2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: conclusion and pickups September 1, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Aviation, Baseball, Books, Education, Football, Game Shows, Golf, History, Hockey, Internet, Japanese, Language, Media, Personal, Photography, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.add a comment
If you haven’t seen them yet, read the first post here and second post here.
Sunday, August 13
After my last Long Island Retro Gaming Expo panel of the weekend, I made my way to the vendor marketplace and searched for games I didn’t have that were $20 or less. I bargained with each vendor, only spending close to $200. That’s the least I’ve spent since my first year (2017). The bulk of my purchases were for the Nintendo Entertainment System, my first video game console.
Satisfied, I exited the Cradle of Aviation Museum and waited for my mom to pick me up.
Exiting 
The opposite view from the establishing shot in post 1 
Cumulus clouds against the clear blue, sunny sky 
The American flag (I captioned the other two, so why not this?) 
My bag of combined pickups, led by the infamous Deadly Towers; I finally got it
Monday, August 14 and beyond
My attempt to make up for Saturday night’s severe storm-shortened sleep was unsuccessful. I woke up early Monday morning after five or six hours of sleep. Then, I went outside to look at the stars.
Back inside, as the sun rose, I unpacked the pickups from my paper bag and photographed them.
We’ll start with merchandise (and my badges):
- Pat Contri: CU Podcast pin, Pixelated Pat pin
- John Riggs: Ghostbusters Special Edition ROM hack
- Leonard Herman: ABC to the VCS: A Director of Software for the Atari 2600, Bill Kunkel‘s Confessions of the Game Doctor
- Mark W. Baer (gifted from him): copies of his father Ralph H. Baer‘s patent and of the Magnavox Odyssey licensing agreement between Magnavox, Atari and Sanders Associates
The front of the badges:
12 games for Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Athletic World (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine
- Dance Aerobics (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Deadly Towers
- Demon Sword
- Ms. Pac-Man (licensed release by Namco)
- Roger Clemens’ MVP Baseball
- Short Order/Eggsplode! (for Family Fun Fitness Pad/Power Pad)
- Star Voyager
- Strider
- Xenophobe
- Yoshi
Now, I have an NES Yoshi to go with the Game Boy version I’ve had since childhood. The Power Pad games and Star Voyager were the subjects of early Pat the NES Punk episodes (including one with Alison).
“Power Pad Fun!”, Part 1:
Part 2:
Deadly Towers got the Angry Video Game Nerd treatment (via fans’ script submissions):
Two for Super Nintendo:
The TV ads at launch tempted me into getting SimCity, but I never did. I haven’t even seen Judge Dredd the film.
Two Nintendo 64 games:
Another game show game for my collection – Jeopardy! for Nintendo DS:
One self-explanatory 3DS title – Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS:
Wrongly assuming the 3DS and Wii U Super Smash Bros. games were the same, I only bought for Wii U when I started collecting for the two consoles in 2017 (there’s that year again). Prior to LI Retro, I saw a Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Video Games video that set me straight (Japanese with English subtitles):
Good thing I found a copy from a vendor, eliminating the need to buy from Amazon.
And lastly, my first Sega CD game – Joe Montana’s NFL Football:
To quote the infamous TV ad (parodied here), I “still don’t have a Sega CD,” but after buying my first game Sunday afternoon, I bought 12 more games on eBay between Monday morning and Wednesday night. This included eight from four-game lots, and two Sonic CD variants. The complete list (in order of appearance):
- Lot 1: Ground Zero: Texas, Links: The Challenge of Golf, NFL’s Greatest: San Francisco vs. Dallas 1978-1993, Prize Fighter
- NHL ’94
- Sonic CD (not for resale pack-in)
- Lot 2: Ecco: The Tides of Time, Jeopardy!, NBA Jam, Tomcat Alley
- Mad Dog McCree
- Stellar-Fire
- Sonic CD (retail)
All the games on the shelf
Thank you for taking this photographic journey through the 2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. Until next year.
2023 Long Island Retro Gaming expo recap: touring the expo September 1, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Aviation, Computer, Education, History, Personal, Photography, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
If you haven’t viewed the first recap post yet, click here. Skip ahead to the third recap here.
Now that you’ve seen the panels, why not tour the rest of this year’s Long Island Retro Gaming Expo at the Cradle of Aviation Museum?
Before we do that, while editing on the Monday after (August 14), I noticed a familiar face in the bottom right of this Saturday (August 12) photo in the vendor marketplace:
What?! Clint Basinger (LGR) was there?! According to his Twitter activity, yes.
I was kicking myself for not knowing he’d be there, but John Riggs and LI Retro staff member Ryan Shapiro told me on Facebook that Clint was there as a paid attendee, not a guest. In their words:
He visited the show but did not host a panel. I was very excited to see him there.
Ryan Shapiro
I didn’t know he was gonna be there, either. There were quite a few YouTube people that weren’t on the list but showed up to hang out. Tells you how awesome the show is.
John Riggs
Hear hear, John. While I missed Clint in the moment, I did notice Justin Silverman walking along a separate row of vendors. I’d have said hello if we crossed paths.
Here is the latest LGR video:
The walking photo tour begins in earnest with a “good retro morning” greeting:
Most photos were taken on Saturday, but a small amount are from Sunday (August 13). (You’ll know by the filename.)
Vendor Marketplace:
The rest of the first floor:
Second floor:
The third floor was Tetris-themed:
I’ve been a fan of Tetris ever since playing the Game Boy version as a kid. I have that and 21 other variations of Tetris in my collection. This includes Tetris & Dr. Mario and Puyo Puyo Tetris. I also have the three ports of Tetris 2. The sequel gets a bad rap, but I enjoy it.
Anyway, that’s the end of the photo tour. Click here for my third recap post with a conclusion and pickups photos.
2023 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap: introduction, guests, panels September 1, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games.add a comment
Feel free to skip ahead to the second post (touring the expo) or third post (conclusion and pickups).
Introduction
The weekend of August 12 and 13 marked my fifth year at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, situated along Museum Row in East Garden City. This is LI Retro’s second year as a three-day event, running from 4PM Friday through 5PM Sunday. Again, I opted to skip Friday and just go Saturday and Sunday. I had to last year since I used my ticket for the postponed 2020 expo, but I saved money this year by purchasing a three-day ticket. I would have gone Friday if I lived within walking distance or had a car of my own.
When LI Retro’s schedule was published a few weeks before the event, I planned my days around panels, three per day. I also hoped to catch musical performances, but time would not allow that. I did not allow myself to buy games from vendors until after the last panel on Sunday.
I brought my Canon EOS R7 (and compatible speedlite, which didn’t cooperate) along with a TASCAM DR-05 audio recorder. While panels would be posted online, I wanted personal recordings to hold me over in the meantime. As of this writing, I have yet to listen, let alone edit out the beginnings and ends.
I hoped not to go overboard with photography, which means I did. A whopping 831 photos (466 Saturday, 366 Sunday) were taken with the R7 at LI Retro, plus four on my iPhone 13 Pro. I spent a week and a half editing them all, spreading out 563 of them in three blog posts. (I couldn’t possibly cram them all in one.)
This first post contains the introduction you’re reading now, photos with guests, photos from the six panels I saw, and relevant links and media embeds.
We start with an establishing exterior shot taken Sunday morning:
Guest table photos
It was fun catching up with guests and staff that I’ve seen before, and meeting new guests for the first time.
Leonard Herman (right) and Mark W. Baer (left), middle child of videogame pioneer Ralph H. Baer:
Mark gifted me with copies of his father Ralph’s patent and of the Magnavox Odyssey licensing agreement between Magnavox, Atari and Sanders Associates. From Leonard, I bought his book ABC to the VCS: A Director of Software for the Atari 2600 and Bill Kunkel‘s Confessions of the Game Doctor. Each book was published by Leonard’s Rolenta Press company.
Leonard and Mark with Patrick Wong:
Me and Jeff:
LI Retro staff member Ryan Shapiro posed with Mark Baer prior to Sunday’s panel:
Me and John Riggs:
I bought another Genesis ROM hack cartridge from John’s table this year, but not one he made.
Pat Contri (a.k.a. Pat the NES Punk) and Ian Ferguson:
I congratulated Pat for 15 years on YouTube, and he and Ian on a decade of the CU Podcast. We talked about cameras, the upcoming N64 entry in Pat’s Ultimate Nintendo book series, and my merch purchases. (I also apologized for how my podcast panel question trailed off at the end. [SPOILER])
Sunday morning, Pat was interviewed by Margaret Sykes of WRHU, radio station for nearby Hofstra University:
She then spoke to Leonard and Mark:
Adam’s table had prototype consoles and a signed copy of Shenmue II:
Frank Cifaldi spoke to Lenny and Mark before his panel, my first of the weekend:
John Riggs talking to attendees:
John’s LI Retro vlog:
Travis McGeehan (TIKevin83) and the TASBot:
On to panel photos and relevant links, including video and/or audio.
Saturday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM:
Frank Cifaldi
Adventures in Saving Video Game History
After the panel, I ended up part of a conversation with Frank and fellow archivist Jason Scott. (I had no idea I was in the presence of greatness until a Google search Sunday morning.)
A selfie with Jason (sans top hat) and Frank:
Saturday Panel 2, 2PM-3PM
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
CU Podcast Special 2
Podcast audio out of the way, including my question:
The not-rare Black Tiger cabinet (in reference to this):
And the podcast videos:
While waiting to ask a question, I noticed my friend Daniel Greenberg of Winterion Game Studios in the audience with his wife Alex. I whispered hello and we spoke more after the panel. It turns out Daniel and Alex had visited LIU Post earlier in the day. As you’ll see in the photo Alex took, I was wearing a Post polo on Saturday:
Saturday Panel 3, 3:30-4:30 PM:
G Gracin
Growing Up Genesis with G to the Next Level (streamed live on Twitch)
Watch the Twitch stream VOD here.
G and me:
I tried to go to sleep early Saturday night, but I was wired from the long and exciting day I had. I figure I got four hours of sleep before being jolted awake by a severe thunderstorm just before 3AM. The peak came at 3:13 with two close (and loud) lightning strikes. Thankfully, conditions mellowed after that, though sleep was impossible. I got some editing done and prepped for a return to Cradle of Aviation at 10AM. Somehow, Lenny, Mark, Patrick, Pat, and my parents all slept through the storm.
Sunday morning was when Margaret Sykes conducted her interviews, and where I spoke to her about WRHU general manager John Mullen’s recent induction to the WCWP Hall of Fame.
Sunday Panel 1, 11AM-12PM:
Adam Koralik, Evil Rob Thanos, Sunshine (from Adam’s Discord)
Talking Console Prototypes: Sega Pluto (and hard drives), Atari Jaguar “Hot Rod” Dental Unit, Sony PlayStation Debugging Station, Nintendo GameCube NR Reader
Relevant videos:
Finally, panel photos:
While working on this post, I joined Adam’s aforementioned Discord. I was welcomed with open arms and given the nickname Mike Camera. I like it!
It’s where I found Squishchin’s LI Retro vlog:
10/11 UPDATE: Watch Adam’s travelogue on his second channel, Flying & Eating with Adam Koralik:
Sunday Panel 2, 12:30 PM-1:30 PM:
Frank Cifaldi and Rachel Simone Weil
Unraveling Nintendo’s Most Elusive Lost Hardware: The Nintendo Knitting Machine
Sunday Panel 3, 2PM-3PM:
Leonard Herman and Mark W. Baer
The Life, Time and Influence of Ralph H. Baer, The Father of Videogames
As noted in last year’s recap, Lenny grew to be like a surrogate son to Ralph. You can see the brotherly love between Lenny and Mark in many of the photos below.
This concludes post one. Click here for post two or here for post three.
WCWP donation and renovation announcement August 23, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Education, Media, Photography, Radio, Video.add a comment
June’s 2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony ended with a big announcement by master of ceremonies Dan Cox, WCWP station manager from 2002 to 2022.
Marjorie Abrams Hyman, daughter of Emerson founder Benjamin Abrams, graciously donated $500,000 to WCWP! The donation will go toward new equipment and a complete renovation of the Abrams Communications Center.
Dan will oversee the renovation, which began this Sunday, August 20. This meant the June 3 ceremony announcement was unofficial; for attendees’ ears only. We were not allowed to divulge publicly until the official release. Now, we can.
So, here are the photos I couldn’t include in my ceremony recap:
“To the tribe! I love you all!” 
Video of Dan Cox’s closing remarks:
There is no more uncertainty. WCWP is here to stay for at least another decade. Thank goodness. Thank Marjorie Abrams Hyman. Thank Joan Yonke. Thank LIU (Long Island University) and LIU Post.
Instrumental Invasion, 6/21/23 June 22, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, City Pop, Computer, Education, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology, TV.add a comment
The June 21 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was still another one-day recording, done entirely on April 24. I’m not bothering with streak stats anymore. It’s a regular thing now. Pickups were recorded April 26 and 27, with extensive rerecording on May 3.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way first:
The playlist was created alongside next week’s on April 15 and 16, with a tweak on the 22nd to add a Louis Hayes song. Annotations were written between April 21 and 23, followed by the talk break script draft. I hoped to get next week’s show recorded before Smooth Jazz for Scholars, but that didn’t pan out. The playlist and annotations were reworked to coincide with May 3’s rerecording.
I played two songs by The Square/T-Square and Casiopea in order to get through their catalog faster. For a time, I was obsessed with the piano solo at the end of “Night Dreamer.” The credits for “Midnight Dreamer” on Miss You in New York list one of the trumpeters as Allen Rubens, but spotty Discogs credits for that name led me to believe it was Alan Rubin. (Alan’s “Mr. Fabulous” moniker came from The Blues Brothers band and film.)
There were four retreads (down from five before swapping in Louis Hayes):
- “Sweet Revival” by The Crusaders (5/13/20) (with gargly MP3 audio)
- “Down & Loaded” by Bill Heller (6/10/20)
- “Lifecycle” by Nathan East (7/8/20)
- “Monster in the Attic” by David Benoit (8/5/20)
I’ve gotten more playful and goofy in my talk breaks in recent shows, either by going off script or working that shtick into the script. For example, “…East and West play bass the best…but it’s subjective.” Also, I didn’t think there’d be so much spelling.
There was a whole talk break centered around something related to anime because of the original David Benoit song I had in mind, “Yusuke the Ghost.” The May 3 rerecords removed all references (including later callbacks) and changed David’s song to “Monster in the Attic.” The morals of the story are don’t do fandubs if you want to work professionally in voice-over, and don’t blab on your radio show and blog about every little thing a creator you support does or has done.
As if all that weren’t enough, this show aired on the day I tested positive for COVID-19. It finally got me after three years and three months in the U.S. This adds to my production delays that began with the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony and continued with my mom’s retirement party last Friday and replacing my computer desk and hutch on Saturday. (Thanks to my uncle Scott for assembling the new one.) The advance buffer is down to four shows. After next week, what I’ve recorded so far (through July 19) has been reworked as evergreens without dated references. This will allow them to air as reruns if I need a hiatus. Beyond that, I’ve made playlists for four shows (including show 175), annotated and scripted one (as an evergreen), and partially annotated two others. Depending on how I feel, those will be the last shows until September or October.
Thank you for your continued support. I’ll close with before and after* photos:
*The true after photo won’t come until my dual monitor setup is complete. As of today, I am waiting for a replacement monitor (dead pixels) and its mate that I bought separately to replace the old one (seen alone in before, on the left in after). That monitor got scuffed when the tripod/webcam fell on it. At the time, I was vacuuming off sawdust from a hole my uncle drilled for the speaker’s power cord.
9:15 AM UPDATE: This is another one of those shows where I went the entire time between recording and airing without noticing a mistake: omitting Masato Honda on alto sax for “Midnight Dreamer” by T-Square and Friends. I also made a research mistake for “Over Nine Waves” by Alison Brown. Compass Records is her and Garry West’s own record label and Compass Sound Studio is their studio.
6/27 UPDATE: My dual monitor setup is complete. The replacement and mate arrived today and neither had dead pixels on their screens.
2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony June 12, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Baseball, Basketball, Education, Football, Health, History, Hockey, Internet, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2023
On Saturday, June 3, 2023, the WCWP Hall of Fame 2022 class was inducted in a ceremony at LIU Post‘s Alumni Hall.
As noted during the announcement in October, there were eight inductees (listed by name and graduation year):
- Jon Cole, 1980
- Kim Dillon, 1980
- Cosmo Leone, 1980
- Dan Reagan (“reegan”), 1981
- Suzanne Langwell, 1983
- Roger Luce (Lussier), 1984
- John Mullen, 1988
- Travis Demers, 2003
(In full disclosure, I was on the 2022 Hall of Fame Committee.)
WCWP station manager (and 2019 inductee) Pete Bellotti tapped me as the ceremony’s official photographer, in addition to the supplemental video I shot with my camcorder and GoPro to later combine with what his students recorded.
(NOTE: In prior recaps, I used the title “director of broadcasting” in place of “station manager.”)
Despite my best efforts, the performance anxiety issue I had with Smooth Jazz for Scholars affected me again ahead of the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony. My essential tremor got progressively worse, reaching its peak when my dad dropped me off outside Alumni Hall at around 12:30. I’m feeling stressed again merely writing about it.
I put my equipment down on a table in the back and began snapping away while also talking to inductees and attendees.
2022 inductee John Mullen speaking to ’19 inductee/WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti and Maureen Tuthill, interim dean of Long Island University’s College of Arts and Design (Brooklyn and Post campuses) 
Cosmo Leone, Dan Reagan, and family 
2022 inductee Travis Demers with ’17 inductee Neil Marks 
2015 inductee Jeff Kroll speaks with ’22 inductee Kim Dillon and her first presenter, Ellyn Solis. 
2022 inductee Roger Luce with ’13 inductee Bill Mozer, Suzanne Langwell’s presenter
The ceremony was hosted by Dan Cox, WCWP’s station manager from 2002 to ’22:
Current station manager Pete Bellotti had opening remarks:
John Mullen was the first inductee, presented by Dan Cox:
John’s acceptance speech:
Rich Kahn presented the second 2022 inductee, Jon Cole:
Jon’s acceptance speech:
Inductee 3 was Cosmo Leone, presented by Larry Lamendola:
Cosmo’s acceptance speech:
Kim Dillon had three presenters, led by Ellyn Solis:
Next, 2019 inductee Lew Scharfberg:
Third, Cande Roth:
Kim and her three presenters:
Kim’s acceptance speech:
At the halfway point, the Art Beltrone Founders Award was presented to graduating senior DeAnna Aguinaldo. After Pete Bellotti’s introduction…
…there were presentations by DeAnna’s WCWP colleagues: senior director Michael Moffa…:
…and Vincent Randazzo, student program director and vice president of The Wave (formerly WebRadio WCWP and MyWCWP):
DeAnna’s acceptance speech:
DeAnna with Pete, Michael and Vincent:
Before introducing Dan Reagan’s presenter, Dan Cox had kind words for his former student:
Like last year, the ceremony was streamed live on Zoom:
2019 inductee Fred Gaudelli presented Dan Reagan (“reegan”), the fifth ’22 inductee:
Dan began his acceptance speech by acknowledging Fred’s upcoming honor in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: the 2023 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
With eight inductees, WCWP’s 2022 Hall of Fame class matched the amount of players, coaches, and executives enshrined annually in Canton, Ohio.
This shot my camcorder viewinder became the new cover photo for my YouTube channel and LinkedIn page:
Dan thanked me at one point, which explains why he emailed me before the ceremony asking how to pronounce my last name.
He also talked about Post professor Chris Dodrill, who I remember fondly from my time as a student. I asked Dan for Professor Dodrill’s email address the following Monday. Chris replied to me the next day, noting that he watched the ceremony on Zoom, and congratulating me on my induction last year (2021 class). He gave his regards to my aunt Robin Rose, who was an academic counselor at then-C.W. Post, and the reason I went there in the first place. Dodrill is now a music researcher for the Library of Congress, to whom he generously donated his vast John Philip Sousa collection, answering questions from fellow Sousa enthusiasts.
It was 20 years ago in April when Fred Gaudelli and Dan Reagan spoke to a class taught by Prof. Dodrill, after which I posted for a photo with them:
2013 inductee Bill Mozer presented Suzanne Langwell, and tied up loose ends from his brief acceptance speech when the ceremony format was different.
Suzanne receiving her plaque from Bill:
Once I took the photo, Bill introduced me to the ceremony attendees as the station historian, a moniker he first bestowed upon me at the 2014 ceremony. Perfectionist that I am, I don’t know if the title fits since I don’t know everything about WCWP’s history, though I’m flattered to be called that.
Suzanne’s acceptance speech:
John “J.P.” Parise presented his radio co-host, inductee Roger Luce (Lussier):
Roger and J.P.:
Roger’s acceptance speech:
Roger spoke to broadcasting students at Humanities Hall in March 2002, and again, a photo was taken with me afterward:
The inductee presentations were bookended by Dan Cox, presenting the last of the afternoon, Travis Demers:
Travis’s acceptance speech:
The ceremony concluded with Dan’s closing remarks:
After the ceremony, we see seven of the eight inductees and the Art Beltrone Founders Award recipient:
DeAnna Aguinaldo and her parents:
Dan Reagan and Cosmo Leone:
Fred Gaudelli, Dan Reagan, Brian Miles, Mike Maimone:
A group photo with inductees, presenters, friends:
I was taking shots without asking them to look at me, but Bill Mozer directed them to me. 
Travis Demers with 2021 inductee Mike Chimeri (me):
Travis and his wife Hannah:
A selfie with Joan Yonke, LIU Post Director of Development, formerly Director of Employer and Alumni Engagement:
To paraphrase Bob Barker, Joan is a loyal friend and true of WCWP.
Mozer and me:
Bill was praised by several inductees and their presenters, and rightly so.
Me with Roger Luce (21 years after the first time) and Dan Cox:
Roger and his sister Christine:
Roger, Christine, and her husband Neil Sass, editor for ABC News’s Nightline:
Finally, candid shots:
Joan Yonke grew up in Atlanta and was pleased to meet Dan Reagan, longtime director of Braves telecasts. (Hannah Demers [right] is also a Georgia native.) 
Preliminary stress aside, it was a pleasure to capture the day, catch up with those I knew, and meet those I hadn’t.
Congratulations to Art Beltrone Founders Award recipient DeAnna Aguinaldo, and to the eight Hall of Fame inductees: John Mullen, Jon Cole, Cosmo Leone, Kim Dillon, Dan Reagan, Suzanne Langwell, Roger Lussier (the one time I didn’t use his on-air name), and Travis Demers.
As of publication, I am working on the ceremony video and will update with the video once it’s ready. Thank you for reading this recap.
7/9/23 UPDATE: The video has been ready for a few weeks, but an unofficial announcement made at the end has yet to go official. So, I uploaded a version without the announcement yesterday, and after hours of processing, it’s ready for publication.
Instrumental Invasion, 4/26/23 April 27, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Anime, Audio, City Pop, Education, History, Idol, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Language, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, VTuber.add a comment
The April 26 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP went on the air at the end of the station dinner for students and alumni. The dinner was held at The View Grill, located off Long Island Sound in Glen Cove. I listened to much of the first hour during a ride home from my parents. Mom took a photo of Dad’s infotainment system while tuned to 88.1 FM:
3:47 PM UPDATE: Here’s a photo I took with my camera:
I caught the rest at home.
I have a lot to say, so I’ll get the scoped aircheck out of the way here:
The show’s playlist was created on February 24, annotated on the 27th and 28th, scripted on the 28th and March 1.
For the first time since December 7, I recorded out of sequence. Segments 6, 1, and 3 were recorded on March 2, followed by segments 2, 4, and 5 on March 3. I wanted to get the last segment out of the way because of the mammoth talk break that expounded on my city pop discovery, including excerpts of “4:00 A.M.” by Taeko Onuki and of the Caitlin Myers English version. My hunch was right, but I only managed to go 69 seconds over, plus another three seconds in the first segment where I first discussed city pop vis-à-vis Casiopea. I had little trouble compensating, completely making up for the overage over the last four segments without remixing.
After recording a quick pickup for the second segment on March 4, I redid the entire last talk break on the 5th. Taeko noted in a 2017 interview that Stuff drummer Chris Parker played on Sunshower, her precursor to Mignonne. Eric Gale was in Stuff. Maybe it was him. I bought a 2008 CD reissue of Mignonne on Amazon, planning on scanning the presumably Japanese liner notes once it arrived on March 6 and translating the text in the scan. Hedging my bets, the full talk break record said the soloist was Eric. Then, I did an alternate tack-on where I said it wasn’t. I played part of the solo in each.
Served me right for not noticing Discogs’ entry for Mignonne‘s 1989 CD reissue with its English credits. Nope, not Eric. It was Tsunehide Matsuki. I canceled the Amazon CD order, cited the Discogs ’89 CD credit, tacked that onto the earlier redos, and called it a night. I did one more pickup for this redo on March 7 because I was unsure of whether or not Caitlin Myers had more city pop adaptations in the pipeline. I did a separate pickup for the first segment on the 7th, with the precise Japanese transliteration of Casiopea, and a pickup for the top of hour 2.
For posterity, here was the original last talk break with all my nervous energy:
The redo where it was Eric Gale (and the Caitlin YouTube channel plug):
The redo tack-on where it wasn’t Eric:
Read about my early city pop journey in this blog post.
I’ll still include the relevant city pop videos, starting with the original “4:00 A.M.” by Taeko Onuki (or Ohnuki):
As Lou Monte would say (in “Lazy Mary”), the “British” version by Caitlin Myers (from the U.S.):
And T2norway‘s video about Casiopea:
[Removed on 5/3]
April 15 portion joined in progress:
Caitlin’s anime dubbing background inspired me to sign up with CrunchyRoll and watch select anime series. I started with the second season of Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, featuring Caitlin as the introverted Shioriko Mifune, who slowly comes out of her shell as the season progresses. At first, I wondered “why the hell am I watching this?,” but by the third episode, I was hooked. So, now I can add idol/virtual idol to my diverse musical interests. (What I play on Instrumental Invasion remains my primary interest.) Incidentally, the English dub does not account for songs, meaning episodic numbers and the opening and closing themes are sung by the original seiyuu (Japanese voice actors).
On March 28, YouTube recommended a Ruri Ohama video, which led to a recommendation of a compilation video by JapanesePod101.com. After watching several of those compilations, I took the plunge by subscribing to the site itself and taking various courses. JapanesePod101.com is a division of the Franklin Square-based Innovative Language Learning. I always feel a sense of pride when I come across a Long Island-based company, past or present. Concurrently, I subscribed to Mochi real Japanese (Mochi Sensei) to learn Japanese from her videos. The teaching styles differ, but that’s okay.
[Removed on 5/3]
Back to what I wrote on March 3:
Ever since I watched Cronkite Remembers on DVD in the 2000s, I’ve had the introductory narration to Walter Cronkite‘s You Are There in my head. “We Were There” by Jazz Funk Soul always jogs my memory, but I never thought to play it on Instrumental Invasion until this show. The way I did the talk-up is how I’ve said the title to myself.
“Knee Deep in Rio” by Maynard Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau was the song I moved from last week after realizing I wrongly placed it in the 1985-97 segment.
Robben Ford‘s “Magic Sam” was originally played on October 19 before I knew of the eponymous blues musician. Back then, I assumed it was about a magician, and I said that he “disappeared” as Jay Mirabile’s liner played on the fade out.
Tomorrow, I travel to Milford, Connecticut, to attend and photograph Smooth Jazz for Scholars. Wish me luck.
6:11 PM UPDATE: [Removed on 5/3]
Instrumental Invasion, 8/31/22 September 1, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, Internet, Jazz, Media, Personal, Radio, Sports, Travel.2 comments
The August 31 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded over three days: two segments on July 2, three on the 3rd, and one on the 4th before intermittent daytime fireworks began. Pickups were recorded on the 4th and 5th.
The playlist was created on the morning of June 27 before the marathon recording session of the August 17 show and last week’s first segment. Annotations began on June 28, but were delayed until July 1. First, on the 28th, an opportunity arose to record the second hour of last week’s show. I was preoccupied with ripping and editing tracks from two Maynard Ferguson CD album bundles on the 29th. (The bundles contained releases between 1974 and ’79.) On the 30th, new Bluetooth reference monitors arrived and initially worked, but interference led to incessant stuttering. Plus, without a wired connection, I couldn’t record computer audio from “stereo mix.” Installing a virtual cable worked temporarily, but didn’t last. I exchanged the Bluetooth monitors for their cheaper wired equivalent, even though the ones I replaced also had wired connections. Then, I got a 6-foot male-to-male Y-splitter to run from the computer to the input jacks on the left monitor. The computer end is 1/8-inch TRS and the monitor end is dual 1/4-inch TS.
The talk break script was drafted on July 1 and 2.
I recorded the segments wildly out of sequence because I knew that the last talk break would be really long, though not three minutes long! Even by removing ancillary sentences and speed compression, the segment still ended up 57 seconds over! With that in mind, the remaining segments were recorded in order of what I presumed to be shortest. Most anecdotes and callbacks were scrapped from the script, but among those left in were the Penn State allusions: about returning from my sister’s graduation in 2005 and about the legendary 1994 season of Nittany Lions football. Their 2022 football season starts tonight (Thursday night) at Purdue!
As the playlist shows, the other segment recorded July 2 was the fifth segment, making up 13 seconds. On July 3, I worked on the third segment (adding back six seconds), fourth segment (making up 15 seconds), and second segment (making up 21). I was left with a net overage of 14 seconds, but I removed one further anecdote from the last talk break, and that allowed me to break even. All that remained was a tight 18 minutes on the 4th, which I accomplished. Hallelujah. Incidental to that first segment, Fred Wesley, the trombonist on “Theme from Good King Bad” by George Benson, was born on the Fourth of July!
For the third week in a row, I swapped out the second 2017-present segment, this time opting for a second 1985-95.
Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:
2022 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo recap August 21, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Education, History, Internet, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.Tags: Brett Weiss, CU podcast, ian ferguson, John Riggs, leonard herman, LI Retro, Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, pat contri, ralph baer, Video Games
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Part 1: Introduction
The Long Island Retro Gaming Expo‘s long-awaited return came on Friday, August 12, after a three-year COVID-caused absence. Yes, the expo was expanded to three days starting this year, running from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. The venue was the same as always: the Cradle of Aviation Museum, situated along Museum Row in East Garden City on the former site of Mitchel Air Force Base.
The purported 2020 edition of LI Retro was announced in February of that year. I immediately bought a weekend pass (still just two days). Little did anyone know that the faraway disease then referred to as the Coronavirus would reach the United States a few weeks later. As COVID-19 spread and a pandemic grew, venues shut down and events were either canceled or postponed. LI Retro’s postponement came that May. 2020 tickets would be honored in ’21. UPLINK, a virtual expo, was scheduled in its place on August 8 and 9. Of course, I attended and wrote a recap.
Even as vaccines were rolled out going into 2021, the organizers felt it was too soon to resume. Thus, they postponed again to ’22; and again, tickets for the postponed years would be honored. Another edition of UPLINK was held virtually in February. I attended, but was overwhelmed by the amount of transcribing and note-taking I’d have to do for the panels I planned on watching. So, I abandoned the recap in favor of continued radio show production.
Last December, LI Retro held its first annual one-day Festival of Games. I was in and out within two hours after a photographic walking tour (similar to the one you’ll see later in this post), arcade game sampling, and buying games from vendors. There was a recap for that.
As August drew closer, a third day of LI Retro was introduced. I considered attending, but opted to stick to the weekend.
With a week to go, I feared I’d compulsively take too many photos, a habit that’s gotten out of hand (i.e. Memorial Day boat ride, June 18 Mets game). I only took 353 photos at another Mets game on August 10, but sure enough, I went overboard at LI Retro. To that end, this is the first post with photo galleries.
The bulk of my photos were shot with my DSLR, but I took supplemental photos with my iPhone.
I arrived at the Cradle of Aviation Museum at 10:06 AM on Saturday:
Within 15 minutes, I was inside. I walked to the box office and handed my ticket to the attendant in exchange for a badge. “Finally,” I told her, “after 2 1/2 years, I get to use this [ticket].” She handed me my badge and my adventure began.
Part 2: Panels
My first panel – after meeting and greeting, and photographing the vendor rooms, was by Brett Weiss. “I Survived the Video Game Crash of 1983” began at 11AM in Panel Room 2. I joined it in progress, grabbing a front row seat, but oddly holding back on photos.
Brett talked about his experiences with arcade games and home video game consoles from the second generation into the third, and how the rise of home computers played a role in the 1983 crash.
During the Q&A session at the end, I relayed (but didn’t ask, so I apologized) my video game experience growing up. I was a home (and school) computer guy, fluent with Apple II, and my sister and I received an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in February 1990, as the third home video game console generation gave way to the fourth.
The book in the last photo is the one I bought from Brett afterward.
After snacking on a protein bar, I entered the Main Theatre for Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson’s 12:30 PM panel. I spoke to Pat and Ian during my meet and greet session two hours earlier, reminding them that I met them in 2019 and immersed myself in content from Pat’s YouTube channel after buying (at their merchandise table) the four DVD sets of Pat the NES Punk and the book Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library. I subsequently bought the SNES guide. I wrote reviews of each – NES, SNES. (And you can buy the DVDs and books here.) This year, I bought two stickers and a CU Podcast (Completely Unnecessary Podcast) t-shirt. It was the last large size they had. I said I’d probably get along swimmingly with Frank, Pat’s older friend from New Jersey who settled in San Diego before Pat and Ian made their respective moves there.
Pat and Ian’s panel was a live portion of their next episode of the CU Podcast. Before it started, and while I settled into my front row seat, the volunteer assigned to the theater asked them to “say something into the microphone” as a mic check. Ian jokingly parroted the request: “say something into the microphone.” I amusingly replied, “I knew you were gonna say that.”
Continuing from prior episodes, Pat and Ian criticzed Tommy Tallarico and his vaporware console that would have been (or could still be?) the Intellivision Amico. On display above them was the console’s leaked “fact book.” There will be audio and video, but first, the photos:
You can hear the panel-turned-podcast-episode here. My portion of the Q&A starts at 1:57:08, but I’ve clipped it here:
And this is a video excerpt from the panel – shot with the iPhone on the table – that was posted to Pat’s YouTube channel:
I was the voice at 16:44 saying that Sean Astin narrated a video game documentary. I was thinking of Video Games: The Movie, but a comment to the video said the fact sheet was referencing the later docuseries called Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story.
I liked Ian’s quaint pronunciation of wanton, “wonton” instead of “wantin’.”
Video of the Q&A portion:
My questions start at 18:26, “Tommy” starts at 25:13.
Theater guests had to exit on the third floor, so I bode my time by taking photos of the few console freeplay tables there. Then, I snapped pics for most of the second floor exhibits prior to the Axinn Air and Space Museum Hall entrance. I saved that for after the 2PM panel back in the theater.
In that 2PM panel, John Blue Riggs performed a live ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. for the NES, the first game I played in February 1990 via the Duck Hunt combo cart. With the right software, John imported tiles from whatever NES game ROMs the audience requested, and he altered the SMB code to altered the colors and text. Let the editing begin!
I spoke to John during the meet and greet, letting him know that like his son, I am on the autism spectrum, specifically with what used to be called Asperger Syndrome. While at his table, I bought a Sega Genesis ROM hack that put Scott Pilgrim from his titular video game in Streets of Rage 2. We posed for a photo, but when I got home, I was dismayed to find that my DSLR’s lens didn’t focus on us when his tablemate Dave took our photo. They graciously allowed a do-over with my iPhone Sunday morning.
Here is John’s aforementioned vlog of his LI Retro experience:
I’m in the vlog at 13:30, going through my DSLR camera roll before John’s panel. At 19:56, he and Dave ate at Friendly’s in nearby East Meadow. I ate there with my girlfriend Kelly during her visit in April.
After the panel, I photographed what I believed to be nearly every other nook and cranny of the freeplay and tournament areas. John saw much more than I did.
The last item on my Saturday agenda was to buy games from vendors. (See the end of part 4.)
The combination of excitement from earlier in the day and a loud block party somewhere south of my house kept me from relaxing and easing into sleep. I probably slept two to four hours, at best.
I arrived at day three of the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo at around 10:30 AM. I met Justin, Marshall, and Kieran from Cinemassacre/Screenwave Media (and bought Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie), got the second chance photo with Riggs, and hung out at Leonard Herman‘s table. I’ve known Lenny (to his friends and family) since meeting him at the 2018 LI Retro and then reviewing his video game history book, Phoenix IV. In 2019, I met his associate Jeff, and this year, I was honored to meet Patrick Wong and Mark W. Baer, the middle child of Dena and Ralph H. Baer, the inventor of videogames (one word). They’re all nice and friendly, and it was my pleasure buying Ralph’s book Videogames in the Beginning, and Kate Hannigan‘s biographical children’s book, Blips on a Screen. I will definitely read that to Leo F. Giblyn School students next March, another annual tradition of mine.
Lenny and Mark’s panel was at 11:30 AM in Panel Room 2. Again, I sat in the front row. Lenny grew to be like a surrogate son to Ralph, and the brotherly love between he and Mark was on display throughout the panel, especially in the first two pics.
I linked to it in the gallery, but here again is Ralph and Bill Harrison’s 1969 Brown Box demo:
Part 3: Meet and greet photos
Lenny Herman and Mark Baer:
Patrick Wong:
Jeff, in his Pac-Man suit:
Brett Weiss:
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson:
John Riggs:
The Cinemassacre/Screenwave Media crew, Justin and Marshall:
…and I met Kieran while browsing a vendor’s games:
You’ll see merchandise and games in the pickups portion of this recap.
Part 4: Touring the expo
Musical performance: 88bit (a.k.a. Rob Kovacs):
88bit was featured in John Riggs’s vlog.
The other performers were ConSoul, Retro & Chill, and Super Thrash Bros. (also in John’s vlog).
The line ahead of the cosplay contest, held Saturday at 3:30 PM in the Main Theatre:
High score challenges:
Just Dance 4 (to “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley):
Tournaments:
Game Boy Selfie Station with the Game Boy Camera and Printer:
Console freeplay:
Indie and homebrew games:
Arcade freeplay:
PC freeplay:
Before I left for home on Sunday, I tried out some console and arcade freeplay games, but not PC games. Maybe next year. The console games I played were Joust (Atari 7800), Sonic CD (Sega CD), Donkey Kong Country (Super Nintendo), and Virtua Tennis (Sega Dreamcast). The arcade games I attempted were Space Invaders, Arkanoid, NARC, VS. Hogan’s Alley, Ms. Pac-Man, and Mortal Kombat.
I even gave LJN Video Art a try. It was just as finicky as The Angry Video Game Nerd (James Rolfe) made it out to be.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a TV running the WeatherStar 4000 simulator, a tribute to The Weather Channel local forecasts/Local on the 8s in the 1990s (check TWC Classics for examples):
Vendor Room:
Vendor Room annex (“More Vendors”), also home to meet and greets (and the food court):
When I was finished taking photos on Saturday, I began making the rounds in the vendor room to pickup video games. I vowed not to spend more than $25 on a game, and with one exception, I honored my vow. I successfully haggled when necessary, paying $15 for $17 worth of games, $20 for $23 worth, and $30 for $33 worth. Otherwise, one vendor discounted $7 from my $132 total and another had a two for $10 deal if you bought two $6 games. The only game I bought priced above $25 was the Xbox port of The Simpsons: Hit & Run, which was $35. It was my last purchase before leaving on Saturday. My last two purchases on Sunday were Legacy of the Wizard and Rolling Thunder, both for NES.
I was satisfied with my pickups, which brings us to…
Part 5: Pickups
Saturday pickups:
Merchandise:
- Blips on a Screen by Kate Hannigan (writer) and Zachariah Ohora (illustrator)
- Videogames in the Beginning by Ralph H. Baer
- Streets of Rage 2: Scott Pilgrim (John Riggs Sega Genesis ROM hack)
- CU Podcast t-shirt (large)
- Pixel Pat sticker
- Ask Frank sticker
- The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987 by Brett Weiss
NES (Nintendo Entertainment System):
Super NES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System):
- Animaniacs
- Frank Thomas’ Big Hurt Baseball
- NCAA Basketball
- Super Caesars Palace
- Super R-Type
- Super Scope 6 (pack-in game for Super Scope light gun; someday, I’ll get that)
- MVP Baseball 2004
- NFL Blitz 20-03 (“twenty-oh-three”)
I’d wanted The Simpsons: Hit & Run ever since it was lauded in the Game Sack video on Simpsons games. (Click here to start at the relevant portion.) Epic Mickey was on my mind after seeing it on Friday in a 2017 Cygnus Destroyer video on his Top 10 Disney Games (link removed with channel in 2023). I didn’t think to check the condition of the discs before buying, and was disappointed to see their scuffed appearance on Saturday night. You’ll see below that Epic Mickey 2 was one of my Sunday pickups from a vendor that also had the original game. All discs at his booth were in pristine condition. I lamented my mistake from the day before, chalking it up to a lesson learned. This Nintendo link taught me a positive lesson on Sunday night: how to clean discs. Monday night, I took dampened part of a washcloth and wiped Epic Mickey from left to right, line by line, then did the same with a dry part of the washcloth. The game played flawlessly in my Wii U. Tuesday morning, I did the same to Hit & Run and had the same positive result in my Xbox 360. Hit & Run was more fun and intuitive to play than Epic Mickey.
Sunday pickups:
Merchandise:
I watched the AVGN movie in 2019 on Amazon Prime Video, but it was later delisted. Now, I own a Blu-ray copy. They can’t take that away from me.
NES:
Xbox:
Wii:
It may be a while before I get a Super Scope, but the Saturday after LI Retro, I bought a Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit U, and a Wii Fit U Fit Meter. Now, I can play all the Wii Fit games and track my steps.
Just as AVGN made Ikari Warriors infamous (outtakes), Wii Music’s bad reputation stems from the crazy demo at E3 2008. I almost bought still another infamous NES game, Deadly Towers, on the Saturday of the expo, but relented.
Part 6: Conclusion
All good things must come to an end, and my time at the 2022 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo ended at 2:05 PM on Sunday, August 14. I took two parting shots with my iPhone before riding home:
Thank you for making it to the end of my recap. I know there was a lot to process, and it was a labor of love to draft the post. Patience was required often as WordPress struggled to display the text I typed, presumably because of all the photos and captions.
Thank you to all the guests I met and reacquainted with, to the vendors I bought from, and my fellow attendees, like budding game designer Brandon.
Special thanks to the LI Retro organizers and volunteers, especially Ryan Shapiro. You were all friendly and highly accommodating. I greatly appreciate that.
Until next year, so long.
2020-21 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony June 17, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Rock, Technology, Travel, Video.2 comments
Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
Video of the ceremony can be found at the end of this post.
It’s been three years since the last ceremony, but last Saturday, the WCWP Hall of Fame finally added five new inductees to its ranks. Due to delays by the COVID-19 pandemic, there were two sets of inductees:
- 2020: Alan Seltzer and Christina Kay (announced at Homecoming in 2019)
- 2021: Joe Manfredi, Jay Mirabile and Mike Chimeri
Yes, it’s true! I’d been dreaming of getting into the Hall of Fame for years and I got the dream fulfilling call last April.
Earlier this year, outgoing director of broadcasting Dan Cox reached out to the five of us for a ceremony date that worked for us. That date was Saturday, June 11. The venue ended up being the former LIU Post campus bookstore, now known as the Alumni and Employer Engagement Building…or it was, and now it’s Alumni Hall.
I reached out to friends and family, hoping they could attend. No matter how many turned out, I’d be happy.
I wore a suit and shirt combo that I picked out on Thursday with a tie that my mother Lisa bought with colors similar to those of LIU.
I may have been one of the inductees, but I still took photos and video when it wasn’t my turn. So, after dressing up, I packed up my DSLR camera, battery pack with a spare battery attached, camcorder, GoPro, and tripods to connect to them and my iPhone, which I would have brought anyway.
Once my sister Lauren arrived at noon, she, our mom, and dad Bill all left for campus. I was worried we’d be late after traffic was diverted away from the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway entrance on Alken Avenue in North Wantagh, but once we entered via Hicksville Road, we made great time, parking next to the Alumni Hall (I’ve settled on that name) at 12:40 (hey, like WGBB!).
Not wanting to unpack my camera yet, I took establishing exterior shots with my phone:
The ceremony began at 1:22:
The first 2020 inductee was Alan Seltzer, currently host of The Grooveyard on WCWP. He was inducted by Scott Perschke:
After each acceptance speech, guests were invited to share any stories. 2013 inductee Bernie Bernard had one about Alan, which he elaborated on: the story of the 1978 Dome Auditorium collapse. 
2019 inductee Lew Scharfberg talked about the collapse at his induction, and he shared his perspective again this year.
The second 2020 inductee was Christina Kay, now of WALK 97.5. She was inducted by Dan Cox:
Dan admitted in his induction speech that he considers her a second daughter. 
Christina’s table 
Yes, the plaque has a typo. It will be replaced. 
The storytellers following Christina’s speech were Charlie Moerler… 
Chris Maffei… 
Bernie Bernard… 
David North, Christina’s colleague at WALK 97.5 when he was a news anchor and reporter there… 
…and Will Bruner. 
Before moving on to the 2021 inductees, Dan Cox awarded the inaugural Art Beltrone Founders Award to Dan Casazza:
New director of broadcasting (or station manager, if you will) and 2019 inductee Pete Bellotti inducted two of the three 2021 inductees. First, Joe Manfredi, the station manager of Old Westbury Web Radio (OWWR) (listen here), serving nearby SUNY Old Westbury:
Joe acknowledged me in his speech, asking me to name some of the musicians I interviewed (over the phone) on The Mike Chimeri Show. The interviews can be found here, warts and all (meaning I’m hesitant to listen). 
There was also an anecdote about Karen Fiorelli’s news report blunder. 
Stories were shared by Dan Cox… 
Alana Leider, currently host of The Rockin’ Sunday Show on WCWP… 
Sandra Cerrone, a.k.a. DJ Sandra Dee, one of Joe’s Old Westbury Web Radio alumni… 
I love this camcorder vidcap. It’s like a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast cutaway. 6/18 UPDATE: While editing the video that I will add once complete, I noticed that this was really in reaction to a remark by… 
Joelle Desrosiers, another OWWR alumna… 
Joe Conte with an anecdote on unwittingly playing unedited songs… 
…and Mike Kinane, Joe’s OWWR colleague, and vice president of communications at SUNY Old Westbury. 
Dan reintroduced Pete to induct Jay Mirabile, longtime host of The Disco and Funk King Show (DFK for short):
Jay and his father Len 
Jay went beyond acknowledging me, inviting me to the podium to recall funny moments in early episodes of The Mike Chimeri Show. In those early days, Jay was my lead-in, and sometimes, I would acknowledge the last song of the show at the start of mine. The anecdote he relayed was how I quipped “wouldn’t you know it, they stopped” because his last song was “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead. 
I thought he was going to mention the one where – channeling Jay Sherman’s boss Duke Phillips on The Critic – I began my show with “Jay, son, you’re a tough act to follow.” 
Upon leaving the podium, as I waved in thanks, Jay noted what great friends we are. 
This was my genuine reaction to the compliment. 
Story time. First, Christina Kay… 
Then, Charlie Moerler… 
Alana Leider… 
…and Joe Conte. 
Finally, it was my turn. I originally planned on my cousin Chris – C.W. Post Class of 2008 – inducting me, but he came down with COVID earlier in the week. His induction speech was partially complete and he offered to finish it and have Dan Cox read it on his behalf, but I declined and had Dan give his own speech:
LONG STORY: This is the first of the iPhone vidcaps. I foolishly recorded the entire ceremony from my table’s perspective when I’d have been better off recording my portion. Attempts to truncate the video and transfer to my computer via iCloud failed, even after upgrading to 50 GB of storage for 99 cents a month. The original mammoth video was still in the system and would need to be transferred with the edited version. This contributed to my insomnia Saturday night. Finally, late Sunday morning, I thought to download to my computer by connecting the phone to it with Dell Mobile Connect. It worked, but there was another hurdle. The raw MOV file wasn’t accepted by Adobe Premiere Elements 2020. Luckily, Wondershare Filmora accepted it and allowed me to convert it to an MP4, BUT I’d have to buy a subscription. $54 a year later, the video was converted, I loaded it into Premiere Elements, and extracted vidcaps. The absolute last hurdle involved correcting the wide-angle distortion in Photoshop Elements, and here we are. Anyway… 
In the center is Joan Yonke, LIU Post’s director of development, previously campus director of employer and alumni engagement. It was so great to see her there. I just wish I had thought to add her to my thank list. (More on that shortly.) 
Early in Dan’s induction, I asked my dad Bill to take photos with my camera. 
It’s time, as my table cheers me on! Besides Joan Yonke, going from left to right, there’s cousin Lisa Cassidy, my aunt Donna Dantes Chimeri (Chris’s mother), my mom Lisa’s friend Mandy Muldowney, Mom, Dad, Lori Downing, and Wendy Connelly. Mandy was the principal of Leo F. Giblyn School where Mom is a teaching assistant, and Wendy and Lori are (Lori retired in 2020) reading teachers at Giblyn. Interestingly, Aunt Donna (Post Class of 1998) knew Joe Manfredi’s father, also named Joe, but the elder Joe pronounced the last name “man-freedy” rather than “man-freddy.” 
Here I go! 
Mandy and Mom are taking photos and/or video. 
I made a two-page table in Microsoft Word of people to thank. I read from that with ad-libs here and there. 
My sister Lauren also shot video on her phone and shared vidcaps with me… 
Back to Dad’s photos with my camera… 
Joe Manfredi (the younger) kindly handled my camcorder during my speech. 
“… WCWP, the one place [my aunt Robin Rose Brinegar, then-academic counselor at C.W. Post] didn’t know anyone, has had the biggest, the biggest impact on my life.” 
“… I will never forget WCWP. Thank you so much.” 
I put the thank list back in my shirt’s breast pocket and left the podium. 
Another wave… 
…and a handshake with Dad. The expression on my face is a nasty anxious habit. Seeing myself do that in my on-camera moments has me eager to overcome the habit. 
I asked, “Anyone got stories?” Jay Mirabile had one, or at least compliments. 
…as did 2015 inductee Bobby Guthenberg. 
One final round of applause from my table (and the elder Joe Manfredi)
Dan, with his time as director of broadcasting at an end, closed the ceremony with poignant, and pointed, remarks:
Speaking of WCWP’s uncertain future: “… Let’s not let college radio go away, because if it does, there’ll be one less safe space for our kids to be when they go to college. Thank you. Have a great day.” 
A standing ovation
With the ceremony complete, all that remained were the photo ops:
Mandy Muldowney, Donna Dantes (aunt), Lori Downing, Lisa Chimeri (mom), me, Lauren Chimeri (sister), Bill Chimeri (dad), Wendy Connelly, Lisa Cassidy 
Lauren had two photos taken with her phone… 
Joe Manfredi and his OWWR alumnae: Nikki Kallipozis, Arielle Mancebo, Sandra Cerrone, Joelle Desrosiers (Names added on 6/22 via this SUNY Old Westbury article) 
Me, Lori Downing, Bernie Bernard
During Bernie’s WBAB days, she spoke at Lori’s high school, vividly remembering that when Lori told her about it.
Scott Perschke and Alan Seltzer 
Me and Jay Mirabile 
Me, Alan, Jay 
Oop, rabbit ears! 
A candid shot 
Christina Kay and me 
Joe Conte, Karen Fiorelli, me, Joe Manfredi 
Joe, Christina, Jay, me 
Pete Bellotti and me 
This was supposed to be another one of me and Dan Cox, but I wanted to leave in Bernie, her sister Melissa, and Christina. 
The last photo before I left the building: Joe, Pete, Jay, me
As I left, Dan had everyone yell “goodbye” to me. I happily waved and walked out…except that I left my camera battery charger in an outlet. I realized my error halfway to Domenico’s of Levittown. I didn’t feel like going back to campus, so Pete returned it to me today. Still, I went ahead and bought new third-party batteries with a charger. The batteries I had were 6 1/2 years old, anyway.
Joining my family at Domenico’s were Wendy, Lori, and Aunt Donna. The lone photo I took there was of a toast:
Thank you to those that gave me congratulations cards and gifts:
Thus ends the recap. I am overwhelmed by all the support I received during and after the ceremony. Congratulations to Alan Seltzer, Christina Kay, Joe Manfredi, Jay Mirabile, and yours truly Mike Chimeri, the 2020 and ’21 classes of the WCWP Hall of Fame.
6/21 UPDATE: The video is now up. Chapters are included if you want to skip ahead or know what to expect. There is occasional coarse language and suggestive dialogue.
MikeChimeri.com 