Sunday was a day of high culture (touring Boston's Museum of Fine Arts with Beth and the kids) followed by wallowing in the base tendencies of eating pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings and buffalo chicken dip, drinking beer and watching the Super Bowl. A nicely rounded way to end the weekend.
We had a good time at the museum, but I didn't get to spend any more than about five seconds looking at any painting, sculpture or musical instrument before moving along to keep up with Owen. The visit was Owen's idea, but he was much more interested in the trip there, and the logistics of the museum itself, i.e., where the elevators, escalators and stairways are, the layout of the galleries, how old is the museum, when will the new addition be done, etc.
I love that he's into all that stuff, but I wish he would've spent just a little bit more time looking at, you know, the art. I really wanted to look at the collection of musical instruments, which includes guitars, banjos, flutes, harpsichords and an array of things such as snake-shaped horns that I've never seen anything like before. Unfortunately, that exhibit was the last thing we passed before leaving, so the kids were tired and ready to go. So I made due with a 24 1/2-second whirl through the room.
The Super Bowl party was fun, although I ate waaaaay too much. I was happy to see the Saints win, and wished immediately afterward that I was a betting man.
Saturday night we went to our friends Andra and Andrew's house for dinner. Beth's friend Nuala and her husband Sam were there, too, with their kids, Madeline and William. The kids had fun playing, eating Klondike bars and watching too much TV, while the grown-ups got to eat in peace, have a few drinks and have uninterrupted conversations.
One more thing: got up early this morning and sent off another online query for my subway-themed alphabet book. Have several more to do still, and chances are I won't hear anything for several weeks, but I'm glad to be moving the process along.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I took Owen skating again this past Sunday, and was glad to see how much he'd improved over the previous week. We met his friend Walter and his family at the rink; the two boys hit the ice and opted to hold on to each other (as opposed to me, although there was a little bit of that). By the end of the hour (Walter's first time skating), both boys were trotting along slowly without holding onto anything or anybody. It was fun to watch.
What wasn't fun to watch was Walter's mom, Inez, slipping and falling straight back onto her head less than a minute after first getting onto the ice. She toughed it out for a while, but apparently gave herself a mild concussion. I spoke to Walter's dad, Ray, two days later and he said she was in kind of rough shape on Monday, but was doing better on Tuesday. She has vowed to wear a helmet in the future.
Because Owen was skating with Walter, I got to take several solo spins around the ice. I really enjoyed it, and found myself thinking that it would be fun to play a very, very mellow game of hockey some time. Been a long time, and would certainly have greater injury potential than baseball, but I do like skating around and playing hockey.
Earlier on Sunday, Owen and I went for our latest subway ride. We covered familiar territory, and I didn't get any pictures worth posting here, but as always it was a fun, and not too exhausting, way to spend some time with him.
Despite my busy day on Sunday, I got up early Monday morning to craft a query for my alphabet book. I opted for the easiest one to do, that being the non-query query. I simply had to provide the agency (a legitimate one this time, I swear!) with my name, email and phone number, a brief description of my book and a message indicating a little background. Now I wait for 3 months or so. In the meantime, I plan to carve out time in a similar fashion in the next few weeks to put together pitches for other agencies.
At the same time, I'm working on the last (C)rock rewrite. I thought my Butthole Surfers-themed tale that I polished off at the end of '09 was the last work I had, but in going back to one of the stories to mesh together two versions, I realized that there was a bit more I wanted to do. I swear this will be it, as I have no desire to revisit any other stories. I just want to wrap this collection up and get it into the hands of my long-suffering acolytes (that's a joke, duh.).
We've got a busy weekend on tap. Owen's got his usual tae kwon do class Saturday morning, but while he, Beth and Amelia are there, I have to take our cat, Cosmo, to the vet for a cardiology exam. He's got a heart murmur and early stage kidney disease, so they want to work him up and see if there's any medication that can help him out. He seems to be doing pretty well, except he's drinking more water than usual and coming around for more lovin'. He's 14, though, so we need to make sure we're doing all we can for him.
Early Saturday afternoon I'll be sitting down to chew the fat with my buddy Jay for his award-winning podcast, Completely Conspicuous (too many awards to list here). Planned topics include road trips and UFO's, I believe. I'll link over to it when he posts it.
Owen has requested that we go to the MFA on Sunday. After a trip to the Museum of Science last week, he said to me, "Dad, you know what's funny about museums in Boston. They don't have art in them."
I explained that he shouldn't measure a city's cultural treasures simply by going to the Museum of Science and Children's Museum. Of course there are art museums, I said. So I told him about a few and he chose the MFA. Should be fun.
That afternoon is the Super Bowl, which means we go to Beth's sister and brother-in-law's house for their annual bash. Eating, drinking, gambling -- what more could you ask for?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
I've spent some time here lately talking about my Brigham ancestors and posting pictures of Brigham-related places in the Boston area. Always in the back of my head, though, is the desire to research the other branches of my family. On my father's side, that primarily includes the French-Canadian LaVentures (who reportedly have some Native American blood) and the Irish O'Briens. Of course, there are numerous other families that have married into those families over the years, making the task rather daunting.
On my mother's side there are Germans (Lohrman, Hinrichs) and Dutch (Bogert), with some French mixed in. This past week my mother forwarded family tree information that my uncle (her brother) and cousin gathered on the Bogert side of the family. I was really happy to get this genealogical trove, as I'd been thinking about hiring someone to do such a search.
My uncle had provided my mother with information several years ago that traced the Bogerts back to my great-great-grandfather and grandmother, Samuel Bogert and Mary Duff (more Irish lineage). My mother said that whenever she asked her father about the Bogert ancestry, he replied, "We're Yankees from way back," but didn't have any details. Well, as my uncle and cousin found out, my grandfather wasn't kidding.
Cornelise Jan Bogaert came to these shores from Holland before 1651 (no specific year is given). He settled in Flatbush, Long Island, before moving to Brooklyn. I haven't digested all of the information yet, but it seems that the Bogerts lived in New York and New Jersey from that point on, as did many Dutch settlers.
Once I add this information into my Ancestry.com account, perhaps I'll have more specific details to add here.
On Sunday Beth and I took the kids skating, meeting up with Beth's sister, brother-in-law and our nephew. Beth doesn't skate, so I did several laps around the rink with each of the kids. Owen started out holding on to me and the wall and falling every other step. By the time we were ready to go home, however, he was holding on to me and holding his balance much better. He didn't get frustrated, and actually seemed to enjoy falling down.
As for Amelia, she had a great time as I pushed her around the ice. I hope to get out a few more times this winter. I posted a few pictures here.
On the music front, Owen and I wrote our first MegaChips song (as opposed to just making stuff up on the spot): "Cats and Dogs." I like it a lot, and once we record it, I'll post it here. Owen said once again that he wants to record an album, so maybe some day I'll be asking you to download our debut from iTunes.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Nine days have slipped past since my last entry. Now that Amelia rarely naps, I don't have as much time to do the important work in my life, such as blog updates, Facebook updates, email checks and reading SPIN magazine. But she's napping now, so....
The MegaChips jammed last Saturday for the first time in months. We created three new songs on the spot, one of which, "Boomin' in da Basement," I've posted here. It's a lame attempt at rap, but what do you expect from a 44-year-old indie rock fanatic given only a few seconds to compose something on the spot?
I'm glad Owen's interested in playing music again. He said he wants to record an album. I told him that meant writing songs ahead of time, not on the spot. And practicing stuff a lot before we record. It may take a while, but I think eventually we'll get to that point. It's fun, no matter what.
I've made a bit of progress toward finding an agent this week. I'm working on a query letter and researching agencies to which to send it. I want to make sure I hit as many of them as I can in order to increase my chances. After an initial hot period of writing and thinking about the possibility of a new career as a children's book writer, I've cooled off a bit. But I'm still committed to getting at least a few books published.
This weekend I'm hoping to get at least one of my kids on the ice. I've been bugging Owen off and on through the winter to see if he wants to skate, but he always says no. Amelia has expressed some interest, although she has no idea that ice skating is different than sliding around on patches of ice on the sidewalk. I've invited Beth's family to join us, figuring if Owen's cousin, Max, who's 3, goes skating, then Owen might want to go too. Either way, I'm looking forward to skating for the first time in four years.
Oh yeah, I took the kids to see Fred Garbo's Inflatable Theater Co. on Monday. We went with my buddy Ray and his kids, who are good friends with Owen and Amelia. Some parts of the show were really cool, as Fred and his partner danced around while sporting inflatable costumes. The juggling was OK, too. Some parts were a little boring, but the show held the kids' interest for about an hour, which is really all that mattered. Afterwards we went to lunch, and ended up killing almost the whole day.
Read today in the Globe about Dale Watson, a honky-tonker whose name is familiar, but whose music I don't know. Seems pretty good, don'tcha think?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
First, an update on my children's book. I realized after sending a query via a literary agency's web site that the company is run by an accused scam artist. So even if I hear back from them, I'll ignore them. On to the reputable agencies!
I took the photos above yesterday when Amelia and I were in Harvard Square for story time at the Harvard Coop. I dragged her along to help me document the site where the my first Brigham ancestor, Thomas Brigham, settled in 1635 upon arriving from England.
According to The History of the Brigham Family by W.I. Tyler Brigham, the lot where Thomas Brigham's property was located "can be identified with exceptional certainty; the 'highway to watertowne,' now Brattle Street, and the 'high waye to the Windemill Hill,' now Ash Street, being two very early thoroughfares, which have maintained their identity from 1630 to the present day."
When Thomas Brigham died in 1654 and the property and his belongings were sold off, the property contained "the late mansion house...with Edifices, Barn, Cow houses and about three acres and a halfe to the same adjoyning...a part whereof is a garden & orchards."
As I mention in the caption in the top left photo, above, the property is now part of Radcliffe College (which itself is part of Harvard University).
When I first researched the Brigham family history many years ago I used this book (but didn't acquire it until later on) but didn't read the specifics of the original property correctly. So in my error I thought that the land where the farm had been was where the house in the photo in the lower left now sits. Nice house, eh? I used to joke to myself that the house was rightfully mine. Well, I guess I need to take up my rights with Radcliffe instead.
I wouldn't be the first in the Brigham clan to try and recapture the property. After Thomas Brigham died, his widow, Mercy Hurd Brigham, married again and moved out of Cambridge with her children. Forty-two years after Thomas Brigham's death, and two years after the death of his widow, their children, now in their 30s and 40s, formally made a claim for their rights to the property. The deeds for the property were not recorded until 31 years after the fact, for some reason. The children believed, according to the book, that the overseers of the sale of the property "had not fulfilled the requirement of the General Court that they should give proper surety for the rights of the heirs."
Needless to say, they didn't win their argument.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Not much going on since my last post, other than some weird dreams about Loverboy, the Sex Pistols, Aerosmith and Black Flag. I won't go into details, but will say that I think it's time to get The Toastmen back together again. For real.
One more thing -- I've posted an old story here. It's called "Spirit of '77" and, like most of my writing from years past, needs some work to make it better, but that's not gonna happen. I feel as though my writing of late has gotten better. I'm more focused on story continuity, descriptive language and actually making a point than I used to be. Although I'm sure some day I'll look back on the short stories of recent years and be critical of those as well.
Speaking of writing, I sent my first query to a literary agency this week in reference to my first children's book, the alphabet book about subways.. I hope to hear back soon, as the agency's web site (where I submitted the query) indicates a response is usually made within 5 business days. If they don't bite, I'll send out hard-copy queries to other agencies. In the meantime, I've completed a first draft of my next book, a counting book with a subway theme.
And my long-in-the-works (C)rock Stories are just about done (for real, I swear). A little more spit and polish and I'll be ready to talk to an on-demand publisher about getting that collection placed firmly in the real world.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
As promised, I've posted my first Brigham-related image above. As some readers may know, the Brigham's restaurant chain, founded in Newton, Mass., in 1924, recently closed all of its stores. The picture above is of the Wellesley, Mass., restaurant, which was one of the last ones, if not the absolute final one, to close. The clueless investment banker who bought the chain in June, 2008, let the restaurants run into the ground, and issued a notice of closure to store operators on November 23, 2009. The local press carried stories about heartbroken employees and longtime customers, and mentioned how the owner, Deal Metrics LLC, never did anything to improve or promote the business.
A few days after reading about how all 27 locations had closed abruptly, I was driving through Wellesley, the next town over from Newton, and saw that the Brigham's on Route 16 was still open. I figured maybe there was hope for the brand, or at least that someone had simply decided to defy management. But then I found an article online from the Wellesley Townsman indicating that the rogue store was closing as well. As you can see in the above photo, the owners plan to open another restaurant in the same spot.
I have to admit, I didn't do my part over the years to keep the Brigham's chain in business. Many years ago there was a restaurant in West Newton that I went to a few times. And I recall going to other restaurants in the chain just a handful of times. I recall, however, how excited I was as a kid to drive up to Boston from Connecticut for Red Sox games and to visit a Brigham's store nearby. My parents bought several "Brigham's" drinking glasses, a few of which they have to this day.
Fortunately, the Brigham's ice cream brand lives on. HP Hood bought the company's products and recipes in 2008, and continues to sell them in grocery stores throughout New England. And, strangely enough, the Brigham's restaurants web site is still active, pretending that it's still a business. Maybe by some miracle the stores will rise from the dead, but that seems as unlikely as a cone of the company's Big Dig Ice Cream surviving a trip to hell.
January 3, 2010
Happy New Year! Seeing that "2010" up there looks weird, but kind of cool, although it doesn't look as good on celebratory glasses as "2000" or "2002" do.
We had a fun New Year's Eve with Beth's sister, Megan, brother-in-law, Todd, and our nephew, Max. Megan and Todd brought over kielbasa appetizers and lobster mac-n-cheese for dinner, and both dishes were fantastic. The beer, chocolate martinis, wine, champagne and Old Grand-Dad were flowing, and we gave Owen's new Wii Sports Resort a good workout. The kids had a blast playing with Owen and Amelia's new toys and having a sleepover. Max and Owen didn't fall asleep until around 11:00; the grown-ups went to bed around 1:15 after watching the ball drop and a few more rounds of Wii bowling and sword-play. A really fun night. Pictures here.
We had a busy and fun day yesterday, too. We went sledding for a while in the morning, joining up with a few neighborhood folks at the former school just around the corner from our house. The kids had just as much fun kicking around the playground as they did sledding.
In the afternoon we trekked over to my friend Ray's house for a combination family play date and holiday jam session. Ray plays in a band called Powderhouse, and every year around the holidays (except last year, due to a very sick cat) he hosts a hootenanny in his basement, which is loaded with all the necessary playing and recording gear. So while I jammed (not very well) with Ray's band and other guests, Beth and the kids hung out with Ray's wife, Inez, daughter Rory (she's 3 1/2) and son Walter, who's one of Owen's good buddies.
Everybody had a good time, there were no meltdowns and I got to pretend for two hours that I was in a band. I was definitely the worst musician there, and didn't contribute much beyond being the third rhythm guitarist and occasional back-up vocalist, but it was still a lot of fun. Made me itchy for the Toastmen reunion that's been in talks for, oh, I don't know, the last decade or so. One of these days....
In addition to a cool look, 2010 also represents the 375th anniversary of my branch of the Brigham family in America. In 1635, Thomas Brigham arrived from England and settled in Cambridge, MA. I won't bore you with genealogical details, but I will point out that, thanks to Wikipedia, I learned about Thomas Parr, who died in England in 1635, allegedly at the age of 152.
I plan on posting pictures here throughout the course of the year that relate to the Brigham name and legacy. Stay tuned....
Sunday, December 27, 2009
We wrapped up a weekend of celebrating today with my parents and sister. They gave Owen and Amelia some more great gifts, which, added to the stuff from us, my in-laws and Santa, made for a pretty great haul. Owen got two train sets and a monorail system; tons of chapter books; a Snap Circuits electronics set; some subway-related things; a bunch of games, etc. As for Amelia, she got a really big doll house; a stable and a few sets of little horses; a Dora the Explorer car and picnic set; a lot of floor puzzles; books; blah blah blah.
As for me, I got some books, clothes, gloves, a wallet (to replace my Costanza-esque disaster), some cedar grilling planks, and other stuff that I'm forgetting right now. It was good to hang out, eat lots of good food (including peppermint stick ice cream that Owen and I made today), have some good wine and beer, and watch the kids revel in the holiday.
Beth's off the rest of this week, so we'll get to have some good family time, including a small New Year's Eve get together with a few folks. We're slated to go to the Museum of Science tomorrow, and I'm hoping to get Owen ice skating during the week as well.
I posted a few pictures here of Christmas morning at our house, and afternoon at Beth's parents' house.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Lots to do in the next two days, so I'm just gonna wish my extensive readership a Merry Christmas or Happy Kwanzaa (or a very belated Happy Hannukah). Holiday pictures and wrap-up to follow after the mayhem ends.
Friday, December 18, 2009
I'll start by filling my numismatic jones. I dug out one of my older coins today. It's a Half Anna India, from 1862. I haven't been able to find out much about this coin, except the obvious: it was minted during the time of British India and features a likeness of Queen Victoria on the obverse, and a wreath on the reverse. Like most of my foreign coins, this one must have come from my father, who served in Europe during his Army stint in the early '50s.
The coin is heavily worn and has a crease on it, so it's got no value. But it's really cool to think that this coin was minted four years after the British initiated their Colonial rule over India. In the U.S. at the time, the Civil War raged on. Also, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Acts, which set into motion the construction of the first transcontinental railroad (thanks Wikipedia!).
Anyway, on to life at hand.
One week away from Christmas, and we're in pretty good shape. The tree is up and decorated. Beth and I have done most of our shopping, in Beth's case, much of it online. Tomorrow we'll send our package to my brother and his family in Maryland. I received the photo books from Snapfish. I still have to buy some more presents for Beth, and put up our outside lights. And wrap everything. But that's par for the course.
On the children's book-writing front: I've been researching agents and have found several who represent the type of books I'm writing, and planning to write. Following the advice of an agent whose blog I read, I am trying to find an agent/agency that could also represent my fiction writing for adults. This makes things a bit harder, but since I've long planned to go the publishing on-demand route with my short story collection, perhaps I'll just seek out a children's lit agent for now.
On the homefront: construction continues on our mud room. The doors are on, the insulation is in and the electrical wiring has been completed. We hoped to have it done by Christmas, but that's not gonna happen. Still, it will be done before winter weather really kicks in. It will be nice not having all the wet boots, coats, hats, mittens, scarves and snow pants piled up right inside our front door.
Um, wow, this is a pretty boring entry.
I'll make it even more boring. Lately I've been reading one of the three Brigham Family History books I got years ago through the New England Historic Genealogical Society. I discovered that Scottish national hero William Wallace had an associate named Sir David Brigham (a possible relative). To quote the book: "Wallace was a man of extraordinary strength, and David Brigham an exceeding good horseman; whereupon the Scots made this rhyme —
The man was ne'er so wight nor geud.
But worthy Wallace durst him bide;
Nor ever horse so wild or weud,
But David Brigham durst him ride."
I don't know what the translation would be for Wallace's half of the rhyme, but as for the Sir David Brigham half, it means my possible namesake relative was a bronco buster.
After tae kwon do class and lunch, Owen and I embarked last Saturday on our latest subway trip. We were both quite curious about the Ashmont-Mattapan High-Speed line, so that was our primary goal. I knew that the high-speed line used old trolley cars, and started at the terminus of the Ashmont branch of the Red line, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. I didn't know much else, and had a hard time envisioning what the line would be like. So Owen and I put on our investigator hats and set out from the Reservoir stop on the D branch of the Green line, in Brookline.
At Park Street station we transferred to the Red Line. There are two branches of the Red Line going south: Braintree and Ashmont. An Ashmont train arrived just as we walked down to the platform. We went to Downtown Crossing, South Station and Broadway, all stations we'd visited before. After that, however, everything was new to us. We went back above-ground for JFK/UMass, which brought us underneath Route 93. Then it was on to Savin Hill, Fields Corner, Shawmut and then Ashmont.
For those looking to travel a little further south and west, you transfer to the high-speed line, which evidently is also know as the M Line. The line runs in a 2.6-mile loop, with six stations. It runs through a cemetery, using refurbished trolley cars (called PCCs, for President's Conference Committee cars) once used on the Green Line.
From Wikipedia:
The Ashmont–Mattapan Line follows the original right-of-way of the passenger and freight steam railway line that opened in December 1847 as the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad. That line later became the Old Colony Railroad and then the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad after 1893. The steam-powered trains were discontinued in 1927 and the line was closed for two years while it was being modified for trolley service. There was a debate at that time whether or not to continue the same subway trains from Boston to Ashmont and on to Mattapan without a need for passengers to switch to trolleys at Ashmont. Apparently, the added cost of full-scale subway service along the remainder of the route was considered to be too high. The right-of-way is privately owned and has only two at-grade crossings on its 2.6-mile route.
Along the high-speed line we saw a building with a large sign on it: WALTER BAKER. I did a little research, and it turns out that the building was once part of a massive complex belonging to the Walter Baker & Co. chocolate-making company, which became a well-known brand in the 19th and 20th centuries, and which was eventually acquired by Kraft Foods. The building is now loft apartments, and has nothing to do with fashion designer Walter Baker.
I took a picture of the Baker building and other stuff. You can find those here.
After the high-speed line we got back on the Red Line and headed for South Station, where we ate cookies and watched the hustle and bustle for a while. Then it was back on the train, which we took one stop, to Downtown Crossing. From there we got on the Orange Line, which we took to Back Bay station. Then back to Downtown Crossing and then to Park Street on the Red Line. From there, we got on the Green Line and headed back to Reservoir station.
I really like these trips, as it's fun to watch how excited Owen gets. He loves everything about the trip: the different types of trains, how the stations differ from each other, going underground, coming back above-ground, listening to the different types of announcements on each line, etc. For my part, I love to learn about new things in the city where I've lived for nearly 20 years.
I've completed the text for my first subway-themed book. I need to find an agent who specializes in children's literature and start working on subsequent books. I'm gonna run with this for a while.
This weekend will find us buying our Christmas tree and decorating the house. Beth and Amelia will be baking cookies at her mom's house, a great Morahan ladies tradition. I think Owen and I will be checking out a model train show today at Lexington's Museum of Our National Heritage, which is run by the Masons.
Friday, December 4, 2009
So I decided about two weeks ago to try my hand at writing children's books. Or at least one, anyway. Of course, this is yet another way for me to put off finishing my long-in-the-works (C)rock Story collection, but I'm really into the idea of writing a book for kids right now, so I figure it's best to run with it.
The idea struck me when Beth and I were with the kids at, of all places, Old Navy. I found myself looking for t-shirts and sweatshirts for Owen that had subway trains on them. I knew it was a hopeless effort, as were all my other attempts in the weeks before that to find books, clothes or toys that had some connection to subways, Owen's longstanding passion. As regular readers know, Owen and I have taken many subway rides over the past year or so (and have another trip planned for tomorrow). He loves the trips, as do I. He also spends a lot of time watching MBTA videos on YouTube, studying maps of the London Underground and building subway stations with Legos.
So Beth and I are always on the lookout for things to help feed his obsession. We bought him a NYC subway t-shirt when we were in New York last month. He has his own Charlie Card for trips on the T, as well as a leather card holder from the MBTA Employees Credit Union that one of Beth's coworkers procured for him. My sister bought him a different NYC subway shirt last year. He also owns two copies of "Transit Maps of the World," a book that is truly fascinating.
He's been into subways on and off for a few years. Two years ago we found a web site for a British TV show called "Underground Ernie," and so I bought him two toy subway cars, at considerable cost, given that they had to be shipped from England.
So, you get the point. He likes subways and has some clothes, toys and other gear to reflect that strong interest. But recently I realized that when compared to freight and passenger trains, subways get the short shrift in popular culture. There are some obvious reasons for this: it's much easier to build and operate train tracks that run above-ground; subways are affiliated with graffiti; subways are for getting people around a city, often to work, not for taking them across the country on vacations. Whatever.
So I decided two weeks ago that I should rectify the situation a bit. There are books for younger kids about subways, as I found during some initial research. And I found at least one book for older kids (a Geronimo Stilton chapter book) that includes subways ("The Phantom of the Subway"), and which we've just ordered for Owen through Scholastic Books. But I feel there should be more books for little kids and older kids, along with t-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball hats, toys, etc..
My first book is an alphabet book, an obvious choice but one that's turning out to be more difficult to write than I'd imagined. I'm going with a rhyming scheme, resulting in 13 couplets. Trying to come up with subway terms, ideas and images that are toddler-appropriate isn't as easy as you think. But I'm just about done with the couplets. Next I need to develop ideas for images to accompany the rhymes. I'm not an artist, so I'll need to find an illustrator, a process that I've begun through a page on Facebook dedicated to writers and illustrators of children's books.
I would like to develop characters to appear throughout the book, possibly boy and girl subway trains (Sammy and Sally Subway, or Tommy and Tracy Trolley or something like that). I plan to do a counting book next. Not sure what comes after that.
I also want to develop stories about subways for older kids, like Owen. I've tried to enlist Owen in this project. He showed initial interest, but I'm not sure if he's really that into it. Obviously those books will require much more time and dedication. If I decide to write those, I would definitely wait until after I've published my (C)rock Stories.
If you've read this far, I'm impressed. As a reward, here are some links to videos for songs about subways:
The Jam -- "Going Underground" (OK, this isn't really about subways, but the London subway system is called the Underground.).
Kelly Jones -- "Subway Song" (I'd never heard this song before; maybe one day a Lisa Loeb/Tina Fey-looking woman will sing this about Owen.).
We had a relatively smooth trip down to CT on Thursday morning, with heavy but steadily moving traffic. Owen and Amelia had a lot of fun with my parents, my sister and my cousins, playing "I Spy" and drawing and, in Amelia's case, making my mom's pink bear sing Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" over and over and over, ad nauseam. My brother and his wife and two kids, Grace (6) and Isaiah (1) showed up in the early evening, so then Owen and Amelia had kids to play with, too.
On Friday Beth and I took the kids to Hartford's relatively new science center, joined by my brother and his two kids, along with my mom. The center was pretty cool, with sections devoted to motion (mag-lev trains, boats, cars), music (interactive turntables, radio recording booths) and water (all the kids except Isaiah had a blast there). I took a bunch of pictures at the museum and during the weekend, including the trolley museum that I'll describe in the next paragraph. You can see the pictures here.
The trolley museum is about 15 minutes from my parents' house, in East Windsor. We've never been there before, which is surprising considering Owen's longstanding devotion to subways. Friday was the opening day of the museum's Winterfest. We rode on an open-air trolley built in 1924 and formerly used for summer tours in Montreal. Santa rode the trolley with us as we toured about a mile and a half of track in the early evening, with festive holidays lights brightening the cold air just a little bit. Afterward, we went into the museum's main building to check out more trolleys decked out in seasonal lights, some model trains, and to visit with Santa, who gave small presents to the kids.
After the museum, we went back to my parents' house to eat dinner and watch my cousin Sam play basketball. The local public TV station was broadcasting her team, Hofstra, against super-mega powerhouse UConn. Some of my cousin's went to the game, but we didn't feel like fighting the crowds for a 7:30 game that we'd just have to leave early. Hofstra got beat soundly, but it was cool to see Sam playing against the #1 ranked team in the nation.
We kept it mellow on Saturday, leaving after lunch to head home. On Sunday we went to Beth's parents' house for leftover turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, wrapping up a fine weekend of quality family time and good eating.
Now for a new feature here at DaveTronik 2000. Owen recently asked to break out my coin collection, something we've done a few times in the last year or so. I really love looking at the coins, many of which I pinched from my dad when I was a budding numismatist. He had traveled to Europe when he was in the Army, and brought back a bunch of coins that he had in a box in our basement. I also got some coins from his mom, who was very thoughtful in sending not only coins but also little books and wrappers for them.
Anyway, I picked a coin out of the box at random, and came up with a British penny from 1917. When it was minted, it looked like this. Now it's dull and much of the detail on the obverse has been rubbed so it's smooth. The coin is about as big as a current U.S. half dollar. Subsequent versions of the coin in the ensuing decades got gradually smaller, until they looked about the size of a U.S. penny.
So there ya go, my first coin collector entry. That's the most I've thought about the collection since I was in the coin club in junior high. I either quit the club or it disbanded after a short time, probably because we all realized that as long as we stuck with it girls wouldn't give us the time of day. As I soon found out, though, the club had nothing to do with it....
Monday, November 16, 2009
Owen was awarded a trophy for excellence in tae kwon do. The ceremony recognized the passage of Owen and his classmates from one level of martial arts to another. Whereas for the last two years or so Owen would be awarded a different color Kids U t-shirt for completing each level of tae kwon do, from now on he and his buddies will be on the belt system. As such, in addition to the trophies, they were given (well, we paid for) gis, the traditional outfit of white pants and a robe-type top with a belt.
The class will focus more on kung fu now, and will be taught by a new teacher. The previous teacher did an excellent job with Owen and his classmates, but she wasn't trained in martial arts. Their new teacher is a guy in his 20s who has trained in numerous types of martial arts. He taught his first class this past Saturday, before the ceremony. I expect he'll have them ready for "Enter the Dragon"-type battles before too long.
Beth and I are very proud of Owen, and were extremely bummed that after going to just about every class over the past two years, we missed the big transition class and trophy/gi ceremony. We were in New York (more on that below), so Beth's parents took care of the kids and took pictures from Owen's class. You can see more pictures here.
Before I get to New York, I just wanted to provide a health update. Amelia had her aforementioned stomach bug for close to three days. We ended up taking her to the ER so they could rehydrate her with an I.V. She felt better almost immediately, but Owen got sick the following day. He wasn't as sick as she was, but he missed one day of school. Neither Beth nor I got the bug, but each of us felt a little sick as that week went on. Thankfully, by the time we left for New York this past Friday we were both feeling fine.
So, New York.
We left Friday around 3:30 and arrived at our hotel close to five hours later. The drive was a bit slow at times because of the rain, the dark and rush-hour traffic. And getting close to our hotel in Times Square took a while, too, due to Broadway traffic. But we met up with our friends, Jim and Nikki, and went out and had dinner at a decent hour (9:30). This is the second year in a row we've done this trip with them, and we certainly plan to make it a regular thing. They arrived in the city on Thursday, as Jim had some work to do for a new non-profit freelance gig.
After dinner, my friend Gerard met us for drinks. Gerard was in one of my favorite college-era bands, Phantom Tollbooth. Long story short: I had interviewed Gerard and his bandmates after Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard wrote and recorded new lyrics over Tollbooth's Power Toy album. I reviewed the album as well, for Junkmedia. When GBV embarked on its final tour in 2004, Tollbooth opened one of their last shows, at Irving Plaza in NYC. Gerard was nice enough to put me on the guest list for that show, so Beth and I went down for the weekend and had a great time. He and I have kept in touch off and on since then. I saw him play with another band in Somerville (Mass.) a few years ago and he always said if I was in New York to let him know.
He, Jim and I had a great time talking music, from Gerard's love of Bow Wow Wow and Metallica, to the Sex Pistols, whom both he and Jim saw on their reunion tour. I was amazed by how many great bands Phantom Tollbooth had opened for, including the Butthole Surfers, the Minutemen and Sonic Youth. Gerard now plays in Third Border, which features Ben Miller (brother of Mission of Burma guitarist Roger Miller), who was in Destroy All Monsters with Ron Asheton of The Stooges, and Michael Davis of MC5. Gerard was nice enough to give Jim and me each copies of the band's forthcoming CD. Nikki asked him to sign them, and he kindly obliged.
Saturday was our only full day in New York, so we maximized our time. After breakfast we took a cab to the Upper East Side to the Museum of the City of New York. I found this venue on the Information Superhighway, and was intrigued by its exhibit on Eero Saarinen. I had a great time checking out the exhibit, which features lots of great drawings, photos and video of Saarinen's work, which includes the TWA (now JetBlue) terminal at JFK Airport, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, a few buildings at M.I.T. and Brandeis University and countless other beautiful and futuristic projects that were designed and built in the '50s and '60s. If you're in New York any time between now and Jan. 31 of next year, I strongly suggest you check it out. The museum also had really cool photos of nature scenes around New York, blown up to massive size.
After the museum, we walked down 5th Avenue, stopped in to the gift shop at the Guggenheim Museum, then met a friend of Nikki's for a leisurely lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant. After lunch, we hoofed it in the rain to the Carlyle Hotel, to check out Bemelman's Bar, which Jim's sister-in-law had recommended. Decorated with murals painted by artist Ludwig Bemelman, known best for his Madeline books for kids, the bar is really cool and elegant in a throwback kind of way. I discovered a new favorite drink there, a Whiskey Smash.
After our cocktail break, we walked and shopped our way back to Times Square. After a brief rest and showers, we took a cab to One If by Land, Two If by Sea, another great place recommended by Jim's sister-in-law. Located in the one-time carriage house of Aaron Burr, who in 1804 killed Founding Father and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel, the restaurant is evidently the "pop-the-question" destination of choice for New Yorkers. The building was right up my alley with its dark wood, chandeliers, active fireplaces and historical art and documents.
From the bar, we walked about 20 minutes to our dinner destination, the Union Square Cafe. We had a great meal there, then took a cab back to the hotel and called it a night. The next day we had a relaxing breakfast in the hotel, did a little souvenir shopping and then hit the road.
The trip back was relatively quick and easy, and included lunch at Katz's Deli in Woodbridge, CT, outside New Haven. Located in a nondescript strip mall, the deli had really terrific and huge sandwiches, fresh cole slaw and delicious onion rings.
We got back a little before 5:00 yesterday. The kids had a great time with Beth's parents, but they were really happy to see us back home.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
It's Election Day, and I had planned to vote after Amelia's Gymboree class, but she's sick today and we're house-bound, so I'm not sure when, or if, I'll be voting for Newton's mayor, aldermen and school committee.
Amelia had a rather deep cough over the past few days, and a bit of a sniffle, but otherwise was fine. But at 11:10 last night I woke to the sound of her throwing up all over herself in her crib. Over the next eight hours she barfed a few more times (mostly bile and mucus) and got little sleep, but she was a trouper throughout the ordeal. Beth and I took turns rocking with her in her chair, or sitting in the chair while she slept in her crib. I did three loads of laundry during the night, and am hopeful that the worst of it is over. She's in good spirits now (at 9:35 a.m.), watching T.V.
Thankfully, Owen is a heavy sleeper and never heard any of the commotion during the night.
Luckily Amelia didn't eat any candy yesterday before getting sick. Not that we let her eat any of the chocolate she got on Halloween.
As you can see by the above picture, Owen and I went as Shaggy Jr. and Shaggy Sr. to his cousin Max's 3rd birthday party, which was a costumed affair during the day on Halloween. We had a great time, with Amelia dressing as Scooby (along with Beth's mom) and Beth wearing her usual festive t-shirt with minimalist dog ears and tail. Pictures are here from that day, as well as a few shots from the long subway trip Owen and I took the following day.
As for trick-or-treating, Owen had a great time running around the 'hood with his friends Emma and Alex. The three dads tried our best to keep up. Owen nearly gave me a coronary when at one point he stepped in front of a car that he hadn't seen. He was a bit upset for a few minutes afterward, as was I, but I talked him down and he continued on without further incident. He got so much candy that we were gonna donate some to his school's PTO, which is handing out donated sugar doses to voters at the school today, but we didn't get our act together in time to load some up for Beth to bring along when she dropped Owen at school.
Amelia had fun trick-or-treating, as well, and enjoyed wearing her Scooby costume the entire night after refusing to put in one in the week preceding All Hallow's Eve. Beth took her around; I wish I'd been there to see her tromping from house to house.
As I said, Owen and I went on a marathon subway adventure on Sunday. We started on the Green line and hit all the lines -- the Red, the Orange, the Blue and the Silver, which is an electric bus system that runs partially underground. He had a great time checking out the stations and the all the ins and outs of the various trains, and I enjoyed catching up on what's going on in the city.
We wrapped up the weekend with family play/dinner date with our friends Linda and Dave and their kids, Zoe and Maya.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Just a quick note today, as I plan over the weekend to provide a complete Halloween wrap-up complete with pictures.
First, I want to direct you to the Random
page, where I have posted "Autumn Suite," comprising three short and goofy tales of my favorite season. I wrote the suite several years ago for Slank, the literary (dare I call it that?) 'zine I published sporadically during the early- and mid-'90s. I wrote it rather quickly and mostly off the top of my head, if I recall correctly, so there are some things I would change if I were writing it now. But I still like it, and it occurs to me that I may have posted it here before.
I took Owen to Boston's Seaport World Trade Center last Sunday for the Halloweentown shindig, but he wasn't that into it. He was way more into our time on the city's subway system. We parked near South Station and took the relatively new Silver Line (underground bus) to the trade center. Afterwards, we went back to South Station and got on a red line train for one stop. I've promised him a much longer trip this Sunday.
Last weekend also marked a watershed in Owen's tae kwon do career. After close to two years of earning different color shirts for each session, Owen will soon be earning belts and moving into the kung fu world.
The place where he's been doing the lessons, Kids U, is geared toward kids under age 9, and isn't a dojo. As such, they've brought in a young guy trained in martial arts to work with Owen and the other older kids at the facility, to teach them a higher level of skills than his existing teacher was able to do, as she's not a trained martial arts instructor. Eventually, if Owen wants to, he'll transfer to a true martial arts school. He's doing really well and likes it, so there's a good chance he'll move on in the near future.
As for me, once again I find I'm not dedicating much time to this blog. But I am (slowly) making progress on my long-in-the-works (C)rock Story collection. With Amelia not taking regular naps lately (today being an exception), and waking up at odd hours during the night and ending up in our bed, I've lost my prime writing/editing time during the day, and am unwilling to get up early because of lack of sleep during the night. But I managed over the past week or so to pull out my red pen and do some hard-copy edits while watching baseball, and yesterday I churned those into my digital copy. There's still more work to be done than I'd like, but the end is in sight.
Friday, October 16, 2009
A mere five days after playing my final baseball game of 2009, snow was flying, albeit briefly, outside my window this morning. It's overcast and cloudy now, with temps hovering around 40. The weekend calls for more of the same. I need some Indian Summer.
My weekend in Cooperstown was fun. I drove up with one of my teammates, Rich, which made the trip go by more quickly. Rich has played in Cooperstown a bunch of times, so he had good suggestions for where to park and eat. Shortly after we arrived in town, we met up with my brother and sister. My brother flew from Maryland to Albany, where my sister, who lives in CT, picked him up. We toured the Hall of Fame after lunch, where my brother caught up with Rich, who, as it turns out, was a freshman at Clark University when my brother was a senior and they hung out a bit.
PIctures from the Hall (and my game the next day) are here.
I hadn't been to the Hall since I was 14, and neither of my siblings had ever been there, so it was good to be able to do it together. The building was smaller than I'd anticipated, but packed with so much stuff that I easily could have spent many more hours there than I did. I was drawn to the really old stuff, such as silver bats, balls and trophies handed out by newspaper companies for local tournaments, and fancy sweaters handed out to world champions, the likes of which you just don't see today.
After our tour, my brother, sister and I wandered the numerous shops on Cooperstown's main street for souvenirs, before heading to dinner at a great bistro that Rich recommended. Then the three of us went back to my motel to watch the playoffs for a while before the two of them headed back to Albany. Unfortunately, neither of them could stick around for my game on Sunday.
I wasn't sure how much of the game I'd be able to play, given that 20 days prior I'd severely injured my upper leg. As it turned out, I played five innings in the field, at short stop, second base and center field. I didn't have to make any plays other than a few pick-off attempts, so that went well. At bat I was 0-2 with a strikeout, pop-out and a walk. I ran into the third out at third base after my walk, which was a bummer. We won 6-5, so in the end my gaffe didn't hurt us.
It was pretty cool playing on Doubleday Field and having an official photographer snapping picture after picture. I hope to return there in the coming years, although my future as a baseball player is up in the air.
I decided toward the end of this season that I no longer want to play on Sunday afternoons, which is mostly what my team does, as it just takes away too much valuable family time. If I can find a team that plays most or all of its games on weeknights, I'll make the move. My teammate Rich is considering putting together a team for a different league, which would play on Monday nights. He needs to find a field, which is difficult, but if he succeeds, I'll move to that team.
On a related note, I was bummed to see the Sox go down so feebly. Luckily, I was driving home on Sunday listening to them getting swept, so I didn't have anything to throw and couldn't get too mad without risking crashing the car. Wait 'til next year....
Friday, October 9, 2009
I love Fridays. I also used to love "Fridays" (for a somewhat funny skit featuring Larry David of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" back when he had a super-duper 'fro, check the Random page). But as for Fridays, I love them because they're a hang loose day for Amelia and me. We used to meet up with a small group of dads and their kids on Fridays, but that fell apart. So now we go to the playground or play in the yard or, as we did today, go to the local mall that has a playroom.
After a short time playing there today, we were invited by a children's entertainer to watch her show outside the playroom. So we, along with many parents, nannies and kids (many of whom said they were there for the express purpose of seeing this performer) tramped along for a show by Jenny the Juggler, who bills herself as "Boston's Best (& only) Female Professional Juggler Since 1997."
As you can see here, Jenny is good with kids, with her goofy jokes, crowd involvement, balloon animal creatures, singing and ukelele playing, face painting and the like. Amelia wasn't that into it, so after about 10 minutes, we went back into the playroom. The whole time we watched, and for a few minutes afterward, as we peeked through the playroom window to check out the show, I kept thinking of Sweet Dee from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Jenny the Juggler just struck me as a character that Sweet Dee would dream up for some scam. She'd end up getting drunk or hitting on some kid's grandpa and chased out of the mall. If you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about. If not, well, then check this out.
Moving on....
I stayed up through the 7th inning of last night's Sox game, which was a bummer in two ways: a) they were losing and went on to lose, and b) I hit the pillow at 12:20 and roughly two hours later Amelia woke up and ended up in our bed, an increasingly common occurrence. And tonight's game isn't on until 9:37 again, so I'll be up late again. But not too late, because I gotta leave the house around 8:00 tomorrow morning to start my trek to Cooperstown.
Yes, despite an upper leg (groin? adductor?) injury suffered nearly three weeks ago that is still bothering me, I plan to play at least a few innings Sunday morning in the mecca of baseball. Some guys from my team are joining with guys from another team (or two?) from my league for a two-game tournament at Doubleday Field. There's no way I can play two games as I originally planned, so I'll hobble through as much as I can of the first game and then head home. I'm driving up with a guy from my team and then meeting my brother and sister to hang out at the Hall of Fame during the day and dinner at night. It's cool that they're joining me for the Hall, but they're not gonna get to see me play (or try to) on Sunday, as my brother has to fly home that day, and my sister's gotta drive home. Should be fun. Pictures and story to follow.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
As you can see by the picture above, I took Owen to Fenway again, this time with Beth and my dad. We had a great time in the comfy seats in the State Street Pavilion, complete with in-seat wait service. The Sox won, 6-2, which helped. The occasion marked the first time that three generations of Brigham men have enjoyed a baseball game together. Beth took a bunch of pictures, some of which you can find here.
I asked my dad during the game when was the first time he went to Fenway, and he said it was with a YMCA group out of Springfield, MA, in 1941! He went with another Y group to see a Boston Braves game that same year. He told me that my first Sox game was probably 1967 or '68. I have a vague memory of seeing Jim Lonborg pitch, probably in the early '70s. I'm really glad Owen's into baseball and that he got a chance to see a game with his grandpa (aka Big Gramps).
With the regular baseball season over, however, Owen is now into street hockey. We bought sticks and a plastic puck and plastic balls and played a game yesterday and one today. He has gotten the hang of the game pretty quickly, and of course I go easy on him. We've talked about trying ice skating this year, too. I took him once a few years ago and he liked it, but we never went again. He's mapped out our sports schedule for the week: playoff whiffle ball tomorrow and Wednesday (best of 5 series), followed by a one-game World Series. Then it's back to hockey.
While my parents were in town, they got to see Owen doing tae kwon do for the first time. They were impressed with his mad martial arts skills. They had a nice visit, especially my mom, who got extra Amelia time while the rest of us were at the game Friday night.
What else? Oh yeah, we had a great time at the 2nd annual Lower Wyoming Octoberfest last weekend. Loads of home-brewed beer, sausages, burgers, cookies, etc. for the grown-ups, and a dead-end street for endless mayhem for the kids. Owen had a great time playing football, running around with kids from school and generally just running himself ragged. It was a great event.
What else else? Been giving some thought to what to do with myself next September, when Amelia will go to preschool for a few days a week. I sent away for information on a historic preservation certificate program at Boston Architectural College, but I'm not sure if that would work into whatever my schedule's gonna be. It's certainly a field I find interesting. I plan to also look into study or work in the green industry.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Happy First Partial Day of Autumn!
Yes, at 5:19 ET today summer ends. You wouldn't know it by the forecast for the Boston area, which calls for temps close to 80 today and in the mid 80s tomorrow. I'm not complaining. I love fall, and believe that the best part of fall, when temps are in the upper 50s and low 60s and the leaves are turning, is way too short. Still, I love it when the weather is warm but not hot, and there's little or no humidity. Made for nice baseball conditions last night.
To Beth's chagrin, my team won last night, 10-0, after losing 8-3 on Sunday (her hopes were SO high that we'd get swept, my season would be over, and we'd reclaim normal weekends). Unfortunately, I pulled a groin muscle in the first inning and had to watch the hit barrage from the bench. I've had groin pulls before, but this one feels particularly bad. Good chance I won't play in the third, and final, game of this round of the playoffs on Sunday. If we win, we advance to the finals, which are also best 2 of 3. I'm also supposed to play in a tournament in Cooperstown over Columbus Day weekend, but at this point I'm not sure if I'll follow through, depending on my groin.
Because I had a game Sunday, I missed most of my neighborhood block party, a good occasion to catch up with people who I might see only in passing for most of the year. This Saturday, however, there's an Octoberfest at the other end of our street, hosted by folks who for some reason get snubbed for the block party. The Octoberfest is a much better time, so I'm glad I won't miss it.
What else? Not much. Why don't you go here to find your family crest? Here's what mine looks like. Well, that's one of the choices. I've found a few others, but not the one published in a Brigham family history I used years ago to do genealogy research. That one featured a warthog, hence, it's my favorite.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Boy, it's a good thing this web site isn't one of my kids, or I'd be a really neglectful parent. Nearly two weeks without food or drink. At least it's getting a lot of rest.
As you can see from the above photo, I took Owen to Fenway for his first Sox game. My buddy Dave has four tickets, so he brought his daughter, Owen's lifelong friend, Zoe. The kids had a great time, helped by the fact that the home team won, 10-0. The Sox bashed six home runs, five of which we saw before we left after the 6th inning. Owen was excited, as you would expect, and even told me that the cheeseburger he ate during the game was "the best cheeseburger ever!"
More pictures from the game (and from Owen's first day of school, which fell on the same day) here.
Owen's gotten right into the swing of things at school. He likes his teacher and his classmates, and hasn't complained too much about his homework. He's also doing the afters-chool program for the first time, which he also likes. He has a lot more fun playing with his friends in the after-school program than he had just hanging out with Amelia and me like he did last year.
On the baseball front, my team won last Sunday in the first round (single elimination) of the playoffs. We played the last place team, and only beat them 2-0. This Sunday and Monday we play the second round (double elimination), which will be much tougher, as we haven't been hitting much at all as a team. Beth would be happy if we didn't advance past this round of the playoffs, that's for sure.
I've posted a Giant Sand video on the Random page, just for kicks.
That's about it for now.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
As I was saying....
It's been a fairly busy 3 1/2 weeks since I updated here. Owen finished camp on August 21, so the week after that he, Amelia and I kept busy with whiffle ball, playgrounds, a subway trip and other things that escape me now. On Friday the 28th I traveled to CT for my annual golf outing, a memorial tournament in my hometown, Simsbury. My team didn't play that well, but we had fun, I got to catch up with a bunch of friends, and I won a picnic backpack and a gift certificate in the raffle.
Anybody want a picnic backpack?
Beth and the kids drove down to my parents' house on the 28th and that night we celebrated my mom's birthday along with my sister. We hung out until after lunch on Saturday and then headed back up to Newton.
On Sunday Beth and I went to see the Flaming Lips at Boston's waterfront pavilion, a great spot to see a live show on a pleasant summer night. The Lips are my favorite band, and they didn't disappoint. They put on their usual bombastic, over-the-top show filled with massive balloons floating over the crowd, lead singer Wayne Coyne rolling over the audience in a giant bubble, dozens of people dressed up in costumes, a crazy light show, confetti guns, etc. Oh yeah, the music was pretty damn good, too. I've posted a picture here (along with pics from our trip to Storyland, detailed below).
It was good to get out on the town, have a nice meal (although the Legal Seafoods Test Kitchen got Beth sick), see a great band and hang out with my friend Ray, who was there with a buddy of his.
On Tuesday, we loaded up the kids for our second trip this summer to New Hampshire's Storyland . We hit the park all day on Wednesday, and Owen had a great time, of course, riding all the rides, many of them more than once. Amelia went on a few more rides this time than she did last time. We also checked out the Loopy Lab, a place filled with soft balls that kids can throw and shoot around with crazy cannons. We hadn't gone into the lab when we were at Storyland back in June. Owen went back with Beth a second time.
Tuesday night we met our friends Joe and Jen and their two boys for dinner. They live about 30 minutes away from where we were staying, just outside North Conway. It was good to catch up; been too long since we've seen them.
After checking out of the hotel on Thursday, we hit not one but two mini golf courses before lunch. Owen is still very into the mini golf (he and I went yesterday with his friend Walter and his dad, Ray -- yes, the Flaming Lips guy). We got home a little after 4:00 on Thursday.
I had a game that night, which unfortunately my team lost, 1-0. We've lost three in a row; we're in a collective slump. We're now tied for second place with two games to go, including one against the 1st place team. We need a spark to pull down two victories to give us momentum into the playoffs.
Tomorrow is Beth's and my 12th anniversary. We don't have any big plans, but will probably go out next weekend to combine that celebration with Beth's birthday.
What else? Owen goes back to school on Tuesday, which I think he's ready for. He'll be doing the after-school program three days a week, something that's new for him, and something that concerns him more than actually going back to school. He's got a bigger class this year than he had last year, but he's got a bunch of friends in the group, so he'll be fine from the get-go, I think.
Hard to believe summer's over.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
We've had the AC running for two days straight, but the heat of the day is creeping into the dining room as I type this. We have two units upstairs that keep everybody comfy at night. We run them all day when it gets this hot (low 90s) and humid (oppressive), with fans in the kitchen and living room working to keep things relatively comfortable. But in the midst of a heat wave it's hard to keep things cool enough.
Gonna be a steamy night for baseball. I've got a game at 7:30. I suspect people will be moving pretty slowly. Still, I'm looking forward to it. It's been 9 days since my last game.
As you can see from the above photo, we took Owen and Amelia to a sprinkler park in Belmont over the weekend. We were there with my sister, who was visiting for the first half of the weekend, and our nephew, Max, who we watched for most of the day Saturday. The kids had a great time (more pictures here).
I also took Owen and Max to Monster Mini Golf in Norwood on Saturday afternoon. Nice and cool....
On Sunday our friends Jim and Nikki and their daughter, Sophia, came over for lunch and a trip to the local public pool. We all had a nice, refreshing time!
What else? The Sox are awful right now. Hoping for better things this week.
That's it.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
It's a DaveBrigham.com first! A YouTube video posted between the main photo and the blog. I was reminded today via a Facebook thread about the above commercial, which instantly became one of my all-time favorites the first time I saw it several months ago. Please to enjoy!
Elsewhere in Brigham World: Yesterday Beth and I went to Owen's camp for a cookout and to check out his various art and woodworking projects, meet his counselors and watch him swim with his buddies. We were both very impressed with his improved swimming and pool-jumping skills. Until last night, we'd never seen him jump into water over his head -- and so many times! It was a lot of fun.
On Sunday my team won again, 11-0, with Angel striking out the side to wrap up the game. I went 3 for 4 (my coach gave me a charity scoring on one of them), stole a base and scored a run. Unfortunately, I also gave myself a tailbone bruise on an awkward slide into second base. I've got 5 more days until my next game, so I hope to be fully healed by then.
We've got a busy weekend coming up. My sister is coming into town tomorrow, and we're taking care of our nephew, Max, for most of the day Saturday. I think we're gonna all go to a water/spray park in Belmont to keep cool. We've got something planned with our friends Jim and Nikki and their daughter, Sophia, on Sunday, but I don't know what it is.
Speaking of Jim and Nikki, we've begun discussions with them for this fall's New York trip. The four of us went down last November and had a good time, despite some bad weather and lack of good planning. Anybody with suggestions for places to stay and things to do can contact me. Yeah, like anybody's reading this!
Friday, August 7, 2009
The images on the Media page are back. I had to fix them manually, using a work-around provided by my hosting company. The company claimed in an email that they would fix the problem as of 11:00 last night, but that didn't happen. Anyway, enjoy.
I have fixed the MP3's on the Stream page as well.
Not much new since I last posted. The Sox are in a big slide that I hope Josh Beckett can stop tonight. Smoltz is no good; Buccholz, who a week ago I thought would be a good replacement, isn't much better. The Sox are pinning their hopes on former and now current teammate Paul Byrd. I don't have high hopes for him. Wakefield isn't due back for a little while, and Dice-K is on the farm for the foreseeable future.
Just gotta cross those fingers.
I've got a game this Sunday morning, in which I hope to continue my solid hitting of last week. Details to follow.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
This past Saturday we hosted the 6th, 7th or possibly 8th annual Webnoize Summer Bash, a distinguished affair that's been written up in Vanity Fair, The Hamptons Haranguer and The Aspen Agitator over the years. The whole gang was there; well, the ones that matter, anyway: Jay and Deb Kumar and their girls Hannah and Lily; Ric Dube and his wife, Karen Isaacson, and their son, Max; Jay (OJ) and Amy Breitling and their cute-as-a-button baby, Chloe; and Lee and Mary Helen Black and their twins, Luke and Tripp. It was great to see everyone, catch up on everybody's news, watch the kids frolic in the wading pool and slip-n-slide and eat and drink in the hot afternoon sun.
On Sunday I schlepped to Cumberland, RI, for a baseball game. The trip wasn't that bad, but it was hot and the game was 9 innings, as opposed to the 7 we play in our league, and our opponents were hands-down the slowest team we've ever played. Their pitchers stepped off the mound for no reason, their batters seemed surprised each time their slot in the order arrived, and they took their time getting on their batting gloves, circling the batter's box, knocking dirt off their cleats, checking their pulses, etc. We won, 5-3, and as usual our ace, Angel, was in control, striking out 14. I had a rare good day at the bat, going 2-3 with a triple, a two-RBI double and a walk. I scored one run, but somehow didn't make one play in the field. A weird game, but a good one.
That night we went out with Beth's family to celebrate her mom's birthday. We hadn't all been together since our Cape vacation, so it was good to see everyone, eat some cake and watch Rose open her gifts. A nice way to end the weekend.
I've posted two new videos on the Random page. The first is by Mt. St. Helens Band, my new indie rock crush. I read about them in SPIN (Yes, I'm the guy who still reads magazines.) and was curious. Thanks to a hot tip from Beth's brother-in-law, Todd, I finally got my ass in gear to check out EMusic's 14-day trial period, and downloaded the band's album, which I really like. The second video is "Wild One," by Those Darlins, a trio of sassy, country-lovin' women.
That's all.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Summer finally arrived over the weekend, with temps in the 80s and humidity levels in the somewhat uncomfortable zone. We installed our air conditioners during the day and ran them until bedtime, then opened the windows at night. Today the AC is back on. We have two window units that keep things cool in the bedrooms, and enough of that cool air flows down the stairs that the main floor keeps reasonably comfortable, too. I'll be happy if this is the only week of hot and humid weather, but I'm not counting on it.
We had a busy day yesterday, as we went to a birthday party at our friends Andra and Andrew's house, complete with grilled meats, a bouncy house, beer, ice cream cake and Rock Band. Owen had a great time jamming on the Rock Band drums with the grown ups, and then checking out his friend Lukas's electronic drum kit.
Straight from there we went to our friends Linda and Dave's house for dinner. Owen had fun hanging out with his friend Zoey, who, we realized, is the friend he's known the longest. They were born just a few weeks apart and we see them pretty regularly, and they always have a great time together.
On Saturday we hit the mini golf links once again, this time at McGolf in Dedham (we figured if it's good enough for Ben Affleck, it's good enough for us). The course is tough, with lots of angled fairways that make seemingly easy shots suddenly look very ugly. Still, it was fun.
On Saturday afternoon Beth took Owen to the local pool, where they had a great time and he saw a bunch of his friends from school. Amelia napped while I puttered around the house. That night I played in my league's All-Star game, which was a lot of fun. I went 1 for 2 and scored a run after I reached base on a dropped third strike.
That's about it, folks.
Monday, July 20, 2009
We returned Saturday from a great trip to the Cape. We went to the beach every day except Thursday, played a lot of mini golf, took advantage of Beth's parents as babysitters for one night out on the town with Beth's sister and her husband, and had an all around fantastic time.
Owen and Amelia are both beach bums, that's for sure. Owen couldn't wait to get in the water once we got to the beach. Between free swimming, using a noodle and a boogie board, he was all over the place. He even did some jumps off the dock with his cousin Max one day. He just loved it. Amelia did a bunch of swimming, too, but she was just as happy digging in the sand and collecting rocks and shells. It was really cool to see how much fun they had.
Four of our seven days there included a trip to a mini golf place. Owen has become enamored of the game in recent weeks, and was anxious to check out a few different courses. He is just about the fastest mini golf player I've ever seen, more interested in going as quickly as he can than actually taking his time and shooting a low score. It turned out to be a good morning activity for us, and for Beth's family.
On Wednesday, the boys rode the rails. As we did last year, Owen, Beth's dad and I drove to Hyannis (with Beth's brother-in-law, Todd, and his son, Max) for the Cape Cod Railway scenic train. The trip takes two hours, and goes through beautiful scenery in Hyannnis, Sandwich and Bourne, on the way to the Cape Cod Canal. We all had a good time.
That night, Beth, her sister, Megan, Todd and I went out for dinner and drinks, taking advantage of a really nice offer by Beth's parents to babysit the kids. We went to the Chart Room, a nice seafood place (duh!) at the Cataumet Marina. Afterwards we went to a bar called The Beach House in North Falmouth for a few drinks.
For the second year in a row, we didn't make it to a Cape Cod League Baseball game, which was a bit of a bummer. Also, we didn't even get any ice cream (well, Megan, Todd and Max did). I finished reading "American Rust," a depressing but well written novel about tragic events in the wake of the downfall of the steel industry in Pennsylvania. I started and got a good way through "The Lost City of Z," a non-fiction book about a Victorian-era British explorer's quest for a fabled Amazon city of gold.
I played baseball yesterday for the first time in 5 weeks, and my time off showed. I went 0 for 2 (I'm now batting .167 for the season), made a base-running gaffe and a throwing error. We won, but I hope to redeem myself on Friday night. I'm also going to play in the league's All-Star game on Saturday in Watertown. Our team voted for the three guys on our team who they thought should play in the mid-season classic, and evidently I got one vote. Three of the top four vote-getters can't make it, so by default I'll be joining Angel, our pitching ace.
That's about it. Oh yeah, pictures from the Cape are here.
Friday, July 10, 2009
After a week sans laptop, I bought a new MacBook today. Owen spilled cranberry juice on the old one and it didn't make sense to buy a new keyboard and hard drive in a machine that's 4 1/2 years old.
Quick summary: Owen's having fun in camp, Amelia likes her new music/art class, Beth is glad to be on vacation. We leave tomorrow for a week at the Cape. If I can, I'll update from there, but I'm not sure I'll have a solid signal.
As you were....
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Although we started Amelia's birthday celebrations a week and a half ago with my parents, yesterday she turned two. Because she's ahead of the curve in terms of language and has increasingly been making very vocal demands of us, I've been thinking of her as a two-year-old for quite some time. Now it's official.
My sister came up Friday night and gave Amelia presents on Saturday, because she couldn't stick around for the party we had on Sunday. Beth's family was here for the party, as were our neighbors Fiona and Billy and their kids, Brenna, 3, and Shane, 2; my friend Ray and his daughter, Rory, who's almost 3; and our friends Linda and Dave and their kids, Maya, who recently turned 2, and Zoe, who's 7. The rain held up so I could grill up burgers and dogs, which was nice, given the dreary weather pattern we've been in lately. Amelia had a lot of fun (pictures here) and got a lot of great presents.
Owen started camp yesterday and had a good time. They keep them very busy, with activities including archery (rained out yesterday -- no big surprise), tennis, drama, ceramics, woodworking, swimming twice a day, etc. The day is longer than his school day, so he came home yesterday pretty wiped out. The longer day means Amelia can nap longer, and I can get more stuff done around the house, which is good.
Finally, as someone who cares a lot about music, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of Michael Jackson. I wasn't a fan of his music, although I won't deny having sung or danced along to many of his classic Jackson 5 and solo songs in my day. And I certainly made fun of his bizarre lifestyle many times over the years. But the dude could write a tune and dance like crazy. So I wanted to pay homage to him in my own way. Please to enjoy a video of Iron & Wine (who I know little about) covering the Flaming Lips' (who I know too much about) "Waitin' for a Superman" while Michael Jackson dances.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Another day, another batch of cool clouds with rain. Ugh.
I had a really good Father's Day, hanging out with Beth and the kids and my parents in the morning, and strapping on the feedbag with Beth's family at dinner time for some fine eats from Blue Ribbon BBQ. The kids gave me some really cool t-shirts (The Who, Scooby Doo, others). My parents were in town for the weekend to celebrate Amelia's birthday, since they won't be around this coming weekend. They had fun hanging out with Amelia and Owen, and took us all out to dinner Saturday night at new Newton hot spot The Local.
This morning Beth, Amelia and I dropped Owen off at school and hung out with the rest of the families for a year-capping slideshow and to review all the great work the kids have done over the year (weekend journals, math journals, storybooks about Boston historical sites, self portraits, etc.). It was great to see all the hard work Owen has put in this school year, and to see how much the kids have grown up since September. Hard to believe he's going into second grade!
Tomorrow is Owen's final day of school, so the rest of the week means hitting museums and (weather permitting) playgrounds. He's got a birthday party at a movie theater on Friday morning, and a possible play date either that day or Wednesday. Camp starts next Monday.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
We had an awesome time at Storyland last weekend. The weather was perfect, we got to the park nice and early and spent more than 6 hours, most of them on rides or walking to get to rides. Owen and his cousin Max, who's 2 1/2, went on many of the rides together, which was a lot of fun to watch. Amelia went on a few rides, but mostly was content to hang out and explore while the bigger kids and the adults took turns on rides such as the Polar Coaster, Bamboo Chutes, Twirlin' Turtles, Antique Cars and the Flying Fish.
Over the past few years I've heard countless testimonials from friends about how terrific Storyland is, but didn't really believe them. But in the past few days when people asked how it was, I told them how great it is. The park is neat and clean, the people who work there are helpful, the rides are fun without being scary or skeevy. There are plenty of bathrooms and food options and the lines weren't that long (of course, once summer vacations kick in, that will surely change). We stayed in a condo about 10 minutes from the park, which was great.
With any luck, Owen will still be into Storyland on our planned return next year. Amelia will be 3 and able to go on more rides. I'd love to go on some hikes next time we're up that way, too, and some gondola rides up some of the ski mountains. Or maybe drive up Mount Washington, which I did as a teenager with my parents.
In other news, my team won its first night game of the season, 3-0 behind the usual stellar pitching of our ace, Angel. I was 0 for 3 again, but made two plays in the field that, if I may say so myself, were pretty damn good. The second one was the true highlight. The infield grass was pretty high, so a hard-hit ball up the middle died just as it reached the dirt on the second base side of the bag. I didn't think I had enough time to glove it, pivot and throw to first, so I scooped it with my glove and dished it to the shortstop, who caught it with his barehand to force the runner. Lots of laughs and high-fives after that one.
My parents are coming up this Saturday to celebrate Amelia's birthday a week early. Will be good to see them; the kids always have a great time seeing Purple Gram and Big Gramps. The reason they're coming up a week early is that they're going to a show in the Berkshires the following weekend, when the rest of the family (including my sister) will celebrate Amelia's birthday, which is the 29th. Of course, it's my fault that my parents aren't going to be around for the bigger party. I spearheaded the effort to get tickets for the play my parents are going to see, not even thinking when I bought the tix for my dad's 80th birthday, that the date I'd picked would coincide with Amelia's party. Oh well.
Penultimately, I had two short dreams last night, each involving some old-school Boston rock. I don't remember anything about the first one other than the fact that a song by the hard-hitting Bullet LaVolta was playing in the background. And, of course, dreams being dreams, the song wasn't really one of theirs; I don't know what the hell it was. But I've posted here one of my favorites of theirs, "Dead Wrong," from late '89/90.
The second dream involved a guy from my high school class trying to teach me a guitar riff. After several tries, I got pretty good at it. Uncharacteristically, I recalled upon awakening that the riff was for The Upper Crust's "Rock and Roll Butler." It's also on the Random page.
Finally, two thoughts: watching the Crust video it occurred to me that lead singer Lord Bendover looks like an older, pastier Andy Samberg. Also, the video reinforced in my head that some day soon I need to pitch a book called "Modern Day People Who Look Like Colonialists." I had that idea earlier this week after seeing a woman who, well, you can figure it out.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thanks to everyone who listened to and/or commented on The MegaChips. Owen was very excited to read the comments people left on Facebook about his drumming. He and I have recorded more songs since I posted the trio that remain here, but nothing worth posting. Stay tuned, though....
In the meantime, I've posted a solo tune, one that I envision The Toastmen playing when we get around to recording and/or performing. It's called "Ixnay On the Esusjay," and if you're a Christian you're not gonna like it. Don't take it personally. I could just as easily have written a ditty critical of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or Appalachian snake handling. Well, the latter is one that I actually find really cool.
In other news...
Owen completed his latest tae kwon do test, moving easily from his red shirt to his brown shirt (pictures here). His is the first class to reach this level, with just one more shirt (black) to go. Since Kids U doesn't hold classes over the summer, he'll have to wait until the fall to reach the top t-shirt level. His teacher said they plan to move on to another system, of patches or belts, once the black t-shirts have been handed down from master to students. We're very proud of Owen's tae kwon do skills and dedication to the class.
Speaking of sporting interests, my team is now 3-0 after a victory on Sunday. I made all my plays in the field, which almost made up for my 0 for 3 showing at the bat. Next game is Tuesday.
We're leaving tomorrow afternoon for Bartlett, NH, to spend the weekend at a condo with Beth's family. Owen is beside himself with excitement for Storyland. The boy loves his rides, and it's possible we won't get to all of them, there's just so many. We took him and Amelia to a local carnival on Sunday and Owen had a great time, but the rides were a little lame. After perusing the Storyland web site, oh, maybe 20 times in the past few days, he's worked himself into quite a frenzy for our trip. Should be great.
Finally, Beth and I went to Fenway last night to watch the Sox beat the Yankees, 6-5. I love going to the park, especially when the Evil Empire is in town, and most especially when the Sox beat their big rivals. If anyone has tickets they can't use -- let me know!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Just a quick post. Owen was home sick from school today (although, honestly, he wasn't that sick) and while Amelia napped he and I recorded some songs for the second day in a row. Yes, that's right -- The MegaChips have hit the Internet. Although Owen tells me that today's recording wasn't done under the MegaChips banner, but rather the Fine Friends moniker, I told him that any time we jam, we're The MegaChips as far as I'm concerned.
As you can imagine, I'm really excited to be playing music with Owen. He gets some good beats going, and since he's showing a real interest (as well as an interest in playing drums for Guitar Hero), we'll probably fill out the drum kit with some cymbals soon. Anyway, I'll post more in a day or two about what else is going on in Brigham Town, but for now, enjoy some rock!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Owen and I have formed a band, called The MegaChips. This is a name he came up with a little while ago, and while we don't always use that name when we're jamming (his current fave is The Fine Winners), for all intents and purposes, that's the one we'll use for our first record. Oh, did I forget to mention that he got a (used) snare drum for his birthday from Beth's parents? We added that to the half drum kit I got from a friend years ago (bass drum with one tom, and a floor tom) and set it up in the basement. Owen usually comes up with our song titles (sample: "Guitar Go") and then I come up with some basic chords while he pounds away. Sometimes I make up silly lyrics. It's a lot of fun.
There are a few pictures here (taken before I set up the whole kit, and switched to electric guitar), as well as some shots of our trip this past Sunday to Lookout Farm in Natick, MA, which I write about below.
It's really fun to watch Owen playing the drums. He just looks so excited when he's doing it. I think all the virtual pounding he's done via the Guitar Hero drum set has helped him. If his interest on the real drums continues, I'll buy him a high-hat and some cymbals, as well as a pedal for the bass drum (I thought I got one with the kit, but haven't been able to find it in the jungle I call a basement).
On Monday, Beth and I took the kids to Lookout Farm on what turned out to be a perfect late-spring day. The temps were in the mid-70s, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the burgers and dogs tasted great, the playground was fun and not too crowded and there was even a half-decent magician named Magic Dave, who's been endorsed by none other than Mick Jagger. If the farm's usual menagerie of animals had been on full display, the day would have been almost too good. As it turns out, there were only goats, the rest of the animals being "on vacation" until September for some reason.
The rest of the weekend was great, too. We celebrated Owen's birthday on Saturday, when he got the aforementioned snare drum. He also got a bat, balls and batting tee from Beth's sister and brother-in-law. On Sunday, we went to a barbecue at our friends Jess and Doug's house. Good food, good beer, good conversation. What more can you ask for?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Just a quick note about my latest MP3. It's actually an alternate version of the song I posted before, "Area 51 Is for Lovers." The explanation about the differences in the tracks is here, alongside the song.
Beth took today off from work to attend the Fitness for Life function for Owen's school. Scheduled events include: Jelly Ball/Jumbo Jam (I have no idea what that is); Big Box Hockey (Ditto); Fitness Trail; and Games & Relays. She just called and said the kids are hot and tired, but everybody is having a great time.
Check back later; Beth said she has some pictures.
Tomorrow is Owen's birthday, which we'll celebrate with lunch with Beth's parents, and then whatever Owen wants to do, which will probably mean some Guitar Hero on Wii, some time on the monkey bars at a random playground, and perhaps an aimless drive. We don't have any solid plans on Sunday and Monday, but rumor has it there is going to be a neighborhood BBQ.
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
We're still three days from Owen's birthday, but we held his party for his friends this past Sunday. Pictures from the big to-do are here.
Most of the kids from his class were there, as were his friends Zoe and Walter (and Walter's little sister, Rory, and Amelia, and my nephew, Max). Everybody seemed to have a great time, running wild, eating pizza and cake and running wild again. Owen certainly had a great time, and got loads of nice presents.
After his party, I had my first baseball game of this, my 5th season (I can't believe it's been that long). I hauled myself down to Scituate, a 50-minute drive south, for a great afternoon on the diamond. Our ace, Angel, was his old self, shutting the Giants down, allowing just two hits. We won 4-1. I was 1 for 2 (we had a 15-man batting order) and scored a run. Felt really good to be back out there.
My parents and my sister were here on Saturday to celebrate Owen's birthday. We went out to dinner and when we got back they gave him his presents. He got a bunch of great books and games.
This Saturday, his actual birthday, we'll finish up his celebrations with lunch with Beth's family, and, of course, more presents.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Yesterday I took Amelia to the playground in Newton Center that we've been frequenting lately. The playground used to be a dusty wasteland, but evidently a private citizen who lives near the park paid for its transformation into an oasis, with areas for little kids and big kids, new picnic tables and enough stuff to keep everyone busy for hours.
Sometime around 11:45 I spied a group of teenage girls walking past the adjoining baseball field, headed toward the playground. This wasn't your typical group of Newton girls, however, with cell phones, flip flops and uptalking. They were dressed in long black skirts with matching charcoal gray, velour hooded sweatshirts with a school name, the only part of which I could read was "Boston High School." There were at least two dozen of them, accompanied by three teachers with similar black outfits and helmet-style, ironed-out haircuts.
Their entry into the playground and time spent playing and eating lunch was like something out of the late 19th century. Too old to be playing on the equipment, nonetheless the girls fanned out on to the swings and the monkey bars, talking quietly or sitting primly eating their lunches. All I could think of was "Picnic at Hanging Rock," the movie from the '70s that, frankly, I knew nothing about until I watched this trailer.
My curiosity got the better of me when I got home. A quick search turned up the answer to what school they attend. I was almost certain it was a Jewish school, and I was right. It's the Bais Yaakov of Boston High School for Girls, an Orthodox Jewish institution located just a few blocks from the playground. It's not uncommon to see Orthodox Jews in Newton, especially Newton Center, but they still seem somehow exotic when I see women who wear long, dark dresses and something (hat, bandanna, wig) covering their hair (Thanks Wikipedia; maybe the three teachers I saw were all wearing wigs. Hmm...), and men with long beards dressed in formal attire, with strings hanging from their shirts at the waist (I've always wondered about those strings; now I know they're called tzitzis.).
That's your religion lesson for the week.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Just a quick note while I've got some rare down time. Amelia's napping and Beth took Owen to the playground to meet a friend. Everyone is still healthy, and Owen's allergies are under control. There must be a lot of stuff in the air, because I can feel it a little and I don't have allergies. I feel bad for Owen when his eyes get itchy and his nose gets stuffed up.
I'm looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day with Beth and the kids, her sister, brother-in-law and our nephew, and Beth's parents. The plan right now, weather permitting, is to go to a local playground along the Charles River for a picnic. The menu is lobster rolls, pasta salad, strawberry shortcake and (shhhh) sangria. Should be fun.
I know I've talked about recording songs, both here and on Facebook, and I realized that if I wait until the perfect moment, or until I have the perfect song, I'm never going to do it. So check out a very rough demo of "Area 51 Is for Lovers" on the Stream page. The song is from my ongoing UFO-themed concept album.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Health update: Owen finally emerged from the dark cave of illness on Sunday, but even now, a week after he first got sick, he's still trying to get his strength back. He returned to school on Monday, which made him (and me) happy. But he's battling his seasonal allergies, which make his eyes itchy and stuff up his nose. He takes Claritin, which helps, but because he didn't eat much last week, his system is a bit weaker than normal. Every day he gets a little closer to full recovery. Thankfully, none of the rest of us caught his illness.
Needless to say, because Owen was still recovering over the weekend, we didn't do much for those two days. We did get out for a family drive on Sunday, but that was about it. I skipped my baseball practice, so the next time I throw a ball and swing a bat will be at our first game on May 17.
Last night I went to see The Kills, a duet consisting of Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince. She's American and does most of the singing and plays guitar sometimes (and spits on stage once in a while); he's British and plays guitar and sings a fair amount of the time, too. And they use the hell out of a drum machine and pre-recorded bass lines and other sounds to pound out a wonderfully primitive and sexy blues groove.
I was supposed to go with Beth, her sister and brother-in-law, but, well, it being a Tuesday night, they all backed out. I tried to sell the tickets online to no avail. I considered trying to sell them outside the club beforehand, but decided not to. So I ate three tickets and they were just fine with a little salt and pepper.
Anyway, the band was really good. As I stood there watching them growl, writhe, stomp and spit I thought, "This is so primal. It's like it's been handed down from cave-people." They've got the same hypnotic powers that the Velvet Underground, Junior Kimbrough, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and countless others in blues and rock 'n' roll have mastered. Strangely enough, about 10 minutes after Screamin' Jay's name popped into my head, The Kills buzzed through a very down and dirty version of his classic, "I Put a Spell on You."
For three hot Kills videos, go to the Random page.
The second band on last night's bill (I missed opener Magic Wands) was The Horrors, who had a few fans in the crowd. I was not among them. As someone who's seen countless bands over the years, and listened to enough college radio to last 10 lifetimes, I can't help at age 44 breaking down Bands from the Now Times into their various influences. The Horrors are equal parts Bauhaus, The Chameleons UK and Comsat Angels. Toss some Jesus & Mary Chain in there, too. I didn't hear that influence, but the lead singer was wearing one of the band's t-shirts, so there ya go.
If the kids like it, though, who am I to say it's no good?
Friday, May 1, 2009
As I was putting the finishing touches on Tuesday's post, Owen was asleep on the couch. It was about 5:30, so I knew something was going on with him, but little did I suspect that he'd end up missing three days of school in a row.
He developed a fever Tuesday evening and threw up around 9:30 that night. Overnight, he had two bouts of night terror, or pavor nocturnus (Am I the only one who hates when writers drop Latin or French words and phrases into their text as though English isn't good enough and everybody loves nothing more than running to their dictionary or dictionary.com to figure out just what the hell the guy/gal is talking about?), which were freaky and frightening but not completely foreign to Beth and me. Owen has had a few episodes over the last few years, but nothing like he had Tuesday night.
A Night terror is when someone, often a child between 2 and 6, screams, thrashes and otherwise acts possessed after having fallen asleep. The person isn't having a nightmare, but rather is caught between being asleep and awake. In Owen's case, he seemed petrified of something, and having Beth and me there, trying to calm him down, holding him, stroking his hair, only seemed to make it worse. I think in his fever-addled brain, we were monsters or ghosts (too much "Scooby Doo," perhaps?) or some sort of demons. Thankfully, after several minutes he calmed down and woke up, unaware of what had really gone on.
He had another brief episode during a day-time nap on Wednesday, but it was nothing like he'd had the previous night. He's had a fever off and on since Tuesday night and thrown up one more time. He hasn't eaten much until today, so his energy has been low. He appears on the mend, finally, having eaten some chicken nuggets and one of Amelia's cereal bars. With any luck, he'll be able to go to the Big Apple Circus with Beth tomorrow.
Through it all, Owen's been a trouper. He hasn't complained, and has been content to watch TV (we're watching the "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddy Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini and a computer-generated Scooby as I write this), do stuff on the computer, rest quietly on the couch, read and draw. Amelia has been really good about hanging out in the house, even though we had to skip her swimming and Gymboree classes, and our regular Friday playgroup.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that none of the rest of us get what Owen has.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thanks to my man Jay Kumar for shaking me out of my DaveTronik 2000 doldrums. I wasn't doing a good job of managing my time with this site, and the ongoing work on my short-story collection and life in general. The solution: DON'T SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON FACEBOOK AND EMAIL!!
So here's what's been up since my last post....
We had a great time Sunday afternoon at Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA. While I was at baseball practice that morning, Beth came up with the idea of going to the beach (which we erroneously called Crane's Beach; I still like calling it that). She told Owen, who's totally into "Scooby Doo" lately, that we were going on a special adventure in the newly christened Mystery Machine (aka my Mazda 5).
Amelia took a nap on the way up, which was good, and I enjoyed a rare turn in the passenger seat (I was tired from practicing in 85-degree heat, plus going for a two-mile run afterwards). The drive on Route 1-A after we got off Route 128 was really nice. Lots of historic homes and horse farms. The beach was probably more packed than it's been on April 26th for many years. People were in full summer mode: girls and women in bikinis, guys with their shirts off, a few jet skis and motor boats in the near distance.
We stayed for about an hour, going without sunscreen and suffering no ill effects. Owen and I stuck our feet in the surf a few times, but it was ice cold, so we went no further. He, Beth and I built some sand bridges and tunnels, while Amelia mostly stayed in Beth's lap or arms, or my arms, afraid to touch the sand (pictures of our trip are here).
We finished up a perfect afternoon with dinner at Bertucci's in Newton Corner.
As I mentioned, I was at baseball practice Sunday morning. Temps were already in the mid 80s when we started at 10:00. Crazy, yes, but we kept things fairly mellow so nobody melted down. After practice I went for a short run, figuring I was already hot and sweaty. Pretty tough 20 minutes, but it felt good.
Our first game is slated for Sunday, May 17, at 4:00. Owen's birthday party runs from noon to 1:30 that day, so with any luck I'll be able to still make my game.
On the banjo front, the guy who was trying to fix it had no luck. Because there's no truss rod in the neck, he couldn't straighten it out using traditional methods (whatever those are). He suggested I take it to a specialist, but I'm not sure how much money I want to spend on an instrument that I don't know how to play. My buddy Ray suggested I hang it up as a piece of art.
That's all for now.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
I gotta tell you, oh faithful readers, I'm just not into this web site much any more. If anyone cares, send me an email and I'll do a better job here.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Happy Tax Day!
Spring has sprung this week in the Boston area. I've taken the kids to the playground the last few days and boy, does it feel good. Owen is all over the monkey bars with his friends, and Amelia does her best to keep up. Owen's even gotten into wiffle ball the past few days, something that he never showed any interest in.
We went to CT over the weekend for our usual double birthday celebration (my sister's and mine) and for Easter. We went out to dinner with my sister and my parents on Saturday, and I got two Borders gift cards for my birthday.
Amelia, as you can see in the photo above, had fun playing the piano with my mom. Amelia was very cute banging away on random keys and singing "Twinkle Twinkle."
Music was a big theme for the weekend. Owen, Beth and I put on two air band concerts, one at my parents' house and one for the Sunday brunch crowd. Owen's totally into The Police these days, so we performed four songs from Zenyatta Mondatta for the crowd. Owen played guitar for both shows; Beth and I switched between bass and drums.
Owen's favorite Police song, and one of mine too, is "Driven to Tears."
Please to enjoy the song from "Urgh! A Music War."
Owen especially loves Stewart Copeland ("Oh, Stewart, he's so funny!"), but I haven't told Owen about Klark Kent yet.
Owen and Amelia had a good time doing an Easter egg hunt at my parents' house, although Owen found just about all of them.
Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, I posted something at the Random page about Black Kids and Honeyglazed. If that makes even a little bit of sense to you, check it out. If not, well, check it out.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thanks to all my friends and family who called or left notes on Facebook wishing me a happy birthday yesterday. For those of you who didn't, I'm keeping a list....
Beth took me out Saturday night to Boston's Smith & Wollensky steak house. We had great filet mignon along with a bottle of red wine. The restaurant occupies, according to Wikipedia, "the Armory of the First Corps of Cadets, a castle built in 1891 originally intended as a military building, and is the only S&W location on the National Register of Historic Places." The building was also once the library for UMass Boston, according to my father-in-law, who taught at the school back in the day. It's a pretty neat place to gorge on beef, that's for sure.
We also went to Finale, a dessert restaurant, where we split the mini sampler and I enjoyed the port wine sampler. A great night.
Beth and the kids gave me a t-shirt and a Guinness baseball hat, so I can play and drink at the same time. They also gave me a Bose Pirated Music Blaster, aka a Digital Music System for my iPod. Kicks ass over the JVC donut-shaped iPod speaker system we had before. Good stuff.
We went out for dinner last night with the kids to Johnny's Luncheonette, one of my favorite places for dinner. We invited along Owen's friend Walter, his sister Rory and of course their parents, Ray and Inez. This guy was making the rounds, entertaining the kids with hidden ball tricks and the adults with his mind-reading abilities. It was a fun night out.
Good news for Toastmen fans: Webmaster Ken has posted rough MP3s from our last (instrumental) jam session, and added some photos at the band's international headquarters. New pictures are here and here.
Yesterday my team had its first practice, and I have to say I felt good being on the diamond again. I was pretty rusty, with lots of muffed grounders on the field and lame ground balls during batting practice, but that's OK. Most of the team is back, and we've added at least one guy. We should definitely contend for the title as we have the past two season, albeit unsuccessfully.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Get Random
for obscure music videos from Charlie Chesterman....
Not much going on. I went down to Walpole, MA, Saturday night to visit with my friends Jim and Nikki and their daughter, Sophia. They were hosting a woman Jim and I went to college with, Heidi, who I hadn't seen since, well, college. It was good to catch up with her. She's got grown kids unlike the rest of us suckers who started so late on families. She does graphic design, and talked with Jim and me about doing cover art for the short-story collection that Jim is curating, and to which I am contributing. I've also talked to Heidi about doing some artwork for my own story collection.
Despite the fact that I'm rocking my Red Sox sweatshirt and slippers as I type this, I can't believe that the season starts next Monday. I'm totally ready, but know that it will take me a little while to get fully into the swing of things, baseball-wise. Speaking of which, my team's first practice is slated for Sunday, weather permitting.
Apropos of nothing, I'm linking you to the Mutual UFO Network web site. Longtime readers of this blog know that I love UFOs, and this site offers a lot for fellow enthusiasts: info on upcoming symposiums, places to report sightings, a forum to discuss all things extraterrestrial, and, my favorite, a UFO event report map, which offers real-time info on sightings. Enjoy, my friends....
Thursday, March 26, 2009
First, let me point you to the Stream page, where I blather on about watching Scooby Doo, exploring old nursing homes and speculating on whether a ravine in the woods behind my childhood home was made by a UFO.
Second, not much new 'round here. Beth and I had a good time at the PTO auction last Friday. She was top bidder for a new iPod Touch, which is a pretty cool gadget, even though I have no desire to use it. I won two silent auction bids, one for a local restaurant and the other for a local farm with loads of kids' entertainment.
Third, I've handed my 10,000+ word short story over to my editor, Jim. Now I can get back to my long-neglected (C)rock collection. I also plan to develop a new chord structure for "Hand in Hand in Tucson (Area 51 Is for Lovers"). It was either that or write rhyming lyrics, because the song as it currently exists just doesn't work. I like the lyrics, so I'm gonna try a new musical structure. Something outside of my 3-chord zone of comfort. Or maybe it'll just be one chord. Who knows? I did record it to GarageBand, which was fun, so once I get the song the way I like it I'll record another version and, with any luck, get it online soon.
Dat's all....
Friday, March 20, 2009
Ah, spring has arrived! Sure, the temps are struggling to stay in the 40s, and there's nary a leaf on a tree, but the skies are blue-blue-blue, I'm thinking about hitting the batting cage and tonight is the big Spring Auction for Owen's school.
One negative note amid my high-on-life mood: my car is the shop. I bought it just before Thanksgiving, a brand-spanking-new 2009 Mazda 5, and four months later it gets admitted for in-patient surgery. I forget exactly what they're replacing, an oil exchange thingamabob or something. I'm stylin' and profilin' in a PT Cruiser for now, but I want my damn car back!
Not much else going on. Last night I worked on the first song for which I plan to record a demo and upload to Archive.org. "Hand in Hand in Tucson (Area 51 Is for Lovers)" is part of the UFO-themed concept album I've been working on for years. The lyrics are done and I have a chord structure or two that I like. I need to put it together and figure out a lead guitar part and then I'll see about recording it and getting it online.
While you wait for that, please to enjoy The Rezillos' "Flying Saucer Attack":
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I'm having a hard time managing stuff I do at Facebook, the short story I've been wrangling with for quite some time, thinking about writing new songs and reworking existing ones, raising kids, keeping current with TV and trying to keep this web site somewhat up to date.
After last week's big relaunch -- that quartet of lights sweeping the skies over North America was my doing -- I've once again let things slip. I'm trying, trust me, but not hard enough, as I just realized that when I posted a week ago, I forgot to edit out a part about how during the upcoming weekend we were going to CT for my dad's birthday. In fact, we'd already been to the party, and I mentioned that. I tell ya, you can't get good help these days.
I took Owen out last night to see some Irish music at the West Street Tavern around the corner from our house. My neighbor's father plays in a two-man band that I've been curious to see, and Owen is pretty into music, so he watched my father-in-law and me each down a Guinness. Owen was into watching the drummer (my neighbor's brother), and said he wants to buy the rest of the stuff we need to fill out our hand-me-down drum kit (we need the important stuff: snare, hi-hat, ride and crash cymbals). One day maybe we'll have our own family band set up in the basement.
Not much is new. Beth and I are going out this Friday for a PTO function that is the social highlight of the school year. The annual auction is a fun event where we can catch up with friends, have a few drinks and bid in the silent auction and the regular auction. We didn't win any of our bids last year, but maybe this year we'll try a little harder, especially if there are Sox tickets.
And now a tip of the hat to my friend, Mike Caulfield. He's committed himself to writing 52 songs and 12 stories during 2009, an ambitious goal to be sure. I've listened to most of the songs he's posted at his web site, but this one is my favorite so far. I'm going to try hard to get some songs in shape and record them and post them at the same site Mike's using. Somebody please hold me to that pledge.
Oh yeah, I also added something at the Random page.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I am returned!
I'm just gonna jump back into things here, from most recent things in my life to stuff dating back to my last post.
We went to CT over the weekend to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. I can't believe he's 80; he looks 10 years younger. My brother and his family flew up, joining my sister and most of my cousins for the party. Owen and Amelia had fun with my parents and with their cousin Grace. Here are a few pictures from the party.
I have been working on a story tentatively titled "The Bottle" for a short story anthology being curated by my good friend Jim Corrigan. He hopes to collect stories from 20 writers around a common theme (I'm not sure how much detail he'd like me to give, so I'll keep it basic) and shop it around to publishing house. Jim has been published and has contacts in the right places, so I'm confident he's going to find a publisher. Since my story isn't quite finished (I, like almost every writer he has recruited, missed two deadlines to date), I don't want to give away too many details. I'll just say that it deals with 19th century medicine shows and leave it at that.
I've also been giving a lot of though lately to recording music. When I graduated from college in, ahem, 1987, I swore I would play in a band and record an album before I was 40. I've goofed around musically with people over the years, including the mighty Toastmen, but have played exactly zero gigs over the last 22 years and recorded but one song. I recently blabbed on Facebook all about the songs I've written, and realized that I have some good stuff that I'd love to record for posterity's sake. The Toastmen plan to record some stuff this year, and I have a loose agreement with my buddy Jeff to record some stuff as well. I've spent too much time procrastinating in my life; I'm not getting any younger and I want to get this stuff done. I'm also going to explore using GarageBand to record my stuff.
As for the family, all is well. Owen has lost a total of four teeth, the most recent one this past Monday. He's doing well in school and with his tae kwon do class (see pictures of him, Amelia, Beth and me here). Amelia's language growth continues to amaze Beth and me. She talk more and more every day, in more complex structures. She sings songs, adding more words every time, and even improvising.
Sunday, January 4
I was going to post a Christmas wrap-up, but in the last few days I've realized that one reason I've been neglecting this site is that I'm bored with it. I need to come up with some new ideas. I've got a few, but until I fully develop them this site's gonna be idle. I won't stay away too long, as I do enjoy posting stuff here. Just needs to be a bit more dynamic.
Hope you've enjoyed what I've been posting, and will check back once in a while to see how DaveBrigham.com version 2.0 (or is it 3.0? or 4.0? I forget) progresses.
