Another Buffalo Marathon

Today another Buffalo Marathon sent runners down our street in front of our house. It's been happening every year that we've lived here on Crescent Avenue. Not a nice day but it could be worse. At least it's not raining on the runners. Cloudy and cool in the 50's but that is probably good for the runners. Not very many people on the block outside watching the race.

Well, except for the one house of neighbors who set up a table, screamed at the runners, played bongo drums and shook noise makers. Yep, same folks every year but this year they didn't last very long... about an hour. Maybe their voices gave out.

I took a couple of pictures from the upstairs bedroom of the race.

The people in the pic watching the race can be very obnoxious and that has been a long tradition from that house going back to Peter who liked to shout at the runners often mocking them if they slowed down or started walking. He thought his comments were funny but he was an embarrassment to the block and the neighborhood. Him and his family also backed on all kinds of pots and pans, drums, etc. He's been gone for a few years now but his family keeps his tradition going... well except the mocking runners thing.

Glass of Beer - Cape May Gold

I had a busy day. Our first day back home. Mowed the front lawn. Did three large loads of laundry. Carrying suitcases around the house. I needed to sit down this evening and have a glass of beer.

While at Katie's house in Mt Airy we stopped by the Brewers Outlet again. We try to do it every time we are in town. I've written about it before and described the store here and our history with it. This time I bought a 12 pack of Cape May Brewing variety pack which was a little different than the last time I got their beer there.

And today I had their American Golden Ale... Cape May Gold. It is very delicious.

Looking forward to checking out some of the other beers in this variety and I have had a couple of them before which I loved.

Cheesesteak Sauce and Onions

I had been wanting to get a Philly cheesesteak sauce and onions during our nearly a week long visit to Katie's. I finally got one on the last night before leaving when Katie ordered some cheesesteaks from Lorenzo's Pizza Steaks & Hoagies in Manayunk delivered to her house. She ordered several versions of their steaks and cut them up for everyone to try but for me she got their classic sauce and onions one which I loved.

Grandkid Selfie

We've been having a wonderful time with our grandchildren on this trip and one of the first things we did together was take our regular selfie photo yesterday on Friday the day we arrived.

Joe Ide - Authors List

Joe Ide - Authors List. 5 books read from this noir crime fiction novelist. I enjoyed reading his books very much. The five books I've read were all part of the Isaiah "IQ" Quintabe series about a private detective who solves crimes the LAPD cannot or will not in a high crime neighborhood. An awesome collection of novels. There is another one in the series that came out in 2023 that I need to read. He also wrote a Philip Marlowe novel in 2022 that should be on my list.

Joe Ide books I've read:

• IQ, 2016 - Oct 2018
• Righteous, 2017 - Nov 2018
• Wrecked, 2018 - Dec 2018
• Hi Five, 2020 - Mar 2021
• Smoke, 2021 - Nov 2021

Nick Drake - Kitchen Listening

Nick Drake - Kitchen Listening. We listened to a set of Nick Drake albums from my collection today. It was very special hearing all of these albums together in one afternoon. They sounded great. He was such a wonderful singer/songwriter.

I first became aware of Nick Drake in the mid to late 70's from a friend who was very much into British folk music from the 60's and early 70's. He turned me on to a lot of incredible music including this artist although by that time he was already dead from a suicide overdose of antidepressants in 1974 at 26. One of the sad things about his life was his depression and stage fright. He only played a few live concerts and his albums were commercial failures at the time. They did become popular starting in the mid to late 1980's.

I learned a lot more about him a few years ago after reading Joe Boyd's memoir White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960's which was published in 2006. I read it in 2022. He was Drake's album producer and mentor for the first two records.

The last album in the set is a  collection of outtakes and alternative versions of songs from the three albums he recorded in his lifetime.

• Five Leaves Left, 1969
• Bryter Layter, 1971
• Pink Moon, 1972
• Time of No Reply, 1987

Charles Dickens - Authors List

Charles Dickens - Authors List. I read 6 of his books and started with Great Expectations back in high school which is probably when everyone read him. That was the only one for a few more years and then I read it again in late 1970 while waiting for orders to ship out. Then over the next few years I read five more of his novels. Now that I think about it it's been over 50 years since I read any Dickens. I know we have a copy of Great Expectations on one of our bookshelves but if I do read something I think it will be Bleak House. 

Charles Dickens books I've read:

• Great Expectations, 1861 - Dec 1970
• A Tale of Two Cities, 1859 - Aug 1971
• David Copperfield, 1850 - Dec 1972
• The Old Curiosity Shop, 1841 - Apr 1973
• Hard Times, 1854 - Dec 1974
• Oliver Twist, 1838 - Nov 1975

Psychedelic Sitars - Kitchen Listening

Psychedelic Sitars - Kitchen Listening. The other day I was playing a group of Asian underground beat albums and today I moved on but kept the sitars. I have in my album collection several albums from the Electric Psychedelic Sitar Headswirlers series which consisted of 60's and 70's psychedelic rock bands from around the world using sitars. Most of the bands I'd never heard of but there were a few I had albums from or were in other compilations. For the most part though this was listening to unfamiliar music with a very distinct sound... sitars in a psychedelic setting. A little over three hours worth today.

The albums I have from the series are Volumes 1 & 2 and 4 & 5. Never got a hold of #3. There are at least 12 albums in the series. That's a lot of rockin' sitar. 

Some of the bands here that I was already familiar with... The Pretty Things, Oregon, The Flames, Pentangle, Shocking Blue, Lord Sitar, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Blonde On Blonde, Tomorrow, Mandrake Memorial, People, Chocolate Watch Band, Lemon Pipers, Amboy Dukes, Folkswingers, Iron Butterfly, etc.

Ernest Hemingway - Authors List

Ernest Hemingway - Authors List. I read 5 books by Hemingway who when I was growing up was considered the classic American writer that everyone should read. 

I was 18 when I read The Old Man and the Sea. At that time I was a young man getting ready to go to sea. Over the years I read a few of his novels but I was never excited about his writings. However, he did have an interesting life working as a journalist and world traveler. He also sustained numerous very serious injuries throughout his career around the world which eventually led to his suicide. I think I would like to read a good biography of his life.

I also enjoyed some of the films made from his writings.

Ernest Hemingway books I've read:

• The Old Man and the Sea, 1952 - Oct 1970
• A Farewell to Arms, 1929 - Sep 1977
• To Have and To Have Not, 1937 - Aug 1980
• For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940 - Dec 1985
• The Sun Also Rises, 1926 - Jul 2012

James Michener - Authors List

James Michener - Authors List. I read 7 books by this bestselling writer and the first one was Tales of the South Pacific followed by Hawaii but it was The Drifters that was my favorite of his novels. Maybe it was something about the hippies traveling together around the world. I especially liked the parts in Morocco. I had just left the Navy shortly before reading this one. I was still on board a ship when I read those first two novels about places in the Pacific. I also liked his novel about the space program. The last book of his I read was an historical novel about the Caribbean where I had spent a lot of time.

Mostly a 70's and 80's reading experience for me.

James Michener books I've read:

• Tales of the South Pacific, 1947 - Jul 1972
• Hawaii, 1959  - Aug 1973
• The Drifters, 1971 - Jul 1974
• Space, 1982 - Apr 1983
• Chesapeake, 1978 - Jul 1983
• Poland, 1983 - Feb 1984
• Caribbean, 1989 - Dec 1990