the Lady came from Baltimore

One of our last stops on the trip was to visit cuzzin Mary and her hubby in Baltimore.
It was my first time there.
Though our visit was brief (overnight) it was nice to get together, see their new apartment in a retirement community - Mary's a bit older than me - she tells everybody that she changed my diapers - (anyway - a very nice place); watched Dr Oz (first time for me) ate at a local diner (another great place) saw my cousin Dale (Mary's son) and his daughter, and just chilled.
We definitely will not take so long to visit again - probably haven't seen Mary in ten years.

So Mary was wondering what song I would mention regarding Baltimore...
How could I miss with the great Tim Hardin song...

Lady came from Baltimore,
All she wore was lace.
She didn't know that I was poor,
She never saw my place.

I was there to steal her money,

Take her rings and run.

Then I fell in love with the lady,

Got away with none.

Then I fell in love with the lady,

Got away with love...

This first link is Tim Hardin and TWIGGY!!!!!!

(god I'm old)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3230eCcI4

This one is Ricky Nelson

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZZ-xDr-L_A&feature=related

Of course cuzzin Mary didn't come from Baltimore
she actually moved to Baltimore.

Then again, if you've lived somewhere for 1/2 of your life are you from that area?
She now roots for the Ravens and Orioles.

Sort of running into the same situation with my daughter Karen since she's lived in Rochester since college:
 I can't really say that visits to Massachusetts are coming home....

I want to read this book.
An American Classic.
Do we ever feel at home???


Maybe the next road trip can be visiting literary sites.

Meet me in St Louis, Louie

Meet me at the fair.
try singing along with Mitch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ag_pSK5_3k&feature=related

or

could be we just listen to Louis Armstrong play some St Louis blues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2TUlUwa3_o

Well, there's no fair in St Louis now, and we didn't have much time to look for blues, so we visited the Arch - quite an amazing structure - saw a movie about it's construction - 630 feet high - over 2 years to build - no fatalities during it's construction - amazing - I got dizzy just watching the movie - of course I don't like being more than a few feet off the ground unless I'm in a plane.

when you think about it many people have traveled great distances in much more difficult modes of transportation...

This sculpture (yes- this is an outdoor sculpture depicting river grass) reminded me of New Bedford's "Seaflower"

Hey it's good to be back home again...

Sometimes, this old house

feels like a long lost friend....

Hey it's good to be back home again...

So, we're home.

3,824 miles and 24 days later.

Thank the Lord and pass the biscuits.

John Denver got it right with that song. 

Regardless of how much fun you have on a vacation, it feels good to be back in familiar surroundings and back in your own bed.
One of the shows we saw in Branson was a morning - yes they have shows at 10am - John Denver tribute show. It was a good pick for a morning show - laid back - mellow - included some Gospel tunes (actually almost everything in Branson includes some Gospel tunes) - and a little country bluegrass.

The John Denver impersonator is the second from the right - he obviously doesn't look very much like John Denver - he joked that he gets mistaken for former governor Blagoyovich! Look again - strong resemblance there.

The Branson shows are all about 2 hours long - this one was 2 and 1/2 - include a 15 minute intermission during which you're encouraged to buy stuff and talk with the performers - and - one of the big big plusses - they all start on time! Marlene and I have been to so many concerts that start 15, 30, even 60 minutes late that this was a refreshing plus. I'm sure part of the reason is that there are so many concerts going on every day (usually at 10, 2, and 8) when you factor in time for meals and getting around (traffic can be brutal on "the strip" at the rush hours between shows) delays would not be tolerated by us impatient seniors!

Well, even though I'm back, there's lots of stuff that I never got around to posting, so keep watching!

Washington DC

It's hard finding a song about DC
This one's called "Welcome to DC"; by Mambo Sauce
It's a rap song played at every Wizards game.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C3PB3K/?tag=amernois-20

We visited the White House and the Capital.

Had to get up at 5:30am while on vacation to be there for a 7:30 tour which didn't start till around 8:15.... stand outside in the cold.... fortunately no rain.

But it was worth it.

Had to be almost naked to get through security.

Not really....

but,

all you can bring is a wallet, keys, cell phone, umbrella (see the note above about being in line outside for over an hour).

No bags, purses, cameras etc.

Interesting since today all cell phones are cameras....

anyway, there are plenty of public domain pictures on the internet of what it looks like.

The blue room...

The red room....

The green room...

As I said though, it was worth the hassle....

The secret service guide was very personable and friendly.

If I ever go again it would be nice for it to be on a personal invite from the President!

(wouldn't have to stand in line so long)

Stormy weather

It could've been this way (apparently lots of storms back home)

Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather, since my man and I ain't together

Keeps raining all the time

Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere

Stormy weather, just can't get my poor old self together

I'm weary all the time, the time, so weary all of the time

The Complete Billie Holiday

Instead, it was mostly this

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out 

I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine 

It's been quite amazing when we think about it.

We've been traveling for 23 days and the only rain we had was when we left Cleveland for Chicago on September 28 and when we left Washington DC on October 14.

We traveled half way across the country and the weather has generally been sunny and in the mid 70s.

In Nashville and Memphis it was in the upper 80s and low 90s.

We head home tomorrow and the forecast is for sunny skies and temps in the 60s.

What a blessed trip!

Songs about Memphis

Last time I saw Marie

She was waving me goodbye....

Information please,

help me get in touch with her

in Memphis Tennessee....

"Memphis, Tennessee" by Chuck Berry

Memphis, Tennessee

So,what else did we do in Memphis?

After Graceland and Sun studio we went to the 
Memphis Rock n Soul Museum

It's a very interesting place that takes you through the evolution of the music from the farms and churches into the cities.

And...
there are some gorgeous guitars...
these belong to Tony Gentry of the Bar Kays and autographed by people he performed with.
The black guitar is signed by Bill Clinton.





We walked around some on Beale Street.
Had a beer at B B King's...

but didn't have enough time for everything we wanted to do....

Well, it's a reason to return!!!

I've re-designed the blog to make it easier to read.
Let me know what you think.

In keeping with the "educational" part of this blog...
the following is from "Teresa's Memphis Blog"

 http://memphis.about.com/b/2008/04/23/songs-about-memphis.htm

I recently learned an interesting bit of trivia that I thought I would share with you here. It turns out that Memphis has the distinction of being mentioned in the lyrics of more songs than any other city in the world. And these are recorded and distributed songs, not just the creations of wannabe songwriters. So just how many songs have "Memphis" somewhere in the lyrics? A whopping 899....
When I first read this statistic, I was dubious. Could there possibly be that many? And if there were, surely they were all really obscure songs sung by unknown artists. But then I saw the list and discovered that I knew far more of them that I would have guessed. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to see how many you could come up with before I post a link to the complete list. So if you can think of a song with "Memphis" anywhere in the lyrics, post it in a comment below. I'll give you the link to all 899 next week. In the meantime, I'll get us started:
1. City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie (one of my all time favorite songs)
2. Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn
3. Maybe It Was Memphis by Pam Tillis
Update: as of 9/20/2010, there were 971 songs on the list--you can read them all here.*

Things to add to a bucket list

Of course a vacation consists of a lot of eating.

During the first stop at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant I picked up their brochure (I love picking up brochures - one of the reasons that I need to retire to clean up the basement). Anyway, they have 532 locations... we've visited 4... 528 to go... maybe that could get me into the Guinness Book of world records!!!

Their food reminds me of my younger years....

canned stringbeans...

lots of mashed potatoes....

and gravy of course...

and each time you have to buy something from the store!

don't know the last time I ate a Sky Bar.

Nashville

On Saturday October 9 we visited the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Old Opry.

picture by Daniel Schwen

These are a couple of views of the Ryman's interior.
The pictures do not do it justice.
It's beautiful.
Supposedly has acoustics second only to the Mormon Tabernacle in Utah.
Many concerts are held here.
I will definitely see one here if I get back someday.


We also took a trolley trip through the city, seeing other highlights such as the Parthenon, an exact scale replica of the Greece temple; the state capital building (the land for which was purchase for the price of "one milk cow"; and Music Row, where the major recording studios are located. In addition to the nickname "Music City", Nashville is also called "The Athens of the South".

This is the Parthenon.
Again, very impressive.

Nashville Cats

"Play cool as country water...

Been playin since they'se babies...

Well, there's thirteen hundred and fifty two Guitar pickers in Nashville...."

That's what the Lovin' Spoonful said back in the sixties.

But today there are an estimated 30,000 songwriters living here.

Probably even more guitar pickers....
They're on every street corner in the entertainment district.
Their quality varies widely.

We went "honky tonkin" on Nashville's Broadway...

joined in on a "holler and swaller"... at Legends Corner Bar

In case you don't know, the "holler and swaller" involves a long yell and a long drink.
and
by the way,
we're definitely not in Massachusetts anymore...
We were sitting having our drink and see three kids (maybe 10 - 12 years old)
selling candy bars for some kind of fundraiser.
This in a bar! Not a restaurant!
Of course if you want to sell things and can do so to people drinking...
Later on at another place I notice a sign that children are not allowed in after 6pm.
and....
everywhere in Memphis and Nashville are signs that you can't bring your gun(s) into the bar.
very interesting that they have to post this....

They don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee

Interesting that Merle Haggard has admitted 

that he wrote this song (Okie from Muskogee) as a satire.

His son seems to take the politics more seriously.
One of Merle's latest songs says that we should stop fighting wars
and spend more time and money on fixing this country.
listen to America First.

"Merle Haggard was in his early twenties, serving a possible 20 years in prison when San Quentin guards found him, drunk off his own beer, after he'd fallen into a latrine. "They handcuffed my ass and took me to where they gas people," he said. It's one of many heartbreaking stories in Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself, a new PBS documentary about the country legend. The film features interviews with Keith Richards, Kris Kristofferson, John Fogerty, and Robert Duvall, and examines the hardships of Haggard's Bakersfield, California upbringing. He lost his father at age nine, spent his teenage years escaping from youth institutions and later penned 38 Number One country classics."
from "Rolling Stone" magazine.








"Already a major country star, Haggard became a household name, and, like Uncle Tom’s Cabin more than a century earlier, “Okie” clove that house in two. So politically charged were the times that even chitchat around the dinner table, ordinarily useful to keep family values on track, could erupt into screaming matches. Nightly. America was, then as now, in the midst of a bitter cultural war, and everything got serious when names like Richard Nixon, Martin Luther King and Abbie Hoffman came up in conversation. Haggard’s song inserted him into the middle of that discussion.
By the winter of 1969 there was no middle ground, and where you stood on “Okie” firmly established which side you were on, whether you wore sandals or boots, whether you thought hippies deserved to be beaten or honored for their opposition to the Vietnam War. Haggard’s next single, the patriotically charged “Fightin’ Side Of Me”, made clear where he stood.
No, it didn’t, actually.
The reaction to his latest single, “That’s The News”, smartly selected from his latest record, Like Never Before (on his own Hag Records imprint), suggests just how complex and mercurial a figure Merle Haggard has always been. And what a gifted artist he remains."
from American Masters.





All of the above is a lead-in to this.
Sunday night, October 3, in Branson we went to see Marty Haggard (Merle's oldest son).

He does a tribute show singing his father's songs and telling stories about his life and his dad's.
It was a fun show (Merle had a lot of hits),
and he did a good job on my favorite
Merle song "If We Make it Through December" which relates to the struggles of the working class.

But Marty obviously believes in America Red White and Blue; Love it or Leave It; God's on our side.

When he sings "The fightin' side of me" (which says that you better not say anything bad about the USA) you know that he believes it.
And the crowd in Branson really loves these "patriotic" statements.

I don't want this blog to become a political one, but politics permeates everything in our lives, and I find it amazing that people don't think more about the underlying messages in the comments that are made. For example, Marty comments that Merle went "from the jail-house to the White House in 10 years" (he was honored by then president Nixon -- a pardoned criminal by the way) then says that today the process should be reversed for some of the people in the White House.





Anyway, I don't expect that you'll see the Dixie Chicks playing Branson anytime soon.

Walking in Memphis

Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale...

Saw the ghost of Elvis...
followed him up to the gates of Graceland...

but security they did not see him...

But his spirit is certainly there.

What can you say about Elvis? If you're not a fan and you go to Graceland, you'll leave a fan.

Sure, he ended up with problems - don't we all?

Graceland was his home in Memphis, a city he loved. It was ostentatious and  a bit (no a lot) tacky - a jungle room with furniture that has animal motifs? Shag carpet on the ceilings?

But if you compare it to the homes of the rich and famous today....

Now all the people still sending flowers and posters... that's a little weird... well, maybe not.

So, we spent about 4 hours there.

And his favorite sandwich is the same sandwich that my mother used to make for me (and that I still love) - peanut butter and butter and bananas - umm umm good.

 

We took a free shuttle to Sun studio

 I sang a few lyrics on a microphone that Elvis (and Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Howlin Wolf, and Roy Orbison and a host of others) probably used.

The guide said that we could kiss the mike ----
 I passed.

There will be more about Memphis, but it's time to hit the road again.
Next stop - Nashville!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin on the River

Actually, it was on a lake.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we began our Branson Experience by taking a dinner cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle, which traverses Table Rock Lake. This is a man made lake created by the Army corps of engineers years ago to help stop flooding in the area. They built a dam.

(Thankfully, we didn't go near the dam with the ship.

This was not supposed to be a thrill ride.)

The cruise was pleasant, top speed around 7 knots.

Between the meal and the show we had some time

 to walk around the ship,

go on deck, 

and enjoy the mild breeze.

The show was fun 

typical variety show kind of stuff - emcee, comedian, magician, singers & dancers.

The dinner was ehh - maybe a C- certainly not comparable to cruise ship food.

(although I must admit I've never been on a "real" cruise but in general everyone raves about cruise food and gains 5 - 10 pounds.)

But, we had a good and relaxing time.

A little family time in the Ozarks

I'm falling a little behind on the posts - actually vacationing while on vacation. Saturday we arrived in Branson. Of course, all of my planning and research and I didn't realize that Branson is in the Ozarks - that's the OZARK MOUNTAINS!!!  Anyway, the interstates were fine but some of the state highways are more than a little "dicey", especially at night - no streetlights. Seems that they're also saving taxpayer money on guardrails!
Anyhow, we met Marlene's brother Steve and his wife Linda for a wonderful meal Saturday night and Sunday morning breakfast. They live in Oklahoma and drove here to meet us. We spent a few lovely hours together doing the usual family things, talking about the kids and grandkids, reminiscing about growing up and parents no longer with us, and looking at pictures. We were very happy that they could make the time to meet us.

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

My hearts on fire....

Tonight we saw the Oak Ridge Boys - they have their own theater here in Branson - put on a wonderful show - they've been performing together for 37 years - have over 35 country hits - many were #1 country hits.


And of course they performed their signature song....
Gydiyup...
Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow
Gydiyup...

Gydiyup Om Pa Pa Om Pa Pa Mow Mow

My hearts on fire....

for Elvira!

All in all a great ending to our Branson Experience!

now...

on to Memphis.

Just a brief note - obviously I've missed a few days - took a vacation from posting you could say. I'll be adding stuff about Branson and St Louis - just not in chronological order.

Chicago Chicago That Toddlin' Town

They have the time, the time of their life

I saw a man who danced with his wife.

Actually, I didn't see anybody dancing.

But we did have a great time.

We took a river cruise that highlighted the architecture of the city.

Here's a few pictures of the buildings.

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry.

  I went down a coal mine, learned about corn,

          pigs, trains, tornadoes 

            and lots of other cool stuff.

              
    This train was the first to travel over 100 mph!

We also saw a Jim Henson exhibit (creator of one of my all time favorite shows - the Muppets)

We went to Buddy Guy's Legends Cafe

for a live blues set.

We went to the Hard Rock Cafe to look for James Young's (from Styx) jumpsuit.

They apparently moved it somewhere else.

The host said that they re-decorated a couple of years ago.

They did have the drum set behind the bar from Styx's Todd Sucherman.
This is me sitting in front of it.

Now, for anyone who wonders about the song title, here's an explanation from www.wordwizard.com about how the term "toddling" came to be used.

Hey my blog can be educational too!!!

This is an age-old question especially for Chicagoans. I believe that the answer is that there is no definite answer. Fred Fisher (1875-1942) wrote words and music (1922) for the very successful song, “Chicago (that toddlin’ town)” in praise of his adopted city (he had emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1900). It was originally a very popular 1920s song which was brought back by Sinatra in the 1957 movie ‘the Joker is Wild.’– the life story of vaudevillian Joe E. Lewis. Fisher had a long and successful career and wrote the music and sometimes also the lyrics for many well-known songs (including Peg O’ My Heart). As far as I could tell (and I could be wrong but don’t think so, or there wouldn’t be all the controversy), he never made clear where he got that term “toddlin’ town) and there is no record (again, as far as I could determine) of it being an expression before he put it into song. My best guess is that he wanted a word for alliterative effect and neither hustln’ nor ‘bustlin’ (which would have been more descriptive of Chicago) sounded as good to him, so he created an adjective – which didn’t quite fit the town (to walk leisurely, stroll, or saunter) – and thus the confusion for the last 80 [[now 87]] years.


On to St Louis!

Rain Rain Go Away

And it did.

We had about an hour & a half of heavy rain when we left Cleveland.

That's been it.

Who would've thought that visiting Chicago at the end of September we would get 75 -85 degree sunny weather!

Technical difficulties

       So, I couldn't put our pictures on the blog in Cleveland -- cause I left the cord in the car!!! 

(we valet parked).

                      Just like at Woodstock, they don't allow pictures in most of the museum.

                      These were taken in the lobby & outside.

I don't know how well you can read this but Johny Cash spent 1/2 million dollars to retrofit this bus for touring.

Truckin'

I can't believe the number of trucks on the highway. Probably 1/2 (or more) of the vehicles on I-80 / 90 are tractor trailers and a good number of them are double and even triple trailers. Guess that trucks do move the country!

Rock & Rollllll Hoochie Coo

Lawdy mama light my fuse!!!!

OK I'm not sure if Rick Derringer is in the hall, but that's a great rock & roll song.

Everybody here says Cleveland Rocks 

We spent about 4 hours at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It was fun. Funny though - it took three years for the Beatles to get in????  4 years for the Stones???? Who votes for the inductees????

If you go, skip the food. We ate at the cafe at Woodstock & that was very good. This place was maybe a D+ . 

Still haven't seen any red bearded men in our travels, however, while watching the HBO series "Bored to Death" the star's friend has a red beard!!!

Continuing the musical connection our waiter tonight was named Elvis!

Pleasant Sunday

Today's been a relaxing day. Went for a brief walk. Watched the Patriots beat Buffalo - not really relaxing - they make it interesting.
                                    Karen was happy cause the Cowboys won.
                                    Going out for pizza.
                                    We leave early tomorrow to start day  # 4 -
 Cleveland & the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I came upon a child of god

He was walking along the road and I asked him where are you going and this he told me
                                        "I am going down to Yasgur's farm"

(apologies to Joni Mitchell if the lyrics are not exact)











So 41 years later, Marlene and i joined him. Here's a picture of me.

In 1969 he was joined by 400 - 500 thousand others for 3 days of music. It ended up being a temporary city that was the third largest in New York state for three days. It's a little hard to imagine the mud & stuff cause now there's a lovely museum, outdoor concert shell, and beautiful landscaped grounds. There are lots of pictures, videos & commentaries from attendees, locals, and performing artists. They have the "Hog farm commune" bus that you can sit in & watch a mini movie (lots of beads as curtains) and a flowery Volkswagen bug. It's definitely a fun place to visit. One minor irritant to me was that they didn't allow pictures. On the other hand, we were very fortunate that while waiting in line to purchase tickets, someone gave us free tickets - they were obviously in  a Woodstock frame of mind! (saved us $26).

  One interesting tidbit is that a 3 day ticket was $21 - in today's money = $127.74.
      Quite a bargain considering the prices of one concert today!

Finally, one of my young idealistic revolutionary illusions was shattered when I learned that the Jefferson Airplane, who promoted themselves as revolutionary anti capitalists, would not perform until they got paid. This was back in the day when banks had much fewer hours, but somehow the promoters were able to get a cashier's check & they performed on Sunday morning. Oh well. Still like their music.  

According to Plan

The plan was to leave around 2.
Of course, that didn't happen. We left around 3. Still, the Garmin said that we should arrive in Liberty NY around 7:15. But, the Garmin wasn't considering a couple of traffic jams, rest stops, and for some unknown reason sending us off the highway through a Connecticut city at rush hour. The AAA directions were different, but the Garmin has this seductive feminine voice saying "come this way big boy". OK, it doesn't actually say that & it isn't very seductive, but anyway you get the picture. I followed the Garmin. WRONG! Actually it only cost us about 20 minutes, but all the combinations caused us to arrive around 8:30. Not bad overall. Marlene had made us healthy turkey sandwiches; we ate, watched a little TV & got a good night's sleep.
Day 2 begins - Woodstock Concert @ Bethel Woods Museum - peace, love & music ahead.

On the road again

Here it is - the day we've been planning for months - today we begin our odyssey - our long wandering event filled adventure. I had a dream 2 nights ago that I would have to share a room with a large burly red headed and bearded man - looked like a Viking but may have been a "hippie" - I'll be looking for that man - but hopefully will NOT be sharing a room with him!

Soccer mania part 2

OK Reagan's second video didn't post.
Here it is.
Once again, the other team scored.
Wait till the next game....

I can see a long illustrious career for these soccer aficionados.

Soccer mania

So, I traveled to Foxboro last week to see the Patriots lose to the Rams in a pre-season game. Actually they were winning when we left in the 4th quarter....
But the Pats were nowhere near as exciting as watching the grandkids play inspired soccer on Saturday...
Check out the videos. The first one is Reagan's first ever score - watch out Mia Hamm!! - it's fast so keep your eyes open.

This next one is from Collin's game - though he didn't score, he did kick the ball!!!
Actually the other team scored. Oh well.

Finally, here's another video from Reagan's game.

Can't think of a better way to enjoy a beautiful Saturday morning.

Sleeping with the Neighbors

Some people probably thought that this would be an "R" rated post, but it's just a little conversation about an author that we met who published a book about community and neighbors. The author is Peter Lovenheim and the book is "In the Neighborhood". He began this project after a murder suicide occurred on his street and he realized how insular many (probably most) of us have become. I became intrigued when I heard about the book because the author lives in a suburb of Rochester New York, and my daughter Karen lives in another Rochester suburb.


 In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time 

He relates the tragic story of what happened that day in February of 2000, and discusses a couple of "what if" scenarios that might have saved a couple of lives. Basically, this was a wealthy neighborhood where nobody really knew anybody on the street, and the author postulates that feeling comfortable enough to ask a neighbor for help is the real definition of a neighborhood. One person that he interviewed commented that he "lives in this house, but not in the neighborhood".

It's at first thought interesting to me how difficult it seems to have been for him to connect with the people on the street. He ended up interviewing half of the 36 households. Perhaps because he told people up front that he was doing research for a book, people were wary about losing their privacy. And, I do wonder if "the street" has become a minor tourist attraction.

I must admit that this book has piqued my interest about my own neighbors. (and made me a little sad - I only know a few neighbors by name -- it's usually just a wave -- and I've only been inside of three houses on the street - this after living here 17 years!!!!). On the other hand, I can understand what has happened. Years ago people lived and worked in close proximity. There are tenements in New Bedford that were built specifically for the people who worked for a particular factory. For better or worse, you knew your neighbors. The churches served the people of a particular ethnic group. People lived near others that they had things in common with. I don't know what I have in common with most of my neighbors. Hopefully this book has encouraged me to learn.

The author relates a Jewish teaching that to really know someone you must know what sorrows they bear. There are many emotional stories - that's what happens when you get to know the neighbors and learn about their loneliness, their illnesses, their lives. Some of his neighbors have died. Some moved. Some divorced. Hopefully they all were changed for the better through becoming better neighbors..

The book ends with a hopeful quote from Pamela in Jackson, Mississippi: "Neighbors are special: they are people who look out for you every day because they are there every day... If we all cared about our neighbors, we could change the world one street at a time."

Birthday

Just in case you forgot.......
one of New Bedford's heroes.....
Today is Herman Melville's birthday.


http://www.melville.org/

The Feast - Draw the Line

We went to the feast on Friday night to see an Aerosmith Tribute band called "Draw the Line".
I'm attaching a video - but it is poor quality - it was night & the Coby camera is an inexpensive one - but you can get a sense of the band - they're very good

We went back for Mallassadas on Saturday afternoon and saw Captain Jack Sparrow - grandson Nick was with us and Jack did a magic trick - didn't get it on my camera though.

The Madeiran Feast

The Feast is this weekend. We plan on attending some to see a couple of tribute bands (Aerosmith & the Doors), eat some "carne de espeto" and mallassadas, and maybe a little Madeiran wine.

More about the AC trip

So, we're on the boardwalk and I'm trying out this little Coby camcorder that we got for free from Foxwoods. (It's like a flip video but cheaper). I took a bunch of lousy videos, then, while filming people on the beach I realized that the noise that I could hear above was Donald Trump's helicopter coming in for a landing. Maybe the Donald was on board!!! Exciting moments in a whaling city wanderer's travels!!!
Watch the video here.

We also saw two shows - Rodney Carrington - a country music style comedian who likes to sing a lot about body parts etc, but also does some serious touching stuff.

We also saw the acapella group "Straight - No Chaser". Their show was outstanding. We highly recommend seeing them when they start a national tour in the fall.
Listen here for yourself. Remember - there are NO musical instruments!
Straight No Chaser


More to come.

Another AC trip (with air conditioning)

We're in Atlantic city. On the way down the temp being registered on the car outside was 97*. HOT -- well it is July. While in line for the buffet (a must when we come to AC) a couple told us that the Trump Plaza casino was closed because they lost their air conditioning. The slots might malfunction in the heat & give everyone jackpots!!! It's cool here at Resorts.

Pittsford NY pics

I finally have a few of the pictures from last weeks trip.
I love the benches that have been painted for charity
Karen and Marlene and I sat on a few.

This link briefly describes the project.
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/41727
A few years back they had a similar project with painted horses.

I think these are great community pride activities.

Anyway we had a great relaxed trip. Karen & Mark always make our stays memorable.