2015 in review December 30, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, 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 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,400 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
2015 was an on-and-off year for MikeChimeri.com. But when we were on, there was plenty to write about: eight jazz shows, five WCWP events, five winter storms (plus more that I didn’t post pictures from), this website’s 10th anniversary, and a bit more. Check the archives (screen left) to see what I posted by month.
There will be more to write about in 2016. Until then, have a happy, healthy, and gainful new year.
2015 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming, 2016 Hall of Fame Announcement October 11, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Football, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Sports, Video, Weather.add a comment
Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Earlier 2015 Homecoming Weekend posts: FM 50th Anniversary Celebration, First few hours of shows on Friday
Later in this recap, I share the aircheck from my pre-recorded Homecoming Weekend show that aired early this morning. To see and hear my live show on Friday, click here.
Yesterday was my third day in row on the campus of LIU Post: Homecoming Day.
I arrived about an hour earlier than previous years. When I made my way to Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium, the LIU Post Pioneers and Merrimack College Warriors were in the second quarter of their game.
On the way to Bronko Piersall Field, I shot pictures from the carnival and signs in the parking lot:
The annual press box shots…
Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks were back in the lower booth calling the game. Jeff’s wife Pat is to his left (screen right) and Joel Feltman is to Neil’s right (screen left).
Pat photographed Jeff and Neil before kickoff:
Unfortunately, the Pioneers did not score while I was by the field:
They did, however, miss a field goal:
Disappointed, I walked to WCWP, where I spent the rest of the day.
The Pioneers would trail the Warriors 3-0 at halftime, but score 20 unanswered points in the second half. The Warriors got back within 3 twice and had two chances to regain the lead. They couldn’t, and the Pioneers hung on to win 27-24.
Now for the WCWP portion of the day…
The Studio 1 clock:
Maura “Bernie” Bernard’s show followed the football game:
Pete Bellotti announced the two 2016 inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame: the late Ann Gaffney…:
…and Joe Honerkamp:
Bruce Leonard called in – speaking with Neil Marks, initially – and spoke with Bernie on the air following the announcement:
Jeff Kroll chimed in on Joe’s induction:
Jay Mirabile and me:
Pete Bellotti, me, Jay Mirabile:
Pete Bellotti, Bernie Bernard, Joe Honerkamp, Dan Cox, Bobby Guthenberg:
The inductees:
John Zoni in Studio 2:
Bernie made way for Mike Riccio and Bobby G.:
Back in Studio 2, Bill and Debbie Mozer:
Bernie Bernard and me:
It was a fun few days of Homecoming festivites for me. It’s always great to catch up with my fellow alumni. The compliments I received for my multimedia work – pictures, video, and audio – have made this year extra special.
Now, here’s video from some of Bernie’s show followed by the start of Mike and Bobby’s show:
There was one part of Bernie’s show that I missed: Ted David called in. Here’s how that sounded:
That’s what I meant by the compliments I received. Thank you very much, Ted.
At 2:00 this morning, the second of my Homecoming Weekend shows aired: a bonus edition of Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri. I recorded the show two weeks ago. Naturally, I have pictures to show for it:
Here is the aircheck from the show:
And the playlist:
I’ve been listening to the rest of the WCWP Homecoming Weekend throughout Sunday.
Winter’s second encore March 29, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography, Weather.add a comment
A second encore performance of snow affected my area yesterday. We were on the western fringe of a storm that left at least 2 to 4 inches of snow in Central and Eastern Suffolk County. Here in Nassau, snowfall was minimal.
We were treated to intermittent snow showers during the day that barely accumulated:
There was a little more snow at night that left a solid coating:
Here’s what the coating looked like at around 8:30 this morning:
The late March sun has already melted most of it. Surely this was the last snow of the season, right?
Winter’s encore March 21, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography, Weather.add a comment
The snow of two Thursdays ago turned out not to be the last snow of the season. An encore performance came through yesterday. This time, it was entirely wet snow. Thanks to two weeks of above-freezing temperatures, in addition to the strength of the mid-March sun, not much snow stuck on pavement. I measured an inch in the driveway last night as the snow was tapering off. The front lawn accurately represented the snowfall: 5 inches.
Below is a timeline of the snowfall from start to finish, followed by today’s rapid melting.
March 20
1:29 PM:
2:59 PM:
4:31 PM:
6:40 PM, five minutes before the vernal equinox:
8:05 PM, 80 minutes into spring:
9:49 PM, as snow tapered off:
March 21
8:36 AM, during a remnant snow shower:
9:24 AM:
1:21 PM:
3:19 PM:
4:13 PM:
There may not be any snow left on the ground by Monday, and that may be the last we see until late fall. Happy spring.
March 5 winter storm pictures, March 6 aftermath pictures March 6, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Media, News, Personal, TV, Weather.add a comment
In a 52-hour period, my area went from snow to sleet and freezing rain to rain and back.
It all began late Tuesday afternoon. A couple of inches of snow fell before the evening changeover, but it was washed away by the rain. Temperatures got as high as the mid 40s on Wednesday, allowing me to clear any slush set into the driveway by tire tracks.
For a while, it seemed like there wouldn’t be too much snow on Thursday. Computer forecast models were pushing the snow south. But as night fell, the models yanked the storm back north and had it starting and ending later. 4 to 8 inches of snow were forecast, with News 12 Long Island upping that to 5 to 10 on Thursday morning.
The rain changed to wet snow at around sunrise, switching to regular snow as the morning progressed and temperatures fell.
By afternoon, temperatures were down in the mid 20s and the snow continued to accumulate. I periodically brought my standard ruler to the driveway to measure. There were 2 inches at 11:40 AM, 4 1/2 inches at 2:22 PM, and 7 inches by 4:12.
But at 4:40, even though it was still snowing, I went out to the driveway and began shoveling. My sister came home ten minutes after I started and helped me shovel. We finished at 5:30.
After an hour break, which included a dinner of pasta and homemade ground turkey meat sauce, I went back outside for more shoveling. By now, the snow had ended. Another inch had fallen on top of what I shoveled earlier. This time, I only took a half hour.
The 8 inches of snow in my driveway matched the snow totals in Levittown, North Merrick, and Rockville Centre, according to the National Weather Service. Melville and East Northport ended up with 9 inches.
Below is a photo timeline of the snow from beginning to end, and then the day after (today).
March 5:
8:26 AM:
11:19 AM:
1:02 PM:
2:18 PM:
5:43 PM, after shoveling with help from my sister:
7:31 PM, after additional shoveling:
March 6:
9:57 AM:
Temperatures were in the low 20s, but the March sun was strong enough to melt the snow anyway. The high today was 30 degrees.
10:19 AM:
11:28 AM:
2:55 PM:
This is the last day with high temperatures below freezing for the foreseeable future, and maybe even for the season. And if this turned out to be the last snow of the season, it went out on a high note.
Guest reading at my old elementary school March 5, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Books, Education, Personal, Photography, Weather.add a comment
Other guest reading posts: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022
I was at Leo F. Giblyn School in Freeport on Monday as a guest reader for Dr. Seuss Spirit Week. I read Dr. Seuss books to four different classes and an unrelated weather book to a fifth class.
It was great to be back where I attended third and fourth grade. (I spent kindergarten, first grade, and second grade up the road at Archer Street.) My mother has been a teaching assistant at Giblyn for about 25 years and my sister has also worked there in many roles for about a decade.
The books I read on Monday were One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Dr. Seuss’s ABC; and Gerald McBoing Boing, which I read twice.
The first Gerald McBoing Boing reading was the highlight of my day. I did impressions for two of the characters. One voice was Don Adams’ Maxwell Smart (which was an impression of William Powell) and the other was Casey Kasem with a hint of Vin Scully. When I noted in the Q&A that Casey was also the voice of Shaggy on the various Scooby-Doo series, I ended up taking several cartoon character voice requests.
When I wasn’t reading, I was jumping from classroom to classroom taking pictures of other guest readers.
The kids loved me, especially since I was Mrs. Chimeri’s son and Ms. Chimeri’s brother. Case in point, the next day, my sister told me one student said “your brother was awesome.” The teachers I saw agreed with that assessment.
I’d love to come back again. It was a busy day, but I enjoyed it. I’ll conclude this post with a collage I made from candid shots taken while I read:
I made the collage because I don’t know if I’m allowed to post full pictures with students in them without parents’ permission.
Brian Simpson concert recap 3 (7PM show) February 17, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel, Weather.add a comment
Previous Brian Simpson recaps: April 2011, September 2012
I was at Houndstooth Pub on Valentine’s Day to see keyboardist Brian Simpson perform. As with Lisa Hilton last month, this was the third time I had seen Brian live. Also like Lisa’s show, Brian debuted material from an upcoming album. Out of a Dream was released today.
There always seems to be an active weather pattern when I go to see Brian Simpson. The first time, there was a nor’easter. The second time, a severe thunderstorm threatened Manhattan, but weakened considerably by the time it crossed the Hudson River. This time, a clipper brought light snow to the area, but it was forecast to reform and intensify offshore at night, dumping heavier snow and strong gusty winds in the process.
I took this shot before I left with my girlfriend for the Wantagh LIRR station:
I considered it a before picture, expecting to take an after picture when we got home that would show a few inches on the ground with more to come overnight. Luckily, the forecast models changed dramatically while my girlfriend and I were out. The worst of the snow stayed to the south. The same coating you see above awaited us when we got back to Wantagh. An additional coating fell overnight.
Unfortunately, the wind forecast didn’t change. Gusts over 50 miles per hour began after 2AM and continued for about 12 more hours. From there, gusts were as high as 45 mph and occurred less and less until they were gone altogether by Monday afternoon.
But enough about the weather.
There were two shows that night: 7:00 and 9:15. My girlfriend and I got tickets to the 7:00.
Brian Simpson played keyboard:
Dave Anderson was on bass:
Les Cleveland on drums:
…and on seven songs in the set, Art Sherrod Jr. on saxophone:
The engineer was Neal Newman:
As I noted at the top, the show featured songs from Brian’s latest album, Out of a Dream. Here’s the full set list:
1. South Beach* – keyboard/keytar
2. It Could Happen* – keytar/keyboard
3. Just One Wish^
4. When I Say Your Name*^
5. Blues in G*
6. Sky Watcher^ – keytar
7. Can’t Tell You Why
8. Let’s Get Close – keytar
9. Just What You Need – keytar
10. Juicy* – keytar/keyboard
11. Saturday Cool*
12 (Encore). It’s All Good*
* Art Sherrod Jr., sax
^ From Out of a Dream
Now, for a series of pictures of Brian on keytar. First, pictures from “Let’s Get Close”:
One of the audience members he got close to – in the musical sense – was my girlfriend:
She’s been a fan of Brian for a long time. In fact, she first learned of me through my website after I posted my Mike Chimeri Show interview with him nine years ago. (That interview and more can be found here.) It would be another four years before she finally got in touch with me on Facebook.
For “Saturday Cool,” he went beyond the stage and into the audience, passing by Ron and Nydia along the way:
Back on stage, here are pictures from Dave Anderson and Les Cleveland’s “Saturday Cool” solos. Dave first:
Les Cleveland:
Wide shots:
“Saturday Cool”:
The encore: “It’s All Good”:
The last note:
Art Sherrod Jr.: “Once again, Mr. Brian Simpson, everyone”:
Brian greeted us when we arrived beforehand and we spoke to him again afterward. Then, we posed for a pic:
The red Sharpie in his hand isn’t what he signed my copy of Out of a Dream with. He went with a black one instead.
I’ve used this term before, but the set was wild! I can only imagine what it was like for the later crowd. Thanks to Brian, Dave, Les, and Art.
February 1-2 winter storm pictures February 3, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Football, Personal, Sports, Weather.add a comment
In my last storm-related post, I hoped for a near miss on Super Bowl Sunday night into Groundhog Day. Hope lost to increasing consensus in ensemble computer models.
The storm I didn’t want, the first of what may be many this February, arrived late Sunday night, following the Super Bowl I want to forget. A few inches of snow fell before changing over to sleet and freezing rain, and then rain, after sunrise.
This aspect of the storm eased my stress. I figured I would only have to shovel one time and that would be it. That one time began at 8:15 AM. About 70 minutes later, I had finished shoveling what was Slurpee-grade slush. Rain fell the entire time outside and I got soaked. A job well done, I thought. I moved the slush out of the way just in time for the change back to sleet and freezing rain.
The changeover occurred after the above picture. As you’ll see in the next one, any slush and puddles flash froze.
The driveway looked like a skating rink. All it needed was a couple of nets.
I had enough energy left to run 6.3 miles on the treadmill in my basement. But as I was running, the sleet and freezing rain changed back to snow.
And it didn’t just leave a coating. We ended up with a burst of snow that dumped four inches in two hours.
I tried to shovel as the heavy snow fell, but it was a futile effort:
I waited another half hour before trying again. This time was the charm. I was enraged early on in the shoveling process because I didn’t expect significant snow on the change back. Had I known it was coming, I would have stayed off the treadmill.
This round of shoveling also took about an hour. At least the snow was lightweight.
I shot this after I came back inside:
As hard as I felt it was to shovel twice in one day, nothing compares to those that have to plow streets during storms like this. They work nonstop from the first snowflake to the last. It puts a mere driveway shoveling in perspective.
Until the next storm.
January 26-27 blizzard pictures January 28, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in News, Personal, Photography, Weather.add a comment
The first major storm of this winter hit Long Island from Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon. It was shaping up to be a catastrophic blizzard with snowfall amounts near three feet. But Nassau County was spared the worst, with amounts averaging to a foot and a half on the east side of the county and less than a foot on the west side. Like with the February 2013 blizzard, Suffolk County got more snow, especially on the East End. New England got what I feared we would get: two to three feet of snow. It makes me feel bad that my area was spared the worst.
What follows is a photographic timeline from the first of the storm’s effects to the last of them.
January 26:
9:23 AM:
12:26 PM:
3:56 PM:
7:02 PM:
About a half hour later, I went outside to shovel what had fallen so far. I only shoveled the front end of the driveway. At the time, I assumed I would have another two feet to shovel the next day.
8:03 PM:
11:16 PM:
As the night progressed, computer forecast models pushed the storm further and further east, which meant less snow by us.
January 27:
9:38 AM:
Judging by the snowfall total for nearby Seaford (16.6 inches) and Massapequa (17.8 inches), I figure there was about 15 inches in Wantagh.
10:26 AM:
12:20 PM:
2:37 PM, after about 85 minutes of shoveling:
The shoveling was a team effort between me and my parents. We shoveled the driveway, including the curb, and I shoveled a path to the oil tank cap on the side of the house. I thought about shoveling the sidewalk, but my dad talked me out of that. I saved that for the next day.
January 28:
1:53 PM:
I kept my word and shoveled the sidewalk, but only as far as the property line. My neighbor took care of his side.
A clipper is set to drop a quick inch or less tomorrow night. We may or may not have another winter storm Super Bowl Sunday night into Monday. If you don’t see a recap titled “February 1-2 winter storm/blizzard,” then the storm missed us to the south, as is currently forecast. I hope that’s the case.
2/3 UPDATE: It wasn’t the case. We got it.
Dharma All Stars recap 8 January 19, 2015
Posted by Mike C. in Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Travel, Weather.add a comment
Previous Dharma All Stars recaps: July 2008, September 2008, June 2009, July 2009, April 2010, August 2010, September 2011
For me, last week began with Lisa Hilton at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. The week ended closer to home – at Suite 1828 in Merrick – for another favorite of mine: John Favicchia‘s Dharma All Stars.
2011 marked the first time I saw Lisa Hilton, but it was the last time until last Friday that I had seen Dharma All Stars. I first saw them live a decade ago in Rockville Centre. I interviewed guitarist Chieli Minucci for my WCWP radio show – all interviews can be found here – and after we finished recording, he invited me to Dharma’s show, which was two weeks later, where he would be on guitar. I’m so glad I did. The People I’ve Met page includes pictures from some of the Dharma gigs I attended between July 2005 and March 2007. (Yes, I was much heavier back then.)
On Friday night, Dharma All Stars was led by John Favicchia on drums:
Steve Briody (“BRY-dee”) on guitar:
Brad Mason on trumpet…:
…and flugelhorn:
Coincidentally, Brad was at the first Dharma gig I attended.
Misha Tsiganov on keyboard:
…and Nick Lazarev on bass:
My interviews with John and Steve can also be found at the interviews page I linked to earlier.
The set list featured all my favorites:
1. Horizons
2. Coincidence
3. Sing a Song of Song (Kenny Garrett cover)
4. Black (Cedar Walton cover)
5. April Fools
6. Kukuc
John’s “Kukuc” solo:
When “Kukuc” ended, the crowd at the Suite stood up and cheered. Another spectacular show was in the books.
Afterward, my girlfriend took this picture of the Dharma All Stars along with Jeff Krasner and me:
Dharma will be back at Suite 1828 on Friday, March 13.
MikeChimeri.com 
