RnR concert recap June 7, 2008
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RnR Smooth Cruise recap: 8/4/10
Later today, I will recap last night’s RnR (Rick Braun and Richard Elliot) concert at IMAC in Huntington, New York. I attended the 7PM concert, sat in the first row for the third concert in a row, and straightaway center for the second time in three concerts (SJFS was the first).
Expect pictures and as much of the set list as I can identify or remember.
5:38 PM UPDATE: The recap will now be up by Monday at the latest. Please be patient.
6/8, 1:50 AM UPDATE: I have selected the pictures to use for the recap and cropped them. I hope to write the recap with those pictures later today.
6/8, 11:13 PM UPDATE: Here, finally, is the rest of the recap:
The band was comprised of Rick Braun on trumpet (with and without mute) and flugelhorn…
Richard Elliot on tenor saxophone…
Ron Reinhardt on keyboards…
Dwight Sills on guitar…
Nate Phillips on bass…
…and Ricky Lawson on drums.
The set list included, but was not limited to:
“Curve Ball”
This led off the show.
“Down and Dirty”
“Notorious” (Rick’s song from “Body and Soul”)
“People Make the World Go Round” (covered by Richard on “Metro Blue”)
Midway through, Richard tried to get as much growl as he could out of his sax.
“Cadillac Slim”
“RnR”
“Grazin’ in the Grass” (covered by Rick with Boney James on “Shake It Up”)
This was the last song before the encore.
“Use Me” (covered by Rick on “Kisses in the Rain”)
This was the encore. Rick encouraged the audience to sing the lyric “Until you use me up” as loud as possible.
And there you go. It was a very exciting concert. I can only imagine what the 9:30 crowd got.
Up and down feelings about Cablevision June 4, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Media, Personal, TV.add a comment
5 1/2 hours ago, I called Cablevision and asked a customer service representative if any new channels would be added within the next few weeks. The rep said “no,” which resulted in me lashing out at her, venting my frustration that all my optimism for channels being added in the future was for nothing and that I hate Cablevision. I then hung up, wrote a frustrated post here, and called DirecTV. I told one of their reps what had just happened with the Cablevision rep. I was seriously considering, on knee-jerk impulse, to get DirecTV for my room because they had so many channels that I wanted that Cablevision will [seemingly, at the time] never add. I didn’t buy a package, though, wanting to go over with the idea with my parents. My mom didn’t like the idea, saying it was a “frivolous” one. My dad would probably feel the same way.
As time passed, my frustration wore off. So, I deleted my frustrated post, called Cablevision back, spoke to a different rep, and apologized for lashing out. This rep was more optimistic, said that the earlier rep shouldn’t have just said “no,” and filled out an inquiry on my behalf that I would like Fox Business Network added to the lineup.
Long story short, I’m not switching to DirecTV. I’d like to, but I just can’t do it. My patience with Cablevision can be tried at times, but I need to remain patient and, above all, calm.
So, I apologize to those of you that were here earlier and saw me so angry. Don’t worry, that post is long gone.
11/19/09 UPDATE: FBN has finally come to Cablevision!
Computer back to normal June 2, 2008
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It’s been a long day, but my computer is just about back to normal. Phew.
SJFS reviewed at “SmoothViews” June 2, 2008
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Mary Bentley was another one of the attendees at this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert in Milford, Connecticut. She has a review of the concert, which I recapped here in the days that followed it, in this month’s SmoothViews internet magazine.
The SmoothViews homepage can be found in Jazz Links on the left part of the screen.
Pre-order update #3 May 31, 2008
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The release of the re-issue of “Soft Space” by The Jeff Lorber Fusion has been pushed back to June 24.
Wayman Tisdale’s “Rebound” comes out Tuesday. It will be shipped to me by Thursday at the latest.
Computer still not working! May 30, 2008
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When I got the computer back today, I was unable to operate the keyboard and mouse. This is because a different keyboard and mouse were used when re-installing Vista. Luckily, I’m under a 30-day warranty. So, the pending repair on Monday will be free. That’s when another technician will come back for the computer tower, as well as the keyboard and mouse. Hopefully I will be back in business, so to speak, by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the external hard drives are back in the guest room and I’ll continue to use the computer in there. It’s my only option.
Computer repair update May 30, 2008
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The technician came yesterday afternoon and decided to bring the computer tower back to the repair center along with the four 1 GB memory DIMMs, which will be put in after all. At the same time, Windows Vista will have to be re-installed and the internal hard drive reformatted. As a result, all essential software will have to be re-installed.
A different technician will return with the tower later today. Then, it will be my job to re-install all the other software I added to the computer in the one year I’ve had it. Hopefully, I’ll have it back to normal by Monday.
David Benoit, “Heroes” May 29, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.4 comments
I received “Heroes” yesterday, and after all the computer crashing craziness, I finally got around to listening to it early this morning. Here is my review per a thread on the Magic Island BBS:
Not only is [“Heroes”] a winner [as I referred to it in an earlier post], it is a grand slam! [David Benoit’s] covers are 1000x better than the original versions. Way to go, David…and also, David Hughes [bass], Jamey Tate [drums], Brad Dutz [percussion], Andy Suzuki [saxophone on “A Twisted Little Etude” and “Blue Rondo A La Turk”], and the Asia America Symphony [string quartet on “She’s Leaving Home”].
P.S. I prefer this “Heroes” over the namesake TV series. I’m sure some of you here [on the message boards] would beg to differ, but I digress.
Here are the tracks:
1. Mountain Dance (4:04)
Original artist: Dave Grusin
2. Human Nature (4:13)
Original artist: Michael Jackson
3. Your Song (3:49)
Original artist: Elton John
4. Light My Fire (4:00)
Original artists: The Doors
5. Never Can Say Goodbye (4:19)
Original artists: The Jackson 5
5/30 UPDATE: So far, I am hooked on this song.
6. She’s Leaving Home (3:36)
Original artists: The Beatles
7. Song For My Father (3:23)
Original artist: Horace Silver
8. You Look Good To Me (2:57)
Original artist: Oscar Peterson
9. Waltz For Debbie (5:03)
Original artist: Bill Evans
“Debbie” was originally spelled “Debby” by Bill. David also covered this on “This Side Up” in 1985.
10. A Twisted Little Etude (2:30)
Original artist: David Benoit.
This is the lone original track. It is a tribute to Dave Brubeck, which leads us to…
11. Blue Rondo A La Turk (5:00)
Original artist: Dave Brubeck
If I got any of the original artists wrong, let me know and I will make the necessary corrections.
Desktop broken, too. May 29, 2008
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Today, my desktop computer was the latest to break on me. Early yesterday afternoon, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was automatically downloaded and installed. At the same time, I installed two new 1 GB memory DIMMs. Then, the computer crashed on me with the Blue Screen of Death appearing followed by an automatic restart. Thinking that the new memory was the problem, I took the DIMMs out and put the old 512 MB ones back in. The crashing continued every time I tried to start up or a few minutes after start-up.
A computer technician is coming by later today (Thursday, which started 10 minutes ago as I write). Hopefully, they’ll fix the problem. Wish me luck.
Meanwhile, I moved my three external hard drives to the guest room computer, which I’m on right now. It’s a good thing I decided to rely primarily on external drives a few years ago and also good that we have a second computer in the house.
New blog header May 26, 2008
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I’ve updated the header for this blog. I made it in Adobe Photoshop 7.0. It’s a mixture of the original header and a picture of me at my computer (with the opacity at 75%):
I’ll update this header whenever I take a new picture of myself. Let me know what you think of this one.
It’s based on the headers I’ve had at mikechimeri.com, which I refer to as “wallpaper.”
MikeChimeri.com 