Hotel Henry - It's a Castle!

Katie and Todd were in town along with Henry and Clara. We decided to all go out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants... 100 Acres at Hotel Henry. Todd's parents Dick and Iris also joined us for dinner. We didn't sit in our usual area of the restaurant and instead sat in the front room near the hotel halls. It was still very nice and the food was wonderful as usual.

However, the highlight of the evening was when we parked in the lot in front of the hotel and walked over to the main entrance. Henry looked up at the building and loudly and excitedly exclaimed... "It's a castle". Indeed, the old Buffalo Psychological Center that had been recently converted into the hotel and conference center really does look like a castle.

Watching TV in the 70's

I did not have the usual American TV experience in the 1970's. Of course I spent four years in the Navy from 1970 through 1973 and watched practically no television during that time when I was mostly on a ship overseas. It would be many years before I ever saw some of the big hits of the time on a rerun somewhere sometime.

From 1974 through 1978 I was attending Temple University while living in the house on Seymour Street in Germantown with some guys and later with Becky.  We had a small crappy black and white TV set sitting in a little used room. I was always too busy with school and work to be watching television except for occasional sports games. When I was wasn't working or studying I was socializing with friends either out in bars or hanging out in our music room. No TV. 

There were a few exceptions. We did try to watch Saturday Night Live and Monty Python. We also did watch the Roots miniseries in 1977.

I never saw an episode of All in the Family, M.A.S.H., The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple, Sanford and Son, The Waltons, Kojak, Happy Days, Little House on the Prairie, The Jeffersons, Barney Miller, Three's Company, Laverne and Shirley, Welcome Back Kotter, Fantasy Island, Taxi, WKRP in Cincinnati, etc., during their initial run. Lots of others too. Familiar names but I didn't watch them at the time when they were first fun. I saw a few here and there on cable in later years like WKRP.

But I did watch a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

It was weird hearing about a show like All In The Family on the news all the time about being controversial and never seeing it. I've seen clips but to this day I don't think I ever watched a complete episode.

Clara @ 1

Clara is one year old today. Katie calls her our wonderful, happy ray of sunshine. We certainly all agree and look forward to seeing her grow and blossom. I'm glad we could celebrate her birthday here in our home.

Aneurysms and the Red Emerys

The first time the family became aware of an aneurysm problem was the sudden death of Uncle Joe in 1965. Aneurysm would become a significant medical issue for our family but at that time it was a surprise.

His death was in May. I remember it very well. I was in eight grade and the day of his funeral was the day of the annual school picnic at Willow Grove Amusement Park. I was sad and disappointed to miss that fun day but was shocked at the death of our uncle and what it meant for our cousins.

Uncle Joe had seven children. We always referred to this group of cousins as the Red Emerys because they all had red hair. The oldest, Peter, was my age. We were close at the time. Later I heard that Uncle Joe lived for a day or so in the hospital as the doctors tried to treat his ruptured aneurysm. He was able to speak a little bit and had told Peter he would be the man of the house. That brief conversation affected Peter very much as his father lay there dying.

Over the next several years many of those seven children struggled with their lives. Aunt Joan tried hard with those kids.

Many years later my cousin Madeline would also die suddenly of a ruptured aneurysm while Christmas shopping with her daughter. The sad thing was she was a nurse but had never been tested for aneurysms like so many of her cousins. For some reason they all refused to be tested. Fortunately Madeline's daughter Maureen has been tested. We've been in contact several times and she has kept me updated on her scans. She also fully intends to have her children scanned when they are older. She knows better because she saw her mother collapse from her ruptured aneurysm.

There are 34 Emery cousins and probably only half have been scanned for aneurysms. In my family we all have been tested and scanned numerous times of the six siblings four tested positive.

Our cousin Joanie, another one of Uncle Joe's kids, died a few years ago. She had lots of problems with drugs and she had a stroke. As far as I know it was not determined for sure if she had an aneurysm but it was suspected as at least a contributing factor.

Beer Club - Belgiums

Beer Club November 13, 2019  at Mr. Goodbar on Elmwood Ave.

A selection of Belgium beers. You can see by the ratings here that I really like Belgium beers and in particular their strong ales. 10 delicious beers.

Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue)
Bières de Chimay
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
4.25

Chimay Cinq Cents (White)
Bieres de Chimay 

Belgium Tripel 
4.25

Trois Pistoles
Unibroue
Belgian Strong Dark Ale
4.25

Delirium Tremens

Huyghe Brewery 

Belgium Strong Golden Ale
4.25

Delirium Red

Huyghe Brewery 
Fruit Beer
4

Maudite
Unibroue

Belgium Dubbel 

4

Chimay Rouge (Red)
Belgium Dubbel
Bieres de Chimay
4

À Tout Le Monde
Unibroue
Farmhouse Ale - Saison

3.75

Chimay Doree (Gold)
Patersbier
Bieres de Chimay
3.75 

Blanche de Chambly
Unibroue
Wheat Beer - Witbier

3.75

Nothing Goes Away - Reflections Decade 6

Nothing Goes Away is another reworking of several indie pop mixes from my Reflections series into an 8 hour plus mega mix. Mostly quiet indie pop, folk and Americana music from the 6th decade of rock (approximately 2006-2016). All personally selected as usual and works well in shuffle mode too.

There is a link to the Spotify version of this mix at the bottom of the page.

1	Nothing Goes Away	Isbells	2015
2	So Now What	The Shins	2017
3	Falling Apart	Emile Haynie, Andrew Wyatt & Brian Wilson	2015
4	Taking Chances	Sharon Van Etten	2014
5	Ride On / Right On	Phosphorescent	2013
6	Love Out Of Lust	Lykke Li	2011
7	Nerve	Half Moon Run	2013
8	Let's Be Still	The Head and the Heart	2013
9	Easy Come, Easy Go	Sierra Hull	2011
10	Northern Lights	Bowerbirds	2009
11	Say Please	Monsters Of Folk	2009
12	The Flicker of a Little Girl	Tindersticks	2008
13	Blood Bank	Bon Iver	2009
14	Houses	Vetiver	2008
15	King of Spain	The Tallest Man On Earth	2010
16	Things Go 'Round	Fistful Of Mercy	2010
17	Birmingham	Shovels & Rope	2012
18	Boeing 737	The Low Anthem	2011
19	Lovestrong	Jonathan Wilson	2013
20	Fumes	Lily & Madeleine	2014
21	Lightning	David Byrne & St. Vincent	2012
22	Somebody To Break Your Heart	Robyn Hitchcock	2014
23	Red Earth & Pouring Rain	Bear's Den	2016
24	Until We Get There	Lucius	2014
25	Meet Me in the Woods	Lord Huron	2015
26	Indian Summer	Stereophonics	2013
27	Cool People	Nicole Atkins	2014
28	Saint of Impossible Causes	Joseph Arthur	2013
29	Black Tin Box	Miike Snow & Lykke Li	2012
30	Dancing Ghosts	Azure Ray	2010
31	Futile Devices	Sufjan Stevens	2010
32	Responsibility	The Acorn	2008
33	Lake Bed	Brown Bird	2009
34	Day Too Soon	Sia	2008
35	Why Can't It Be Mine	Basia Bulat	2007
36	Riot On An Empty Street	Kings Of Convenience	2009
37	Time On Your Side	Emily Jane White	2008
38	Back To You	Revolver	2010
39	Anyway You Like	Sera Cahoone	2012
40	My Diamond Is Too Rough	Ryan Bingham	2015
41	Give It Up	Angel Olsen	2016
42	High Tiding	Nick Waterhouse	2014
43	Brighter!	Cass McCombs	2013
44	The Gospel of John Hurt	Alt-J	2014
45	Star Dream Girl	David Lynch	2013
46	This Is The Girl	Patti Smith	2012
47	Crown The Pines	S. Carey	2014
48	Where You Stand	Travis	2013
49	When I Was Young	Nada Surf	2012
50	Changes	Sarah McLachlan	2010
51	White Flag	Madeline	2009
52	Time For Yourself	Earlimart	2008
53	Let's Call It Off	Peter Bjorn & John	2006
54	Why So Blue	Paul McCartney	2007
55	You Remind Me	Andy Shauf	2009
56	We Feel Alone	William Fitzsimmons	2008
57	You Can't Fail Me Now	Joe Henry	2007
58	Please Don't Call It Love	Fiction Family	2009
59	Shelter	Birdy	2011
60	With Nothing To Show For it	Clem Snide	2010
61	Nobody	Emmylou Harris	2011
62	Take All The Time	The Last Bison	2013
63	Heart Is A Drum	Beck	2014
64	Julep	Punch Brothers	2015
65	The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.	Father John Misty	2015
66	Minimum	Charlie Cunningham	2017
67	No Woman	Whitney	2016
68	You Are Your Mother's Child	Conor Oberst	2014
69	September	The Shins	2012
70	The Way You Laugh	Dawes	2011
71	Quiet Houses	Fleet Foxes	2008
72	Ahead of the Curve	Monsters Of Folk	2009
73	Sheets	Damien Jurado	2008
74	Look Into The Night	Mark Olson	2007
75	Poison Cup	M. Ward	2006
76	Writer's Minor Holiday	Calexico	2008
77	Daydreaming	Middle Brother	2011
78	Call Me In The Afternoon	Half Moon Run	2013
79	Until the Night Turns	Lord Huron	2015
80	Dearly Departed	Shakey Graves & Esme Patterson	2014
81	Easy Come Easy Go	Great Lake Swimmers	2012
82	Troubles Will Be Gone	The Tallest Man On Earth	2010
83	Sweet Moment	Bowerbirds	2012
84	Down to the Sea	Elephant Revival	2013
85	Where I'm Going	The Wild Reeds	2014
86	I Never Learn	Lykke Li	2014
87	All We Ever Knew	The Head and the Heart	2016
88	Long Goodbye	Basia Bulat	2016
89	Lover Killer	My Brightest Diamond	2014
90	Control Me	Plants and Animals	2012
91	Into Black	Blouse	2011
92	Heartbeat	Islands	2009
93	Daydreaming	Dark Dark Dark	2010
94	I Just Needed a Friend	First Aid Kit	2012
95	Lady In White	Lost In The Trees	2013
96	Long Way Down	Alela Diane	2011
97	No Tomorrows	The Cave Singers	2013
98	Give It Away	Andrew Bird	2012
99	Minnesota, WI	Bon Iver	2011
100	Nightflight	Kate Miller-Heidke	2012
101	Peace Signs	Sharon Van Etten	2010
102	Plains	Wye Oak	2011
103	Breezeblocks	alt-J	2012
104	It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills (Original Mix)	Dean & Britta	2010
105	Pretend You Don't See Me	L'Avventura	2009
106	Walk At Night	Cults	2011
107	Seven Horses	Jonathan Rado	2013
108	Home	Lisa Hannigan	2011
109	The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love	Jens Lekman	2012
110	Love Everyone	Lee Harvey Osmond	2013
111	Feels Like Fire	Ryan Adams	2014
112	Someone Else's Girl	The Olms	2013
113	Somewhere Along The Way	Dawes	2015
114	Sucker	Water Liars	2013
115	Nothing & The Famous One	Hollis Brown	2013
116	Misfits and Lovers	The Wallflowers	2012
117	Harlequin Dream	Boy & Bear	2013
118	Watcher	2:54	2012
119	Eyes On You	Greg Laswell	2012
120	Something Came Over Me	Wild Flag	2011
121	Settle Down	The 1975	2013
122	I Think She's Alright	Outrageous Cherry	2014
123	Run Baby Run	Toro Y Moi	2015
124	We Hit a Wall	Chelsea Wolfe	2013
125	The Changing Lights	Broken Bells	2014
126	Bunkerpop	Lonelady	2015
127	Can't Do Without You	Caribou	2014
128	Mama's Gonna Give You Love	Emily Wells	2012