel also includes Flea Market Madness (sometimes featuring Frank, a fellow New Jersey transplant in San Diego), The Video Game Years retrospective, the aforementioned CU Podcast in video form, and the Not So Common Podcast with Alex Faciane.

Alongside the many Charlie Brown/Peanuts Christmas TV specials, it’s an annual tradition of mine to watch Pat the NES Punk Christmas episodes every December. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but the first two are the most sentimental. Incidentally, I can’t look at R.O.B., the original face of the NES, without hearing the Punch-Out!! opponent “voice.”

A big component of this year’s LI Retro was print media’s role in video game preservation. Pat’s Ultimate Nintendo series does its part. I have been a loyal reader since the Guide to the NES Library, which I bought from Pat (along with Pat the NES Punk DVD sets) in 2019. I helped fund Guide to the SNES Library later that year and last year, the latest book (as seen behind Ian, me, and Pat): Guide to the N64 Library. Pat, Ian, and an all-star lineup of reviewers break down every release for Nintendo’s first three home consoles. I used the Ultimate Nintendo app after each day of LI Retro to add any NES pickups to my collection. (Buy Ultimate Nintendo books here.)

Thank you to Kristen for taking this photo:

I returned the favor by having Kristen pose with Pat and Ian:

Adam Koralik
Sunday afternoon, “Mike Camera” and Adam Koralik met a third time. (That’s my server name on his Discord.) Adam’s trusty Sega Pluto prototype was part of the Retro Gaming Museum exhibit and he was more than happy to discuss it with attendees and have them try out its few playable games.

And of course, I had to get a selfie:

More exhibit photos can be found in part two of this year’s recap.

Matthew Sussman
While I did not meet actor Matthew Sussman, the original English language voice of Meowth in the Pokémon anime, he was a big draw, as seen in this Saturday photo.

I learned from an attendee in line outside the museum Sunday morning that Matthew is a fellow photographer, also in the Canon ecosystem. His camera of choice is the EOS R6 Mark II.

Ryan Burger
Ryan is the publisher of Old School Gamer Magazine, a literal mom-and-pop operation, at least at conventions. On staff at LI Retro were his wife Becky (who took the photo below), and their daughters Paige (the manager) and Rachel.

Ryan graciously gifted me with Old School Gamer Magazine Issue 46, which I held in our Sunday morning photo. You’ll see it again among the pickups in part three. Ryan was part of the third Saturday panel I attended: The Role Print Media Plays in Video Game Preservation. One of Ryan’s fellow panelists was…

Leonard Herman
I remain grateful to The Immortal John Hancock for introducing me to Leonard Herman at their joint 2018 panel. It inspired me to buy Phoenix IV and many other books. I have become good friends with Lenny and his table manager Patrick Wong, and a fixture at any panel Lenny is part of. (If I got the title wrong, either of you can let me know and I’ll edit post haste.)

Lenny is putting the finishing touches on Phoenix 5, to be released in two volumes in 2026 via Jeremy Parish’s Press Run, a division of Limited Run Games. (Jeremy and two rotating Retronauts co-hosts rounded out Saturday’s print media panel.)

Leonard Herman speaking with Joe Santulli of Digital Press (NOTE: Pat and Ian’s table was on the second floor Saturday, but moved downstairs Sunday.)
Phoenix 5 galleys

Lenny with Patrick Wong on Saturday:

Patrick took our photo on Sunday:

One of the books I bought two years ago was ABC to the VCS, and I think Lenny would be proud that I bought five Atari VCS/2600 games this year. I was inspired to do so because I sought out any games programmed by the quartet of…

Dan and Garry Kitchen, David Crane, John Van Ryzin
Regrettably, I was too shy to approach Dan, Garry, David, or John, but I bought Ghostbusters (designed by David, programmed for 2600 by Dan), Donkey Kong (programmed for 2600 by Garry), and Pitfall! (by David). I couldn’t find H.E.R.O., designed by John. And because of my shyness, I didn’t buy any of their new games made for the 2600.

The new games, by Audacity Games, included:

  • Dan and Garry Kitchen, and David Crane are seated from left to right. John Van Ryzin is standing in the right corner of the photo.
  • I forget if Dan Kitchen or Ryan Burger was playing Casey’s Gold in this candid photo Sunday morning.

That takes care of the guest photos. Photos with fellow attendees are coming up after a look at the quartet of panels I saw.

PANELS

Saturday Panel 1, 10:30-11:30 AM
Panel Room 2 (now upstairs in The Sperry Classroom)
John Lester (Gamester81)
The Evolution of Retro Collecting: From Hobby to Industry

Saturday Panel 2, 12-1PM
Main Theatre
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
CU Podcast Live!

The main topic for this edition of The CU Podcast was this video by Phil1Up Collects:

Next on the agenda, NES trivia:

I got the first question right: Which game was released for the NES licensed, unlicensed, and licensed again? I raised my hand and answered “Pac-Man.” I was right, and earned a sticker. As a supporter of The Gaming Historian (and yes, I read a quote in a video), I chose a GH Patreon supporter sticker to go with the one I have from my days as a supporter.

Alex and Daniel Greenberg in the audience:

Q&A:

“King K. Rool” asked if Pat and Ian knew of a suggestive glitch in Donkey Kong Country.

As usual, I had a question: playing off the Gaming Historian sticker, I asked if Pat or Ian had been in touch with Norman Caruso since he announced last April that he was giving up pursuing the YouTube channel full time. Great news: Norm is still creating. He co-hosts An Old Timey Podcast with his wife Kristin.

Pat was surprised that we went the entire Q&A session without invoking the ill-fated vaporware known as the Intellivision Amico.

As of publication on August 21, the full episode is up, with the Phil1Up Collects video discussion heard starting at 1:15:30. NES trivia and the Q&A are not included. I will update with video clips when posted.

9/29 UPDATE: Sorry for the delay. There is one video and here it is:

Saturday Panel 3, 2:30-3:30 PM
Panel Room 2
The Role Print Media Plays in Video Game Preservation, moderated by Luis Aguasvivas (NPR, Debug Magazine, member of New York Videogame Critics Circle)
Panelists: Leonard Herman, Ryan Burger (Old School Gamer Magazine); Retronauts podcast host Jeremy Parish (Limited Run Games’ Press Run division, Video Works YouTube series and corresponding books [NES Works, SNES Works, Virtual Boy Works, SG-1000 Works]), rotating co-hosts Kevin Bunch (independent researcher, Atari Archive website and YouTube channel, author of Atari Archive Volume 1: 1977-78) and Brian Clark (translator, author of Gameplay Harmonies)

Moderator Luis Aguasvivas introduced himself, then had the panelists introduce themselves.
Ryan Burger
Leonard Herman
Jeremy Parish
Brian Clark
Kevin Bunch
Lenny talked about Phoenix 5 and collaborating with Jeremy Parish
Jeremy weighed in, as well
Ryan on Old School Gamer Magazine
Laughing at a quip from Lenny
Ryan noted that if Back to the Future came out today, Marty McFly and Doc Brown would be in 1995. That also got a laugh. Paraphrasing Marty in the first film, I jokingly said “Guess you guys aren’t ready for Gracie Abrams yet.”
During Q&A, Ryan gave each questioner a copy of Old School Gamer Magazine Issue 46.
After the panel, we see attendees talking to Brian Clark, Jeremy Parish…
…and Ryan Burger.

One other tidbit from this panel is Jeremy Parish lamenting that his early 2000s articles for now-defunct websites cannot be accessed because they weren’t archived.

I devoted most of my Sunday to photographing the exhibits and freeplay areas, buying any games I didn’t buy on Saturday, mingling further with guests, and actually playing freeplay games for the first time in years. (Oh, and I bought fried ravioli from a food truck; another first for me.)

So, the one panel I saw that day had to be Lenny’s.

Sunday Panel, 3-4PM
Panel Room 2
Leonard Herman
The History of the History of Videogames

What was that game shown in an episode of The Streets of San_Francisco?
Answer: Clean Sweep
After initially buying a Magnavox Odyssey 2, Leonard bought an Atari VCS.
Lenny’s first article
ABC to the VCS was going to be released in 1983, but the infamous crash put that on hold.
ABC to the NES was only considered, not written.
The evolution of Phoenix…
How did Rolenta Press get its name?
Magazines that reviewed Phoenix
For the second edition, Leonard used a video capture device called GrabIt to make in-game freeze frames.
For the third edition, photos were taken with a Sony Mavica MVC-FD5 digital camera. I used a Mavica in one of my high school classes.
I bought these books at Lenny’s table in 2023.
The road to Phoenix IV…
Many famous names signed the preview edition.
Phoenix 5!
In two volumes!
One of the galleys
Q&A time
Stuart Feldhamer asked a question.
Afterward, Stuart retrieved his early editions of Phoenix loaned for LI Retro.
And bringing things full circle, Luis Aguavivas shook Lenny’s hand and complimented him on his works. John Lester was also at the panel.

9/29 UPDATE: Leonard posted video of his panel. (Of course, you see me front and center snapping away.)

PHOTOS WITH/OF FELLOW ATTENDEES

My friend Timothy (a.k.a. Sho):

Timothy and C.J. (I forget which vendor she was with):

Daniel Greenberg (Winterion Game Studios):

Daniel and his wife Alex:

Anthony and two of his friends:

I can’t say no to a photo op if someone asks, and I was more than happy to honor Anthony’s requests.

That is the end of post one. Head to part two for a tour of the marketplace and exhibits. Part three features a conclusion, and pickups photos.

I’ll leave you with photos taken before I left for home on Saturday and before I walked back into the museum on Sunday.

SJFS 2025 Night 2 recap May 15, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Food, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Technology, Travel, Wrestling.
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Continued from Night 1 recap

Jay Rowe‘s 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars continued on Saturday, May 3, with five headliners, including Jay himself.

It bears repeating that Scholars benefits the Milford, Connecticut, Public Schools music department.

I edited 112 of Friday’s 304 photos on my laptop Saturday morning and afternoon. Some of that editing was during an impromptu livestream on my Twitch channel. A bandwidth test in OBS proved streaming was possible without dropped frames and major interference. At last, hotel premium Wi-Fi is strong enough to stream from your room, my room being at the Milford Hampton Inn on Plains Road. I streamed for an hour before raiding out, and would continue editing on and off stream in my first six days back home. Then, I picked 179 photos to use in the Friday recap, and 198 for this Saturday recap.

My parents and I ate dinner at Chili’s on Boston Post Road (U.S. 1), which is where we ate the first time I attended SJFS in 2007.

Again, we returned to the hotel for an hour before leaving at 7PM for Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Parsons Complex with all my equipment.

Reiterating what I said in Friday’s post, my photographer fellowship down in the orchestra pit were Katherine Gilraine, Kenny Combs, Andrew James, and Ron Hancox.

My equipment was as follows:

With hellos out of the way and 8:00 upon us, we shouted “good evening!” to Kevin McCabe:

Leading off on Saturday was the Joseph A. Foran High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jessica Turner. (I couldn’t catch the names of the songs, but the second was by Earth, Wind & Fire.)

Jay Rowe‘s opening remarks were in two parts. First, he complimented the Foran Jazz Ensemble for their EWF cover. Then, he came back out after the chairs were removed and Kevin McCabe introduced the house band and headliners.

To paraphrase the late HairClub founder Sy Sperling, Jay Rowe isn’t just a smooth jazz sideman; he’s also a fan. And he was even a headliner on Saturday!

The first of Jay’s fellow headliners was Lindsey Webster:

Lindsey’s collaborator Keith Slattery was on keyboards for her songs:

The remaining headliners were Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:

…and flute:

Marion Meadows on soprano sax:

…and two for one, Four80East. Rob DeBoer was on keyboards:

…with percussion by Tony Grace:

Jay’s house band was made up of Trever Somerville on drums:

Andy Abel on guitar:

…and Dave Anderson on bass:

SET LIST (updated with videos on 6/20/25)
1. That’s What I Know (Jay Rowe) (tribute to Rohn [“ron”] Lawrence; expression Rohn inherited from his father and used on his son)
2024 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)

If you don’t take out the garbage and mow the lawn, you’re not gonna borrow the car this weekend. That’s what I know.
-Jay Rowe, channeling Rohn Lawrence’s father

2. Every Woman, Every Man (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Smooth Ride (2016)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)

3. Starlight Kisses (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax)

4. Let It Ride (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Let It Ride (2012)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)

5. Upa Neguinho (Keep Up Little One) (Jeff Kashiwa; cover of Edu e Bethânia song)
Originally heard on: Luminoso (2024)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax); Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion)

6. Noodle Soup (Four80East)
Originally heard on: En Route (2007); Barn Sessions, Volume 1 (2025)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)

7. Cinco Cinco Seis (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Four on the Floor (2018)
Featured musician: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice sample [“uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)

8. I’m OK (Lindsey Webster)
Originally heard on: Reasons (2022)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)

Keith played keyboards in place of Jay Rowe on Lindsey’s songs.

9. I Got You (I Feel Good) (Lindsey Webster) (James Brown cover)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals), Keith Slattery (keyboards)

50/50 RAFFLE ($1,350 pot) (won by Denise)

10. The Lift (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (started in audience)

11. South Beach (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Body Rhythm (1995)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)

12. Romantica (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (walked off stage at the end), Tony Grace (percussion)

13. 3-Day Weekend (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Simple Truth (2002)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax), Tony Grace (percussion)

14. The Walker (Four80East)
Originally heard on: Off Duty (2012)
Featured musicians: Four80East: Rob DeBoer (keyboards, with voice samples [“funking nasty,” “to the east side, to the west side”]), Tony Grace (percussion); Jeff Kashiwa (flute)
Included audience participation (right side shouted “to the east side,” left side shouted “to the west side”), “flute battle” between Rob’s synth flute and Jeff’s real flute

15. Over the Rainbow (Lindsey Webster) (sung by Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz)
Originally heard on: A Woman Like Me (2020)
Featured musicians: Lindsey Webster (vocals, with comedic pause before last note), Keith Slattery (keyboards)

Jay Rowe did not play on “The Walker” or “Over the Rainbow.”

Before the finale, Lindsey sang a snippet of the title track to her upcoming album.

16 (Finale). Ain’t Nobody (Lindsey Webster) (Rufus and Chaka Khan cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Lindsey Webster (vocals)

Photo galleries of each musician begin with Jay Rowe‘s “South Beach” solo:

“Jay Rowe, y’all!”

I appreciated the “Mas que nada” phrasing at the end, calling back to Lani Hall‘s Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 medley I saw during Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights on April 1.

Lindsey Webster:
“I’m OK“:

“Over the Rainbow“:

Pausing for the big finish

Keith Slattery:

Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:

Jeff on flute:

Marion Meadows started “The Lift” in the audience:

Hap Carpenter is seated to Marion’s right.
Hap is to Marion’s left here and Mark Abrams can be seen on the right end.
Rich and his partner Diane Roth are on the left end in the second row.
Nydia Hancox, Estella Taylor-Greene, Norma Rohadfox

Marion on stage:

Marion’s exit at the end of “Romantica”:

Upscaled/cropped freeze frame from my “A” camcorder

Four80East:
Rob DeBoer:

“Funking nasty-sty-sty-sty-sty…”
Tony Grace:

Trever Somerville:

Andy Abel:

…and Dave Anderson:

Lindsey and Dave are in this first of my medium shots:

Marion, Trever and Dave:

Marion, Tony and Andy:

Tony and Trever’s “3-Day Weekend” duet (with Andy and Jeff in the middle):

Jeff and Rob’s “The Walker” flute battle:

Wide shots start with two from “Let It Ride“:

The end of “I Got You (I Feel Good)“:

“South Beach“:

  • Marion watching Jay’s solo

“Romantica“:

“The Walker“:

The end of “Over the Rainbow“:

The audience has their turn now, seen first dancing to “Noodle Soup” (Dolly Moye and Jay Dobbins are to the right of Norma):

“The Walker”:

  • Rob’s instructions to the audience
  • Their cue
  • “To the east side!”
  • “To the west side!”

The 50/50 raffle (won by Denise):

  • Another kiss for Jay and Deborah
  • The winning number
  • Denise received her prize

The finale: “Ain’t Nobody” (Rufus and Chaka Khan song):

The end:

Freeze frame from my “B” camcorder

“Thank you all! See you again real soon.”
-Jay Rowe

I’ll admit things got overwhelming in the lobby afterward. (It comes with being on the autism spectrum.) There was a large crowd meeting and greeting and I was too bashful to go ahead of anyone. When the wait seemed interminable, I sat down at an elevated round table and started to cry. A woman noticed me and asked if I was okay (of all things to ask after a show featuring “I’m OK”), and then Jay Rowe noticed me and brought Lindsey Webster over to sign my copy of Reasons. Marion Meadows soon followed. (A man named Sal told me afterward it was his idea to invite Marion to where I was seated.) Marion signed my copying of Just Doing Me. Then, as my tears subsided, Jay took our photo.

Simply writing that paragraph made me cry a little.

Jay then took a photo of me and Rob DeBoer with my signed copy of Barn Sessions, Volume 1:

And Michelle from the merchandise table took a photo of me and Jeff Kashiwa with my newly purchased and signed copy of Luminoso:

I said my goodbyes to everyone – including Mia DiStasi (Jay’s mom), Kevin McCabe, and Steve Lewis – and walked out to the parking lot for the ride back to Hampton Inn. Yet again, I unloaded the contents off all the SD cards to my laptop.

Unfortunately, the last 11 minutes of Saturday’s show are missing from my “A” camcorder. When reaching for the handle unit light switch after panning to the audience’s post-“Over the Rainbow” standing ovation, the middle of my thumb grazed the record button. Gotta remember to lock that next time. That’s why the freeze frame at the end of the finale is from the “B” camcorder. The on-board audio from that camcorder was disappointingly distant. So, I’m taking my Takstar SGC-598 out of retirement for use with the “B” going forward.

That was the only wrinkle to what was otherwise a great weekend, both at the Parsons Complex and Hampton Inn. I caught up with musicians and fellow fans that I hadn’t seen since last year or longer, and met others for the first time, including Joe Green, Rick Pascal, Bill McLaughlin, and Chip Paris.

I spent hours in the hotel lobby with my laptop, mingling while editing and eating breakfast.

Here I am on Saturday with Hap Carpenter:

And I got a selfie with Estella Taylor-Greene and Norma Rohadfox before we all checked out:

My parents and I left Hampton Inn at 10:35 AM on Sunday, May 4. The ride back to Wantagh was 20 minutes shorter than the ride from there on Friday! We were home by 12:08 PM.

Along the way, I took a photo of the current WWE headquarters off southbound I-95 in Stamford:

Thank you to everyone for a memorable weekend in Milford. See you all again next year!

I’ll conclude this post with a 100x speed montage of the nine photo editing livestreams on my Twitch channel, from May 3 in my hotel room to May 11 (Mother’s Day) at home. (WARNING: There will be flashing effects at times from going back and forth between apps.)

P.S. Wednesday was my 350th Twitch stream, and marked a return to video games, my channel’s main focus.

SJFS 2025 Night 1 recap May 15, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Food, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, smooth jazz, Technology, TV, Video Games.
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Read about Night 2 here.

Friday, May 2, was the first of two nights of the 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars, hosted by keyboardist Jay Rowe in his hometown of Milford, Connecticut, benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department. (6/17 NOTE: This was the 22nd anniversary, but the 21st overall. In spite of that, I am following the branding and referring to this as the 22nd annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars.)

In recent posts, I’ve tried my best to cut back on the diary aspect of my recaps and focus on the events. So, I’ll continue that trend in this recap and the one for Saturday, May 3.

Like last year (recaps here and here), I had minimal anxiety leading up to showtime at 8PM. I began packing (and charging camcorder batteries) on Thursday, May 1, and was all set by early Friday afternoon. My parents and I left Wantagh for Milford at 12:23 PM and we reached the Hampton Inn parking lot in less than two hours (2:16).

In addition to my laptop, mirrorless camera, pair of camcorders, tripods, and all other accessories, I brought a Nintendo Switch and a third party dock (with HDMI cable). I played games on that in handheld mode to pass the time in the car, and then in docked mode in my hotel room TV after check-in. This is when I wasn’t on my laptop, of course.

Pasquale Pizza was again the place for dinner on Friday for me and my parents where we shared a meatball pizza pie.

We stopped back at Hampton Inn for an hour, and then it was off to Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Parsons Complex. I was in the door around 7:15 PM and, after buying three 50/50 raffle tickets (SPOILER: I lost, and would lose with another set of 3 on Saturday), I got my event tickets (one per night) from Michelle at the will call/merchandise table.

Then, I made a beeline for the orchestra pit and began unpacking my equipment.

For photos, I use a Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens. This year, I added a Speedlite 430 EX II flash attachment for pictures of the audience. 1/100 shutter speed and ISO 2000 works for a well-lit stage, but extra illumination was necessary off stage. Only one of the two 128GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC cards inserted is required for the amount of photos I take.

Ever since WCWP Homecoming Weekend last September, I have used a pair of Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders. The main (“A”) camcorder has a VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II attached, and is connected to a Magnus VT-300 tripod, perfect for all the panning and zooming required. The secondary (“B”) camcorder, intended for a static wide shot, had no attachments and an Amazon Basics tripod. Each camcorder has one 256GB SanDisk SD card (same model as for the camera).

I’m still using the 6×9 stenographer notebook I got at the Milford CVS two years ago to write down the set list, house band members, headliners, and any other necessary notes.

Joining me down in the orchestra pit were fellow photographers Katherine Gilraine, Kenny Combs, Andrew James, and Ron Hancox. It’s Kat’s birthday as I write this sentence on Tuesday, May 13, and it was Kat who sent me down the interchangeable lens camera path in 2012.

I also said hello to Jay Dobbins, Judy Raphael, Mark and Phyllis Abrams, Diane Roth and her partner Rich, and Hap Carpenter. Friday, May 2, was his birthday.

(Okay, that was still a long preamble, but not as long as last year.)

8:00 arrived and Kevin McCabe bid us “good evening”:

Warming us up were the Jonathan Law High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by David Pelaggi.

  • The first song had an alto sax lead: “Soul Chicken,” by Kris Berg, not to be confused with Kris Bergh from Herb Alpert’s new Tijuana Brass.
  • The Jonathan Law ensemble’s second song was “Slow Dancing,” led by a flautist (and vocals from the horn section).
  • Mr. Pelaggi: “Thank you so, so much. Thank you for having us tonight. Thank you, Jay, for putting this together and doing this every year for the Milford school systems; particularly, the music department. We appreciate it. You wouldn’t see so many of the instruments on stage without this event that happens every year. So, big shoutout to Jay. Thank you so much. We appreciate you having us.”

Once the stage crew removed the chairs and Kevin McCabe introduced the headliners and band, Jay Rowe came on stage with opening remarks.

(This was taken later on, but pretend it was during the open.)

Jay led the way on keyboards:

Friday’s headliners were Jackiem Joyner on alto sax:

Nelson Rangell on alto sax (plus flute, piccolo, and whistling, which you’ll see later):

Peter White on guitar:

…and Timmy Maia on vocals:

The house band had Trever Somerville on drums (and even vocals for one song):

Andy Abel on guitar:

…and Dave Anderson on bass:

SET LIST (updated with videos on 6/19/25)
1. There She Goes (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)

2. Take Me There (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Lil’ Man Soul (2009)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

3. I’m Waiting for You (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Lil’ Man Soul (2009)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

4. Tidal Wave (Nelson Rangell)
Originally heard on: By Light (2019)
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

5. Gratitude (Nelson Rangell)
2023 single
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

6. Can We Talk (Jackiem Joyner) (Tevin Campbell cover)
Featured musician: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

7. Promenade (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Promenade (1993)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)

8. Catalonia (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Light of Day (2025)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Nelson Rangell (flute)

9. Mornin’ (Timmy Maia) (Al Jarreau cover)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (vocals), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

10. I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) (Timmy Maia) (Hall & Oates cover)
Featured musicians: Timmy Maia (vocals), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

11. Beautiful Seduction (Jackiem Joyner)
Originally heard on: Touch (2019)
Featured musicians: Jackiem Joyner (alto sax), Peter White (guitar)

12. Bueno Funk (Peter White)
Originally heard on: Glow (2001)
Featured musicians: Peter White (guitar), Jackiem Joyner (alto sax)
Included the James Bond sunglasses bit, audience participation for vocal scat and Bob Marley’s (The Wailers) “Get Up, Stand Up” chorus

13. Bright (Peter White) (tribute to Wayman Tisdale)
Originally heard on: Good Day (2009)
Featured musician: Peter White (guitar)

50/50 RAFFLE ($1,000 pot) (won by Carolyn)

14. Sonora (Nelson Rangell) (Hampton Hawes cover)
Originally heard on: Destiny (1995), My American Songbook, Vol. 1 (2005)
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell (vocal percussion intro, whistling, piccolo), Peter White (guitar)

15. What is Hip? (Timmy Maia) (Tower of Power cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)

16. Tennessee Whiskey (Trever Somerville) (cover of Chris Stapleton interpretation of David Allan Coe song)
Featured musicians: Trever Somerville (vocals, drums), Nelson Rangell (alto sax)

17 (Finale). Right Place, Wrong Time (Jay Rowe) (Dr. John cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Jay Rowe (vocals, keyboards)

This is the part with photo galleries of each musician, starting with Jay Rowe:

Jackiem Joyner:

Nelson Rangell on alto sax:

I didn’t get any close-ups of Nelson on flute during “Catalonia,” so we’ll jump to “Sonora.”

Whistling:

Piccolo:

Whistling while holding piccolo:

Peter White:

The “Bueno Funk” James Bond bit:

That bit originated at an early 2000s live gig when saxophonist Richard Elliot dubbed Peter “the James Bond of smooth jazz.”

Timmy Maia:

Trever Somerville:

Andy Abel:

…and Dave Anderson:

I’d take many more photos of Dave on Saturday, but less of Trever. Such is the nature of documenting live events.

On to medium shots, starting with Jackiem and Andy:

Jackiem and Peter:

Nelson and Peter:
Flute on “Catalonia“:

Whistling and piccolo on “Sonora”:

Timmy and Nelson:

“…and touch the face of God!“

Peter and Trever:

Now, wide shots, like this one from “Tidal Wave”:

“Bueno Funk”:

True to my word, I used the speedlight for audience photos. Here they are dancing to Timmy’s cover of “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)“:

Peter’s “Get Up, Stand Up” tangent during “Bueno Funk”:

The standing ovation after “Sonora”:

The 50/50 raffle (won by Carolyn):

  • Jay and Deborah Rowe kissed (after I said “do it again!”)
  • The winning ticket
  • Carolyn received her reward

“Tennessee Whiskey” (David Allan Coe song popularized by Chris Stapleton a la Etta James):

The finale was “Right Place, Wrong Time,” a Dr. John song, with vocals by John “Jay” Rowe!

The end:

“Thanks so much. For those of you who are comin’ back tomorrow, we’ll see you tomorrow night. And for those of you who want to come back tomorrow night but didn’t buy a ticket yet, we’ll sell you one! … We’re gonna sign some CDs and posters out front, too. So, we’re gonna come see ya. Thank you.”

Thanks to Andrew James for taking the meet-and-greet photos below. Here I am with Jackiem Joyner:

Nelson Rangell:

…and Peter White:

Peter signed my copy of Light of Day with seagull sketches to match the cover photo’s beach setting. Nice touch.

On the way out to the parking lot, I said hello to Jay Rowe’s mother Mia DiStasi. The title of Jay’s 2006 song (from Red, Hot and Smooth) is apt: “Everyone Loves Mia.”

When I got back to my hotel room at Hampton Inn, I unloaded all the photos and videos to my laptop. I would winnow down the photos in the morning and use Advanced Renamer to quickly change the remaining filenames.

Click here for a recap of Saturday and beyond.

WCWP-FM 60th anniversary celebration weekend, 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony March 25, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Philanthropy, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, smooth jazz, Sports, Technology, TV, Video.
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NOTE: Whenever possible throughout this post (no pun intended), I will list an alum’s graduation year in parentheses.

Sunday, March 16, at 4PM Eastern marked 60 years since WCWP-FM signed on. Located at 88.1 on the FM band, the public radio station emanates from the Benjamin and Elizabeth Abrams Communications Center at LIU Post. The school was known as C.W. Post College in 1965, but it has always been part of the Long Island University system. (Wikipedia entry)

WCWP was initially a carrier current radio station, signing on at noon on October 18, 1961. (That 60th anniversary was celebrated during Homecoming Weekend in 2021.) Art Beltrone (1963) was the first student voice heard at sign-on. Here is that sign-on:

Quoting Art from the aircheck:

Two years ago, a group of students and your announcer felt that a school such as Post would benefit a great deal from a radio station. We organized a small club at first, and at the meetings that followed, we talked radio, making hopeful plans for the establishment of a carrier current station, leading eventually into an FM station.

In just over three years, the FM station dream was realized.

WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary celebration also spanned an entire weekend, from 6PM on March 14 to 6PM on March 16.

Promotional banner

The celebration included a dinner on the night of March 15, held in the East Room of the Roosevelt School on the south end of campus. The dinner included the induction of the 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame class: 1984 alumnae Jeannie Moon and Laurie White, and fittingly, Benjamin Abrams. Ben Abrams, a founder of Emerson Radio, whose philanthropic efforts allowed for construction of the building that would house the FM station. In later years, the student-run web station would also emanate from the Abrams Communications Center, but I digress.

I considered splitting the celebration recap into three posts. Instead, everything is here, separated by dates and events in bold font.

This isn’t a personal diary of my experience, meaning I won’t mention things like when I arrived on campus, what equipment I used, and how I spent my downtime. This is a multimedia celebration of WCWP-FM’s 60 years on the air; the students, alumni, faculty, and volunteers who are part of its history; and the latest inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame. (Full disclosure: I have served on the Hall of Fame Committee since the 2022 class.)

FRIDAY, MARCH 14
Meet-and-Greet, The Rock Show

I only have two photos of the meet-and-greet in the lobby of the Abrams Communications Center.

First is my fellow 2004 alumnus Joe Sacco with WCWP station manager Dan Cox (1985).

Then, Dan took a photo of Joe and me.

All other photos were in Studio 2 for The Rock Show with Jeff and Pat Kroll, and guest host Neil Marks.

Before air, Dan Cox dropped in to speak with the Krolls (Jeff graduated in 1975, Pat in ’79), Neil (’77), and Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G. (’70).

Jeff Kroll kicked off The Rock Show just after 7PM.

The theme was many songs that topped the music charts on March 16. That date in 1965 was when WCWP-FM signed on. Not every year was represented in the playlist, and only a snippet was played of the number 1 song in 2025, but the songs Jeff did play lived up to their chart-topping status.

Jeff’s wife Pat Kroll (née Champion) served as co-host…

…with the addition of Neil Marks.

About half an hour into the show, Jeff interviewed 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees Laurie White and Jeannie Moon (both 1984 alumnae).

  • Jeannie Moon
  • Laurie White

One hour in, Jeff and Pat spoke to Mike Chimeri (me), WCWP station historian and photographer, and 2021 WCWP Hall of Famer.

Neil Marks took photos on my behalf.

My lead-in was “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley – number 1 on March 16, 1988. So, I began my interview with a nod to my Twitch channel, and gave a shoutout to music streamer GnatChat. Nat does a jazzy rendition of “Never Gonna Give You Up” as her raid song. (She, too, is an event photographer, albeit professionally.) I posted an excerpt of the video below to her Discord chat server and she thanked me for the shoutout.

After that, I discussed my history with WCWP, dating back to my first show on October 5, 2001, on WebRadio WCWP, now known as The Wave. (Select scoped airchecks of The Mike Chimeri Show can be heard here. As for Instrumental Invasion, here’s the recap aggregation page.)

After my interview, Neil Marks returned to his seat. Music and banter between Jeff, Pat, and Neil took up the rest of the show, concluding with “Believe” by Cher, number 1 on March 16, 1999, during my senior year at Wantagh High School. (Neil is a fellow Wantagh High School alumnus.)

Watch a scoped aircheck of The Rock Show below:

More of the beginnings and ends of songs can be heard in the audio version of the scoped aircheck:

SATURDAY, MARCH 15
60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony
(with a pictorial tour of Roosevelt School presidential exhibits)

There was an open house at the Abrams Communications Center on Saturday afternoon. In this first photo, WCWP station manager Dan Cox showed the current makeup of Studio 3 to Neil Marks (1977), Fred Gaudelli (1982), and Suzanne Langwell (1983).

Neil, Fred, and Suzanne are all members of the WCWP Hall of Fame. Neil was part of the 2017 class, Fred was inducted in ’19, and Suzanne in ’22 (ceremony in ’23).

Suzanne Langwell and Neil and Lita Marks converse in Studio 3:

Jeff Kroll prerecorded an interview with Fred Gaudelli to air during Sunday’s FM 60th anniversary broadcast. (Scroll down to that portion of this post to see and hear it.)

Fred is not only in the WCWP Hall of Fame, but also the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2020-21), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, receiving the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2023.

Cynthia Hochman, daughter of Benjamin Abrams, spoke to Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks. Listening along are Cynthia’s granddaughters and Joan Yonke, LIU Director of Development and Annual Fund. (Development webpage)

Suzanne Langwell also spoke to Cynthia Hochman.

Pete Sacoulas (2017) drove me and Neil Marks to the south end of LIU Post’s campus for the 60th anniversary celebration and 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony in the Roosevelt School‘s East Room.

Photos of the presidential exhibits will be shown at the end of this album. For now, I’ll note this was my first time inside the now-Roosevelt School since my first semester in Fall 1999. It was a building for music courses, such as Introduction to Music Theory. My professor was John Meschi, now the Director of Music Technology.

The entrance to the East Room:

The Hall of Fame banner and plaques, and programs:

As guests filed in, a photo array looped on a monitor to the left of the podium.

A straight-on podium view:

It makes you feel like you’re in the White House briefing room.

LIU President Dr. Kimberly Cline speaking with Marjorie Hyman, daughter of Benjamin Abrams, who was among the 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees:

Dr. Cline speaking with Cynthia Hochman, another daughter of Benjamin Abrams; and one of Cynthia’s granddaughters:

Jeff Kroll and WCWP station manager Dan Cox speaking with Dr. Kimberly Cline and Vice President for University Advancement Kerry Kruckel:

Fred Gaudelli joined the conversation with Dr. Cline and Ms. Kruckel:

Courtesy of Suzanne Langwell, here’s a photo of Suzanne with 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees Laurie White and Jeannie Moon:

The 60th anniversary celebration began with opening remarks from Dan Cox:

Kerry Kruckel, LIU Vice President for University Advancement, was next to speak:

Cindy Rogers, District Director for Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), delivered a citation on the Congressman’s behalf:

The citation:

Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition
Presented to
WCWP
Long Island University Public Radio
In celebration of its
60th Anniversary

On behalf of the constituents of the Third Congressional District of New York, congratulations on celebrating your 60th Anniversary. This achievement is a testament to your hard work and dedication to providing informative and entertaining content to the community as a student-run radio station. Best wishes for many more years of successful broadcasting.

Thomas R. Suozzi
Member of Congress
Third District of New York
March 15, 2025

Dan Cox read a statement from WCWP founding member Art Beltrone, commemorating the FM station’s 60th anniversary:

That was followed by prerecorded speeches from Hank Neimark (1964) and Ted David (1972):

Hank signed on WCWP-FM at 4PM on March 16, 1965, with the words “WCWP-FM is on the air.” (You’ll see him recite those words again during the 60th anniversary broadcast later in this post.)

Dan Reagan (1981) presented 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee Jeannie Moon.

Dan was a 2022 inductee with Suzanne Langwell and six others, and served as chairman of the 2024 Hall of Fame Committee.

Jeannie Moon posed with presenter Dan and her Hall of Fame plaque:

Jeannie’s acceptance speech:

Fred Gaudelli was one of two presenters for inductee Laurie White:

Dan Reagan (right) returned as the second presenter:

Laurie White holding her Hall of Fame plaque with presenters Dan Reagan and Fred Gaudelli:

Laurie’s acceptance speech:

That brought us to the most emotional part of the Hall of Fame Ceremony: the induction of Benjamin Abrams.

Two of Abrams’ surviving daughters, Marjorie Hyman and Cynthia Hochman, spoke on his behalf.

97-year-old Marjorie Hyman’s speech outlined the life and times of her father.

  • Marjorie’s son Peter and sister Cynthia watching her speech
  • A standing ovation!

It was an awe-inspiring speech, one that I complimented Marjorie for after the ceremony. I also thanked her for the generous donation that led to the renovation of the Benjamin and Elizabeth Abrams Communications Center. I initially shook her hand, and continued to hold her hand for the length of our conversation. I nearly cried.

Cynthia Hochman, another of Ben Abrams’ daughters, was next to speak.

Cynthia Hochman and Marjorie Hyman proudly posed with their father Benjamin Abrams’ Hall of Fame plaque:

The ceremony concluded with impassioned remarks from WCWP station manager Dan Cox:

You’ve seen the photos, now watch the video:

If you’re wondering, Marjorie Hyman’s speech is at the 1:07:59 mark.

Ted David left a highly complimentary YouTube comment:

Superior videography to chronicle a major milestone in the history of WCWP, its 60th anniversary. The speeches by the Abrams daughters were the capstones of an amazing evening. Congratulations to the HOF inductees and to all who took part. Special kudos to Mike Chimeri for capturing this history in audio, video and still photography for our posterity!

Thank you very much, Ted.

Now, as promised, we conclude the Saturday portion of this post with photos of the Roosevelt School presidential exhibits.

Laurie White and friends hung out in the Roosevelt Library shortly after arriving.
I didn’t go upstairs, but I did take a photo of the portraits on the stairway wall.

SUNDAY, MARCH 16
WCWP-FM 60th Anniversary Broadcast

Jeff Kroll commenced the FM 60th anniversary broadcast at 3PM:

Jeff hosted and Pat produced:

Jeff’s view of Zoom on the Studio 3 monitor:

Hank Neimark is seen in the upper left. Art Beltrone is upper-right center, Bernie Bernard (1972) upper right, Junie Thomas (1969) middle left, Jon Korkes (1967) middle-left center, and Joel Feltman (1974) middle-right center. Art and Hank were the founding members of WCWP as a carrier current station at noon on October 18, 1961. Hank, Junie, and Jon were among the staff as WCWP-FM signed on March 16, 1965.

Larry Brodsky (1968) was the first studio guest:

As 4PM approached, producer Pat Kroll made a cameo for the Zoom participants:

Jeff ran a legal ID from Chris Maffei (2013) at 3:58 to clear the way for Hank Neimark at 4PM.

Hank repeated his sign-on: “WCWP-FM is on the air.”

That was followed by applause from Zoom participants Art Beltrone, Bernie Bernard, Junie Thomas, Jon Korkes, Alan Seltzer (1978), Joel Feltman, John LiBretto (1968) (also on staff for the FM sign-on), and John Commins (1973).

Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G., was the second guest off Zoom and in Studio 3 with Jeff Kroll.

In honor of the late Joe Honerkamp, a.k.a Joseph P. (1974), Jeff Kroll went through a list of high temperatures on March 16 in 1965 and beyond:

Joe was, and Jeff and I (Mike) are, big weather enthusiasts. Jeff said in a comment to this photo in the WCWP Alumni Association album, “[Joe’s] presence was missed throughout the weekend celebrations.”

I showed the following photo featuring Joe Honerkamp (seated at the mic) in the 60th anniversary broadcast before Jeff read the high temperatures:

This was among a batch of photo prints Jeff had me scan back in 2017.

In the 5PM hour, the studio guest list picked up, starting with Lew Scharfberg (1978) (atop the above photo) and Jeff Jensen (1984):

  • Lew Scharfberg
  • Jeff Jensen

Dan Reagan was next. (His wife Gina looked on outside the studio.)

Dan Reagan was followed by WCWP station manager Dan Cox.

While Jeff Kroll’s prerecorded interview with Fred Gaudelli ran (as seen in the Saturday portion of this recap), I stepped out of Studio 3 to take this photo:

From left to right: Dan Reagan, Jeannie Moon, Bobby Guthenberg, Jett Lightning, Gina Reagan, Lew Scharfberg, Pete Sacoulas

Back live in Studio 3, Jeff Kroll spoke to “Grandfather Rock” Chris MacIntosh, host of Rock N’ Soul Gospel.

Then, it was my turn:

Rather than rehash my WCWP biography from the Friday night interview, I chose to compliment Marjorie Hyman’s speech on behalf of her father Benjamin Abrams.

Vincent Randazzo (2024) and Andrew Scarpaci (2023) were next, the most recent WCWP alumni to be interviewed:

  • Vincent Randazzo
  • Andrew Scarpaci

The last guest of the broadcast was Jeannie Moon:

After noting 26 guests were interviewed, on Zoom and in Studio 3 combined, Jeff and Pat Kroll signed off:

Then, it was back to regular programming: Rock N’ Soul Gospel with “Grandfather Rock” Chris MacIntosh.

That brings us to the comprehensive video of the 60th anniversary broadcast, combining upscaled Zoom video, A- and B-roll from my two camcorders (as in the other two videos), supplemental photos, and the full aircheck. Enjoy.

For good measure, the audio from that video:

Thank you for taking this multimedia journey through WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary celebration. It is the culmination of 11 days of production and post-production. I sacrificed tens of hours of my time, but I assure you it was a labor of love.

My next blog post should be a recap of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights: In Concert at Lincoln Center on April 1. (Jeff and Pat Kroll will be at the March 31 concert.) That will be followed by recaps of this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars, to be held May 2 and 3.

Otherwise, as far as WCWP goes, see you on Homecoming Weekend, starting September 12. (Yes, it’s a week earlier than last year.)

David Benoit at My Father’s Place: A Tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas December 7, 2024

Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Broadway, Christmas, Comedy, DVD, Education, Football, History, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, smooth jazz, Theatre, Travel, TV, VHS, Weather.
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3/25/25 NOTE: Scroll down for an update to this post via an email from Steve Stoliar.

Wednesday evening, thanks to the generosity of my fellow WCWP/LIU Post alumnus Bobby Guthenberg, I was at My Father’s Place at the Roslyn Hotel to see David Benoit‘s annual tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

It was the first time I’d seen a live show outside of Smooth Jazz for Scholars since before COVID. That last pre-COVID show was Mike Stern and Jeff Lorber Fusion at The Iridium in December 2019. Wednesday also marked the first time I’d seen David and his trio since June 2019, also at My Father’s Place, three months after I saw The Rippingtons there.

Bobby G., longtime friend of My Father’s Place promoter Michael “Eppy” Epstein, first invited me to David’s show one morning in late August. I didn’t hesitate in accepting the invitation. We would meet at WCWP’s Abrams Communications Center by 5:45 PM and drive to Roslyn from there.

Since it was Christmastime, I anticipated David’s set would be similar to the one from his 2008 concert at IMAC (Inter-Media Art Center) in Huntington. (Little did I know that would be the last show I’d ever see there as the venue closed in June 2009, eventually replaced by The Paramount.)

My parents drove me up to LIU Post at 5:00 and we arrived in the parking lot adjacent to WCWP (and Hillwood Commons) within 20 minutes. In contrast to the flurry of activity during Homecoming Weekend, the Abrams Communications Center was as dark as the night sky, with most of the light coming from studio 1 and 3 where live shows were in progress. Thomas, the Wednesday host of The Rock Show, invited me in before retreating to Hillwood for dinner. I paced quietly in the lobby until Bobby G. arrived shortly after 5:45.

Bobby and I conversed on the entire drive to My Father’s Place, listening to David Benoit’s Fuzzy Logic (2002) CD along the way.

It was about 6PM when parked in the Roslyn Hotel lot. We walked up the stairs to the hotel lobby and down the stairs to the My Father’s Place section. (MFP was originally its own venue before relocating to the hotel.) Eppy Epstein was seated outside the entrance and Bobby introduced us. Then, we confirmed our ticketed reservation with the attendant in the entryway and were ushered to a front row center table.

My conversation with Bobby continued as 8PM approached. (He and Billy Joel were classmates at Hicksville High School!) We both ordered separate dinners, each choosing a seltzer with lime as our soft drink, drinking water in the meantime. None of the entrees interested me, so I ordered fried calamari and a “side” of mac and cheese. Our waitress told me the side dish, with shell pasta, was as big as an entree, meaning I only needed to order one bowl. It was all quite good.

I checked the stage for a set list so I’d know what I was in for. I found one on the stage floor by the drum kit. I didn’t think to write the list to my stenographer pad until the show had begun and the waitress took our dessert orders. I chose chocolate lava cake, which was a bit rich for me, even with the vanilla ice cream mixed in, but still good.

Okay, the preamble is over. Let’s talk about the show itself!

As you see, there was a fourth member of the band: vocalist Courtney Fortune.

David Benoit was on a Yamaha piano:

New York City native Roberto Vally played bass:

Merrick native Dan Schnelle was on drums:

And the aforementioned Courtney Fortune on vocals:

The front stage featured replicas of Schroeder‘s toy piano and the sapling Charlie Brown chose over fully-grown trees in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Hmm. What’s with the electrical wiring? You’ll soon find out.

Before more photos, let’s look at…

THE SET LIST

  1. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  2. Believe
  3. Medley: My Favorite Things/The Christmas Waltz
  4. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
  5. Originals medley: Drive Time/Café Rio/Kei’s Song
  6. Schroeder/The Doctor is In
  7. Vince Guaraldi medley: Great Pumpkin Waltz/Thanksgiving Theme/You’re in Love, Charlie Brown/Christmas is Coming/Skating/What Child is This?/O Tannenbaum
  8. Christmas Time is Here
  9. Just Like Me
  10. Linus and Lucy
  11. (encore) Cabin Fever

Set List Background Info
Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas compositions (except where noted) in the set were “Christmas is Coming,” “Skating,” “What Child is This?” (only on the soundtrack album; arrangement of traditional song), “O Tannenbaum” (arrangement of traditional song), “Linus and Lucy,” and “Christmas Time is Here.” That last song was heard instrumentally throughout A Charlie Brown Christmas, but a separate version added lyrics by Lee Mendelson, the special’s producer and co-writer (with Peanuts creator Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz). David first covered “Linus and Lucy” on This Side Up (1985), which led to an updated arrangement for “The Great Inventors” episode of This is America, Charlie Brown. David scored that entire episode, and many Peanuts TV specials (plus some Garfield specials) through 2006. The specials that stand out in my mind are:

3/25/25 UPDATE: Steve Stoliar emailed me this evening to clear things up about his involvement in You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown.

It was much more of a challenge than mere improvisation. Here – whether you want it or not – is the complete story:  I had a friend who worked at Bill Melendez Prods. in a variety of capacities. She called me up one day and said, “Can you help us? We produced this Super Bowl show that Sparky wrote and there are football games with no dialogue that just go on and on and they’re repetitious and confusing.”

She gave me a VHS of the rough-cut and I sat on my living room floor starting, pausing, rewinding my VHS player and trying to time (without a stopwatch) how long each football sequence ran. Then I scribbled down some suggested narration, making use of a lot of alliterations and metaphors, such as you get from color commentators on sporting events.  After that, I read it and tried to edit the copy so it fit snugly in the blank spaces. Then I went to Melendez Prods. in Hollywood and we recorded it – with Bill M. directing me – and me doing a sort of Vin Scully-inspired classic sportscaster voice.

It’s fairly miraculous that it worked out. “Variety” actually reviewed it and pointed out the sports narration as a high spot. Unfortunately, my pleasure in having met the challenge was greatly impacted by my late wife and me having been literally thrown out of our apartment by the Northridge Earthquake, which hit between the time I recorded the narration and when the show aired.

I was later rewarded with a lovely production cel (and original background) from one of the birdie football games, inscribed, “For Steve – In friendship – Bill Melendez” in black Sharpie. Sadly, even though it wasn’t in direct sunlight, the inscription faded.  But – like Big Julie in “Guys ‘n’ Dolls” talking about the blank dice – “I remembers where da spots previously were.”

It remains the only Charlie Brown special that has any sort of shared writing credit.

End of story – except to thank you for the compliment on my Groucho impression!

Thank you, Steve, for correcting the record, and allowing me to post what you wrote. I don’t know where I got in my head that he improvised the dialogue. I must have misinterpreted the Facebook comment he left a few years ago when I said that I’d watched my digitizing of the VHS tape. On that note, Steve wrote in a follow-up reply…

Oh – also – that particular show was produced as a tie-in with Shell Oil and the VHS tape was either a giveaway or for sale at a low, low price at Shell Stations when you filled up your tank. So even though it aired on TV, I suspect it’s missing from DVD release because of the initial deal with Shell. Not sure. I also did voices for Melendez (what a great guy) on “Snoopy’s Reunion” and “It’s The Girl In The Red Truck, Charlie Brown.”

I’m inclined to agree with Steve about the Shell tie-in keeping You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown off DVD and other modern home media releases. It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown is another special that has yet to go beyond VHS, but Snoopy’s Reunion has a dedicated DVD.

Thanks again to Steve Stoliar. Now, back to what I wrote in December.

Speaking of David’s originals, “Kei’s Song” is from Freedom at Midnight (1987), “Cabin Fever” (the encore) was on Waiting for Spring (1989), “Drive Time” originated on The Best of David Benoit: 1987-1995 (one of two new tracks), and “Café Rio” is from Full Circle (2006). “Drive Time” and “Café Rio” get the big band treatment on David’s latest album, Timeless, recorded in the UK with Spice Fusion Big Band.

David composed “Just Like Me” for 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas (2005), with Lee Mendelson lyrics that honor the feel of “Christmas Time is Here.” Vanessa Williams sang on the original, and David recorded a solo piano version at Steinway Hall in 2017, one of 17 tracks from his The Steinway Sessions…session that were saved for It’s a David Benoit Christmas! (2020).

“Great Pumpkin Waltz,” “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown,” and “Thanksgiving Theme” were Vince Guaraldi compositions for It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (yes, more redundancy), and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

“Believe” was a Josh Groban song for the film The Polar Express, which served as the title track to David’s 2015 trio album that featured Jane Monheit and The All-American Boys Chorus.

“Schroeder” (set to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”) and “The Doctor is In” were from the Broadway musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

That brings us back to the photos. For that You’re a Good Man medley, David portrayed Schroeder and Courtney channeled Lucy.

David even sang!
Roberto disputed David’s claim of poor tennis skills.

I’m not ashamed to admit “Just Like Me” drove me to happy tears. It’s such a pretty song.

So, that’s what the wiring was for! Magnificent.

When Courtney wasn’t on stage, the trio of David, Roberto, and Dan played instrumentally.

The finale: “Linus and Lucy”:

David’s Jerry Lee Lewis motif
The last note
The quartet gathered for a bow
An audience member presented David with a Charlie Brown doll.

For the encore, a man at a front row table held up his LP copy of Waiting for Spring (I have it on CD) and requested a track from there. David chose “Cabin Fever,” one of my favorites.

It featured a drum solo by Dan Schnelle.
The last note of the set
Sharpie in hand, the man got his copy of Waiting for Spring signed by David.

I only got to meet and greet half the band. Roberto and Dan were deep in separate conversations and I didn’t want to rudely interrupt.

However, I did get to catch up with David, who signed my copy of Timeless:

I then introduced David to Bobby Guthenberg (who took the above photo). Bobby bought a copy of Timeless, and David signed that.

Bobby G. and I weren’t the only WCWP alumni at My Father’s Place that night. Voice actor David Kaplan was there, too. It was great to see him. He was talking to vocalist Courtney Fortune, who I then spoke to. I complimented Courtney’s performance and told her how moving her rendition of “Just Like Me” was. Then, Bobby took a photo of us:

My one regret is not getting a photo with My Father’s Place promoter Eppy Epstein before Bobby and I exited The Roslyn. Upon exiting, I noticed it was snowing!

Before meeting and greeting, Bobby offered to drive me back to Wantagh so my parents wouldn’t have to drive back up to WCWP for me. I accepted and called my mom to let her know. Bobby cautiously drove home in the rain/snow mix, once again conversing the entire way while finishing up his Fuzzy Logic CD. He switched to Timeless while waiting at a red light on Jerusalem Avenue.

Bobby dropped me off at the curb at about 10:30. I wished him good night and thanked him yet again for treating me to a memorable night at My Father’s Place. (He messaged me on Facebook upon his safe return home to Bayside.) I may return to MFP some time in 2025 if Eppy can book drummer Billy Cobham. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thank you again to David Benoit, Roberto Vally, Dan Schnelle, and Courtney Fortune. You were all wonderful.

2024 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: conclusion and pickups August 21, 2024

Posted by Mike C. in Aviation, Books, Education, History, Internet, Personal, Photography, Technology, Travel.
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If you haven’t seen them yet, read the first post here and second post here.

CONCLUSION
I mingled for a bit after in the guest table area after Leonard Herman‘s panel, then returned to the vendor marketplace for more games to buy. I texted my mom to come pick me up, said my goodbyes, and exited the Cradle of Aviation Museum:

  • My last photo of the weekend before getting in Mom’s car, bound for home

When I got home I took photos of my weekend badge…:

I still need to use that QR code.

…and pickups, starting with merchandise:

Thank you again to Ryan Shapiro and the LI Retro staff for gifting me with a backpack, pin, sticker, program, and t-shirt. I greatly appreciate the gesture after the mishaps I endured over the weekend.

I built up a $400 budget for merchandise, games, and maybe even consoles or accessories. I also brought two games I was unable to sell on eBay in the hopes of selling them to a vendor in the marketplace. I only got $10 for Knowledge is Power (PlayStation 4) and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition (PS5), but I was just glad to get rid of them. After struggling with games like the PS4 port of Celeste and (in my debut stream) the Xbox One port of Dark Souls: Remastered, it seemed pointless to keep games in my collection that I was terrible at or had no desire to play. (The Spider-Man games fell into the latter category.) So, my budget became $410.

I spent $105 on merchandise, with all but the My Life in Gaming t-shirt purchased Saturday. (I brought the M2: Complete Works Blu-ray for Coury and Try to sign after buying from them last February.)

That left $305 for games. I went to an ATM for an extra $40 (plus a $4 surcharge). Combined with a $5 bill from my wallet, I went $45 over budget. I’ve done worse in prior years, so I consider that a victory.

I successfully haggled with each vendor, saving me at least $50.

I bought a whopping 16 games for the Nintendo Entertainment System:

I finally bought individual carts for Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, on the combo cart that came with my Zapper Set in February 1990, and I bought the triple combo cart for the Power Pad Set.

The games in alphabetical order, with purchase day in italicized parentheses:

Six of the NES games have appeared in Angry Video Game Nerd episodes, and seven appeared in Pat the NES Punk episodes. The Black Box releases were all in one episode.

Like last year, I bought two Super Nintendo games, both on Saturday.

Three for Sega Genesis:

One game per day for PlayStation:

Now, the only mainline Tekken games I don’t have are 2 and 8, and I still need the original Gran Turismo and 5.

My lone Wii U game was Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

This wasn’t the end of buying, though. I passed up on To the Earth and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? for NES (the latter game had a cracked a shell). When I bought the triple combo NES cart and World Class Track Meet from one vendor, she offered the Power Pad. Just as I was about to buy, a young man behind me lamented that he wanted it. So, I graciously declined and let him buy it. And I couldn’t find a copy of Ridge Racer 6. I rectified all of that on eBay in the days after LI Retro.

Wednesday, August 14, I bought To the Earth and Where in Time…?, I snagged a Power Pad on Thursday, August 15, and bought Ridge Racer 6 on Saturday, August 17. As of publication, I only have the Power Pad and To the Earth, which I photographed Monday, August 19 (updated at 4:05 PM August 21 with Ridge Racer 6 and on August 24 with Where in Time…?):

Thank you for taking another photographic journey through the 2024 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. Until next year, you can catch me on Twitch. Maybe I’ll be playing a game I picked up this year.

2024 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo: introduction, guests, mishaps, panels August 21, 2024

Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.
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Feel free to skip ahead to the second post (touring the expo) or third post (conclusion and pickups).

INTRODUCTION
2024 was my sixth year at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, on the right end of Museum Row in East Garden City. This was also the first year that Flagstar bank had naming rights. That’s evident in the first photo below, taken as my mom pulled off Charles Lindbergh Boulevard at 9:45 AM on Saturday, August 10.

LI Retro, the expo’s shorthand, launched Friday, August 9, at 4PM, but since the expansion to three days (or 2 1/2) in 2022, I’ve forgone the Friday leg.

Tickets went on sale all the way back at the end of December and I was quick to secure my weekend badge, even though it would be months before attendees even knew who the guests would be.

Once announced, Long Island Retro Gaming Expo’s 2024 guest list was a mix of mainstays, newcomers, and returnees. Naturally, author/publisher Leonard Herman, Mark Baer (middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph Baer), Frank Cifaldi (Video Game History Foundation) and Jeremy Parish (Retronauts, Limited Run Games) would be there. G Gracin (G to the Next Level) returned for the second year in a row, this time with Greg Sewart (Generation 16). Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson were back for their fourth consecutive LI Retro. (There was a gap between their first and second years due to COVID postponements in 2020 and ’21.) The Immortal John Hancock was back for the first time since 2018. (I met Lenny Herman through the panel he and John co-hosted that year.) And it was the second appearance of Coury Carlson and Marc “Try4ce (‘triforce‘)” Duddleson of My Life in Gaming, having first appeared in 2019.

If you remember my disappointment last year when spotting Clint Basinger (LGR) walking through the vendor marketplace after the expo while editing photos, I was pleased to see he was a guest this year!

Two other notable guests were Warren Davis, the creator of Q*Bert “and other classic video arcade games” (as his book title notes), and legendary Nintendo marketer Gail Tilden. I was not able to attend Warren’s Saturday evening panel, though I met him at his table in the morning as you’ll see in that portion of this post. Gail had a free-form panel on Saturday evening and an interview panel on Sunday, the latter of which I attended.

Ahead of Saturday morning, I packed a printout of my badge retrieval code, my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX II, TASCAM DR-05X, and stenographer pad with pen. (I never used those last two.) I was anxious that my compulsive nature would lead to as many photos as last year. The bad news is I was right. The good news is the total over three cameras (you’ll read the why of that quantity later in the post) was 697 photos. This time, however, 617 were chosen to spread out over three blog posts, not counting scans or photos taken after Sunday.

Since last year’s Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, I have begun streaming on Twitch at least four days a week. Gaming is the channel’s main focus with occasional “media production” streams where I work on radio shows or edit photos from events like this. I spent a whole week editing photos in April after returning from Smooth Jazz for Scholars. While the initial plan was to do the expo photo editing off stream and go on hiatus until I was finished, I opted instead for occasional streams to report on my editing progress and show all games and merchandise I picked up. Thanks to a quicker editing process, only two of those streams were required before returning to gaming. The first stream – Wednesday, August 14 – dovetailed into saving smaller versions of watermarked photos (“© Mike Chimeri” on the lower left) edited that day. And with only 96 photos left to edit going into Saturday, August 17, that became the sole photo editing stream.

ARRIVING AT THE MUSEUM
Several paragraphs ago, I said I arrived at the Flagstar Cradle of Aviation Museum at 9:45 AM Saturday. After my mom dropped me off in the parking lot to the left of the roundabout, I took an establishing shot of the museum, unaware that my folded badge code printout was visible in the bottom left. So, I took another shot Sunday morning:

The photos in this gallery are from Saturday.

Badge retrieval area
A staff member instructs attendees waiting in line.
He got a kick out of this Link cosplayer’s sign.
Seconds before 10AM
Entering the museum
A hearty welcome after my bag check
(NOTE: Lucas Thomas, Nintendo Force magazine founder, is seen entering on the right in the penultimate photo. Little did I know I’d see him again Sunday afternoon.)

On the way to the guest table area, I ran into Timothy (a.k.a. Sho), a fellow My Life in Gaming fan. We met in person in 2019 and I had to get a selfie this time:

GUEST TABLE PHOTOS

Entering the guest area, with additional vendors on the opposite side, whom you’ll see in the second post; Panel Room 2 is out of view to the right

Photos in this section were taken Saturday and Sunday. You can tell which day by what we’re wearing.

Warren Davis
Warren and I didn’t talk much – so, no magic tricks – but I introduced myself and gladly bought a copy of Creating Q*bert for him to sign. I told him on Sunday that I bought a copy of Q*bert’s NES port in his honor. He thanked me for that. (More on pickups in the third post.)

Clint Basinger (LGR)
It was honor to meet Clint in person. As I told him, I’ve been a fan of LGR for years, and that we both have the distinction of reading quotes in Gaming Historian videos. (I was in The Story of Link’s Awakening, per a blog post.) We commiserated over Norman Caruso’s April announcement that he was stepping back from pursuing his YouTube channel full time (but not retiring). (Norm went out in style with his magnum opus, The Story of The Oregon Trail, a video years in the making.) I told Clint that I unknowingly photographed him last year and thought about printing a copy for him to sign, but opted not to.

Clint with his Panasonic SuperDisk PalmCam PV-SD4090, the subject of a future LGR video. Maybe you’ll see the selfie we took with it. (8/23 UPDATE: Yes. Video added below.)
Prior to that selfie, I took one with my EOS R7. Dissatisfied with my appearance, I made tweaks in Photoshop.

8/23 UPDATE: Today, that future video became a present video.

The LI Retro portion begins around the 10:20 mark and the selfie compilation includes me, Coury Carlson, Adam Koralik (more on him in the John Hancock segment), and Frank Cifaldi.
A screenshot of our selfie

Thinking Clint would be at the expo on Sunday, as well, I brought my PlayStation 3 copy of Duke Nukem Forever to sign. Alas, he had left after Saturday.

A recent LGR video made me think of my psychologist of 27 years, known to patients like me as Brad. In the mid ’90s, Brad had an Acer Aspire. If I remember correctly, it was the same color as Clint’s. (Brad retired in 2018 and I’ve had another therapist since 2019.)

9/6 UPDATE: Clint went into greater detail about LI Retro in the vlog below.

The Immortal John Hancock
I reacquainted myself with John on Saturday – fresh from Retrocon in São Paulo, Brazil! (John’s Retrocon vlog) – and proudly bought the Genesis port of his original game, Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em, seen in the second photo.

John included a pin and sticker, which I put inside the Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em case.
Adam Koralik returned this year as a paid attendee. I go by Mike Camera on his Discord and introduced myself as such on Sunday. He recognized me immediately. I had to get a photo with him and his good friend John.

Check out John’s LI Retro vlog. He saw exhibits that I missed, and thus won’t be seen in my second post.

Give Adam Koralik a look, too.

Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
I was not a fan of either Pat or Ian prior to their LI Retro debut in 2019, but I got to know Ian and his wife Vani at their Luna Video Games table, placed between the My Life in Gaming table and Pat’s table. I worked up the courage to meet Pat, buy Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library and all DVD volumes of early episodes of Pat the NES Punk. That led to an interest in Flea Market Madness and The Video Game Years, and The CU (Completely Unnecessary Podcast). I was even hyped for Pat’s next Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the SNES Library. I wrote reviews for both guides after reading them later in 2019 (NES, SNES).

So, of course, I was thrilled to see them again this year, and ask a question for the third year in a row at their panel/podcast recording.

G Gracin bumping fists with Pat and Ian on Sunday
G brought their Sonic the Hedgehog Interactive Camera for selfies in digital file and thermal print form.
G handing the thermal print to Pat
They got a selfie with Ian, too.
Pat and Ian
Find out why my smile is subdued in the “Mishaps” portion of this post.
Before they departed on Sunday, I snapped a photo of Pat, Daniel Greenberg, Ian, Frank Cifaldi, and Daniel’s wife Alex.

9/2 UPDATE: The latest Flea Market Madness video is embedded below photos of the CU Podcast panel.

G Gracin and Greg Sewart didn’t have a table, but did have a Saturday panel. (Check the “Panels” section of this post for photos.) I posed with them in this photo on Sunday.

I also got the Sonic selfie treatment, in digital form…

…and in thermal print form. I scanned that (left) and used Photoshop’s photo restoration filter to limit the vertical banding (right).

G posted a few YouTube Shorts at LI Retro:

[The first short was removed in 2025.]

There really is so much to see at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. John Hancock and G saw things that I missed.

I really liked Greg Sewart’s Ridge Racer series retrospective:

I’ve had Ridge Racer 7 since I bought a slim PS3 back in 2018. The video made me seek out Ridge Racer 6 for Xbox 360 when scouring the marketplace at the end of each day.

Since you saw Daniel and Alex Greenberg (Winterion Game Studios) in Pat and Ian’s photo gallery, here is a photo Alex took of Daniel and me after Pat’s CU Podcast Live panel.

Let’s skip ahead one table to the My Life in Gaming duo of Coury Carlson and Mark “Try4ce” Duddleson:

This was last photo of the weekend taken on my EOS R7. Again, the explanation is in the “Mishaps” segment.
I brought my copy of the M2: Complete Works Blu-ray for Coury and Try to sign. Try signed the cover first…
…then Coury.
A photo with the signed cover
Sunday, since shirts were selling well at the MLiG table (myself included), Try decided to splurge on a rare PlayStation game: Koudelka, the first in the Shadow Hearts series.

I spent a lot of down time at the MLiG and Leonard Herman tables (see below). Coury and I talked about photography, while Try and I talked about Backloggery‘s recent 17th anniversary celebration, my multiple raids to the Backloggery Twitch channel, and how I rightly kept dejitter off on my Analogue Nt Mini Noir. Try neglected to do that in the MLiG review of the console back in 2020. (Source: Comment to Analogue Reddit post.) Having dejitter off allowed me to connect my Monoprice VGA-to-composite/S-Video adapter, run a composite cable to my sister’s old Durabrand DWT1304 CRT TV (a Funai-manufactured TV sold by Walmart), and play NES Zapper games in my last two Twitch streams before LI Retro.

9/2 UPDATE: Coury and Try ended August with a new My Life in Gaming video: the second in their Multi-Games Compilations series. It’s worth watching for Try’s LI Retro t-shirt alone.

Leonard Herman

We round out this segment with the Father of Videogame History, Leonard Herman, joined by Patrick Wong and Mark Baer (middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph Baer).

A replica of Ralph Baer’s Brown Box prototype
Mark played tennis on the replica with an attendee.
And after Lenny’s Sunday panel, Patrick took our photo.

I spelled video game as one word because that’s how Ralph Baer spelled it and how Lenny spells it.

Leaving the guest tables behind, it’s panel time!

PANELS

Saturday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM
Panel Room 2
Mark Baer and Leonard Herman
Ralph Baer: His Creative Life in Electronic, Videogames and More

This strayed close to the 2023 presentation, which was the last panel I attended. So, I changed my photographic approach. Before the photos, here are the videos shown during the panel:

Despite the German title, the video is in English.
The panel concluded with the What’s My Line? segment that Mark referenced.
Host Larry Blyden and Bob Fritchie were “Playing ‘Tennis'” on the Magnavox Odyssey
Mark and Lenny shook hands after a panel well done

Before the other panels, a diversion.

Mishaps

It was in between the Ralph Baer panel and the CU Podcast panel that I accidentally knocked my camera off a food court table, breaking my Canon EOS R7’s RF-S 18-150mm lens. The ring attachment stayed on, but the rest of the lens broke off.

It was irrecoverable. The only solution was to buy a replacement lens once I got home, and with a 5-year lens accident warranty. I’m covered if history repeats itself, God forbid.

The lens and UV filter arrived Wednesday morning and a test photo was successful.

I took the rest of Saturday’s photos on my iPhone 13 Pro. Then, Sunday, I shot in RAW for the first time on my Nikon D5500 with a Nikkor 18-300mm lens.

Unfortunately, Sunday had another problem. Patrick Wong from Leonard Herman’s table prepped to take a photo of me with Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson. Ian sprained his ankle and was only at LI Retro that day. After I took the photo of Pat and Ian together, I foolishly chose to take a photo with them to the right of Pat’s table. Ian’s cup of coffee was perched on the right end of that table. As I turned to get into position for the photo, Ian warned “watch the backpack!” The warning was in vein. My bulky backpack knocked the cup over and it spilled on the upper right end of the table. The photo op was aborted, paper towels were summoned, and adjacent merchandise was checked for damage. As all that happened, I felt tremendous guilt and shame. I thought I’d become persona non grata to both of them, and God forbid, would be sued. Thankfully, none of that was true. No merch was damaged, the spill was quickly disposed of, and Pat used hand sanitizer to further clean the affected area. Then, we retreated to a safe spot away from the table for our photo op. Pat and Ian were all smiles in the photo while I was too drained to fully smile. They both assured me everything was fine and not to worry. That’s when I headed to the main theatre for the Gail Force panel.

After that panel, LI Retro staff member Ryan Shapiro gifted me with an expo backpack that contained a pin, sticker, 2024 program, and Asteroids-themed t-shirt. I’ll save the contents photo for the third post, but I’ll show the backpack here, too.

Thank you very much, Ryan.

Now, back to Saturday’s panels.

Saturday, 12:30-1:30 PM
Main Theatre
Pat Contri with Frank Cifaldi (filling in for Ian Ferguson)
CU Podcast Live!

The topic was the sudden end to GameStop’s Game Informer magazine, and the bizarre public relations statement accompanying its demise. (Reactions were compiled in this Resetera thread.)

When the theatre was opened to Q&A, only one person had an Amico-related question. Mine focused on Pat’s Wednesday Twitch streams:

Aside from the podcasts, you’re also on Twitch every Wednesday, watching retro commercials. How did you- What made you decide to go that route instead of streaming games?

Pat responded that it spun off from his NES Charity Marathon (origin of the “Buh-lack Box!” catchphrase), and that he felt relaxed and nostalgic watching things from the past. The TV commercials or promos allow him to recall moments from his past. That led to a discussion about the significance of preserving these moments in the same way video game media is preserved. I chimed in with radio airchecks as an example, but I might not have been heard.

Pat welcomes the assembled crowd.
Frank Cifaldi arrives to fill in for Ian Ferguson
The Kotaku article linked above the gallery
In this photo, the topic is how Game Informer‘s archives were all thrown away.
Q&A time
A shoutout to Daniel and Alex Greenberg. Daniel wrote game reviews in Pat’s Ultimate Nintendo guides.
Panel/podcast complete
A round of applause

As of publication, the podcast is not up in audio or segmented video form. There is, however, Flea Market Madness Volume 49, recorded on Father’s Day (June 16). It features the other Frank, as seen in the thumbnail.

3:51 PM UPDATE: There is audio of the Game Informer discussion, but not the Q&A, starting at the 1:17:25 mark of the latest podcast.

10/28 UPDATE: Video of Pat and Frank’s discussion went up six days after this post was published (August 27).

Saturday, 2PM-3PM
Panel Room 2
G Gracin and Greg Sewart
Growing Up Sega: A Trip Down Sega’s Console Timeline

G’s introduction
Greg’s introduction
A question from the audience
What followed was a chronological journey through Sega’s console history. First, the SG-1000.
The Master System
The game changer: The Sega Genesis, released 35 years ago last week (August 14).
Game Gear and Nomad (portable Genesis)
Sega CD
The 32X
G bought a custom-made Neptune at LI Retro. It’s based on the never-released Genesis/32X hybrid prototype.
Sega Saturn
The Dreamcast
After the Dreamcast, the panel (and Sega’s console history) was complete.
Another round of applause
G and Greg spoke to fans afterward

After browsing and buying from the vendor marketplace, I went home.

I returned a little closer to 10AM on Sunday morning. I still had to wait in line for a bag check; I didn’t mind that.

In lieu of a panel I had in mind at 11AM, I re-photographed areas that were blurry on Saturday, took photos of vendors I missed on Saturday, then toured the exhibits on all three floors. Look for those in the second post.

Sunday, 12:30-1:30 PM
Main Theatre
Gail Tilden, interviewed by Jeremy Parish (Retronauts, Limited Run Games) and Lucas Thomas (Nintendo Force magazine founder)
Gail Force: An Intimate Interview with a Nintendo Legend

The interview initially covered Gail’s involvement in the Nintendo Entertaintment System’s North American launch, beginning in the New York Metro Area in October 1985. Among the locations chosen to carry the NES were Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. At some events, attendees could play Baseball against either New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling or center fielder Mookie Wilson.

Then, the topic switched to her tenure with Nintendo Power magazine. Lucas asked the audience to give a “whoo!” when their first issue was displayed on the projection screen above them.

Watch the video to see if I misremembered anything. Then, see the photos that I kept bending over to take.

Listen for me at the 7:03 mark.
Jeremy Parish
Gail Tilden
Lucas Thomas
Discussing the first issue of Nintendo Power
LJ, whom I met at a panel in 2019, asked Gail who did the claymation for the first issue’s cover.
He also gave a “woo-hoo!” for the DuckTales cover, a nod to the cartoon series theme song (played at a faster tempo on the title screen).
The Super Mario Bros. 3 strategy guide was technically my first issue, bought by one of my parents at Te’amo convenience store on West Merrick Road in Freeport.
This was the sixth issue I had after first subscribing to Nintendo Power at Volume 70.
Gail’s Nintendo Power journey ended with Volume 100.
And it’s where the panel ended.
Afterward, many people had questions and recollections for Gail…
…and items for her to sign.
I just wanted a photo, which LI Retro staff member Joe Vincent took for me.

Then, it was quickly off to Panel Room 2 for my last panel of the weekend.

Sunday, 2PM-3PM
Panel Room 2
Leonard Herman
The History of the History of Videogames

This was the place to be: a celebration of a man who blazed the trail for videogame history. 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the original Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames.

Ahra wanted a photo with Lenny beforehand:

Then came a prologue from John Hancock:

“I just want to say this is the reason why I started seriously collecting. … I remember going up to a classic gaming expo, and this gentleman here gave me the 2000 edition, correct? Third edition [of Phoenix]. And this is what started me on my serious collecting journey. And I’m honored that I consider him a friend, a close friend, a good guy. And I want to say, like, this book changed my collecting trajectory. And you know, this gentleman is really a big contributor to getting some serious facts of videogame history in a serious book. And I’m just honored. So, I want to just thank you for all you’ve done. He needs to be remembered. And I will continue that, like how you promoted and honored Ralph Baer. That’s me to you. So, I just want to say thanks. And this is your time. Thank you so much.”

Well said, John.

The stage is yours, Leonard.

How Leonard’s Rolenta Press got its name
A letter from Ralph Baer!
No Starch Press was the villain in this story.
How Lenny took photos for Phoenix IV
Unflattering background?
Just mask it away.
The paperback edition of Phoenix IV (and a bookmark)
Lenny holds up the hardcover color edition
Will there be a Phoenix 5 in 2025?
If so, here’s the outline so far. With the help of Jeremy Parish, it will published by Press Run, the publishing arm of Limited Run Games.
A shoutout to Frank Cifaldi’s Video Game History Foundation.
Frank recalled he was working for GamesTM magazine when he contacted Lenny for a copy of Phoenix III.
My favorite shots of Lenny were when he smiled or laughed. You could tell he enjoyed sharing his story.
The many video game history books that followed Phoenix
Lenny promoted his Game Scholar website.

Upon closing, Lenny opened the floor to Q&A:

Ahra was among those to ask a question.
Frank Cifaldi had a few questions.
So did John Hancock.

The funniest question and answer came via Mark Baer:

LENNY: Yes, sir.
MARK: Do you have a favorite historical figure in videogame history, by any chance?
LENNY: Yeah. Nolan Bushnell.
[audience laughs]
If anyone doesn’t know, that’s Ralph Baer’s son. That’s his son, Mark. He’s a troublemaker.
MARK: You could answer honestly.

After a few more questions, the panel ended with a round of applause.

I had to get a photo of Leonard Herman, Frank Cifaldi, and John Hancock:

Ian Ferguson dropped by after the panel to say hello:

That is the end of post one. Head to post two for a tour of the marketplace and exhibits. Post three features a conclusion, pickups photos, and a postscript with post-expo pickups.

2023 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony, tour of renovated Abrams Communications Center June 6, 2024

Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Baseball, Basketball, Comedy, Education, History, Internet, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Politics, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, TV, Video.
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Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2022

7/17 UPDATE: A formatting error with this blog post unbeknownst to me until this morning has been resolved.

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, the WCWP Hall of Fame’s 2023 class was inducted in a ceremony at LIU Post‘s Alumni Hall.

This time, there were three inductees (listed in order of introduction):

  • Joel Feltman, 1974
  • Phil Lebowitz, 1974
  • Mike Maimone, 1981

(In full disclosure, I once again served on the Hall of Fame Committee.)

I was under no stress coming into Saturday’s ceremony. I owe that to a lack of weekly radio shows to record in advance and my hiatus from Twitch streaming (I return this Sunday).

WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti contacted me three weeks beforehand to confirm if I would be shooting photos and video. For the first time since 2019, I would handle all of that, not supplementing the station’s video as for the 2020-21 and ’22 ceremonies. The only video I needed was of Phil Lebowitz’s prerecorded acceptance speech. (Joel Feltman and Mike Maimone would be present.)

I have three cameras capable of shooting 4K video at 60 FPS (frames per second): a Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorder, a GoPro HERO7 (with YOLOtek Juicebank for extra battery life), and a Canon EOS R7. The R7 replaced my Nikon D5500 as my exclusive photo camera. Needing the R7 for video meant going back to the D5500 for the first time since after Homecoming Weekend in 2022. (Click here to read about my early days with the R7.) For audio to sync with the video, I would use a TASCAM DR-05X audio recorder connected to the podium mixer via 3.5mm cable.

On the afternoon of Friday, May 31, students and alumni, myself included, were shocked by the news that Long Island University had dismissed Pete Bellotti as WCWP station manager. Fears were allayed by evening when Dan Cox, who otherwise would M.C. Saturday’s ceremony, came out of retirement to return as station manager.

Dan briefly addressed the situation in his opening remarks:

For those of you who may not know me, my name is Dan Cox, and I am the Director of Broadcasting at WCWP Radio. Unfortunately, that appointment came less than 24 hours ago. (applause) Unfortunately, the university parted ways with Pete [Bellotti]. Pete was one of my students. He is a good friend, and I wish him well. I think he did an outstanding job during a very difficult time over the last two years, with the renovation and everything that was happening. So, I won’t belabor that point. But I will say, for those of you in the room who probably stretch back as far as the 1960s through the 2000s, there’s never a dull moment at WCWP, is there? So, let’s not make this a dull moment by me talking too much. What I’d like to do right now is to bring up my good friend Jeff Kroll, who’s gonna induct our first inductee [Joel Feltman].

I’m choosing to save the journal portion (i.e. when I arrived, further technical details) for the end of this post before video of the ceremony and renovated station tour.

As Dan said, 2015 inductee Jeff Kroll presented Joel Feltman for induction:

Joel’s acceptance speech, with Jeff present to his right (out of view), dovetailed somewhat into discussion of the next inductee.

But first, Joel and Jeff posed for a photo:

The second inductee, also presented by Jeff Kroll, was Phil Lebowitz, Joel Feltman’s fellow 1974 alumnus.

Phil could not make the ceremony, but he did record an acceptance speech from his home in Surprise, Arizona.

After the video was shown, Jeff Kroll showed off his WCWP press card and shared how Phil’s “gift of gab” allowed the two of them access to a Philadelphia 76ers home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. (They were in Philly to cover a C.W. Post Pioneers football road game against Drexel University.)

Jeff then posed with Phil’s plaque:

Before the third inductee, Dan Cox acknowledged the informal ribbon cutting earlier in the week for the renovated Abrams Communications Center, attended by Marjorie Abrams Hyman and fellow descendants of Benjamin Abrams.

Then, Dan introduced Tim Ernandes to present Mike Maimone.

Tim was a laugh riot, chock full of impressions and stories of from his and Mike’s days working on WCWP comedy series Post Serial, a pun on the university’s Post Cereal roots.

Tim stayed at the podium for repartee during Mike’s acceptance speech.

A photo with the plaque:

After closing remarks from Dan Cox, the 2023 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony was complete. There was a bit of business to tend to before we all made the trek to the Abrams Communications Center.

First, a photo of inductees Joel Feltman and Mike Maimone with presenters Jeff Kroll and Tim Ernandes:

Joel alone with his plaque
Mike alone with his plaque
2023 inductee Joel Feltman flanked by the Krolls, Jeff (2015 inductee) and Pat (2018 inductee)
Tim Ernandes, Dan Reagan, Mike Maimone

It was Dan who said in his 2022 induction speech (in ’23) that Mike deserved a spot in the Hall of Fame, and he rightfully earned that spot this year.

A candid shot before departing:

Joel Feltman and his wife Michelle offered to drive me down to the Abrams Communications Center. Cars were the only feasible option since Hillwood Commons was itself closed for renovations. If I were to walk from Alumni Hall, I’d have to go around Hillwood.

We parked in the lot, I took out my equipment, and put it all down in the lobby. I shot continuous video (except for a part I couldn’t record) and a dozen photos inside and out. You’ll see the video later, but here are the photos:

Andrew Scarpaci and Tim Ernandes
Mics in studio 3
Studio 3 console and phone

The highlight of the tour was an impromptu speech from (and discussion with) station manager Dan Cox in studio 3:

I took a selfie when not video recording so I could extract the GPS coordinates for use in the D5500 photos. The R7 geotags photos automatically if paired with the CameraConnect app. I got the GPS for Alumni Hall from last year’s photos, but needed coordinates for the station.

Before I left for home, Dan took a photo of me with Mike Maimone.

Two Hall of Fame Mikes

Now, the journal portion:

My dad Bill dropped me off at Alumni Hall at around 12:30, if not 12:40. (Surprisingly, I don’t remember the exact time.) Last Sunday, I bought an Amazon Basics 60″ tripod for use with the R7 in addition to the tripods I already had for the GoPro and HC-X1500. As you’ll see in the video at the end of this post, I had to tweak the R7’s color balance, along with brightness and contrast. The HC-X1500 video quality is untouched. The GoPro footage didn’t make the final video as the best shots came from the other two sources. Working from my knowledge of Twitch overlays, I made special overlays for the video:

The main work was done in Photoshop. Then, I copied and pasted into blank transparent background files in Photoshop Elements and cropped out most of the black. What looks white here is really transparent. Watch the video to see what I did.

The R7 video experiment yielded mixed results. I got a lot to work with, but I had to stop recording 55 minutes in to change batteries. After eight minutes on the new battery, the camera stopped recording due to overheating. Once it cooled down, I resumed, only for the SD card in slot 1 to reach capacity. I had to manually change to slot 2 for the last six minutes. Clearly, another camcorder is the only way to go in the future. From Saturday afternoon through Tuesday night, I considered my options: another Panasonic HC-X1500 without VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II attached or, staying in the Canon family, the Canon VIXIA HF G70. It’s cheaper than the HC-X1500, but goes no higher than 30 FPS in 4K. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make, springing for an open box eBay listing on Tuesday night. So, if secondary camera cutaways look cinematic at future events (i.e. Homecoming Weekend), you’ll know why. (6/14 UPDATE: I was dissatisfied with the G70 and am selling it. I’ll just get another HC-X1500 after it sells.)

One last thing: the podium audio was blown out, and I did my best to fix that in Adobe Audition, along with using the click/pop eliminator where necessary.

So, then, here is the finished ceremony/station tour video. Enjoy.

Congratulations to Joel Feltman, Phil Lebowitz, and Mike Maimone. We reconvene in 2025 to induct the 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame class.

Special thanks to 2014 inductee Ted David for curating the photos and for advice on further edits.