New round of pre-orders August 13, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
Last night, I pre-ordered two CDs that will be released in late September at Amazon:
Fourplay, “Energy” (9/23)
Jeff Lorber, “Heard That” (9/30)
“Energy” marks Fourplay’s debut on Heads Up, while “Heard That” marks Jeff Lorber’s debut on Peak.
8/14 UPDATE: I have made another pre-order:
Lisa Hilton, “Sunny Day Theory” (9/2)
8/15 UPDATE: Never mind about “Sunny Day Theory.” It’s available right now at CD Baby.
Cablevision Derangement Syndrome August 12, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Media, Personal, TV.2 comments
I just got off the phone with a Cablevision customer service representative, got the same apathetic attitude regarding adding Fox Business Network, and hung up on him. (He deserved it.) So, I’ve coined a new term: Cablevision Derangement Syndrome.
Those with Cablevision Derangment Syndrome are Cablevision customers that are sick of the company’s arrogant attitude–reflected in customer service and advertising (see Optimum TV ads)–and unwillingess to add channels that many other cable companies, and phone and satellite operators have already added!
Symptoms include anger, frustration, helplessness, envy toward customers of other providers (DirecTV, Verizon FiOS TV), and a yearning to switch providers. Alas, a person with CDS realizes that switching providers means no more News 12, no more News 12 Traffic & Weather, and no more localized Local Forecasts on The Weather Channel (in SD). They also realize that their parents and sister don’t care about the lack of certain channels, are content with what they have, and refuse to switch providers just to please their son/brother. (As you can tell, I’m indirectly referring to myself.)
If you are a Cablevision customer and are afflicted with CDS, please leave a comment to this blog post. That way, I will know that I am not alone.
8/16 UPDATE: I guess I am alone on the Cablevision Derangement Syndrome front. That’s what happens when you make terms up – no one else knows what the hell you’re talking about, nor do they care. Am I right? Or am I just impatient in waiting for a response?
2,000 views! August 7, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Technology.add a comment
I’m late in annoucing this (because I wasn’t paying attention), but The Mike Chimeri Blog has now had its 2,000th view…and counting! As I post, we’re up to 2,044 views. As always, thank you to all that have visited my blog, even if only to view one post.
David Benoit “Heroes” album reviewed at SmoothViews August 2, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
In the August issue of “SmoothViews,” one month after interviewing David Benoit, Bonnie Schendell reviews his latest album, “Heroes.” As I said in my July 1 post about the interview, I reviewed the album back on May 29, two days after it was released.
Here’s the first paragraph of Bonnie’s review:
When it comes to long careers in this business, David Benoit is at the top of the heap. For over 30 years, this pianist has put out so much music, it’s almost impossible to listen to a radio station and not hear something of his every hour. His music has run the gamut from smooth jazz, fusion, and pop to orchestral, Charlie Brown, and now a tribute to the music and artists that most influenced David throughout his life. The end result is Heroes, an eleven track CD, with one original track,that offers up innovative, almost totally acoustic, approaches to songs that we all have known and loved for years. David brings this all to life with his regular touring band: Jamey Tate (drums), David Hughes (bass), Brad Dutz (percussion), and special guest, Andy Suzuki (sax).
Spyro Gyra Smooth Cruise recap July 31, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.2 comments
Last night, I was aboard the Spirit of New York‘s sunset cruise (6:30 PM) out of Chelsea Piers (Pier 61) in New York, New York, which featured the weekly Smooth Cruise.
The cruise route took us down the Hudson River, through New York Harbor, up the East River, and back.
This week, the performers were Spyro Gyra.
The set list was as follows:
1. Jam Up
2. Simple Pleasures
3. Get Busy
4. Early song medley I: Shaker Song
5. Early song medley II: Catching The Sun
6. Early song medley III: Morning Dance
7. Scott Ambush bass solo/Island Time
8. Bonny B. drum solo/Funkyard Dog
Outside of Dharma All Stars and Natural Selection (saxophonist Mario Cruz’s band) gigs, I have never been as close to the band while they’re playing as I was last night. Before I took pictures of them, I went out to the bow of the ship. These are the pictures that stood out:
Ellis Island:
Lower Manhattan skyline:
The Statue of Liberty:
Now, to the band.
On the alto and soprano saxophones, Jay Beckenstein:
I was eating my buffet dinner, and then out on the bow, when Jay was on soprano sax on “Simple Pleasures” and “Get Busy,” but here he is on both alto and soprano on “Funkyard Dog”:
On keyboards, Tom Schuman:
Scott Ambush on bass:
Julio Fernandez on guitar and vocals:
And on drums and vocals, Bonny B.!
Letting out a laugh:
Asking the passengers a question in slow motion (on the third attempt):
The answer was a loud “Yeah!!!”
In the span of a week, I got to see two phenomenal drummers (John Favicchia last Thursday).
The band stands together and waves at the end:
My apologies to Tom for only having a shot where he blinked. The following picture taken afterward with me makes up for it:
Despite some personal moments early on where I felt overwhelmed (oh, that Asperger Syndrome)–such as indecision on whether to sit in one of the rows of chairs or at a table (settled on a table), not realizing the ticket to the buffet was only good one time (that worked out in the end, too)–I had a great time. And Spyro Gyra always makes for a great time.
8/1 UPDATE: Here are some additional pictures from the cruise. The first two were taken while waiting to board.
The early evening sun behind the clouds:
A wider sky shot:
And on the way back, the Empire State Building:
8/9 UPDATE: Kat Sarracco was aboard the 9:30 cruise. She also took pictures. For those of you on MySpace (account required), here are additional pictures.
Cablevision adds new HD channels today! July 28, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Media, Personal, TV.add a comment
Well, today’s the day. Cablevision has added the 15 HD channels that I posted about earlier this month. Only 10 of the 15 were announced at that time. The bad news is Fox Business Network and ESPNEWS HD are not among the other five channels being added today. (Will they ever be added?) The good news is these are the channels being added:
AMC HD Animal Planet HD Discovery Channel HD Fox News HD FX HD Hallmark Movie Channel HD IFC HD Nickelodeon HD Science Channel HD Speed Channel HD Spike HD The Weather Channel HD TLC HD Travel Channel HD WE HD
So far, I’ve taken a look at the Science Channel, The Weather Channel, and Fox News Channel. It was quite a difference in picture.
7/30 UPDATE: Originally, I had a different link because the Cablevision press release was not yet available on their website. Now, they do and the link has been changed.
Dharma All Stars gig recap July 27, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
Thursday night, for the first time in 15 months, I went to see John Favicchia’s Dharma All Stars perform. The venue was Mirelle’s Restaurant in Westbury, New York.
On this night, the band consisted of:
John Favicchia, of course, on drums…
Chieli Minucci on guitar…
Mike Nunno (“NU-no”) on bass…
I lowered the brightness on Mike’s sheet music cover.
Carl Fischer on trumpet…
…and flugelhorn…
Bill Harris on tenor saxophone…
…and Bill Heller on keyboard.
The set list for the night was:
1. Horizons
2. Te estremeces
3. Coincidence
4. Sing a Song of Song (Kenny Garrett cover)
5. Kukuc (“KOO-kooch”)
BREAK
6. Black (Cedar Walton cover)
7. Snakes (David Sanborn cover)
It was a great night of music and great to see the band perform again.
New old laptop back! July 26, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Technology.add a comment
My Dad brought my laptop home last night and I used it this afternoon. Everything is finally back to normal on that front.
New old laptop to be fixed! July 23, 2008
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My dad told me yesterday (Tuesday) that my Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 laptop will be fixed by a friend of his. In fact, the friend already fixed it by putting the old memory DIMM in. When he did that, the laptop worked fine. The next step is for him to make sure what DIMM will fit in the extra memory slot. Then, my dad will order that DIMM, the friend will put it in, and I’ll have my “new old” laptop again without needing to buy a new one.
This is a very positive development.
Jackie Mason’s last show ever! July 18, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Theatre.add a comment
Courtesy JackieMason.com
Sunday afternoon, I will be attending the very last show for “Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew” at New World Stages’ Stage 1 in New York City (Manhattan, anyway), a short train ride from Wantagh.
This is Jackie’s final one-man comedy show of his illustrious multi-decade career. I feel honored to be a part of history and I’m looking forward to going. I think I’ll only be a few rows from the stage.
7/21 UPDATE: The show was excellent, hilarious!
7/28 UPDATE: CDs or DVDs of that last show can be purchased here.
11/9/09 UPDATE: This turned out not to be his last show ever. Last night, I went to see Jackie Mason: No Holds Barred at the Tilles Center.
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