An evening with Dr. Zibbs and the Swedish Chef

What can I say? I suppose I'm making lot of people around the world extremely jealous simply due to my fortuitous choosing of West Chester as a domicile, because of its relative proximity to one "Doctor Zibbs" of "That Blue Yak" fame. There are a lot of people who would pay any price, bear any burden, to make the pilgrimage and worship at the feat of the great Doctor, so it got me to thinking about starting a business, some sort of tour guide to West Chester, pointing out sites where Dr. Zibbs has been seen, pointing out actual bar stools where he has sat upon, or perhaps spiritual guide to West Chester, to help pilgrims cleanse themselves emotionally and physically in preparation to actually meeting him.

Let me tell you about how I met Dr. Zibbs.

The Doctor's hands are the key to life

Saigon, shit.....I lay in my hotel run, looking at my orders in disbelief. I couldn't believe they wanted him dead, West Point, Airborne, Special Forces. "Terminate with extreme prejudice" they said. I had to meet the crew of a Patrol Boat-River (PBR) at the mouth of the Brandywine river for the trip upstream so I got a ride on a Huey gunship with a troop from the 1st Cav, and lunatic surfer and battalion commander known as Lt. Col. Kilgore.

The crew of my PBR were a strange lot, the M-60 gunner looked like a very young Cowboy Curtis from the Pee Wee Herman show or maybe Morpheus from The Matrix.

After a surreal journey filled with pointless allegories and allusions, incoherent scenes with no point to the plot, (although the Playboy bunnies having to flee on the skids of a helicopter, that was a nice touch) I arrived at his den. The natives all seemed to look the same, holding glasses of thick black liquid, just staring at me otherwise silent. Then I met the Swedish Chef. He babbled excitedly, "he, he, he's a good man, a great man, he's changed my life, I'd follow him anywhere..." he went on and on, several different cameras dangling from around his neck. He seemed to go off on tangents, he was clearly insane, one minute he was talking about putting a bomb on a bus that would explode if it went less than 55 miles an hour, the next minute he was talking about the road to retirement, and having a plan, and about Ameriprise Financial. (By the way, who picks a stockbroker on the advice of Dennis Hopper?)

Then there he was, the Doctor himself. An ethereal glow seemed to emanate around his aura, the wicker chair providing the perfect framing backdrop, his white suite gleaming to the point of me having to shield my eyes. He wielded his spade shaped hand fan like a magician, effortlessly cooling himself, his bottle of 7-Up dripping sweat in his other hand. His first words to me were not exactly clear, something about being caffeine free, never had it, never will.

Ok enough, I think my memory of the evening was blurred by about 4 Guinness's, and the free swag we got from them, (T-Shirts and key chains) so I think I'm confusing my stories between Apocalypse Now, Hearts of Darkness, and a 7-Up commercial. Suffice to say, I met the man himself, and it was good. Everyone should meet Dr. Zibbs at least once in their lives, at least that's what it says in the Koran anyway. As for the Swedish Chef, as it turns out, we've probably met each other before at of all places, at John Young's Guerrilla Drive in! (It's a small world, and a really cool town West Chester is) He even grew up with and knows Nikki from Van Ryn's barbershop, she's the one that cuts my hair, of which Lana approves of. :)

I'm telling you, living in West Chester is great, spring is here, summer is coming, you got to get here!

Jealous?

Album drops April 28th, but who's got a copy now thanks to my friends at the Mad Platter CD's? Yup, THIS guy!

Wait until I tell you about my evening with Dr. Zibbs!

More from West Chester University...Khristos Voskrese, Voistinu Voskrese

This will be a short blog, in contrast to the fact that the weekend was crammed with so much stuff, Friday night was a nice long walk in the borough, Saturday was a day (and a lot of the night) trip to Washington DC, and Sunday was Russian Orthodox Easter, and thus a pretty long day, having managed to cram in a trip out to Net Cost, the Russian Grocery Store on Bustleton Pike north of Philly, then down to St Andrew's Russian Orthodox Church, for the blessing of the Easter Baskets, and then back to West Chester University for a presentation by the Russian Language and Drama Club of some classic Russian Fairy Tales, including Teremok, and The Turnip.



Thanks to Dr. Jim Jones of WCJIM fame for referencing the play at WCU on his website, and thanks to Dr. Alice Speh for keeping me informed about the play, it definately capped a fun weekend! Oh, and thanks mostly to Lana, you know, for just everything...OH, and I just noticed, look for how long (minutes and seconds) the video runs.....I'm just saying...

It's official! Congratulations to West Chester University Gracenotes!

Hi all, I get to write this blog at the intersection of where two of my interests meet, in this case, West Chester, and Ben Folds. It seems that about a year ago Ben Folds had stumbled upon some videos on You Tube of various University Acapella groups doing versions of some of his songs. This inspired him to reach out to the interweb and solicit more groups to doing his songs, the best of which he would record and put out in album which, as it happens, "drops" April 28th, "Ben Folds presents, University Acapella"

And who made the cut? Among some very amazing talents, from some very amazing Universities, was West Chester's own all girls Acapella group, the West Chester University Gracenotes.



Now in the interest of full disclosure, I've never seen them preform before, I don't know any of them personally, unless I helped them during the mock interviews the women's business club put on campus last year or they work part time as waitresses at any of the restaurants up and down Gay Street I've probably never met them before, but I can't otherwise feel happy and proud that their version of "Fred Jones Part 2" made the album. This is especially impressive for me because I never really liked the song when it came out because it is about a man getting laid off, and it came out about the time I got laid off that one time, hence the depressing nature of it all, but yet hearing them sing it is somehow more soothing, more palatable, almost made me look forward to getting laid off again. (God Forbid) Besides, they're College Girls, and who doesn't like College Girls?

So Congratulations to the Gracenotes on a job well done.

And since I'm plugging the album, (why, I have no financial stake in Ben Fold's success, other than the more popular he gets, the cooler I become) check out this group that has also made the album, the Sacramento State University Jazz Ensemble.

In order to realize how good the improvisational, scatting version the students do I've included the original song from 1997 when Ben Folds Five performed on Sessions at West 54th Street, a great little show on PBS for some great music. Watch and listen to Ben's version, and then watch the kid's version, it's like, scary good.

It's safe bet that on New Music Tuesday April 28th, I'll be at the Mad Platter in West Chester after work picking up my copy, maybe I'll see you there?

Fashion Advice from my Cousin

No comment from me, except to say that this is my cousin Lauren, and she managed to get a plug in for her new kid, which is either my nephew, or 2nd cousin, depending on how it works out and she knows all about this fashion stuff, and she can work miracles because she can make even me look good. (It usually involves me wearing all black, pinstripes and platform shoes for some reason...)

Orlando versus West Chester

I wasn't sure how I wanted to express my thoughts about my trip to Orlando, other than start off by giving a high level overview of what I managed to accomplish while down there, and then go on to discuss the specifics of what I observed, as if my two cents offers a fresh alternative look as to what's happening down there. So, since I can't think of a better way to express what I'm thinking, let's just begin exactly as I outlined, why not right?

Ok so in a nutshell, in the course of 9 days in Florida, I managed to:

• Have Dinner with my brothers Ralph and Joe and his Canadian girlfriend Sheyla and family.


• Have Lunch with my brothers and my mom.
  


• Have a few drinks with a couple of my Army buddies.
  


• Watch Ben Folds at the Hard Rock Live Venue at Universal Studios with Ralph and my Godson Brian.


• Spend time with my girlfriend.
  


• Spend time with my Ralph.
  


• Spend time with my Dad on his birthday.

So, I got a lot done. As infrequently as I get a chance to spend time with family, I have to take these opportunities when I can. For those friends of mine whom I missed, forgive me, we'll hook up next time in town, promise!

The other thing is that I get a chance to compare and contrast where I've come from, to where I live now, and see how much has changed since I left in 1999. Every time I go back to Orlando, I look around as I'm being driven to my Dad's house where I usually set up camp for my stays, and I'm overwhelmed by 3 feelings, awe, jealousy, and relief. Awe, in that I'm amazed at the shear amount of growth Orlando has had in the years since I've been gone. True, much of the growth is phony, like a giant Potemkin's Village has sprouted up over night, (think the fake Rock Ridge, next to the real Rock Ridge from Blazing Saddles) Jealousy, in so much that I'd love to be living among friends and family in a place that has grown so much. Finally Relief, in that I'm so glad I don't live there now, because in some respects I doubt I could have grown as much as I have personally, if I had stayed. In the years since I've left, I've lived in Salt Lake City, Denver, and in the Philly Burbs, and had more than my share of interesting experiences along the way.

Of all the things that changed that impressed me the most, about Orlando, was the arrival of the classic "Hipster" (Nihilistus Artsyfartsycus) (That's the Latin name for the genome and species) :)
I'm serious, I couldn't believe it. Skinny jeans, ironic t-shirts, pork pie hats, single speed bicycles, in ORLANDO, the City where cool trends go to die. The thing of it is, one of two things is about to happen, the hipster, as we know it, is about to become extinct because it has arrived in Orlando, or, the Orlando that I knew, the Puerto Rican/Redneck-Rebel Flag/Evangelical Christian/Boy Band producing town is becoming extinct.

How did the Hipster manage to make it down to Orlando, I wonder. Are they leftover implants by the Democratic party to relocate Obama voters to the south to turn Florida into a Blue State? Are they economic refugees in so much as it's just gotten to be to expensive, even in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York for them to afford to live there?

Seriously though, I imagine that the University of Central Florida, through it's Bachelors Degree in Visual Language from its Digital Media department, as well as its Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. Valencia Community College has some graphic arts programs as well as the "DAVE" School (Digital Animation and Video Education) at Universal Studios, and of course the Grand-daddy of them all, Full Sail "University" has attracted many of them down there.

Part of my loathing for them is my jealousy of them, first in that they are skinny, but also in that they get to pursue something they love, while living the bohemian lifestyle, while not exactly eschewing the need for technology, as on the one hand maybe they don't have a nice car, but they have iBook and an iPhone in their messenger bag while tooling around on a Vespa motor scooter or that ubiquitous 1 speed bike. Plus, all the coffee you can drink while writing that screenplay? Sign me up!

So in the 10 years that I left, Orlando got Hipsters, non Starbucks coffee shops, hell, Orlando actually GOT Starbucks coffee shops, independent record stores, motor scooter culture, pretty much all the cool, hip things I pursued these last 10 years between my visits to Seattle and Portland, and my stays in Salt Lake, Denver and now here in West Chester. So, should I move back to Orlando now that I have a place to hang out that wasn't there before?

There was and still is the Enzian Theater, an independent movie place (that served beer) that showed foreign films with subtitles and those Spike and Mike sick and twisted animation festivals, (are you listening West Chester? We need a cool theater!) but Orlando was about as shallow and superficial as it got. (lots of orange tanned, fake boobed bimbos, rhoid raging, spiky haired douches) Not a whole lot of places for a guy like me to gather with friends and discuss the nature of travel beyond light speed, and Roman Legion Order of Battle.

I guess the answer is no, I wouldn't move back, because with my luck, if I'm right, the trend would be over by the time I got there. Seriously, it's a matter of practicality at this point, I've got the good job happening here, this place has everything I need, PLUS, here, in West Chester, there's actually no need to run the air conditioner...in MARCH, like it is down there. Trust me I'm no big fan of the winters here, but come on, 90 degrees, in March? I grew up with that for 30 plus years, I'm kind of digging where I am, thank you very much...

Area Blogger Returns Home to West Chester, celebrates with Prime Rib at Iron Hill

I just got back from a week in Florida, more blogging to come regarding my trip, (who knew Brooklyn style hipsters and scooter culture have made it to Orlando of all places) I can tell you I'm enjoying a 14 oz Prime Rib at Iron Hill at the moment, and it's really good. Don't believe me? Here's what it looked like, along with 1/2 of an Iron Bound Ale before I tore into it.

I had a pretty good time, from spending some time with my brother Joe and his non imaginary Canadian Girlfriend before he gets sent to the desert on another Middle East Deployment, to spending time with my Godson Brian and my other brother Ralph by taking them to see Ben Folds at the Hard Rock Live venue at Universal Studios, to finally showing off my girlfriend Lana to my family and friends down there. (Initial grade for her, A+)

Anyway, more later, I'm still loading photos to Flickr from the trip, as well as getting ready for the reality of going back to work. :)

I don't speak "Man"

First of all, let me begin with what is probably a glaring, obvious and redundant statement, which is to say, I am.....a man. Not just any kind of man, but an extremely macho, manly man. I'm so manly, I am confident I don't have to belabor the point of how manly I am, because to do so would only indicate a sense of unsureness or insecurity in my manhood, of which I have none. Besides, my mommy says I'm a big man now, so I don't know what more proof you could want.

I would go on and on and list how many things that I have had punched on my man card, but again, as a man, there is no need. (and frankly, as a man, the list is so long, we haven't the time to list them all)

Yet, every year, the Ides of March come, which in Roman times was a pretty manly holiday, what with celebrations dedicated to Mars the God of War and all, not to mention to the manliest of assassinations in the murder of Julius Cesar, but it's about this time every year that I start to feel, you know, not so manly? Especially here in West Chester, the Philly 'Burbs, the whole Northeastern, Mid Atlantic States part of the USA.

But Andy, how can that be? I know I know, as strange as it seems, it is sadly the truth. About this time of year every year is the annual event known as "March Madness". It is the time where tall young men, supposed scholar athletes, gather together in squeaky sneakers, wife beaters and baggy shorts and bounce a basketball around until through the process of elimination, one team will emerge victorious as the NCAA champions of Basketball. At least that's my understanding of it.

Where I lose my manhood street cred, is in that, well, here it goes, I don't fucking care about College Basketball! I don't know the teams, I don't know the players, I don't know the coaches, I don't know who won last night, who's playing today, who's playing tomorrow, and I just, don't, care.

The thing of it is, my fellow men, seemingly most of them, obsess over March Madness. I mean they know everything about it, from the big, strategic aspects of things like picking who will go into what bracket and why, down to the tiniest of minutiae. And there in lies the problem. Men communicate in a certain language that's not meant to be easily interpreted by other people. The other people being women of course. Women, and maybe nerds and theater majors perhaps. Now I will readily admit that I fall into the nerd category in some respect, but I will say that I'm mostly in the manly world than in the nerdy world.

Speaking of nerds, it always struck me as funny the disdain that some of these sports obsessed guys have for the nerd obsessed guys, be they the sci-fi fantasy types and the society for creative anachronism types, when in fact that same childlike obsession skill set is present in both types of guys. For a funny read on this, check out this article written in The Onion.

So when it happens that for whatever reason that two men who are strangers to each other have to communicate, they usually speak in the language of March Madness. As if this was some sort of universal language where no matter what our differences in age, culture, income and socio-economic standing, we will have this common ground of analysing why one group of college age kids will do better than another group of college age kids in placing a ball in a basket.

When this happens to me it makes me feel like a freaking immigrant, like someone has come up to me and started babbling something completely incomprehensible, and I have to sheepishly answer "eh, sorry, no speeky di engleesh"

The question before me is, should I make an effort to speak the language? Should I force myself to be in a self imposed exile from the manly community, or should I start paying attention to the sports pages and CNN/SI and ESPN.com and should I create a fantasy league and on and on and on with all the things that men seem to do? Look, I want to get promoted at work, I need to schmooze with my bosses, I want to have a social life that involves men standing around in the opposite corner from our women on a backyard deck over a smoking outdoor grill full of bloody red meats drinking ice cold beers while we discuss the finer points of the"violence as comedy" in the Three Stooges shorts, but it seems part of that is going to have to include getting brushed up on all this March Madness crap.

Anybody else feel this way, or is it just me? Oh and "Go Villanova Wildcats!" or something....

Sorry it's been so long!

Hi all,

I really want to blog about something, but I didn't want to jump back into blogging without saying something about the absence which I feared might take away from what I want to blog about, so I felt it important to have its own entry.

Sorry it's been so long! I have a laptop that has for all intents and purposes given up the ghost, and I've sunk too much into it in repairs to make it worth while to continue with it, so I'm working on getting a new lap top. In the mean time, I'm blogging to you from the basement of arod138 World Headquarters in the Greentree building of West Chester, Pennsylvania. We have here kind of a rec room/office center/gym, (we also seem to have a Spanish Evangelical Christian Church in our basement for some reason) and so obviously we have a computer that has internet access on a first come first served basis.

So with all this going on, plus working like crazy (thank God, knock on wood and all that I even have a job) what with tax season and a self clearing conversion, I haven't had time to get down to the basement and convert my thoughts to electrons.

I'll get that laptop pretty soon, and I'll start to blog more frequently, you have my word!

The Day the Music Died 50 years ago this week

With the cold weather around West Chester and flying on my mind this week, I'm often thinking to myself when I hear an unseen airplane overhead, "Geeze, who's out flying in this weather? It's definitely zero/zero conditions, I wouldn't fly with all the IFR and deicing fluid and radar in the world." Well, turns out, 50 years ago this week, somebody did decide to fly in some crappy weather, and that was the pilot of a Beechcraft Bonanza B-35 V-tail, and his famous passengers, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Richy Valens, and Buddy Holly.

We all saw "La Bamba" with Lou Diamond Philips, probably fewer of us saw "The Buddy Holly Story" with.....Gary Busey???....(did you know he got nominated for an Academy Award for his role in that movie? Yea, hard to imagine now I know) and we've all....at one time in our lives, when really drunk, stood with arms draped over the shoulders of our best buddies, drinks of Whiskey or Rye in our hands, sang, "The Day the Music Died" by Don McLean. Don't even say you never did....

Anyway...I often wondered about the "decision chain" that lead up to that crash, it's a fascinating thing when analyzing aviation accidents, (which of course doesn't make you morbid, it makes you a better pilot) it's rarely one single catastrophic mistake or failure, but a series of tiny little errors that lead to the big one. We often say to ourselves it can never happen to us, but don't be to sure. Especially if Alcohol is entered into the equation. Watch the first 2:44 of this video, to see what our friends from the Great White North "The Kids in the Hall" think what might have happened that fateful night in Iowa, the day...........the mu......sic.......died



Consider this my blog tip of my hat to Dr Zibbs, who always manages to integrate topical relevance to You Tube videos with biting, satirical comedy that's first rate!

42 is the new 72 and 32

I've got to say, after over a week of snow and temps in the teens, (I won't go into windchill, it always seemed so subjective, "with the wind chill it will "feel" like 5 below", well excuse me, I'm from Florida, so it "feels" like 0 Kelvin, ok?) on a day with sunny blue skies and 40 degrees, being outside is like enjoying a spring day in the 70's (the temperature, not the polyester puke producing decade)

So that's exactly what I did, I got up, late....(another weird night's sleep of going to bed at 11:00 PM, waking up at 1:30 AM, taking a Tylenol PM, and waking again at 10:30 AM) but made my way to Penn's Table for breakfast. (No sign of a recession going on there, packed, had to wait for a stool at the counter)

Then I had been meaning to buy the latest album by Blues Traveler "North Hollywood Shootout" so I went across the street to the Mad Platter to pick it up. It's pretty good, but I'm biased. On another musical review note, I finally got Ben Folds latest work, "Way to Normal". My opinion, not so good. A shocker review I know, given the kind of drooling fan of his that I am, but it seems he's working out his 3rd divorce on this album, and well, I guess I'm not in the same place at the moment where he is in life, so I have a hard time relating to the music on this album .

So after my musical purchase, I made my way to Carlino's, the closest thing WC has to a supermarket. It's a great place, for all your catering needs as well as fresh vegetables or pasta!
I was going to maybe pick up a nice steak, as recommended by mom, as she wanted me to treat myself to a nice steak for my birthday. Oh, did I mention today is my birthday?

Yes....it is......oh, thanks.....oh nothing, I'll just watch the Superbowl, and hope for a wardrobe malfunction....oh Bruce Springsteen is playing the half time show? Oh then forget the malfunction thing then...
(Imaginary conversation with the person who finds out today is my birthday)

Anyway....they only stock steaks during the summer months, for all your outdoor grilling needs. So as I made my way back to my perch above Gay and High, I noticed some clearly insane

people gathering on the corner of Market and Church, so I took photos of them. Turns out they were "runners" running in a "5K". I'll have to check out Wikipedia later to find out the deal on that.

Actually, at 42, I may join them. I find myself feeling pretty good lately, and you know living in the USA is not a bad thing. I'm reading, "Why We Hate Us" to understand why we who live in this country are so unhappy, what with the material riches, education, access to information, Disneyland on both coasts, and the myriad of other things we've got going for us. If I figure it out, I'll let you know.

On second thought, there are plenty of other blogs you can go to read up on that. I'll just keep it to the things going around here, and keeping a smile on my face. (Which isn't as easy as it looks!)

Saturday Night in West Chester

If you are going to live on the corner of Gay and High Street, you pretty much get to the point where you can tune out the sirens of cop cars, fire trucks and ambulances, especially on weekend nights. I mean, it's not like living in Manhattan or anything, but count on hearing a lot of noise between 11:00 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Good thing I'm usually up either watching SNL or cartoons on Adult Swim, so it rarely wakes me up. Well, sometimes I crash out early, and if I get waken up by the street noise, forget going back to sleep for the next few hours. Did you know there are many ways to buy real estate for no money down? I do, thanks to my erratic sleep patterns.

So, what was the deal with this tonight at 12:30 a.m.? Who knows...some Axe slathered, spikey haired douche with 'roid rage says something about his fake boobed girlfriend to some other Axe slathered, spikey haired douche with 'roid rage and the next thing you know every cop on the night shift converges on the joint to sort things out.

Happens every weekend.

Do I care? Look, I like living in a town with night life, heck I can't complain, it would be like building my house at the end of the thresh hold of 09R at O'Hare and then complaining about the jet noise. Still, is a little civility not in order? Greater minds than mine have contemplated the issue, so there's not much I can add.

There's going to come a point, where I'm going to want to live in quieter neighborhood, you know, when I have the whole wife and kid action, maybe even out of the town all together, but not yet, I'm not ready (I mean I'm ready for the whole wife and kid thing) to give up the convenience of town, the charm, and yes....all the pretty lights.....

There there, West Chester, it's gonna be alright...

First all, Happy New Year!

So I got lucky again! What are the odds that for the second time this season, the one day it snows in town I've got the day off? I got to walk around town, get a few errands done since after all I patronize (you know,the good kind of patronize) all the local businesses in town, and snap a few pictures. A quiet blanket of snow envelopes town on this Monday after the Eagles NFC loss, as if to comfort those who's entire identity is intertwined with the fate of a professional sports team. I imagine the conversation at work will be around what could have been, but life will go on.

After all, tomorrow, at 12:00 PM, it all changes right? In my world, things have been changing for a while, and I've got to be thankful that in some respects, the change has been manageable. Compared to what is happening to my friends and former colleagues at Merrill Lynch, my situation seems pretty well stable, knock on wood.

I guess I'm saying change is incremental and perpetual as opposed to huge paradigm shifts that occur overnight. Sure, there are some things that change things instantly, "I'm pregnant", "We're going to let you go", "Grandma's dead", but the best kind of change is the kind we initiate ourselves. When we're ready for change, we change. Nobody can push you into change, but we can be inspired to change. The onus is still on us to change, but there are some certainly inspiring people out there that can show the way. Be it Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Barrack Obama, John McCain, Lance Armstrong or Neil Armstrong, we all need to find something that inspires us to change. You may even want to look in the mirror for inspiration to change, there's no better role model than ourselves...don't you think?

West Chester Old Fashioned Christmas

Editor's note-This is not a scene from the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story", this "moment" actually happened tonight!

When I first moved to West Chester, I remember sitting in my apartment at night and my TV being drowned out by the surprising sounds of Marching Bands under my window. I've gotten much better at the whole advanced noticed thing, so this year, my 3rd year here, I was much better prepared to watch and of course now, blog about this year's Christmas festivities.

The thing about this place, (and I've mentioned it before) is the diversity, right? In addition to the previously aforementioned marching bands, there were the school dance ensembles, cub scouts, classic car clubs, classic FARM TRACTOR clubs, and what I thought was really cool, a group of Chinese traditional dressed drummers from Falun Dong, (I'm pretty sure it was Dong, not Gong, the spiritual practitioners that for some reason the Chinese Communist Government beats up on a lot, but also the Russian Club from West Chester University featuring Ded Moroz (Russian Santa Claus) and his Grand daughter Snegurochka,

and finally the Bolivian Folkloric Dance group Caporales San Simon
Then as if all the holiday good feelings from the parade weren't enough, I went to the Chester County Historical Society's Auditorium to listen to the Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts Chamber Choir sing some traditional Christmas Carols in English, German, Latin and Russian. I remember as a kid, my mom got the entire family tickets to see Handel's Messiah at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in Orlando. We didn't last 20 minutes. God bless my Mom for trying to class up a pack of wild boys, but when you are 11 or 12 years old, you can't possibly appreciate let alone hold still for anything artsy fartsy. I tell you what a difference 30 years makes. This group of talented singers really could fill the room with that classic angelic sound, and if I wasn't so macho a guy, that and I'm emotionally damaged, I would have wept.

The best thing about the parade is the feelings of nostalgia it evokes, and the funny thing is, it's not like I ever experienced anything like it before. Unless you count watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story on TV, suburban Central Florida doesn't lend itself towards making any great memories about Christmas time. No parades that I could walk to at night in 30 degree weather, no hot apple cider, no trees who only weeks before had been multi colored hues of red, orange, yellow and brown.

If I ever leave West Chester, I got a feeling I'll have some pretty good memories of my time here.

PS, if anyone was going to see Santa arrive by Helicopter at the American Helicopter Museum, let me know if it happens, according to the email I got from the FAA, a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in effect for 30 miles around Philadelphia, seems President Bush is in town for the Army-Navy game, so General Aviation is pretty much grounded. And on that note, GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY! (If I cared about a bunch of future officers hitting each other)

West Chester Winter Wonderland

Waking up to 3 inches of snow in mid November, knowing you don't have to work that day? Man life is good!

West Chester Veterans Day Parade

You've heard it before right? On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, the guns fell silent, thus ending World War I, the war to end all wars.

Well, that didn't exactly happen, (end war I mean) but we've celebrated Armistice day, now Veterans Day, ever since.

So once again, I have personal proof as to one of the myriad of reasons why living in West Chester is so dang cool. Sunday West Chester celebrated Veterans Day by having veterans, their supporters, loved ones, some restored military vehicles, and marching bands march down Gay Street to the Borough hall and the Garden of Honor for speeches and to lay a wreath to honor all those that served.


Note: Sarcastic statement follows....

"What's wrong people, couldn't make it downtown to show your appreciation? You could pour on to the streets for the Phillies win, you could stand in line for hours to vote, which I appreciate believe me, but couldn't come out and wave and smile and say thank you to someone who served you? No? Really? Not even 15 minutes? Too busy? Oh ok, that's cool, whatever...."

Note: Sarcastic statement ends.....

SOME people made it out, and that was pretty cool. Our recently victorious and deservedly so representative from the 156th district Barbara McIlvaine-Smith led the way, and I don't know, I just kind of get goosebumps and my eyes well up when I see people making an effort to thank the troops.

Actually, it's historically been a low key event, and in the interest of full disclosure I only stumbled across it last year, but I'm hoping that in coming years more and more people know about it, more military vehicles will come, maybe more military units can make it, heck dream big, how about a fly by of some WWII warbirds or helicopters or the Blue Angels or something?

I barely consider myself a Veteran, maybe because I've never been shot at, (well, actually I was shot at, but that was essentially a friendly fire incident, and a whole other story) and unless being in Hokkaido, Japan for an exercise for 2 weeks in January 1989, and spending the night at Guantanamo Bay counts, or flying in circles below the 24th parallel, I really am in awe of those who served in harms way.

This is why again, I must reiterate, how much I like living in West Chester, because of the diversity of the community, because of the deep respect for the past, while at the same time an eye on the future, this place really can't be beat.

Let's show the love next year though ok? Sad thing is that some Veterans of WWII are dying at a rate of 1000 a day, and we're still creating Veterans every day, so let's not forget them eh?

Philly's win World Series, West Chester erupts into chaos, (sort of)

It started slowly at first, and built up and up, and now it's a big crowd at the corner of High and Gay Streets, loud cheering and car horns honking.



Thank God I don't work tomorrow, what with the noise and all, although I do have a root canal scheduled, hopefully that will seem more pleasurable in comparison to the craziness at the moment...

Did I mention I'm a curmudgeon?

Blues Traveler in West Chester

I'd write a much longer post, but I wanted to do this while the memories were still fresh, and besides I'm sure the ringing in my ears won't go away for a while.

I'm a big fan of Blues Traveler, not an obsessive fan to the degree I am with Barenaked Ladies or Ben Folds, but I do enjoy their music, and own several albums, so even though it's a school night, and I went by myself, I still wanted to check them out at West Chester's newest venue, "The Note"


I'll give you the briefest of reviews, since it's going to biased because I'm a fan and all, but man were they good! Set started at exactly 9:30, so that meant only standing around for about 20 minutes, and I was right up front! I'd figure there was about 200 people there, very intimate setting for a jam band. They played songs from the new album "North Hollywood Shootout" and they were catchy songs for having never heard them before. They reached into their complete catalogue, and had the obligatory extended improvisation jams. They played until Midnight, so for 25 Bucks for 2.5 hours of music, it was well worth it!

You know I love it when a band plays their hits of course, but I really love it when a band that's well known and yet feels comfortable in their own skin by playing cover songs. The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels Band, Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes, and I Want You to Want Me, by Cheap Trick. Hearing them played live, sung by John Popper, man it was cool! (Especially since all these songs are already on my iPod) As if some of Blues Traveler's hits like Hook and Runaround aren't sing along enough, those covers were great additions to an evening of loud rocking blues rock music!

Bam Margera was there, and he looked like a very proud papa watching them play at his place, and I don't want to spoil the surprise for my brother Joe who met John Popper when he was assigned to Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar in 2006, but to drop a hint, Oscar says hi, and one of us, (either Joe or I) "rocks", if John Popper is to be believed.

Update: Red Baron Costume Photos Found!

Real quick, my brother Joe who walked off with the family photo albums when he left home at least scanned everything and sent me the only two photos of me in existence looking like a complete dork. (Ok, truth be told, there are tons of photos of me looking like a dork out there, who am I kidding?)

I don't remember being disappointed that I couldn't have a store bought costume, but I did want a more authentic flying helmet than a paper bag over my head and my dad's work goggles, but I have to admit, it worked!

I think in later years my mom would say that when she worked on it, my Dad thought it was a dumb idea, but when I was so happy with it, and that it won the most original prize, he shut up about it.

It's really no wonder I got all into Airplanes, why I got to fly as an Aircrewman in the Army, why I'm perennially getting my pilot's license. I didn't stand a chance...

West Chester Halloween Parade

Clearly, the Angel on this guy's shoulder is nowhere to be found.

Man did I luck out yesterday. I had to help staff a booth at a Job Fair at 30th Street Station yesterday, so I got to go straight home rather than stop by the office at the end of the day. That put me in West Chester long before the street closures associated with the big West Chester Halloween Parade last night. In years past I've been stuck in the office, and then when after a long day, when all I want to do is go home, I'd be flummoxed by detours and the almost impossible traffic and the lack of parking spaces left in the Mosteller Garage, "MY garage!"


The sudden influx of parents escorting their costumed kids, pushing strollers, giant SUV's in the parking garage used to tork me off, but no longer. I signed up for the "Connect CTY" service, a system where the borough can send you a recorded message to your phone, an email, and a Text Message to let you know of events in town and the street closures that go with it. Before I signed up for this, I would have to rely on me noticing those little white signs tied to the lamp posts around town saying that this was going to be a no parking zone on a certain date. Now, I can be completely oblivious to the world around me until I get a message from the Borough Manager himself, Ernie McNeely!


So, with plenty of time to get out of the my costume (a suit), I got to walk around the staging areas for the parade. I got to tell you, in a nutshell, the homemade costumes, will always be cooler than the store bought ones. Admittedly, there have been great advancements in store bought costumes since the ones that were available when I was a kid in the 1970's, you remember, a Batman costume would have a PICTURE of Batman on the front, and a plastic mask with the slits cut out for the eyes and mouth which if you'll ask Hank Venture, you couldn't stop yourself from sticking your tongue out of it, only to cut it, which of course was maddening.....

Something else that hasn't changed, little girls are usually very cute as princesses and fairies, while little boys continue to choose gore and violence as themes for costumes. Pirates, Cowboys, Horror characters, anything with blood, a gun, sword, or light saber. I was the Red Baron once, if I can find a photo of it I'll have to scan it and post it somewhere, my mom built an entire Fokker Dr.1 Triplane out of Chicken wire that I could actually put on to make it look like actually in the cockpit of the airplane while I walked around. I think I won a prize as "Most Original" at a Halloween parade in Canoga Park, California circa 1973. (Thanks Mom!)


All in all, it was a great evening, kids, families, the weather cooperated by not being too cold or any rain, just another reason why living in West Chester is so great. Next up, John Young's final Guerrilla Drive In for the season, Blues Traveler playing at Bam Margera's "The Note", the Veteran's Day Parade, and then the Christmas Parade.


Did I mention I like living here!