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]
Audiobooking 8 March 24, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Audiobooks, Basketball, Comedy, Film, Game Shows, Golf, History, Media, Music, News, Personal, Podcast, Politics, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Theatre, TV, Video Games.add a comment
It’s time for the annual “audiobooking” post. Most are visible in the thumbnail, but here are all the audiobooks (with links) that I’ve listened to on Audible since post #7 last year:
- Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story by Roger Daltrey
- All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks
- The Kid Stays in the Picture by Robert Evans (1930-2019)
- Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (read by Robert Petkoff)
- I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story by Anthony Daniels with J.J. Abrams (foreword written and read by J.J., otherwise read by Anthony; “th” pronounced like a “t”)
- Out of the Corner: A Memoir by Jennifer Grey
- Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More; written by James Burrows with Eddy Friedfeld (foreword by Glen and Les Charles, read by Danny Campbell; otherwise read by Jimmy) – previously referenced on 9/14/22 Instrumental Invasion
- Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson (“cassahndra”)
- Priceless Memories by Bob Barker with Digby Diehl (read by Bob; credits read by Robert Petkoff!) – I already have this as a CD set, but I wanted the Audible treatment
- Cheech is Not My Real Name…But Don’t Call Me Chong! by Cheech Marin
- May You Live in Interesting Times: A Memoir by Laraine Newman – previously referenced on 12/7/22 Instrumental Invasion
- Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier by Alan Zweibel (foreword written and read by Billy Crystal, otherwise read by Alan)
- Hello, Molly! A Memoir by Molly Shannon with Sean Wilsey (read by Molly)
- I’m Still a 10-Year-Old Boy: Revised and Edited by Nancy Cartwright – includes audio clips, notably of voice over lessons with Daws Butler
- Wish It Lasted Forever: Life with the Larry Bird Celtics by Dan Shaughnessy – Dan did impressions of Bird and various players when reading their quotes. His Bill Walton impression inspired me to pick up…
- Back from the Dead: Searching for the Sound, Shining the Light, and Throwing It Down by Bill Walton
- Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (read by Robert Petkoff) – chronicles the lives and final days of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali
- Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio
- Where’s My Fortunate Cookie? My Psychic, Psurrealistic Pstory by The Firesign Theatre‘s Phil Proctor with Brad Schreiber (read by Phil) – includes clips from various Firesign recordings, updates exclusive to the audiobook via Phil’s podcast
- Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
- I Must Say: My Humble Life as a Comedy Legend by Martin Short – includes Marty as his many characters, rendition of his Christmas party song with Marc Shaiman
- A Life in Parts by Brian Cranston
- The Gospel According to Luke by Steve Lukather with Paul Rees (read by Luke with exclusive ad-libs)
- Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley
- I got halfway through an audiobook by a New Jersey-based musician and actor who was part of a long-running HBO drama. Then, the author launched into a long political dissertation. I returned my credit and moved on to…
- Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo by Reggie Fils-Aimé (“feese-ah-may”) – main audiobook is followed by off-the-cuff conversion with video game journalist Geoff Keighley
- I only lasted five minutes or so on an audiobook about the media until it became clear this would mostly contain interview excerpts from the author’s podcast. So, I returned that credit.
- Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes by Stephen A. Smith
- So Help Me Golf: Why We Love the Game by Rick Reilly – a collection of golf-themed essays
That’s a total of 27 audiobooks (two co-written by O’Reilly, one wholly by Reilly), plus two returns. Everything from I’m a Still a 10-Year-Old Boy through Face the Music was purchased in October while Audible steeply discounted their catalog. Since then, I only use Audible credits on audiobooks over $14.95, the monthly membership fee. Of course, if I buy three credits for $35.88, then I’ll buy anything over $11.96.
Next year’s “audiobooking” post will be the ninth overall, but the tenth anniversary. Until then, happy listening.
Instrumental Invasion, 3/22/23 March 23, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Football, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Sports, TV.add a comment
The March 22 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on January 30 (after completing last week’s show) and 31. Pickups were recorded on the 31st and February 1.
The playlist was created alongside last week’s on January 20, annotations followed on the 25th, and the talk break script was drafted on the 27th.
Key January 31 pickups were for the Gregg Karukas song I played. I didn’t realize my mistake until putting “Soul Secrets” into Adobe Audition and seeing its shorter duration. “Secret Smile” was the song I wanted, and it had radically different credits. So, I fixed the annotations and script. I also recycled Jeff Kroll’s “smile, Mike!” from the earlier liner. That liner led into “Behind the Rain” by Herb Alpert. This time, I didn’t even bother guessing who played what, but I challenge you to listen and not think of slow-motion NFL highlights narrated by John Facenda.
Another notable pickup padded out hour 2’s second segment, ad-libbing January 20 tidbits that I left in the annotations, but didn’t put back in the script.
This was only the fifth show in 155 without a song by David Benoit. Like the other four times, he will be back next week.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 3/8/23 March 9, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Comedy, Comics, Computer, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Technology, TV, VHS, Video, Video Games.add a comment
Since there’s much to discuss and many photos and videos, I’ll post the scoped aircheck up here (and below) instead of at the end:
The March 8 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded from January 14 to 16: the first hour on the 14th, the next two segments on the 15th, and the last on the 16th. Pickups were recorded that day and the next (January 17).
Due to a facility issue at the Abrams Communication Center, WCWP activity was not allowed the day this show aired. Station manager Pete Bellotti informed me the show would air at 7PM and 9PM since there couldn’t be a live edition of The Rock Show. The above scope is from the 7PM broadcast.
The playlist was created and mostly annotated on January 11. The rest of the annotations came on the 12th, followed by the talk break script draft that carried into the 13th. A timing error in the first segment meant I had to make up a 72-second surplus. I successfully made up that time without having to remix segments.
Five songs in this show have appeared in prior shows:
- “Feel Like Making Love” by Bob James (1/20/21)
- “Freda” by Nelson Rangell (9/9/20)
- “When We Dance” by Ken Navarro (4/22/20)
- “And Now This” by Paul Taylor (1/5/22)
- “Ride With Me” by JJ Sansaverino (8/24/22)
“Freda” was preceded by David Benoit‘s arrangement of “Frieda with the Naturally Curly Hair” from Here’s to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years! I had yet to see the special that gave David’s CD its name, but watched a few days after completing production. Here it is:
A chance viewing of a video that showed the differences between the original and subsequent airings of A Charlie Brown Christmas got the ball rolling on Peanuts documentaries and specials. The first video YouTube recommended was the documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown, not to be confused with the later film:
The second video chronologically was the third recommended to me: Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown.
The second special I watched was It’s Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown. (I originally omitted the “television” part, correcting the error in my January 17 pickup.)
The last special I watched on YouTube before working on this show was You Don’t Look 40, Charlie Brown. This special coincided with the unrelated CD Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown! David Benoit appears in a “Linus and Lucy” music video, concluding with his anniversary wishes to Good Ol’ Charlie Brown.
After Here’s to You, I watched the CBS News special Good Grief, Charlie Brown: A Tribute to Charles Schulz, hosted by Walter Cronkite:
And just this Sunday, the following ran on CBS Sunday Morning (4/12 UPDATE: CBS removed the YouTube version, so here it is via Facebook):
Lee Cowan’s report featured Schulz’s widow Jean and Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Stephan Pastis (first name pronounced like Stephen Curry).
As my Facebook friends and Instagram followers know, I obsessively archived Brian Simpson‘s Closer Still CD for posterity since it’s rare for anyone to find the real thing. (You can’t even find it on eBay!) I won’t share my WAV and MP3 rips from the CD since you can buy and stream the tracks digitally from places like Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. I will, however, share my camera photos and flatbed scans. Photos first:
Scans:
“Hidden Pleasures” (track 4) was the centerpiece of my three Brians segment (two Brians, one Bryan). The talk break that followed paid homage to two video game-centric content creators: Game Dave and Metal Jesus, with a reference to Frank Cifaldi and the Video Game History Foundation for good measure. Metal Jesus occasionally posts “hidden gems” videos, highlighting overlooked video games. Here’s a marathon of six episodes he did on Wii hidden gems:
Thank you for reading to the end of this post. I’ll return to the regular show recap format next week.
Instrumental Invasion, 1/18/23 January 19, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Biking, Film, Food, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Sports, TV, Video.add a comment
The January 18 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded from December 1 to 3, 2022: the first segment on the 1st, the next three on the 2nd, and last two on the 3rd along with remixing and pickups.
The playlist was created on November 27 with annotations on 29th and 30th. The talk break script was drafted November 30 and December 1.
This week, the extra 2017-present segment was swapped for an extra 1985-95 segment. The last four segments only had two talk breaks each. The first two of hour 2 were made up of three songs in a row (a triple shot).
“Off the Top” by Kim Scott was originally played last April 6.
Since I brought it up after playing Wes Montgomery’s cover of “Windy,” I would have liked to attend the Dancing with the Stars Live tour stop at the Tilles Center last Tuesday, but the show was sold out when I looked for tickets and they were only available marked up through resellers on Ticketmaster. Oh, well. By the way, my “everyone knows it’s Instrumental Invasion” line going into “Windy” referenced a lyric in the song.
I included “Automat” by Yellowjackets after having seen a documentary on the titular fast food restaurants popularized by Horn & Hardart.
Here is a composite of CBS Sports’ coverage of the 1988 Tour de France, complete with John Tesh‘s music:
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
1:50 PM UPDATE: This is another of those shows where I don’t notice mistakes or oversights until after the show airs. Bob Mintzer played tenor and soprano sax on “Automat.” The phrase trumpeter Igmar Thomas borrowed on “Blues Vagabond” by Lisa Hilton was from “Killer Joe,” which Quincy Jones covered on Walking in Space. The song was originally written and performed by Benny Golson for The Jazztet‘s Meet the Jazztet record. “Chicken Joe” was by pianist Joe McBride.
I also missed a community calendar spot I recorded on Monday that ran during the last break:
4:05 PM UPDATE: Oh, and this is the PAMS jingle I referenced going into “Wherever You Go” by Brian Simpson:
Instrumental Invasion, 1/4/23 January 4, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, DVD, History, Internet, Jazz, Laserdisc, Media, Music, New Age, New Year, Personal, Radio, TV, VHS, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
The January 4 edition of Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was the first show of 2023 and the second show in the last three to be recorded and mixed in one day. Fittingly, that one day was the 23rd of November, 2022, and thankfully, recording talk breaks wasn’t as physically taxing as the Christmas show.
The playlist was created on November 20, with annotations starting on the 21st and continuing into the 22nd, followed by the talk break script draft. As you can see, I went way over with the first segment and spent the rest of the show compensating. Ironically, I had to make that first segment even longer due to a surplus after principal recording.
“Just Like That” by Dan Siegel was first played on October 14, 2020, but I included it again as a prelude to Ken Navarro‘s “Just Like That.”
The video version of True North was on LaserDisc and VHS, then reissued on DVD in 1998. I bought a DVD copy for posterity, but haven’t watched it yet. “Whispers of Light” by James Reynolds was the latest in a long line of Weather Channel local forecast staples, as demonstrated here.
Not only did I play Mario Kart 64 back in the day, but I received the official soundtrack on CD for free through my Nintendo Power magazine subscription. I led off the January 25, 2002, edition of The Mike Chimeri Show with the game’s title screen cue, proclaiming I was back for another semester.
Norman Caruso, The Gaming Historian, chronicled the story of Super Mario Kart, the N64 game’s predecessor, in a video last month:
I ended the show with “Kukuc (koo-kooch) 2020″ the first track on drummer John Favicchia‘s new compilation CD Tangible. It coincided with the debut of a liner I had Fav record for the show. I neglected to tell him how to pronounce my last name, so I took the “sh” sound from Tom Schuman‘s liner and slowed down the “im” part. Here’s the end result:
And here are recaps of the last nine Dharma gigs I attended:
September 7, 2008 (preceded by Alan Bates)
Next week’s show recap will have photos from the first gig I attended on July 13, 2005.
For now, click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Bonus: the “Kukuc 2020” video:
Festival of Games 2022 recap December 16, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Aviation, Christmas, Game Shows, History, Internet, Media, Military, Personal, Photography, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Last year’s Festival of Games (the first)
Last Saturday, the second annual Festival of Games was held at the Cradle of Aviation Museum along Museum Row in East Garden City. The so-far one-day spinoff of Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (read about the 2022 LI Retro here) was my latest chance to walk and snap photos in as many sections as possible. Then, back to the vendor halls to add video games to my multi-console, multi-generation collection.
Thanks to my past recaps, I have made friends with the organizers, volunteers, and a week before this Festival of Games, the museum’s director of marketing and community relations, Jerelyn Zontini. I’m honored to know them and to promote special events like this.
I did not think to check the Festival of Games website for this year’s schedule, so I missed out on the panels in the main stage (planetarium) and classes in the classroom, but I saw everything else on offer, and was surprised to meet legendary collector, YouTuber, and streamer Pete Dorr at his vending table. More on that later.
To photograph the event, I brought my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX III-RT. When writing about my initial experience with the mirrorless camera, I did not lower the resolution on test photos. Considering the camera’s higher native max resolution (6984×4660) with the same 3:2 aspect ratio as my previous camera, it made sense while editing Saturday’s photos to increase my default blog post/social media resolution. Thus, going forward, photos will be no lower than 2000 pixels vertically, stepping up from my max horizontal resolution of 2600 pixels.
Again planning on a two-hour stay, my mother dropped me off at 12:43 PM:
Once inside (and having my bag searched), I presented my e-ticket printout to a box office attendant who stamped my left hand.
A promotional banner for Cradle-Con:
Each section I walked through at Festival of Games has a dedicated photo gallery. We start with the vendor hall gallery:
The board game section:
In all the years I’ve been inside the Cradle of Aviation Museum, I never observed its exhibits. I rectified that after passing the board games section.
MY ANSWER: Most of them, thanks to my proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The planes are either on final approach or just took off. I also see general aviation aircraft coming to or from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, which is even closer to my house.
Back to video games in the free play area:
Tournaments:
On to the second floor:
Of course, most of the arcade games were housed on the Air & Space hall sky walk:
I chose not to play any of the arcade games or free play console games. I just wanted to buy games, and where better to start than at Pete Dorr’s table? I didn’t introduce myself to him right away, but he approached me after a few minutes of rummaging. That’s when I complimented him on his work. I ended up buying five Sega Genesis games from Pete’s table, which he gave me a great discount on. Then, we posed for a photo:
An hour of vendor-hopping yielded 42 games in all, including seven imports! Four games were for the Family Computer (Famicom) and three were for the Super Famicom. Final Fantasy V was a timely get as GTV Japan posted a retrospective the day before (last Friday).
Satisfied, I proceeded to the parking lot for my mom to pick me up.
Back at home, I spent nearly two hours photographing my pickups, removing price stickers, and cataloging the games.
Now, photos of all pickups by console, starting with Family Computer (Famicom):
- F1 Race
- Pac-Land (the first home port of the game)
- Super Mario Bros.
- Tetris (variant after Nintendo acquired the rights; thanks to Leonard Herman for bringing that to my attention)
Super Famicom:
- Final Fantasy IV (localized for SNES [Super Nintendo] as Final Fantasy II)
- Final Fantasy V (never ported to SNES)
- Super Mario Kart (champagne!) – This was timely, too, with a Gaming Historian retrospective posted on December 2)
Nintendo Entertainment System:
- Captain Skyhawk
- Goal!
- Gotcha! The Sport! (shown before Goal!)
- Ninja Gaiden
- Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
- Nintendo World Cup – This and Goal! are still more timely gets as the 2022 FIFA World Cup was in the quarterfinal stage last Saturday. The final is this Sunday.
- Operation Wolf
- Ring King
- Skate or Die!
- Tiger-Heli
- Wizards & Warriors
- Xevious
Yes, I passed on Deadly Towers again.
- Best of the Best: Championship Karate
- Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Bubsy for short) (complete in box!)
- Cliffhanger
- George Foreman’s KO Boxing
- The Jungle Book
- NHL Stanley Cup
- Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally
- Super Black Bass
- Tecmo Super NBA Basketball
I didn’t notice a crack on the upper left of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball until cataloging later. I bought a better condition cart on eBay Tuesday night and put in an offer for another Looney Tunes game, Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos. I bought that on Wednesday when my offer was accepted.
Sega Master System:
Now, I have the original Zillion to go along with the sequel I bought last year.
Sega Genesis (Mega Drive outside North America):
- Bubsy – I bought this before the CIB SNES port
- Chi Chi’s Pro Challenge Golf (featuring golfer Chi-Chi Rodriguez) – This game always makes me think of Dave White’s [intentionally] mangled pronunciation during a Game Sack end skit (“Chy-Chy Rah-drigwez’s Pro Challenge Golf!”).
- Eternal Champions
- Space Harrier II
- Strider
- Super Hang-On
- Taz-Mania (I bought the SNES version last year)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (maybe I’ll find the original next year)
- Virtua Racing
And one Nintendo Wii game: The Price is Right: 2010 Edition:
That last pickup was the culmination of all the time that I spent this year watching various winning pricing games and showcases from the Bob Barker era of The Price is Right, and with my resulting renewed obsession with Barker era music cues, many of which can be found on this YouTube channel.
It was another successful and enjoyable Festival of Games. Thank you to Pete Dorr and all the vendors I bought from, to the LI Retro staff including George Portugal (who I saw on Saturday), and to Jerelyn Zontini. It was great to meet her in person after she connected with me on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.
Instrumental Invasion, 11/2/22 November 3, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Film, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Politics, Radio, Sci-Fi, TV, Video.add a comment
The November 2 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded and mixed entirely on September 19, the first one-day record/mix since June 27 when I worked on all of the August 17 show and the first segment of August 24. I made a timing error when remixing the third segment, which I didn’t notice until September 20. An extra liner and a pickup were required to add five seconds so that “+:13” on the playlist below was true. Additional pickups were recorded on October 10 (after returning from Dutchess County) to correct a factual error about bassist Harvie S‘s “Pyramid” composition, and then to react to a shorter replacement liner.
The playlist was created on September 10 (a day after last week’s show) and annotated on the 14th (after completing last week’s annotations). The talk break script draft began on the 16th, but didn’t resume until the 18th once production was completed on the prior show.
“Incumbent Waltz” is the seventh Vince Guaraldi-composed music cue for a Peanuts special that I’ve played, and a timely one with the midterm elections next Tuesday. Here’s where you can buy those Glenn Cronkhite Custom Cases I referenced in the backsell.
Two songs that aired previously are listed below with the first air date (in parentheses) and the reason for playing again:
- “Creole” by The Crusaders (November 18, 2020) – tie-in with “Fish Grease” by Jazz Funk Soul
- “In Too Deep” by Pieces of a Dream (December 29, 2021) – current single
I originally had the 2011 version of “Altair and Vega” by Bob James and Keiko Matsui in mind last July 14, but a different timing error – miscalculating the song’s duration – required a replacement. I made up for that this week, complete with the story of Tanabata/Hoshimatsuri, a festival centered around the two titular stars. You can read the Wikipedia entry in the previous sentence, but I also recommend this short video by GTV Japan:
Coincidentally, the show last July had a Star Trek reference leading into the first song. This week’s first song, complete with my paraphrase of the opening spiel, was Maynard Ferguson’s cover of the “Theme from Star Trek.” I had no idea Larry King adopted it as his radio show theme.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 9/7/22: Dan Ingram Tribute September 8, 2022
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Game Shows, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, Rock, TV.add a comment
The September 7 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was a tribute to the late New York radio personality Dan Ingram on what would have been his 88th birthday. The tribute came 18 years after I played my re-creation of his closing theme edit of “Tri-Fi Drums” by Billy May and His Orchestra (from Wild Stereo Drums) to close The Instrumental Invasion that aired on Dan’s 70th. This tribute covered most of the show. The theme was songs that start with a letter in any of the call letters of stations Dan worked for. Talk breaks were supplemented by edits of jingles, led by my mashup of a WCWP jingle with the bell at the end of the WABC Chime Time jingle:
As I said on the air, thanks to Allan Sniffen and Jon Wolfert for their inspiration. I absorbed Big Dan’s lore from repeatedly listening to archives of The Life and Times of Dan Ingram: In His Own Words that Allan produced for Rewound Radio, and Jon’s The History of Musicradio WABC Jingles, also for Rewound Radio.
The show playlist was created on July 5 and annotated on the 6th, followed by the talk break script draft that carried into the 7th.
Unlike previous weeks, the show was mostly recorded sequentially, two segments per day from July 8 to 10. I recorded the last segment before recording the fifth because I anticipated going over or cutting it close. Instead, I was 14 seconds short, increasing my surplus to 22 seconds. The fifth segment dropped the surplus to 12 seconds. In the process of recording pickups on the 10th, with 12 seconds left to make up, I remixed the second and fourth segments that I painstakingly tweaked to run exactly 18 minutes during initial recording. The third talk break of the second segment was originally speed compressed and I cut my quip about most Love Connection contestants going home solo (a false memory, as the linked entry reminds me) – playing off the name of Julian Vaughn‘s album with “Love Connection” on it. I redid the entire talk break at regular speed with the quip included. Thus, that segment went 8 seconds over and the fourth went 4 over, completing the 18-minute average I strive for.
Speaking of “love,” “jeg elsker deg” (pronounced “yale skaday”) means “I love you” in Norwegian and the “I love you” vocal in Nick Colionne‘s cover of “Hurry Up This Way Again” (on Arrival) allowed me to reference Dan Ingram’s on-air affirmation while married to Norway native Anita Strand.
Enough talk. Click here to download the (tele)scoped aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Bonus material:
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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Previous LI Retro recaps: 2017 (Sunday), 2018, 2019
Spinoff recaps: UPLINK (2020), Festival of Games (2021)
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:
