I'm down for a road trip to anywhere in the USA or border region of Canada. A Ray's Kernfield re-union would be awsome in the fall, but I'm down for another trip too if it's not to far in the future.
Have a couple partners, a singer, and another woman who's got connections. We have a lot to do but we plan to be touring by next spring. So I pulled my Roland drum set out of the closet and set it up. This is the first time I've played in about 10 years.
Here's another shot from the wind farm, looking up the inside of a stanchion. The blue cable is a loop that is used to haul tools and stuff up. The other is for the safety harness.
Let me get the big one out of the way: I filed for divorce a couple weeks ago. No, it's a good thing, we both agree on, and we're handling it with a "no fangs" approach. Trying to set a good example for the kid - that you handle conflict peacefully, and that we're not breaking up the family, just the marriage.
I had been pretty depressed for a couple of years, isolating myself in front of various screens. My entire social life was spent on IRC bullshitting with people I know in SoCal. Then, about 6 months ago when it became clear that the split was imminent, I had a scary vision: sitting alone in an apartment with a vaporizor and a bottle of Jameson, playing GTA every night. I decided "fuck that" and shouted out to a local subreddit, asking where the best dives in town were. Next thing I knew, I was organizing events at meetup.com. Our group's motto is "Use the Internet to get off the Internet!"
Here's a shot from a road trip we did to the PSE wind farm, about 130 miles East of me.
Other than that, just keeping my head above water, trying to stay one step ahead of a smart-ass thirteen year old!
I just did another look and he's nowhere. It's amazing to think you can't find someone online these days. I even found "Burger" Joe Mielko on Facebook. He hasn't responded to me yet, but I found him. (He was camera 2 for the Brooklyn Army Terminal party.)
Nope. Sometime around 2003 I called the company he used to work for. They said he'd left just months earlier, and they didn't know how to reach him. I hope he's ok.
Last time I saw him was on the street in NYC, maybe 1991 or so. He asked if he could borrow money. I gave him a $50 I happened to have in my wallet (I usually don't carry large bills, so it was weird) and handed it to him and said "Keep it. To be honest, I don't expect to see this money again. If you pay me back, fine, but don't worry about it. Just stay safe." I wish now that I'd offered him a place, or gave him my phone number.
This has been around a while, but since Dark Side binds all us Parkies together in some way or another I thought it deserved a post. It's 'performed' on a Nintendo Entertainment System.
Check out how parts of On The Run sound very close to the original tones. It's funny, but in many ways the NES' synthesizer is more sophisticated than the gear they used to make the album.
Thanks for all the good vibes, Parkies. There have been two gas explosions on the street where my school is and I am considering giving up smoking...cigarettes, that is :D
Following what's going on over there ... blown away. Nuclear reactors blowing up. Towns disappearing. Thousands dead. Unreal. Glad you're still with us, Dave.
Hey Martin. I thought I had gotten used to the quakes in Japan, but this was a whopper! I was on the fifth floor of a fairly old building and that sucker shook like a strippers ass for at least three minutes! It felt like a whole lot longer. The next shock came about ten minutes later, it was a 7.2, and that got us scurrying out of the building. We all jumped in my van and watched the building sway for the next half an hour or so.
I live in the mountains so there wasn't any worry about floods. We had a few rock slides, but for the most part the city fared well.
Aftershocks were pretty strong...still are, but whiskey makes sleep possible ;)
I ain't too sure if they are gonna let us back into the building....It's slated for demolition in a year and this might just have moved the date up a couple of months.
Hey Hair-Bear.
Congratulations on surviving that! Ive felt a 7 so I can only imagine what that 9 was like. Then the floods....
Did the shaking cause the most damage or the floods where you live? How long did the initial shaking last? I know those aftershocks make it hard to sleep, no?
Take care, Martin
Hi guys.
I am OK. Scariest thing I've ever experienced!! I live about 150 miles from the city they probably showed on the news. We had no power water or telephone lines even the internet was down so I had no way to get in touch with folks. The city is pretty banged up and there are over 200 people dead. I am really lucky I am not one of them!
thanks for your concern,
I don't know if you all have heard about the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan this morning. Crazy damage. The largest one over there in 140 years.
My 10-year old daughter Ivy still believes, I think. However...
In the car on the way to their cousin's house last week we were listening to the How Christmas Works episode of the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast from HowStuffWorks.com (excellent podcast, BTW) when they came to the point about the history of Santa. They said that he originally came from Turkey, was worshiped by Italian sailors, who then took his bones and brought him to Italy and placed him in the alter of The Grandmother, worshiped for her gift giving during the winter solstice, essentially kicking her out of that alter and giving Nick her history. The podcast show hosts then commented that "there is no magic" with Santa.
Ivy nearly jumped out of her car seat and said "There is no Santa?!?" Her older sister Miette and I both said "No, no, no, there is a Santa Claus. Those guys were just joking around" as I shut the player off. There was about three minutes of silence while she processed. I wasn't sure if I'd just spoiled her innocence on the subject, and whether or not I'd catch serious hell from my ex.
Three days later, while at my parent's house on Christmas Eve, we were visited by one of Santa's Helpers, who handed out gifts to all the kids there. Later that night, as Ivy was getting in bed, she asked me if Santa was still coming later that night. I told her that he had already come and gave her a present. She said "No... I mean SANTA, not that guy in the suit from down the street."
So, I'm not sure if she still believes, or is going along with the program. If the day does come that she asks me the definitive yes or no question, I'll go with the following: Yes, he did in fact once exist a very long time ago, but his tale was a different one than the way he is now portrayed in the Christmas cartoons you watch on TV. His memory, and acts of giving and kindness are still celebrated today with each child's parents "helping" Santa continue his tradition.
My 9 year old daughter recently pinned me to the wall about Santa. I regret feeding her the myth, and the moment of truth had arrived. Some kids at school told her he was not real and she wanted answers.
I tried to hedge, by answering with questions like, "Well do you think he's real?", but she said, "Dad! It's a yes or no question!", while doing the karate chop to the open palm gesture.
So finally I admitted that he wasn't real and that it was a tradition etc.
This didn't go over too well. "Then why did I spend all that time writing those letters to him!? AND WHO ATE THE COOKIE AND DRANK THE MILK!???"
She cried for a few minutes. It broke my heart. She was so mad at me she wouldn't let me console her. Then she went into denial for a few days, but I think she's OK now.
It sucked. I'm telling you right now, my wife is going to be the one to deal with the tooth fairy.
The... uh, deal, is that's a favorite Floyd tune, from the album just before Waters' ego exploded from the success of Dark Side. They still sounded like a band that collaborated. :)
Plus, I was intrigued by the smiling young lady who appears at various ages in the montage. I get the feeling the mash was done for her, by a loved one. It appears to be clips/stills from the family album. It made me think of my own daughter's future, in a heartwarming way.
Michael Anatole sent a message to the members of Brooklyn Technical High School - Class of 1981.
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Subject: Dwayne Black
Message from Dawn Copney Joyner:
It is with deep sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of our friend and former classmate, Dwayne Black. Dwayne passed away yesterday, Thursday, October 8 after an almost 8 month formidable fight with stomach cancer. Please keep his wife, Thomasina L. Clavizzao and family in your prayers. You can post something directly on her wall or if you are not friends with her you can make a comment to her under my post. If you would like to send your condolences via mail, her address is P.O. 1572, Lake City, SC 29560. I will let you get back to you with details about funeral arrangements once they are finalized for those of you who can make it. ~Dawn Copney Joyner
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Hi all. Well Hot Tuna was great, But their setlist was not what i was hoping for, didnt really play any of their hits as on Final Vinyl, etc...Not going to make it to the Party either, Familys still in Sweden and there not into taking another trip anywhere for a minute. Hopefully that Cruise reunion Ive been hearing about wil happen. Have Fun Rat and take some pics. Later, degenerates.
That is a very cool story. Thanks for sharing. It's especially poignant for those of us that had our own sturm und drang going on at the time and likewise couldn't focus. Hi everybody-
Frederik Pohl, one of the nation's most prominent science fiction writers, attended Brooklyn Tech in the Great Depression but was unable to complete his studies, and left in his senior year. To this day, he identifies himself as "Frederik Pohl, Not Quite '36."
To remove the "not quite," Brooklyn Tech has awarded an Honorary Diploma to Mr. Pohl. It was presented to him by Achilles Perry '58, President of the Alumni Foundation and Jeffrey Haitkin '62, Treasurer, who is a lifelong fan of Mr. Pohl.
Well damn sounds like a blast. Unfortunately we can't make it. We already made plans months ago for that weekend and my kids would riot if I made them sit in the car for eight hours (assuming we don't stop for more than gas). So, have a few on me and take plenty of pictures and upload them here.
Ok....Here's the deal....We own 6 acres in Culpeper VA at the end of a dirt road deep surrounded by farm land. At the end of the road is the Rapidan River...A protected river that originates in the Blue Ridge Mtns. There are around 150 people invited...We'll see how many show. Bring tents or RV's there is plenty of room. Starts Friday night 9/25 and will run through Sun 9/27 with Sat the 26th being the main day. We have our own private pebble beach on the river with an island in the middle that the kids will love to explore.....It has a bamboo forest on it as does the lower 3 acres of our property by the river. There will be horse rides for the more adventurous kids as we have 2...a Belgian Draft Horse and an Appaloosa. Depending on how things go maybe we'll even break out the go-kart for the kids and let them cruise. We will be roasting a pig for dinner sat nite followed up with a fireworks display and bonfire.....to be followed by partying deep into the night after the kids are tucked away....All invited. We'll be providing Pig, corn, taters, beer.....Feel free to bring a dish or beverages of your choice. see ya there.
Hey all
Is this party on? Who else has responded Rat? Sounds great! Is it some land like Kernfield right on the Delaware or something. Bring your own tent. etc... Anyway would be interested in some more details before packing up the whole family which seems like that might be a good Idea if this goes down as I would like and the kids can run around the woods and have bonfires Beautiful country aound them parts.
Mik, Im living in lower Westchester and working in Manhattan. Wife, 2 kids. Kevin, thanks for the invite! Hopefully I can make it. Martin, Im looking forward to that beer where we can all catch up.
I guess you came back at just the right moment Steve. I am coming home on leave 9/5 and the wife and I decided to throw a huge weekend long party. We just recently purchased several river front acres and thought a party was in order. Below is the invitation....ALL are invited. Mik, please pass along to any who are not automatically mailed from the site if you would...Or maybe you can forward me everyones addy as I dont want to post my address and ph # here. . Hope to see you all there.
Dear Friends,
Kevin is coming back from Iraq on leave and it's time to party!!
Bring your tent, your bathing suit, your flashlight and party spirit, 'cause we would Love for you to join us during our
"1st Annual Bunch O' Dix Weekend River Jam".
The festivities will commence Friday night September 25th at 6 PM (or whenever you arrive) with drinks and buffet for those who want to arrive early to get the best camping spots and will continue through
Sunday afternoon September 27th.
Saturday morning will consist of Breakfast and then getting the pig started, followed by a day of swimming in the river, rafting/tubing down the river, volleyball, music and sampling many tasty beverages. For the kids, the river of course….scavenger hunt, a tree house to play in and plenty of exploring on the island in the middle of the river. We expect dinner around 6PM on Saturday once the pig is done roasting. The party will continue deep into the night with a bonfire, fireworks display and many tall tales of adventure around the fire. There is plenty of room to camp or RV either around the house or down by the river. Bring the kids....There will be many, many kids...Bring a covered dish if you'd like, we will be providing Roast Pig corn and taters....or bring a beverage of your choice if you prefer. We will be providing many different types of beers and several stronger beverages for later in the evening once the kids go to sleep. Come one; come all...Let's end the summer with a BLAST!! See you there.
- Thu, Oct 23, 2014, 6:21 P
Frederik Pohl, one of the nation's most prominent science fiction writers, attended Brooklyn Tech in the Great Depression but was unable to complete his studies, and left in his senior year. To this day, he identifies himself as "Frederik Pohl, Not Quite '36."