Radio, Radio

In a very weird turn of events, I was interviewed on the classic rock station in Buffalo yesterday morning about my little biz!

I send a large percentage of my orders overseas, and I've been tucking stuff from Buffalo, NY (my sunny - at least today! - hometown). I really do love this town, it's a great place to live and an excellent place to raise a family. And with 5 kids and 3 grandkids, I've done my part!

I've been wrapping my product in the sunday paper, putting stationary in the boxes that have the Buffalo logo, that sort of thing. And I've gotten some cool reactions from my customers. One of my best customers in Norway read the sunday paper bits with his wife over dinner. And although they obviously don't know any of the local scene, they got quite a kick out of it.

So, I called the chamber of commerce to see if they had any promotional stuff I could put in the boxes. After getting transferred around, I finally got a guy who, although enthusiastic, never followed through.

Got me to thinking. One of the biggest Buffalo promoters in this town is Larry Norton on 97 Rock.

Larry has had a long and successful career here and is really active in charity and community events. So I dropped him and email to tell him what I've been up to. He called me back in 10 minutes after I sent it and set up an interview. So I was on the radio yesterday morning!

I was sooo nervous, I think it came out ok, I haven't heard anything back from the Norton in the Morning team yet.

Last night I said to Patti a couple times 'holy shit, I was on the radio this morning'.

What a strange/cool adventure this biz has been!

Thanks to everyone at 97 Rock - very,very cool.

I'm gonna listen to 'Physical Graffiti' today in your honor!

m.

Danish Modern part 1

I didn't know much about Danish Modern style of furniture, I've subsequently done some research on it and there are some very cool pieces out there.

Our adventure started with the dining room set, we picked up an entire set of dining room furniture from an estate sale at a consignment shop. We also found a sofa, chair, end tables and a coffee table from the same sale and got them too!!!

Here is the table - it expands out to 106" so we'll finally be able to seat everyone together!!!!
(we had 10 at Saturday breakfast this week - no problems fitting everyone!)

We also got a credenza/china cabinet combo that we placed along one wall, and a server that we temporarily put in front of the doors to our porch. I did some research on this line of furniture and if the server had a black top (ours does) it was originally sold as a 'bar cart' - whoohoooo!

I've also thrown in a pic of our dining room 'built in'. Our house was built in 1917 and is kinda (but not truly) Arts and Crafts - that stained glass window has been featured in an 'architecture walk' in the city.

I haven't taken any pics of the living room stuff yet, I'll post those soon!

What do you think?
m.

Patriarch (!?)

Patti surprised me over the weekend by referring to me as a 'patriarch'.

Conjures up some weird, Norman Rockwellian stuff for me.

We were setting up our new dining room furniture. Which is new/old. We picked it up second hand from a furniture consignment place and we got a complete dining room and living room set, all in Danish Modern style.

And when we were talking about where I should sit, Patti mentioned as the patriarch I should sit at the head of the table. Mostly, I just want to be near to the kitchen as I'm always serving/getting something during a meal. I don't think I've eaten a hot meal I've cooked in years! (The cooks out there understand - I just worry about serving everyone else first)

Patti and I both come from 'broken' homes. Both our folks divorced/remarried, my grandparents divorced/remarried. You need a legal pad to track all the kids/stepkids etc.

The thing I struggle with is the 'old' connotation to patriarch. I really have no problem with that mantle and I suppose it is true, Patti and I have become the patriarch and matriarch of a very close, loving family. I don't know how we did it, we certainly didn't have good examples of what a good marriage/family looks like. It seems miraculous to me, like some happy accident. But we did work hard at being good parents, we always took it seriously. It's strange the way life works sometimes.

And I don't mind that I'm 48 now, being older doesn't really bother me. But when I picture patriarch in my head, it resembles and old amish guy at the head of a great table, ya know?

Oh, I did get a pic of band practice! Here's yours truly....


I was going to put fester's pic on top of mine, but that would be redundant!!!
m.

cool stuff

Well, I got through the 'gig' (stupid word really, never got used to it in all my years of playing). I ended up playing on 4 songs and as always, some sounded better than others.

I was hoping to have pics to post but they didn't come in yet, I'll share them when I get them.

It was a corporate awards event, followed by an open bar and the 'entertainment'. There were 500 people in attendance and after the awards were handed out people flocked to the bar. But mostly, people had their one drink and booked. Not that I blame them, it was a Wednesday night (a school night as Patti and I say).

So after about a half a set, it was pretty thin out there. But that's cool. Had a couple vodka tonics, played a little loud guitar. Not a bad night out...

On the home front, we've been looking for a larger dining room table. I have a big old house and the way things are going with the family, we are THE house for big occasions like Easter, Christmas, etc. We also have a weekly family breakfast thing going.

The breakfast thing has a cool genesis. Patti and I had a weekly date on Saturday mornings for breakfast. Now that the kids are gone, (well, one still in Pharmacy school, but she'll be back), we would go to a local diner joint. Good food, small, only 10 tables or so. Well, the kids started to join us at the restaurant, my daughter, the grand kids, my son and his fiance, my dad when he was up visiting from Florida. We overrun the place, took up a bunch of tables, and breakfast was running up to $50 - 60 per Saturday. No way could we continue that with a kid in pharmacy school! So we moved it 'in-house.'

We have had 12 people on some weeks. And it's cool, people show, they don't show, whatever. I try to gourmet it up a bit, I've made a couple of good casseroles, quiches, anything goes.
Anyhow, our table seats 10 ok, a bit tight.

So we decided to go out and get a bigger table, the dining room is big enough to accommodate it. So we looked at the chain furniture stores and we did find a couple sets we liked, and even came close to buying one. Then we stopped at a consignment place. We didn't find anything, but the owner mentioned he had a dining room set of Danish Modern furniture coming in the next day. So we stopped by. It is soooo cool. I didn't know much about Danish Modern, but it is very, very cool. The set included a china cabinet, server, buffet, table w/6 chairs (gotta get more), and another piece that is like a credenza. It was in excellent condition and all of the pieces included were hundreds less than we were going to spend on the table and chairs!!!! So we got it!!!

As we were leaving, they pointed out a living room set (from the same estate sale), with an 8ft (!) couch, chair, two end tables and a coffee table. All from the same manufacturer, all the same style. We got that too!!! The total cost of the living room and dining room sets was about the same as just the new tables and chairs. And totally cooler than anything we could buy at the chain stores, and better made into the bargain.

They are delivering all of this tonight!!!!

Cool stuff, I'll try to post some pics!
m.

back in the saddle

I've been playing guitar since I was 10 years old. I got started taking lessons from one of the guys in our Catholic church's folk group. I went on to be in that folk group for many years, until it was no longer 'cool' to be in a folk group.

I didn't play a lot during high school, I was a swim jock and played a lot of sports and of course, discovered girls(!).

I took it back up again senior year again and it's been a part of my life ever since. I played in a punk/new wave band in the late seventies/early eighties and had a bit of success. I think I've played every shit bar in Buffalo, NY anyhow. Played NYC, Toronto, Rochester, made a 'demo' tape, shopped it around. But seeing as how I'm a programmer, you can see that was pretty much as far as I got.

I played in several other bands since and played for many years in a worship band at church. This was a pretty rockin' version drums, guitars etc and was a lot of fun.

I developed an auto immune disorder that has rendered my hands and legs numb, and it makes it a lot harder to play now. I don't play much anymore.

We have a work thing (an awards banquet type deal) that is at the Convention Center and a guy I work with has a cover band that is playing the gig. So I'm going to sit in on a couple tunes tonight.

Last night was rehearsal, and once I got the rust off, I had a really good time. It was nice to play again with a full-on band. My hands are still a problem but I can push through on muscle memory ok...

So I'm back!! Weird how life works!
m.

an original voice

Patti and I watched quite a bit of Neil Young's concert film 'Neil Young:Heart of Gold' last night.

That guy is the real deal. In the seventies, I was not a fan. I just couldn't get by the vocal style in general, and the general noisiness of the electric stuff. I never got into any of the folky artists that came out of the seventies. I was never a Dylan or Joni Mitchell fan. Patti, however, was a HUGE fan right from the start.

I remember seeing him on that MTV Music Award show with Pearl Jam and he was just sooo cool. He definitely has the cool vibe going. Over the last few years we've picked up a large chunk of his catalog and I really have become a fan.

He does a bunch of stuff from the old days in the film, some of it with just him, a harmonica and a guitar. And he sounds as good as the day he recorded the originals 30 some years ago. He's 63 years old now and is still writing and recording.

So many of the 60's and 70's artists are either faded into obscurity or just do reunion tours. They don't record and haven't stayed viable. I give the Stones props for at least recording new music and then touring. The Who, who I think peaked with Quadrophenia, haven't done anything in years and still roll out and tour.

Love him or hate him, Neil Young is still the artist Neil Young, and that's a rare thing after 40 years of the music biz....
m.

spring is in the air

And young men's thought turn to...

Yeah, springtime in Buffalo. It's a calendar thing, not a reality thing. Spring here is a bit of a tease. We'll get a good day here and again, maybe reach into the 40's but it's pretty much a couple weeks more of winter. We still have dirty piles of snow everywhere, the streets are fine and all, but there is still plenty of snow all over.

But you really can't tell if you're out in the world.

Everyone is getting a bit antsy. You'll see people out in shorts when it's 45. Because everyone WANTS it to be spring so bad. I saw one of my neighbors shoveling in a pair of shorts this weekend. Yes, it was 48, but I wouldn't let my bald head out there without a hat, let alone my legs.

Spring just makes people goofy. Maybe it's one of those hormonal things, I don't know. But I feel it. Just a vague sense of anticipation (?), mixed with a bit of perked libido, and a taste for grilled food. Does that make sense? I get a bit weird around September too, I think that's a hold over from going to school. And when you're a parent, you deal with the whole 'back to school' thing for a good chunk of your adult life. There is that sense of change like something new is coming.

so happy vernalequinoxanticipitorysexburger to all of you out there!
m.