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The adventure of building my own PC (12/21/24 UPDATE: 27-month experiment ended in disappointment) September 10, 2022

Posted by Mike C. in Computer, Internet, Personal, Photography, Technology.
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NOTE 1: This is a long post.
NOTE 2: I added follow-ups at the end, written on June 24, 25, and 27, November 5, and December 6, 2023.
NOTE 3: Another follow-up was written on December 21, 2024, after replacing the PSU to no avail and buying a Dell Alienware desktop PC.

For 3 1/2 years, my bedroom/home studio desktop computer was a Dell XPS 8930 that I had custom built by Dell. All my PCs since 2011, laptop and desktop, had been customized and bought from either Dell or HP.

My needs have grown over time. Media production requires top-of-the-line parts. A video shouldn’t have a render time that’s triple its running time. Photo editors shouldn’t struggle to load files and apply effects, nor should they flicker when operating. On the audio front, it’s frustrating if the computer freezes while airchecking a radio show. That’s one reason I’ve been recording on my computer and the computer in the neighboring guest room: an HP Envy 750-170se, which was even slower than the XPS 8930. And the most annoying thing about the XPS is how its cooling fan screams during an intense task.

Thus, in July, I began searching for a new computer. I had already planned on buying a mirrorless Nikon Z7 II with IBIS (in-body image stabilization), higher maximum resolution, and lower minimum ISO. I’d get it with an FTZ II lens mount adapter so I could keep using my F-mount Nikkor all-in-one lens. (The vertical grip is enticing.) I eventually learned the Z cameras lack a built-in flash and I’d have to buy a speedlight attachment, as well. Review sites like this one recommend a top-of-the-line model, but Nikon recommends what the review site considers #2.

The potential customizations for Dell and HP PCs (desktop homepages here and here) were expensive, but limited in maximum storage and memory. My friends in the Discord chat servers for Technology Connections and Game Dave recommended building my own PC with individual parts. Newegg lets you create, save, and share custom build lists. I shared my build with the TC Discord and they suggested tweaks, which I made. I thought I’d need to double the RAM (random-access memory) of the XPS, from 64GB (gigabytes) to 128GB, but they said 64GB would be fine with the CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit) I had in mind. 128GB would be overkill.

On the morning of August 27, I had an epiphany: buying the camera before the computer was putting the cart before the horse. I should buy a more powerful computer now (that morning), and save the more advanced camera for later (my birthday in November or Christmastime in December). (6/24/23 UPDATE: I bought a cheaper Canon EOS R7 instead.) I made final tweaks to the build to cut costs. I still had highly-rated components, but not as flashy. It all cost $2,890.79, with taxes and shipping yielding a grand total of $3,156.96. The shared build list can be viewed here. If you’re not on a smartphone or don’t have the Newegg app installed (iOS, Android), click the center arrow for full descriptions. 12:30 PM UPDATE: I’ve been told the Newegg build list link doesn’t work for some readers. So, here are direct links to each part (with Newegg’s descriptions):

All but one component arrived between August 30 and September 2:

Yes, I made a gargantuan oversight when picking a tower case: I didn’t check the dimensions! It’s 23.27 inches high, 9.84 wide, and 22.24 deep. No wonder it has straps for carrying at the top. Still, my dad told me that cases that big are better because they allow for more maneuverability during assembly.

The lone late arrival was the mechanical gaming keyboard, scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, September 6. Unfortunately, I wasn’t home to sign for it. Everything else arrived in the evening while I was home, but the UPS driver reached my house in the afternoon on a day when I was out. So, I had to pick it up the next day at my local CVS, a UPS Access Point location.

In the meantime, I was willing to use a spare keyboard temporarily and an old Dell wired USB mouse that I found in a basement storage box as the mouse for my build.

I could have started assembly on Friday, September 2, but bought a new FireWire (IEEE 1394) card on Amazon (this one) rather than swap out the one in my Dell XPS 8930. Amazon is also where I bought an ESD (electrostatic discharge) anti-static wrist strap (this one) to wear during assembly (clipped to the case) and two use licenses for Laplink PCmover Professional, my go-to data migration software since getting the XPS in February 2019 and an HP Omen 15t-dc000 laptop that January. The laptop was superseded by a Dell Alienware m15 R3 in December 2020. I mistakenly sprung for Dell Update, which wasn’t as good as PCmover. I held on to the Omen laptop until cleaning it out last week – uninstalling extra software and logging out of my Microsoft account – and donating it to my sister.

Exactly one week after my purchases – the morning of Saturday, September 3 – I prepped my desk’s computer compartment for its much bigger inhabitant. I unscrewed the door hinges (years after taking out the door), took out the drawer above it (uninhabited for about five years) and unscrewed the supports, removed the plank below the desk center, and unscrewed its supports. There was a cardboard backing behind the compartment that had been partially cut open when I first got the desk in 2004. There was clearance for the back of all computer towers until my build. So, I ripped out what was left.

When the FireWire card was delivered in the afternoon, I began assembling the computer on the guest room L-shaped desk. I had no idea what I was in for.

Hours passed as I struggled to decipher the manuals and juggle parts in my lap, falsely assuming it wouldn’t take long to assemble this to that. I had big trouble with the CPU cooler manual, reading the instructions left to right by column rather top to bottom by row. Somehow, the thermal paste held when I finally figured out how to secure it to the motherboard.

I mistakenly assumed I had to unscrew the motherboard’s back panel exterior before attaching it to the case. No! Why else would the screws be so small?! I had to unscrew the motherboard, re-screw the back panel exterior, then re-screw the board to the case.

Inserting the GPU/graphics card required unscrewing and removing a vertical expansion slot compartment, then removing multiple inserts to house the card. It was a pain fitting the card into the PCI Express slot, then re-screwing the open inserts and re-screwing the vertical compartment. I didn’t bother with the included bracket; the card stood up just fine.

The graphics card made RAM insertion tough, having to finesse them in.

I couldn’t properly screw in the SSD. I settled for barely connecting it with mismatched screws.

The easy parts of assembly were unscrewing the disposable parts of the tower case, screwing in the power supply (the first two things I did), inserting the SATA (Serial ATA) HDD, and attaching most connectors to the motherboard, whether for the components or the case’s front panel. The power LED positive and negative connectors were impossible to secure, but somehow I did.

I usually eat dinner around 4 or 5PM, but it wasn’t until 7PM that I paused assembly to cook and eat it. Then, back to work.

Thinking I had assembled everything, I closed the tower case at around 10:30 and prepped for bed.

After some sleep, I woke up Sunday morning, September 4, ready to turn the computer on, install Windows 11, and start migrating data. It wouldn’t turn on. Thankfully, with the help of Ganiman and Filbert from the Game Dave Discord, I attached connections to the power supply that were mislabeled and I thought were incompatible, but by golly, they all fit and the computer turned on! What a relief!

  • The default LED (light-emitting diode) color was green, and there’s even an option to cycle through all colors, but I settled on red. The fourth USB 3.2 type-A port doesn’t work, but I’m willing to live with that. After all, my XPS 8930 only had three front type-A ports and one USB-C. Nonetheless, I turned off the power and tried swapping the type-A connectors on the motherboard, inadvertently knocking out the power connections. Luckily, I got those back in place so the power and LED worked again, but no luck with the fourth type-A port. Fine, just three work.

Notice that the BIOS build date is last December 17. It turns out that predates compatibility with Windows 11. My attempt to install yielded an error message. I figured out on my own to update the BIOS by downloading the latest firmware on the Dell, putting it on a flash drive, and loading it to the new build.

That did the trick. I actually had to install Windows 11 twice (another redo). I initially had it on the HDD, but Ganiman said the SSD is the better option for storing the OS.

After that, the long process of data migration began while I relaxed in my room.

  • From the Dell XPS…
  • …to the new build.
  • PCmover’s transfer took four hours, but the cloud-based Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox took longer. So, I turned off the Dell, but left this PC on overnight.
  • The red LED display

After another night of some sleep, I resumed work on Labor Day morning; Monday, September 5. I moved my desk chair out of the way, disconnected and unplugged the Dell and moved it to the guest room. I left it on the floor and lugged the build into my room.

There’s very little space between the back of the desk and my wall, and less maneuverability for connecting cables. The tower case was too wide to turn towards me. The previous ones could be turned, allowing me to see the back panel from my contorted position to the left of the desk. This time, I had to consult the motherboard manual and connect by feel. Before I could do any of that, I considered placing the case outside to the left and moving the items that had been there – power strip, 8mm camcorder (for digitizing home videos), external FireWire converter (for analog video and audio from camcorders and VCRs) – into the compartment along with the external Blu-ray writer. Realizing that would be a waste of space, I put the tower back in and moved the camcorder and converter under the desk below the keyboard stand, where a DVD recorder and two 4-head Hi-Fi VCRs were situated. The camcorder went to the left of the VHS VCRs and the converter was seated on the right end of the DVD recorder. A/V cables were moved to the back.

Three hours later…

  • It was tough connecting the USB 2.0 cables for my flatbed scanner and mouse while keeping the Wi-Fi antennae secure.
  • It took another hour to uninstall and reinstall programs that didn’t transfer entirely. In the case of iTunes, a Google search reminded me how to properly carry over iTunes settings from one computer to the next. I copied the iTunes folder in the Music section of my old computer to a flash drive and then copied to the same folder on the new one. Bingo! I picked up right where I left off!

It was finally time to open PCmover on the HP Envy and Dell XPS (with the second use license) and transfer from one to the other. In order to see what I was doing, I connected the computers to an HDMI switch that I connected to the monitor, and alternated between them. An error message in PCmover on the Dell said there wasn’t enough room to transfer everything, even when I specified what data would go on the small 512GB SSD C: drive and the bigger 2TB (terabytes) HDD D: drive. Attempts to uninstall and pinpoint folders with the most data didn’t help much. Still another hour had passed once I gave up and transferred anyway.

While that was going on, I made up for lost time by eating a late breakfast in my room and heading to the basement for a treadmill run and weightlifting. After a shower, I checked on the transfer. Despite my specifications, data intended for the D: drive still went to the C:. There were only 10GB left on the C: drive, but clearing unnecessary data brought that number back to around 100GB. I cut and pasted the pictures, documents, music, and videos folder contents to the D: drive along with any other storage folders.

Satisfied, I turned off the computers, unplugged them, and disconnected cables. Then, I got an ultimately-time-consuming idea. Why not take the HDD out of the HP and put it in the Dell as a secondary data drive? Opening the two towers and removing the HDD was easy. Getting it into the Dell was where time slipped away. I needed to print out pages from the XPS 8930 maintenance manual to figure out how to seat it. Attempts to remove the graphics card bracket failed, meaning I couldn’t take out the drive slot to screw the drive in place. After attaching the built-in power supply connector and using a spare SATA cable from the motherboard assembly kit, I opened the bag of unused zip ties (cable ties) from my tower case assembly kit and tried to secure the HDD to the slot with them. It worked, but I couldn’t put the right-side cover back on. I seated the drive upside down and the cables were in the way. I tried in vain to swap the straight and right-angle ends of the SATA cable. The zip ties had to be cut off. That’s when I gave up. The HDD would sit loosely in the slot, period. Now, the cover fit back in place and closed securely.

I screwed the HP Envy’s right-side cover back on (much easier), prepared for future disposal, and set up the Dell XPS in its place. I formatted the HP’s HDD and it was ready for use. The only problem was I accidentally allowed PCmover to transfer the built-in HP Recovery software and couldn’t remove it from any drive, not even the “new” one after formatting. Oh, well. I can live with that, too.

Ironically, all my hard labor took place over Labor Day Weekend.

Before I get to the aftermath portion, here are the rest of Monday’s photos:

Aftermath

Things seemed fine on my build once I acclimated to it, but I made another oversight that led to another living nightmare.

The first sign of trouble came Monday morning when I tried to change the built-in FireWire driver to a legacy driver I had used on prior computers. I would just disable the driver and make the change. Wrong! Disabling the drive crashed the computer and forced a reset. I did a test video capture with the irremovable driver and there weren’t any capture freezes (where it thinks there’s no signal) or dropped frames. So, I accepted my fate with the new driver.

The next sign of trouble came that evening when a trial version of Topaz Video Enhance AI froze while loading. Ending via the task manager (Control-Alt-Delete) seemed to help as it worked fine upon reloading. I used the program to test video upscaling speed; only slightly faster than on the XPS desktop and Alienware laptop.

The nightmare came on Tuesday, September 6. Apparently, my computers’ desktop folders are tied to my OneDrive account. Program shortcuts in that folder are visible on all computers. If the program isn’t on the computer, the shortcut goes nowhere and has a blank icon. To remedy this, I either deleted shortcuts or installed the software. The one program I thought to install on my build that was on my laptop was the Nox Android emulator for watching the Optimum TV app. I had been using Bluestacks 5, but at some point this year (when the app was still called Altice One), an update was introduced that rendered the app unusable beyond the login screen. A month ago, I looked for other emulators and found Nox. The app works on there. If Nox worked on my laptop, surely it would work on here. Blue screen of death wrong!

My first attempt to load the program caused the computer to lock up, but not prompt a BSoD. So, I simply reset. I immediately tried to load it again after logging back in and this caused a BSoD! I looked online for solutions and one told me to create a code that allows you to open “Windows without Hyper-V” instead of Windows 11, which I blamed for the nightmare. Hyper-V wasn’t even checked, but I put the code in anyway. It seemed promising when the load progress approached 90%, but bam!, another BSoD. I uninstalled Nox and removed the “Windows without Hyper-V” boot option. I shouldn’t have an emulator to watch the Optimum TV app on a computer in the same room as a DVR (digital video recorder).

At any point during assembly when I ran into trouble, hopelessness and self-doubt kicked in. In those moments, I thought I shouldn’t have done this, that I should have just bought from Dell or HP like I always had. I could add expansions once the pro build arrived. Well, when I entered BSoD hell Tuesday evening, the self-doubt and buyer’s remorse came back with a vengeance. My irrational mind screamed that I blew my money on a lemon, or that I’d have to pay a technician to clean up my mess.

Someone in the Technology Connections Discord suggested I update the CPU chipset. All that did was lead to faulty audio and a BSoD with a different stop code, one that I remember: KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION. The same one came seconds after logging in upon restart, and I didn’t even open anything. After that, I repeatedly typed the delete key to prompt the BIOS menu before Windows could boot. Then, I asked the Discord what to do next. While waiting for a response, I turned off the computer. When I turned it back on, the Windows Recovery environment launched. I was able to roll back to Tuesday morning, before I installed any problematic software. Then, I ran the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool. As it ran, the TC Discord – I was chatting on the Dell in the guest room at this point – recommended I download and install drivers for the motherboard and graphics card; yet another oversight. I should have done that on Sunday.

I downloaded the drivers, copied them to a flash drive, and installed them all on my computer once the memory diagnosis was complete and no problems were found. Then, I restarted and didn’t get a BSoD in the 20 minutes I was logged in before one more try at disabling the FireWire driver. That still caused a reset, but no BSoD afterward. I took two screenshots of the audio enhancing software included with the audio drivers and called it a night:

I like these audio settings much better than Waves MaxxAudio Pro on the Dell. It’s a perfect replacement for the Bang & Olufsen audio enhancements on the HP Envy.

Overnight, I had dreams about BSoD and tweaking the motherboard. I woke up early Wednesday morning, September 7, and turned on my computer. There were no BSoD in the three hours it was on before leaving the house for the day. Topaz Video Enhance AI seemed to freeze, at least somewhat, when I tried it out, so I uninstalled it. If I want to upscale video, I’ll buy DaVinci Resolve 18.

Back at home that evening, the mechanical keyboard felt nice. It will take time to get used to and cut down on typos. The accompanying wrist rest, which attaches magnetically, was too thin and firm for comfort. So, I bought a cushy replacement.

I took a photo of the keyboard once I set it up, and screencapped a typing test:

As with the tower case, the keyboard has RGB backlighting and I chose static red as my color. Even the keyboard needed a firmware update, exemplified by a random disconnect and reconnect when I took my first break from typing. That hasn’t happened since the update. Part of the update is a program that lets you save your color preference and that regulates the backlighting, which turns off after five minutes of inactivity and turns back on next time you type.

The replacement wrist rest arrived yesterday – Friday, September 9. I tested the feel while lined up with the keyboard and with the keyboard and rest separated by 3/4 inch. The second test felt better, so I secured it with three pieces of mounting tape; left, center, right.

Here’s the result:

As of today, September 10, my BSoD-free streak is intact (knock on wood), but there was no power to the keyboard when I tried to log in after turning on the computer, requiring a disconnect and reconnect before entering my PIN. A minute or so later, neither the keyboard nor mouse functioned properly, and both had to be disconnected and reconnected. Checking Windows Update revealed that a USB driver update was pending. That must have been the culprit.

Here’s hoping my build lasts as long as five years before any replacements are necessary. I will surely replace my desk before then, an open kind with easy access to the tower. (Maybe this one?) Until then, thank you for reading about the week-long adventure of building my own PC and the growing pains that followed.

6/24/23 UPDATE: I replaced my desk with this one, which my uncle Scott generously assembled after I disassembled the old one. Here are the before and tentative after photos:

Repeating from the 6/21/23 Instrumental Invasion post, the after photo is tentative because my dual monitor setup is in limbo. The primary monitor had dead pixels that I didn’t notice until shutting down the PC on the first night (6/17). I turned it back on and confirmed the problem on a screen saver test:

I bought the monitor from Walmart and returned for a replacement, but ended up getting a mate for it from Amazon after scuffing the screen on my single-turned-secondary monitor.

An October update to Windows 11 caused an irremovable bug in Adobe Creative Cloud. Updates are deemed “not available” and cannot install. The only workaround is to uninstall all apps and Creative Cloud, then reinstall CC and the apps. While I usually do this dance every month or two, I procrastinated for over three months until Premiere Pro caused a BSoD (the first since those driver updates). I was exporting a video and it crashed hard during finalization. It hasn’t happened since (knock on wood). It had me thinking I should have gone with 128GB of RAM in the first place. Then, I read articles like this to tamp down that notion. Besides, if I do add two more 32GB DIMMs, I’ll need to move and put back the CPU cooler.

Over time, the Z15 keyboard developed debouncing issues where certain keys double or even triple type. O, A, G, and space bar are the biggest culprits. Again, the Technology Connections Discord had the solution: take off the trouble keys and use contact cleaner on the switches. (I bought this kind.) If that doesn’t work, the keyboard came with eight replacement switches. This is another page I consulted.

6/25/23 UPDATE: Cleaning the contacts did not work. I gave up and bought a Logitech MK200 keyboard/mouse combo. So far, so good (knock on wood), though I may have to get a thinner/lower wrist pad. After writing that sentence, someone on the Ashley Abbink Discord (she’s a music streamer) mentioned they have a Logitech G413. I should have gotten that last year, even without volume controls. For now, it’s the MK200.

Photos of the Z15 yesterday:

And the MK200 today:

6/27/23 UPDATE: My dual monitor setup is complete. The replacement and mate arrived today and neither had dead pixels on their screens.

11/5/23 UPDATE: Last Monday, I returned to the mechanical keyboard sphere with a Logitech G413 SE.

I’d grown disenchanted with the MK200 combo’s keyboard. The mouse is great and I still use it, but the keyboard’s keys were stiff, the backspace key was stiffer, I regularly missed keys while typing, and I occasionally hit a key one row above or below the intended key.

So far, the G413 SE doesn’t suffer from as much debouncing as the EVGA Z15 had. Keys are nice and smooth which makes typing a breeze and correcting typos simple because I do make my share of them.

I also had to replace the right monitor with the same model repeating my accidental scuffing by knocking over the webcam tripod. I’ve since spread out the tripod legs and raised the top to match the height of the prior configuration.

12/6/23 UPDATE: I came around on the RAM upgrade and bought another pair of DIMMs on Black Friday (November 24), the same pair I initially bought last year. They arrived last Thursday, November 30. Once I opened up the tower, I did have to disassemble the end of the CPU cooler in order to seat one of the DIMMs. I then reassembled and closed the tower. I also had to vacuum and blow compressed air in and around the tower. I don’t notice a difference in performance so far, but I haven’t had to render video yet.

I neglected to announce in my earlier updates that I installed an Elgato 4K60 Pro MK.2 internal capture card for my future (current) Twitch aspirations. These are photos of the installation back on May 18:

For gameplay, unless I bring up a console from the basement, I run a 25-foot Amazon Basics HDMI cable from a DotStone 4-port HDMI switcher for the four consoles in my room (PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Wii U), and run that cable behind my shelf, under my bed, and to the card’s “in” port. I use Elgato 4K Capture Utility to play in real time while OBS applies a 300ms delay to the card, my webcam, and my mixer where the mic is connected.

12/21/24 UPDATE: First of all, the gameplay setup has changed, which you can read about here. Second, as noted earlier in this post, I replaced the PSU. The EVGA Supernova began to randomly power off my PC and automatically restart it. This happened twice on December 8 (11:09 AM, 10:37 PM) and December 16 (4:29 PM, 8:48 PM). Until the second wave, I assumed this was a BSoD problem, even though Windows reliability history didn’t list it as the cause. I updated the graphics drivers and BIOS. I panicked when the 4:29 power-off occurred and began thinking of buying a replacement PC from Dell. (I will buy an Alienware as my next desktop PC. While I appreciate encouragement I’ve gotten, I’m never building my own again.) I ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, and after a long two hours, it was determined my RAM DIMMs were healthy.

A Google yielded a How-To Geek article outlining my problem. I was willing to buy a PSU tester, and did so, but then came the second power-off of the second wave. With help from my dad, I bought a more reputable PSU from CORSAIR: the HX1200i. Amazon estimated it wouldn’t be delivered until Saturday (the day I’m writing this). In the meantime, I used my PC build sparingly, otherwise using the XPS 8930 in the guest room, or my Alienware M15 R3 laptop. (I went so far as to buy an external capture card for Twitch streaming on my laptop on December 18.) I operated this way until the evening of December 19. Someone on one of the Discords I didn’t reference in the original post suggested I try reseating the EVGA PSU cables, particularly the one running to the motherboard. I did that, turned my PC back on, and the power stayed on. This continued on December 20, when a stroke of luck hit: the CORSAIR HX1200i arrived a day early!

I went to sleep early and woke up early, then immediately got to work replacing the PSU. I switched off the EVGA PSU, unplugged it, disconnected the external cables from the PC, and lugged the tower into the guest room.

Here are the before photos:

…and the after photos:

It didn’t seem right to leave the second CPU port open, so I swapped out the EVGA cable.

Once I brought the tower back to my room and reconnected the external cables to the corresponding ports, I was dismayed when the PC wouldn’t power on. Thinking the swapped cable was the culprit, I took switched off the PSU, took off the left side panel, and disconnected that cable. I switched the PSU back on, pressed the power button atop the tower, and the PC came back to life! I am writing this update from my PC with the new PSU. Here’s hoping this is the end of my power troubles and has extended the life of my PC build.

I’ll leave you with photos taken after successfully powering on:

12/21/24, 7:30 AM UPDATE: Hope for naught. Random power loss and restart. The PC build experiment is over. I’ve ordered a Dell Alienware Aurora R16 and will swap out the 8TB HDD, FireWire and Elgato cards upon arrival by next Friday. Until then, I’ll make do with my build, no matter how many more power-offs I endure.

2020-21 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony June 17, 2022

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Rock, Technology, Travel, Video.
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Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023

Video of the ceremony can be found at the end of this post.

It’s been three years since the last ceremony, but last Saturday, the WCWP Hall of Fame finally added five new inductees to its ranks. Due to delays by the COVID-19 pandemic, there were two sets of inductees:

  • 2020: Alan Seltzer and Christina Kay (announced at Homecoming in 2019)
  • 2021: Joe Manfredi, Jay Mirabile and Mike Chimeri

Yes, it’s true! I’d been dreaming of getting into the Hall of Fame for years and I got the dream fulfilling call last April.

Earlier this year, outgoing director of broadcasting Dan Cox reached out to the five of us for a ceremony date that worked for us. That date was Saturday, June 11. The venue ended up being the former LIU Post campus bookstore, now known as the Alumni and Employer Engagement Building…or it was, and now it’s Alumni Hall.

I reached out to friends and family, hoping they could attend. No matter how many turned out, I’d be happy.

I wore a suit and shirt combo that I picked out on Thursday with a tie that my mother Lisa bought with colors similar to those of LIU.

I may have been one of the inductees, but I still took photos and video when it wasn’t my turn. So, after dressing up, I packed up my DSLR camera, battery pack with a spare battery attached, camcorder, GoPro, and tripods to connect to them and my iPhone, which I would have brought anyway.

Once my sister Lauren arrived at noon, she, our mom, and dad Bill all left for campus. I was worried we’d be late after traffic was diverted away from the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway entrance on Alken Avenue in North Wantagh, but once we entered via Hicksville Road, we made great time, parking next to the Alumni Hall (I’ve settled on that name) at 12:40 (hey, like WGBB!).

Not wanting to unpack my camera yet, I took establishing exterior shots with my phone:

The ceremony began at 1:22:

Hosting this ceremony was Dan Cox’s last act as director of broadcasting, officially retiring on May 31. Pete Bellotti was named his successor on June 6.

The first 2020 inductee was Alan Seltzer, currently host of The Grooveyard on WCWP. He was inducted by Scott Perschke:

  • After each acceptance speech, guests were invited to share any stories. 2013 inductee Bernie Bernard had one about Alan, which he elaborated on: the story of the 1978 Dome Auditorium collapse.
  • 2019 inductee Lew Scharfberg talked about the collapse at his induction, and he shared his perspective again this year.

The second 2020 inductee was Christina Kay, now of WALK 97.5. She was inducted by Dan Cox:

  • Dan admitted in his induction speech that he considers her a second daughter.
  • Christina’s table
  • Yes, the plaque has a typo. It will be replaced.
  • The storytellers following Christina’s speech were Charlie Moerler…
  • Chris Maffei…
  • Bernie Bernard…
  • David North, Christina’s colleague at WALK 97.5 when he was a news anchor and reporter there…
  • …and Will Bruner.

Before moving on to the 2021 inductees, Dan Cox awarded the inaugural Art Beltrone Founders Award to Dan Casazza:

  • Dan Ca.’s fellow students at WCWP and The Wave (known as WebRadio WCWP when I was there)

New director of broadcasting (or station manager, if you will) and 2019 inductee Pete Bellotti inducted two of the three 2021 inductees. First, Joe Manfredi, the station manager of Old Westbury Web Radio (OWWR) (listen here), serving nearby SUNY Old Westbury:

  • Joe acknowledged me in his speech, asking me to name some of the musicians I interviewed (over the phone) on The Mike Chimeri Show. The interviews can be found here, warts and all (meaning I’m hesitant to listen).
  • There was also an anecdote about Karen Fiorelli’s news report blunder.
  • Stories were shared by Dan Cox…
  • Alana Leider, currently host of The Rockin’ Sunday Show on WCWP…
  • Sandra Cerrone, a.k.a. DJ Sandra Dee, one of Joe’s Old Westbury Web Radio alumni…
  • I love this camcorder vidcap. It’s like a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast cutaway. 6/18 UPDATE: While editing the video that I will add once complete, I noticed that this was really in reaction to a remark by…
  • Joelle Desrosiers, another OWWR alumna…
  • Joe Conte with an anecdote on unwittingly playing unedited songs…
  • …and Mike Kinane, Joe’s OWWR colleague, and vice president of communications at SUNY Old Westbury.

Dan reintroduced Pete to induct Jay Mirabile, longtime host of The Disco and Funk King Show (DFK for short):

  • Jay and his father Len
  • Jay went beyond acknowledging me, inviting me to the podium to recall funny moments in early episodes of The Mike Chimeri Show. In those early days, Jay was my lead-in, and sometimes, I would acknowledge the last song of the show at the start of mine. The anecdote he relayed was how I quipped “wouldn’t you know it, they stopped” because his last song was “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead.
  • I thought he was going to mention the one where – channeling Jay Sherman’s boss Duke Phillips on The Critic – I began my show with “Jay, son, you’re a tough act to follow.”
  • Upon leaving the podium, as I waved in thanks, Jay noted what great friends we are.
  • This was my genuine reaction to the compliment.
  • Story time. First, Christina Kay…
  • Then, Charlie Moerler…
  • Alana Leider…
  • …and Joe Conte.

Finally, it was my turn. I originally planned on my cousin Chris – C.W. Post Class of 2008 – inducting me, but he came down with COVID earlier in the week. His induction speech was partially complete and he offered to finish it and have Dan Cox read it on his behalf, but I declined and had Dan give his own speech:

  • LONG STORY: This is the first of the iPhone vidcaps. I foolishly recorded the entire ceremony from my table’s perspective when I’d have been better off recording my portion. Attempts to truncate the video and transfer to my computer via iCloud failed, even after upgrading to 50 GB of storage for 99 cents a month. The original mammoth video was still in the system and would need to be transferred with the edited version. This contributed to my insomnia Saturday night. Finally, late Sunday morning, I thought to download to my computer by connecting the phone to it with Dell Mobile Connect. It worked, but there was another hurdle. The raw MOV file wasn’t accepted by Adobe Premiere Elements 2020. Luckily, Wondershare Filmora accepted it and allowed me to convert it to an MP4, BUT I’d have to buy a subscription. $54 a year later, the video was converted, I loaded it into Premiere Elements, and extracted vidcaps. The absolute last hurdle involved correcting the wide-angle distortion in Photoshop Elements, and here we are. Anyway…
  • In the center is Joan Yonke, LIU Post’s director of development, previously campus director of employer and alumni engagement. It was so great to see her there. I just wish I had thought to add her to my thank list. (More on that shortly.)
  • Early in Dan’s induction, I asked my dad Bill to take photos with my camera.
  • It’s time, as my table cheers me on! Besides Joan Yonke, going from left to right, there’s cousin Lisa Cassidy, my aunt Donna Dantes Chimeri (Chris’s mother), my mom Lisa’s friend Mandy Muldowney, Mom, Dad, Lori Downing, and Wendy Connelly. Mandy was the principal of Leo F. Giblyn School where Mom is a teaching assistant, and Wendy and Lori are (Lori retired in 2020) reading teachers at Giblyn. Interestingly, Aunt Donna (Post Class of 1998) knew Joe Manfredi’s father, also named Joe, but the elder Joe pronounced the last name “man-freedy” rather than “man-freddy.”
  • Here I go!
  • Mandy and Mom are taking photos and/or video.
  • I made a two-page table in Microsoft Word of people to thank. I read from that with ad-libs here and there.
  • My sister Lauren also shot video on her phone and shared vidcaps with me…
  • Back to Dad’s photos with my camera…
  • Joe Manfredi (the younger) kindly handled my camcorder during my speech.
  • “… WCWP, the one place [my aunt Robin Rose Brinegar, then-academic counselor at C.W. Post] didn’t know anyone, has had the biggest, the biggest impact on my life.”
  • “… I will never forget WCWP. Thank you so much.”
  • I put the thank list back in my shirt’s breast pocket and left the podium.
  • Another wave…
  • …and a handshake with Dad. The expression on my face is a nasty anxious habit. Seeing myself do that in my on-camera moments has me eager to overcome the habit.
  • I asked, “Anyone got stories?” Jay Mirabile had one, or at least compliments.
  • …as did 2015 inductee Bobby Guthenberg.
  • One final round of applause from my table (and the elder Joe Manfredi)

Dan, with his time as director of broadcasting at an end, closed the ceremony with poignant, and pointed, remarks:

  • Speaking of WCWP’s uncertain future: “… Let’s not let college radio go away, because if it does, there’ll be one less safe space for our kids to be when they go to college. Thank you. Have a great day.”
  • A standing ovation

With the ceremony complete, all that remained were the photo ops:

  • Mandy Muldowney, Donna Dantes (aunt), Lori Downing, Lisa Chimeri (mom), me, Lauren Chimeri (sister), Bill Chimeri (dad), Wendy Connelly, Lisa Cassidy
  • Lauren had two photos taken with her phone…
  • Joe Manfredi and his OWWR alumnae: Nikki Kallipozis, Arielle Mancebo, Sandra Cerrone, Joelle Desrosiers (Names added on 6/22 via this SUNY Old Westbury article)
  • Me, Lori Downing, Bernie Bernard
    During Bernie’s WBAB days, she spoke at Lori’s high school, vividly remembering that when Lori told her about it.
  • Scott Perschke and Alan Seltzer
  • Me and Jay Mirabile
  • Me, Alan, Jay
  • Oop, rabbit ears!
  • A candid shot
  • Christina Kay and me
  • Joe Conte, Karen Fiorelli, me, Joe Manfredi
  • Joe, Christina, Jay, me
  • Pete Bellotti and me
  • This was supposed to be another one of me and Dan Cox, but I wanted to leave in Bernie, her sister Melissa, and Christina.
  • The last photo before I left the building: Joe, Pete, Jay, me

As I left, Dan had everyone yell “goodbye” to me. I happily waved and walked out…except that I left my camera battery charger in an outlet. I realized my error halfway to Domenico’s of Levittown. I didn’t feel like going back to campus, so Pete returned it to me today. Still, I went ahead and bought new third-party batteries with a charger. The batteries I had were 6 1/2 years old, anyway.

Joining my family at Domenico’s were Wendy, Lori, and Aunt Donna. The lone photo I took there was of a toast:

Cheers!

Thank you to those that gave me congratulations cards and gifts:

Thus ends the recap. I am overwhelmed by all the support I received during and after the ceremony. Congratulations to Alan Seltzer, Christina Kay, Joe Manfredi, Jay Mirabile, and yours truly Mike Chimeri, the 2020 and ’21 classes of the WCWP Hall of Fame.

6/21 UPDATE: The video is now up. Chapters are included if you want to skip ahead or know what to expect. There is occasional coarse language and suggestive dialogue.

SJFS 2022 Night 2 recap May 6, 2022

Posted by Mike C. in Baseball, Internet, Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Weather.
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Continued from night 1.

Updated with videos on 5/15.

Keyboardist Jay Rowe‘s 18th annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars (benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department) continued Saturday night with the second of two shows. Saturday’s headliners were Jeff Kashiwa (who made a surprise appearance late Friday), Alex Bugnon, and in his debut, Marcus Anderson. Alex appeared in place of Brian Simpson, who had to back out at some point after my promotional blog post in February. SJFS attendees last saw Alex on the first night in 2013.

Photos and the set list are on the way, but we start with the preamble.

I found it hard to sleep in my Hampton Inn hotel room on Friday night. Not only did I have photo editing on my mind, but intermittent trucks and motorcycles (or muscle cars) on I-95 made it hard to relax and drift into sleep. I didn’t mention this in the Friday recap, but I brought two pairs of foam ear plugs to wear on both nights. I got in the habit of wearing them or safety earmuffs at home to drown out loud or unsettling noises, like fireworks (sadly, not just on the Fourth of July) or high wind gusts that slam rain into my south and east-facing windows during coastal storms. I figured I should start wearing them at concerts; if only I had thought of that sooner. When I wore ear plugs at bedtime, I would lie on my back with a sleep mask on, attempting to sleep, or at least relax. That’s what I did Friday night into Saturday morning. There comes a point on sleepless nights where I give up and start my day. That point came around 5AM.

I’m a Mets fan, so I checked the MLB app on my phone (via Hilton Honors Wi-Fi) to see how they did while I was pre-occupied with SJFS. What?! A no-hitter against the Phillies?! That’s only the second one in team history! And a combined no-hitter, at that! Click here to read all about it (and watch videos).

I lifted weights in the fitness center, then went back in my room to do push-ups and whittle down the amount of photos from Friday night. I showered, got dressed, and brought my laptop and phone to the lobby for breakfast and potential mingling with fans or musicians. I didn’t see any musicians, but John and Theresa Monteverde were there, followed later by Mark and Phyllis Abrams, and Billy and Sandy Okumu. Diane and Richard were there, but we had forgotten about each other and didn’t reacquaint ourselves until Sunday morning.

For breakfast, I had two plates of French toast sticks with syrup, and two cups of apple juice to wash them down, followed later by two cups of hot chocolate. I mainly edited the road sign photos, but was able to start on photos from the show.

I went back to my room around 11AM and spent the next four hours editing the rest of Friday night’s photos and picking which ones to publicize. All the while, I listened to a few 2021 episodes of Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. (Sadly, Gilbert died last month.)

I’m also a fan (and Patreon supporter) of the YouTube channel Technology Connections. Alec, the creator, recently posted the third of three (and a half) videos on heat pumps. Part three included a segment on the PTAC (packaged terminal air conditioner) and their use in hotels. This was the PTAC in my room:

My PTAC

It was set to cool when I checked in on Friday, but I switched to heat. I switched back to cool Saturday afternoon as the unfiltered sun warmed up the room. That’s when I realized the thin curtain in front of the light-blocking thick one is supposed to filter the sun rays.

My girlfriend Kelly, dad Bill, and I had dinner at Gusto Trattoria, half a block from the hotel. It was there that self-doubt and performance anxiety set in. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to function at the auditorium because of my lack of sleep and that I’d compulsively end up taking as many photos as Friday night (around 400 before whittling). Somewhere in between, I managed to eat a piece of bread and bowl of Rigatoni Bolognese. Upon returning to my room after dinner, I lied down and took deep breaths. By 7PM (about an hour after dinner), I felt calm enough to get out of bed and go with Kelly to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium at Parsons Complex. Obviously, the sound check was over before we arrived because we saw attendees filing in.

I took an establishing shot of the auditorium with my phone before going in:

The second of my 2020 tickets was honored upon entrance and I went back to the same spot in the orchestra pit as Friday night to set up. I comprised with fellow photographers Katherine Gilraine and Ron Hancox to situate my camcorder (which recorded flawlessly on this night) (5/15 UPDATE: four videos are posted below) in a spot further back so the two of them had more room to maneuver during the show. I only had to move it out during a solo on the penultimate song of the night (one of the videos below). Fun fact (as Alec would say): this month marks ten years since I entered the world of DSLR cameras after Katherine recommended I switch to one.

While waiting, Jay Dobbins introduced me to someone I had met on Facebook through Jay Rowe’s weekly Tito Tuesday livestreams on Facebook (here’s one of the last streams to date). It was Robin Morin Stewart. After a pleasant conversation, Jay D. took our picture:

I also recognized Judy Raphael and spoke to her, but forgot to get a picture.

And of course, I saw the rest of my friends that I had seen Friday night and/or Saturday morning in the hotel dining area.

At some point before showtime, I got my second wind. I didn’t feel the least bit overtired or overwhelmed.

Saturday’s set began at 8PM with another enthusiastic introduction by Kevin McCabe of Jumpstart Jazz Productions:

Music director Jay Rowe led the house band on keyboards:

Andy Abel on guitar:

Dave Livolsi on bass:

Trever Somerville on drums:

…and percussion by Tony Cintron:

The headliners were Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax and NuRAD (seen on tenor):

Alex Bugnon on keyboards:

…and Marcus Anderson on alto sax and flute (seen on alto):

SET LIST
1. I’ll Love You Later (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)

2. There She Goes (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar)

3. Starlight Kisses (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Groove Reflections (2021)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax)

4. Slow Turn (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Sunrise (2021)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (NuRAD/tenor sax), Andy Abel (guitar)
The NuRAD is an EWI (electronic wind instrument) that can be paired with a phone or tablet. Jeff paired his with his phone. 5/9 UPDATE: Jeff said in a Facebook post sharing one of my photos that it was “triggering [his] iPhone with the Korg iMono/Poly Patchman library.”

5. The Night is Young (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Sunrise (2021)
Featured musician: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax)

6. The Pecan Tree (Joe Sample cover) (Alex Bugnon)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
Jay didn’t play on any of Alex’s songs. Coincidentally, I played the original Joe Sample version of “The Pecan Tree” on last Wednesday’s Instrumental Invasion.

7. Harlem on My Mind (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Tales from the Bright Side (1995)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)

8. Will Power (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Limited Edition (2017)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax/flute at the end)

9. Soul Ties (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Reverse (2022)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax)

10. Jay Rowe/Alex Bugnon duet: Poinciana/107 Degrees in the Shade
Originally heard on: 107 Degrees in the Shade (1991) (second song only)
Jay and Alex played the same medley in their 2013 duet. “Poinciana” is a jazz standard popularized by Ahmad Jamal on his album of the same name.

11. Night Groove (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Soul Purpose (2001)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)

12. Understanding (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Limited Edition (2017)
Featured musicians: Marcus Anderson (alto sax), Jay Rowe (keyboards), Andy Abel (guitar)

13. Let It Ride (Jeff Kashiwa)
Originally heard on: Let It Ride (2012)
Featured musicians: Jeff Kashiwa (tenor sax), Dave Livolsi (bass), Tony Cintron (percussion), Jay Rowe (keyboards)
Jeff noted that Let It Ride was inspired by 1960s and ’70s music, and the performance of the title track here exemplified the ’70s part. Dave’s solo was based (no pun intended) on “For the Love of Money” by The O’Jays (1973), while Jay based his on “People Make the World Go Round” by The Stylistics (1972) and “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors (1971). The ’70s influence carried into the finale.

14 (Finale). Love and Happiness (Al Green cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone but Alex Bugnon
Trever Somerville and Tony Cintron traded places on drums and percussion midway through, and Trever even sang vocals! He left the percussion kit behind at the end (I neglected to take photos) and just sang next to Tony. These were the only surprises of the show, which went quicker than Friday night.

Here are groups of pictures by artist, starting with Jeff Kashiwa on tenor sax:

Jeff on NuRAD for “Slow Turn”:

Alex Bugnon:

Marcus Anderson on alto sax:

Marcus on flute at the end of “Will Power”:

Jay Rowe:

Andy Abel:

  • More photos of Andy and Tony await us in the finale section.

Dave Livolsi:

Trever Somerville:

Tony Cintron:

Marcus and Andy:

Marcus and Dave:

Marcus and Jay:

Jeff and Jay:

The last note of “Let It Ride”:

Jay and Alex’s duet:

The finale: “Love and Happiness”:

  • The last note
  • The end!
  • Jay named all performers…
  • “I’m Jay Rowe! Thank you all so much! It was a pleasure to do this this weekend…”
  • “…and stay tuned for next year when Smooth Jazz for Scholars turns 20 ’cause it’s gonna be big! So, tell all your friends who missed it tonight they missed a great show. We’ll see you next year, and wherever else we’re playin’. …”
  • “I’m gonna be tourin’ with Acoustic Alchemy this summer, so I hope to see you out with them. Thank you.”
  • “Jay Rowe!”

All that remained was meeting and greeting, starting with me and Alex Bugnon:

Me and Marcus Anderson:

Jeff Kashiwa with my photography buddies Katherine Gilraine and Ron Hancox:

Just the three of us:

Back in the lobby, Marcus Anderson with Steve Lewis:

Johnnie “Butch” Brooks and Dolly Moye, whose birthday was on Sunday:

…and finally, me and Dolly:

Thanks to Jay Dobbins and Steve Lewis for taking photos of me. Jay also took this selfie with me:

Friday night, Kelly and I left for the hotel at 11:30, but Saturday, the departure time was 10:45. After transferring the photos and video to my laptop via a handy USB 3.0 SD card reader, I took melatonin and went to sleep. After five hours of successful sleep early Sunday morning, I noticed daylight peaking through the edge of the curtains and opted to wake up for the day. (The Mets lost Saturday’s game, but won on Sunday night while I was getting ten hours of sleep.)

I didn’t lift weights until I got home, but I did do push-ups in my room Sunday morning before going to the lobby for breakfast. All my rowdy friends, to paraphrase Hank Williams Jr., were there, including Jay Rowe. French toast sticks weren’t available, so I ate four sausages and two blueberry muffins with two lemon-lime seltzer cans that I brought and stored in my room’s mini fridge. Before returning to the room to pack up and leave, I got a selfie with the Monteverde, Abrams, and Okumu couples:

John Monteverde, me, Phyllis Abrams, Theresa Monteverde, Mark Abrams, Sandy and Billy Okumu

I saved photo editing for Monday and Tuesday, followed by drafting this post and the one before it on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Dad and I checked out around 10:30 and got home by 12:25. I took tons of photos on the road to and from Milford, but those will get their own post next week. Until then, thank you for reading the recaps of both nights of the 18th annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars. As Jay Rowe noted, next year will be the 20th anniversary, but 19th annual. I hope to be there. Thank you to Jay and everyone involved in putting SJFS together each year.

Instrumental Invasion, 4/6/22 April 7, 2022

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Baseball, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Weather.
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The April 6 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded over three days in mid-February: the first hour on the 14th (Valentine’s Day), one second hour segment on the 15th, and the last two on the 16th when a pickup was also recorded.

The playlist was created on February 12 and annotated on the 13th. The talk break script was drafted before recording on the 14th.

A few days before work on this show began, I finally took the plunge and bought the Kaotica Eyeball microphone isolation shield. Since my remote location has minimal room echo, the Eyeball is for home recordings. It only took two days to ship from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Here’s how it looks from my chair:

It’s as big as my head, a challenge for Zoom meetings and for reading text on the right side of my monitor, but it works! Room echo was practically gone from any talk breaks I recorded at home. You will have to lower the pot (potentiometer) on your mixer. The Eyeball isolates background audio so well that more of the mic is picked up.

Thank you to actor and impressionist Jim Meskimen (son of Marion Ross) for recommending the Kaotica Eyeball in one of Mark Evanier‘s 2020 voice-over panel livestreams (cued to the relevant portion) and then jogging my memory about it in an Instagram post a few days before my purchase.

This wasn’t the first show with talk breaks recorded through the Eyeball, due to pickups I recorded for March 16.

After acquiring new music releases in the weeks leading up to this show, and the Friday after, I re-instituted two 2017 to present segments for the second hour. I included “Feet First” by Rick Braun unaware that it was the first single off his eponymous album. I did know that “Sun Princess” by the Jeff Lorber Fusion and “Out to Lunch” by Oli Silk were on the smooth jazz radio charts. So, I worked them in. Due to time constraints in the last segment, I couldn’t remind listeners about the accelerando at the end of the Bob James Trio arrangement of “Westchester Lady.” That same arrangement was part of their Blue Note set in November 2018, a month after Feel Like Making LIVE! was recorded. I said of the Blue Note performance:

This song had a call and response between the trio and ended with an accelerando that led me to polka dance [in my seat].

“The Big Windy Cat” by Nick Colionne was played 52 weeks after the previous cut from No Limits, “Headin’ Wes Before Dawn.” “Rippin’ n Runnin'” by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, from That’s How We Roll, was played exactly six months after “Howdiz Songo?” We also went exactly six months between tracks from the Jeff Lorber Fusion’s Space-Time – “Louisiana” and “Sun Princess” – and between the last track to date from the previous Bob James Trio album, Espresso, and the first off Feel Like Making LIVE! The Espresso track was “Mister Magic,” which was also recorded for the new album.

Little did I know my inclusion of “Swingin’ for the Fence” by Nelson Rangell, and addressing personnel as “heavy hitters,” would coincide with the delayed start to the 2022 Major League Baseball Season, and appear in a show preceded by the baseball edition of The Rock Show. And it slipped my mind that an unusually late blizzard affected the New York metro area 40 years ago: April 6, 1982. You can watch WABC-TV‘s Eyewitness News coverage of that storm here.

Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:

Instrumental Invasion, 12/15/21 December 16, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, Comedy, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Rock, Technology, TV, Video.
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The December 15 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded its entirety at my remote location on November 1, immediately after annotating the playlist and drafting the script. The playlist was created the day before, on Halloween (October 31). It’s the fastest turnaround from creation to completion since the July 14 show, which was created, annotated, and script drafted on June 2, and recorded on the 3rd.

To play it safe, I applied the denoise filter to all talk breaks, except for the pickup I recorded from home which is the first time I noticed how echoey my room is.

Back at home, I was a few days into re-digitizing my DAT and analog cassette recordings of The Mike Chimeri Show on WebRadio WCWP and the original The Instrumental Invasion on WGBB. Those shows were fresh on my mind during recording, as was Full House, a show from my youth, which I was four seasons into on HBO Max. Hence, “you got it, dude!,” and allusions to my early radio shows and its lead-ins: Jay Mirabile (2001-02) and Ryan Grabow (2003). It’s too bad that the stock laugh that The Nanny ran into the ground – as noted in the October 27 post – was used first by Full House starting in season 7. That laugh again:

Torture.

For the second time in the last four weeks, I swapped out the 1984 and earlier segment for an extra 2017 to present. I also opted to list release dates for 2021 releases instead of billing them as “all-2021 segments,” which I’ve overdone. One of the 2021 songs was the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio‘s cover of “Careless Whisper” by George Michael. Bill McClintock did a great mashup that combines the backing track to George’s version with the vocals from “Love Gun” by KISS. Watch:

This was the second week in a row with a song from David Benoit‘s album, Here’s to You, Charlie Brown: Great Years! This time, I cited the accompanying TV special, which was the last Peanuts special on CBS before ABC took over broadcasting rights. What I didn’t mention is rights now belong to Apple TV+ and PBS.

As for the December 15 Instrumental Invasion, click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:

Instrumental Invasion, 12/1/21 December 2, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Technology, Travel, Video.
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The December 1 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on October 10 and 11.

The playlist was created and annotated on October 9 while the script was drafted before recording on the 10th.

I chose to take the next two weeks off to focus on covering WCWP’s Homecoming Weekend and then to unwind, but was pressed into service on October 21 after an additional underwriting spot at the top of each hour necessitated shortening segments to 18:30, and also picking up where I took out a liner. The first segment couldn’t be shortened.

This is the first show with a new thumbnail, after updating my profile photo on my various platforms last Saturday. I took the photo on a GoPro Hero 7 attached to a 10″ flexible tripod. I held a tripod leg with my right hand while taking the photo in an iPhone app with my left hand. It was time-consuming adapting the photo to the show banner, and then updating thumbnails for all completed shows recorded to date, but the end results were worth it, even if the image is darker without a flash.

I led off the show with “Unisphere” by The Dave Brubeck Quartet because I had purchased their Time Changes album – an ironic title, considering my later circumstance – after watching video of a live performance on Dave’s Facebook page:

The song was inspired by the steel structure that served as the theme symbol to the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. As noted on the air, I saw the Unisphere firsthand back in July 2017:

This is the documentary I spoke of, After the Fair:

I saw The Rippingtons live at My Father’s Place in Roslyn in March 2019, the night before Open Road was released. Their set included “Tangerine Skyline.”

I made up for last week’s mistake by including “Watch Your Step” by Chris Geith in the second hour’s second segment.

Click here to download this show’s aircheck MP3 or listen below:

Instrumental Invasion, 11/17/21: 40th Birthday Special! November 18, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Basketball, Football, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Radio, Sports, Technology, TV.
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The November 17 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on September 29 and 30. I would have started recording on the 28th, but deferred to the next day due to insomnia the night before. Pickups were recorded on October 21 while remixing segments to 18:30 in length. (The first segment is still 18:40.)

The playlist was created and annotated, and the script was drafted all on September 27.

The format for this week would have been used in my Homecoming Weekend prerecord if I was also granted a live show. Instead, it fit right in on my 40th birthday. I had a great birthday, by the way, and will have a separate recap post at a later date.

I didn’t realize how many males named Kim were in the show until recording began. It was a fun running gag. I was also surprised to learn that Dave Grusin wasn’t the one playing George Gershwin‘s “That Certain Feeling” at the start of his The Gershwin Collection album. It was a player piano playing a roll punched by George himself! Also, the Bryant Reeves “Big Country” reference tied in nicely with a Wayman Tisdale song to follow. As noted, they played basketball at rival colleges.

I made sure to play “Remember When” by Dan Siegel since Ed Alton played bass on it. That way, I could refer to Head of the Class, a show Ed composed for, which I rediscovered on HBO Max two weeks before recording. The reboot premiered earlier this month. (5/13/22 UPDATE: It was canceled in December.)

My use of the phrase “knock on wood if you’re with me” was an homage to (at the time of recording) Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. About a week after recording, unflattering e-mails from Gruden’s past were leaked to the public, which led him to resign.

In case you missed it, this was the first show without a David Benoit song. Don’t worry. He’ll be back next week.

Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:

2021 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend, WCWP’s 60th Anniversary October 19, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Aviation, Football, Health, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Phone, Photography, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games, Weather.
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Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022

After a year away, Homecoming Weekend was back in full force! And WCWP’s 60th anniversary on Monday made it a four-day weekend!

It was my first time back on the campus of LIU Post since October 28, 2019 – a week after the last Homecoming – with Ryan Grabow.

On Thursday, October 14, I charged up my camcorder and changed batteries in the shotgun mic and audio recorder. I also charged up my GoPro Hero 7 for multi camera production, but didn’t use it.

Friday, October 15

I left for LIU Post via Uber at 10:30. Upon arrival, I gave my COVID-19 self-check form – which I filled out before I left – to the gate attendant. Then, I was driven down to WCWP in the Abrams Communication Center. I immediately went to work as Art Beltrone and Hank Neimark pre-recorded an interview in studio 1 for Monday’s 60th anniversary broadcast. The guest and recorder was Samantha “Sami J” Negron.

Here is the interview:

After that, I moved my equipment into studio 2 to record part of Art Beltrone’s solo show, WCWP’s Early Years, which kicked off the 60-hour (hey, 60 hours + 60 years!) Homecoming Weekend programming block. Jeff Kroll was the board operator and his wife Pat was producer.

Hank Neimark was Art’s first guest:

Jay Elzweig introduced the songs, all from 1961, the year WCWP signed on:

Several WCWP alumni were interviewed via Zoom:

Two of the Zoom guests were Stewart Ain…:

…and Steve Radoff:

Another show feature had Art reading Post Pioneer newspaper articles. This one was “Message to the Students from the Provost”:

Jay showed off his t-shirt:

The show closed with a preview of 4:00’s Strictly Jazz with John LiBretto and Hank Neimark:

Art also asked Jeff and Pat Kroll their thoughts:

After Art’s closing remarks, the show was over.

Here’s video of portions of WCWP’s Early Years:

Joan Yonke, LIU Post Campus Director of Employer and Alumni Engagement, dropped by the station during Early Years and came back again afterward. It’s always nice to see her.

While the pre-recorded WCWP Career Paths with Bill Mozer ran, I took some photos in the lounge area:

Here’s Homecoming Weekend coordinator Zach’s dog Diesel:

Strictly Jazz started a few minutes after 4PM due to technical difficulties, but ran without a hitch after that.

As you saw, Jeff Kroll ran the board again.

Joining John LiBretto…:

…and Hank Neimark…:

…was Rita Sands, appearing by phone.

They spoke to Jon Korkes via Zoom (after John held Jeff’s “un-mute” message up to the webcam):

They spoke to me in studio 2:

And after my dad picked up to drive me home, Ted David on Zoom:

Here is my video of the first hour:

And the scope of the entire show, just as in 2019 when it aired before mine:

10/20 UPDATE: John Zoni took over studio 2 at 6PM:

Sami J was on at 8PM with Total Access:

My friend and ardent supporter Jay Mirabile had a special edition of his DFK Show at 10PM. Here’s a photo he posted with Sami and Peter Sacoulas:

And his aircheck:

Saturday, October 16

I spent much of the morning editing media and drafting this blog post. I left for Post, this time with my dad, shortly after 1PM.

Both gates were open with no need to check in. So, when we got to campus at 1:30, I photographed the turn into the east gate:

Bernie Bernard and Adam Smook were congregating in studio 3. Adam and I are both from Wantagh – Wantagh Woods, at that! – as we discussed. We also talked about fellow alumnus Frank D’Elia, who worked with Adam at WOR and then WABC.

Jay Elzweig and Jett Lightning came in, as our WABC discussion continued, eventually turning to jingles. Bernie mentioned how JAM Creative Productions recorded a name jingle for her. That jingle has become part of her annual Homecoming Weekend show, which airs after coverage of the football game.

The LIU Sharks‘ Homecoming football game was against the Merrimack Warriors. Merrimack won convincingly 43-5. The Sharks only got a safety and a field goal. I walked toward Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium during the third quarter.

I planespotted to and from Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium, watching planes turn toward JFK. This is Delta flight 169 from BCN (Barcelona El Prat Airport):

JetBlue flight B6192 from ACK (Nantucket Memorial Airport):

Carnival attractions in the parking lot:

“Hoco”? That’s a new one on me.

The stadium entrance:

A play on Bronko Piersall Field:

The scoreboard:

The new press box and stands:

The opposite side:

That’s enough for me. Back to the station.

Emirates flight 201 from DXB (Dubai International Airport):

Jeff Kroll told me he’s been on that flight in the past, all 13 hours of it.

Delta flight 858 from ATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport):

Delta flight 4721 from BNA (Nashville International Airport):

WCWP’s transmitter:

When the game was over, I got to work photographing the postgame show, hosted by John Zoni:

Here is my aircheck of the postgame show, which includes final thoughts from the broadcast booth by Tom Scavetta and Alex Damiris:

Next, the aforementioned Bernie Bernard:

The first page of her playlist:

Jett Lightning was Bernie’s first guest:

Then, me:

Meanwhile, WCWP’s internet station, The Wave, hosted a barbecue outside. Zach was the grillmaster:

Dave asked for a picture:

Seconds later, Qatar Airways flight 701 from DOH (Doha Hamad International Airport) was flying about as low as the earlier Emirates plane:

Jeff’s been on that flight, too. It’s 14 hours long! Nonetheless, he raved about their service.

One last Delta plane: flight 1984 from SAL (San Salvador International Airport):

Back inside, John Zoni and Lew Scharfberg wrapped up the bagels from earlier in the day:

Jay Elzweig was the last of Bernie’s guests that I photographed and video recorded:

In addition to reminiscing, he gave the weather forecast, right up my alley as a fellow weather buff:

The weather Friday and Saturday was warm and a little humid, but a cold front came through Saturday night, leading to seasonably mild and dry conditions Sunday and Monday.

Video of all three segments (my vidcap is the thumbnail):

I chose to leave earlier this year, but there was more to do before I left.

I photographed Art Beltrone’s interview with Nick Mattina and Griffin Ward:

Art:

Nick:

Griffin:

Art’s notes:

A candid shot of Art’s off-air conversation with Lew Scharfberg:

Then, I recorded Art’s interview with me. Here are vidcaps:

…and the video itself:

I mentioned Dan Cox’s predecessor as WCWP’s Director of Broadcasting, and Dan himself who has held the position for 19 years and counting, but forgot to acknowledge Joe Manfredi, the Director of Operations when I was a student. He’s my fellow 2021 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee along with Jay Mirabile. Participating on Zoom during the broadcast to remedy my omission voided the chance for this interview to air; no double-dipping.

Finally on Saturday, posed photos, starting with Peter Sacoulas and Sami Jo Negron:

Me with Peter and Sami:

John Zoni:

…and Tom Scavetta:

Art Beltrone, Bobby Guthenberg (a.k.a. Bobby G.), Joel Mahan:

Art, Bobby G., Jerry Reilly, Joel:

I met Joel and Jerry in 2019 and was so glad to see them again this year. Joel was eager to listen to my regular Wednesday night show and Bobby complimented my work.

Jett Lightning and Jay Elzweig:

Bernie Bernard:

Bernie and John Mertz:

A candid shot of Art Beltrone and Alan Seltzer:

…and posed:

And with my dad having arrived in the parking lot, the last photo was me with Bobby and Alan:

Like Art at the end of his interview with me, Bobby thanked me for everything I do. I told him I appreciate that.

It’s an aircheck palooza from here on out, except for any photos I find in the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group. To that end, here’s a photo of another guest on Bernie’s show: her former student Joe Connelly:

Alan Seltzer and Bobby G., followed by just Alan:

And Bernie’s outro:

Bobby G. and Mike Riccio were next at 7PM. Here is a scope of their first hour:

Again, courtesy of Bernie, it’s Bobby and Jett:

Mike Riccio:

And the four original hosts of The Rock Show: Bobby, Mike, Alan and Bernie:

A partial scope of Alan’s 10PM show, Seltzer with a Twist:

Sunday, October 17

Once again, I spent the morning editing content from the day before and the aircheck of Instrumental Invasion. Full details about the show are in a separate post, but here’s the scoped aircheck:

I airchecked a handful of Sunday’s shows, also of the partial scope variety. Jay LaPrise was on at 8AM with The Why I Work in Television Radio Show:

At noon, “Jammin'” Jamie Mazzo and Sara “Sadie” Dorchak hosted The Ladies of Prison Break Radio. This is a partial scope, but a long one: 49 minutes. The aircheck begins with a trailer-style Homecoming Weekend promo voiced by Zach:

10/20 UPDATE: Next, at 4PM, Joseph P. Honerkamp. You can call him Joe. Here’s a full scope:

There’s also a video:

I made a scoped version with re-synced audio and the end part that the video missed:

Jett Lightning came on at 6PM with Lightning’s Hits and Rarities Reliquary. As you’ll hear, Jay Elzweig – weather forecast in tow – joined Jett later in the show:

Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel followed at 8PM, hosted by Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh. His scope includes a community calendar spot voiced by me and a promo for Monday’s 60th anniversary special voiced by Jeff Kroll:

And as midnight approached, Zach wrapped up the weekend that was:

Monday, October 18

I had yet another morning of editing; in this case, Sunday’s aircheck scopes heard above.

Noon came, and so began the WCWP 60th anniversary broadcast, hosted by Art Beltrone and Hank Neimark, board operated by Jeff Kroll, and produced by Pat Kroll; same as Friday.

My initial plan was to listen to the stream, but as noted earlier, I joined in on Zoom. Here are some screencaps:

Show timeline:

  • Introduction with sign-on audio
  • Dr. Jennifer Holmes, Dean of Arts, Communications, and Design; and Michael Berthel, Chief of Staff and Vice President for Student Affairs
  • Hank counts down to 12:15, pops champagne, cuts cake
  • Dr. Kimberly Cline, LIU President
  • Jeff Kroll
  • Dan Cox, WCWP Director of Broadcasting, reads citation from Nassau County Executive Laura Curran
  • Hank Neimark
  • Bruce Mahler (via Zoom)
  • Jon Cole (via Zoom)
  • John Commins (via Zoom)
  • Joel Feltman (via Zoom)
  • Diane Taylor (via Zoom)
  • Stewart Ain (via Zoom)
  • Joe Honerkamp (via Zoom)
  • John LiBretto (via Zoom)
  • Jon Korkes (via Zoom)
  • Rita Sands (on the phone)
  • Bernie Bernard (recorded Saturday)
  • Jeff asks Art and Hank to share their recollections
  • Harry Lowenthal (via Zoom)
  • Mike Chimeri (via Zoom)
  • Bobby Guthenberg (via Zoom)
  • Zach Parker
  • West Side Story opened in theaters the same day WCWP signed on
  • Alan Seltzer (via Zoom)
  • Ted David (recorded via Zoom)
  • Jeff’s recollections, John Commins and Mike Chimeri’s interjections
  • Aleen “Junie” Thomas (via Zoom)
  • Dr. William Martinov, LIU Director of Athletics (recorded Saturday)
  • Andrew Scarpaci (recorded Saturday)
  • Art and Hank re-read citation
  • Pat Kroll
  • Joe Honerkamp and Stewart Ain share stories about Mrs. Abrams
  • Lew Scharfberg (via Zoom)
  • Bruce Leonard (via Zoom)
  • Fred Gaudelli (via Zoom)
  • Bill Mozer (on the phone)
  • Jon Cole, Mike Chimeri, Fred Gaudelli, Joel Feltman speak to Bill
  • Elise Person (recorded on the phone)
  • End

The show was 2 1/2 hours, but I’m posting audio in three parts. Here’s part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

And my pre-record-voiding appearance:

Pat Kroll also took several photos, starting with the cake:

Art with the cake:

Hank, Jeff, Art:

Hank cutting the cake:

Dr. Cline:

Dan Cox reads County Executive Curran’s citation:

The citation:

Thank you very much for reading, viewing, and hearing all the way to the end. To repeat myself, I greatly appreciate the support I get for the work I do. This was a labor of love and friendship.

60 cheers to WCWP! See you next year.

Instrumental Invasion, 10/17/21, 2AM (Homecoming Weekend) October 17, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology.
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In the past, I talked about my Homecoming Weekend shows in posts dedicated to the weekend, but now that I have posts dedicated to each week’s show, I figured I’d make one for this show. (Here’s the weekend recap.)

The 2021 WCWP Homecoming Weekend edition of Instrumental Invasion was mainly recorded on September 26 with the last two talk breaks done on the 27th. Tweaks to the second hour were recorded in the early morning hours on the 28th during a bout of insomnia. Ironically, I suffered from insomnia again as this show aired.

The playlist was created on September 23 with annotations on the 24th and 25th. Since most of the music was from previous Wednesday night shows, the script was drafted by copying and pasting from past scripts. It was tweaked on the 24th before recording. I was amazed how quickly I breezed through. I figured I would work on the November 17 special on the 27th and record the last two talk breaks with ease later in the day. Unfortunately, I made a clerical error on the playlist. I should have put “3:18:59” after “Travessia” by Gregg Karukas. That mistake made me program for three minutes I didn’t have. I spent nearly an hour replacing the Paula Atherton song, writing replacement annotations, rewriting the talk break script, and attempting a hurried talk break record. The overnight tweaks allowed me to keep in most information and record a relaxed talk break. (If you want the full story behind “Travessia,” “Bridges” in English, listen to the April 21 aircheck.)

Zach, the Homecoming Weekend coordinator, referred hosts to Google Drive folders with liners to use in our shows in addition to the ones I already had. That’s why I included “double play” and “it’s a triple play.”

I misidentified the voice of one of the liners. I thought it was Johnny Dark, but Jeff Kroll told me at the stations on Friday that it was Bumper Morgan. Jeff worked with Bumper and Dandy Dan Daniel – responsible for the “FM 88” liner – at WNBC, and he personally recorded their liners. Zach let me redo the line with the correct name in Studio 1.

I thought about recording video of my original editing sessions in OBS, to compensate for a lack of an aircheck video, but didn’t feel up to that. Instead, here is a screencap of the full Adobe Audition multitrack session:

And here are images of Zach’s effort to replace my mistake:

Click here to download the aircheck MP3 or listen below:

My experience at Day 1 of 2021 New York Comic Con October 9, 2021

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Art, Audio, Audiobooks, DVD, Health, History, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Politics, Radio, Technology, Trains, Travel, TV, Video, War, Wrestling.
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Other New York Comic Con recaps: 2012 Day 2, 2014 Day 1, 2017 Day 1, 2018 Day 1, 2019 Day 1

I returned to the Javits Center on Thursday for the first day of this year’s New York Comic Con, my sixth time at the event. It was also the first time I set foot in Manhattan since a failed trip to Lisa Hilton’s performance at Carnegie Hall, nearly two years ago.

The days and weeks leading up to my trip were filled with trepidation. I felt anxious about what to expect. Would there be a capacity limit? Would I get scolded by staff or security? Did I waste my money on a badge? Why did William Shatner have to go to space, leading his events to be moved to the evening?

The day turned out to be as exciting as it was my last time at NYCC in 2019.

Under the assumption that I’d be meeting Shatner, I tweeted him about my concerns:

Been going back/forth on replying, but here goes: I have Asperger Syndrome, & I’m going to day 1 of NY Comic Con on Oct 7. I’m worried about what to expect, including photo op w/you that I bought. I’m hoping staff are nice, not angry/scolding. Will wear mask, of course.

Mike Chimeri

He replied encouragingly. I was hoping to link to that reply, but it seems to have been taken down.

Regardless, that led to many more replies from fellow fans. One fan in the UK made this suggestion:

Hi Mike, not sure if you have the same in the States, but in the UK we have a scheme where people wear a lanyard with sunflowers on, this signifies that the person wearing the lanyard may perceive life differently and to be a bit more understanding around them.

Mark ELVIS Goddard, @GBsBestElvis

He followed that up with…:

They are just a subtle way to let people know to be kind I work in the tourist industry & if a customer is wearing one we automatically know 2b kind & maybe a bit calmer around them, but they don’t have that awkward conversation of explaining why they don’t do lifts for example!

Mark ELVIS Goddard, @GBsBestElvis

So, I paid about $8 for a set of artificial sunflower heads. They shed like dog fur, but I proudly put one in my ticket holder above my badge.

My day began like any other Thursday since last April, in the days when the Javits Center was a field hospital for COVID patients: edit Wednesday’s Instrumental Invasion aircheck, make a scoped version for my blog, publish the blog post, and share the post on social media. That left me about 45 minutes to eat breakfast (a bowl of cereal), shower, and get dressed and packed.

An Uber driver picked me up around 9:00, dropping me off at Wantagh LIRR station within ten minutes. Once there, I bought my ticket and walked to my usual spot on the west end of the platform, above Wantagh Avenue. The train arrived at 9:28:

I was hoping for the new M9 railcar, but it was the old M7. Oh, well.

I listened to much of my aircheck on the platform and then on the train.

Penn Station has changed drastically since last January, as seen in these photos taken on the way back from Javits:

When I arrived at Javits, my Clear app vaccination voucher was scanned, then my badge, and I went through security. It was hassle-free, thankfully. I took the first photo at 10:42, snapping away until I reached the autographing area in hall 1E:

Knowing I’d be meeting Dee Bradley Baker, earlier in the week, I ordered a compilation DVD on Amazon of Phineas and Ferb episodes centered around Perry the Platypus, Dee’s character. Assuming I’d be seeing William Shatner’s panel at 11AM and getting a photo op at 12:10 PM, I bought a 1PM ticket for Dee. Thankfully, it was accepted at 11:00.

As I waited in line, I saw Dee and other celebrity guests assembling behind the curtain. I waved to Dee and he signaled back to me, pointing two fingers at his eyes and then toward me, as if to say “I’m watching you.” That was flattering. When I was next in line, I learned that photos were not allowed at the table; autographs only. I asked the representative if he had a photo op. Yes, at 3:40, an hour and 50 minutes before the rescheduled Shatner photo op would have been. I was fine with that.

Dee and I spoke briefly as he signed the DVD box art:

To Mike!

Dee Baker

Agent P (Perry’s code name in the O.W.C.A. [Organization Without a Cool Acronym])

Dee’s autograph

Then, he graced me with Perry’s signature vocal effect. We said our goodbyes and I proceeded to the sales table to buy my photo op.

It took half an hour because neither my credit nor debit cards worked and I had to withdraw cash from an ATM, then going on the line for cash payments.

I had 3 1/2 hours to spend until it was time to wait in the queue. What to do?

First, I bought lunch at the food court: chicken fingers with waffle fries and a Sprite. I ate as I finished listening to my aircheck. When I went to out my Bose SoundLink wireless headphones away, the ear cushion for the right channel came loose. I had to buy a replacement set from their website.

After that, I proceeded up to the show floor:

What?! Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jim “Good Ol’ J.R.” Ross?!

I was a big pro wrestling fan growing up, along with my sister Lauren and cousins Chris and Sam (Samantha). After another ATM trip, a dream of mine was fulfilled: an autographed photo…:

To Mike!

“King” Jerry Lawler (WWE) HOF 07

Jim Ross

WWE HOF ’07

Jerry and Jim’s autographs

…and a photo op with King and J.R.!:

As you can see, I wore my 2020 U.S. Open shirt, previously seen in my pretend Winged Foot photo.

Before the photo, I told King that I didn’t know he’d be there. True to form, he quipped that he didn’t, either, but found himself and J.R. there anyway, or words to that effect. Don’t quote me. All I know is my comeback was “yeah, that’s how it goes,” meaning that’s what happens. After the photo, I told J.R. how long I’d been a fan and that I really enjoyed his two books, Slobberknocker and Under the Black Hat, which I listened to on Audible. He thanked me. (I synopsized Under the Black Hat in my latest “audiobooking” post.)

I took some more photos on the show floor…:

…then went back to the food court for seltzer (sparkling water) and a cookie. I engaged in conversation with my table mates, then called a few friends, and texted Lauren and Chris with a photo of the photo:

There was still plenty of time, so I sought out room 1E01: the Quiet Room:

As the name suggests, it’s a place where you can silently contemplate. I used my time in the room to charge my phone and draft the post you’re reading now.

My plan to pass the time worked. 3:15 came and I walked to the queue:

I spent the next 20 minutes or so chatting with my fellow queue members, then it was time.

I handed a staff member my ticket, put my belongings on a shelf, and was reunited with Dee. Here is our photo:

I was looking straight ahead, so I didn’t know what expression he made. I love it: Jack Benny-esque.

I said goodbye again, grabbed my belongings, picked up my photo print, and left the Javits Center. I may not have seen and met William Shatner, but I made many lasting memories. I’m so happy with how the day turned out. I will definitely be back.

Incidentally, there are articles on Bill’s 6:45 panel – which I would have seen if it was still at 11AM – on CNN’s website and Mediaite. Mediaite’s article includes a YouTube video of the panel (by Gragon Productions):

I watched on Friday night. It was like I was there in person.

10/13 UPDATE: Bill’s space trip was this morning. I didn’t realize it would only be a few minutes, but those few minutes were literally awesome for him. Watch the Blue Origin webcast replay:

10/14 UPDATE: Then, watch the moment of apogee inside the capsule:

10/17 UPDATE: Blue Origin had one more video up their sleeve: a recap:

Back to October 7.

Here’s my photographic journey back to Penn Station:

I reached Penn at 4:05…:

…and took the 4:12 bound for Wantagh, which was another M7:

When I arrived in Wantagh at 5:02, my mom was waiting to drive me home. As it turns out, the Penn-bound train was an M9:

Back in my room, I took photos of all the day’s belongings:

POSTSCRIPT: While perusing the New York Comic Con site on Friday afternoon, I noticed George Takei, Bill’s Star Trek co-star, was in the Q&A portion of his panel. So, I watched, periodically taking screencaps. In addition to Star Trek, he fielded questions about the animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, his political activism stemming from internment during World War II (I ached as he told his story), and fond memories of Leonard Nimoy, another Star Trek co-star. One anecdote in particular was about how George saw Leonard perform in the play Equus on Broadway and Leonard returned the favor when George performed in the L.A. production. After the last question, George stood up, thanked the fans in the hall, and gave them Spock’s Vulcan salute. Now, how about those screencaps?

Well, thank you for making it this far. My next task is to chronicle the return of WCWP Homecoming Weekend. Till then, so long.