Monday, July 30, 2007

Thar She Blows!


Sunday evening we drove up to the tip of the Cape, Provincetown, for the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch cruise. This was one of Joreen's dreams come true, to see whales somewhere other than on Animal Planet. These photos are all Joreen's.

You have to be really fast and alert, not only to get the shot but to elbow the other tourists out of the way.

It was the last cruise of the evening and we saw quite a few whales. The naturalist/snack bar operator on the boat gave us a lot of details; ask Mrs. Discovery Channel about them. It was a three hour tour, and very enjoyable.

We've declared today as a Sit On Your @$$ Day, so there may not be much to report. Don't forget that Wednesday is Jerry Garcia's 65th Birthday. Close the blinds and twirl like an idiot; I sure will.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Sunday dinner...


was a pair of New York strip steaks that we brought from home, done on the grill, cole slaw and peas. Mass this morning at St. Francis Xavier, formerly St. Patrick's, where John and Bobby Kennedy served as altar boys back in the day.

Tentative plan to go peep some whales up in Provincetown later, on a three... hour... tour...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The Kellys Have Left The Building

Twizzlers? Check. Pistachios? Check. Bailey's? Check. It's 7:00 a.m. and the Kellys are on the road to Hyannis.

Joreen's always impeccable Internet skills have done it again, and we have the nicest room in all of Cape Cod.

See what I mean?

It's really, really, cool and it has a view from the balcony that looks like this:

We'll be posting throughout the week, hopefully.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Life Is Good


We're getting ready to vacate Saturday, finishing up transcripts, getting groceries together. Hopefully we can post from the road. Meanwhile, check out the GrandBoy. He's always on vacation.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Just Friends July

It's been an eventful week for the Just Friends Band. We played for the Fourth of July party on the veranda of the Hotel Hershey, thanks to whoever put St. Joseph in the window. We waited out the hurricane warning and then played to a spectacular fireworks display. Unfortunately, I have no photos, so just use your imagination. Thanks once again to Mr. Ron Suski and the staff of the Hotel Hershey for their accommodation and assistance. We look forward to this event every year, and hope to see you all there next year.



Friday evening, we played the wedding of Susan Sunchych and Dage Gardner at the Carlisle War College, and a good time was had by all. We were warmly received by the guests and the staff as well.


Noteworthy: This was the premiere of Parker's new gear configuration, playing rhythm guitar in addition to horns and percussion. Two necks are better than one.


For those of you who could not attend the Knoebel's show on 07/07/07, you missed all the excitement. The weather was glorious and the crowds were responsive and mostly under control -- until Gio pulled out The Trombone.


Pandemonium ensued. As you can see, the capacity crowd nearly emptied the bleachers as they rushed the stage.

Fortunately, the new Just Friends security detail was on hand to keep Gio from being ripped to shreds by the adoring fans.

Brian just sat there and ran sound, like he always does -- impeccably.

Actually, we did put on an amazing show, and we are grateful to the Knoebel family for inviting us. We hope to return again next year, when we'll probably share the billing with Pat Davison, the World's Greatest Juggler, and his long-suffering wife and kid. (They're really sweet people, and he's actually very good.) I have more photos from this day, and when I get the chance I'll post them to Flickr and put the link here.

Finally, we played the Lykens concert series Wednesday, the 11th, which was held indoors to keep us from getting soaked like we usually do in the gazebo. We always enjoy playing for Kevin and the great citizens of Lykens. Sorry, no pics, but imagine a really big, cool stage with a large crowd enjoying our performance.

Just Friends is now on vacation until August 11th, when we return to the Lawnton Legion with all our gear properly tweezed and the band all tanned and rested. Hope you're having a great summer, just like this guy:

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Check out the new Papist


Saturday was the Baptism of Theodore a.k.a. Theo a.k.a. Teddy a.k.a. TJ a.k.a. T'Jhon a.k.a. Theodorable a.k.a. Prince Theo the Spoiled. Thanks to our family and friends who helped us welcome him into the Church.
The prize for the one who traveled the farthest goes to Johnny Yulich, who drove all the way from Erie where he is a chef in a successful Italian restaurant to be the godfather of the son of an old classmate -- one who tortured him mercilessly when they were in grade school together. He's a fine young man and we hope to see him again soon. Thanks also to his godmother, Stephanie Grossnickle, who taught Andie and was also her Confirmation sponsor. She has been a great friend of our family and a positive influence on Andie's life, as well as on the lives of countless other students over the years. We are blessed to have such good people as family friends.
This may be the last blog entry for a little while. I'm starting a weeklong gigstravaganza, playing almost every day until the 11th of July. Hope to see some of you at Hotel Hershey, or Knoebel's, or somewhere soon.
Meanwhile, for those in town tomorrow, Bill Nork will be playing twice at the American MusicFest on the Riverfront on July 4th: with the Bayou Bandits at noon on the World Stage and with Robert Bobby at four on the Coca-Cola Community Stage.
Both acts are worth checking out. I've reviewed the Bandits in an earlier post. Robert Bobby was the lead singer and songwriter for The Speedboys, formerly the West Philly Speedboys, one of my favorite bands of the Eighties and a world class good time bar band. Robert Bobby continues to write, record and perform, recently opening for Chris Smithers. He's not exactly a gig hog, so this Wednesday will be a great opportunity to go hear him, and for no cover. You won't be disappointed.