Winter 2011 in pictures March 21, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography, Weather.add a comment
Yesterday at 7:21 PM Eastern, spring began. That marked an end of a winter that started off with a bang in late December, all of January, and early February, and petered out.
That stage of winter that will stand out the most. I documented the season’s first storm here. Here’s the rest:
Friday, January 7
Thick wet snowflakes:
Wednesday, January 12
10.43 inches of snow:
Icicles outside my bedroom window:
They got rather big by the next day. I used a putter I had in my closet to knock them down.
Friday, January 21
3.5 inches of snow
I didn’t take any pictures, but left this witty status update on Facebook after shoveling:
Another snowstorm, another 2 1/2 hours shoveling. T.G.I.F.; thank goodness I’m finished.
Thursday, January 27
A wintry mix the day before turned to sleet and freezing rain (with a few rumbles of thunder) before turning to wet snow. The results were an inch or two of ice and about 12 inches of snow.
It was a pain to shovel, but I refused to quit…
…at least with the driveway and sidewalk.
It took five weeks for this gigantic bank to melt away:
This one melted a little quicker:
Saturday, January 29
The sun made it slightly easier to chop and scoop the ice and built-in tire tracks:
I finally got around to the sides and back yard:
Ice buildup and fallen icicles by the front gutter:
February began with an ice storm, but saw little snowfall the rest of the month. The only snow this month, March, came this morning when it briefly mixed with rain. There was no accumulation.
Let spring begin!
3/24 UPDATE: Winter has made a small comeback. Yesterday, snow mixed with rain at times during the day and fell by itself at night (after a thunderstorm mix):
About an inch accumulated. The snow stuck to everything, but it only partially melted on hard surfaces as of this morning. So, I shoveled the rest:
By this afternoon, most of the snow had melted.
That should be the last of the snow until the end of the year.
Fan phone call! September 1, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Comedy, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Pets, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV.add a comment
Since March, I have been a semi-regular viewer of Alison Rosen’s weekly internet show, Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, on the website UStream. One of the segments on her show, which streams through a webcam on her laptop, is Fan Phone Call. Phone numbers e-mailed to her by fans are taken out of a pot at random. The lucky fan is then called. If there is no answer, Alison leaves a funny voicemail and picks another number. If there is an answer, she interviews the fan. I e-mailed my number in March but it was never picked. So, I e-mailed it again on August 1.
This Sunday, my number was finally picked. You can see the call here. Scroll ahead to 27:40. I also recorded my end of the conversation in Adobe Audition with my mic in hand. I later mixed Alison’s end and my end together. Here’s the end result.
As you listen or watch, keep the following in mind:
- I bear no malice toward WCWP or any of the management. I have nothing but fond memories and best wishes. I’ll have more on my Homecoming show in a later post. (9/25 UPDATE: The show is not happening, but I will be at Homecoming. 10/16 UPDATE: I’m not going, but should be on hand for WCWP’s 50th anniversary next year.)
- I didn’t notice that Alison and her friend Dustin Goot were referring to the former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater as they were pressing me on my departure from the station.
- I was speaking generally when I said I’ve stormed out of places in the past, later coming back and apologizing. It comes with having Asperger Syndrome. I may regret writing this publicly.
- As you’ve seen in a few concert recaps on this blog, I do take pictures of street signs, highway markers, and exit signs. I used to have Hagstrom’s New York City, Western Suffolk, and Eastern Suffolk atlases. Now, I only have a recent Nassau atlas. With sites like Mapquest and Google Maps with printable directions, there’s less of a need to rely on atlases.
- Despite the heat, I kept my word and went for a walk 20 minutes after the call.
Guitars & Saxes 2010 Smooth Cruise recap August 12, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Photography, Travel, Weather.add a comment
8/18 UPDATE: I’ve added more pictures of Arlington Jones, Braylon Lacy, and Eric Valentine.
Yesterday, I went to my second Smooth Cruise in a row; this time, for Guitars & Saxes 2010. As usual, I took the sunset cruise aboard the Spirit of New York. As with RnR, the last time I saw G&S before yesterday was in 2008 at IMAC.
The ship left Chelsea Piers’ Pier 61 at 6:37. The set began at 6:50.
A sold out crowd saw Peter White on guitar #1:
Jeff Golub on guitar #2:
Gerald Albright on the alto sax:
And Kirk Whalum on the tenor sax:
They were backed up by Arlington Jones on the keyboards:
Braylon Lacy on bass:
And Eric Valentine on drums:
SET LIST
1. Intro Medley: Promenade (PW)/Roundtrip (KW)/Dangerous Curves (JG)/To the Max (GA)
2. Bright (PW)
3. All I Do (KW)
4. Shuffleboard (JG)
5. My, My, My (GA)
6. Influences: Oh Happy Day/The Thrill Is Gone/Mercy, Mercy, Mercy/Day Tripper/In The Mood
7. Medley: No Two Ways About It/Cold Duck Time/Goin’ On (JG)
8. Georgia On My Mind (GA)
9. You Are Everything (KW)
10. Bueno Funk (PW)
11. When the Saints Go Marching In
Now for a photographic journey through the Guitars & Saxes sunset Smooth Cruise:
The next three pics were taken from a closed-circuit TV on the deck below the stage:
I hung out on the dance floor for the rest of the set, beginning in the middle of “Georgia On My Mind”:
Echoing notes at the end of “Georgia…”:
Kirk making his way through the audience:
The James Bond sunglasses bit during “Bueno Funk”:
A wild drum solo from Eric:
We leave you with pictures taken outside before the set began. First, a look at Chelsea Piers shortly after embarking:
Hoboken:
Lackawanna Park:
Jersey City:
And finally, Lower Manhattan:
Thank you for reading and viewing.
UPDATE: Hello to author Katherine Gilraine, who was among the sold out crowd last night. Check out her recap here.
RnR Smooth Cruise recap August 7, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Photography, Travel, Weather.add a comment
On Wednesday, I embarked on my third Smooth Cruise aboard the Spirit of New York. The cruise was their 6:30 PM sunset cruise. In 2008, I saw Spyro Gyra. In 2009, I caught the Rippingtons. This time, the group was RnR: Rick Braun and Richard Elliot. It was the first time I had seen them since June 2008 at IMAC.
RnR was made up of Rick Braun on trumpet…
…and flugelhorn:
Richard Elliot on tenor sax…
…and EWI (electronic wind instrument):
Dwight Sills on guitar:
Nathaniel “Nate” Phillips on bass:
Ricky Lawson on drums:
And Ron Reinhardt on the keyboards:
The ship left Chelsea Piers’ Pier 61 at around 6:45. The set began shortly thereafter. So, let’s take you through that set:
1. Q It Up
2. Down and Dirty
3. Tijuana Dance?
Rick switched to flugelhorn for this one:
I went outside for a few minutes to snap some pictures.
The Statue of Liberty:
Lower Manhattan:
Brooklyn:
Back inside…
4. Inner City Blues (Richard only)
Richard began on the EWI…
…before switching back to tenor sax:
Ron had a wild keyboard solo:
Rick dedicated the next song to his late mother and all the moms in the audience:
And that song was…
5. My Funny Valentine (Rick only)
Rick was on vocals…
…and muted trumpet:
6. When A Man Loves A Woman (Richard only)
While Richard played inside, I went back outside just as we rode under the Brooklyn Bridge…
…and came close to the Manhattan Bridge:
FDR Drive:
The ship then turned around, heading back for Chelsea Piers.
Back inside, I shot another pic of the FDR Drive from my table:
Back at the stage, Richard was playing his heart out:
For this, he got a standing ovation:
Rick returned to the stage for…
7. Green Tomatoes
He and Richard invited the audience to get on their feet and dance:
Those on the floor didn’t leave until the set was over.
8. Keep On Truckin’
Richard sang through his EWI:
Rick appeared mesmerized:
Richard switched back to the sax at the end:
9. Grazin’ In The Grass
“Everybody scream!”
The band left the stage for what felt like ten seconds and came back for an encore.
10 (Encore). Rock Steady/Move On Up
“Rock…Steady!”
The “Move On Up” half of the encore:
The final note:
Afterward, I went downstairs to re-meet and re-greet Rick and Richard:
The set was exhilarating. And after all that, Rick and Richard had a moonlight cruise set at 9:30. I have no doubt that it was just as exhilarating then as it was for the set I saw. Thanks to Rick, Richard, Dwight, Nate, Ricky, and Ron.
David Benoit at Tarrytown recap May 24, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel.add a comment
Saturday night, my dad and I drove an hour (plus scattered delays) up to Tarrytown to see David Benoit perform at Tarrytown Music Hall. It was the first time I’d seen David since December 2008 at IMAC, six months before it closed.
David B. was accompanied by David Hughes on the electric bass…
…and Jamey Tate on drums:
The set list began with four songs from David’s just-released “Earthglow” album, with a fifth song later in the show:
1. Will’s Chill
2. New Creation
3. Downtime
4. Sneaky As A Cat
5. Mountain Dance
6. Your Song
7. If I Were a Bell
8. Blue Rondo A La Turk
INTERMISSION
9. Cast Your Fate to the Wind
10. Kei’s Song
11. Every Step Of The Way
12. Waiting For Spring
13. Cabin Fever
14. Freedom At Midnight (The Schroeder Variations)
15. Beat Street
16 (ENCORE). Linus and Lucy
David talking to the audience between songs:
Afterward, there was a meet-and-greet next to the stage. David and I briefly caught up with each other and had this picture taken:
It was great to see David B., David H., and Jamey again. It was also nice to meet fellow fan Bonnie Schendell of SmoothViews in person. (Bonnie interviewed David in this month’s SV issue.)
6/3 UPDATE: Bonnie reviewed the Tarrytown concert for the June issue of SmoothViews.
The first paragraph:
It’s always a great feeling of anticipation when you are going to hear new music from an artist played live for the first time, especially when the CD that has been in your rotation for several months has blown you away. You hope and pray that hearing it from the stage will be just as powerful and emotional. Well, I was not a bit disappointed by David Benoit.
The rest of this post contains scenic pictures taken on the ride to and from Tarrytown.
We begin on the Hutchinson River Pkwy. at Exit 12:
We got off at Exit 13 for the Cross County Pkwy.:
Exits 5 and 4:
On I-87, the New York State Thruway, Exit 5:
Exit 6:
Exit 7:
Exit 7A:
Exit 8:
Exit 9:
Driving up U.S. 9:
The Music Hall was on Main St.:
The view of the Hudson River from where we parked, two blocks away:
Heading home, I shot some more pics. Here’s Exit 9 on I-695/I-295 in the Bronx:
On I-295 in Queens, Exit 4:
On I-495, the L.I.E., Exit 30;
Exit 31:
Exit 32:
Exit 33:
Exit 34:
Exit 36:
Exit 37:
And Exit 38:
SJFS 2010 recap May 5, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography.add a comment
Last Saturday was the day of Jay Rowe‘s 8th Annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert. As always, the concert benefitted the Milford Public Schools’ Music Department. I’ve been to half of the eight.
Unlike the previous three years, I did not stay overnight at the Hampton Inn. My parents and I drove from home to the Chili’s on U.S. 1, then to the Parsons Complex Auditorium, then back home. This was probably the best SJFS ever.
It all began with Kevin McCabe of Jumpstart Jazz Productions warming up the audience and getting out many thank you’s.
Then, it was time to welcome Jay Rowe:
“I’m a lucky guy,” he said, “because I get to play with some of the best musicians in the world.” He was “humbled” by their and our support. There were plenty in the audience from and near Milford, but there were also people from Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia…and of course, Wantagh, New York.
Backing up Jay was Dave Livolsi on bass:
Trever Somerville on drums:
And Steve Scales on percussion:
Also performing, on the guitars, Chieli Minucci:
And Rohn Lawrence:
On the saxophones, Bob Nunno, the feature teacher:
And Mindi Abair:
With that, here we go.
SONG #1: Bumpin’ On Hollywood (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Red, Hot & Smooth,” 2006
Featured musicians: Rohn Lawrence, Shilts, Bob Nunno
Shilts stuck around for the next song. He told the audience, and Jay, that he was “honored” to perform “for this great event.”
The song he played was…
SONG #2: Look What’s Happened (Shilts)
Originally heard on: “HeadBoppin,” 2006
Featured musicians: Shilts, Rohn Lawrence
Rohn had a guitar solo…
…and Jay had a keyboard solo:
Next, Jay introduced “one of my favorite guitar players in the world, one of my favorite producers in the world, one of my favorite songwriters in the whole wide world, and most importantly, one of my favorite people in the whole wide world…”
Mindi let us know we’d be “having so much fun tonight,” and that it was “great to have so many great artists to play with; so many great artists to interact with; so much great music.”
SONG #3: Smooth Sensation (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “Smooth Sensation,” 1997
Featured musicians: Ken Navarro, Mindi Abair
Next up was…
SONG #4: On My Way To Somewhere (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “The Grace of Summer Light,” 2008
Featured musician: Ken Navarro
What would Smooth Jazz for Scholars be without Dancing Eric in the audience?
Back on stage…
Ken: “This was the first time that the five of us have ever played that song together. That’s how good these guys are.” Agreed.
Ken welcomed Chieli Minucci to the stage:
SONG #5: The Buzz (Ken Navarro)
Originally heard on: “Dreaming of Trains,” 2010
Featured musicians: Ken Navarro, Chieli Minucci
“The Buzz” was a tribute to guitarist Buzz Feiten.
“Chieli Minucci. ‘The Buzz!'”
Now, it was Chieli’s turn. “How’s everybody doin’? We got a full house tonight.”
SONG #6: Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers (Chieli Minucci; written by Stevie Wonder; Jeff Beck cover)
Originally heard on: “Renaissance,” 1996
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Mindi Abair
“I need Ken Navarro! Where’s Ken?”
“I need Mindi!”
Jay: “The first official standing ovation of the 8th Annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert.”
“How amazing was that? Sometimes, magic happens.”
“So, is it all right if I keep Chieli out here to rock the house with me?”
And Rohn Lawrence came out, too:
The next song was “a song I wrote kind of as a fun jam song”…
SONG #7: High Five (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Come As You Are,” 2004
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
From “High Five,” we went right into…
SONG #8: Mojo (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Stars,” 2008
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
A musical call and response by Chieli…
…and Rohn:
Another standing ovation!
Next up, a Special EFX song based on “Sambuca Nights,” a song on their debut album.
SONG #9: The Night Is Ours (Chieli Minucci & Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Without You,” 2010
Featured musician: Chieli Minucci
Time to introduce Nick Colionne:
SONG #10: No Limits (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “No Limits,” 2008
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #11: Hurry Up This Way Again (Nick Colionne; The Stylistics cover)
Originally heard on: “Arrival,” 1996; “Just Come On In,” 2003
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #12: Nature Boy (Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Confidential,” 1989
Musician: Chieli Minucci only
Chieli dedicated “Nature Boy” to his late Special EFX partner, percussionst George Jinda:
Before the next song, Jay wished Steve Scales a belated Happy Birthday:
SONG #13: Foolish Heart (Journey cover)
Featured musicians: Lamone Andrews, Rohn Lawrence
Another big guitar solo from Rohn, who will have played together with Jay for 31 years as of October:
SONG #14: High Flyin’ (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “Just Come On In,” 2003; “Keepin’ It Cool,” 2006
Featured musician: Nick Colionne
SONG #15: Everyone Loves Mia (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Red, Hot & Smooth,” 2006
Featured musician: Ken Navarro
Jay wrote “Everyone Loves Mia” for his mother, Mia DiStasi.
“Thanks, Mom,” Jay said after playing it.
“Please welcome back Mindi Abair.”
After Jay “played such a beautiful ballad,” Mindi felt she “had to swing the pendulum back the other way.”
You could consider this next song “stadium jazz.”
SONG #16: Bloom (Mindi Abair)
Originally heard on: “Life Less Ordinairy,” 2006
Featured musicians: Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence
In lieu of lighters, audience members waved their cell phones:
“I see those cell phones. Milford can rock out.”
For the next song, Jay brought out the Foran High School Select Ensemble Chorus and Horns.
SONG #17: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Michael Jackson cover)
Featured musicians: Lamone Andrews, Foran High School Ensemble Chorus, Foran High School Horns, Bob Nunno, Mindi Abair, Chieli Minucci, Shilts, Rohn Lawrence
Lamone told everyone to get out of their seats for this one.
The Select Ensemble Chorus, under the direction of Theresa Voss:
One more song to go…
SONG #18 (Finale): Staten Island Groove (Down to the Bone)
Originally heard on: “From Manhattan To Staten,” 1997
Featured musicians: Shilts, Ken Navarro, Chieli Minucci, Rohn Lawrence, Mindi Abair, Bob Nunno
“Go Shilts, go Shilts.”
And that’s it!
Another Smooth Jazz for Scholars is in the books.
That leaves us with the meet-and-greet.
I had to get a shot with Kevin McCabe:
Thank you so much to Jay, to Kevin, to Chieli, Ken, Mindi, Rohn, Shilts, Nick, Bob, Dave, Trever, Steve, the city of Milford, and all involved in making the 8th Smooth Jazz for Scholars the best one yet. See you next year!
6/13 UPDATE: Ken Navarro wrote about SJFS at his blog on May 18:
… I recently played the Smooth Jazz For Scholars concert in Connecticut with Jay Rowe, Chieli Minucci, Mindi Abair, Nick Colionne and Shilts. There were so many highlights in the show and it may very well have been the best one so far (this was the 8th annual Smooth Jazz For Scholars show!). One of the highlights for me was performing my song “Smooth Sensation” with Mindi Abair guesting on saxophone. I seldom have sax on this song and so it’s fun to introduce a new sound into the mix of a song I have played literally hundreds of times. But the real treat was hearing how Mindi found a part within my arrangement which added a new dimension. This was a challenge due to the fact that there was so much music to be rehearsed during the sound check that Mindi and I did not get a chance to rehearse the song with the band (Jay Rowe on keyboards, Dave Livolsi on bass, Trever Somerville on drums and Steve Scales on percussion). So, Mindi and I found a quiet place backstage and I taught her the melody and the form of the song. Mindi is a “let’s go for it” musician and I was quite impressed with her ability to quickly absorb the song and her totally positive attitude. Some musicians would have declined to perform a new song without a full rehearsal but not Mindi! She played great on it and took this hit song of mine to a new place.
Another cool moment for me was guesting on Chieli’s version of “Cause We Ended As Lovers”. I love that song and the way Chieli plays it and we had some special moments together on it. And Chieli returned the favor by guesting on a new song of mine from “Dreaming of Trains” called “The Buzz”. And he played wonderfully on it too as we traded melodies and improvised off of each other.
As always, Jay Rowe kept all of the music together for all of the “star” musicians. I don’t know how Jay pulls off this magnificent event year after year and my hat is off to Jay. There were close to 1,000 people at the show and much money was raised for the music departments of the schools in Jay’s home town of Milford, CT. …
SJFS 2010 recap still to come May 2, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography.add a comment
As I type, I’m still editing pictures from last night’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert. Once I finish, the next step will be to select the best ones and upload them to the blog. Then, the writing part. The recap should be up by next weekend; hopefully sooner.
Thanks for your patience.
5/5 UPDATE: The recap is up.
Scanning complete! January 28, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Pets, Photography.add a comment
On Saturday, I finished scanning all my old photo album pictures. After making a backup data DVD of all the files, four weeks of hard work were complete.
Sunday night through tonight (Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning), I separated all the pictures (after copying and pasting them) into different folders by year and date in the year. For example, there was a “1998” folder which featured “4-24-98” and “7-13-98” subfolders.
Then, I copied and pasted any pictures of my late male Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Cocoa, to the “Cocoa Memorial Folder” that I created two years ago after he was put to sleep. (That day and the days and weeks that followed were hard on me and my family.)
It was quite a trip down memory lane with all the pictures I scanned. I went from April 1982 to New Year’s Eve 1991 to July 1994 and all the way to September 2004.
Before going digital in October ’04, I had three different 35mm (millimeter) cameras, plus an additional camera that wasn’t mine. The first one was a Minolta F10. I got it in October 1994. The downside to it was the lack of a zoom. My second camera, which I got in 1997, was an Olympus Accura Zoom 105. As you can tell by the name, that one did have zoom capabilities. When it stopped working, I used a Canon Rebel G (I don’t remember the exact model) that featured a regular lens and a telephoto lens. That camera was my father’s. I switched from that and the Olympus in ’99 and 2000 for any sporting events I went to. In December 2000, I got a Nikon. I don’t remember the exact model for that either because I lost it. What I liked about this one was the datestamp. By the way, it also had a zoom. Though I lost the Nikon, I still have the Minolta F10 and Olympus Accura stowed away in one of my dresser drawers. I guess I keep them for sentimental value.
My next post will come when this blog crosses the 5,000 view mark, which should happen any hour now.
Scanning away… January 14, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography.add a comment
Since December 26, I have been busy scanning pictures from photo albums. The pictures in them date back to July 1994, with a few from earlier than that, and up to September 2004. As of now, I am up to May 2000. I have five photo albums left to scan with approximately 1,400 pictures combined in them.
Outside of that, there has not been much going on in my life, which is why I haven’t posted since New Year’s Day. But if anything interesting happens to me, or if anything happens that interests me, I’ll post about it.
MikeChimeri.com 
