JT's w/ Joe & Debbie

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner with Joe and Debbie at JT's on Elmwood Ave. They are staying at an airb&b on Lafayette near Elmwood so picking this restaurant out for dinner was a good idea because they could just walk down Elmwood to get there.

I had their Gnocchi special which included groundworks zucchini & squash, corn, bacon, sweet peppers and cream.

Joe had their Rigatoni Bolognese which I've had several time and highly recommended. Becky and Debbie both had the Black Spaghetti over rock shrimp, oven roasted tomato, agrodolce and lemon. A little spicy too. 

Becky and I got there a little early and started off with a glass of Peroni on tap. Then I had the large glass of their Tuscan blend. Joe and Debbie had a nice fancy cocktail.

Overall we had a great time at JT's. The place was jumping and the staff was great. The food was outstanding. We had a good table with a nice view of the street and in the other direction... the action at the bar.

We all had some good leftovers too. Debbie even more so because toward the end of our meal Joe knocked over her glass of water which spilled onto her dinner plate. The staff came over quickly to clean up. Poor Debbie had water down the front of her. Our server took away her plate of food and quickly brought back another order of the same dish. Wow. Debbie ate a little more but most of it went in the take out box.

I'm looking forward to dinner tomorrow night when I can finish up my plate of Gnocchi.

And Now A Cold Rainy Day

And now we had a cold rainy day after a day of 88 degrees. We had to close the windows it was getting so chilly in the house. In many ways it was a big relief after those days of heat and humidity. The rain was a relief too.

At least it cleared up this afternoon and we even had some sun. A sunny cool afternoon.

We're going out to dinner this evening and I will wear a long sleeve shirt... maybe a jacket too.

The Sweetest Sound - Jazz Night FV

 

The Sweetest Sounds... indeed. More classic jazz from my collection and another mix from my Jazz Night Final Version series.

A lot of my favorite jazz artists here as usual.

Coleman Hawkins in the pic.

The Sweetest Sounds - Jazz Night FV

1. The Sweetest Sounds – Coleman Hawkins, 1962

2. I Never Knew (That Roses Grew) – Kenny Burrell, 1958

3. I’ll Get By (As Long As I Have You) – John Coltrane, 1962

4. Juju – Wayne Shorter, 1964

5. Devil May Care – Miles Davis, 1968

6. It’s You or No One – Donald Byrd, 1955

7. Bye, Bye Blackbird – Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt, 1962

8. Speedball – Lee Morgan, 1965

9. I Feel A Song Coming On – Sonny Rollins, 1956

10. Our Love Is Here To Stay – Dexter Gordon, 1963

11. Morning Fun – Zoot Sims & Bob Brookmeyer, 1956

12. Shadow Dancers – George Benson, 1964

13. Midnight Mambo – Sonny Clark, 1961

14. So Sorry, Please – Bud Powell, 1951

15. Another Level – Roy Hargrove, 1995

Way Too Hot

We are in the midst of a heatwave and it's way too hot. Who would think that it could be this hot for this long in Buffalo in July. And this isn't the first heatwave of this summer and likely won't be the last. 

We were going to walk down to the WOW tonight but it's just too damn hot and uncomfortable. We really don't feel like going out and standing around in someone's hot and probably buggy backyard. Right now at 7:30 pm it's 85 degrees. 

It has also been very dry. Not enough rain. Becky is constantly going out and watering the garden. 

Everyone we talk to seems to be complaining about the heat. We have been trying to go out for walks and last night we went out at dusk and had a pleasant walk for a few blocks around the neighborhood. The picture here is from the Martin House garden.

There is plenty of weeding and garden work to do but right now it's been just way too hot. Hopefully it is expected to cool off over the next couple of days and we can get some garden work done. 

Weirdly the high tomorrow is supposed to be 71 degrees and it is supposed to rain over night and throughout the morning but clearing up in the early afternoon. Tomorrow evening we are going out to dinner with Joe and Debbie at JT's on Elmwood. Looking forward to a good time there.

A Favorite Dinner

Tonight we had one of our favorite take out dinners. Pizza and Paninis from Romeo and Juliet's Caffee & Bakery. We love their Margherita Pizza and I always want some of their wonderful Picasso Panini that includes prosciutto crudo, soppressata, capicolla, salami and mozzarella.

We love going over there to pick up the food and to gaze at the piles of bakery goods on the shelves, in the display cases and on the table as you enter the bakery part of the restaurant. We also love occasionally going there for a nice sit down dinner too.

The dinner tonight also gives us some nice leftovers for tomorrow night.

New Bed Installed

We had our new bed delivered and installed today by a crew from Raymour & Flanigan. They got here on schedule around 3 pm. I could follow their delivery process on a phone app. There were three guys who worked very well as a team taking out the old mattress and bed, carrying in the new mattress and bed and then installing everything. They took out the old bed frame and left it on the curb in front of the house for trash day pickup.

I was very impressed that we went out yesterday and made some quick decisions in getting this mattress and bed picked out and scheduled for installation. And then the next day... today, we get it all set up and tonight I will try it out.

Outskirts - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. Outskirts - Blue Rodeo, 1987. Another favorite band and album. Saw them live many times over the years.

Bed Break & New Mattress

A couple of days ago when I was making the bed in our guest room a piece of the support frame collapsed to the floor with a loud bang. I have been sleeping on that bed a lot recently because of my back and hip issues which was making me hard to sleep with in our regular bed so I would go to the guest room bed.

The mattress in that bed was the one we replaced from the bed in our bedroom when we got a new one in 2022 to help with Becky's back problem. Now it's time to replace the old mattress too. So yesterday Becky began looking at some mattresses at a couple of places online. We got our last mattress at City Mattress and she also looked at Raymour & Flanigan which had some great sales going on.

Today we went mattress shopping at Raymour & Flanigan. An hour later we had made a purchase. It was amazing how big that store is. It's been a while since we've gone there and it was very impressive. The more expensive beds and mattresses were in the front of the store but with the guidance of a very helpful salesman named Chris we worked our way to the far end of the display area and a group of nice less expensive mattresses. I found one I liked right away but we continued to look and try out many more mattresses.

The salesperson was very helpful and talkative. We covered a lot of territory over the time we were together and eventually Becky and I picked out a mattress we both liked. Then we did the deal with delivery tomorrow.

We picked out a Gemma Extra Firm Queen mattress, a Queen Universal box, and a bedframe with supports. Total price with delivery and tax was $994. Not bad. I'm also impressed with getting this done so quickly and decisively.

Joe & Debbie Visit

Becky's friend Joe from Grad School and his wife Debbie are in town for a week or so visiting family and friends. They are staying at an airb&b in Elmwood Village. Joe wanted to see Becky's studio in our house after hearing that she moved out of her Hertel Ave studio. Joe lives and works in Florida and usually comes to Buffalo once a year. He always makes time to see Becky and visit her studio to see her current artwork. So they made arrangements to stop on Saturday morning to see her studio. 

They had gone out for breakfast on the West Side and then stopped by our house at 10 am. They brought a bag of goodies for us from the bakery where they had breakfast. They had a busy schedule so they squeezed in this visit and then we made some plans for more getting together later in the week including an evening having dinner at a restaurant and then also meeting at the Buffalo Albright Knox Art Museum next weekend.

We ended up sitting around talking for most of the time they were in our house. It was very hot upstairs in Becky's studio but they did spend some time looking at artwork. They both loved Becky's recent work that she had in the show at Book Arts. Then it was back down to the living room with the AC blasting along with the last day in Paris of the Tour de France silently on the tube and some quiet jazz on the portable speaker. They left around noon and had more places to go that day.

They will be in contact with Becky over the next few days to make more plans... especially going out to dinner. We mentioned several restaurants and Joe seemed to like my description of JT's on Elmwood. We'll see.

Garden Walk @ Putnam

Today Becky and I went on the Buffalo Garden Walk. It was a very hot day and we only went out for an hour or so. Recently we have been doing just small parts of the city's garden tours and focusing on different areas each year. We looked at the maps this year and decided to go over to our old neighborhood on the West Side and walk down our old street of Putnam where we lived from 1979 to 1986.

It turned out to be a great choice because we were very much impressed with Putnam and the neighborhood. Our old house at 99 Putnam along with several other homes on the block were on the tour. There was also a spectacular Putnam Community Garden where a house on the block was torn down. We had a nice conversation with the person running the garden.

We walked around the block there and saw more tour gardens on Lafayette, Livingston, Baynes and Colonial Circle. The neighborhood actually looked much nicer now than when we lived there 40 some years ago. Of course much of the improvement is because of the proximity to Elmwood Village and the high cost of housing in that area.

Overall we were very happy to that we picked out Putnam for our garden walk. The photo above is of the Putnam Community Garden.

Somethin' Else - Jazz Night FV

Somethin’ Else. Another mix of classic jazz from my collection and part of my Jazz Night Final Version series. A lot of favorites here as usual.

Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane in the pic.

Somethin' Else - Jazz Night FV

1. Somethin’ Else – Miles Davis & Cannoball Adderley, 1958

2. Cool Struttin’ – Sonny Clark, 1958

3. Bag’s Groove – Oscar Peterson, 1962

4. Epistrophy – Thelonious Monk, 1957

5. The Meetin’ – Eric Dolphy, 1961

6. Creepin’ In – Horace Silver, 1956

7. Don’t Explain – Dexter Gordon, 1964

8. Naima – John Coltrane, 1959

9. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love – Sonny Stitt, 1959

10. Satin Doll – McCoy Tyner, 1963

11. Remember – Hank Mobley, 1960

12. Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White – Lou Donaldson, 1963

13. Lover Come Back To Me – Ben Webster, 1957

14. Four Five Six – Hank Crawford, 1960

15. Daahoud – Clifford Brown, 1954

Quest for Bloodwork

Today I went over to Quest Diagnostics for some bloodwork required by my upcoming annual appointment with WNY Urology. They automatically send my paperwork to the Quest system.

I wanted to get the work done quickly but it was hard to get an appointment at the Delaware Ave center where I usually go. I would have to wait almost a week. Instead I went over to the little used Quest office that was added to the Northwest Buffalo Community Center in Black Rock off of Hertel Avenue near Military. I got an appointment there right away. There were times available throughout the day. I was in and out in about 15 minutes total. Plenty of parking too.

Four Tops Anthology - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. The Four Tops Anthology, 1974. Another 3 LP compilation set from another favorite classic Motown soul group.

I loved these Motown Anthology and I had a lot of them.

First WOW This Year

Tonight we went to our first Parkside neighborhood Wine on Wednesday. We brought a bottle Mondavi cabenet sauvignon that has been sitting in our wine drawer since some time last year when Val brought it to our house for a dinner.

We had missed the first six WOWs this year because of my surgery recovery and our vacation to the Adirondacks. A lot of folks were happy to see us and asked about why we hadn't attended any of the other WOWs. So I spent some time explaining my recent health issues.

We did have a wonderful time and Marlene was a great hosts as usual. I had many conversations with many people throughout the evening and met a few new people too. Looking forward to more of the upcoming WOWs. 

Tour de France 2025

We've been watching this years Tour de France over the past several weeks. The usual... turn it on in the morning and leave it on. It's better than watching the news. This year's race is the usual cast of characters both on the course and in the booths. It's entertaining but we really watch the race for all of the scenic views of France in the towns and the countryside. The mountains, the rivers and the fields. 

I saw somewhere that this was the first Tour in decades that didn't have a stage in a neighboring country. The race started on July 5 and has four more days after today. One of the things I like about watching the race is the ability to watch the race in stages after they have run. I really don't care who wins or by how much, etc. I just enjoy the spectacle of it all. Well, except for the idiots who run along the racers shaking their arms and waving a flag or something. They just seem to be there to create the threat of a crash and look stupid.

Night Mist Blues - Jazz Night FV

Night Mist Blues. A mix of live classic jazz that is part of my Jazz Night Final Version series.

Ahmad Jamal in the pic.

Night Mist Blues - Jazz Night Fv

1. Night Mist Blues (Live) - Ahmad Jamal, 1961
2. Blue Monk (Live) - Thelonious Monk, 1954
3. All Blues (Live) - Miles Davis, 1965
4. Mornin' With Hazel (Live) - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1959
5. Waltz For Debby (Live) - Bill Evans, 1961
6. Twelve Tone Blues (Live) - Yusef Lateef, 1964
7. Mingus Blues (Live) - Charles Mingus, 1960
8. Bye Bye Blackbird (Live) - Red Garland, 1959
9. Cool Eyes (Live) - Horace Silver, 1961
10. Tangerine (Live) - Dave Brubeck, 1966
11. Bag's New Groove (Live) - Modern Jazz Quartet, 1960
12. Afro-Blue (Live) - John Coltrane, 1965

Sarago Visit

Dan Sarago came by the house for a visit this afternoon. We haven't seen him in several years. Dan was one of the first persons I met in Buffalo when we moved here that wasn't part of Becky's family. We quickly became good friends but then he broke up with his girlfriend Teddy and moved to San Francisco. Becky and I went out to visit him in 1981 after our two weeks in Yellowstone that year. We had a good time with Dan during that week in SF. Over the years I went out there a few times for library conferences and was always able to spend some time with Dan. He also came to Buffalo about once a year in July to see his brother and attend their annual family reunion picnic. Occasionally we would be in the Adirondacks when he came to town. Then his brother passed and the family picnics were not as regular so we saw him less.

Today we had a great time with Dan. He came around 1 pm with a six pack of Labatts Blue. He always wanted to have some beers that reminded him of Buffalo. We sat around in the backyard both in the sunroom and then outside enjoying the wonderful warm, sunny and breezy afternoon. No bugs too. He spent about three hours with us. He also went up on our third floor to see Becky's studio and latest artwork which he loved. He sure took a lot of pictures.

Lynch on Lynch

Lynch on Lynch by David Lynch, 1997. Edited by  Read this amazing film memoir recently after his passing. I saw all of his movies. Got his albums too. It was interesting to read what he had to say about his films over the years.

One of the things I liked about reading this was the format of short pieces on different films at different time. I jumped around a lot and read essays on movies and television shows. Also his artwork and photography.  He had a very fascinating life and also very entertaining.

I started reading in January shortly after he passed away. Sean got the book for a film class and it was on our book shelf waiting for me. It took me over six months to read through it because I had the book near my reading chair and would pick it up, read an essay and then let it sit for a week or so. But I always got back to it.

Milestone Jazzstars - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. Milestone Jazzstars - McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins & Ron Carter, 1979. Awesome live performance. Double LP.

Parkside Porch Fest and a Walk

Today was Parkside Porch Fest and I didn't know about it in advance. This was the first one in our neighborhood and it was sponsored by the Parkside Community Association. I guess I'm no longer a member in good standing and not on their mailing list including for email notices. I'll need to change that.

So Mark next door and I noticed music coming from the neighborhood while we were out in the backyards. We first heard some really nice jazz and we assumed it was coming from the Martin House around the corner but then the sounds started coming from other directions too. I knew something else was up. There were just too many sounds of music coming from different directions. I decided to investigate and walk over to the Martin House.

I went down the street and a neighbor told me that today was the Parkside Porchfest. Brian on our block had a singer guitarist on his porch. I stopped for a bit and then continued around the corner where I saw another porch concert on Jewett. There was nothing going on at the Martin House but there were many other porch concerts. I walked around the block and counted six shows including two that were jazz, another one classical, indie rock and some folk.

The concerts were going on from 1 pm until 6 pm with most of them about 2 hours each and they were all over the Parkside neighborhood. Later on Becky and I went for a walk after dinner. There were still some porch concerts happening and we did some for a DJ spinning records on Russell,

There are several Porch Fest throughout the Buffalo area including Elmwood Village, Allentown, Kenmore, South Buffalo, North Tonawanda, Lancaster and City of Tonawanda. This was the first time for Parkside.

Black Walnut Time Already

It's black walnut time again and this year it has arrived a little early. Maybe it was all of the recent rain and heat. Today I picked up over a hundred walnuts in our backyard and it is still July. That is something.

We knew it was going to be a banner year for walnuts because there were so few last year but we weren't expecting them so early. I tossed this first batch over the fence behind the back garage/barn where the squirrels can get to them. 

Usually I'm writing about the nuts in October. A couple of years ago we had about 75 bags of nuts. I think this is the first time I commented here about nuts in the yard so early.

Hallwalls Member Show 2025

Tonight after dinner at Cafe 59 Becky and I went down to Hallwalls for the Annual Members Show. It was the 51st time they did this and it was incredibly crowded. It seemed even more so than last year for the 50th show. We got there about 6:15 and left a little after 8 pm. We saw a lot of people we knew.

It was actually way too crowded and hard to get around without constantly bumping into other people. I really didn't get to see much of the artwork... it was just too hard to get a good view.

There was a DJ playing records and the sound was loud and harsh. I really thought it was awful the entire time we were there. 

It was nice seeing so many friends.

Dinner @ Cafe 59

Becky and I went out to dinner this evening before heading down to Hallwalls for the Annual Members Show. When we got down to Allen Street we were surprised at how parked up the neighborhood was even for a Friday night. We got down there about 5:40 pm. The restaurant was not particularly crowded although the outdoor patio was hoping. We had no problem getting a table.

We had a nice dinner as usual and Becky had their Harvest Wrap which we both love. I was going to get that too but realized that being Friday they had their wonderful Fish & Chips with Potato Wedges on the menu so I got that. I washed it down with some Hamburg Irish Red Ale on tap.

CBS Cancels Colbert

The CBS network has collapsed to the political pressure of the evil dictator and cancelled the highest rated talk show because the orange taco doesn't like being made fun of on TV. He sued CBS because of a 60 Minutes show he didn't like and apparently the settlement deal he and CBS came up with included taking Steven Colbert off the air. This show has been running for three decades but will now end after the 2025-2026 season. Well, at least they didn't just cut them off immediately.

CBS officially says dropping the show was purely a financial decision and had nothing to do with political content or criticism of the president. Like anyone believes that... CBS Paramount recently requested a merger with the Skydance media company which requires Trump's approval.

Becky and I have been watching Stephen Colbert a lot especially over the past few years and almost exclusively on YouTube. We don't watch any late night television live. We rather watch it when we want to watch it and that always means watching clips of the show on our own time. Perhaps Colbert will continue his show somewhere else.

Other Village Vanguard Tapes - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. The Other Village Vanguard Tapes - John Coltrane, 1976. It's always a good time to put some Coltrane on the turntable. This was recorded live in 1961. I picked this up from 3rd Street Jazz in Philly in 1976.

Hot July Day

Today was a hot July day. Our thermometer read 96 degrees in the backyard and we have all those trees to help cool it off. Some folks online were complaining that Buffalo temperatures were over a hundred today.

Regardless of the temperature readings it was certainly hot and muggy all day and we were grateful that we have central air conditioning in our home... well it least for the first floor. The AC doesn't get to the second floor very well because of our old home vent system which just wasn't designed nor works well with modern air conditioning units. We still need our fans upstairs but it is certainly very nice to have that cool first floor. The basement is actually cold.

So it was uncomfortably hot most of the day. It was too hot to sit on the porch and read or sit in the backyard sunroom. Just too hot. It reminded me of growing up in Philly and also why we don't travel there for visits in July and August.

Earlier this evening we went to an art opening at the Phoenix which I wrote about here. Later on we went for a walk in the neighborhood around 8:30 pm and it was short walk but quite pleasant. The temperatures had dropped considerably and there was a nice breeze. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler with some wind and rain. Looking forward to it.

Art Opening @ The Phoenix

Becky and I went over to the Phoenix Restaurant this evening for an art opening reception for her friend Wendy Maloney. It was very crowded full of folks from the Buffalo Art Society.

I ended up sitting at the bar with Hallwalls director Ed Cardoni talking baseball, hernia surgery, Peroni beer, and lots of other non-artsy things on and on.

He snapped this photo of me at the bar and posted it on Facebook.

Steely Dan - Kitchen Listening

Today I had to put a little Steely Dan on for my Kitchen Listening experience and it was really great. Well, actually it was a lot of Steely Dan. It was a good way to relax after a week on vacation in the Adirondacks and a couple more days in Scotia. Lots of time with grandkids. Steely Dan hit the spot. I haven't listened to any albums by this band in quite some time. Now I do have many of the songs scattered among dozens of mixes but it's been a while since I put their albums on the stereo and especially in some chronological sequence.

That means I first listened to Can't Buy A Thrill that was originally released in late 1972. I got my copy in late 1973 when I got out of the Navy along with their second record Countdown To Ecstasy released in 1973. Of course I listened to that one immediately after the first one. Just like back in the day. Next up came Pretzel Logic. I couldn't stop there and my Steely Dan listening became a three hour experience of five albums when I added Katy Lied and The Royal Scam. 

I think the last time I listened to this much Steely Dan was a bunch of years ago when I had the Steely Dan 4 CD box set lined up on a flash drive to play in our car.

Back in the 70's I was a big Steely Dan fan and we played these albums all the time at the house on Seymour Street in my old neighborhood in Philly that I bought in early 1974. It was a party house and I lived there while going to Temple University. When each of these albums were released I went out and got a copy and I had them all. 

They stopped touring in 1974 and regretfully I never got to see this band in concert.

 

• Can't Buy A Thrill, 1972
• Countdown To Ecstasy, 1973
• Pretzel Logic, 1974
• Katy Lied, 1975
• The Royal Scam, 1976
• Aja, 1977
• Gaucho, 1980

Many years later I added their albums to my collection Two Against Nature from 2000 and Everything Must Go from 2003. 

More Grandkid Selfies

The grandkids and I love taking selfies when we get together. It has become a family ritual and we did some this week when we were together in the Adirondacks and at Sean's house.

Here goes...

Donnelly's Sunset Point

We've been going to Donnelly's Sunset Point in Long Lake since 2018. Prior to that we had been regulars at the Shamrock but had a problem with them in 2017. In 2019 we went to Prospect Point in Blue Mountain Lake but since then we have been coming to Sunset Point and we will continue for the foreseeable future.

Dinner at the Adirondack Hotel

As usual... we had a family dinner at the Adirondack Hotel and we sat together on the outdoor deck overlooking the lake. It was delicious as usual. I had their wonderful fish & chips dinner and Becky had an Italian chicken sandwich. There were a couple of pizzas at the table, Violet had her usual french fries with ketchup and Clara had a very good large pretzel.

Todd and I had a Ubu Ale from Lake Placid Brewery and then I followed that up with a Long Lake Lager.

After dinner we walked across the road to the beach on Long Lake.

Dinner at the Long View Lodge

Becky and I went out tonight for our dinner at the Long View Lodge. We try to stop by there for dinner every year that we are staying in Long Lake. It's a tradition with us. Last year we had dinner there with Dave and Donna and with Karen and Davo but this year it was just me and Becky as usual.

I had a blackened chicken and bacon sandwich with some tasty seasoned fries. Becky had a shrimp salad wrap with those delicious seasoned fries. We started off with their very special Roasted Corn off the Cobb Salad. It was very nice but the tomatoes were not quite as good as the last time we had this treat a couple of years ago. Still a very good dinner. I had a nice Zero Gravity Lager too.

The restaurant was really busy. We got there about 5:15 and were lucky to get a table in the bar/dining room overlooking the lake. It was a little too warm to sit on the patio so this was perfect for us. By 5:30 the restaurant was mostly filled except for some tables in the main dining room. Lots of large groups too.

Adirondack Experience 2025

The Adirondack Experience is the new name of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain. I guess officially it is called The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake.

We go there with the kids every year. We did it with our kids and now we do it with our grandchildren. They seem to love it more and more each year as they get older and more experienced. There are also many more interactive displays than in years past.

Often we go there on rainy days but this year we didn't have any really rainy days. The weather was looking good so we went when we had a chance and wanted to take a break from the beach. The kids loved it as always. They remembered many of the exhibits and wanted to participate whenever they could including the art room.

Every year the kids climb into the little boats at the museum entrance to the boat house but now the older kids are getting a little too big for the boat... but not for Violet.