I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures that were taken over the summer. Delilah and I went to the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport back in August. Here's a picture of us riding on the carousel.

Delilah went to a "playtivity" function thrown by Craig and Virginia tonight. They made percussion instruments out of ordinary household items (gee, you think??). The parents werent allowed to join the group till 8PM, so John and Darcy Boiano and me went to Wild Oats for them to do some shopping, and me to kill some time.

Well, I did do a little shopping, I picked up some Dr. Bronner's Soap (man, I still love that stuff...after all these years) and the ever so elusive bottle of Skin Trip (EMS Stopped carrying it, I think...)

When we got back to the house, Delilah and the girls were having a great time, and then the parents all joined and did some activities together. We did a little rythym oriented stuff and did what ammounted to a mini-drum circle at the end. So, all in all, it was a cool night for both Delilah and myself.

I was informed by my boss today that the decision by corporate has been made- 2 people from our shop will be getting the axe by the end of the year. Now, we only have 5 people in our shop, so the odds are a little disturbing to me. I think that I do a good job, and am dependable, but who knows what criteria that they will use to get rid of people. This comes on the tails of me finding that I got a raise last week- ironic, eh??

Tonight, I'm just kinda hanging out at home....relaxing for a change. Monday and Tuesday were very long days, as we did the CU Next Tuesday recording sessions. And I had to work early Tuesday morning after Monday night's performance. I was beat!

So, tonight was the first night that I was able to just hang and relax. And guess what? Having nothing to do tonight actually got me bummed out. Sometimes I just feel so sick of being alone, and then I get to thinking about the string of fucked up relationships that I had and actually dread of having to deal with that again.

So, what am I to do?? I kinda feel like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. I mean I hate feeling lonley, but it seems everytime I feel I get close to someone that I feel comfortable with, things come to an abrubt halt. So here I am....

Let's reprise this:
In the CD Player today:
Three Doors Down
Tor Dietchricson- Global Village
Diana Krall- When I look into Your Eyes
The Beatles- 1
Rythym of Our Souls Mix (thanks Craig!)
Sunday Morning Coffee Mix (thanks Me!)

I actually flipped by MTV on the tube tonight and saw them playing videos! Not bad, considering they are supposed to be Music Television. Remember when they actually played videos all day long, and not the stupid, repetitive reality-type shows with all the cute young girlies showing cleavage?
Ok, ok, soapbox mode off. And I'm not complaining about the cleavage either!

Tonight's the night! The first of 2 nights of recording CU Next Tuesday at the Gatekeeper. Tonight I get to play yet another role with the band...I get to be the recording engineer! Just add it to my resume :)

Unfortunately, I have to work early tomorrow morning, and it's gonna be killer to record yet again tomorrow night. I have a feeling that when I pick up Delilah on Wednesday night, that I'll be probably going to bed at the same time as her, I'll be so drained!

Had a great time Saturday night! The Naugatuck crew threw a Hayride and Bonfire/Drum Circle at Schrieber's Farm! The weather was perfect for a October evening and it all happened under a nearly full moon. Roger and Brian built a huge bonfire, and after we got back from the hayride, we played around it for the rest of the evening.

The drumming energy wasn't quite as intense as it had been the last couple of times art Brian's house, but it was a great time, and I always enjoy playing along with Pat, Steve and Mike. Some of the usual drummers weren't all that active (I don't think I saw Roger play all night) but we were all having a great time.

I found an interesting weblog (thanks to The Daily Column) today. It's the weblog of Geoff Fox, who is the weatherman at Channel 8 in New Haven, CT. He's got some pretty cool stuff on there.

What gives? Dunkin' Donuts has the nerve to start selling espresso and cappuchino? Trust me, If I wanted a "finer" coffee drink, Dunkin is the last place that I'd go. And those of you who know me know that I love Dunkin Donuts coffee. I hope they don't do to my favorite coffee places that they did to my favorite bagel places when they started selling bagels....

So, go to your favorite locally-owned ocffee shop (I prefer Klekolo World Coffee in Middletown). They allready have enough competition from Starbucks (who I frequent sometimes as well!)

The Pictures are in!!! The pictures from the CU Next Tuesday gig on Labor Day are back. Above, you see just a peek at what I've got! Pictured in front of The Gatekeeper -left to right- Colin, John, Mike, Matt, and Bryan. They're doing a live recording next Monday, and hopefully some of the pictures will be in the artwork for the CD (there will be a CD, right guys??)

So, I guess I'm the "Jack of all Trades" to the band....Roadie, Sound Tech, Crowd Control, Photographer, Percussionist, and occasionally, a Singer!

Delilah and I spent the day with Craig, Virginia and the girls. They were having a tag sale at the house in West Hartford so we went up and hung there for a while. Delilah, Me and Emmy took a walk around West Hartford Center where they are having a display of all these funky cow sculptures. It's called the Cow Parade. My favorite one is the Jackson Pollock looking one. Also check out the Cow Parade Homepage to see where else it's going on.


When in the center, I also stopped in Ten Thousand Villages (yes, AGAIN) and bought another piece of percussion. Ok, Ok I know that I'm a percussion addict.....I also picked up Delilah a cool windchime for her room...and got one for Emmy's new room as well (like any good unofficial Uncle would do!).

Del and I were planning on heading down to Naugatuck tonight, but she started getting a bit tired and cranky, and we had a pretty busy day, so we headed home and called it a night. So here, I am....online.... :)

Miles Played the Blues

A quote from the PBS "The Blues" episode I watched tonight, said by someone comapring Miles Davis and Muddy Waters. Seems like a cool album title for someone......

I had a relatively good day today. Much better than yesterday. Delilah was over last night, so we had the morning ritual. She's been alot better about waking up for school now. What a little cutie :)

Mike and I hung out tonight, watching a little tube, old tapes, records, you name it. He actually had a daytime session today, so he called after he was done...it was good hanging out with him...."What Happened???"

I guess Fall is finally settling in....I had to turn on the heat tonight when I got home from work. It was darnright chilly!!!! The weather forcast said that it was "unseasonably cold" today. Damn, they're not kidding! I did notice though, that the Mums that I planted out front a while ago are starting to bud again. Right on!!! I don't really have that much to say tonight, so I'll sip my tea and chill out for a while.....

Wow, I just realized that it's almost October! Gotta pull out the U2 CD again! It seems like yesterday, I was getting away of the hell that was April. And it is true- Time heals all wounds.

Yesterday, Ben, Emily and I threw our "end of summer party" here at Camp Pameacha. We killed 2 kegs, and 110 bucks worth of grub (the chicken terriaki was a great success!) Weatherwise, we got really lucky, It had been threatening rain all day, but it help off till after we wrapped up at 3:00 THIS MORNING! Yikes!

The party was a great success, lots of great people, good food, music (we even had a DJ throw down a trance set...till the cops came!) and of course Drumming! I got to drum with some different people which was a great change. Em didn't really join in, but Myshele from the Naugatuck crew came down, and we got in some good jams.

You know, I invited a bunch of people to our party, but only FOUR of them showed up (thanks you guys!). Oh well, It was a great time, too bad everyone missed one hell of a rockin' party! Man, I guess we know how to throw parties. According to Mike, we probably were the envy of all the Middletown parties last night!

Today, it rained like hell, and I didn't really leave the house, except to do some cleanup (I got soaked) and move the Jeep so Emily could get out of the driveway. I watched parts of like 5 movies on cable, but nothing seemed to keep my interest. So, here I am....blogging on this Sunday night. It's almost time for The Simpsons, so I hope it's not pre-empted by some stupid sports game!

In the CD player recently:
The Beatles- Anthology 2
Jack Johnson- On and On
Phish- A Picture of Nectar
Grateful Dead- Dicks Picks Vol. 11
3 Doors Down- Away From the Sun

Tonight, CU Next Tuesday (yeah, I know it was a Thursday!!) played down at The Gatekeeper. I got a call from Mike earlier in the afternoon telling me that they'd be there. I got a bit of flack from JD about not having the film from Labor Day developed, but I'll get on that ASAP.

Anyway, the guys were "on fire" tonight. Mike started playing the riff from "Play that Funky Music", and it ended up morphing into an incredible instrumental jam. Bang! They were on...right out of the starting gate!

They played for a while and took a break (they realized that they outnumbered the patrons at this point). Matt and Bryan started into a improv jazzy piece to be joined by Colin and Mike. This jam developed into the riff from "LA Woman."

JD decided not to join the band for the second set, and Mike kept signaling me to take the mic. So, I did (I kinda had to fudge some of the lyrics, but I pulled it off) and stayed up there for the whole set- occasionally singing and playing percussion. I had a great night, especially the jam where Pink Floyd's "Breate" turned into "Down by the River" by Neil Young (now referred to as Neil Floyd or Pink Young!)

I got a couple of compliments from the guys, so I guess either they were being nice or were serious....

I found out this week that Radio 104 changed formats to a hip-hop format. So now, my modren rock legacy that I started way back in 1994 has ended. Clear Channel has ruined Hartford radio once more!

Oh, just because-
Clearchannelsucks.org

Well, I started my day off this morning right :) Craig and I went over to Knight People for the Tibetan Singing Bowl meditation. It was just awesome to start the day off by totally relaxing and getting into the right frame of mind. The combination of Emile's voice and the playing of the bowls is an incredible experience. I could start my day off every day like that!

Craig and I walked from the house to Knight people, and it was really amazing how much you miss when you're driving by in a car. I think that I live in a rather neat little section of Middletown. Got to see some of the neighbors on High Street. And I got a little exercise on this beautiful late Summer day.

After I got home, I just kinda hung out for a while and enjoyed the day. Mike invited me over for lunch, and we ended up walking to the South Green and Main Street for a little bit. I went into Record Express and found a used copy of Michael Brook's "Cobalt Blue" CD- Craig had turned me on to it a while ago on a cassette copy of his LP. I just finished listening to it. Great CD. It's even got a 2nd CD of some live stuff.

When I got home, I noticed Danielle called. I was kind of suprised that I heard from her. She's seeing a new guy, and usually when that happens, I never hear from her. We were talking online last week, and I wasnt in the best mood, and she called to see how I was. So that was a nice addition to my day.

In the CD player today:
Elton John- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John- Madman Across the Water
Micheal Brook- Cobalt Blue
Neil Young- Harvest
Peter Gabriel- US

Had a pretty great weekend this weekend. I'm glad that I got over the funk that I was in last week- more on that later :) Even though I had to work this morning, I still managed to do quite a bit this weekend.

After I got out of work, I met up with Craig, John and Virginia at the Cheshire Fall Festival to do the drum circle. The public circles like at Cheshire and the Meriden Daffodil Fest are always way different than the ususal jams that I do. I ususally go to the ones like yesterday for the kids. The little ones love drums. And it helps to have a few seasoned drummers on hand as well.

The first jam we did went off really well, everyone locked in right away. Then the stupid PA announcer kept making announcements on top of us, and we were right next to the speakers. That kinda drove the crowd away, and made it impossible for John to do any real facilitation. At one point, he took the wireless mike and shut it off and put it down in disgust. Craig even went over to the guy and said "we cant do what we do if you keep taking over us." The idiot on the PA didn't listen.....

The next event scheduled at the festival was none other than the Dyn-O-Myte Disco Review, with none other than our dear friend Bryan Caudle on drums. So I got a chance to chat with him for a while. I had intended on introducing him to Craig and John, but Bry was busy with his sound check so....

Later, I had gone over Virginia's for dinner with Craig, John and his family, Pete the Didg guy, and we had a great time!. Virginia has a really great place, and the conversation over dinner was incredibly stimulating. Only to be beat by the awesome jam we had in the backyard afterwards. We played a couple of great drum and didg jams, and we even broke out the crystal bowl. Every time I play that bowl (or the one at Brian's house) it's just incredible... So at least I got one great drum jam in this weekend :)

Tonight Mike asked me if I'd help him and play some percussion on the Two Virgins CD. Tom Mooney was there with Mike and we put some stuff on tape for 3 songs, 2 of which I was on. This makes the second and third songs that I recorded with them, so I'd love to hear the finished product!

I got home and I was inspired to write a little, and do some blogging, but I have to work tomorrow at 7, so I gotta fly! Till next time :)