A New Drive

My portable drive on my Dell laptop has been acting up recently. It kept dropping out. I kept my music on this drive which was a 2TB My Passport Western Digital drive. I have three My Passport WD drives for my music. One of each of my two laptops and another one that was a backup for all my music.

At first I wasn't sure if it was the drive or my laptop that was the problem. The drive plugged into a USB port and that seemed to be the problem but I tried it with another laptop and still had a problem but not as bad. Eventually I narrowed it down to the drive itself and bought a new one.

This time I bought a Toshiba Canvio 4TB portable external drive with tax cost me $92 and I got it the day after I put in the order. Then I had to copy my files over to the new drive. So far so good but of course it is a good time to reorganize and that could be time consuming.

Extend Metro Rail

While Becky and I were walking along Elmwood Avenue during the Arts Festival yesterday I came across one of the social services desks that was staffed by Citizens for Regional Transit. I picked up a pamphlet titled "Extend Metro Rail".

I've been an advocate of extending the rail line since it was first constructed back in the 1980's. It was inadequately and poorly planned and executed from the very beginning.

At that time the most obvious flaw was not running the rail line from the UB South Campus on Main Street to the UB North Campus in Amherst. The reason for not extending the line from downtown to Amherst was blatantly and obviously racists. There were people at the time who said that they had moved to the suburbs to get away from urban problems and they did not want those problems coming into their community via a rail line from the city. To hell with the UB students. This pamphlet calls for the extension of the line to unite the urban campus with the suburban campus. 

They call for an Airport Extension of the rail line. That seems like an obviously positive thing to do to have the rail line go to the airport. I know it made a big difference when they did that in Philly a number of years ago. Here the existing line going to Canalside would be extended through the Cobblestone District and eastward above ground to Larkinville, Central Terminal, Thruway Mall, Walden Galleria and then to the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. Seems like the obvious thing to do.

Another line extension would go south to the football stadium and stop at the Botanical Gardens along the way. They also support a line going south to Hamburg and stopping at the Fairgrounds.

And then there is the other obvious extension going north that would connect Buffalo to Tonawanda and then Niagara Falls. It would be amazing to be able to get some of the millions of people who visit the Falls to be able to quickly and conveniently get to Buffalo.

I was always interested in the new rail line in Buffalo which was probably because I grew up in a city with an extensive public transportation system which I used at a very young age. I took trolleys, buses and the subway all over the city.

In Buffalo I took the new subway rail line to work downtown in the early to mid nineties when I was working at the Central Library. I would walk over to Main Street from our house on Shirley and take the train to Lafayette Square. I liked being able to read during my commute to work. It would have been nice to have been able to take the train to the UB North Campus when I was in graduate school if they had extended the rail line as in the original plans before the racists nixed the project.

We live about three blocks from the rail line here in Parkside and over the years I have used it many times to go downtown to baseball games, hockey games, the basketball tournaments, concerts and other events like the beer tastings. It was always a nice option to have instead of fighting the traffic and parking problems. It would have been very effective if they had extended the rail line south to the football stadium.

For many years Becky fought the never ending battle with a long congested commute to work at the UB North Campus and the awful inadequate parking situation there. It would have been a much better work experience if she would have been able to just walk over to the rail line and take the train to work every day.

Over the years I have been taking the rail line down to the medical center for my semi-annual brain scans. It is just so much easier.

So it was interesting to look at this pamphlet that I grabbed at the festival yesterday. Everything on it should have been done 20 to 30 years ago. Too bad there are so many narrow minded people living in Erie County.

Sat Afternoon at the Elmwood Arts Festival

Earlier in the week we decided to head down to the Elmwood Arts Festival this weekend. Yesterday we checked the weather and saw that Saturday was definitely the better day although it was going to be a very nice weekend weather both days. The Saturday high was 76 and the high for Sunday was to be 88. Both sunny days. We knew from past experience that walking around in the sun in a city street was going to be hot and so Saturday it was.

And it was very warm today even for the 70's because of the crowds and the hot asphalt under foot. Fortunately there was a very nice breeze and it was very comfortable in the shade which there was plenty of along the side of the street. A couple of times we found some very nice shady spots to sit in chairs and enjoy some live music on the various stages. This was actually the first time since the pandemic began that we have gone somewhere to see live music. We enjoyed it very much. 

We ran into several people we knew including Val and Bobby whom we were just on vacation with last month and Joe and Lori whom we just saw at their WOW a couple of weeks ago. We also saw some other people we knew but couldn't always get together with them. We were not the other ones running into people we knew. It was fun to see so many other people greeting friends and family as they were walking down the street. Buffalo is a big city that so often feels like a small town.

The festival stretched from just a little north of Lafayette Street down to to Ferry which was about six blocks. We parked on Chapin Parkway just off of Gates Circle and walked the long block of Lafayette to Elmwood. The first stage for music was at St James and we started there before eventually making our way down one side of Elmwood to check out all the artists and social service stands. Everything was very busy. We made our way down to Ferry and the end of the festival and then back up the other side.

One of the highlights of the day was walking through the children's area where they had many activities for kids. We saw a tent full of kids playing violins. There were dozens of them performing with their Suzuki based program instructors. They really did sound good and these were little kids. We were very impressed.

I had looked up the food options at the festival on their website and saw that they had a large number of food trucks on hand. I was interested in possibly checking out the Tiny Thai truck. There were so many options and then I was thinking that this Thai food would be a lot better if we were enjoying it in a nice restaurant and we decided to look at some other food truck and the one that caught my attention was Fat Bob's BBQ. Now that was food that would be good sitting outside on a bench and that is what we did. It was very good. I also got a nice pilsner from Pressure Drop Brewery that was available there.

After we ate we stopped at the St James stage again to see some more live music where we ran into Val and Bobby again who were also sitting there enjoying the band. After a while we decided to head back to our car.

We had a great time at the festival and were very glad we decided to go down there. It was fun being on Elmwood Avenue and walking around. We were there at the festival for three hours. We walked back over Lafayette Street to our car and then we were back home in well under 10 minutes. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

It turned out to be a beautiful evening too. I sat in our backyard sunroom writing this and it was almost cool and actually did get cool as the sun went down. 

Today in the Past

I always look at the Memories feature in Facebook. Well, I really can't help it because they make it so obvious to you and today's was a little more interesting than usual. Here are some of the things I posted about on this day in previous years.

Two years ago I posted a beer pic of Southern Tier Brewing's Pumking which was no big deal since I post lots of beer pic but this one at Sean and Ashely's new house in Glenville NY.

Three yeas ago Becky and I had just arrived in Dublin and I posted about having my first Guinness in Ireland at the Harbour Master Restaurant along with some fish and chips and mushy peas. We then went to Urban Brewery near our hotel and I posted something about day drinking in Dublin.

Four years ago I posted something about our cactus bloom that drooped over when the sun came up. It only likes to show off it's bloom at night. I must have posted something about it the day before.

Five years ago Betsy and Joe were in town visiting us and I posted a picture of them down at Canalside. The day before they went down to the Elmwood Arts Festival with us and that was the last time Becky and I were there until today.

Six years ago I made a comment about being newly retired and Betsy had told me that now every day is happy hour.

Seven years ago the city cut down the old elm tree in front of our house. It only took the tree company an hour to take it down and I posted a series of photos of the ongoing progress. It was a sad day but the tree had been dying. Now we have a nice young tree that is doing very well.

Twelve years ago I wrote the following... "Sorry folks, I got FB spammed. Don't open any links from me. I'm not sending them and they are bad."

Speed Hump Installed

Today the contracting company for the city installed several speed humps in our neighborhood including two on our block. The one that was originally scheduled to be installed directly in front of the house next door was eventually moved two doors down the street due to the vehement complaints from one of our neighbors which I described in an earlier post.

The work was completed today and we were pleasantly surprised that the humps on our street are significant smaller than other ones we have seen around the city. They also had an easier incline that was definitely not as high as other speed humps. We haven't driven on this hump yet but although it does require a slower speed it does not have that car rattling height that cause problems and was the main reason for our neighbor's objection.

I watched the construction throughout the day and the various phases and then when it was all done before rush hour I sat on the porch and watched the reaction of the many commuters. It was fun. Most cars slowed down at they approached the hump but some just barreled through like it wasn't there. They won't last long on this route.

Coles and the Fox

It was time to go out. Just the two of us. So this evening we went down to Coles for dinner. We had a wonderful time as usual except this time the service was not up to our usual expectations. Our waiter seemed to have something else on his mind. However, the food was good and we had a great time.

Becky had their Buffalo Wrap with their very tasty fries. I had fish tacos along with sweet potato fries and a honey sauce. I ate all of mine and Becky had just a small piece and a few fries to take home. 

I had a couple of craft draft beers. First an Out of Focus extra bitter English ale from Threes Brewery out of Brooklyn NY. Very tasty and satisfying. Then I followed that up with a Shine Theory New England hazy IPA from Prison City Brewery from Auburn, NY. I liked this one very much. Becky had a Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier. One of her favorites.  

Later in the evening when we got home I sat on the front porch with a book and some music in my earphones when I saw something very odd coming down the sidewalk. My first thought was it was a strange looking cat and then I thought maybe it was a dog but then I suddenly realized it was a fox. I jumped out of my seat to take a better look as it went by. Then I realized that Pat next door and her son also saw the varmint. They were surprised and were not sure what it was they saw but they knew it wasn't a dog or cat.

I knew what it was because there have been numerous sightings of a fox throughout the Parkside neighborhood that have been discussed on social media. I was hoping that particular fox wasn't out hunting the many rabbits in our neighborhood and on our block. 

I sent a text message to Katie and Sean stating "I was sitting on the porch a few minutes ago when I saw a fox trot by on the sidewalk."  Well, a few minutes later a got a video chat call from Katie because the kids wanted me to describe my encounter with the fox. 

Chicago... the Band

Earlier this evening at dinner I played the brand new Chicago album through Spotify on our kitchen stereo. I regularly use that service to listen to new releases that I discover on other music sites such as AllMusic, Paste, No Depression, Pitchfork, etc. and then I put them in my Spotify album queue for later listening.

I thought I would give the new Chicago a listen because I really haven't heard anything new by them in decades. I looked up the album in AllMusic and saw that three of the original members were still playing with the group and although their last album of new music was in 2014 they do have a total of 38 albums that they have released over the years. 

The new album was titled Born For This Moment and I was curious to hear how they sounded and of course I was disappointed. The first three or four songs were actually very good and competent with well written sons and a classic sound but then things fell apart. There were fourteen songs on the album and after the first several the rest of the album just didn't hold up to the promise of the first few songs. The remaining songs were boring and cliched. Oh well.

Chicago was at one time one of my favorite groups. I saw them perform in concert for the first time in August 1969 at the Atlantic City Pop Festival and would see them a couple of more times in the early 1970's. They were booked at that festival as Chicago Transit Authority and I had never heard of them but their show blew me away. They were awesome and I had never heard anything like them with their combination of hard rock and jazzy horns. I found out shortly afterwards that they had an album titled Chicago Transit Authority that had been released that previous April. I went out and bought their album after I got home from the festival.

I would see them a couple more times in the early 70s and I would buy their first five albums as they came out and still have them on vinyl. Many years later I would grab some online versions of their other albums from 1973 to 1977 and then a couple more live albums and compilations. I never bothered with their albums from the late 70s. 80s, 90s or beyond and they had plenty of them.

I remember that they were very popular with some of my shipmates in the Navy and heard a couple more of their albums on cassette onboard the ship as they were released in the early 70s.

Chicago in my collection:

• Chicago Transit Authority, 1969
• Chicago II, 1970
• Chicago III, 1971
• Chicago IV - Live in Carnegie Hall Vol 1-4, 1971
• Chicago V, 1972

• Chicago Live in Japan, 1972
• Chicago VI, 1973
• Chicago VII, 1974
• Chicago VIII, 1975
• Chicago X, 1976
• Chicago XI, 1977
• The Very Best of Chicago, 1997
• Chicago Presents the Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath, 1997
• Chicago Live in 1975, 2011

TV Sets to the Curb

I've had a couple of our old television sets in storage for many years. I had Sean help me carry them out to our shed. One was upstairs in our bedroom and the other large one was in the living room. They were both big old tube TVs. They've been in the shed for a long time. Recently they were joined by our ten year old flat screen TV that crapped out and was replaced. Now was time to do something about them.

I had always planned to take them down to the city garage for recycling but never got around to it. The city sanitation department is very strict about television disposal and recycling and leaving one on the curb for trash day or heavy pickup will generate a stiff fine for the homeowner. 

Recently I was looking on the city's recycling website and saw that the sanitation department will come to the homes of senior citizens and handicapped persons to remove television sets and take them to the recycling center. All that needed to be done was to call the city's 311 line and make arrangements. Well, we're over 65 so I called the number and was told I would hear from someone to schedule the pickup. Boy, was I happy.

I dragged the three TVs out of the shed and set them just outside the building. I knew it would probably take a some time for them to come by and I put a tarp on the TVs. I thought it would be just be better to have them covered.

A couple of days later I got a call to schedule the pickup. First they wanted to know the day of the week we had trash pickup. I told him they came on Thursdays. Then he scheduled the pickup for a Tuesday and I was to put the TVs on the curb in front of the house. Apparently he wanted to make sure we would not be putting them out on a trash day when we could get fined. He then set the pickup date for August 30. Sometime during that day a truck would come by and take the TVs from our curbside and take them to the recycling center. Fortunately we have a two wheeler cart to easily roll the TVs from the shed in the back out to the curb which I will do on the morning of the 30th and then they will be gone.

Another First Sentence

A month ago I wrote a post here about the first sentence in a book that struck me and really made me want to keep reading. I knew it was going to be a good book... which it was. Joe Boyd's White Bicycles. Today I had that experience again.

I started reading Niall Williams' This is Happiness. I was very surprised when the first chapter of the book contained only one sentence. The rest of the page was blank. The sentence was "It had stopped raining". I had to turn the page and keep reading. 

I knew the story took place in a remote village on the west coast of Ireland. I had this book on my To Read list at the BECPL for a couple of years. It came out in 2019.  When we were over at Dick and Iris' apartment last week I was looking at their book shelves and commenting on some of the books. We then had a discussion of some of the books we had been reading recently and Dick brought up this book which he just finished. He loved it and after we talked a little bit about Irish authors and novels he insisted I take it with me and read it. Of course I gladly accepted and today I started reading this fantastic book. 

Looking forward to continuing reading it.

The Balloon in the Fireplace

There has been a balloon in our fireplace for the past several days. It's been a reminder of the two weeks we had three of our grandchildren staying with us recently. It is also a reminder of our vacation in July in the Adirondacks and the night of the balloons. 

This particular balloon was one the kids got at an event down at Canalside. It quickly became a favorite for Violet. She loved to sit on the floor playing with the balloon. It was amazing to watch her slowly and carefully manipulate it until she was able to hold to balloon in her little hand by the tie off. Then she would shake it up and down while joyfully smiling at everybody. This would keep her very busy for quite a long time for a baby. 

There was one evening on vacation where we were all sitting around together in a cabin which I think was Katie's and we were all playing with a balloon by bouncing it around the room where we were trying to keep it from touching the floor. It was great fun and lasted awhile. There were also other times where the kids were playing with balloons. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Now we're not going to see the kids for awhile and we have this balloon sitting in our fireplace reminding us of those good times. I've already noticed that the balloon is slowly shrinking and at some point will just be gone but the memories will be forever.

Where's The Damn Speed Hump?

It's been about six weeks since the city painted the speed hump markings in front of our house and a month since we got the flyer that said work would begin within one to two weeks. Well, nothing has happened anywhere in the neighborhood. What's going on.

It's been about three weeks since the email exchange between our neighbor across the street and the city with her concerns about the bumps. They then responded that they would move the bump from in front of her house and ours too and put it down the street a bit. 

Today we saw that the city painted a big red NO on the spot where the original speed hump was going to be on our block and then painted new lines. The funny thing is that the hump is only one house down. While the hump is not directly in front of Beth's house they will still go over it every time they come and go from the south direction of the street. It is better for us and I will still be able to sit on my porch and watch the cars coming down the street navigating the speed hump. 

Apparently the big NO sign is for the construction workers to make sure they see that this speed hump has been moved. There is another No sign down the street so I guess Beth wasn't the only person to contact the city to complain about the placement of the humps. 

So maybe the work will be starting soon. I certainly hope so. I really am tired of all the people speeding down our street especially knowing that it will end soon. I took a picture of the no sign painted on the street.

Harlem Shuffle

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, 2021

I read this very cool novel in about two weeks in August. This was the fourth novel I have read from this author and all of them have been great reading.

This book was about a group of criminals scheming in Harlem in the 1960's. Lots of crooks, heists, shake-downs, rip-offs, etc in a brilliantly recreated New York City of the early 60's. It was a crime novel but so much more about a furniture salesman in Harlem trying to make an honest living... most of the time. Very entertaining. 

It was also a fascinating look at black life and culture in the 1960's and the racism that was part of American life. 

Saying Goodbyes

Katie and the kids left our house and went home to Philly this morning. It was all very sad for us and we will miss them all very much. There were here for two weeks and it has left us exhausted but we loved every moment. Well, most moments. The kids did have some issues at bedtime but nothing they won't grow out of in time.

I just got a text from Kate this evening that they just got home a little after six. Becky and I were on our walk. There was a follow up text that stating that Henry said "we have to tell Grammie and Poppa we are home safe". 

We are already planning our visit with them in Philadelphia next month.

This is a photo I took of Becky with the kids a couple of days earlier. We certainly miss them already.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, 2021. I read this in May through August 2022.

This was a very difficult book to read that packs a very emotional punch and it took me a long time to get through it. I certainly could not read it in the two week e-book loan period and had to borrow it three times. But I did love this book and highly recommend it as this novel was epic and ambitious.  I would also like to read it again sometime because there was so much going on in a very deep philosophical and thought provoking way. It was an amazing journey though a family's past over many generations to the days of slavery. There was stunning cruelty in bondage and intense resistance and resilience to survive and thrive. 

It was a history of America itself and our racists past and ongoing through today. The book is a revelation of the experience of America. I learned a lot from this book.

Katie's Baked Goods

For nearly the past two weeks we have been eating Katie's baked goods. She is quite the baker and will regularly put something together on the fly so to speak. There were some nights that after everyone had gone to bed she was downstairs baking some goodies for the following day. 

She does it at home all the time too. I 

I was talking to Clara the other day about food she likes and of course she wanted to know what I liked too. We had been talking about seafood and I mentioned that I liked crab cakes. She excitedly exclaimed that when my birthday was coming up that I should ask her mommy to bake me a crab cake. 

Saturday Family Dinner

We got together with Dick and Iris, Dave and Donna along with Katie and Todd and the kids for a family cookout dinner at our house. Mary showed up a little later too. We had a wonderful time and celebrated Katie's birthday a little early. Donna made the birthday cake.

We came together to spend time with the kids around 4 pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and evening. We set things up to have dinner and sit around either in the house or out in the backyard. We setup the sunroom for dinner and had plenty of chairs both in the room and scattered around in the yard. However, we really did think that despite the nice weather we would be hanging around our living room, dining room and kitchen which was the case. The kids didn't want to stray to far from their toys and Iris' mobility issues really made her want to stay indoors in a comfortable chair. We were OK with whichever she decided she wanted to do and everything went well in the house. 

Becky made a great meal that included her homemade potato salad and a pile of hamburgers, sausage patties and hotdogs to grill. Todd put together a wonderful salad. Dave ended up doing the grilling which of course is what he always wants to do so Becky let him do it when he came out on the deck to help her. Everyone enjoyed the meats and Mary was especially happy that Becky had a veggie burger for her. We also had some corn on the cob and Katie made some delicious cookies.

Donna made and brought the wonderful chocolate birthday cake which everyone really enjoyed. We hung out until about a little after 7 pm. It was a very nice evening.

Mary had come a little late and after she ate we went outside and sat in a couple of chairs talking about her library job and all the changes going on in the public library system. 

Dan's Phone Call

A few days ago I got a phone call from my brother Dan. It was on Monday and Katie and the kids had just returned earlier in the day from there couple of days staying in the downtown hotel to see Todd's brother and family. We were sitting around our dining room table having some dinner when I got the call which I answered right away and walked into the other room. I just had a feeling something was wrong. 

Dan then told me he was calling from the hospital. He went in there the previous night for a foot infection. Marissa took him down to Temple U hospital Sunday evening where he spent several hours in the emergency room and then was admitted. He told me the infection came on suddenly and was very serious. He was given lots of medications to fight the infection and was scheduled for surgery the next day. The infection had apparently gone into his bloodstream and probably into the bone as well. He told me he may lose his foot. I was shocked. He said his foot had swollen up and was very gross. He offered to send me a photo but I declined. Then he started on the foot puns starting with one about needing a toe truck. Apparently he was going to lose at least his big toe and possible the whole foot but was hopeful it would be just the toe.  

Becky could tell from my facial expressions that something was very wrong. I didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids and especially the ever inquisitive Henry. We talked about it later after the kids were out of the room. 

So on the following day Dan had his surgery and fortunately they did not have to take his foot but he did lose his big toe. He lost a lot of blood too and had some kidney issues from the blood loss.

Then I had phone calls from Lizzie and Marissa giving us their perspective on Dan's situation and his recovery. He would need to spend a few more days in the hospital and then at some point go to a rehab center.

I talked do Dan again later in the week and he seemed to be in good spirits and not in any significant pain except at the site of the surgery. 

We also had some online family conversations with FB messenger and some text messages. One thread contained lots of foot puns and I admit to adding a few but that is what Dan wanted to see.

Update: 8/17 - Marissa contacted us and Dan will be leaving the hospital tomorrow and going to a rehab facility in Havertown. I was talking with him on the phone on Tuesday night and was hoping to hear this good news from Marissa today. 

Clara and the Letter C

Clara has been learning her letters and it was fun seeing her practice the first letter of her name at the coffee table in our living room on a pad of paper I've had in a drawer for decades. The note pad was from an Innovative library conference I attended in the late 1990's. 

Katie worked with Clara and traced the letter C in little dashes. Clara then used a pencil to connect the dashes and proudly completed the letter C. She practiced writing a C a few more times and then wrote her name after Katie outlined it. Clara was very happy.

Henry and the Basement

The last time Henry and the rest of the family were in town visiting us he was afraid of going down to our basement. To him it seemed like a spooky out of the way place that was a little bit scary. I told him it was where we did our laundry.

This time was different and of course now he was six years old. I was heading down to the basement with a laundry basket and Henry wanted to come along. He had heard we had a new furnace and he wanted to see it. He was also amazed to see the old refrigerator down there that doesn't work anymore. I told him we had to get rid of it.

I decided to give him a little tour of the basement. First I showed him the shelves where we stored some can goods and jars. He was very fascinated with the idea that we would have food in the basement. From there I showed him the washer and dryer but what really got him excited was the laundry shoot with the basket below it. Then we walked around where I had my exercise bike which he was happy about. We took a look at the furnace and then the pile of boxes that Grammie used for shipping out stuff.

He carefully looked at the other shelves where I stored beer and soda and the other one with lots of very different things like containers of paper plates, party stuff, cleaning things, etc. He then wanted to see my tool room and I showed him my tool box that my father got for me when I was a young teenager. He also liked all the power tools and the paint cans.

Then we went into the other little store room that had a door and he was very excited to see all the stuff on the shelves and in the closets there. I also showed him where the water came into the house and the valve the shut off the water if the pipes or appliances needed to be worked on.

After we saw everything down there he wanted to go through the house and put something down each laundry shoot. He was disappointed that there wasn't one for the third floor.

A couple of days later he wanted Grammie to take him down the basement and then he proceeded to show Becky everything down there and explain all the stuff to her. 

Trump Takes The Fifth

Trump Dystopia

On the news today there has been lots of stories about Trump taking the Fifth as part of his court case in NY concerning fraud. As he has said so many times himself over the years only a person who is guilty of something would ever take the fifth amendment plea in a court case. So it certainly sounds like Trump is guilty as charged.

It's also very funny to see the media running all the clips of him calling people who take the fifth criminals. He says only the mob pleads the fifth. He's right in this case.

Dinner at Kosta's

This evening we decided to go out to dinner at Kostas over on Hertel Avenue and we invited Dick and Iris to join us. This had always been a popular restaurant for both families for many decades especially since we all lived nearby. Every time Katie and Todd are in town visiting family they try to make time for a visit to Kostas for some Greek food. It was only natural for all of us to get together for a nice dinner together there. Becky and I had not been there in a couple of years.

We went over there around 6 pm and they seated us in one of the large round tables at the rear of the dining room which was a really good spot for us. On the way to the table each group of us, and there were three groups, came in past the booths and saw Dave and Donna sitting there having dinner which was a great surprise. Apparently they had just returned today from New York City where they were babysitting their grandson Sonny for five days while Jim and Cassie were at a wedding in Europe. They were also very surprised and happy to see us. We invited them to come by this weekend for dinner at our house where they could see Katie and the kids.

So we all ordered our favorite meals. I was going to get my usual chicken souvlaki salad but instead got the chicken souvlaki dinner because I wanted the Greek potatoes and some leftovers. I was really surprised at how big the dinner was on the plate. I took the picture here after I already had been eating for awhile. I knew immediately when it was served that we were going to have some serious leftovers from this meal. 

Everyone had a wonderful dinner. The kids ate spaghetti and meatballs. We didn't have deserts. It was a great family time with all four grandparents at the table. 

A Day at the Zoo

We had a wonderful day at the zoo today. It was nice to just walk over there with the kids in the afternoon and spend a few hours there. We had loads of fun and enjoyed watching the kids have a great time. Of course they rode the train too. 

Actually Katie, Todd and the kids spent about an hour there longer than we did as Becky and I left after a couple of hours and walked home ourselves. The kids had more to see.

One of the highlights of the day at the zoo was attending the bird show which was very entertaining and educational as the birds flew over our heads while we sat there watching the show. The kids loved it.

This was our first time there at the zoo since the start of the pandemic. For the last couple of years the zoo required advanced scheduled ticket purchases to get into the zoo. Things are finally back to normal there although masks are available for people to use in the buildings. We did put our masks on for the inside displays. 

The Buffalo Zooimagination was still installed and the kids got to see all of those spectacular displays although of course we were there in the day and the displays were not lit up like they would be the weekend evening events. It was still a lot of extra fun for the kids.

Becky and I purchased our membership tickets for the year and we are looking forward to wandering into the zoo during some of our daily walks. Well, at least the ones in the afternoon. We always liked going there during the winter months and visiting the tropical rain forest building.

Clara and the Keyboard

I took several pictures of our granddaughter Clara at the keyboard and asked her which one she liked the best and she picked this one. When the kids arrived a few days ago Clara immediately wanted me to take her upstairs to play my 'piano'. She likes going up the winding steps to the 3rd floor which she calls the 'secret passageway'. We've made a couple of trips up there so far and I'm sure there will be many more next week. Maybe more pictures too.

Now Henry keeps wanting to go up to the third floor too and talks about the piano but he is really angling to get to the boxes of old toys that belonged to Sean. Over the years Henry has collected many many matchbox cars, legos, super heroes, etc. from those boxes but that's another story.

Family Hotel Party

Last night we attended a Schifeling family party downtown at the Hilton Garden Inn where of course Dick and Iris have their upper floor apartment. Todd's brother and his family was in town for a visit which was the reason for getting their family together. Katie and Todd and the kids are staying at the hotel for a few days along with Jeremy and his family. A couple of Todd's aunts and uncles and cousins were also in town for the get together and they have some other events planned for today and tomorrow. The out of town guests will all be leaving on Monday and Katie and Todd will be coming back to our house at that time and staying with us another week.

The dinner party was in a hotel conference room on the third floor overlooking Lafayette Square. We were there from a little after 5pm until shortly before 8pm. We had a very nice time there and spent a lot of it keeping Henry, Clara and Violet busy. We did have many interesting conversations too. 

There were a some odd moments. Jeremy and his family were not there for the dinner party even though the event was put together because he was in town. Apparently his parents didn't discuss the party situation with him and he did not want to attend because of his recent health problems which had impacted his immune system. That was certainly a very good reason not to attend a crowded dinner party in a hotel conference room with people you had not been in contact with for several years. We ourselves had some reservations about potentially squeezing into a small room with a lot of people but fortunately the room was large and well ventilated. 

The food was typical hotel food. OK but not great. There was some nice wine but the beer selection was shockingly bland. Some nice local craft beer options would have been nice especially since there were several nearby breweries. Typical hotel beers... Budweiser, Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue, Heineken, Bud Light, Blue Light and some Labatt NA. I had some red wine and then a Labatt Blue which was my first one in many years.

Another thing I thought was a little strange was having this large family gathering  and then nobody was taking any photos to document the event. Everyone had a camera in their phone but no one seemed to think it would be a good idea to take some pictures. I thought about it but I didn't want to be the nonfamily member going around snapping photos of everyone. Now perhaps there will be some photo taking at their other events this weekend but last night was certainly a very good opportunity to document their dinner party. Then again because Jeremy and his family did show up then the gettogether was moot. Why take pictures if the guests of honor were not there. Who knows. One can never fully understand other family dynamics. 

No Depression

Last night I listened to the No Depression album from Uncle Tupelo. I love the album and have used many of the songs on various mixes I had not listened to the album straight through for many years. It was a real treat that Becky and I both enjoyed. It was a very innovative and influential album at the time it was released.

No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music was one of the many magazines I have subscribed to over the last fifty some years or so. If I recall right we had it coming to our home in the late 1990's until well into the 2000's. I dropped it for another magazine at some point. No Depression began publication in 1995 and is sill published today both in print and online. The magazine was named after the song No Depression by the Carter Family and the album of the same name released in 1990 by Uncle Tupelo. I did enjoy reading this magazine very much and after I was no longer getting in at home I did look at it in the library and often took it with me to lunch.

I recently realized that there is a Spotify playlist uploaded every month by the No Depression staff that contains the newly released songs for the month that are from featured artists and albums in the magazine. I'm listening to the July playlist right now and have favorited the playlist on my Spotify account so that it will always show up for me each month.

Last night I listened to the No Depression album from Uncle Tupelo. I love the album and have used many of the songs on various mixes I had not listened to the album straight through for many years. It was a real treat that Becky and I both enjoyed. It was a very innovative and influential album at the time it was released.

I've enjoyed all of the Uncle Tupelo albums and when they split up into Son Volt and Wilco I got all of their albums too.

Uncle Tupelo

• No Depression, 1990
• Still Feel Gone, 1991
• March 16-20, 1992
• Anodyne, 1993
• 89/93: An Anthology, 2002

Rattle & Roll

It's been wonderful fun to watch Henry and Clara play with their little sister Violet. They played with her a lot along with their cousin Andrew in the Adirondacks when we were all on vacation together but there were a lot of distractions there too. Then after they went back home Violet started being able to sit up and play. That has added a whole new dimension to their play. Now the three of them sit together on the floor and play with toys.

Violet loves to sit there on the floor and play with rattles. She can really shake them and obviously loves making noise. Now Henry and Clara love shaking the rattles along with Violet. It is a joy to watch.

I love taking pictures of our grandchildren but I hadn't taken videos of them. Until today. Today they were sitting there on the floor jamming with the rattles and singing along. All three of them. It was so much fun to watch and I took two twenty second videos of their rattle and roll jam.

Rattle and Roll Video

White Bicycles

White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960's by Joe Boyd, 2006

“This is the best book about music I’ve read in years, and a gripping piece of social history.”—Brian Eno

I agree. This was a fascinating very anecdotal book about the music scene in the 1960's from a perspective of someone deeply involved as a tour manager, record producer and club manager in London during the 1960's. Joe Boyd was an American from Boston and some of the bands he went on to produce were Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, R.E.M and many others. He also ran a record label in the 1980's but this book is about his experiences in the 60's. 

There were many wonderful and interesting stories in the book. In particular the descriptions of Jimi Hendrix living in London during the fall and winter of 1966-67 were both amusing and informative when the local guitarist realized that he was staying in town and not just passing through on tour. They all then knew that the bar had been significantly raised for all guitarist as they crowded into the small Marquee Club and other venues to see him play. Boyd later would go on to produce a documentary of Jimi Hendrix. 

I found out about him and this book while reading a Beeswax, a memoir written by Richard Thompson about the same period in London. I read both books in July 2022 and they both also covered some of the life of Sandy Denny. Now I would like to read a biography of her tragic life. I also spent some time recently listening to the music of Sandy Denny from both her solo albums and her time in Fairport Convention. 

I wrote a little about this book earlier in July when I first started reading it and was taken by the first sentence of the book. I also wrote about the title and the origin of the white bicycles as a concept of change.

Not in Kansas Anymore

Trump Dystopia

There was an election in Kansas this week and on the ballot was the right to have an abortion in the state of Kansas. The people of Kansas resoundingly spoke with their votes and the extremist right wing anti-abortion folks, including the SCOTUS scumbags who overturned Roe, were soundly defeated by everyday Americans even in a red state like Kansas. Basically the people of Kansas voted to preserve abortion rights protections in the state constitution and rejected an amendment that would have removed the right to abortion from the state constitution.  

Both sides poured millions of dollars into campaign ads and knocking on voter's doors but the results were still a big surprise. The anti-abortion Republicans in particular were backed by millions of dollars from the Catholic Church which begs the question why is the church exempt from taxes when they are so obviously involved in politics. The Republican state legislators thought they could quietly pass an amendment that would strip people's rights from the state constitution.

This has happened three months before the midterm elections and is the first time voters have had an opportunity to weigh in on the abortion rights controversy since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade which of course is the result of Trump's court picks. This stunning result will perhaps give Democrats the incentive to elevate the issue in races across the country. This issue also unexpectedly brought voters to the polls in an offseason primary contest. This could be an indicator of a changing abortion landscape across the nation.

The pro-choice people in Kansas formed a coalition aptly named Kansans for Constitutional Freedom with a strategically named group with a message designed to cut across partisan lines and cast the amendment as a challenge to personal liberty and a first step toward a government mandate that would require a woman to carry a fetus to term. America is waking up. Getting woke.