Monday, April 28th, 2008
Earlier this week, I got caught between a pair of closing subway car doors. The doors immediately re-opened, so it wasn’t having the doors closed on me that was such a big issue. It was the reason why I got caught between the doors that ticked me off.The people who ride New York City’s L subway line between Union Square and Sixth Avenue have to be among the most inconsiderate in my little slice of the world. Now, when you ride the NYC subways virtually every workday, you will encounter all kinds of inconsiderate behavior - not making seats available for the elderly or for pregnant women, standing in the doorways on both sides of the car doors so that folks can neither exit nor enter the train easily, abusive language, physical violence. I once watched someone standing outside of the train reach inside the train like he was going to tap a friend on the shoulder, and instead grabbed onto one of the crossbars, and pulled himself onto the train, literally forcing people to move without so much as an “excuse me”.
The L train riders take inconsiderate to a whole new level. At Union Square, dozens of people exit the train from the door through which I want to enter. The last half dozen heading for the door appear to be wanting to exit the train, and instead they stop at the door’s threshold, positioning themselves as close to the door as possible so that they can be the first off the train at the next stop. Not only do those of us trying to enter the train extend the courtesy of waiting to board thinking these people are actually exiting, we are also then forced to push our way through these people to get onto the train before the doors close. This is exactly what I faced the other day when I wound up caught between the closing doors.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination when it comes to being considerate. I’m sure my computer bag takes up more space than necessary, and I’m the most impatient person when it comes to making sure I don’t miss my train home at night (if you don’t believe me, ask the person who stopped at the bottom of the stairs at Grand Central Wednesday night and blocked the path for everyone trying to get up the stairs.). At the same time, I know it takes very little effort to hold the door for someone, or make room for someone else to get on the train, or get the hell out of the way so that someone can get on or off the subway.
Perhaps they just all need a reminder of what being considerate means - either that, or I need to carry a big stick with me that I can use to push people out of my way. It wouldn’t be very considerate, but it would be effective.
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Friday, April 4th, 2008
For those of you who will be watching the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four this coming weekend, as I will be, allow me to help enhance your viewing enjoyment - everytime Seth Davis is about to offer some inane comment (which is virtually all of the time), mute your TV and offer the following as discussion topics for those watching the games with you:Personally, the only team I can’t see winning the whole thing is Kansas. I can make a case for the other three teams, but the Jayhawks do absolutely nothing for me.
Are you surprised that, given all of his years in the NBA, Dell Curry has yet to introduce his talented son to a weight room?
Am I courting disaster to suggest that Tyler Hansbrough is the 2008 equivalent of Christian Laettner? He might be a great college player, but I don’t see him as a standout pro.
I don’t think any underclassman should declare for the NBA draft unless his team has at least reached the Final Four, and preferably only when his team has won the national championship. Basketball is still a team game, and, unless you have achieved a certain level of success with that team, you shouldn’t be going anywhere.
I know we have our own target here in Connecticut with Hasheem Thabeet, but is there a softer big man in the country than Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert? I can’t believe he was a second-team All-American.
When you get a chance, google Brad Listorti and see where he ranks on a couple of different NFL draft sites. OK, I know Brad didn’t play basketball at Rutgers or UMass, but I knew him when he played youth basketball with my son Eric, and I am rooting for him to get drafted. He participated at the Matt Ryan workout a couple of weeks back, and teams are showing interest in him as a tight end and as an H-back.
You’ve got to love (no pun intended) how Kevin Love plays. I don’t even mind when Seth Davis says he is always in the right place, making the right play at the right time. Love had me as soon as I saw him throw his first outlet pass. Why can’t we get all of these young players to be so fundamentally sound?
Who do you dislike more calling college basketball games - Gus Johnson or Brent Musberger? Me? I can do without both of them.
Does the fact that all four number one seeds reached the Final Four really mean anything? Each of the teams had a scare or two along the way, so this particular result was in doubt a couple of times. I think we should accept it as the coincidence it was, and, if anyone on the selection committee suggests otherwise, slap them!
OK you can unmute Seth now - may the teams you have in your bracket win, and may you spend your winnings wisely … supporting our troubled economy, of course!
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Friday, March 28th, 2008
Tom’s recent blog entry about the Grateful Dead song Dark Star reminded me of my father. Was my dad a Deadhead? Not at all - in fact, I’m not sure he ever heard a Grateful Dead song. So, why does this mention remind me of my dad?My father would have been 73 this March 28th had he not passed away suddenly in 2004. It was almost 30 years before his death that he and my mom took my two brothers (Carl and Mike) and me to see our first concert. I don’t think we even asked to go, so it was a big surprise when they took us to the now defunct New Haven Coliseum to see Three Dog Night.
At that time, Three Dog Night were my second favorite band, second only to The Beatles. While I knew their music from Top 40 radio stations, I didn’t become a huge fan until Joy to the World became a smash. I got their album Naturally (the one that included Joy to the World) as a gift, and, after that, I couldn’t get enough Three Dog Night.
The band was touring behind their Hard Labor album, the one that featured The Show Must Go On. I have a few memories of the show. The warm-up act was the Souther, Hillman and Furay Band, which, as I found out in later years, was quite an all-star band. The crowd wanted no part of them. Three Dog Night, which had been a seven-piece group up to that point, added a second keyboardist Skip Konte, who dressed like a wizard, and played that great calliope opening to The Show Must Go On. I remember younger girls sitting next to me, and waving their arms in front of my face to the music (although I can’t think of what song they could have been doing that to). Oh, yes, and I also remember the pungent smell of marijuana, and not really knowing what it was.
All in all, I remember it as my first concert, the first of many I’ve attended, probably not the best, but definitely the first, and I have to thank my folks for that experience.
So, what does this have to do with the Grateful Dead? It was probably 25 years later when I was taking my sons to the New Haven Coliseum to see a World Wrestling event. We had invited my dad and my brother Mike to join us. As we walked into the venue, my dad looked at Mike and me, and said, “Do you remember when I took you guys here to see the Grateful Dead?”
We laughed and told him that it wasn’t the Dead, but rather Three Dog Night. I’m not sure we convinced him, and I don’t know, if that point, whether he would have recognized a Three Dog Night song or not. It didn’t really matter then, and it doesn’t matter now.
Happy Birthday, Dad, and say “Hi” to Jerry Garcia for us.
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Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
I wouldnt be surprised to find that Lindsey Buckingham coined the phrase “criminally underrated” just so he could use it to describe every aspect of his musical career. Even when people talk about the Buckingham/ Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac the only time they ever mention Lindsey Buckingham is when they talk about his Stevie Nick’s relationship. Sometimes they talk about how he produced Tusk all weird but thats it. They never talk about the fact that he wrote many of their best songs, that he produced Tusk, in my opinion Fleetwood Mac’s best record and that he is the most phenomenal rock guitar player that no one ever ever ever ever ever ever even considers talking about.
This live record chronicles one of his shows during his Under the Skin tour last year. My Dad (OneVoice) and I were lucky enough to see him play pretty much this same show at Mohegan Sun. Its a double disc record and DVD collection. Im watching the DVD as I write this. I am unimpressed with the DVD not because of anything Lindsey is doing but the camera work is literally the worst I have ever seen in a concert DVD. However, the music is Terrific and the new solo arrangements of oldies, anything not off the new record, like Trouble, Go Insane, and Big Love are amazing. He makes Go Insane sound like its being played by a mid-evil band of Lute-ists and mandoliners. The Holiday Road is fun but unnecessary and the new tunes are so good that they mix perfectly with the classics. Go Your Own Way was underwhelming at the show I saw at Mohegan but here it rips and Tusk, in any version, is on my list of Top 50 tunes of all time.
I would like to share two things that I think are funny. One is that after any song that rock particularly hard Lindsey, while taking off his guitar to switch for another, likes to jump up and down and scream at the audience. This pleases me a great deal. One day I hope to have earned enough respect with my fans to that they will find the times I “Go Insane” endearing. Two is that in the middle of this set before Cast Away Dreams, a song off his newest record, he tells a story about how he wrote the song after his wife joined him on tour with a reunited Fleetwood Mac a couple of years ago. They got into a fight about not being able to let go of something, she flew back to LA and he wrote the song. The song and the fight are obviously about Stevie Nicks, so are a lot of the songs on the new record i might add, which means that 30 years later he still hasnt gotten over her. What the hell Lindsey? Its only Stevie Nicks. Shake that beast free and write yourself some new tunes so you can make another record and live record as good as Bass Hall and Under the Skin.
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Friday, March 21st, 2008
A number of folks have helped come to the rescue of the United States economy this week, from the buyout of Bear Stearns to the Fed lowering interest rates again. While those actions received the big headlines, we must not forget the efforts of my wife Laurie and her partner in excessive spending Fran.
These two women, whom I believe are twin sisters of different mothers, seem to feel individually empowered to keep the economy afloat by any means necessary, typically doing so by making purchases they do not need with money they do not have, leaving me and Fran’s husband Mike to find the means by which to cover their debts (which at this point will result in the two of us working well into our nineties, based on current estimates).
The first question you may ask yourself is whether I have any examples of this behavior, to which I would reply how many examples would you like. We just renovated our kitchen - actually the renovation was done back in June, but I just finished paying for it, or so I thought. In the last few weeks, I’ve seen new pots and pans (the old pots and pans apparently don’t work with the new appliances, although they seemed to be working just fine until a couple of weeks ago) and new spaghetti bowls. What was wrong with the old spaghetti bowls? Well, Laurie said they were too big for the brand new kitchen cabinets, even though most of the cabinets have room for lots more stuff. Then she told me they just didn’t match the rest of her dinnerware. So now, we are trying to unload not just one but two sets of spaghetti bowls to anyone who wants them.
I spent several hours on Sunday assembling a new wall unit for the powder room we just renovated as part of the kitchen renovation. Laurie had the box hidden in her car for a while, then took it out of the car and left it in the garage so that I could see it (and have a mild heart attack). The box was big enough to suggest it was already assembled and all I had to do was hang it. That suggestion turned out to be false. First, I had to assemble it and then hang it, and do so without drilling holes in any of the plumbing running behind the powder room wall. After completing the project and proudly displaying my work, Laurie asked me, “Do you think it’s too big for the room?” Isn’t that something you validate before you buy the piece? Not if you’re Laurie - buy first, find out it might not fit later.
That’s not how this story ends, though. After polling several family members about whether they thought the cabinet was too big, Laurie sighed and said, “Well, I’ll have Fran come over and take a look”, which will just prompt Fran to make a extravagant, unnecessary purchase of her own.
Sorry, Mike!
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Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Damn you, writers’ strike!
As a result of the lack of new programming during prime time these past few months, my wife Laurie and I started watching American Idol, something we have never watched in the past. And, like millions of others not just in the United States but around the globe, we have become more than just regular viewers, but also critics of the performances, dress, attitude and song choices of the contestants.
This past week, the 12 Idol-wannabees had the opportunity to choose from the Lennon-McCartney catalog for the first time in show history. I wondered briefly what songs they might choose, but didn’t dwell on it, wanting myself to be surprised and perhaps delighted by their choices. After last Tuesday’s night show, let’s just say there were fewer surprises and delights, and more choices that both shocked and sickened. If originality is a factor, then why rehash versions of songs already made popular by Earth, Wind and Fire or Stevie Wonder? A country version of Eight Days a Week - are you kidding? And, to be honest, has anyone ever covered Across the Universe and done it justice (I’m open to challenges)?
So, where this may be too late for the 11 remaining contestants to change their choices for round 2 of the Lennon-McCartney theme, here are some of the songs I think they should attempt:
Oh, Darling - just promise me that they won’t copy the lame Robin Gibb version from the Sgt. Pepper movie.
No Reply - a great stalker song that someone could really nail with a more sinister sound.
Fool on the Hill - a versatile song that is one of my favorites.
Long and Winding Road - Simon is bound to hate this, but I don’t care.
I’m Down - for the rockers on the show, this was a staple of Beatle concerts (before they stopped touring, of course).
Yer Blues - this is the big-risk, big-payoff song; if someone can carry this one off, they could go a long way.
Revolution - there are already two existing versions to choose from; maybe there’s another possible arrangement.
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away - a fun song, and one that can accommodate audience participation (if that’s allowed).
And Your Bird Can Sing - another one of my favorites that would also give the band a chance to replicate George’s brilliant guitar from the original.
Back in the USSR - another one for the rockers on the show.
You’re Gonna Lose that Girl - maybe start this one a cappella, and then bring the band in.
I’d also like to suggest a couple of songs they should not attempt:
A Day in the Life - I know Tom said he figured out a way to cut this down to two minutes, but that would be all-risk, no reward.
Strawberry Fields Forever - you don’t mess with perfection.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer or Yellow Submarine - avoid the goofy songs.
Yesterday - I know they will be tempted, and thousands have done it before, many badly - please just say no.
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Sunday, March 9th, 2008
I recently returned from a business trip to Bangalore, India (I go to India three or four times a year). I always leverage the hotel’s car service to take me where I need to go. The drivers all have the same script: “Is the air conditioning comfortable?” “Is this your first trip to Bangalore?” “Would you like to hear some music?”
When I had responded “yes” to the music question in the past, the drivers would usually turn on a radio station of “western” music, often a mix of overplayed hip-hop. This time, Vasanth, who drove me virtually the entire week, selected a CD mix of his own making. The first song that came out of the speakers was the Foo Fighters’ All My Life. How did Vasanth know I would like the Foos? I’m 49 years old, my hair is pretty gray … how did he know the Foos is one of my favorite bands?
The other songs on the CD weren’t as impressive as the first - Rhianna’s Umbrella, Hey There Delilah, Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girl - nothing you would ever catch me adding to my iPod. The first day, the CD also included Sheryl Crow’s song God Bless this Mess, the one where she criticizes George Bush for getting us into the war in Iraq. While I didn’t outwardly say anything, I wondered whether that was an appropriate choice, not so much for inclusion on the mix CD, but rather for playing it while I was in the car. For Vasanth, whose livelihood depends on the gratuities he receives for the service he provides, playing this song for a Bush supporter could have cost him a tip.
I’m not a Bush supporter, so it didn’t cause me to reduce my tip. But, I never heard that song for the rest of the trip. No matter how many times he played that CD for the rest of my trip (and I never want to hear that Beautiful Girl song again - repeating the word suicidal in the chorus is a huge turn-off), God Bless this Mess was not to be heard. Did Vasanth put his politics aside in pursuit of a few extra rupees?
Put aside your core political beliefs for some kind of gain - what a novel idea! Where have we seen that happen in the U.S. political arena, not just in the current campaign but for virtually all of my adult life? For Vasanth, this was an easy decision to make. His views of U.S. politics, while important to him, weren’t worth the potential reduction in his compensation.
Each of the presidential candidates will, in some way, shape or form, be asked to compromise on their core beliefs to better appeal to groups who wouldn’t ordinarily vote for them. Some of these compromises will make them better leaders; others may turn them into the very person we didn’t want to vote for. It will be interesting to see where each one lands by the end of this long campaign.
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Sunday, March 9th, 2008
The time has finally arrived! My Dad will be posting his first ever entry onto the site today so why dont we all give him a great big round of applause (the soound of applause rounding). My Dad was one of the reasons I wanted to do this blog. He was a writer for the now defunct Milford Citizen way back in the day and i told him that if i got a blog i would want him to start writing again and post every Sunday. His column at the Citizen was called OneVoice so thats what this one is going to be called. You can find them archived in the ‘Categories’ section as well as in the tag cloud. So without further ado: my Dad, the Blogger.
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