If I Only Had A Brain and More Time to Watch YouTube

While in the middle of trying to make some serious deadlines, the last thing I should do is go on YouTube. I should have parental controls put on that damn site. You can fall in and get lost. One minute you're trying to find a ballad with something about "morning glory" in the title, next thing you know you're watching Phish's drummer's mom play the above-mentioned song on an Electrolux vacuum cleaner, and then -- this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZsj4jKkXoc&feature=related

Pretty smooth, eh? Check this out. The "morning glory" reference is to this song by Lizz Wright. Years ago, I listened to it all the time, then could not for the life of me remember the title or the singer. Today, thank God and Google, the phrase "she's just a morning glory" dug its way out of my brain and I found the title "Blue Rose." And then I found this. Get comfortable, it's a bit long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHqJCPvMnI

Heartbreaking. Humans can be so crude, cruel and vicious, and yet capable of something this beautiful. Until a second ago, I hadn't thought to look on YouTube for the song. Her performance is unbelievable, and the guitar player is tearing me up. Music like this gives me hope.

And now, back to work.

Weekend Update

Friday, the Amici Trio (or, as we were billed on the promo sign, "The Amici Bros") played for a packed house at Cantone's Friday evening. Under the watchful and I hope approving eye of Frank Sinatra, we knocked 'em dead. Watch for future bookings at this location. It looks like we'll be welcomed back.

Saturday, the Trio played for a wedding at the Harrisburg Country Club. Sorry, no pictures, but imagine a very happy couple and a full dance floor and you'll get the picture.


This is my little brother, with a genuine look of surprise on his face. This afternoon, his family and friends gathered at the Wallish house to celebrate 25 years of rawking by Dave. I'm not sure on the math, but if you added up all the musicians in the room, I think you could have fielded at least five complete bands, and all of them would be pretty darn good.



This is David realizing that he'll still be able to watch television after the digital switchover. On this TV, we watched a retrospective of Dave's bands from Spellbound to Leghorn, with all the skinny ties and eighties hair you could ever want. Kathy Wallish has a talent for scrapbooking and preserving memories, and it was evident in the DVD. Here's to 25 more, little brother.

Amici Trio at the Iberian Lounge and Other Stuff

I don't have pictures for this entry, but last night was another well-received Trio performance at the Hotel Hershey. The dance floor was filled with folks who: (1) appear to be mature enough to remember when the Sinatra tunes we do weren't classics yet; (2) dance like they know what they're doing out there; and (3) provide an answer to the question, how do you stay young at heart? Apparently, dancing has something to do with it. There are couples out there who have a 20 year head-start on me, doing dips that would blow out my lower back in a heartbeat. Playing for dancers is what I enjoy most, and we had a good time.

Thanks to my friend Sean Sanderson for coming out to the Lounge and making sure my guitar wasn't too loud. It looks like the Trio will be appearing at the Iberian Lounge again on Saturday, November 1st. I'll confirm that later.

Just Friends is on hiatus for what's left of September, and then we have an action-packed October. Unfortunately, most of the jobs are private clubs, out of town or both. There is a strong possibility that we'll be at the Casino on Thursday, October 30th. I'll confirm that later as well after getting the final word from Manager Jack.

The St. Catherine Laboure Choir started up again this morning, and we had so many new faces and voices that everyone, including Joreen, kept saying "Wow." There are a bunch of new sopranos and altos, and we have a pretty neat sound. I'm looking forward to this choir season, knowing that Joreen will come up with some cool music to take advantage of all the new firepower. We do the 11:00 Mass every Sunday. It's a Kelly family thing, now that Mary's singing alto again.

Quick musical recommendation: I just got a new CD, released in August, by a singer-songwriter named Emory Joseph. The disc, "Fennario," is all covers of Garcia and Hunter tunes, reinterpreted but true to the creative flash that inspired the Grateful Dead at their best. For a taste of what I'm talking about, check out this cover of Tennessee Jed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7rsjDY_AUk

It's been a while since I've heard something that made me do the Dead Twirl (nobody home but the dog, of course, who insisted on jumping around with me).

Chilling out with the Amici Trio

The Trio were cool in more ways than one last night, playing on the veranda of the Hotel Hershey as the sun set on a crisp, clear September evening. The above photo was taken by Joreen after dark. Thanks to her, Kathy, Angelina and Jack for listening. They were part of a small but hardy and appreciable audience who listened as we played a variety of smoothies, standards and pop songs.

A Trio gig is a very enjoyable guitar experience for me, because Gio and Vince do all the heavy lifting on vocals, keys and horns. All I have to do is try not to clam. The Hotel Hershey is a perfect location for the Amici Trio, elegant and classy ("classy" as in five bucks a beer).

We will be appearing at the hotel again tonight from 9:00 to midnight, this time in the Iberian Lounge, so you don't need an extra sweater. If you come to hear us, I'll buy you a beer. (Sip it slowly.)

Check out the above photo. I'm the one not showing off his chest hair.

So, How Are Things?

In response to good-natured prodding from my friends, I will begin posting again to the blog, and I'll start off with a sure thing: a recent grandboy photo. Cute, isn't he?

Many new things going on these days. Those of you in the loop know the details, but to summarize:

Just Friends has two new members, Jim Wallish on trombone and Craig Rankin on drums. Both are ace players and really decent guys, and we're busy preparing for a busy October, to include our annual Italian-American Society banquet at the Hershey Convention Center.

The Amici Trio has a new member, me, on guitar. We'll be at the Hershey Hotel tonight and tomorrow.

Joreen is taking grad courses on-line and getting A's, making us all proud. You can give her a dollar when you see her.

Joreen and I went back up to Cape Cod for vacation, and I have lots of cool pics to post, but here's my favorite:

Now I have to get back to work, because in other news, I'm up to my eyeballs in backlog.

Sorry for the long delay

There's been a lot going on around here since Christmas. Work has been busy, the baby is growing and getting happier and heavier every day, Easter is coming, I'm getting ready to do a mondo large power line case, the band has changed personnel and we've been working the new trumpet player in, and on top of everything else, yesterday my laptop informed me that a drive failure was imminent. The machine is still under warranty, so I took it to be repaired today, but only the Microsoft gods know what kind of shape it will come back in. So, posts may be spotty for a while.

Big Update, Part 3 - Happy New Year

After much planning, hard work and anticipation, the Just Friends New Year's Eve celebration at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey was declared a success by the band. Kudos to the band management for all the negotiations and legwork needed for such an event.

Here at the front desk are Giovanni (yes, of Giovanni Live Productions), Manager Jack (keeping an eye on the list), Vince and his daughter Megan, and Pat Roth (keeping an eye on Jack).

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here's a nice shot of the antipasto table. The Sheraton put out a first-class spread, and we were extremely pleased with everything.

Although Mary and John couldn't attend, my youngest daughter Andrea was able to be there, with her boyfriend Dan and, of course, the newest member of the Rat Pack, Theo (shown here rocking the tuxedo).

Here's Vince, celebrating his birthday, and Theodore, celebrating his first New Year's Eve. Is this the picture of class or what?

Many thanks to our friends and family who attended and celebrated with us. I want to especially thank Mr. and Mrs. McGovern, who spent their first New Year as husband and wife with us, and Rick and Irene Woodard, who came all the way from the West Coast by way of the West Shore to attend. Celebrating with our loved ones made this the best New Year's gig yet, and in the words of the prophet Sinatra, "The Best Is Yet To Come."

May we all be safe, sound and still around for New Year's Eve 2008. It's not too early to plan to celebrate with us next year....

Big Update, Part 2 - PK Has Left the Building

Friday, January 4th, Just Friends played for the Republican County Commissioners ball at the Hilton. This was the last official performance for our very own Parker Kenyon, who after twelve years with the band is moving on to pursue other musical interests. All the best, Hornboy. It's been a pleasure standing next to you for the last decade. I'm going to miss your horn parts...

... and the quiet, dignified air of sophistication you brought to the band.

The Kenyons will still be around, so it's not a real tearful farewell kind of thing. We'll stay in touch, and see what the future brings. Hopefully, more cowbell.

Big Update, Part 1- Farm Show

The Prince is sleeping, having just finished this bottle. I am doing child care today as Queen Andi begins her first week of work as a CNA. We both are enjoying what we're doing. Andi has a real gift for caregiving, and I get grins and chortles all morning long. Nice work if you can get it.

Last night, the long-awaited Feast: Supper at the Farm Show. I don't whose bright idea it was to put this event right after Christmas Cookie season. The only New Year's resolution I have in mind during Farm Show Week is not to get as chunky as the Governor of Philadelphia (as one of Joreen's students called him). Pictured here are the breaded mushrooms and apple cider. The roast beef with horseradish (damn, I'm getting hungry) and broccoli/cauliflower salad were also off the hook. Mary and I just had a potato doughnut. "It's a Beautiful Day in Pennsylvania" indeed.

How about this weather we're having?

Any warmer, and this thing might melt.

Last night was the Giant Chicken Dance/Polka 'Til You Drop event in the new arena, and there I was reunited with my long-lost twin brother, shown in this crappy photo playing bass.

Joreen took the opportunity to videotape the polkateers with her Christmas present, the Flip Ultra camcorder. When Hillary goes to reform health care, she should make sure that all maternity wards issue one of these dealies to every new grandmother in America.

We still have electricity...

... and our prayers and offers of assistance go out to those who don't. If there's anyone in close proximity (Sean) who needs to put something in a fridge or freezer, at least for now we still have power.* As bad as it gets around here, it's worse in other parts of the country, so we can be thankful for that. With all the running around this weekend, I didn't take any photos of the ice, but Joreen and I share the opinion that it was as frightening as it was impressive.

Just Friends had our Christmas party today, for those of us who weren't working (Hey, Parker) or who were stuck with no electricity (Hey, Barry). We're getting ready to play the wedding of Gio and Tara next weekend, and of course the New Year's celebration is fast approaching. If you're interested, I have tix here.

Be safe and watch your step out there.

(* It occurred to me after I hit "publish" that Sean can't read this if he doesn't have electricity. D'oh!)

Time Flies Like an Arrow...

... and fruit flies like a banana, yeah, whatever. [Cut and paste standard lame apology for not posting here.] It's December already, and the holiday preparations are coming on like a holly-jolly juggernaut. Time to fire up the pizzelle irons, maw.

Update: both young'uns are packing on the groceries and growing well. The grandboy is in the World Wrestling Entertainment percentile for weight, and off the chart for height at 29 inches. The puppy is doing what you would expect.

Chewing.

Here's a nice photo of the Grandboy's great-aunt and great-uncle (yeah, Jinny, how's that sound?) at Thanksgiving. I don't have much room to talk about getting old, though. Sometimes I feel as old as this thing:

Yes, I finally let go of the past and put this piece of cutting-edge eighties technology out for the trash pickup. It was a rocking word processor back when computers didn't have hard drives.

So there's an update to the blog, such as it is. Just Friends is heading into the Christmas party season, and still gearing up for the New Year's Eve party at the Sheraton. We'd love to see our friends and family come out and celebrate with us, and sing Happy Birthday to Vince after midnight. In the meantime:

Don't forget to wear your winter hat. Baby, it's cold outside.

On The Fly

Running around getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, so no time for extended post. Yesterday our choir hosted St. Theresa's choir at the 11:00 Mass and that was a hoot. They are some of the nicest people around, and we had a pot luck lunch afterwards. I said it over and over: I'd rather eat pot luck with church ladies than the fanciest restaurant meal in the world. A personal highlight was the halushky (certainly misspelled) by Carol Magyar, a dear little old lady from Steelton. Oh. My. God. And of course, there were sweetie-eaties, and baked ziti, and it's a good thing calories consumed during the service of the Church don't count.

Photos and more amusing stuff later. Off to York this morning for a hearing.

New Photos on Flickr

After the Notre Dame trip, I updated my Flickr account (i.e. got out the VISA card) and now I can upload all the photos I want. I just added pictures from the Cape Cod trip, without any comments or editing. Some of them are pretty nice. There's more from Portsmouth that I might add later. Those interested can add this link to their favorites: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66913936@N00/

Not much else going on now. Preparing for Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving darts, not in that order. This Sunday, Ed Smith's choir and ours will be combined at the 11:00 Mass. The St. Theresa people are great. It should be fun.

And In Other News

While I was in Notre Dame, I got a phone call that there was a puppy at the house. That turned out to be true. Meet Abby, the newest addition to the Kelly household. She's mostly Lab with some golden retriever, and a rescue. Theo's godmother Stephanie works with Furry Friends, an outfit dedicated to the proposition that there aren't enough blue suits with dog fur on them yet. Abby's a good dog. Good thing, because she's here for keeps.

Loyal Sons Are Marching

November 3, 2007 was a day to go down in history in more ways than one. My father and my brothers and I went to South Bend and spent a perfect day on the campus of Notre Dame. If I told you all that happened, this would be a very long entry, so let me summarize quickly for now.

Dad has been a fan of Notre Dame for a long, long time. My brothers are all football fans to the bone. David contacted me early this year about taking Dad to see Notre Dame and Navy, and at the time the band was booked. When the weekend opened up for me, we started getting excited. This was April.

Here's a picture that was taken just as we arrived at our seats, which were on the 20 yard line. Okay, so Notre Dame lost. Okay, so they didn't go for the field goal at fourth and eight. Whatever. Here you see a picture of five of the happiest people on the planet on November 3rd. We had a great time. I will try to go into more detail later, and I will do a Flickr page for the photos. For now, I need to send special thanks to my little brother David for taking the rowing oar in making the arrangements, and doing all the driving. You rawk, little brother. Dad sent us an e-mail thanking us for making the trip possible. I just want to thank him for making us possible.

Happy Birthday, Jim and Tina

Sunday afternoon, we attended a surprise 60th birthday party for Jim and Tina Wallish, my brother David's in-laws. They are really great folks. I'm personally grateful to Tina for her kindness to me while I was in the hospital in '03. She was a big help in navigating the paperwork stream and just being a friendly face when I certainly needed one.

Jim is a long-time friend and former coworker of Vince's, and a musician in his own right, having played trombone in the Navy Band. Recently he has been playing guitar and performing with the Lower Paxton Parks Department band, as well as working on recording projects with Tina, brother Dave and Kathy.

The birthday party was organized by Kathy, shown here with her own birthday present. A trendsetter if ever I saw one.



Kathy put together a slideshow of photos from Jim and Tina's childhood to the present. I don't want to hear about how home movies are boring; I love looking at old photos of people I know. It's cool to check out the cars, fashions, and other traces of the past in those pictures.

Here is a really cool photo of Prince Theo and his Great-Uncle Bill. The grandboy was a charmer all afternoon, even though he had a bit of a cold, and his Great-Aunt Ginny gets thanks for holding him while we ate, in fact getting him to conk out for a while.

Dad and Rose were at the party (sorry, no pictures) and we talked about the upcoming road trip Dad, my brothers and I are taking to Notre Dame. More on that later.

Happy birthday and many happy returns to the the Wallishes -- including Kathy, whose birthday is today.

Singles Dance in Lancaster

Just Friends played at the Quality Inn Lancaster for the New Singles, at the invitation of Sid Miller. This being a Halloween party, the dress code was somewhere between colorful and bizarre. The band came dressed as musicians, of course.


We were so busy rocking the crowd, there were few chances to take photos. These were all taken during the percussion break in Hot, Hot, Hot, including this rare photo of Barry and Mark gettin' down and funky.



The focus of these events is for singles to be able to dance and socialize, and they are well organized and well attended. In addition to the live music, there are pre-recorded dance segments designed to encourage people to dance with and meet other dancers. The crowd is enthusiastic and appreciative of good music. Sid does a great job of providing a welcoming and friendly environment for everyone.

We will be playing regularly for the New Singles Dances throughout the coming year. For more information, their web site is http://newsingles3.tripod.com/index.html .

Things That Make You Feel Older Than Dirt

This morning Scott Henning of the law firm of Handler, Henning & Rosenberg came to a hearing with a young man I'd never seen before. After the hearing, Henning introduced this guy to Judge Weyl as a new associate, recently passed the Bar exam, and gave his name as Adam Reedy. Instantly I saw the resemblance, and said to him, "Are your parents Ron and Maria?" He said, "Yes." I told him to tell his mother that I said hi. Now, excuse me while they wheel me into the day room. Man, I feel like Methuselah.

Trick or Treat

Behold the Ninja Brothers, doing battle on Grandma's porch. Just out of sight of the camera is Ninja DeeDee saying, "Watch you don't poke an eye out with those damn things."


On a pretty much perfect night for trick-or-treating, we received a small but high-quality number of children in costume. The mind reels, thinking of years gone by when my brothers and I, and later my daughters and I would go scarfing mass quantities of sugar. It's nice to see that some kids still go to the trouble of going out and getting free candy. These two angels are actually members of the St. Catherine Laboure Contemporary Choir, and they sing so well they should be getting paid for it. Prince Theo needs no candy, as he is only now beginning to teethe (is that a word?).

The blog has been kind of flaccid lately, and I apologize. Just Friends played the annual Columbus Day banquet at the Hershey Convention Center, and the light was so horrible that of all the photos I took this was the only one postable (is that a word?), but these are two true Italians, so it's appropriate. If Joreen ever manages to coax a useful DVD file from her camera, you will be able to hear Vince sing "Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano" and you'll be a better person for it.

A reminder to our friends: Just Friends will be playing at the Lawnton Legion on November 10th. If you want to come hear us on our home turf, let me know and we will put you on the list at the door. For our Mendoza friends, Thanksgiving darts is on. Plan accordingly.

Hersheypark Happy

Now, that's what we call a stage. Thanks to Hersheypark for providing this playground for us. September 8th was our first opportunity to play the amphitheatre during the regular park season and it was a blast. Even the people who didn't catch T-shirts loved us.


The band was in fine form. Playing is always better than anything else we do, but this day was especially enjoyable from start to finish.

All of us played at the top of our game, but special mention has to go to Vince for his soprano sax solo during Zoot Suit Riot. It was amazing.


We'd like to thank all our family and friends who made the effort to come support us, all the new friends we made that day, and the sound engineers, Bill and Carl, who were extremely helpful and provided top-notch sound.


More photos are available at this Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66913936@N00/sets/72157602314268050/

These are "warts and all photos" unedited, at least for now. I'm still on the learning curve with this stuff.

A gentle reminder: it's not too early to make plans to celebrate New Year's Eve with Just Friends. We have tickets in hand and we would hate to see anybody miss out. For more information, contact us at http://www.justfriendsband.com/ or speak to your favorite band member when you get a chance.

Finally, John and Joreen are working on the band's new e-mail list (and apologize for the delay). We will soon be contacting those who have provided their e-mail address to us, keeping you in the loop of when and where the band will be appearing, and other news and information.