2014 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming, 2015 Hall of Fame Announcement October 21, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, Video, Weather.4 comments
Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Later in this recap, I share the aircheck from my Homecoming Weekend show and behind-the-scenes pictures from the pre-record. 2/26/18 UPDATE: I also combined the videos for this post into one YouTube video.
I was at LIU Post on Saturday for their annual Homecoming Day. Most of my time was spent at WCWP’s barbecue and the announcement of 2015 inductees to their Hall of Fame.
I arrived at WCWP at about 2:30 PM. After setting my equipment down in Studio 3, I walked to Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium to watch part of the 3rd quarter of the LIU Post Pioneers’ Homecoming game against the Saint Anselm Hawks.
Before taking pics by Bronko Pearsall Field, I grabbed a few shots of the carnival:
The press box:
WCWP alumni Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks called the game from the lower booth. Included to their right (screen left) were, from left to right, Joel Feltman, Zach Parker (facing away), and Phil Lebowitz.
Last year was going to be the press box’s last year, but it turned out not to be.
Unlike last year, I didn’t capture a Pioneers touchdown, but I did capture a kickoff return for Saint Anselm…
..
…and a run by Pioneers quarterback Steven Laurino:
The Pioneers went on to beat the Hawks by the score of 49-21.
I took the scenic route back to WCWP, which began at Post Hall:
It is home to ARP, or the Academic Resource Program, located on the lower level. It was the Academic Resource Center (ARC) while I was a student, from Fall 1999 to Fall 2003, and was one level higher.
My 35mm photo rescanning project recently included pictures from ARC events. And as I work my way through pics between the rest of 2000 and 2003, there will be many more. Without ARC/ARP, I would have had a tougher road to graduation.
The opposite side of Post Hall:
Riggs Hall:
Humanities Hall:
Humanities was home to many of my Media Arts classes. I also took English Composition, Philosophy, Political Science, Spanish, and Math for Elementary Education there.
The Winnick House:
The combined building of Life Science and Pell Hall:
I took Study Strategies on the Life Science side, and Human Geography and Earth Science on the Pell side.
Eventually, I made my way back to WCWP.
With the Homecoming game ending early, Maura “Bernie” Bernard had to start her show a half hour earlier than expected:
The same thing happened to me in 2008.
Let the show begin:
Steven Acevedo was one of many guests to drop in on Bernie’s show:
David Kaplan was another:
Moments before the 2015 WCWP Hall of Fame announcement, I video recorded the following aircheck from Bernie’s show, synced to my recording of the Internet stream:
As Ted David noted above, at 5PM, he announced the 2015 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame. Ted is himself an inductee, part of the 2014 HOF class.
The 2015 inductees are Jeff Kroll, Bruce Leonard, Bobby Guthenberg, and Mike Riccio. Yesterday was not only the 53rd anniversary of WCWP, but Bobby’s “53rd” birthday, as well. What better birthday present than induction into the WCWP Hall of Fame?
Here is the announcement:
After that, it was time to pose for pictures.
Here are Pete Bellotti, Dan Cox, Jeff Kroll, Bruce Leonard, Bobby Guthenberg, Mike Riccio, and Ted David:
Next is all the Hall of Famers that were present at Homecoming:
Frank D’Elia (2014), Ted (2014), Bobby G. (2015), Mike (2015), Bernie Bernard (2013), Jeff (2015), Bruce (2015):
One of two pictures of Ted and me:
Joel Feltman and Ted David:
The barbecue outside WCWP wouldn’t have been possible without Ryan Attard, Director of Alumni Relations and the LIU Post Alumni Association. After the HOF announcement, Ryan spoke with Bernie:
Here is how that looked and sounded:
Phil Lebowitz (center) with two current students: Deandre Wilson and Mike Nicosia:
After the above picture, I was Bernie’s next guest:
Two comments:
1) I probably shouldn’t have bitten the smooth jazz hand that could potentially feed me in the future.
2) I was nervously playing with one of the WCWP bracelets that Bernie’s sister Melissa made.
Steven Acevedo and Jett Lightning took turns reading the WCWP Rock Show concert calendar:
Here’s how that sounded:
Hearing Bernie play “Fire” by Arthur Brown in previous years made that song one of my favorites. When she played it this year, as heard above, after “I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you…!,” I jumped up and down excitedly for the first few bars before composing myself.
6PM marked the middle of WCWP’s Homecoming Weekend:
It began Friday at noon and ended Sunday night (yesterday morning) at midnight.
Thanks to Pat Kroll for bringing over this personalized Waldbaum’s sheet cake:
Pat cut the first slice:
The WCWP 53rd anniversary/birthday cake was acknowledged on the air:
John Zoni, Pat Kroll, Jeff Kroll, Zach Parker:
Bernie’s last aircheck of the night:
…looked and sounded like this:
Next up was Rev. John Commins:
It was his first Homecoming show in a decade.
Bruce and Jeff ran the board:
Steven Acevedo stuck around for John’s show:
Here are select talk breaks from John’s show:
Mike Phillips, Frank D’Elia, and Phil Lebowitz:
After becoming friends with Joe Honerkamp on Facebook, we finally met in person Saturday night:
Ted David took this picture of me:
Then, we posed for our second pic of the day:
I took one last shot before I left:
I had to take it from Studio 2 because it was too crowded in Studio 1 and at the door to Studio 1.
I had such a blast at Homecoming. It was great to catch up with alumni I’ve met before and with those I met in person for the first time.
2/26/18 UPDATE: I combined all the above videos into one YouTube video:
Hours later, at 2AM, it was time for my Homecoming show, CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri. As I noted two weeks ago, I pre-recorded the show. Here are pictures from that session in Studio 2:
Direct from the Studio 2 console is the aircheck from that show:
And here is the playlist with a retroactive correction I added in Photoshop on Sunday night:
Some of the notes I wrote on the playlist didn’t make it to the final cut.
I loved Ted David’s liners so much that I made a compilation of how those liners sounded between songs:
The first transition was from the console while the rest were from the Internet stream.
My experience at Day 1 of 2014 New York Comic Con October 10, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Art, Books, Comedy, Internet, Interviews, Media, Personal, Photography, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Other New York Comic Con recap: 2012 Day 2, 2017 Day 1, 2018 Day 1, 2019 Day 1, 2021 Day 1
Yesterday marked my second trip to New York Comic Con, held annually at the Javits Center in the Midtown West portion of Manhattan. This time, I went with my girlfriend. We met each other at Penn Station, going our own ways to get there. I came from Wantagh, she came from Wallingford, Connecticut.
My way to her began at around 12:15 when I walked two blocks to a bus stop for the southbound NICE (Nassau Inter-County Express) n73. The bus arrived at 12:28, two minutes ahead of schedule. That ensured I would arrive at the Wantagh LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station in time to board a 12:32 train, an earlier train than I had planned for. If I hadn’t bought my round trip ticket the day before, I’d have to wait for the 12:57. 50 minutes later, I was at Penn Station. I met up with my girlfriend and we began the half-hour walk to the Javits Center.
We entered at West 38th Street, tapping our badges before going inside. Conventioneers were greeted by giant inflated Teen Titans – and, by extension, Teen Titans Go! – characters.
Beast Boy and Starfire:
Cyborg and Robin:
Time to head inside…
My first plan was to meet voice actor Billy West, whom I interviewed back in 2005 at WCWP. Since autographing was involved, and not knowing offhand where Booth 1280 was, despite going to NYCC two years ago, I headed downstairs.
A fellow conventioneer informed me that Booth 1280 was on the show floor. So, my girlfriend and I headed there.
On the floor…
We searched the aisle numbers and headed for the 1200s. It was there that we found Billy West.
Billy and I had a brief conversation, he signed my copy of Futurama, Volume 7 – which has Zoidberg on the cover – and my girlfriend took our picture:
He signed the cover this way:
To Mike!
…Zoidberg could eat…
Billy West
It was the highlight of my afternoon. But there was more to do. My girlfriend and I walked the floor back to a downward escalator.
Along the way, this is what we saw:
We finally reached a downward escalator:
There were a few panels I was interested in attending, but the one we settled on was here in Room 1A21:
It was for the latest (and upcoming) Transformers TV series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise. The panel began at 4:00, but we got in line at 3:00.
The line was small when we arrived and we ended up near the front. It pays to show up early. After 50 minutes in line, the door was opened. We ended up sitting front row center. It was fantastic.
The panel was moderated by Mike Vogel, the Vice President of Development for Hasbro Studios:
From right to left on the dais, there was Jeff Kline, executive producer:
Adam Beecher, producer and writer:
And the voice talent:
Will Friedle (Bumblebee):
Khary Payton (Grimlock):
Constance Zimmer (Strongarm):
…and Mitchell Whitfield (Fixit):
Now that you know the stars, here are random panel wide shots:
Khary set up the clip about to be shown:
Q&A:
After 45 minutes, the panel came to an end:
Constance and Khary stuck around to sign autographs:
Transformers: Robots in Disguise premieres in early 2015 on Cartoon Network. I can’t wait. I’m so glad I chose this panel.
After a few fun hours at New York Comic Con, my girlfriend and I called it a day:
We didn’t go right home, though. We walked down 11th Avenue to West 35th Street, taking that to 8th. We stopped in Trattoria Bianca for an early dinner. An hour later, we boarded an express LIRR train back to Wantagh, which also took an hour.
As I did for my 2012 Day 2 recap, I’ll leave you with a picture of the ticket holder I wore and the badge it carried:
10/11 UPDATE: There is an in-depth recap of the Transformers: Robots in Disguise panel at Newsarama.
And unbeknownst to me, because I didn’t look at the NYCC schedule beyond Thursday, there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles panel yesterday. Bam! Smack! Pow! has a recap of that, while IGN’s Scott Collura interviewed Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), and executive producers Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman.
If tickets for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday hadn’t sold out so fast, I would have gone either of those days. But I’m glad I went when I did. As I noted in the original recap, I got to meet Billy West in person and to whet my appetite for Transformers: Robots in Disguise, sitting front row center for their panel in the process.
WCWP Homecoming Weekend show to air October 19 October 6, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Radio.add a comment
I was on the campus of LIU Post on Friday to record my annual Homecoming Weekend radio show for WCWP, the campus radio station which I was originally part of from October 2001 to May 2004. CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri will air very early on Sunday, October 19, at 2AM Eastern (Saturday, October 18, at 11PM Pacific) on 88.1 FM and WCWP.org. If you are outside of the signal range, choose the latter (WCWP.org) or browse for WCWP on the TuneIn mobile app.
In the two hours of CJazzPlus, I’ll be playing The Jeff Lorber Fusion, Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright, Brian Culbertson, and many more, including one of my favorites by the recently departed Joe Sample. The show took just over two hours to record and an extra hour to edit, plus additional time editing at home on Saturday.
The name CJazzPlus comes from a short-lived Live365 station of mine from late 2010. It’s short for “contemporary jazz plus.” The “plus” refers to various sub-genres of jazz and instrumentals from other genres. I try to go beyond what you’d hear on a typical smooth jazz station, such as SiriusXM’s Watercolors.
Hours before the show airs, on Saturday, October 18, I’ll be at for Post for their Homecoming festivities, as well as for WCWP’s. The latter of those includes the announcement of 2015 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame. I look forward to that announcement as much as I look forward to the annual announcements of National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees. My guess is as good as yours. You’ll have to listen that afternoon to find out who got in this time.
Ten years since commencement May 13, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Education, Health, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Last Friday marked ten years since the LIU Post (then C.W. Post) Class of 2004 commencement ceremony.
I was honored to be part of that ceremony:
It was a whirlwind morning and early afternoon. My sleep pattern (and eating pattern) was screwed up at the time and I was unable to sleep the night before the ceremony. But it was still a thrill. I was excited to hear my name called, but a bit too excited. That’s why I didn’t share the other pics that my father took of me at that moment.
After late lunch at Domenico’s in Levittown, my parents, sister, and I headed home where I promptly went to bed.
I haven’t strayed too far from the LIU Post campus since the ceremony, returning often to visit faculty and attend WCWP events. I also had a couple of regular on-air stints at WCWP in addition to my time at the station as an undergrad.
2014 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony April 12, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in DVD, Interviews, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, TV, Video.add a comment
Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2022, 2023
Last Saturday, the WCWP Hall of Fame welcomed four new inductees in a ceremony in the Goldsmith Atrium at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts. This year’s inductees were Rita Sands, Frank D’Elia, Ted David, and the late Bill Epperhart.
You can see videos of the ceremony at the end, but first, the pictures:
Pete Bellotti welcomed the audience shortly after 1PM:
Images from the intro video, voiced by Jim Cutler:
The ceremony was hosted by Jeff Kroll:
Bill Mozer assumed the co-host position:
Rita Sands could not make it to the ceremony, and instead pre-recorded an interview with Bernie Bernard:
Bernie and Jeff posed with Rita’s plaque:
The second inductee of the day was Frank D’Elia:
The view from my camcorder:
Frank receives his plaque:
Like Rita, Ted David was unable to attend the ceremony. But he did record an acceptance speech:
Dan Cox, WCWP station manager, spoke next:
Dan brought up ceremony audio engineer Zach Parker to share the news of a generous donation to WCWP by Zach’s father:
Then, reflections of Bill Epperhart began. Dan shared his memories first, then Frank, Bill Mozer, and Jeff joined in.
Dan Epperhart, Bill’s son, accepted his father’s plaque:
And gave an eloquent, emotional speech:
Then, Jeff Kroll and Bill Mozer tossed to other alumni in the audience to share their memories:
Phil Lebowitz was first:
Then, Mike Phillips:
Neil Marks:
Bruce Leonard:
Roberta Epperhart O’Neil, widow of Bill’s brother Mike:
The last stroll down memory was provided by Jay Elzweig:
The only thing left to do was pose for pictures:
7/9/23 UPDATE: I originally split the ceremony video into two parts, but posted a complete version today.
6/7/24 UPDATE: I don’t know how to embed the video in WordPress classic mode. So, click on the link below to watch.
2014 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony (2023 repost in full)
As you can see, this year’s WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony ended up running for a little over two hours. Memories were shared and praise was heaped. It was a day I won’t soon forget. Congratulations to Rita Sands, Frank D’Elia, Ted David, and Bill Epperhart.
One year with iPhone April 11, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Health, Internet, Media, News, Personal, Phone, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV.add a comment
A year ago yesterday, I boarded the iPhone bandwagon by switching from an LG enV3, which I had for 3 1/2 years, to an iPhone 5. When I’m not texting or making a phone call, it’s a great alternative for internet access. My workouts with the Nike Running app have gone further than I was going in my first iPhone post last July. I’ve gone as far as 5.35 miles in one workout and broke 100 miles for the month of March.
When I need to comparison shop, I use shopping apps. When I want to listen to the radio, I have the TuneIn app. I’ve downloaded apps for several networks, network affiliates, and cable channels.
But I still wish the internal hard drive was bigger; maybe with the next iPhone.
2013 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming, 2014 Hall of Fame Announcement October 22, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology.add a comment
Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Later in this recap, I share the aircheck from my Homecoming Weekend show and behind-the-scenes pictures from the pre-record. 2/26/18 UPDATE: Video that I shot for DVD has been reworked for YouTube and is embedded before my aircheck and behind-the-scenes pics.
I was at LIU Post on Saturday for their annual Homecoming celebration. I was there primarily for WCWP’s barbecue and announcement of 2014 inductees to their Hall of Fame.
I arrived on campus at around 2:30. After getting situated, I decided to head to Hickox Field for a little while:
In the lower right window of the press box are Neil Marks, Jeff Kroll, Dan Cox, and Pat Kroll:
Jeff Kroll described the above picture this way when I posted it to the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group (account links removed):
We’re on the lower level of the press box…..hard to see clearly, but on the far right side, that’s Pat Kroll, sitting next to her is Dan Cox, standing next to Dan with the red shirt on (glad I had red on that day for identifying purposes) Jeff Kroll, and Neil A. Marks is standing next to me. Sat 10/19/13. Post 58 Pace 0. Pat was coordinating with Joel Feltman (down on the sidelines) for field interviews. (sign still says CW Post Campus!)
He later added:
If you look at the upper level of the press box, toward the left side, the third person in….that person is operating the scoreboard from what used to be the WCWP booth until the 2000’s. THAT was really home!
11/10 UPDATE: Jeff had one more thing to say about this picture tonight:
I received this note from Dan Cox today:
“I saw Bryan Collins today at the Field Hockey final. He told me the grandstand demolition begins next Monday. Looks like new press box by next fall. I hope!” If that happens, the press box goes with the entire grandstand. And this great shot will be a timely memory for those of us who have spent so many fall afternoons there. Thanks Mike Chimeri! Great timing to have taken that picture last month!
I’m honored to have taken it.
10/21/14 UPDATE: The press box was still there this year, but probably for the last time.
As Jeff noted, the LIU Post Pioneers dominated the Pace Setters (get it?) 58-0. I was at the field in time to catch the Pioneers’ second-to-last touchdown.
Touchdown!:
The extra point is good.
Satisfied, I walked back to WCWP. The Pioneers’ last touchdown came during my walk back. I could faintly hear the public address announcer declaring, “touchdowwwwwwwwn!”
Maura “Bernie” Bernard brought photo albums of past Homecoming weekends at the station:
She also prepared for show in Studio 1 following the Homecoming Game:
Meanwhile, in Studio 2, alumni interviews were recorded:
The interviewee here is Jay Elzweig:
The Hall of Fame plaque, introduced at this year’s ceremony:
Plaques dedicated to the late Dr. Herb Coston and Bill Epperhart:
Joel Feltman and Jay Mirabile look through some of the albums:
At 5:00, Pete Bellotti and Bernie Bernard announced the 2014 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame:
The inductees are Rita Sands, Frank D’Elia, Bill Epperhart, and Ted David. Bernie interviewed Ted over the phone.
John Mertz and Bobby Guthenberg listened along:
The announcement and interview with Ted can be heard here:
2014 WCWP Hall of Fame Announcement
Later, in Studio 2, Jay Mirabile and I were interviewed:
Thanks to Zach Parker for taking those pictures during the interview.
Here is that pre-recorded interview, which was later edited by me, but my edit isn’t the one that aired:
Interview with Mike Chimeri & Jay Mirabile
As Bernie’s show drew to a close, she posed for this picture with me, Jay Mirabile, Bobby Guthenberg, Barry Albano, and John Mertz:
The final aircheck of Bernie’s show:
The Disco and Funk King Show was next:
I had a wonderful time at Homecoming this year. It was great catching up with my fellow alumni, and meeting some in person for the first time.
2/26/18 UPDATE: Here is video that I shot for DVD and have reworked for YouTube:
The rest of this post is devoted to my Homecoming Weekend show – CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri – which aired at 3AM on Sunday, hours after I left campus.
I recorded the show back on October 4.
I took some behind-the-scenes pictures while recording, starting with this self-timed shot:
Here is the playlist, complete with my copious notes to mention during the show:
I made sure to mention whatever notes I wrote down, but unfortunately, I had to edit some out for time. Each pre-recorded hour had to be exactly 59 minutes long.
Here is the aircheck from the 2013 edition of CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri:
The file is downloadable here.
It’s mostly from the console when I pre-recorded the show, but I mixed in elements from WCWP’s stream as the show aired.
WCWP Homecoming Weekend show to air October 20 October 7, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Radio.add a comment
I was at WCWP (at LIU Post) on Friday to record my annual Homecoming Weekend radio show. CJazzPlus with Mike Chimeri will air very early on Sunday, October 20, at 3AM Eastern (midnight Pacific) on 88.1 FM WCWP.
If you are outside of the signal range, you can listen here or browse for it on the TuneIn mobile app.
In the two hours of CJazzPlus, I’ll be playing Chuck Loeb, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, Spyro Gyra, Steve Cole, and much more. The show took 2 1/2 hours to record and an hour and 15 minutes to edit. There was also an additional 15 minutes of editing (and one minute of re-recording) for hour 1 at home on Saturday and another 10 minutes of editing for hour 2 yesterday.
I’ll be on campus hours earlier – on Saturday, October 19 – for Post and WCWP’s Homecoming festivities, the latter of which includes the announcement of 2014 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame.
Boarding the iPhone bandwagon July 6, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Media, News, Personal, Phone, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV, Weather.add a comment
On an unseasonably hot day in mid-April, I switched from an LG enV3 (VX9200) to an iPhone 5. Soon after, I bought an Otterbox Defender case for it (which includes a belt clip holster) and a Logitech wireless headset for extended phone calls.
I’ve downloaded 30 apps so far. Among them are two for radio, nine for sports, three for news, three for weather, and three social media. I bought two apps: a tip calculator (which was standard on my old phone) and the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
On the first day I had the iPhone, it took a few hours to load all my contacts to iCloud. But they’re in and some are categorized by ringtone, something I hadn’t done with my previous phones.
The Nike Running app has been instrumental in getting me to run three miles (or more) every day. Most of the runs have been outdoors, but I ran on my treadmill on a rainy day last month. And with temperatures now hovering near 90 degrees each day, I may have to do more indoor runs on my treadmill or step machine.
The iPhone’s camera has come in handy when I don’t have my Nikon D5100 on me. Most of the pictures taken with the phone are of recently replaced Town of Hempstead street signs and new traffic lights. Some examples:
The one downside is the internal drive is only 13.5 GB (gigabytes) (billed as 16 GB). It makes me wish there was a microSD slot for an additional 16 GB, or even 32.
Regardless of that, I’m glad I finally boarded the iPhone bandwagon. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner.
MikeChimeri.com 
2013 in review December 31, 2013
Posted by Mike C. in Art, Audio, Commentary, Film, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, New Age, News, Personal, Phone, Photography, Radio, Technology, Travel, Weather.add a comment
The following is an excerpt of an end-of-year post WordPress created for MikeChimeri.com. Scroll down for my editorial.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
Click here to see the complete report.
2013 was the first full year for the WordPress version of MikeChimeri.com. April was a transformative month that saw my upgrade from a Nikon D3100 camera to a D5100, and finally join iPhone nation. I upgraded from an LG enV3 to an Apple iPhone 5. (I ended up giving my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 to someone very special.) A week after those two upgrades, I documented the 2013 WCWP Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. A week after that, I was in Milford, Connecticut, for the first two-night Smooth Jazz for Scholars benefit concert series. April also marked five years since The Mike Chimeri Blog was launched; MikeChimeri.com launched in May 2005, seven years before merging with the blog.
In addition to some new contemporary jazz releases, I broadened my musical horizons by adding Return to Forever, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, and various Christmas compilations to my collection. I posted more expressway and parkway pictures. I spent most of the summer scanning old 35mm pictures and recording cassettes and microcassettes to one of my hard drives. I returned to LIU Post and WCWP in October for my annual Homecoming Weekend Show and Homecoming itself. I attended Charlie Fillizola’s art exhibit at Wantagh Public Library. And besides SJFS, I attended concerts in August, October, and November.
I didn’t mention this in any post, but there was one dark spot in 2013: the loss of my paternal grandmother, Marilyn “Mazz” Chimeri (née Garing), in early July. She was the last of my grandparents remaining after I lost my maternal grandparents, Lennie and Arthur Rose, in June and November 2010, and my paternal grandfather, Carmen Chimeri, in December 2011. I miss them dearly, but feel lucky to have known them for as long as I did. I love you all.
I hope for the best in 2014, not only for myself, but for each and every one of you visiting this site. Have a happy and healthy new year.