Eating Leftovers

Becky and I got some nice leftovers from the pile of Fat Bob's BBQ takeout from Clara's birthday party on Saturday night. We had some for dinner tonight but there's still more and definitely enough for dinner tomorrow night too.

Still very tasty too.

Fat Bob's Takeout

We had a dinner of Fat Bob's BBQ takeout at Clara's birthday party at Dick and Iris'. When we arrived at the apartment Dick was just leaving to go pickup the food from Fat Bob's which is nearby.

The food was delicious as always and there was a lot of it. A nice variety of sides too in addition to the beef brisket, pulled pork and ribs. There was BBQ baked beans, mac & cheese, grilled vegetables, cajun corn, collard greens, mashed potatoes, coleslaw and cornbread. Some fries too.

Dick gave us several boxes of leftovers to take with us. It's enough for a couple of meals.

We had some nice desserts too... birthday cake and pumpkin pie along with some of Donna's cookies.

Clara's Birthday Party

The family had a birthday party for Clara downtown at the Dick and Iris' apartment. We were originally going to have it at our house until I got sick. Although I'm feeling better we thought it best not to have everyone over to our house with the virus germs potentially lurking throughout the house. Instead we had the party at the hotel where Katie and the kids were staying. We met everyone down there at 5:30 pm. The next day they would be driving back to Phila. 

We had a wonderful time with the family and it was great seeing Dick and Iris again. It's been awhile. Clara had a great time with her big number seven balloon and she got some more very nice birthday gifts. Her birthday presents have been scattered over several days because of the drawn out birthday weekend celebrations.

We had a nice dinner of takeout food from Fat Bob's BBQ along with a nice birthday cake from Wegmans and one of Becky's pumpkin pies. We had also brought some leftover cookies of Donna's from her Thanksgiving dinner.

Clara had a great time opening her gifts from us and from Auntie Ashley which we brought with us. Ashley had sent it to our house.

I thought it was funny to see myself reflected in the window taking this picture.

Thanksgiving Dinner @ Dave & Donna's

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner at Dave and Donna's as usual. Dave did a fabulous job with the smoked turkey and Donna put on her usual fantastic spread.

I was sick this week but glad I was feeling much better for the family dinner. I rested much of the day and it was really a last minute decision as to whether I should go or not. I'm glad I went.

They had the usual regular crowd including Amy and Doug along with Elizabeth and Natalie. Tom and Diane were there but that's another story. Eric and Amy with little Ivy. Val came and she brought a friend Pete who was a close friend of Bobby's who didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. Doug and Amy's son Joey showed up with his girlfriend with their 3 month old baby girl. They just stayed for about an hour. And Katie, Todd, Henry, Clara and Violet were there too.

Donna had a wonderful dessert spread that included one of Becky's pumpkin pies. There was an amazing amount of Donna's cookies and lots of other pies too. It was a typical Gasper Special kind of night.

Sick Sick Sick

I got really sick this week. Mostly for a day and a half. On Monday late evening I felt a little off. It had been a beautiful day. Sunny but cold and I worked hard in the backyard. Monday night in bed I felt dizzy and had an upset stomach. I had some kind of bug.

Tuesday morning I woke up and threw up. I felt awful and the room was sometimes spinning frantically. I spent all day in bed. I did get up for about 20 minutes in the afternoon and ate a couple of crackers along with a cup of tea. That was it and then back to bed.

I slept for about 33 hours. The real issue was that Katie and the kids were coming for the Thanksgiving holiday and I was sick. They were driving to Syracuse on Tuesday. They left in the afternoon after school and planed to stay overnight at a motel in Syracuse and then driving to Buffalo on Wednesday morning arriving at our house around lunch. When Katie found out how sick I was they scrambled for an alternative place to stay. We weren't sure how that was going to work out because of the holidays. It turned out that they were able to book a large suite room at the hotel downtown where Dick and Iris have their apartment up on the 14th floor. 

So they spent time with Dick and Iris instead of us for the first couple of days. It took me awhile but I started feeling better. We still were very worried about having the kids over with active germs in the house so it was better for them to be downtown.

I plan to rest and sleep a lot today. I am feeling a little better. I'll rest tomorrow morning and then hopefully I'll feed better enough to go over to Dave and Donna's for Thanksgiving dinner. Then we can make some plans for the rest of the holiday weekend.

Katie and the kids are planning to drive back to Philly on Sunday but unfortunately the weather is calling for some snow. It may be a tough drive for Todd.

Happy Birthday Clara

Today is our granddaughter Clara's 7th birthday. Celebrating this little girl's birthday will happen over several days. She already had a party at school before they left for the long holiday weekend. Today she will have a little celebration with her other grandparents downtown at their apartment. We will celebrate her party on Saturday along with Dick and Iris again. Looking forward to it. I've been sick this week so hopefully I'll be feeling much better.

Lizzie & Louie

We got a text message from Lizzie earlier this week telling us the she and Lewie  (and Asiago) were driving to Cleveland on Sunday and passing through Buffalo in the early evening. They wanted to stop by and see us. They were also planning to stop at Sean and Ashley's earlier in the day too. They were traveling from Providence, Rhode Island.

They arrived at our house today at about 5:30 pm. We had some pizza for them but they were not hungry. They ate a lot at Sean's house where they spent two hours around lunch time. They had lots of leftovers from Autumns birthday party yesterday.

We had a great time with Lizzie and Lewie. They stayed and hung out for about two hours. The dog really liked being at our house but probably mostly was just happy to get out of the car. They still had three more hours of driving to get from Buffalo to Cleveland. They left our house around 7:30 which means they would be getting to Lewie's mom's house around 10:30 pm.

We did watch the second half of the Eagles-Cowboys game. When we turned it on at halftime the Eagles were ahead 21-0. Then they lost the game 24-21 in the 2nd half. The kids were upset.

I gave Lizzie some documents concerning her father I recently found in the box of "stuff" on the 3rd floor. Some of the docs were medical info about her father's aneurysm and MH from 1988. Much of it was highly technical and she loved it being the medical person she is. Lewie also brought me a 4 pack of some interesting beers local to the Providence area. I'll have them sometime over the holidays.

We hadn't seen these two in several years. Lizzie had not been in Buffalo since Sean's wedding and Lewie had never been here before.

Grandmother!

This evening we were on the phone having a video chat with Sean and the kids. Andrew was happy to see us as usual. Autumn was in the bathtub getting her bath and smiling at the phone camera as usual. She was all tired out from her 2 year old birthday party at the daycare center today.

While she was in the tub and smiling at us I asked her her name and she said "Autumn" and then I asked her my name and she said "poppa". I pointed to Becky and said what's her name. She smiled and said "grandmother" clear as a bell. All the other grandkids call Becky "grammie" but not this little girl. A couple of weeks ago when they were visiting us I asked Autumn what was my name and she said "my poppa". So cute.

Yesterday Ashely sent us to photo of Autumn. She is turning 2.

Another Bad Bills Game

Bills lost another bad game last night.  Buffalo 19 Houston 23. Too many interceptions, fumbles, fouls and Allen was sacked 8 times. Yikes. I watched the first half and then went to bed. I'd had enough and they certainly aren't worth losing any sleep. I checked on the score a couple of times while laying in bed and there was nothing happening that made me think I was missing anything. They were losing at halftime 20-16 but only scored one field goal in the second half while the Texans also only scored one field goal in the second half. Sounds like a really boring second half.

It doesn't look like the Bills will be getting into the playoffs this year.

Book Shopping, a Party & JT's

Becky and I went out a little after 4:30 pm for an evening of to do a little shopping at the Talking Leaves bookstore for the kids. Becky had already got a few things at Target earlier in the week. We always enjoy browsing through Talking Leaves and especially at the kids books. We got three books for Autumn and Andrew.

We had parked on Bidwell Pky because we were also planning to go down to JT's for dinner after shopping at the bookstore. After dinner we planned to go down to an art gallery on Main Street for an art opening.

When we finished shopping we walked back to the car to drop off the books and I remembered that tonight was the retirement party for Trish K. The party was at McGarrett's on Elmwood, the old No Names, across the street from the bookstore which reminded me as we walked by. I forget which date was the party and hadn't thought about it all week. So we stopped in to say hi. Eileen greeted us at the door along with Trish. The party was running from 5 to 8 pm. We hung out there for about a half hour. Then we walked down the street to JT's. It was nice talking with Eileen and we made plans to get together in a couple of weeks.

We sat at a table in the window overlooking Elmwood Ave and enjoyed another wonderful dinner. I had the Rigatoni Bolognese and Becky had the Chicken Milanese. Great food as always and we had some leftovers too. I had a glass of a Tuscan Blend which I usually have there. We took our time and spent over an hour at the table.

Then we headed downtown to the art gallery at Summer and Main to see the Bill Maggio show.

We got down there around 7 pm and discovered a large construction site on the street in front of the gallery. We couldn't find a place to park. It was really crazy down there. We drove around the block looking for a parking spot and still couldn't find any. There were guys working and cones everywhere along the street near the gallery and taking up dozens of parking spaces all up and down the street. Very weird. We finally gave up and drove home.

Then it was time to watch the Bills game on TV. 

Mycenae 1972

While going through some boxes of "stuff" on the 3rd floor I came across a photo album of pictures taken during my six month Navy Med cruise in 1972. 

You can see in the photo how the XO doing my evaluation came up with "Petty Officer Emery has a tendency to be lax about the need for a haircut and trimming of his beard".

This was also a time when sailors were recently allowed to leave the ship to go on liberty in a foreign port not wearing our uniforms. We were actually allowed to keep some civilian clothes on board the ship although there was not very much room to store them.

We spent a lot of time during that cruise conducting NATO exercises around Greece and Turkey. In June of that year we spent two weeks on an extended liberty call in Athens, Greece. Actually we were tied up to a pier in Piraeus which is the seaport for Athens and takes about 20 minutes to get there. We spent a lot of time in Athens itself but also took bus trips to the many tourist sites in the region. One of them was to Mycenae which was about an hour and a half bus ride.

Mycenae was an amazing place and worth the trip. I took a lot of pictures that day especially when we were going across the Isthmus of Corinth which was spectacular. 

Another amazing trip was to the site of the ancient Battle of Marathon which was about an hour north of Athens. 

We made several liberty calls in Greece and Crete during that six month cruise.

Thinking About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and this is a nice meme to get someone to think about the meaning of this holiday. How it started. What it means. 

Betsy & Rita Polaroid

This is a Polaroid picture two of my sisters, Betsy and Rita, that I found the other day in that box of "stuff" on the third floor I've been going through. The group of photos were from the early 1980's and I think this may have been taken in 1984 when they were visiting us after the birth of Katie. I certainly recognized our apartment on Putnam. 

It's a very nice photo and they both look great. I posted it on Facebook and got lots of notices from their friends. Mine too. 

97 Bags

We had another banner year for black walnuts falling into our backyard along with the leaves. Last year I filled 74 bags of nuts and leaves and that was the record. This year when the leaves and nuts had all dropped from the black walnut trees in the backyard I had a new record of 86 bags.

Then something weird happened. The catalpa tree next door usually drops a lot of big leaves and seed pods over a long period of time that goes from the early fall into the winter. Then more in the spring along with those little flowers. This year all of the leaves and pods dropped almost all at once over about a week. That happened just after I finished with the walnuts. I don't usually fill any bags with catalpa droppings. I usually just clean up a little bit here and there and toss the debris into the trash containers. This time I had to pack the leaves and pods into 11 bags for trash removal.

That makes for a grand total of 97 bags of yard debris this year. A really big new record. The photo here is the last of the bags.

Becky and I were talking about all these bags and we decided that next year we will do something a little different with the bags. We'll get some paper yard bags and try them again. The last time I tried them the black walnuts caused the bags to tear apart and spill debris out. Maybe I can try again. 

There are also large eco-friendly plastic bags which are available and we will try them next year. No more of those regular green trash bags. Some of them were tearing this year too. Time for something different.

Bills Win Entertaining Game... Barely

The Buffalo Bills won a very entertaining game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday 44-32. The lead changed nine times throughout the game and up until near the end of the 4th quarter it was anybody's game. Josh Allen played a great game although there were too many interceptions, fumbles and fouls again. Fortunately the offense was on it... well except the running game was not very good.

Allen was also the only quarterback in NFL history with 3 passing TDs and 3 rushing TDs in a single game. He did it for the second time today.

This win keeps the Bills on track to getting into the playoffs.

Jurassic World Rebirth

Jurassic World Rebirth, 2025. I was browsing our streaming services looking for something to watch after getting burned by that mockbuster Alien Rubicon. I was still in the mood for some Sci-Fi and came across the Jurassic Park franchise film from earlier this year. 

Apparently this is a standalone sequel to Jurassic World Dominion from 2022 which I don't think I saw and is the fourth installment in that series. It is the seventh overall film in the Jurassic Park series.

Overall I was disappointed in this movie. Sure, there was plenty of action and lots of dangerous dinosaurs but the overall story was kind of boring except for the fact that the real villain of the film is Big Pharma. The acting wasn't bad but not very inspiring. I watched this movie in three segments. I just couldn't sit through the whole thing at once.

I guess I should stay away from blockbusters and their many sequels.

Paul McCartney in Town

Paul McCartney was in Buffalo this week and played to a sold out crowd at the Key Bank Arena. Most people there saw him from the TV screen. The tickets on the floor near the stage went for over $4,000 and all of the tickets on the floor were over a thousand dollars each. The cheap seats up high in the balcony sold for just under $500 each. From videos I saw of the show it looked like everyone in the building was recording McCartney on their phones and I saw many of the posted videos online. It was most the crowd or the tv screen and a tiny figure on the stage. People I knew who went to the concert and posted their videos were way up in the upper deck nose bleed sections looking down on the tiny little guy on the stage. They say it sounded good.

It was supposed to be a good concert according to the people who spent that much money to see the 83 year old ex-Beatle but damn... I'd much rather listen to the albums with the sound turned up.

Someone would need to give me the ticket price cash for me to put up with that crazy shit between all of the people and the craziness of an arena concert. All of my life I have loved going to see live music but I haven't been to an arena concert since 1976. You can't pay me enough to put up with that. I'd much rather see an up and coming band in a small club or theater type setting than the big arenas or stadiums. 

Burger & Beans

This evening we had a couple of delicious hamburgers from Dash's. They are always great. Toasted the rolls too. Becky made a salad but we didn't have any potatoes around for making home fries. So instead I went downstairs and got a can of Bush baked beans from the shelf. It's been a long time since I enjoyed any baked beans. They were always one of my favorite foods when I was growing up and for many years later. Just not lately.

The great burger and some nice baked beans made for a very nice cold day dinner.

Ranting of a Lunatic

It's so funny to see the way he sees himself. Pathetic too. As he says... the ranting of a lunatic. Every day he spouts out lies and bullshit.

Deer in the Backyard

This morning I was shocked and surprised to look out the kitchen window and see a large beautiful deer in our backyard. By the time I grabbed my phone and took this picture he had turned and ran to the back fence, jumped it and took off through our neighbors yard. This happens occasionally but not recently. 

It's been a few years since the last deer came through our yard, jumped the fence and ran out between the houses and then down Crescent Avenue. We occasionally get turkeys in our yard too.

I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture because initially that deer was looking right at me in the window but I was fumbling with my phone trying to get the camera ready. Oh, well. At least a got a picture even though it could have been much better.

Hunt Art Gallery Reception

Tonight we had a very nice time talking with lots of people at an art opening at the Hunt Gallery across the street from the downtown main library with a couple of friends showing their work. Both of them, Kathy and Cathy, had amazing works of art on display and there was a nice crowd.

We got downtown around 5:30 and it was hard to find a parking space. Even though it was early on a Friday night there were a lot of people downtown probably getting something to eat before a show. Paul McCartney was performing tonight and there was Wicked playing at Shea's down the street. A lot going on. 

We went to dinner nearby at the Streetlight Brasserie Restaurant and then walked over to the gallery around 6:30. 

The art show at Hunt was packed. We could hardly move around. We had conversations with many friends and met some new people too. It was so crowded I luckily found a spot at the bar sitting next to Gary and we talked for awhile. Also people kept coming over to us or mostly I should say him but we had lots more conversations and I at least was comfortable. Becky was talking with lots of people throughout the gallery and eventually came by and we shared the seat at the bar. 

There were a couple of other art openings tonight but we were shot and heading home around 8 pm. We had a great night.

Dinner @ Streetlight Brasserie

Becky and I had a wonderful dinner at a very nice downtown restaurant. We had walked by this place many times and always thought it would be a good place to check out. Finally we did... at Becky's insistence. I was ready to head over to Tappo. Anyway, we were glad we went here. The restaurant was very cool and a lot was going on. Lots of young people and older folks too. It was a happening place and we were very lucky to get a table. By 6 pm there were none.

The service was very good and I would say almost one of the best we've seen in ages. I had their Caesar Salad with Chicken. It was wonderful. Becky had a Fried Chicken Sandwich done Buffalo Style. It was delicious. She gave me some to try out. The waiter said we might want some French Fries with our order and he was right. The fries were great and we were very happy he suggested them.

I also had one of my favorite draft beers... Flower Power IPA from Ithaca Beer Co. Becky had a Peroni NA.

Then we walked a couple of blocks to the Hunt Gallery for an art opening and lots of conversations with friends which I wrote about here.

Highways Are Happy Ways

Highways Are Happy Ways. Found some old sheet music in that box of “stuff” that I was going through the other day. I was using this music 63 years ago while a member of the Uptown String Band. I had joined the band that previous summer and in November 1962 I was preparing for my first Philadelphia New Years Mummers Parade march down Broad Street. I played clarinet back then but would switch to tenor sax a couple of years later. Yep, I wore a lot of feathers too.

Complicated - Songs 1995 FV

Complicated. The party rages on is the last song of this mix but it very well could have been the first one. This is the tone and the sound is all over the place. 

Songs from albums in my collection released in 1995.

Poi Dog Pondering in the pic.

Complicated - Songs 1995 FV

1. Complicated - Poi Dog Pondering
2. If You Leave Me - Laura Love
3. First Cool Hive - Moby
4. Oxbow Lakes - The Orb
5. Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
6. I Turned Out A Punk - Big Audio Dynamite
7. I Saw The Light - The The
8. Super Dub Narcotic - Dub Narcotic Sound System
9. The Heads of Dead Surfers - Long Fin Killie
10. Kiss and Tell - G. Love & Special Sauce
11. Last Chance To Dance Trance (Perhaps) - Medeski, Martin & Wood
12. Close To You - Brand New Heavies
13. How Long - Soul II Soul
14. Life Love and Unity - Dreadzone
15. Radiation Ruling The Nation (Protection) - Massive Attack Vs. Mad Professor
16. Laser Printer Workshop - Flowchart
17. Stargazer - Siouxsie & The Banshees
18. My Iron Lung - Radiohead
19. Libbyland -  Wondermints
20. The Party Rages On - Zumpano

The Verdict of History

The Verdict of History: Trump and his fascist glorification.

Written by Robert Reich 

Trump has ordered the U.S. Treasury to draft a $1 coin featuring him on both sides, for the purpose of “honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS,” according to Treasury officials.

Meanwhile, Trump wants the Washington Commanders to name their planned $3.7 billion stadium after him. A senior White House source told ESPN: “It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen.” Presumably, Trump’s name will be carved into a granite facade at the stadium’s entrance.

The giant $300 million ballroom that Trump is adding to the White House is called “the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom” on the list of donors to the project, and senior administration officials say the name is likely to stick.

Trump is moving to immortalize himself with his name etched into coins, carved into pediments, and inscribed into White House marble. He wants to glorify himself in the most permanent ways possible.

This is what fascist dictators do when in power. Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini built monuments to glorify themselves so they’d be exalted in history.

Democracies don’t do this. They memorialize their heroes only after they’ve died, and only if the public wants them commemorated.

Trump deserves to be remembered — but not as a hero. To the contrary: It is our solemn duty to ensure he is remembered for all that he has done and may still do to destroy American democracy.

He must be remembered as the president who claimed without evidence that an election was “stolen” from him. Who then instigated a coup that included false electors, threats to state officials, and an assault on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five deaths and injuries to 174 police officers.

He should be remembered as the president who, after being reelected, tried to erase the nation’s memory of what he had done by pardoning 1,600 rioters who had been criminally convicted for participating in the Capitol attack and 77 people who had conspired with him to carry out the attempted coup. He called them all “patriots.”

He must be remembered as the president who then usurped the powers of Congress. Who denied people due process of law. Who prosecuted his political opponents. Who violated international law by killing people he labeled enemy combatants. Who sent the military into American cities over the objections of their mayors and governors. And who openly and brazenly took bribes.

We must not allow Trump to erase this history with false tributes to himself, etched into silver, marble, or granite.

Instead, after he is gone, a monument should be erected to remind future generations of Trump’s treachery and the treachery of officials who supported him.

It would be a simple building constructed of iron and cement, containing the records of his attacks on democracy and the names of everyone who aided him.

Over its doorway would be the words “Trump’s Treason.”

It would be situated on the White House lawn where the Trump ballroom (since demolished) once stood. It would face Pennsylvania Avenue so that families visiting the nation’s capital — including those commemorating America’s 500th anniversary — have easy access, and will long remember this catastrophe.

Alien Rubicon - 1 Star Bad

Alien Rubicon, 2024. Well, this was a terrible movie and one of the worse I've ever seen. I was looking around for a science fiction film to watch the other day and came across this one on Prime. I thought it was one of the Alien franchise movies and boy was I wrong.

I later saw that this is one of what they call a mockbuster which means it is a cheap imitation of some iconic blockbuster movie that was cheaply made to trick people. I got tricked.

I'm amazed I watched the whole thing and part of that was because it was so bad. Horrible acting, cheap production values, stupid plot, etc. Later I got a good laugh looking at the viewer reviews on IMBd. None were good and many were very entertaining in their criticism. Most of the reviews I saw were 1 star. Overall the average for the movie was 2.4 stars out of 10.

Oh well, I'll try again later with another science fiction movie.

Line Up - Songs 1995 FV

Line Up. Indie rock songs from albums in my collection released in 1995.  Back to some hard indie rock too.

Elastica in the pic. 

Line Up - Songs 1995 FV

1. Line Up - Elastica
2. You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette
3. Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak
4. Feeling Holy - The Charlatans U.K.
5. Toes Across The Floor - Blind Melon
6. St. Elmo's Fire - Portastic
7. Fade Away - Blur
8. Vex - Seefeel
9. Milk (Massive Attack Classic Mix) - Garbage
10. Fall From Grace - Siouxsie & The Banshees
11. So It Goes - The Verve
12. Stanley Road - Paul Weller
13. I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud - Julian Cope
14. Sugarcoated - Aimee Mann
15. Aeroplane - Red Hot Chili Peppers
16. This Here Giraffe - The Flaming Lips
17. Little Trouble Girl - Sonic Youth
18. A Proper Cup Of Tea - Anton Barbeau
19. Summer - Buffalo Tom
20. Hypnotised - Simple Minds
21. I Spy - Pulp
22. Now They'll Sleep - Belly

Chicken & Rice Dinner

A nice dinner tonight with chicken cutlets with a delicious Asian sauce along with rice and tasty veggies. Becky really out did herself this time. So good.

Does Not Plan To Re-Enlist

According to the Reenlistment Interview document he "does not plan to reenlist" and wants to get a three month early out to start college in the upcoming spring semester. I ended up taking one class at the Montgomery County Community College that enabled me to get out in December instead of February. Then I actually really started college full time at Temple University in the following Fall semester.

I found a few old Navy documents in that box of old "stuff" on the third floor recently and they also included several performance evaluations. We had those official evaluations every six months and they went into your record file. When i got out in December 1973 they gave me a package of those files and into a box they went for the next several decades.