Dave Koz and winter storms February 6, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Weather.2 comments
Four years ago next Monday, Valentine’s Day, I was supposed to see Dave Koz perform at the Best Buy Theater (then the Nokia Theater) in Times Square. Unfortunately, there was a winter storm that day. So, rather than risk taking the LIRR to Penn Station and walk through the snow and ice on the way to the theater, my parents and I stayed home. We figured the show would be canceled. I’m sure it wasn’t.
This Friday, Dave returns to that theater. Though only a few snow showers are in the forecast, the friend with whom I was going to Dave’s concert had plans come up that night. So, once again, I miss out on him. Maybe next time.
I highly recommend Dave’s current album, “Hello Tomorrow.” You can buy it here. I played a few cuts from the album on CJazzPlus, my recent Live365 station.
Here’s hoping less snow and ice are in the forecast for the rest of the winter.
2/14 UPDATE: I may not have gone to Dave’s concert, but Katherine Gilraine did.
Smooth Jazz for Scholars 2011 dates/lineup January 20, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
Jay Rowe is hosting his 9th annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert on Saturday, April 30, in his hometown, Milford, Connecticut. The concert will be 8PM at the Parsons Complex Auditorium. It’s located at 70 W. River St., Milford, CT 06460.
Headlining SJFS are Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Marion Meadows, Jeff Kashiwa, and Steve Cole. Backing them up will be Jay on keyboards, Dave Anderson on bass, percussion by Steve Scales, and Trever Somerville on the drums. Tickets are $40.
This will be my fifth SJFS.
On Friday, April 29, one night before the main show, there will be a jam session at the Daniel Street club. (6/22/12 UPDATE: Daniel Street closed in January.) The 8PM jam session will feature Steve Cole and Jeff Kashiwa. Tickets are $20.
To purchase tickets, send a check or money order made payable to Smooth Jazz for Scholars Inc. to:
P.O. Box 3723
Milford, CT 06460
You can look my recap of last year’s SJFS here.
6/3 UPDATE: This year’s recap is up.
New blog header January 11, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Personal.add a comment
After seven months, here is the new blog header:
I had trouble getting a good smile in all the pictures I took tonight. This is the one I chose.
2010 in review (WordPress post) January 2, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Internet.add a comment
I received an e-mail today from Team WordPress and the Stats Helper Monkeys. They gave me the option of posting the stats in the e-mail to The Mike Chimeri Blog. I chose to do that:
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 8,800 times in 2010. That’s about 21 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 37 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 180 posts. There were 1039 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6gb. That’s about 3 pictures per day.
The busiest day of the year was January 27th with 280 views. The most popular post that day was Bold & Fresh Tour at Westbury!.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were tesh.com, homepage.mac.com, facebook.com, olbermannwatch.com, and magicisland.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for joyce cooling, empty stage, ken navarro, john tesh radio show, and gib gerard.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Bold & Fresh Tour at Westbury! January 2010
3 comments
John Tesh Tilles Center concert recap July 2009
8 comments
SJFS recap April 2008
11 comments
RnR concert recap June 2008
1 comment
Long Island Radio & TV Day 2009 April 2009
12 comments
Post-Christmas 2010 Blizzard December 31, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in News, Personal, Weather.add a comment
The last week of 2010 began with a blast for the East Coast. A powerful blizzard/Nor’easter socked us with howling winds and 1 to 3 feet of snow. Winds gusted as high as around 50 miles per hour, which left me worried that I would lose power like I did during the March Nor’easter. But somehow, it stayed on.
I couldn’t find a snowfall total for Wantagh. So, I averaged the totals for Bellmore to the west, 10 inches, and Seaford to the east, 15.5 inches. That gave me 12.75 inches.
Below are pictures from Sunday, the day the blizzard began, and the three days of shoveling that followed.
Sunday, December 26:
Watched the snow fall, listened to the wind (impossible to miss), hoped the power stayed on:
Monday, December 27:
Shoveled the driveway from curb to front porch (with help from my sister and mom), left side of house:
Tuesday, December 28:
Shoveled a path from the front yard to the back yard patio:
Wednesday, December 29:
Shoveled the sidewalk, path linking driveway center to sidewalk, opening for a car to be parked in the street:
Winter is only a week old and we’ve already had a major storm. What else does this season have in store? We’ll find out in the weeks ahead.
For the New York City perspective on this blizzard, read Katherine Gilraine’s blog.
Christmas Eve TPiR Double Showcase Winner December 24, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Game Shows, Media, TV.add a comment
Just in time for Christmas, there was a double showcase winner on “The Price is Right.” Judy Ho was the last contestant to come on down. And once she was in contestants’ row, she won a lot:
- One Bid: Linea Pele accessories
- Secret “X”: Trip to Athens
- Showcase 1: Price is Right Christmas Stocking: Trip to Cancun, trip to Oslo, Sanibel 18′ sailboat
- Showcase 2: Fun Christmas Gifts: 32 GB iPod Touch, 8 GB iPod Nano, 2 GB iPod Shuffle, Apple TV, XBOX360 Kinect plus six games, 42″ JVC 1080p LCD HDTV, Acura ZDX
In all, Judy won $101,244 in prizes. She was the third-highest daytime winner in the history of “The Price is Right.” Merry Christmas!
You can watch the show here. If you want to skip ahead, Judy’s winning run begins at 23:19.
As a side note, congratulations to host Drew Carey on his weight loss. I hope he can maintain it. After losing close to 100 pounds in 2007, and being as low as 134 in early 2008, I’m currently hovering in the mid 140s.
Matt Marshak concert recap December 6, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
Later Matt Marshak show recaps: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
Yesterday, I saw Matt Marshak perform at Houndstooth Pub, located in the Fashion District section of Manhattan.
Before the show, between sets, and after the show, music was provided by DJ Rafe Gomez of “The Groove Boutique.”
The show began just after 5PM.
Matt Marshak was on guitar:
Kenny Harris on bass:
Rodney Williams on the keyboards:
And Carl Anderson was on drums:
SET 1
1. Seduction
2. I Will Be With You
3. Affirmation/Breezin’ (George Benson medley)
4. Wind Chill Factor
5. Uptown
6. Sleepwalk (Larry Carlton cover)
SET 2
7. Ascension (Maxwell cover)
8. Summerfunk
9. Tell Me How You Feel – Gina Breedlove, vocals
10. Low Rider (War cover)
11. Gratitude
12. What You Won’t Do For Love (Bobby Caldwell cover) – Kenny Harris, vocals
13. Smile (I think this was a cover, too. Again, let me know in the comments.)
14. Kiss (Prince cover) – Paula Atherton, alto sax
15. Funkology – Paula Atherton, alto sax
Let’s take a photographic journey through the evening.
Gina Breedlove came in on vocals for “Tell Me How You Feel”:
Kenny Harris was on vocals for “What You Won’t Do For Love”:
The rest of the band, including Kenny, had background vocals in a few songs in both sets.
Carl’s wild drum solo:
Saxophonist Paula Atherton performed on the last two songs of the evening:
Rafe Gomez also played a role in the last two songs. He’s seen here after the last song:
Between sets, Matt and I posed for a picture:
It was an exciting two and a half hours. Thanks to Matt, Kenny, Rodney, Carl, Gina, Paula, DJ Rafe Gomez, Katherine Gilraine, Kat Sarracco of Neko Productions, and Ed Tankus of Blue Plate Radio.
4/3/11 UPDATE: I was able to identify “Tell Me How You Feel” because it’s on Matt’s recently released album “Urban Folktales.”
Peter White Christmas 2010 at B.B. King’s December 5, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Jazz, Music, Personal.2 comments
Last night, Peter White took his annual Peter White Christmas tour to B.B. King’s in New York City. Unfortunately, I was not there, but my friend Katherine Gilraine was:
… Now, here’s an interesting factoid: despite my atheism, I rather like Christmas music, especially Christmas music done right. So naturally, where would I be today but with Peter White, Mindi Abair and Rick Braun for the Christmas special?
The first show, the one that I had my ticket for way in advance – since before the Big Cruise, mind! – was sold out. How I got the seat right next to the stage, I will never know, but you cannot beat that view. And what is first but Rick opening up with Little Drummer Boy? Muted trumpet, brushes on the snare – a light, simple-but-classic take on this holiday favorite. And soon enough, Peter and Mindi come on up as well and the rest of the band, standing by, joins in as well, turning an easygoing tune into something rousing.
You know, seeing that trio on stage together is something interesting, considering the stylistics. Rick Braun is almost old-school in his handling of the trumpet – and he handles it to perfection. Peter White is deceptively straightlaced, and is immensely playful when he’s on stage. Mindi – all attitude, sharp and energetic. But put them together, and the creativity on stage is infectious. …
Read the full recap here.
The last time I saw Peter White Christmas was in 2008 at IMAC. You can check out my recap of that show here.
Last day of CJazzPlus tomorrow December 1, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Tomorrow is the last day of operation for my Live365 internet radio station, CJazzPlus (station link). Listen in from 12PM to 12AM Eastern.
In its two-month existence, CJazzPlus (blog page link) has struggled to get listeners, but it’s been an honor (I know, I always say that) to run it, playing my favorite instrumentals from my personal collection. I don’t know what will come next for me, but there must be something.
MikeChimeri.com 
Suddenly off the air: Olby and me January 21, 2011
Posted by Mike C. in Commentary, Jazz, Media, Music, News, Personal, Politics, Radio, TV.1 comment so far
Shortly after 9PM, I learned that Keith Olbermann had done his last show with MSNBC. At first, I was in denial. Without knowing the details, I figured he wouldn’t be gone long, as was the case when he was suspended in November. But there won’t be a reprieve for him this time. This is really the end.
It came as swiftly as my end came at WCWP last August. On a Wednesday afternoon, August 4, hours before going on the Spirit of New York’s Smooth Cruise, it was Rick Braun and Richard Elliot that week, I got an e-mail that stopped me in my tracks. Long story short, six days later, I wrote the following:
I stand by what I said then. I will admit that I’ve had bitter moments since the decision. No one likes to step away from something they love, but that’s the business of media. I wouldn’t have been part of “Evening Jazz” had it not been for Martin Phillips, who I trust has done a fine job in my place.
There is one glaring difference between Olby and me: I didn’t use my show to lob personal attacks at my competition or people I disagreed with politically. For that, I did not like Keith, after loving his work at ESPN and Fox Sports earlier in his career. I’ll never forget how listening to the audiobook for The Big Show by Keith and Dan Patrick got me and my family through the car ride to Florida in December 1997, or how listening to the same audiobook got me through an hours-long power outage in September 1998 (though not days long like last March’s Nor’easter). That made it hard for me to suddenly dislike him beginning in 2006 when he took liberal blog-inspired shots at Bill O’Reilly. Then, I discovered Olbermann Watch, where Keith’s misinformation and embellishments were questioned and debunked. It dulled the pain of the personal attacks, unless I witnessed them while recapping segments for the site.
To the chagrin of his fans, to recap what I said at the top of this post, tonight was the end of the line for Keith Olbermann at MSNBC. You can watch his farewell here.
I don’t know where either of us will end up next, but for my sake, there must be some place out there for me. I hope I don’t regret posting this.
11:32 PM UPDATE: Here’s a supportive tweet from Johnny Dollar:
I replied by thanking him for the support. Check out his site’s links for today. Since the announcement, it’s been Olbycentric.
1/22, 12:55 AM UPDATE: J$’s weekend thread has more Olbycentric links.
1/22, 5:39 PM UPDATE: The final Olbermann Watch post…for now.
1/23 UPDATE: J$’s Fox Haters Week in Review closed with a segment on Olbermann. Here’s a preview:
1/24 UPDATE: The Olbermann reportage carried over to today, as documented at J$P. Included in the links is this video:
From NewsBusters, it’s Keith Olbermann’s greatest hits.
Greg Gutfeld: Olby’s Exit.
Despite Keith’s departure from MSNBC, Bill O’Reilly still won’t mention his name on the air, as we saw tonight on The O’Reilly Factor in the Weekdays with Bernie [Goldberg] segment. Jeff Poor elaborated on that move at The Daily Caller. It’s a good move because Olbermann still has Twitter to snipe back on and rally his base. The new #FOK, or “Friends of Keith,” hashtag is one way that base is rallying.
1/25 UPDATE: Today’s round of links
The Red Eye version of Greg Gutfeld’s commentary (Gregalogue):
1/26 UPDATE: Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel replied to Goldberg today.
1/30 UPDATE: Phil Mushnick: The real reason Olbermann lost his show
Fox News Watch on Keith’s dismissal:
2/8 UPDATE: Keith is headed to Current TV. With that, attacks on everyone he disagrees with will resume.
2/9 UPDATE:
3/30/12 UPDATE: Keith Olbermann was fired by Current TV earlier today.
4/1/12 UPDATE: From Howard Kurtz: Keith Olbermann’s Angry Email Trail Traces Breakup With Current TV
4/2/12 UPDATE: John Gibson weighed in at the end of his Fox News Radio show this afternoon: